Author's Note: The following article may contain bias and some language. The history portion may not be complete and leave out some minor details but still attempts to show a perspective of a viewer of the program. Please keep this in mind as you read.

If you know anything about me, it's that I grew up watching wrestling. The year was 2003.... or perhaps even 2002 - I don't remember anymore - and I was but a wee child when I saw my first episode of Monday Night RAW or my first pay-per-view on DVD. Whatever episode or pay-per-view it was, it had me hooked from the beginning; what started as something that I did to emulate my brother soon took over my life and changed me forever.

Why am I telling you this? To set up my passion as a fan and to set the scene. Hopefully it becomes more even apparent the longer you read this article, because I am writing this article out of pure passion and desire for change. As a kid, my - and essentially my family's - favorite was the high-flying daredevil named Lita. She had auburn red hair, a unique look (camo pants and a sleeveless top), and was never afraid of going after what she wanted - the Women's Championship. Her t-shirt: "This Time It Counts" was the first bit of merchandise that I ever got from WWE, and I wore it for years (I converted it to a small pillow when I outgrew it). During this year, the women wrestlers had the Women's Championship to fight for, and that was wonderful.... except it wasn't. For the past decade or so, Women's Wrestling could have been summed up in one dastardly slogan: "sex sells." The women's matches were contested in Bra and Panties matches, School Girl matches, Evening Gown matches, mud fights, and other downright degrading stipulations. Sure, women could fight in "regular" matches without these stipulations but to compare: If the men had grudges with each other, they got steel cages and Hell in a Cell matches...while the women got to rip each other's clothes off. Men's wrestling was serious; women's wrestling was sexy. And if it weren't bad enough, you could rely on actual creepy uncle Jerry "The King" Lawler to scream "PUPPIES!!" whenever he saw the women, and make other insidious comments about their bodies. Oh, the ratings are going down? Gotta bring in that HLA - Hot Lesbian Action, which in its own right, deserves to be buried and erased from history. Women were ripping off each other's clothes and making out instead of being allowed to be badasses, all in the name of "sports" entertainment. This was the message that I was engrained with as an eight year old: Sex sells if you're a woman. And if you're a woman, you were a Diva - because every girl wants to hear that they are a word synonymous in meaning with 'catty bitch.'

But the worst part of it all, WWE casts this era of 2003 to be better for Women's Wrestling than the mid-2000s and early 2010s for one main reason: Lita and Trish Stratus main evented an episode of Raw. They - the company - will tell you how Vince trusted these two women to deliver at this time, and how their rivalry was so invigorating and eye-catching and how they're the Greatest Of All Time.... while ignoring everyone else in their division who were just as important. If you watch the Women's Revolution on the WWE Network, this is the impression you get: Forget all the other great women during this time, like Jazz, Jacqueline, Ivory, Chyna, and Molly Holly; let's just focus on these two! As a Lita fan, I didn't mind especially as a kid, but looking back, it would've been nice to have more women be recognized instead of the chosen ones... but I digress.

They will never talk about those degrading match stipulations (or include them in any sort of video package or documentary), but they will scream on about how two women main evented Raw that one time because women are only useful to the product if they make history. But I'm getting ahead of myself!

Trish and Lita retired, and according to WWE and their Women's Revolution special, "something changed" in the Divas Division and the women took a backseat for years. The brand went from TV-14 to PG so while the women were freed from the scarring Bra and Panties matches, they were told that they needed to fight like "Divas" so... hair pulling, scratching, and anything and everything that made their wrestling and characters catty. This time period is seen as such a dark time for Women's Wrestling because they were given such little time in the ring and they were never allowed to outshine the men, and the crazy thing is WWE acknowledges how Women's Wrestling took a turn for the worst, but never how they were the ones at fault. Great women's talent like Michelle McCool and Melina will presumably never be awarded for their efforts because they weren't the shiny new toys (even though Michelle was a multi-time Women's and the inaugural Divas Champion and Melina was a Women's and Divas Champion).

You may be saying at this point: "Amy, get to the point." I will. But history needs to be carefully explained first

One final point about this era that is crucial: WWE introduced a new championship for the women... the Divas Championship! And it was an actual pink butterfly! Because women are supposed to be girly and they love pink and butterflies, right? Who needs gold! Not only that but... the Pink Butterfly replaced the gold Women's Championship in 2010, emphasizes the darkness of this time period for the women.

Now the time is about 2013, and there is change in the air... it comes down to one woman, and her name is AJ Lee. When I first saw her, I hated her, but she had my attention. And that was the most significant part about her: She had my attention, and she had the crowd's attention, or at the very least, was starting to. She had been on the rise and suddenly became Divas Champion, and if you read her book: "Crazy Is My Superpower," she will explain her many incidents backstage where she essentially went to management and demanded better for the women or how she took matters into her own hands and did what she wanted in the ring. She held the Pink Butterfly for 295 days, the longest of its time (oh, I will get to that!) before dropping it to an up-and-comer in Paige. At the same time as AJ changing the main roster, WWE had its developmental brand "NXT" where the women were in the Women's Division (not the Divas) and fought for the NXT Women's Championship. Paige and Emma were practically killing each other in order to be a champion (a clear main event scene) while the First Lady of NXT, Summer Rae and the early stages of the Boss, Sasha Banks were forming the BFFs. Bayley came into the company in awe and starry-eyed while Charlotte was learning the ropes, making a name for herself outside of her father's shadow... no pressure, it's just Ric Flair! Emphasis on how NXT was developmental (the "minor leagues"), and yet the women were fleshed-out characters - dare I say, they were people! So when Paige and AJ clashed in April of 2014, the audience smelled true change in the air, and they were truly excited. Longer matches, no more degrading stipulations...

