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Katherine Gutierrez
Professor Ditch
ENGL 113A
2 November 2015
Whats NOT Best for Business

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been a fan of World Wresting Entertainment (WWE),
previously known as World Wrestling Federation (WWF). I always looked forward coming home
from school every Monday and Thursday nights to watch wrestling. People I meet are surprised
to find out that I watch WWE. Some find it interesting and others have questioned it since it is
scripted. Scripted or not, it did not matter to me. WWE lives under a motto where everything
they do is, whats best for business. But it is only what they feel is best, not what the fans want.
Although it is a successful company, WWE is extremely troubling and it should concern the fans
regarding the future of the company.
In WWE, there are the Superstars and Divas. The Superstars is a term in WWE that refers
to the male performers while the Divas refers to the female performers. It is almost hard to
believe they are professional wrestlers mostly because they do not look like they are athletes. A
lot of the outfits they wear to the ring are provocative. A lot of them show a lot of skin, cleavage,
and the Divas often pose seductively. During the 70s there were not a lot of women wrestling in
WWE. Most of the Divas in the company served as a valet for the Superstars. Valets accompany
their advocate to the ring and stand by to cheer them on during their match, sort of like
cheerleaders. Sports media anchor Mary Jo Kane explained that it is, the best of times and the
worst of times. Some wrestling fans might not see the issue, as they do not think WWE is doing

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anything wrong with the Divas division. Despite performing masculine roles, they are still not
taken seriously as they are being objectified and given fewer opportunities than the Superstars.
In WWE, Superstars and Divas are required to develop a character. The officials want
them to be different, so they have them dress and act a certain way. The Superstars are expected
to be tough, aggressive, and wear tights. As for the Divas, they have their hair and makeup done,
wear revealing outfits, and most of them have a tan. There are two types of wrestlers, the faces
and the heels. A face is the heroic wrestler while a heel is a wrestler who is villainous. Often
times, the officials will film the wrestlers backstage preparing for their match. Superstars are
seen working out backstage, whereas the Divas are seen getting their hair and makeup done.
Sex differences are interesting in sexist societies that value one group more highly than the
other (Hubbard 51). It is not ideal for men and women to take roles of their opposite sex
because in turn it results them being ridiculed.
Judith Lorber points out that, it does not matter what men and women actually do, it
does not even matter if they do exactly the same thing. The social institution of gender insists
only that what they do is perceived as different (26) Lorber explains that even though more
people are open minded, there are still a lot of people who do not necessarily agree. Superstars
are given opportunities to main event pay-per-views; earn championship titles, and more screen
time than the Divas. In every WWE show, they have about five Superstar matches and one or
two Divas matches that normally last less than a minute. As of now, there appears to just be a
singles Divas match for every show. For the fans, it became a good chance for them to take a
bathroom break or go up to get a snack as they feel they would not be missing out on something
important.

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Sick of the Divas not being given the equal amount of screen time as the Superstars, fans
used social media against the company by using the hash tag #GiveDivasAChance. This hash
tag was trending all over Twitter for days. Even former and current Divas teamed up with the
fans. This movement is not only about giving the female wrestlers a chance. There have been
Divas whom temporarily served as guest commentators or referees, however there are not many
official female commentators or referees in the business. Renee Youngs work on both the WWE
Network and pre-shows prove she is a perfect candidate. WWEs commentary is in need of some
freshening up and a woman like Renee Young would be definitely doing the job. The Chairman
of WWE, Vince McMahon, assured the fans that he would take action. The Divas matches are a
bit longer now, but their quality has not yet completely improved.
Because the matches revolve around the same few people, it is hard for the fans to get
excited about them. Their main focus is on the two women competing for the championship title,
while the rest of the women are pushed to the side. Former WWE Diva Celeste Bonin mentioned
in an interview, I was just in the background I was travelling every week with the main
roster, but I wasnt in the spotlight at all (Oster 2). Sadly, his or her undefeated streak gets
broken and WWE moves the spotlight to someone else. It is like how trends come and go. For
example, the Harlem Shake was very popular in 2012, so everyone wanted to do it. Eventually it
got old and everyone got tired of it. For those who were not given a push, he or she end up
disappearing from television for weeks or even months. Not only has this happened to Divas, but
it has also happened to Superstars. Once in a while they will pop in, but only to lose the match in
order to make their opponent look stronger. Any time a wrestler makes their debut into the main
roster, he or she starts off as being the most dominant and undefeated wrestler making the others
look weak.

