What kills me from Nikki and her defenders is the idea that she is somehow entitled to people's respect and some measure of "credit." Why exactly? Because she stars on a reality show that has had dwindling viewers for years? Even when we concede that Total Divas brought in a new set fans, are we really going to act like that alone entitles the Bellas to more props than the 4HW, AJ Lee, Paige, Emma, or any of
the other women who were on the show with them? Why do Nikki and Brie get more credit than Cameron, Naomi, Nattie, Summer Rae, or Alicia Fox to name a few?
The reason AJ Lee's "Pipebomb Shell" promo was so effective was because there was already a strong resentment toward the Divas among the WWE fans who actually watched wrestling, female fans included.* Fan who watched Joshi promotions like Stardom and even stateside stuff like Shimmer and TNA**, fans who knew women's wrestling could be good, hated the Divas division because it was just....bad.
AJ got on because fans saw her as offering something different, on top of the fact that she wasn't afraid to speak out on the company's bullshyt re: the women. Paige got on because despite also being on TD, fans saw her the same way. The Bellas, by comparison, were the prototypical "Divas." They had their fans. They've always had their fans. However, we have got to stop trying to revise history to say they put the women on their back and brought this whole thing about. They didn't. The Bellas, especially Nikki, would have been more than happy to let the women continue on the path they were on if it meant they were still the stars and were still cashing the biggest checks. And hey: that's the game at work. It is what it is, but don't be mad at people for seeing it.
The "revolution," at least among the fans, was started in response to them and desire to see better than what they offered at the time. It is what it is. The "evolution" part of this whole thing - that is, WWE's corporate co-opting of it - has done nothing but try and make the Bellas a bigger part of the whole thing. They bring up Nikki being the longest reigning Divas Champion all the time despite the fact that they themselves bushed the Divas title and treated it like a lesser thing at Wrestle-fukking-mania. The Bellas get to be on both shows. They got a spinoff of TD that's just about them even though they're still on TD. They main evented Evolution with Ronda Rousey. They have an increasingly large contingent of fans willing to defend them at every turn. Again, what more does Nikki want?
*Can we stop pretending that female wrestling fans weren't a thing before Total Divas? Lowkey, it's sexist as hell to act like the women watching today only showed up because of some reality show on the E network. There have always been female WWE fans and female fans of wrestling in general. Half of today's women roster grew up on WWE. I know folks want Total Divas to be this huge revolutionary game changer, but let's not erase the people who were already watching and supporting the women even when you didn't give a shyt.
**Funny how we have this big controversy over the word "Diva" when Impact still calls their women's division "The Knockouts" - an term often used to comment on a woman's looks - and no one bats an eye. Could it be that, despite some dark periods here and there, the Knockouts division has generally been treated with respect and been allowed to main event shows and have whole PPVs and the company hasn't gone out of its way to shyt on the term?