Except... not. Paige became Divas Champion and had her character sucked out of her; the raven haired Brit suddenly went from a legitimate badass to a scared newbie... did I mention she was the champion for the division?

By the end of the year, AJ and Paige were in a hot feud - they had an undeniable chemistry and they were trying to prove that they were the best at the end of the day - before their feud was bleeding into the side feud. I have failed to mention at this point that the women were used to getting one segment per show, and if they were lucky, one match on PPVs! The men can get seven matches filled with worthless feuds, but the women getting one... much less two? Unthinkable!

Back to what I was saying: AJ and Paige's feud toward the end of 2014 was bleeding into the side feud for the women - the undercard of the Women's Division, if you will. Between the Bella Twins whose feud heralded from the dark ages: A bunch of "catty bitches" who were most importantly beautiful and TWINS! They brought in Jerry Springer and Nikki told Brie how she wished she died in the womb with arguably the worst acting skills the audience had ever seen... though Brie's fake crying is a close second. Nikki was thrust into the Paige/AJ feud without Brie as her actua servant, and while she didn't win the triple threat match between Paige, AJ, and her (AJ won), she, at Survivor Series, would capture the Divas title. In fifteen seconds. Brie committed sexual assault (a forced kiss) as a distraction to AJ... and the rest is history.

Woohoo, we are finally getting to the point! Nikki was champion for 301 days, and if you remembered from earlier, AJ's first reign was 295 days. For 301 days, Nikki had a little over 10 defenses, and all about two ended dirty. Why is this bad, Amy? She was a heel, and heels do dirty things, e`specially as champ (heels are the bad guys, if you don't know)! I acknowledge this to be true, however... during this time period of 301 days (from November 2014 to September 2015) she would spend months not defending, and when she did, it was against one person: Paige. With Paige, the twins would spray paint her skin darker, steal her clothes, and incorporate "twin magic" (Nikki would roll out of the ring and then under the ring so Brie could appear and finish the match) into damn near every title defense. Watching this was exhausting as a viewer and frankly, it was insulting - women could never be people; they were always charicatures who needed to look and act one way: Catty. And damn, the wrestling was nothing to write home about. Nothing inspiring. Now, I hold no ill will to either Bella Twin, regardless of the tone of this article; they were women who were doing what they were told to do. However, that does not absolve them, or frankly anyone - Creative included - from criticism. When Paige left to film a movie, they introduced Naomi as a disgruntled member of the Division, a new heel to challenge Nikki. Naomi felt held back and decided to make an opportunity for herself, and at the end of the day, could you blame her? She had been in the company for around five or six years at the time and given zero championships as a service to her work. What happened at Extreme Rules when she forged her way to the Divas Championship? She lost. What could've been a new spark was squandered as soon as it appeared. Oh, but she's beaten Nikki clean multiple times! In non-title matches on Raw/Smackdown and tag matches on pay-per-view. When Paige came back, Naomi was forced to go to the back. The crowd was as exhausted as I was, and they did not care in the least bit anymore. The dark ages were back...

Now picture this: July 2015. The main roster looks bleak, but down in NXT there's a fire. Long women's matches... I'm talking 15+ minutes. Actual, fleshed out characters. Women main eventing the show reguarly. An electric crowd who cared about these women... more than for just their appearance. Regular and guaranteed spots on the live specials. Did I mention this was developmental yet? The Four Horsewomen of NXT - four of the most fleshed out, inspirational women's wrestlers of 2015 - were on the horizon.

Stephanie McMahon comes to Raw one night in July to interrupt the Divas Champion's promo, saying how there needs to be a spark in the company, women are taking over sports everywhere... and introduces three of the Four Horsewomen: Becky Lynch, Charlotte (Flair), and Sasha Banks, in that order. The audience popped huge, and everything lived happily ever after! That, my friends, was the Divas Revolution!

Except... no. You see, I have reached the point of the Divas Revolution and my main point of the article, but if you have read this far and noticed how as I explain many of these "eras," you'll have picked up that there were significant ups and downs. Women could wrestle!...in degrading matches. Women didn't have degrading matches!...but weren't allowed to wrestle for longer than three minutes. Finally, the three out of the four Horsewomen were on the main roster to show these "Divas" how to wrestle! But... but... confusion erupted during the Divas Revolution. The women were... split into three teams... and thrown solely in two- and three- women tag matches... and given 10+ minutes to wrestle... This, my friends, is how not to introduce new faces to a new crowd. No one was allowed to shine. And the Divas Championship was all but forgotten, when it was more important than ever to highlight it.