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Another thing WWE needs to work on are the storylines in the Divas division. For the
past year, WWE has put an underdog Diva to fight against the privileged Total Divas. A couple
of years ago, a reality called Total Divas premiered on E! Network where they document the
lives of one of the top WWE Divas outside of work. They put an end to it after one of their top
Divas in the division AJ Lee retired. However, the general idea is still being used. There is little
effort being put into these storylines for the main roster Divas. Part of that has to do with that
their main focus is towards earning a championship title. Without a compelling story, their
matches become pointless.
During the 90s and early 2000s, WWE had what was known as the Attitude Era, where
anything can happen. The company did whatever they could to raise the ratings whether it was
the Divas stripping half naked in front of the audience or serving as escorts for special guest Alist celebrities. There were also segments of Divas kissing Superstars, older men, and of their
same sex. Whether or not these wrestlers were dating in real life, they have to act the part in
order to get a push. These segments lean towards a male audience, but being a girl, I do not find
nearly half-naked women being a mans arm candy entertaining. Their screen time should be
spent in the ring rather than backstage. Fans will not take the Divas seriously if WWE keeps
using them as props.
Back in the early 90s and 2000s, there were instances of current or former WWE Divas
who have posed nude for the fans, mostly for the men. While some of the Divas went on to pose
for magazines like Playboy, there were also Divas who started off as models. Mike Shannon of
What Culture claimed that most of the Divas, are bad wrestlershowever, they are the most
attractive bad wrestlers I have ever seen (1). Before signing with WWE in 2005, Ashley
Massaro had a modeling past. She had won the title Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA in 2002 as well

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as posing on the cover of Playboy in both 2003 and 2004. After signing with WWE, Massaro
went from being the typical beach blonde to a punk character with tattoos and piercings. The
year she joined the company was also the year she posed for Playboy for the third time with a
new look. I remembered being eight years old when they unveiled the cover. WWE eventually
moved away from having the Divas pose naked now that they become a more family-friendly
image.
As a result, many of the greatest Divas in WWE history left the company. Former WWE
Diva Amy Dumas, who went by the ring name Lita, opened up about her departure in an
interview with Colt Cabanas Art of Wrestling podcast. Rumors had spread that she left due to
the injuries she suffered in her career, but that was not the case. The reason she left the company
was because she was tired of, being called a whore It wasnt my body, it wasnt my head, I
was like, alright, I feel like Ive done everything there is to do right now (Diva Dirt). Dumas
retired in November of 2006. It was the time she had to renew her contract. She felt she did
everything she could possibly do as a female in the business, her schedule, and her career took
up most of her time. The Divas should not be treated as props. These women have come a long
way to be where they are at and it should not be put to waste.
Both Superstars and Divas should be given the equal amount opportunities. The Divas
are more than just a pretty face; these are trained athletes that need to be heard. They have
trained for years to be in the main roster, only to be given very little to no screen time or
opportunities to win a championship title. Instead of replacing them with new faces, WWE
should focus on their efforts in developing established women in the main roster. Otherwise, they
will be left behind and forgotten without the fans realizing they are gone. WWE claims
everything they do is for the fans because it is whats best for business. What will be best for

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business is if WWE actually takes the time to listen to the fans rather than just giving them what
they think they want. WWE Divas need to be recognized by their talent, not by how beautiful
they look. If WWE continues to exploit them, they are not going to be taken seriously as athletes.

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Works Cited

"LitaTalksAboutWhySheReallyLeftWWE,DispelsRumorsonHerDeparture."DivaDirt.
12Apr.2012.Web.25Oct.2015.
http://www.divadirt.com/53719/litatalksaboutwhyshereallyleftwwedispels
rumorsonherdeparture/
"PlayingUnfair:TheMediaofaFemaleAthlete."MediaEducationFoundation.2002.Web.23
Oct.2015.
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=208
Cohen, Eric. "History of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)." About Entertainment.
Web. 5 Oct. 2015.
http://whatculture.com/wwe/10-ways-wwe-failed-to-give-divas-a-chance.php/9
Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing
Gender. Ed. Rachael Groner and John F. OHara. Boston: Bedford, 2014. 46-52. Print.
Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing Gender. Ed.
Rachael Groner and John F. OHara. Boston: Bedford, 2014. 19-30. Print.
Oster,Aaron."Q&AWithCelesteBonin,FormerWWEDivasChampionKaitlyn."The
BaltimoreSun.17July2014.Web.19Oct.2015.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-07-17/sports/bal-celeste-bonin-wwe-divaschampion-kaitlyn-20140717_1_right-decision-joppa-ring-posts/3
Shannon, Mike. "10 WWE Divas Who Posed Naked." What Culture. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
http://whatculture.com/wwe/10-wwe-divas-posed-naked.php

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SuperstarsandDivasDebutYears.Digitalimage.Wrestlingmedia.N.p.,n.d.Web.4Oct.
2015.
http://www.wrestlingmedia.org/wwesuperstarsanddivasdebutyears/