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| Ladies First |
Adam Hunt |
Women's wrestling – can it ever be more than titilation?
In a time when WWE is finally attempting to elevate and promote new talent and TNA is seemingly on a mission to recreate the heyday of WCW Monday Nitro, a longstanding yet eminently underappreciated part of the wrestling landscape has been shifting underfoot. In the last couple of years, WWE’s women’s division (branded Divas) has degenerated into a dizzying haze of peroxide, silicone and blown spots. Granted, the so-called ‘glory years’ likes of Trish Stratus and Nora ‘Molly Holly’ Greenwald weren’t exactly Manami Toyota or Bull Nakano in the ring at the best of times, but Stratus in particular possessed graft, ability and was genuinely popular.
Sadly, not one of their successors, be it the limited and colourless Maryse or the interminable Michelle ‘Mrs Deadman’ McCool can match even these accolades. Instead, they’re synonymous with crowd apathy and shoddy matches. That may all sound like a rather dismal outlook for ladies wrestling, but it’s only true if your appreciation for women’s grappling begins and ends with John Laurinaitis’ propensity for hiring wannabe supermodels. Delve a little deeper, however, and the current state of women’s wrestling – independent of WWE – seems, on the surface at least, to be much more promising.
Around the same time that WWE was preparing for the exit of Attitude Era-alumni Trish Stratus and Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas in late 2006, TNA was busy establishing the beginnings of its own fruitful women’s division. Recognising her talent and exotic beauty, the original Knockouts division was built around the underappreciated talents of Korean-Canadian female wrestler (and ex-WWE Diva), Gail Kim. The hardworking and popular Kim established the Knockouts division with perennial foe Awesome (formerly Amazing) Kong: a massive, bulldozer of a wrestler straight from the glory years of All Japan Women.
Despite the size and style differentials, the two had an exciting and memorable feud that culminated in a televised Impact! main event championship match (won by Kim) that was stellar in quality and reception. Not since the apex of the Attitude Era when Lita, Trish, Stephanie McMahon and the Women’s title shared screen time with The Rock and Triple H in Raw main events, had women’s wrestling ridden so high and so proudly...
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 53 of FSM - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders and Barnes & Noble, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
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