The Unspoken Divas
So… can we talk about how the vast majority of the women on this show were completely forgettable? It seems like WWE wanted to focus more on the few that were creating tons of drama – and to be fair, that’s what sells reality television – and the few decent athletes with real potential were just background noise. In an age where the company is trying really hard to pretend that women’s wrestling matters to them, this just seemed like a huge Total Divas-sized patriarchal slap in the face.
Amanda: was the first woman to complete the football stadium challenge, and then we really never saw a lot of her for the rest of the episode.
Giorgia: The fitness model from Australia noted during ‘Tough Talk’ that the producers told her to say she was single as a major character point. It led to a great exchange where Daniel Bryan sarcastically couldn’t believe that reality television wasn’t “100% real”, and The Miz – as a former reality TV star – threw a fit about it. This was more entertaining than the entire 30-minute Tough Enough episode. Giorgia is another that basically got forgotten because she wasn’t dramatic enough to be granted screen time.
Sara Lee: She had a brief clip at the start about being a small-town girl, and then practically disappeared. It seemed like she was trying to stay out of the drama, which you would THINk is a good thing, but because they’re basically producing the women as Total Divas stars on this show, she’s going to get left behind.
Daria: She “came out” on national television during the Competition Special, but blew her spot when asked during Tough Enough what was the biggest risk she had ever taken. Still, she did well enough in Tough Talk and seemed to have support from the fans. Next week she needs to have an actual presence on the show that matters.
