A Woman's Worth

In what was among the worst segments on RAW all year, Maria proved that some women don’t belong on wrestling television.

During the Umaga/Maria segment on RAW it became painfully obvious that CM Punk’s girlfriend is a terrible actor as she was just about to burst into laughter as the scary Samoan Umaga was stalking her while she lay helplessly in the ring. Maria is sadly just an example of most of the Divas on WWE television. As good as they are at posing for still photos; they lack ability with regards to acting.

As the Wellness program came into effect many speculated that the WWE hiring practices needed to change.

However, the one hiring change the WWE needs to introduce badly is to stop hiring these mannequins and only bring in Divas that can perform in front of a camera.

There are currently 19 women on WWE television spread over the three brands. The WWE defends their use of all these women by claiming that they offer a valuable resource in terms of revenue through dvd, magazines, calendars, and other Diva merchandise that motivates young men to spend their money.

I cannot argue that fact, but do you really need 19 women to put together a 12 month calendar or a dvd? And do all these women need to occupy precious television time that should be used to sell pay per view?

What is most infuriating is something I alluded to earlier. I don’t deny that all these women are beautiful, but they have no business in front a camera that doesn’t take pictures. Many of these women can do nothing but smile and wave and do not have one ounce of creativity or acting ability.

The old argument that “sex sells” and draws television viewers cannot be applied to the Divas. The annual “Diva Search” proves every year to be ratings and live event disasters. Television viewers click away in the hundreds of thousands and all the segments are met with a loud course of boos from the live audience watching.

If the WWE wants to use their women in strong television roles including managing, interviewing, and wrestling than hiring from modeling agencies is not the answer. The WWE needs to move towards hiring talented actors and athletes to take these roles.

One of the few smart things that Vince Russo did in WCW was he hired actors to play specific speaking roles on television. That is how Daffney came into WCW. Shannon Spruill was an actor who auditioned for the role of Daffney. The end result was a female character who knew how to play to an audience and get over. If Russo had gone the route of hiring a bikini model for the role, the character would have been short lived and would not have gotten over nearly as well.

Another reason why I believe the women in the WWE are not performing well is because there are no female road agents (now called producers). These women are being taught to get over by men like Ricky Steamboat. As much as I love Steamboat, he is not qualified to help a woman perform. Enter Trish Stratus. Now that Trish is retired as a television character she needs to now be brought in as a producer to work with these women on becoming good television performers. Trish, like many of the Divas, had a modeling background before getting into wrestling and succeeded. She is the perfect role model for girls like Maria, Kelly Kelly, Rebecca DiPietro, and all the others that become stiffs when the camera is rolling.

Women have been and will forever be a big part of wrestling. However, there clearly does not need to be so many women on WWE television to occupy so many roles. Furthermore, these women need to be hired not only on looks but on ability to perform in front of an audience and if not need to be taught by other women who have succeeded in this role in the past. Only by doing this can the WWE properly maximize a woman’s worth.

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