I really think somebody up top (probably Vince) doesn't believe in the roster enough to think they can draw without returns of some kind. That's not exclusive to the women's division either.
Vince has always been like this. He had Bruno wrestling in the early-to-mid 80's. He brought back Backlund in the mid-90's. The only reason Hogan & Macho Man didn't step on Austin/Rock during the Attitude era is because of WCW. Otherwise, that would have happened too.