WrestleMania 40: Give WWE women the steering wheel

WrestleMania 40 must have missed the memo: The women of WWE are more than capable of taking the helm.

WrestleMania 40 must have missed the memo: The women of WWE are more than capable of taking the helm.

Despite two strong title matches and a six-woman tag team with historic implications, WWE women will not main event either night of this year’s WrestleMania.

Instead, headlining both nights is an unfinished story and a 1,307-day title reign. The epics need an ending. For nearly four years, some version of The Bloodline has dominated the title scene, and it’s left little for those not involved in the drama. Then, an overly-calculated wrench was thrown into the works, and, to the disdain of many, The Rock returned.

(Act normal everyone, the boss is here.)

Play the tape forward. The Rock declared himself Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania opponent when Cody Rhodes backed down — a move that made zero sense story-wise, infuriated fans and ultimately led to a story redirection.

Keep fast-forwarding that tape. The Rock berated Rhodes for bailing on the match. The Rock joined The Bloodline. The Rock nicknamed himself “The Final Boss” (see: Meiko Satomura). The Rock issued a convoluted challenge to Rhodes and Seth Rollins. The result? Night 1: Rhodes and Rollins vs. Reigns and the Rock. Night 2: Rhodes vs. Reigns, shenanigans to be determined by the winner of night 1.

The WrestleMania 40 main events are by-product of a messy effort to fit every top guy into the puzzle.

That is a lot of exposition on the WrestleMania 40 main event scene for an article clearly intended to explore women’s wrestling struggles. It may seem excessive, spelling it all out, but that’s exactly the point: This is overkill. The whole mess comes off as melodramatic, hastily changed and not purposeful enough to encourage anticipation. It does capitalize on one thing, though: nostalgia.

Something else missing from this saga? Women’s wrestling.

We’ll preface by saying there have been plenty of overcomplicated stories from the women’s division that hindered their relationship with fans; they’re not immune to similar hang-ups. Remember when James Ellsworth won the Money in the Bank briefcase for Carmella? What about the Lana-Rusev-Dolph Ziggler-Summer Rae love fiasco? We can’t forget how Lacey Evans started a relationship with Ric Flair just to get under Charlotte’s skin. And let’s agree to never talk about Dawn Marie and Al Wilson.

The women and men both have had horrid stories, with obvious differences.

The mucky men’s story, though, gets the main event. The women, regardless if the feud is riveting or not, don’t get that chance nearly as much. The potential has always been there for a remarkable women’s main event; Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks delivered it at WrestleMania 37.

WWE seemingly understands the worth of its women superstars, yet still can not exceed the industry standard of booking women to fall short of their male counterparts. This leads us to where we seem to always land: WWE women deserve better.

At the time of this writing, there are 13 matches announced for WrestleMania 40, only three of them women’s bouts.

Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi will face Damage CTRL (Asuka, Dakota Kai and Kairi Sane). The significance of this match can not be overstated in an industry that does not honor and respect Black women like it should. The representation has real, positive effects on the fans. Women and girls see themselves in this match and it has impact.

That’s just one side of the fight, too. Asuka, Sane and Kai are acknowledged as undeniable talent. There’s no uncertainty at the level of greatness Damage CTRL is about to hand us, easily a banner match for either night of the big show.

Continuing on, IYO SKY will defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Bayley. We all saw this coming, right? Sane returned to WWE and Bayley was left on the outside looking in at her former stable. Turning Bayley face in the process, Damage CTRL kicked Bayley out of the group, and suddenly the 2024 Royal Rumble winner knew her destiny for WrestleMania 40.

In the second of the women’s title matches, Rhea Ripley will defend her Women’s World Championship against Becky Lynch. Lynch won her shot after winning the 2024 Elimination Chamber women’s match. The story here is that both women are really good, and both want to prove it to the other.

Do the women’s matches stack up against the current main events, story-wise? Of course not. None of the women have taken center stage for nearly four years. There simply hasn’t been that type of commitment to the women’s division.

Could one of the women’s title matches carry a main event with the story they do have? Yes, if WWE had given the stories time and creative investment. The stories were built enough to give the women’s division power, but not enough that would give them undisputable access to a main event.

Do the main events necessarily need a larger-than-life story? Honestly? Yes. WrestleMania is the biggest show of the year for the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. Fans need a finale. WWE is story-focused, and putting a technical masterclass as a main event will just not sell to its current fanbase.

Does any story need to take up the main event of both nights, one of which will be a match with certain interference overload? No. It’s too much. The Cody-Roman saga has taken enough airtime already.

IYO SKY and Bayley would be an easy main event for night 1, especially if you’re putting the six-woman tag match on before. The narrative is there.

Bayley has an incredible talent for pulling fans to her corner of the ring, whether she’s face or heel. She is a wrestling standard, a pillar of WWE. So is SKY. They could end their tale in a way that doesn’t sacrifice entertainment for predictability.

Ripley vs. Lynch doesn’t have a big story to lean on. They may not need one. Both women are admired for their talent in the ring. Some feuds are just fine as, “I run this show, and I’m going to prove it to you.”

Really driving the point home, Lynch and Bayley have recently gone on record with their thoughts on women taking the lead at WrestleMania.

Bayley told Alex McCarthy of Daily Mail that with the caliber of talent in the women’s division, there’s no reason they shouldn’t have the main event.

“I would never say that two women shouldn’t be main-eventing a WrestleMania; especially at the caliber of Rhea and Becky.”

Continuing, Bayley told McCarthy it was her spot to take.

“With all due respect, I would like to take that [main event]. Rhea, you’re very young.”

Lynch, too, spoke out on getting the recognition she is owed, telling Under the Ring’s Phil Strum women’s wrestling shouldn’t exist separately from wrestling as a whole.

“When it becomes too much like ‘look at this historical women’s whatever, insert x,’ it kind of starts to feel a little condescending,” Lynch told Strum. “And I didn’t want that, I don’t want that in general. I just want to get opportunity based on the good work that I’ve done.”

Lynch makes a strong point: Women shouldn’t get opportunities just because they’re women. The goal of equality is for those lines to disappear, not bolden.

So, while this article argues for WWE women to get their chance at running the show, it’s not because they are women. Systematically, there has been an imbalance in treatment of the divisions, despite the amount of talent in the women’s ranks. Women in sports just want to be known as athletes and as advocates. That’s our endgame.

Predictably, almost methodically, the women’s division is looking at less than one-fourth of the WrestleMania 40 card. That’s not taking into account the potential ratio of match time, either.

It shouldn’t take hashtag movements or written essays to convince wrestling to treat women like athletes who deserve their spot. Frustratingly, it takes the motivation and determination of promoters to move that needle. Movements have no power if those in power don’t make the moves. How long do fans and women wrestlers have to shout before those moves are made?

The women of WWE have proven themselves capable of taking the wheel. The trust is there. The desire is noticeable. The clamor exists. The WrestleMania 40 card might already be set in stone, but the work for next year begins now.

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