WWE Progress Report: Checking In on the State of the Women's Division

WWE's women's division is in the midst of a revolution that began in 2015 and continues to engulf the company's on-screen product thanks to the hard work and dedication of its female talent.

We know all about the buzz words and phrases, but is the company doing everything it can to present its women as stars equal to their male counterparts?

Based on three categories, including opportunities, in-ring content and creative, find out what the state of women's wrestling in WWE is just past the midway point of 2019.

Opportunity

To say WWE has presented its female Superstars with an opportunity unlike any era of women's wrestling in company would be an understatement of massive proportions.

Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey headlined WrestleMania in April, an honor once reserved for only the most recognizable faces in the industry. Those three women punched through the glass ceiling, rode a wave of momentum into the show and provided fans with a Match of the Year candidate in the night's capper.

The company could have earned an A grade for that alone, but it did not stop there.

Lynch and Flair remained prominent figures on Raw and SmackDown Live and were soon joined by Bayley, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans, all of whom saw increased ring time as WWE told their stories throughout the summer.

Throw in another pay-per-view headline appearance for Lynch, in a Mixed Tag Team match in which she partnered with universal champion Seth Rollins to defeat Evans and Baron Corbin, and you have further proof of WWE Creative's commitment to presenting women in positions on the card they have never before enjoyed.

The July 15 episode of Raw saw Natalya, Naomi, Carmella and the aforementioned Bliss get nearly 18 minutes to tell their story in a No. 1 contender's Fatal 4-Way. The upcoming match between The Queen of Harts and The Man is already being positioned as one of the higher-profile bouts on the SummerSlam card.

The division has not been perfect by any means, but to suggest WWE has not done enough to present more, and better, opportunities to its women would be flat wrong.

Grade: A

In-Ring Content

The level of in-ring competition in the division is as good as it has been since Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano tore the house down throughout 1994 and 1995.

For all the negativity she faces for being Ric Flair's daughter and the perceived opportunities she receives because of it, Charlotte Flair is a top-10 worker in WWE regardless of her gender. Her star power is such that it elevates the significance of any match she appears in, while her ring work oftentimes makes for the best match on any given show.

Look no further than her work with Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch, in which she was the glue that held together the bouts. While she may not have had the momentum those women did in the build to WrestleMania, she was integral to the overall quality of those matches.

Speaking of Rousey, she understood timing as well as any rookie in WWE history. While her arsenal was not the most expansive, she knew when to make the comeback and what moves to string together to make everything work. Her matches benefited as a result.

There is a realness and grittiness to Lynch, who relies on suplexes and strikes. It is not always pretty, but The Man's work has a realness to it that makes her a compelling worker.

Bayley might be the most underappreciated worker in the company, Natalya remains the most gifted technician, Naomi's raw athleticism makes her the perfect babyface competitor and Dana Brooke is a talented and driven performer whose performances improve every time she sets foot in the squared circle.

Throw in the incredibly skilled Asuka and Kairi Sane, the young Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville and the tenacious Nikki Cross, and you have the talent across both shows to ensure the women's division will never fail because of the efforts and talent of its Superstars.

Going forward, if there is one thing the division has to work on, it is consistency. More consistent in-ring work will help to keep the talent involved over and silence the critics who may be quick to jump on the performers whenever something disappoints.

Grade: B+

Creative

The women of WWE no longer face hurdles based on gender expectations. They have taken the opportunities presented to them and delivered in ways no one could have imagined. No, the biggest hurdles facing the women of WWE is the creative efforts of the writing team.

There is a great divide between the women at the top of the division and everyone else.

Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey and Alexa Bliss have been treated as the foundation of the division over the past year, and unless a Superstar is working with one of those women, they are an afterthought.

There is no discernible character development, a concerning lack of television time and nothing in the way of compelling storytelling for them. Natalya, Naomi and Asuka are all former women's champions left out in the cold by WWE Creative's inability to look past the top performers and provide content for them.

It is a problem that has plagued WWE television for the past decade, both with men and women. There is the select few who are focused on, written for and given the chance to be enormous stars while the remainder of the roster wallows in mediocrity and, in some cases, obscurity.

There is so much television time across the USA and WWE networks that there is no excuse for someone like Dana Brooke, Sarah Logan or Liv Morgan to disappear into the abyss of the undercard, where they are left to appear on the ridiculous pay-per-view watch-a-longs with Pat McAfee if they want even the slightest bit of screen time.

There is a creative bankruptcy within WWE, and it is robbing talented young women of the opportunity to showcase their progression, evolution and growth as in-ring performers. Until they can develop characters and enjoy the type of screen time that allows them to connect with audiences, their talents will go to waste, and the writing team will have no one to blame but itself.

Grade: C-

Conclusion

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

Even in the golden age of women's wrestling, when Trish Stratus and Lita were the faces of the division, their efforts were unraveled by a Bra and Panties or a Lingerie match that took the focus off the sport and returned it to the tired, exploitative tropes of the Attitude Era's over-sexualization of its performers.

That is not the case today.

Women are strong, powerful and influential. Lynch is as big a star as any in WWE. Ditto Flair. They have broken out from the pack and are the faces of a revolution that is no longer just a trendy term but a genuine attempt to present women's wrestling as an art form on equal footing with men's.

WWE deserves commendation for that, but it also has earned criticism for not being able to present its expansive women's roster in a way that makes the most of its talent. The revolution is still going strong, but it will run its course unless the company finds a way to utilize talent outside of the big four.

During the Attitude Era, the same six guys were the focal point of the main event scene, leading to repetitive main events that were never criticized as such because of the incredible numbers Raw and PPVs were doing. In hindsight, Steve Austin's greatness was arguably lessened by the fact that he only worked with Undertaker, Kane, Mankind, The Rock and Triple H for the majority of his main event run.

The women's division is threatening to suffer from the same issues. Considering the creative issues facing the company, there will be no forgiveness for huge PPV numbers or TV audiences. The best way to adequately present Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair or any other women the company is excited to push to the forefront of the division is to build the undercard so that when The Man or The Queen defeats them, it means something.

Otherwise, they are the tops of an underwhelming division.

The opportunities are there. The in-ring content is as good as it has ever been.

Now it is time for creative to catch up so that the division as a whole can thrive.