{"id":102546,"date":"2021-10-16T13:00:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=102546"},"modified":"2021-10-16T11:57:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T15:57:37","slug":"banks-vs-lynch-wwe-womens-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/10\/16\/banks-vs-lynch-wwe-womens-division\/","title":{"rendered":"Banks vs Lynch: What the WWE Women\u2019s Division Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dark Side of the Ring<\/em>\u2019s October 14 episode chronicled the troubled life of former WWE<\/strong>, Extreme Championship Wrestling,<\/strong> et al. performer Luna Vachon<\/strong><\/a>. A talented in-ring worker with a unique, edgy persona, Vachon\u2019s career never reached the heights her talent merited partially because of profound struggles with mental illness and substance abuse. However, the limitations placed on the presentation of and investment in female wrestlers by WWE, then the World Wrestling Federation<\/strong>, was also a significant factor. Vachon was with the company during its first stab at a women\u2019s division, which was so severely underdeveloped that reigning champion, and friend of Vachon\u2019s, Madusa<\/strong> notoriously dropped the title in a garbage can upon decamping to World Championship Wrestling<\/strong>. In her second run and the women\u2019s division\u2019s second incarnation, Vachon found her talents underrated and herself in the middle of lingerie beauty contests and on the losing end of a squash match that saw valet Sable <\/strong>crowned champion. This brings us to our modern main topic of Banks vs Lynch.<\/p>\n

Banks vs Lynch – Why It Was Needed<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Shift from the Divas Division<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the women\u2019s division 2.0 transitioned into the Divas division, the song remained much the same: for over a decade, WWE\u2019s female performers were love interests, valets, and the punchlines of crude humor, their athleticism and credibility in the ring stymied by short and gimmicky matches. As DSOTR compared then to now, footage of SmackDown<\/strong> Women\u2019s Champion Becky Lynch\u2019s <\/strong>matches played as Madusa expressed her approval of WWE\u2019s current women\u2019s scene, and that the departed Vachon would have loved to have competed in such an environment.<\/p>\n

Although the post-women\u2019s evolution WWE women\u2019s division is a far cry from the days of Sunny<\/strong> and Sable, it has had recent missteps. Recent women\u2019s matches have barely cracked the 2:00 minute mark, a devolution back to the Divas days. The releases of summers 2020 and 2021, which winnowed talent like Ruby Soho<\/strong> and The IInspiration,<\/strong> left the women\u2019s mid-card bare by the time the inaugural Queen\u2019s Crown<\/strong><\/em><\/a> tournament kicked off on October 8, and NXT<\/strong> call-ups like Shotzi Blackheart, Tegan Nox, <\/strong>and Toni Storm <\/strong>haven\u2019t been given the opportunities they are capable of as they were in their black-and-gold brand days.<\/p>\n

Even the return of the trailblazing Lynch has been off to a rough start, with \u201cThe Man\u201d going from scrappy brawler to cowardly, obfuscating heel whose defeat of Bianca Belair <\/strong>at SummerSlam<\/em><\/strong> lasted a baffling, disappointing 26 seconds-this, from a woman who once brawled Charlotte Flair <\/strong>and Ronda Rousey <\/strong>from the ring, up the ramp, backstage, and out the back door till the kayfabe cops were called. Lynch can go all night, but her heel turn has been strangely subdued.<\/p>\n

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Goosebumps.@BeckyLynchWWE<\/a> and @SashaBanksWWE take over one more time on #SmackDown<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/G1DX4GAvvN<\/a><\/p>\n

— WWE (@WWE) October 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n