The Man has spoken.
Today (Jan. 23) reports surfaced that WWE was changing the name of their NXT Women’s Championship to simply read “NXT Championship”. The rebranding of the Rhea Ripley held title came on the heels of two notable public appearances from Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch.
As a guest on WWE Backstage on Tuesday night, Lynch commented on dropping the word “women” from WWE’s brand of wrestling. Earlier in the month, while being interviewed at the CES 2020 Conference in Las Vegas, The Man gave a rousing reply when addressing the double standard women wrestlers face in the industry.
Replying to the NXT reports, Lynch issued a statement on Twitter about WWE’s latest gender neutral move.
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) January 23, 2020
My comment about removing the word “women” from the conversion wasn't about renaming a division, it was about beginning to rethink it.
I wasn’t advocating for any changes in title names or anything else (like I’d have the power)—but simply an equal volume of opportunities that are based on skill, and not gender.
The term “women” can limit openings because phrases like, “there’s already a women’s match on the show” is still in wrestling’s historical DNA.
We’re all just Superstars who want our shots and places on the shows if we earn and deserve them.
I’d simply love us to get a place where there’s three “women’s matches” on PPV, or ten.... or none if it so happens we’re not serving the audience.
Wrestling needs Becky Lynch.