Divas, Totally
NXTakeover: Unstoppable has come and gone and just like every time WWE's developmental brand has an event, the wrestling world cannot stop talking about it. In one night, Vince McMahon's company manages to do what so many believe is nearly impossible these days; fire on all cylinders, entertain from start to finish and make everyone happy.
Yes, everyone. If you say you weren't happy, you're lying. Stop lying.
WWE also managed to once again give the women ample spotlight and more importantly, time to work. This is nothing new, as NXT has become something of Bizarro World when compared to the main roster.
Monday Night Raw is just a much different animal. The Divas usually have very little time to work, their matches are typically based upon silly contrived feuds that no one cares about and when a match is over, it's almost as if it never happened because there are no long lasting ramifications. As much as fans have grown accustomed to this, the truth is it just shouldn't be this way.
Despite what anyone says, fans want the Divas to excel. The days of Trish Stratus versus Lita are not too far gone, much of that rivalry is still burned into the fans' collective memory. That is what the crowd wants to see; talented female performers with the ability to entertain and wow you every time they talk and especially when the bell rings.
NXT is giving the fans Trish versus Lita and then some. Unstoppable was no exception.
Charlotte and Bailey defeated Emma and Dana Brooke in a tag team match that got a great reception from the audience and that has to do with not only the talent level of the women involved but the story they told in the ring. Charlotte is a star, there can be no doubt about that and when she finally does debut on Raw, it should be great for her. Notice I said "should be." More on that later.
The highlight for the ladies came when Becky Lynch challenged Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's Championship. This was a match for the ages in NXT, a match that rivaled any bout on the card that night. This one could have been the main event and no one would've had a problem with it.
Lynch is very good and Banks is an attraction who will turn the Divas division upside down when she comes to the main roster. Maybe.
The issue for both Charlotte and Sasha is that WWE is on top of its game when it comes to women's wrestling in NXT. The ladies are given time to work, the matches are taken seriously and fans can't get enough of them. But when it comes to Raw and SmackDown? Not so much.
Therein lies the curious difference, the great divide between WWE's main programming and NXT. There is such a disparity between the women's divisions that it seems as though there are two different companies at work. The question is why?
Why can WWE get it right in Florida but get it so wrong everywhere else? Are Raw and SmackDown so burdened with time constraints, so concerned with pushing the women as media crossover stars that no Diva can really get what she needs to flourish? Why are the women just the side dish on the main roster but in NXT, they're the main course?
There seems to be no good reason why this is the case. Fans are getting what they want from women's wrestling out of NXT, not the main programs and that needs to change. The women work hard to make it to the main roster and they deserve the opportunity to be if not great, at least relevant.
The ladies of NXT are killing it every week and that's likely not going to change any time soon. They're working to prove they belong on Raw and SmackDown but the truth is once they get there, they will be shoved onto Total Divas and become caricatures of themselves.
If Unstoppable has taught us anything, it's that WWE can get it right. If only they could get it right everywhere else.
