The day is finally here, WWE Evolution is only hours away. When I first started watching WWE back in 2010, the women were in quite a rut. I didn’t care much about them because I wasn’t given much reason to care. I remember my very first show, Brie Bella, who has become one my all-time favorite women in WWE, won the Divas Championship in 2011 and I remember the atmosphere that no one seemed to care, I didn’t care. I look back at that now, and I’m ashamed of how little I paid attention to that. The women of that time had talent, the talent that I can look back at now and recognize, but that I didn’t see them because they weren’t able to really show it, and I was so new to this world, I didn’t get it. From then to now my love of women’s wrestling has grown so much. Most of the time I care about the women’s segments of the shows more than anything else. Sometimes when I’m really frustrated with WWE, I’ll tune in for the women segments, hoping for something good, even when I’ve given up on everything else. I’m literally in love with women’s wrestling and that in itself has been an evolution of my own. While there were many great matches before this, the NXT Takeover match between Natalya and Charlotte for the vacated NXT Women’s Championship is when I think the light bulb went off for me on how amazing women’s wrestling really was. While I appreciated the women of WWE tremendously before that match, I became so much more invested in them after this match, and that investment has grown even exponentially.
Now the day of the first ever WWE all women’s PPV is here. I have been vocal on twitter about how much I dislike the promotion of this PPV by WWE, how the lazy the booking seems and how much more respect I think it deserved from WWE. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch, talk about it all day and anxiously await for the event to begin. I’ve been up all morning anxiously waiting, posting edits I made yesterday, sharing tweets and admiring the women’s evolution Instagram stories. As a woman who has never been good at believing in myself, these women have been a driving force in making myself believe in me. That’s where most of the anger comes from. That’s why I wish WWE management put more into this. It’s one thing to have this PPV, it’s another to promote it properly. I don’t think WWE did that very well. The good news? The fans of Women’s wrestling have it covered. I know I follow all the right people on Twitter because of this. The support, the unity, the admiration for these women through all of this, the ups and downs, the 30 second matches, the give divas a chance hashtag that really ignited this, the love of NXT, the love of the four horsewomen, the love of the Kelly Kelly and Eve area, the love of AJ Lee, the love of the Bella Twins. Everyone has their favorites, and not everyone is going to agree, that’s life, that’s wrestling twitter, and sometimes, yeah it’s annoying as hell, but in a time like this, everyone comes together, the fans come together to realize that everyone’s favorites have made today possible. Not one woman, not one group, not one era, every woman, in every era, has put something into making today a reality.
I had my own idea for the matches I hoped to see tonight. Basically, none of those are actually happening, but that doesn’t mean the matches we do have won’t be amazing. Regardless of if WWE Management thinks this PPV is important, the women do, the ones who support the women know it’s important, and the fans know it’s important. I would be anything to do able to be in New York for this PPV, to see this history-making event live, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. You can believe that in my own home, in my own room, I will be wearing some kinda women’s attire, beaming with joy as I watch this event, and watch these women make history tonight.
Here are some of my thoughts on the matches announced for tonight.
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair. Last women standing match. SDLive women’s championship.
- I cannot wait for this one. I am a firm believer that the closer you are in real life, the better your TV Feud can be. I think that is very true for Charlotte and Becky. It’s known how close they are in real life, and they have ripped into each other like no other on tv, for this feud, for this championship. They have had a few incredible matches, outstanding promos, and I really think it’s exactly what Becky Lynch needed to get out in front. This last women standing match should close the show in my opinion, and Becky Lynch should be standing tall with the Championship retained. Charlotte Flair has always been one of my absolute favorites, but it’s no secret that difference in spotlight between Becky and Charlotte. This is Becky’s time, I truly believe that Charlotte knows this time is Beckys and WWE should see it as well. Lynch wins tonight.
Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella w/ Brie Bella. Raw Women’s Championship.