WWE wanted us to shut up about how they treated their women, so under the guise of a "revolution" that they put minimum effort into, they "spotlighted" their women. And fed us the same match over and over and over - from Raw to Smackdown to even two pay-per-views! But isn't this what we wanted? More wrestling and the women? New characters?

AJ was gone, and with her, her longest reign of 295 days, eliminated from history out of spite. Charlotte dethroned Nikki... wasn't that the next step in this Revolution? Charlotte, to be frank, wasn't all that ready, but she made for a better champion in my opinion as she defended a consistent basis - once every pay-per-view, and occasionally on the shows. But there was that lull again...

Until Becky stepped in. These two were best friends, and WWE highlighted this, but after Ric Flair started escorting Charlotte (a smart idea in the end, as much as we all hated it at the time), she began to turn into her father... the Dirtiest Player in the Game. She was cheating, interfering in matches... the friendship was crumbling til it reached nuclear; Charlotte attacked Becky and people were flabbergasted. There was an evil bad guy in Charlotte and a pure good guy in Becky, AKA the fundamentals to storytelling. The fans knew who to root for and who to boo, and they were white hot; it didn't solidify in a championship reign for Becky, but people were invested again in the women. Sasha Banks, astronomically a fan favorite, returned to our screens after suffering a minor injury, and had her sights on the Divas Championship. Suddenly, the championship was important... it was regularly defended and highlighted - though it was frustrating that interference played a significant part of the defenses - and multiple women wanted it. Brie wanted it; she turned into a fan favorite after her husband retired and Nikki was out with an incredibly scary neck injury so she had the "I'm doing this for my family" schtick. Sasha wanted to be the best and reign over the division. Becky wanted to get her revenge for the betrayal and prove herself. Naomi and Tamina wanted to put their names out there for a championship match. Suddenly the division was clear, and the Revolution meant something. At Wrestlemania 32, the Divas Championship was to be retired, replaced with the brand new Women's Championship that resembled the World Championship for the men, just with a white strap. The women were no longer "Divas" - they were finally called Superstars. For the first time, WWE truly seemed committed to forging a path for the women, as this match for the Women's Championship - Becky Lynch v Sasha Banks v Charlotte Flair - is what many fans say saved the show from being considered poor. The crowd cared, the championship was gold and similar to the men - a statement that the women were equals to them - and the match proved why they were main eventers. The Divas Revolution... Now the Women's (R)Evolution... was a success.

Except... no. To this day, if the women aren't making history, the women can't even get two segments much anymore. We are still in a period of high ups and low lows, and as a fan of Women's Wrestling, I am exhausted. Has there been progress? Yes. Women main evented Raw, Smackdown, and Hell in a Cell throughout last year. The women have gotten a second title: the Smackdown Women's Championship (the WWE Women's Championship was renamed the Raw Women's Championship due to a brand split and separate rosters). The women have been in previously male stipulations: Hell in a Cell, Tables, Money in the Bank, Last Woman Standing, Steel Cage, Falls Count Anywhere, and probably more. Just this year at Elimination Chamber, But this is all for the sake of history and attention, not for the sake of developing the Women's Divisions. The storytelling is incredibly inconsistent, the characters have been reductive (Bayley, the last Horsewoman, went from being an innocent but strong character who learned from lessons to an actual child, and Alexa Bliss is a high school bully much like Nikki Bella was, for example), and for the past few weeks, the women have been an after thought, hot shotting random characters to the title picture without explanation over on Smackdown and hot potato-ing the once prestigious Raw Women's Championship on Raw. At Summerslam, the women got a total of 2 matches on a 13 match card, and they only got it because of the championships. Four women on one card, out of around 20.

To create change, we must use our voices and speak up. I am very thankful to live in an era where my gender doesn't have to partake in a Bra and Panties match ever again (fingers crossed), and where they can truly wrestle... we have made such incredible progress and I love seeing all of this happen, but work is still needed. We have come this far, and we must keep challenging them to do better; we as the consumers of a product need to put our foot down and tell WWE to get their heads on straight and be a better company. We complained and we were loud; that's why they made a change in the first place. It is up to us as fans to continue being that loud to the point where they can't ignore us so that they can't get too comfortable and complacent. I want better for the women, and they should, too. The only reason why WWE even bothered to do anything for and with the women is because we as a fanbase spoke up and heckled them; we showed them that we cared, are invested, and want something new and fresh. Now we have to keep that up! It's a check and balances sort of system, if you will.

I reiterate: The Divas Revolution was just a marketing ploy. WWE as a company want to make money (which is fine) but they still have yet to see their women as equal. As a fan, I won't stop rooting for the women because st the end of the day, I want to see my gender succeed; I am sick and tired of seeing so much emphasis on the men. They can get a bunch of meaningless feuds while my own gender can't even get ten minutes per show. WWE only cares enough to line their pockets, and they just want credit for all of the history women have been making. How many times must we go through the motions of ups and downs before true, permanent change is achieved?