USA Today‘s Josh Barnett recently spoke with the WWE Women’s division athletes in advance of Wrestlemania 33; you can read some highlights below:
Charlotte Flair comments on the progress made by WWE’s women in the past year since retiring the term ‘Diva’ at Wrestlemania 32:
“I always think there’s more work to be done. But if you look at 2016 as a whole, Sasha and I having the first-ever women’s Hell In A Cell match, we main-evented a pay-per-view, we stole the show at WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium. There’s always a women’s match on the show; sometimes on RAW and Smackdown, there are two matches. I think that they are giving us more and more opportunity every week.”
Beth Phoenix comments on how WWE has changed the look of the women’s division since she competed herself:
“There were times where that wasn’t the trend to have wrestling matches. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it wasn’t the style, it wasn’t the brand, it wasn’t the flavor of the month. …
“This movement happening now is girls getting opportunities that they have had occasionally in the past, but not consistently. There were some amazing gimmick matches and Trish Stratus and Lita main-evented RAW (in 2004). Now there is a consistent drive to market the girls as equal as men, and I think it’s awesome.”
Bayley comments on her connection to the fans, still feeling like a fan herself:
“I still feel I’m such a fan, and I literally every time I come out, I can’t believe that I’m here and I really do this. I still remember just the feeling of being at WWE shows. Maybe they can sense that or maybe not. For me, every time I give out a shirt or give a hug to one of the kids or high-five one of the dudes wearing my headband, I just remember how cool it was to have my favorite superstars look at a sign I spent all night making or even point in my direction. It would make my whole night.
“I want to give back, and I also feel like such a fan. I’m so excited to be there so I can’t imagine how they feel.”
