2018 will see the first ever women's Royal Rumble match in WWE, and one WWF veteran thinks it should have happened long ago.
Speaking on his Triple Threat Podcast, former ECW and NWA Champion Shane Douglas spoke on the subject of the first ever Royal Rumble match for the females, and even admits he hasn't given much support to women's wrestling in the past.
"I've said it before that I am not and haven't been throughout my career a huge supporter of women's wrestling and I haven't paid that much attention to it. But I will say this that with as over as the (Total) Divas show has gotten it seems to be the more buzz-worthy part of WWE these days. I think it is completely in line and long overdue. Why not let the women have the same crack at it that the men had? If you are a WWE fan (which I am not) and if you are a fan of that than I don't see why you wouldn't demand to see who will come out on top of this match."
"I think it is completely appropriate and long overdue but sadly I think it has more to do with identity politics and that women are out there making a lot of noise right now and getting a lot of traction so let’s go in that direction. Be that as it may and if that is the reason or if it is not the reason I think it is long overdue. They've been the more spoken about part of the WWE now for several years so why not give them equal footing."
“If you look at the WWE from the last several years it is the ladies division that has gotten a lot more press and far more traction and far more buzz than the men’s division. We’ve seen the men’s division side of it decline to an incredibly low level and seems like every year it is declining and that the women’s shows still have some punch behind them. I hear far more buzz about the women wrestlers than I do the men wrestlers in the WWE which leads me to believe that it has more buzz behind it. If that is not true go attack me on social media about it. It seems that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and it seems to me that is where the WWE has placed their assets and it is far more behind the women’s division than the men’s division.”
Despite only having short runs with WWF, Douglas himself appeared in the 1991 Royal Rumble, which he also discussed on the air.
You can see the full podcast at this link, or below. Thank you to Chad and John for the transcript.
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