Looking Back At WWE ‘Total Divas’ 10 Years Later

[chazraps]

Nikki and Brie are deserving Hall of Famers and "Total Divas" did so much positive for wrestling. It brought wrestling to a demographic in a way that meant them where they were at and was a tremendous gateway. Working in radio, I've spoken to SO MANY women whose first exposure to any wrestling was Total Divas and that turned them into fans to this day who attend all the local indys and keep up with the major promotions.

I haven't seen many episodes, but it directly lead to so, so, SO many new people discovering a love of wrestling. I struggle to see how that's anything but a great thing.

[Push R Truth]

R Truth's speech about why he hates cats needs to be included in his Hall of Fame induction.


Him at Natty's house was Grade A entertainment. Same with Big E trying to bang Natty's sister.
Lillian Garcia, The Fairy Godmother of all Divas was something special.
Same with Mother Hen Tamina.
Cena and Bryan: Not-Quite-Brother's-in-Law was good shit too

[XIII]

If anything Total Divas gave the WWE an idea that maybe people would watch the women. It’s an underrated part of the women’s division evolution in the WWE. Not the most important part of course, but it helped in its own way.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Still feel bad for Eva Marie she was thrown out there with minimal training and when she realized that she was in over her head they refused to let her get more training until years later...

Not that I think she would have ever been a six star worker but they threw her to the wolves.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

Jul 17, 2023 14:18:56 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Nikki and Brie are deserving Hall of Famers and "Total Divas" did so much positive for wrestling. It brought wrestling to a demographic in a way that meant them where they were at and was a tremendous gateway. Working in radio, I've spoken to SO MANY women whose first exposure to any wrestling was Total Divas and that turned them into fans to this day who attend all the local indys and keep up with the major promotions.

I haven't seen many episodes, but it directly lead to so, so, SO many new people discovering a love of wrestling. I struggle to see how that's anything but a great thing.

Yep, my sister-in-law does not follow wrestling at all, but she absolutely knows a lot more about it thanks to watching this show.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

And y’all are seriously making me tempted to watch this. It sounds right up my alley.

[mj0mn0m]

Jul 17, 2023 10:24:56 GMT -5 Hypnosis said:

Wow, gr8 picks out of 100,000 possibilities!

> When you try to finally make brownies but just end up eating the butter... 🤷‍♀️

> Liv's a hot mess! 🙌 😂

> Love this show, will definitely rewatch the whole thing inside a year.

[cassonova]

I personally thought it was boring, most of the time. Not that there weren't moments of brilliance. However, it was inoffensive, so I never had any qualms with it.

[Banjo Is Broken]

It introduced my lonely heart to Eva Marie, so for that I am eternally grateful.

[PKO]

A reality show following attractive women in wrestling was such a no brainier, I’m surprised it took them so long. Really they were a bit late to the party; it would have been perfect timing (in terms of TV trends) to have had a show after the first Diva Search in 2004…and can you imagine with that group of women? That thing would have been drama personified. I legit think that would have been a huge hit.

As it stands they made a perfectly serviceable scripted reality show. Not my cup of tea so I wasn’t an avid viewer, but positively comparable to the genre. It did well in ratings and I saw it pop up in the media outside wrestling regularly. All in all a success, which is more than can be said for a lot of WWE’s ventures (and many fans thought it would flop).

It always should have been a stand alone product though, the initial attempts to bleed it into RAW and Smackdown led to some bad TV. The Bellas have kind of confirmed in recent years that it’s because Vince didn’t like not being in control of the show, so I guess this was his way of kind of claiming control.

[King Devitt and the Woke Mob]

It never appealed to me as it was the kind of TV I don't really like, but I'll be damned if it wasn't good at what it did.

For better or worse it left its mark.

[BorneAgain]

I was fine with Total Divas but was always confused about the fact that it acknowledged wrestling as a work… while the kayfabe program then referenced that show as part of its own storylines. It would be like having a reality show about the making of the MCU and then having Steve Rogers mad at Tony Stark for being on that show.

Just bizarre stuff when you think about it.

[edgestar]

It gave us Cena finding out that Nikki didn't use a coaster.... And thus, a meme was born. 🤣

[wallabylikeyou]

Total Divas helped WWE, famously slow on the uptake, realise that women actually watch television, something I honestly don't think they realised before that. It definitely was a bigger part of the sea change in how they present women than it's given credit for.

[wallabylikeyou]

Also a MUCH bigger factor in the rehabilitation of John Cena's image than it's given credit for.