{"id":72410,"date":"2020-07-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=72410"},"modified":"2020-07-14T15:51:29","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T19:51:29","slug":"ageism-women-wwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/07\/14\/ageism-women-wwe\/","title":{"rendered":"Ageism Against Women In WWE: A Thing Of The Past Or A Current Issue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent years the women\u2019s revolution in WWE has gone from strength to strength as it continues to evolve from the days of playboy models and bathroom break matches.\u00a0 Now the ladies of WWE have stood up to be counted under scrutiny and have shown they are more than up to the task by putting on quality matches and pushing merchandise. With the #SpeakingOut<\/strong> movement companies are under the microscope more than ever as to how they treat and protect their rosters, especially their female talent.<\/p>\n

Now while WWE has a somewhat sketchy past in their treatment of women, in recent years they appear to have towed the line on this one. This will be due to realizing the value a healthy women\u2019s division can bring through their ability to expand into the reality TV market with the likes of The Bellas<\/strong> while also bringing in talent from overseas to improve local markets.\u00a0 As a result of this, they now have a record number of women on their books, while this is all positive it is about to bring about some new challenges for WWE that they have not faced before.\u00a0 This is where we need to look at Phase Two of the women’s revolution.<\/p>\n

The challenge is brought forward by old father time himself.<\/p>\n

It should come as no surprise to anyone that as people, we get older.\u00a0 If that\u2019s news to you then I can only apologize I\u2019m the one breaking it to you. Wrestlers are not immune to the aging process, so why is this a specific issue to the women\u2019s division?<\/p>\n

Twenty Years Of Evidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To do this, dig out the history books.\u00a0 Going back over every woman that has been in the main roster of the WWE in last 20 years.\u00a0 The average age at which they finish up as a full-time wrestler is just 30 years old*.<\/p>\n

While women leaving the industry at a young age is not a new concept, arguably the biggest womens promotion of all time AJW forced their female grapplers to retire at the age of just 25 to find a “normal career”.\u00a0 This was their policy until the mid 90’s when rival companies began forming and bringing the women out of retirement to work for them in direct competition with AJW.<\/p>\n

However the figures for WWE are from the year 2000 onward.\u00a0 Now the gut reaction here is to use the \u201cwashouts\u201d as an excuse.\u00a0 The ones that never made it or weren\u2019t good enough, but look at some brief examples.<\/p>\n

Lita<\/strong> was done and dusted at 31 years old, Trish Stratus<\/strong> at 30, Beth Phoenix<\/strong> at 31 and Torrie Wilson<\/strong> at 32.\u00a0 What do they have in common?\u00a0 Hey! They are all Hall of Famers!<\/p>\n

Sure, there are some exceptions, in the early days of expanding into a women\u2019s roster there were the likes of Ivory<\/strong> and Jackie.\u00a0<\/strong> They are in the very rare club of women who have been used past the age of 40 as full-time superstars.\u00a0 The only other member being current superstar Tamina<\/strong> who is 42.\u00a0 In the interest of transparency, Moolah<\/strong> and Mae Young <\/strong>were left out from the sample as neither could have been considered a full-time part of the roster in the early 2000\u2019s and let\u2019s face it, what WWE did with them is straight-up abuse of the elderly and is simply uncomfortable to think about.<\/p>\n

Now the next part, WWE rarely puts a singles title on a woman over the age of 35.\u00a0 It seems crazy but with the exception of current champion Asuka<\/strong> go back to a brief Natalya title reign as Smackdown Womens Champion in 2017 when she had just turned 35.\u00a0 Prior to that, go back to 2012 where Layla<\/strong> turned 35 while holding the Divas title, then finally all the way back to October 2000 where a 39-year-old Ivory<\/strong> had her final title run.\u00a0 This makes Asuka<\/strong> the oldest women\u2019s singles champion in nearly 20 years at the age of 38.<\/p>\n

Where Does This Leave The Current Roster?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Ageism\"<\/p>\n

More than ever the future is crossing paths with the past.\u00a0 Things that work in NXT and things that work in the main roster aren\u2019t always the same, that goes for both male and female locker rooms.\u00a0 Dave Meltzer from WON recently stated that<\/a> Vince McMahon<\/strong> isn\u2019t all that keen on Shayna Baszler<\/strong> who was put up to the main roster on the back of a monumental push.\u00a0 One of the things on his radar is almost certainly her age, at 39 years old she is one of the oldest women on the books and possibly not regarded as someone he can build a division around.<\/p>\n

This may just be Vince being Vince trying to stick to the way he has always done things, but with the likes of Mercedes Martinez<\/strong> signing on to NXT at the age of 39, it looks like some within the company see the value of bringing in experienced female wrestlers.\u00a0 Mercedes is a well respected 15-year veteran of the squared circle and in 2011 was ranked second in the PWI Top 50 females for that year behind only fellow SHIMMER alumni Madison Eagles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While there are a lot of positives to take from the likes of Baszler, Asuka, and Martinez being utilized by WWE the real test will come with their most prized assets in the women\u2019s division, The Four Horsewoman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So What Issues Does This Present?<\/strong><\/h3>\n