Nikki Bella recently appeared on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast to talk WWE Evolution, and the former WWE Diva’s Champion had plenty to get off her chest. She talked about how unfair people are to women from the diva era of WWE, and why it’s ridiculous that people blame the competitors for the decisions made by corporate.
For everyone that is taking shots at the “diva era,” Nikki says to look back at the champions. “Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Melina, AJ Lee, Paige, Brie Bella. They’re strong, fierce women who worked really hard. I’m here to remind people of that history.”
She then went on to point out the hypocrisy of the fans that cheer the attitude era at every mention. “You want to praise the attitude era. You want to praise the girls that did bra and panties matches, but you want to discredit women that worked hard because there’s a butterfly on the championship that we didn’t design? That’s not okay with me. That’s not empowering.”
She ended her discussion by talking about the next step forward. “WWE Evolution means a lot of things, and I hope after Evolution we can stop talking about diva being a bad word,” explained Nikki Bella. “My sister and I, and a lot of the Total Divas cast always joke that ‘Oh, we’re sorry for giving you a hit reality show. We’re sorry for doing what you told us to do.’ It has effect. We get blamed for this, but you tell us to be here. I’m here to stick up for those women and remind people how hard they worked.”
Read more at Nikki Bella: It's Unfair That WWE Blames Talent For Corporate's Choices
I do have to agree with her. What they used to have women do in the ring wasn't empowering at all, it was degrading. I can think of quite a few big ones that stand out too, one involved Trish and Vince himself. I get it. It wasn't real life and it was all a script but it doesn't take away the fact that women shouldn't have been used like sex objects.
The whole "Diva" thing was their doing, not the women who got in the ring. Most are aware of this though. Same thing goes with Vince having a lot of the women back then get breast implants. It is all distasteful marketing that I am glad is gone.
However, a lot of these women still do act in a manner that fuels the whole "diva" is a bad word without even realizing it. This PPV isn't going to solve their problems though. WWE needs to do that and not push it on their women to do it for them.
