The Time Is Now for WWE's Women's Division to Have Its Own PPV

The next phase in the WWE women's evolution is a night when the women's division doesn't have to share the stage.

WWE should book a pay-per-view event where everything from the opening bout to the popcorn break to the main event features female Superstars. It would see Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Ronda Rousey, Asuka and the rest of the women's division blaze a trail on a history-making show.

It's an idea that's been floated around more than usual after Friday's Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia featured no female wrestlers.

Booking a women's show shouldn't be a make-up move for that controversial exclusion but instead a case of good timing and smart marketing. It should be done for the sake of shaking things up, building upon what's underway and making use of a healthy supply of talent.

The women's division is the deepest it has ever been.

We are going to look back at this era and marvel at how many all-time greats competed at the same time. There's an argument (one her father, Ric Flair, has made) that Flair is already WWE's greatest women's wrestler. Asuka is a top-tier performer. Becky Lynch is one of the most compelling babyfaces on the roster.

Banks' spot in the Hall of Fame looks to be locked up already.

She's received a flood of acclaim, including from intercontinental champ Seth Rollins. The Architect talked up Banks in a live Q&A last year (h/t SashaProtectionSquad): "[Banks is] one of the best women's wrestlers of all time. Best wrestlers of all time really. Don't even have to put 'women's' in front of it."

Throw in Rousey and all her star power, and it's clear we are in the golden age of WWE women's wrestling.

With that in mind, a women's division PPV isn't some pipe dream—it's inevitable. There is ample talent to build a show around, be it on a one-time-only basis or as an annual tradition.

There's enough audience interest to warrant it too.

Last summer's Mae Young Classic had eyes aplenty on it. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the women's tournament snagged eight of the top 10 spots on the list of most viewed programs on WWE Network last September (h/t Sean Rueter of Cageside Seats).

WWE doesn't have to go that far back to see numbers that show how invested fans are in women's wrestling, though.

Of the eight videos from the latest's editions of Raw and SmackDown Live on WWE's YouTube page that went over a million views, four of them featured female wrestlers. Rousey's attempt to snap Mickie James' arm pulled in more than three-and-a-half million views.

Beyond the numbers, WWE only has to look into the crowd and see all the young girls dressed like Bayley or all the fans holding up signs for Asuka or Flair. It can peruse Twitter to see the passionate fanbases for stars like Naomi.

There's a growing buzz surrounding women's wrestling in WWE and elsewhere.

There was long a desire to see women get added spotlight, and WWE eventually realized it. It has booked women in main events and bouts that were previously off-limits to women, such as the Money in the Bank ladder match. This year, WWE added a women's Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber match and a WrestleMania Battle Royal.

It only makes sense to keep tapping into that to find creative ways to showcase the division.

Much of the rest of the industry has been giving women a spot in the limelight in innovative ways. Impact Wrestling, which always seems to be several steps ahead of WWE in terms of its women's division, broadcast an episode in 2015 dubbed TKO: A Night of Knockouts that was dominated by its female stars. 

This year, Booker T's Houston-based Reality of Wrestling began Ladies Night Out, a series of all-female live events. Ring of Honor aired a Women of Honor Championship tournament earlier this year.

It's WWE's turn.

In a sense, booking an all-female PPV could be the continuation of tradition. WrestleMania and the rest of the Big 4 events have remained the same for decades. Elsewhere, there has been plenty of experimentation.

We saw WWE celebrate the old ECW promotion with the One Night Stand event. It created the Dusty Rhodes Classic, a tag team tournament for the NXT brand. It put on Bragging Rights, a now-defunct PPV that pitted Raw and SmackDown stars against each other in a battle of brand pride.

A women's PPV is a logical thing to cook up in that laboratory next. 

WWE has a number of options for that hypothetical show. It could be when the company introduces the women's tag team titles. It could be when Banks and Bayley's blood feud ends or when Rousey and Sonya Deville channel Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart in an MMA-inspired Lion's Den match. 

Credit: WWE.com

Alternatively, reviving the King of the Ring tournament as Queen of the Ring would be a fun move.

The options are plentiful. The talent pool is deep. The timing is right. A path where the women's division puts on its own PPV is one well worth taking.