WWE's Growing Crisis with Its Women's Divisions on Raw and SmackDown

The women's divisions of Raw and SmackDown may be featuring the best in-ring product in WWE history but they are also the subject of scrutiny.

What was once a bright spot of the company's television programming has become prone to the sameness and repetition that has plagued WWE as a whole for the better part of the last five years.

While not everything is doom and gloom—the elevation of Bianca Belair and the breakout of Liv Morgan in recent months—the company's reliance on the same handful of performers, a lack of freshness and nonexistent depth have become all too glaring.

Lack of Depth

The mass roster cuts that defined 2021 took an enormous toll on the women's roster.

Tegan Nox, Mercedes Martinez, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, Nia Jax, Eva Marie and Franky Monet are all performers released in the last year who could have been major contributors to the women's division on the main roster.

When you add in Toni Storm, who exited at the tail end of December, you have a list of women who could have strengthened a division plagued by an absence of fresh matchups and an overreliance on the same handful of competitors.

More on those two glaring issues in a moment.

Never before was the lack of depth in the division more obvious than the 2022 women's Royal Rumble match, where an astonishing half of the 30-competitor field consisted of surprise entrants. SmackDown women's champion Charlotte Flair was added to the mix to bolster star power and a stipulation stating she could select her challenger at WrestleMania 38 if she won was concocted to explain a potential victory.

On one night and in a single match, the biggest issue facing WWE and its women's division was laid bare. What was once one of the most stacked and interesting elements of the company's product had been depleted to such an extent that officials had to look outside the roster to find talent to fill the lineup.

Until WWE turns to Kay Lee Ray, Io Shirai or Toxic Attraction from NXT, there will be a glaring numbers problem on the Raw and SmackDown rosters which will, inevitably, give way to the other issues facing the division.

Absence of Fresh Matchups

It would be easy to look at last November's Survivor Series showdown between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair as proof of an absence of fresh matchups but that would be plucking low-hanging fruit.

The lack of freshness extends beyond the women at the forefront of the division. For example, last year saw Liv Morgan battle either Carmella or Zelina Vega in 11 straight televised matches. Natalya has squared off with Aliyah three consecutive times in 2022.

Some will argue those women are engaged in a rivalry and question what else one would want from them but the overreliance on repetitive matches is a reflection of weak, sometimes lazy, creative that pairs the same names up each week.

It is almost as if the writers forgot how to propel stories forward without booking the same competitors against each other every week, an issue that plagues both the women's and men's divisions.

When fans are expected to sit through repetitive matches week after week, it lessens the effect the division has on them.

Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch may have extraordinary in-ring chemistry but if fans have been overexposed to the pairing, it will fail to elicit the excitement or emotion, no matter how hard the performers themselves work.

Until that changes and WWE Creative pens storylines that are not reliant upon the same women wrestling the same matches against each other every week, the division will suffer. We saw with Naomi vs. Sonya Deville that there are ways to bring two characters together without subjecting fans to repetition.

Hopefully, those in power learn from that particular program and can more consistently provide that type of storytelling because it was a welcome addition in the face of the sameness that has permeated the division.

Reliance on the Same Handful of Stars

Much like the same matches, WWE has leaned on the Four Horsewomen from NXT like a crutch.

Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley are the biggest stars in the division. There is no denying that, nor their contributions to women's wrestling over the last decade. They championed a revolution that helped the sport crawl from the abyss of bathroom breaks and gimmick matches and rightfully became enormous stars.

Lynch and Flair are cornerstones of women's wrestling while Banks has transcended the industry, starring in Disney's The Mandalorian and introducing the 2022 College Football National Championship Game. Bayley is poised for a massive comeback that should see her star shine brighter than ever.

But there are other women on the roster capable of starring in big matches and championship clashes.

WWE has made Bianca Belair the closest thing to a breakout star that the women's division has seen in years but immediately went back to Lynch the moment she was ready to return, diminishing The EST's reign as Raw champion in the process.

Liv Morgan is a performer fans are very passionately behind. Shotzi saw a brief push aborted for reasons that have yet to be explained. Every time WWE stumbles upon a star who might be able to rise to the level of the Horsewomen, it stunts their growth.

Just like Rhea Ripley.

When it needs a star, it turns to Flair, Lynch, Banks or Bayley; and if it wants a box-office attraction, it sets its sights on a Ronda Rousey.

There are women ready to create fresh matches, new stories and run atop the division. Until the company takes the steps to break up the monotony, the intensifying crisis facing the division will undermine what is arguably the greatest era in women's wrestling history.