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I remember when FCW's female roster were mainly models but most of the NXT female talents don't fit the Diva mold.
How did the NXT Women's Division outshined the NXT Men's Division?
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Honestly the men's scene is a lot more stale. TUE, Gargano, and Ciampa have been in NXT for way too long. Plus when you have names like Io Shirai, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, etc putting on banger matches, it's a lot more noticeable. Although I think the opinion of the NXT Women's Division really started to shift once Io Shirai became champion (along with having that match with Sasha Banks), as its gotten progressively more and more popular since then, with WWE even acknowledging it as the crown jewel of NXT.
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Same guys have been on the roster for years now and it's become pretty repetitive and stale (Undisputed Era). The women's division has a lot more novelty to it.
Originally because they was no expectations as women's wrestling in WWE has only had a few good matches. I remember seeing in the Bayley vs Sasha doc on the network that during their initial match, they never planned it because when they did, they were told they couldn't do certain moves so doing the match on air they did what they wanted so was able to shine. Since then, NXT has allowed its women the freedom and even WWE doing, albeit forced, 1st time ever matches with women so hell in a cell, steel cage, TLC, ladder etc. Basically majority of WWEs overdone gimmick matches are still fresh when it involves women's so that helps as well.
As for current NXT, it's freshness. With majority of men been in NXT for a while or in Balor case, a re do, the women are doing fresh feuds and got more focus to, especially during the last few months when NXT champion was out injuries. With Cole, Ciampa, Gargano and Balor already having many feuds with each other and rest of the roster, many are getting bored with the repeats while with the women, Io vs Candice, Ripley, Shotzi was still need and also add in that you had Charlotte and Sasha Banks have matches at NXT Great American Bash and feud prior, it helps.
As for current NXT, it's freshness. With majority of men been in NXT for a while or in Balor case, a re do, the women are doing fresh feuds and got more focus to, especially during the last few months when NXT champion was out injuries. With Cole, Ciampa, Gargano and Balor already having many feuds with each other and rest of the roster, many are getting bored with the repeats while with the women, Io vs Candice, Ripley, Shotzi was still need and also add in that you had Charlotte and Sasha Banks have matches at NXT Great American Bash and feud prior, it helps.
STORY TIME!!!
It all started in Spring 2014. Paige was just called up to the main roster after WrestleMania, and a new star was in the process of being made in Charlotte Flair. She had a fantastic match with Natalya at the first ever NXT Takeover, and that got people talking about the resurgence of women's wrestling happening on the developmental brand.
This was a really big deal at the time because the main roster Divas were having 3 minute clusterfucks ending in distraction roll-ups and pointless battle royals for the sake of giving everyone on the roster something to do. After the buzz Charlotte and Natalya created, women's wrestling fans began to tune into NXT for actual good quality women's wrestling on the weekly shows and subsequent Takeovers.
After Charlotte's feud with Bayley in fall 2014, she began a program with the rising star Sasha Banks who was making a name for herself with backstage segments and Takeover pre-show interviews demanding she gets the same respect as Charlotte since she's the reason (her words) Charlotte is popular due to the success of the BFFs (Beautiful Fierce Females) stable. Sasha did just that after her match with Charlotte at NXT R-Evolution where she had a star making performance and really put women's wrestling on the map in NXT. This was the point where legends started chiming in and recognizing what NXT had with their women's division after seeing the Sasha and Charlotte match exceed many people's expectations.
After Sasha won the NXT Women's Championship in spring 2015, she proceeded to have the greatest matches on the show throughout her reign all the way up to NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. After Brooklyn, main roster fans and NXT fans alike stated that the women proved they should be main eventing because Sasha vs Bayley was (and still is) the greatest women's match in the history of WWE, which lead to them main eventing Respect in an Iron Woman match.
