Photo from TMZ.com
First, let me say that Brie Bella is a true warrior and hero to women everywhere. She did play an integral part in the women's division before having children. Yes, other women have had children while on the WWE roster. For instance, Rosa Mendes had a child while on the WWE roster but she never returned to the WWE. Additionally, the WWE did not see the same value in Mendes as they do with Bella and didn't give Mendes the same opportunities the did Brie. Because of this, Brie has been able to return to the WWE after giving birth and that is a testament to her strength and popularity. Not because she kept her job and place after having a child but also because she got back into ring shape after having a child.... let's face it very few mothers have stepped between the WWE ropes (on a professional full-time basis).
Now, to the injury. Really, the injury was due to timing and carelessness. Based on the video it seems Liv was selling the kicks in a certain way and Brie failed to realize the way that Liv was moving and selling. She should have realized the way that Liv was selling and reacted accordingly. Rather, it seems she was wrapped up in the excitement of the move and failed to adjust her speed. Another reason could be her lack of confidence. I personally have been the victim of social media harassment and bullying many times and it is not fun. Brie's confidence may be down after her two botched suicide dives went viral. Unfortunately, people on social media are cruel and enjoy putting people down. Every like, retweet and comment that supports the criticism of your mistake damages not only your confidence and self-esteem but also your overall self-worth especially when it is work related. Now, people are saying fire the Bellas, Brie is unsafe. People forget quickly that Brie has been working pretty safe for many years. This is her first notable injury that I know about...even if there were others this is the first that got so much traction.
The truth is, this is another way to shame women wrestlers. First, critics wanted more attractive wrestlers, therefore the likes of Bull Nakano and Bertha Faye were shunned. This desire for attractive and glamorous women's wrestlers started with The Fabulous Moolah who was much smaller and dainty than her predecessor Mildred Burke. After Moolah, beautiful athletes like Sensational Sherri and Alundra Blayze lit up the women's wrestling division with their strikingly beautiful looks and extraordinary toughness. However, it was the beauty of Miss Elizabeth that captured the most praise and adoration from fans. Thus, when the women's division was reignited in the late 1990s beauty and sex was primary and athleticism was secondary. There were gems in the late 1990s like Trish Stratus, Lita, and Jacqueline that were super sexy and super good workers. These women re-defined the women's championship and I'm sure made their predecessors proud. At the same time, the late1990s generated women's champions like Sable, Debra, and The Kat who had no professional wrestling experience and very little knowledge and respect for the wrestling business. It was these women whose naked bodies and sexy clothes turned women's wrestling into divas wrestling.
After this era, the WWE adopted the Divas Championship to coincide with the shift from women's wrestling to divas entertainment. This is the era where we got women like the Bellas. Now, the Divas Championship did not represent the most awful era of wrestling as there were some good workers in the division. AJ Lee, Mickie James, Michelle McCool, Beth Pheonix, Paige, and Melina are all former Divas champions. All are great workers and had and have a passion for the business. However, to be an essential part of the women's roster wrestling skills were not at the forefront. This does not mean these women cannot wrestle. Nikki Bella has improved light years since the Divas days. So has Brie Bella. Both women are fighting and improving to stay relevant so they can hang with the likes of Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Asuka, and Naomi. These women are so darn good at wrestling that they have reshaped the division and called for a women's evolution.
Meanwhile, Brie chose to have a child and now is struggling to get her spot back. She is trying to prove herself, to the other women and to the fans that she can come back and contend with the best of the best. Suicide dives were never her thing, however, now they are a regular part of being a WWE Women's Superstar. She is trying to catch up which we all should respect and understand. So many male wrestlers have injured people...Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, etc., yet fans chuck that up as apart of the business. However, when Brie Bella injures Liv Morgan she needs to be removed because she is considered "dangerous". Harsh but lower grade of criticism was directed to Sasha Banks; fans lost their mind when she injured Paige. Did fans lose their mind when Goldberg ended Bret Hart's career? Mind you Bret has never injured a single wrestler his entire career. No, fans did not attack Goldberg; because that was part of the business. The fans ate up Goldberg's 2016 return even though he ended the career of arguably one of or even the greatest to ever step between the ropes.
Thus, fans should afford Brie Bella the same optimism and respect that Rollins, Joe, and Goldberg received when they injured and/or ended careers. First women weren't pretty enough, then not skilled enough and now we are at the point where women's wrestling is at an all-time high. This has created shaming. Brie Bella is being shamed because she is a remnant of the Divas Division. She is being overly critiqued and judged based on the assumption that because she was apart of the Divas Divison she, therefore, is not qualified or skilled enough to wrestle in a WWE ring today. Meanwhile, WWE is pressuring her to do suicide dives and do things that she never has done before to keep up with the rest of the roster. Which is doubly hard because not only are these moves outside of her comfort zone, she also just had a baby.
WWE may need to train with Brie more to readjust her...but blaming her and shaming her is not called for. It is unfair and still demonstrates an underlying degree of sexism that still exists in women's wrestling today.
The real issue is....why didn't WWE stop the match?
-Britt Star
Comments
Post a Comment