Is WWE Becoming Woman Friendlier?

So she had a plan all along
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Admit it, when AJ said she accepted a proposal from "another man" and Vince McMahon came out, you were expecting him to make the claim that he'd done something with her that is along the lines of the punchline to the joke "What's the difference between jam and jelly?" I was too, actually. No one could blame anyone for feeling like that was the road they were going down. Women in WWE are either sexy cattle or heinous bitches, and it would be a heinous act for AJ to lead on Daniel Bryan just so she could spurn him for a chance to sleep her way to the top of the company (that would be how the announcers might have spun it given the track record, even if Bryan deserved every bit of that comeuppance).

So, when she was given the position of GM without the need to give McMahon any implied sexual favors, it was as shocking as anything that happened on that landmark episode of RAW. In fact, it was an appropriate cap to the most empowering story given to a woman in WWE in recent memory. Those who thought AJ was pulling the strings all along, like Philadelphia sports talk host Spike Eskin, were rewarded with a rare satisfying payoff. The story showed AJ being spurned at first by several men, but then turned to her spinning a web that was able to play all of them to some degree. For her troubles, she was noted as someone McMahon thought had the qualities to be a leader in WWE (yes, being manipulative and clever are two traits for leadership for whatever reason... it's WWE continuity, if you don't watch you wouldn't understand), and she got the job.

For a company that would only have given that position of power to a woman because she was hot or she fucked someone in charge, that's an epic leap in progression. However, it's not at all the only sign that WWE might be changing. It started with the Divas of Doom last year, and even though that angle ended with a fizzle rather than a bang, it showed that at least someone in the front office is aware of what the perception of women is in the company. Of course, the noted "old boys" won out in the shortterm end of that angle, but with the emergence of AJ, maybe those ideas aren't dead. For example, there was Kharma appearing in the Royal Rumble and giving the Implant Buster to a guy they just gave an almost-automatic title win to. There's Eve Torres being CM Punk's voice of reason a few episodes back that I can almost guarantee was the impetus for his actions to end RAW. There's the signing of Sara del Rey to a developmental deal. Kelly Kelly was backstage at RAW, but she didn't even appear on the show. Instead, the main players were women who did more than smile and shake their assets in AJ and to Lita. And hey, Lita, holy crap, she got to do two offensive moves to Heath Slater and get a pinfall on him. Granted, it was with a lot of help, but at the same time, that angle could've been as easily executed with Gillberg as Lita.

Granted, these are only minor positives within a company that has garnered a slimy-at-best reputation for how they treat women in their employ. A few carrots dangled here and there do not equal a reversal of years and years of sexism at least and misogyny at the very worst. I'll believe that WWE has truly changed when they truly change the entire culture. That being said, it's not unreasonable to be somewhat optimistic that somewhere in Titan Towers is fighting the good fight and letting people know that women aren't things but that they're people too.

The fact that it was McMahon himself who offered the job to AJ without any hint of his Genetic Jackhammer being involved to me was the biggest sign of good faith. I'm bracing myself for disappointment, but this time around, more so than any other time in WWE's history, the time for women to shine may finally be here, as late or long awaited as it may be. Then again, as they always say, it's better late than never.