WrestleMania 28: The Relevance of the Diva's Division Continues to Drop

As this year's WrestleMania season began to heat up, sources like NoDQ.com reported that WWE officials were considering leaving the Divas off of the televised card. Since then, the WWE has announced that Diva's Champion Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres will face the team of Kelly Kelly and celebrity Maria Menounos.

I have only been following the WWE for five years and I've noticed an incredible decrease in the importance of the WWE's women's division.

A wide array of fans would contend that the importance of the Diva's division has been close to rock bottom since Trish Stratus retired as an active wrestler. A more generous group of fans would argue that it wasn't until the departure of Mickie James and Gail Kim that the Divas really closed in on that all time low.

Here's a little fun fact: My first WrestleMania, which was WrestleMania 23, was not only the last time the women's championship was defended, but it was also the last time there was a Diva's singles match.

This was arguably the last time the WWE put effort into a WrestleMania storyline for the Divas.

Also, in the last five years, the longest Diva's match was a 25-Diva battle royal to crown "Miss WrestleMania" at WrestleMania 25. Some of you may recall that "Santina" Marella ended up winning that match.

As a matter of fact, last year's WrestleMania featured a mixed tag team match as the vehicle for getting the Divas on the card. And that match only went for four minutes.

Now, what can be concluded from all this WrestleMania-Divas trivia?

Well, for one, it's not surprising that the Divas were close to being left off the WrestleMania 28 card. I'd venture to say that Maria Menounos is the only reason for that match making the card.

In addition to that, I think the women's division in the WWE is approaching the point where it will be unable to recover. Even with Beth Phoenix, Natalya Neidhart, Tamina Snuka and Kharma on the roster, the division is still meaningless.

If none of those talented women can bring prestige back to the women of the WWE, who can?

If the trend of Diva's WrestleMania matches is any indication, I wouldn't be surprised if, a few years down the road, it was common practice to leave the women off major pay-per-views.

It won't be too long before Divas wrestling at WrestleMania is a thing of the past.

Thanks for reading. As always, I appreciate any feedback on my writing. Feel free to spark a conversation with me regarding what was discussed in this column by commenting or reaching out to me on Twitter @MikePW247. Also, be sure to tune in to This Very Ring every Sunday night at 11 p.m. ET to listen to myself and Stan Grubb discuss all things pro wrestling.