- Let me start by saying that the huge Brie Bella fan in me wishes that Brie was doing more than just standing at Nikki’s side, you threw so many women into this Battle Royal why not throw Brie in there too. Okay, this match. When I first heard about this match, I wasn’t thrilled, mainly because I heard rumors it was main eventing, and I didn’t approve of that. I love Nikki Bella, and Ronda has grown on me tremendously but the main event spot was not for them. As this feud as progressed, I’ve begun to love it. I love the fire between both women, the differences between both women have come to the forefront, and that is a huge driving force in this feud. I don’t know many who will agree with me on this, but I do hope that Nikki Bella walks out of Evolution as Raw Women’s Champion. I’m one of those people that thinks Nikki has done more for the Women of WWE than anyone ever likes to give her credit for simply because she dated John Cena and has projects outside of wrestling. I’m one of those people who believes that Nikki truly does love WWE and truly loves wrestling. Ronda has been an incredible asset to this women’s division no question, but I’d be more than happy to see the longest reigning Divas Champion of all time walk about with the Raw Women’s championship tonight.
Bayley, Sasha, and Nattie vs. Riott Squad.
- I don’t really know what I feel about this match. On one hand, I’m happy they weren’t just thrown into the battle royal, but on the other, this seems more like a Raw match, not a historic PPV match you know? And who wins this match? On one side you have three of the greatest women in the whole roster, and on the other, you have three women who I think are absolutely the future of this roster. So how does this end? I don’t know. I’m a Nattie fan through, and through so I feel myself ultimately rooting for her, but I love the Riott Squad, and a loss here could hurt.
Kairi Sane vs. Shayna. NXT Women’s Championship
- These two have had an incredible series of matches going all the way back to the first Mae Young Classic. I have no doubt they’re match is going to blow the roof off the place. I find myself looking to Kairi Sane finding a way to win here but there’s always the possibility that Shayna will have her backup tonight in the other two horsewomen maybe even all three, so anything is possible, but I’m rooting for Kairi.
Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai. Mae Young Classic.
- The Mae Young Classic has been an igniter in this Women’s revolution. I think that the tournament has done more than anyone ever thought. To say the matches have been amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it. This tournament is how I first watched Toni Storm last year, and I fell in love. She’s absolutely incredible. And this year, watching Shirai, I was blown away. No doubt these two are going to bring it tonight, and as amazing as Shirai is, I’m hoping Toni Storm walks out the winner of the second ever Mae Young Classic.
Trish and Lita vs. Mickie and Alicia w/ Alexa.
- First of all, totally bummed that Alexa cannot participate in this due to injury. She has grown so much since her NXT days, and she deserved this spotlight. That being said I’m glad they replaced her with Alicia because Alicia has been paid dust for what she’s done in this women’s division. She’s more talented than anyone ever gives her credit for, so she deserves this spot too. That being said I’m 100% team Trish and Lita because their freaking Trish and Lita.
Women’s Battle Royal.
- As I have mentioned, I have a million problems with this battle royal. While I agree a battle royal was probably necessary to ensure that all the women got a chance to be on this PPV, throwing all the women into this is annoying. That being said, they are promises a women’s championship match to the winner. So three options to win for me would be Nia Jax, Sonya Deville, and Ember Moon. Who knows what last-minute changes could be made, who knows who could be added or replaced, but off the top of my head, those three come to mind first for winners tonight.
I’m still holding out hope that some other matches will happen. I thought Rhea Ripley was supposed to have a match, but now I’m reading that she isn’t. I keep hoping they’ll throw a curve and do a tag team title reveal. Who knows I guess? I hope that they kept some returns a surprise because that’s always fun. Regardless of who wins, and who doesn’t, I hope we’ll all just remember the historical significance of tonight, how hard the women fought for tonight and how loud the fans were in demanding better treatment of our women wrestlers. Enjoy tonight. It’s been a long time coming.
Find me on twitter: Amandaraee_x3 for all the tweets and praise tonight. Join me!
Miss Raee 