Chris Jericho Understands How to Book Divas Revolution Better Than WWE

WWE may want to hire Chris Jericho as a consultant as it tries to showcase its women's division via the sputtering Divas Revolution storyline.

In a recent edition of his Talk Is Jericho podcast, the former WWE champ said that he was no expert on this kind of thing, then proceeded to pinpoint the angle's most significant issues and nail just what needs to done to address them. If the company doesn't bring him in to fix how the Divas are booked, it at least needs to pin several of his quotes on the walls of the writers' room. 

Countless voice have chimed in on the disappointing direction the women's division has taken of late. 

Mick Foley shared his concerns on Facebook. On his personal website, Lance Storm offered a wealth of spot-on thoughts on the issues in the division. Former WWE writer Kevin Eck wrote some biting commentary on the Divas Revolution in a blog post.

Jericho is the latest to speak up and be dead-on. 

Many fans surely share his thoughts on the situation. His critiques were specific, his solutions realistic.

Lack of Character

The Divas Revolution is not adequately displaying who the women involved are. That is the biggest reason it has been hard to invest in this unfolding narrative.

Jericho sees things the same way. He said a big issue with the division is that "we don't know any of those girls. We don't know any of their personalities."

That's the heart of the angle's lack of momentum. Fans have to care about why the wrestlers are fighting, and that comes from knowing who they are and connecting with them somehow.

WWE has stumbled in that department.

Other than her homages to her father Ric Flair, Charlotte doesn't have enough to distinguish her from her teammates or her enemies. At NXT, there was far more focus on her perception that she is genetically superior to the rest.

On the main roster, WWE hasn't provided a space for her to introduce herself to the audience.

The same goes for her fellow PCB members. Becky Lynch wears steampunk gear, but we don't know why. She's a generic character with a unique look. The Lynch we saw in promos leading up to her NXT battle with Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable was compelling, a fighter looking to prove herself, a well-traveled ring vet hungry for her biggest success to date.

That kind of character development has just not happened on the main roster.

And with Paige having such a fascinating real-life story, it's mind-boggling that WWE hasn't worked more of it into her character. As fans found out in her podcast interview with Steve Austin, she's tough as nails, grew up in the business and at a young age worked in a bar where she had no issue jumping into a fight if need be. None of that is shown on screen.

WWE needs to use elements like that or something manufactured to address this feeling that these women are strangers.

Crowded Stage

Welcoming Lynch, Banks and Charlotte to the main roster all at once while still trying to push the Bellas and keep Naomi, Tamina Snuka and Paige in the spotlight has proved too difficult for WWE.

It's something that may have worked with the right story, but just shoving everyone into the same place without a clear plan hasn't worked. Jericho recognizes that the women's division's reliance on an ensemble cast is a key issue with the Divas Revolution's failings.

He said, "You can't push nine people at once. You can't. They introduced too many people in too short a time frame and put them all together and mixed them all together, so now it's just one big wash."

Stable-against-stable feuds can work, but WWE rushed telling this one. Fans had to get to know both Team B.A.D. and PCB at the same time as trying to figure out who Banks, Lynch and Charlotte were as individuals.

The Four Horsemen worked because they were all established when they joined forces. Flair was a main event star. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were badasses in their own right. As a result, they felt like a superteam together.

Team B.A.D. and PCB don't have that working for them. 

And the fact that WWE has to now juggle newly created factions with fresh faces from NXT leaves the company unable to make substantial progress with the division. Jericho, though, has a simple, sensible solution. He said on his podcast, "We need to focus on just individuals for once."

He talked of how the division right now is too much like a circus in that it features a number of distracting elements. He's right. Having more than just two Divas in the spotlight at once is necessary, but all nine of these women getting equal pushes leads to none of them really advancing.

Follow NXT's Lead

Y2J, like many of the members of the audience, knows that NXT is a shining example of how to properly book a women's division. WWE needs to watch its developmental brand and take notes.

Comparing the situation to A Tale of Two Cities, Jericho said that the "biggest problem in the WWE right now" is the disparity between NXT and WWE women's division. He cited the highly acclaimed Bayley vs. Banks match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn as a prime example.

While the main-roster women are trying their best to tell stories in matches with no narrative, crammed together in six-person bouts, the NXT's ladies are treated just like male wrestlers.

Banks and Bayley had a clear story with clear characters. A cocky champion refused to take the plucky underdog seriously. That's tried-and-true wrestling storytelling.

As Jericho pointed out, it worked so well because "we know who they are. We know what's at stake. We know what they're doing."

He also noted that just giving the women more time is not enough. That's something many a critic, both professional and otherwise, has said in the past.  

Jericho recognizes that the solution to WWE's problems with the Divas division is partly to emulate the developmental brand. His short speech on the situation featured bull's-eye after bull's-eye.

If he ever wants to trade being a frontman for a hard rock band and sometime wrestler for a job in the writer's room, WWE would be smart to take him on. Foley and Storm have shown themselves to be similarly suitable for the gig as well. 

They have all offered fixes to the crumbling house that is the Divas Revolution while the writing team looks on, unsure of what to do with the tools it holds.