The Women’s Championship

What do you think of, when somebody says pro-wrestling?

Fake? Scripted? Hulk Hogan? Macho Man? Stone Cold? The Rock? John Cena? Sting? Wrestlemania? McMahon? A bunch of guys throwing each other around the ring? I don't know, maybe I'm still part of the old generation and it's OK that such things pop up first. Maybe in the new generation some will think of Divas… but I kindda doubt that.

Sure the division is there, it's growing, although it lost a lot with the departure of A.J.Lee (she was both gorgeous and good at her craft), but somehow it doesn't feel right. The Diva's championship… the Total Diva's reality show… it all makes it sound like cheap starlets, not like athletes deserving our respect. So why isn’t there a true women’s title on the line?

That’s a thought that struck me, while watching the WWE HOF 2015 again, seeing Alundra pull the real women’s belt out of the trash can! The same belt that was puled out of retirement just for her!

Man, that belt looked great – and I loved the TRUE wrestling logo on it, the logo of WWF. What can I say, I love Pandas, but I can’t imagine “The Weasel” Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon comment on a bunch of Pandas sleeping, with the same intensity as they could about Jake “The Snake” Roberts having “Macho Man” Randy Savage tied on the ropes and letting a king cobra loose on him.

But back to the belt. Alundra said something that made me wonder if WWE might bring back the real title? Not the pinkish butterfly that talented women wrestlers are competing for, but the real belt, the one that looks like it was made for a champion. The one that reminded me of the IC title that The Ultimate Warrior wore.

Women in Pro-Wrestling had many ups and downs. Remember TheFabulous Moolah? She’s the wrestling champion with the longest streak ever. Sure Bruno’s reign is more recognised, as he defended the title on so many occasion and against so many opponents, but it was Moolah that was there at the first ever Wrestlemania, although only as a manager and put Wendy Richter over, with Cidney Lauper in her corner.

Now, why is it, that Cidney’s being there meant more than the presence of the champion with the longest run with the belt? Sure, Mohamed Ali’s presence as the special referee for the Hogan/Mr.T  vs. Orndorf/Piper match was a great addition, but it was not the main thing. The match was the main draw. It wasn’t like that with Wendy Richter, there it was all about Lauper.

And why is it that when people talk about women in wrestling of the eighties, most will first think of Miss Elisabeth? Sure, she was lovely and always there at the side of either Randy Savage or Hulk Hogan (two of the greatest names), but she wasn’t a wrestler. And when you think of Sherri Martel, be honest – you either think of her as the Sensational Queen Sherri at the side of The Macho King (yup, Randy even made that crown feel important), or maybe as the woman at the side of Sean Michels at the beginning of his solo career. Hell, I haven’t even seen her wrestle, until I started doing some intense searches on several video providing channels. I mean, the division was so underrated, they even retired the title Moolah held - for being a big joke.

But all of that started changing with the debut of Alundra Blayze in WWF (before the court decided they should not use the F word anymore), with the women's title being brought back just so she could win it.

Sure, she could have had bit nicer face to look at, but she was no dog… and her body… she was well built and she could do the moves! She was all that was expected of a champion… all that, sorry to say, Moolah wasn’t. She was the woman to give seriousness to the title. The only thing she was lacking was enough competition on her level, to really get the division going.

And as it was still before they openly started explaining keyfabe to the public, she was expected to fight – and she delivered. The title was there to be defended and earned. In a way I was happy to see her with the title again at the HOF ceremony. She deserved to hold it. The current pink butterfly would not suit her and as I’ve said, it’s Alundra’s title women like Paige should be fighting for.

Sure, the division was getting built back up during the attitude era, with girls like Trish Stratus and Lita, but you really need a strong division to make it possible. Alundra was like a Hulk Hogan, but without Macho Man to fight against. Today there’s enough talented women in the ring, to make it possible.

OK, there’s still not many Diva’s matches that I really enjoy, since they seem somewhat too causes… you can actually see them pull a break before the delivery, not to hurt each other. Sure, they have to look nice and beautiful for the Total Divas… Imagine them showing up all bruised. But that’s what’s taking the wrestling out of their matches.

Remember Bam Bam Bigalow? He said that he loved being pushed. That he was a big boy and could take so rough pounding and that it was what got the crowd roused up. You can’t make them believe you’re fighting, if they’re seeing you put on the breaks not to hurt each other.

You think the Mr. McMahon persona would get over so great, if he wouldn’t take in some blows? I’m not saying that the Stunners Stone Cold dished out like candy were really all the dangerous – sure, wrestling moves are supposed to look dangerous, supposed to look to hurt like hell, but should really be performed safely. I mean, you can’t deliver a suplex without getting both competitor’s back stinging.

And that’s the kind of wrestling you got to see in Aundra. She wouldn’t slow down before a clothesline, she wouldn’t throw a punch three inches away from the face… she’d make you watch a fight just like any other high energy fight among the guys.

I wouldn’t say it was stiff, but it was pro-wrestling at its best. Just like Kurt Henning, or Bret Hart… they weren’t stiff workers, but they executed the moves with perfection of excellence.

And now, when the women wrestlers look great (they’re really hot!), that there’s enough of them to really have a working division (even with tag matches and thoughts of maybe making Diva’s tag titles) and with Alundra bringing back the real title (clearing the air about throwing it into the trash can – just wait for it, I’ll talk about it soon), it would be the perfect time, to really give Divas a chance! And what better way to do it, than to bring Alundra Blayze back in the ring (OK, maybe she’s not fighting anymore, but at least as a special guest referee for the finale of Divas tournament for the real title).

And for all the booing about throwing the title to the trash on WCW… Most of you probably forgot, or might have never known, that Vinny Mack did it first (OK, not throwing it away, but playing tricks with titles outside the federation… that darn F word again). It was in days when Hogan reigned with the WWF belt, again, and Bobby Henan introducing “the real world’s champion” to WWF. Ric Flair arrived and had his big old golden shield of a title with him, which WWF didn’t recognise and got blurred out and everything… so, in a way it was Vince who fired so many “first shots” at competition, before they could react (in the form of Eric Bischoff) that there was a straight on blitzkrieg with WWF rolling over competition before finally stopping at a barrio to have the only fight of the war Vince ever had in Monday night wars, with Alundra’s title trashing being the first real blow against Vince.

But that’s just my thoughts. What are yours? Feel free to comment.

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