WWE's Recent Focus on Diva Storylines Is an Excellent Move

On July 29, Monday Night Raw's final segment did not involve two brawling men. WWE Creative gave their main event spot to the women of the company.

The ongoing bad blood between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella took centre stage as the show went off the air, solidifying an increased focus on the ladies of the WWE.

This red-hot ending of Raw was the first time the main event segment had featured an all-female clash since Lita and Trish Stratus battled for the Women's Championship in December 2004.

As a rabid McMahon was pulled away from Bella, having accepted her challenge for SummerSlam, few could argue that the two women had failed to justify their central spot on the show. Twitter quickly filled with words of congratulations for the two women and anticipation for their upcoming pay-per-view bout.

This scintillating final segment came after an earlier clash between Divas Champion AJ Lee and her heel rival, Paige.

The young Brit cut a beautifully disingenuous promo about how she was sorry for the way in which she had treated AJ the previous week. AJ seemed unwilling to except the apology, and the segment culminated in a vicious brawl between the feuding women.

Unusually, the Divas division in WWE is currently brimming with bona fide, long-running storylines. As well as Brie vs. Stephanie and Paige vs. AJ Lee, there's also the breakup of The Funkadactyls and the blossoming friendship between Summer Rae and Layla as they give Fandango a taste of his own medicine.

Given that there has barely been a single storyline in the division in recent months, this is something of a purple patch for WWE’s women.

Paige and AJ look set to make the WWE Divas Championship really mean something, and Stephanie McMahon is the top heel in the company by some distance.

Credit: WWE.com

This just shows that WWE is capable of booking women well. When they are not shoved into graveyard slots and are given the chance to work the mic, they can really shine.

Unfortunately, WWE often seems content to book its women as an afterthought.

For example, WrestleMania XXX should have been a career highlight for AJ Lee. She beat the entire division to retain her title. Unfortunately, even the most dedicated fan of the WWE Divas was going to struggle to be motivated for a match that was sandwiched between the end of The Undertaker’s streak and Daniel Bryan’s ascent to the top of the pro wrestling mountain.

This is the kind of filler-spot booking that has hampered the Divas division in recent history.

It doesn’t matter how hard these women work; they cannot succeed to the best of their potential if they are placed in a spot that will only ever be seen by some viewers as an opportunity to put the kettle on or make a sandwich.

Hopefully, the current climate marks a departure from this kind of lazy work from Creative and will lead the WWE’s Divas division into a new glory era.