WWE Executive Stephanie McMahon-Levesque was interviewed on the Sports Business Journal World Congress of Sports as she talked about how the WWE Universe has been a huge part of the Women’s Evolution era in WWE, among other topics that were also discussed such as the WrestleMania 35 main event that featured Becky Lynch defeating Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey to capture the RAW Women’s Championship two years ago. She said,
“Don’t make me cry. I actually pulled Becky, Charlotte, and Ronda Rousey, who were the triple threat at MetLife Stadium in 2019, and before the show, I pulled them aside and just thanked them because when I was a little girl growing up, I could never have imagined seeing women as such an integral part of the show and indeed the main event. For my three little girls sitting in the front row that night, they were going to see those three women main eventing WrestleMania because that’s just the way it is. That was a really pivotal moment.
This past year’s WrestleMania, we had the first African-American female event with Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. Even though at that time it was still early in the year, early in March at Raymond James Stadium, the crowd gave so much support. The energy is just kinetic. You can feel it at WWE events. I encourage you all to go if you’ve never been before. What happened in that moment as Sasha and Bianca were standing, opposing each other, looking each other in the eyes, the audience started to show this respect. The two of them broke character for a minute and teared up, sort of made the ugly cry face, you know, where you’re trying not to cry? It was such a moment. Our fans are part of the women’s evolution. If you listen to your audience, they can impact your brand in such positive ways. Give them the power, empower your audience. We had started to train, develop, and recruit female athletes the same as men, giving them the same opportunities and the same match times, but it wasn’t until our fans started a hashtag called GiveDivasAChance in 2015 that gave rise to the whole women’s evolution in our business. Listen to your fans, give them what they want, and it’ll work.”
"Our fans are a part of the women's evolution." @BeckyLynchWWE and @StephMcMahon on the rise of women's wrestling in @WWE 👏 #SBJWCOS pic.twitter.com/cnmtPt63kr
— Sports Business Journal (@sbjsbd) October 13, 2021
