WWE abandoned the term "Divas" in 2016, officially calling women "superstars" and naming the title the Women's Championship instead of Divas Championship.
WWE has gone full-bore with the Women's Revolution, but E! Network remains bearish on re-branding. "Total Divas", the reality show focusing on the personal lives of certain female WWE superstars, continues to use the Divas name even though WWE has disassociated themselves from the term.
At ACE Comic Con, Nikki Bella revealed that she has tried to get E! Network executives to change the name, but they aren't budging.
"Being an executive producer of 'Total Divas' we've had so many discussions about changing the name of the show," she said. "Unfortunately, it's on network TV and you can't just change the name one day. They have felt that people will still be connected with it even though it's called 'Total Divas.' I feel the opposite. I feel like there's a huge disconnect because we've made that name so bad. Even us girls in the past...when they brought out the Butterfly Championship, we were like, 'Oh.' We weren't expecting it. It's totally cute, but it wasn't like...that's what the women were craving. They were craving what it is now."
Bella is the longest reigning Divas Champion, holding the title for 301 days from November 2014 to September 2015.
It would be unfair to blame the name of the show for falling ratings and viewership, but "Total Divas" certainly isn't the hit it was when it premiered in 2013. The most recent episode drew 38,000 fans. Season 8 is averaging 395,000 viewers through four episodes. Last season averaged 577,500 viewers during the 12 episode run.
