Renee Young Can Revolutionize the Role of Women in WWE

The introduction of the WWE Network in February 2014 presented many of the company's on-air performers with the opportunity for increased television exposure.

Recently, announcer Renee Young has taken advantage of the opportunity, debuting a talk show titled Unfiltered with Renee Young.

The show features the native Canadian sitting down with Superstars, Divas, actors and musicians in an attempt to familiarize the audience with the celebrities away from the bright lights and cameras of show biz. Thus far, she has interviewed current WWE World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins and stars Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara.

This is the latest chance the broadcaster has had to revolutionize the role that women play in the sports entertainment empire.

Traditionally, women in WWE have played the role of valet, eye candy, damsel in distress or reality television star. Thanks to a lack of attention by the writing staff, they have lacked personalities and character development and have been relegated to the role of buffer for male-dominated segments.

Over time, WWE Divas have seen more opportunities thanks to outlets beyond the scope of pro wrestling.

However, they still fail to make that lasting the impression due to the reluctance on the part of management to allow them to be more than what they currently are—even if they are role models for young female fans in the audience.

Young is the exception.

Whereas the majority of the women on the roster are thrust into roles that are unnatural and often lead to them forcing their performances, Young allows her personality to shine through. She is engaging as a hostess and thought-provoking as an interviewer. Her questions and interactions with the men she shares the screen with never feel rehearsed or scripted.

Her work comes across as naturally as it does because she is not handcuffed by the same creative restrictions that her fellow female performers are. She is allowed to be herself 100 percent and does not have to rely on her looks to be a selling point to the audience.

Even when she partakes in mindless fun, such as on The JBL and Renee Young Show on WWE's official YouTube channel, she still comes across as the genuine article rather than a performer trying to be something she is not.

The success Young has had to this point in her career, be it behind the microphone as a backstage announcer, at ringside as a commentator or as the host of WWE's pay-per-view Kickoff shows, could—and should—serve as the foundation for future booking of female performers in the company.

Forcing WWE Divas into roles that do not come naturally to them not only opens them up to criticisms but also dooms them to failure.

Not giving them any personality or character, though, leads them to wallow in mediocrity, never truly getting over with the audience.

Young's natural charisma helped her catch on with the audience fairly quickly to the point where she found herself in numerous roles across WWE programming.

There is no reason that performers such as Emma, Naomi, Alicia Fox, Paige, Natalya, Layla and Summer Rae cannot better connect with the audience by shedding the generic personas placed on them by the writing staff and allowing their real personalities to shine through.

This will not succeed in every instance. After all, Young has a camera presence that cannot be manufactured and comes along only so often.

But the change in booking philosophy, especially when it comes to the company's female talent, would certainly yield better results than the methods currently utilized by the promotion.

While she may never actually step into a squared circle for an official match in her career, do not be surprised if a decade from now, fans point back at Young and recognize her as one of the most influential women in the history of the industry because of how she changed the perception of her gender in WWE.