It’s funny how things can change so much in just seven days, yet still remain very much the same. Since last Thursday, it’s been one bombshell after another. In the last seven days, both WWE and TNA have made, I’m sure what they consider to be ‘wise business decisions’, in releasing Mickie James and allowing Tara to slip through their fingers. It is odd to watch this as a fan, as we effectively need to readjust the way we watch women’s wrestling on national television and prepare ourselves to no longer see two women, who combined, have probably entertained us for some 12-13 years. When it rains, it pours, right?
I say that things still remain the same because though these two extremely popular women have moved on or are going to move on, the status quo remains unchanged and that status quo is that the women aren’t considered as valuable as the men. Who’d have thought that Mickie James, the heir apparent to Trish Stratus’ throne, would leave under any circumstance other than her own? James seemingly had a meal ticket for as long as she wanted and seemingly had a send-off somewhere between Trish’s and the then-Victoria’s whenever she did hang up her boots. Where did it all go wrong? I’m sure you’re reading much speculation on the Internet, but it baffles me that WWE would dismiss the fact that Mickie was the most popular Diva in the WWE with audience reaction far more than that of some of the men they seem intent on pushing to the moon. Perhaps Mickie’s release should have been foreshadowed when WWE pulled a similar stunt in February, releasing Maria Kanellis, also extremely popular as proven by the fact that she won a worldwide fan vote for ‘Diva of the Year’ in December. Are the women that expendable? Are they that interchangeable?