Since The Four Horsewomen set such a high standard for women's wrestling, Triple H has tried to gather the best women's wrestlers in the world to continue the tradition. Things were dull for a few years but had a few bright spots with performances by Asuka, Ember Moon, Bianca Bel-Air, and Kairi Sane, but they sparked up again in 2019 and the women once again became the best part of the show with Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai leading the charge. Now, the women's division as a whole is far superior to the men's division in terms of story lines, character work, and match quality.
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Lets not discount the contribution made by Paige and Emma's match at NxT Arrival, while I agree the Charlotte v Nattie match really got the ball rolling Paige and Emma was a catalyst for the women getting more time to showcase their skills and Nattie, Charlotte and the rest of the horsewomen built off that initial match.
We will agree that Paige and Emma set the groundwork to be outshined by Charlotte and Natalya 😏.
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I've never disagreed with that, just like to acknowledge Paige and Emma played their part
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Women like Paige and Emma got the "Revolution" started in 2014. The 4HW came in in 2015 & 2016 and took the division up several notches and began the standard of excellence we've come to accept.
They went through a rebuilding phase with Asuka as their lone star of the division in 2017. And 2018 was really the Kairi and Shayna show, which people either love or hate. But then in 2019 comes and all of a sudden the division comes back to the days of the 4HW, may even better. Shayna, while she may have held that title too long, was a true top heel. Io came into her own. Rhea Ripley came onto the scene. Bianca Belair started to really shine. And behind them they had Dakota, Tegan, Toni, Candice and even since then have brought in or developed women like Ember, Shotzi, Raquel.
NXT for pretty much the last 7 years or so has been able to bring in and develop top level women talent.
With the men they've relied far more heavily on big name signings in their main event division. And now AEW exists so that pipeline they used to have to all the Indy and international talent isn't quite as big as it used to be. So now they're relying on a main roster star in Balor to help them. while keeping guys like Cole, Ciampa, Gargano around while trying to build up someone like KOR. It's still good just not as exciting as used to be especially since they lost guys like Riddle, Lee, etc.
They went through a rebuilding phase with Asuka as their lone star of the division in 2017. And 2018 was really the Kairi and Shayna show, which people either love or hate. But then in 2019 comes and all of a sudden the division comes back to the days of the 4HW, may even better. Shayna, while she may have held that title too long, was a true top heel. Io came into her own. Rhea Ripley came onto the scene. Bianca Belair started to really shine. And behind them they had Dakota, Tegan, Toni, Candice and even since then have brought in or developed women like Ember, Shotzi, Raquel.
NXT for pretty much the last 7 years or so has been able to bring in and develop top level women talent.
With the men they've relied far more heavily on big name signings in their main event division. And now AEW exists so that pipeline they used to have to all the Indy and international talent isn't quite as big as it used to be. So now they're relying on a main roster star in Balor to help them. while keeping guys like Cole, Ciampa, Gargano around while trying to build up someone like KOR. It's still good just not as exciting as used to be especially since they lost guys like Riddle, Lee, etc.
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Gee, that’s an original thread that we haven’t already heard within the past couple of weeks.
BOTH divisions have their gems.
Once again, this is another case where someone doesn’t even know what an actual ‘charisma vacuum’ truly is here.
BOTH divisions have their gems.
How are Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano supposed to be “charisma vacuums” when there’s been numerous occasions where they’ve managed to get different crowds loudly supporting them over the past few years?
Once again, this is another case where someone doesn’t even know what an actual ‘charisma vacuum’ truly is here.
You know first hand that you're (part of) the reason I even started watching NXT, because you contributed to the Paige overhype (lead by good ol IslesFan) that was trying to sell her as the savior of the Divas division. I had to see what the fuss was about myself because she was belly flopping on the main roster and it drove me crazy that people were calling her the best after all those terrible performances. So by proxy, you helped me discover Sasha Banks and Charlotte, and I have to thank you for that.
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They suck and were ratings losers
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12,915 Posts
I’m pretty sure that neither of those are true tbh.
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