News on Beth Phoenix Leaving, Vince McMahon's View of the Divas Division

With long-term Diva Beth Phoenix looking to be finishing up with WWE soon, reports have begun to emerge about what prompted her decision to leave.  

In this week's (subscribers-only) F4W Newsletter, Bryan Alvarez gives an update on the former Divas Champion's exit, citing frustration with the company's indifferent attitude towards women's wrestling as one of the reasons for her departure:

"

Beth Phoenix will be wrapping up her WWE run in the next month or two. It is believed that she was just mentally finished with the promotion and the start-and-stop pushes of pretty much every girl on the roster.

"

In what be may be bad news for the remaining Divas, Alvarez goes on to note that WWE owner Vince McMahon remains largely indifferent towards the company's women's division, with AJ Lee being the sole exception:

"

Vince McMahon loves AJ and feels she can be something really special, but as far as the rest of the women's division, it's largely just kept around because it's always been there and it's an opportunity to put some pretty girls on TV.

"

Of course, this report should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid even scant attention to WWE programming over the past few months. The majority of the women rarely appear on any of the main shows and, if they do, it's usually only for short and quickly forgotten throwaway tag matches. Only current Raw GM AJ, and to a lesser extent Eve Torres, have managed to garner themselves air-time and prominent involvement in the storylines.

Of course, Phoenix is hardly the first woman to leave due to this.  Many women in the company have grown frustrated by this shoddy treatment and left to pursue other things. 

Last year, current TNA Knockout Gail Kim was particularly vocal about her anger at WWE's attempt to restrict and marginalize their Divas division, and she claimed it was her main reason for quitting.