Former WWE creative team member, Nico Gendron, has a lot to say regarding WWE’s backstage attitude during the initial Divas revolution. The writer recently penned a letter for the entertainment website, birthmoviesdeath.com.
Gendron compares WWE’s recent emphasis on women’s wrestling to the Glorious Ladies of Wrestling, and the new Netflix series which dramatizes their story. Highlights:
Why WWE Hired her:
“I was hired at WWE in the summer of 2015, right after they introduced ‘The Divas Revolution.’ In a male-dominated writers room, a female perspective was needed as WWE’s women wrestlers were expected to rise above their traditional role of full-time arm candy and part-time wrestler to share consistent (though limited) air time with their male, Superstar counterparts.”
WWE’s Attitude Towards Women’s Wrestling at the Time:
“I learned quickly that this wrestling dynasty hadn’t caught up to the main cultural dialogue around feminism and female empowerment that was electric outside WWE. With a great deal of ground to cover, I realized I would have to embrace the little victories, like storylines that do not hinge on a disagreement over a male love interest, avoiding dialogue where male Superstars reduce female wrestlers by telling them to shut up or by positioning them as getting in the way of their own success.”
GLOW (Glorious Ladies of Wrestling):
“In comparison, GLOW and the original Gorgeous Girls of Wrestling portray women as their own and each other’s champions. Their gimmicks are self-identified and perfected by their chemistry with one another. This camaraderie defies the historically flawed gender dynamics at WWF and WWE.
Shows like GLOW force wrestling enthusiasts and “girl on girl” fanatics alike to consider just how far women wrestling has come since its inception in a Las Vegas ballroom in the mid-eighties. No longer a sideshow, women wrestlers have demonstrated that they are more than anything, fighters, and deserve a league of their own.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZqDO6cTYVY
