5 People Most Responsible For The Women's Evolution In The WWE

On July 13th, 2015, Stephanie McMahon introduced three NXT wrestlers that will change women's wrestling in the WWE for years to come as Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch made their main roster debuts on Monday Right RAW.

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Prior to their historic debuts, the women - who were known as WWE Divas back then- consisted mainly of former models who lacked any wrestling experience (notable exceptions included Beth Phoenix, Natalya and Mickie James) who were hired for eye candy. They also took part in such matches which included bra-and-panties matches, pillow fights, pudding matches and other steamy matches. In addition, they also took part in sexy photoshoots for WWE's website and WWE Magazine.

However, at WrestleMania 32, in Dallas, the Divas Championship (which had a pink butterfly on it that was widely loathed by fans and several wrestlers) was retired and was replaced by the Women's Championship (now RAW Women's Championship) and was contested by Flair, Banks and Lynch in which Flair won. It was certainly the match of the night.

These days, the women in the WWE now compete in steel cage matches, falls count anywhere matches, iron women matches, and in the past year, the Money in the Bank ladder match, the Elimination Chamber match and the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match.

And so without further delay, here are the five people who made the Women's Evolution in the WWE possible.

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#5 Triple H

The seeds for the future Women's Evolution was planted back in the summer of 2012 when Triple H replaced John Laurinaitis as WWE's Head of Talent. Big Johnny was criticized by the IWC when he hired mainly bodybuilders, football players and swimsuit models while ignoring independent wrestling promotions (CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were notable exceptions to the rule).

By contrast, Triple H looked to the indie circuit where he hired IWC favorites such as Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens as well as former TNA standouts A.J. Styles, Boody Roode and Samoa Joe.

But The Game eschewed the model type by hiring Banks, Lynch, Bayley and Asuka (as well as trainer Sara Del Rey), women who would not have been hired by Big Johnny otherwise.

#4 AJ Lee

AJ Lee

The wife of CM Punk, AJ Lee was not your typical model-turned-wrestler when she was hired back in 2009 after spending a few years on the indie circuit. Like Punk, Lee has been outspoken regarding WWE's treatment of its female Superstars which included calling out Stephanie McMahon on Twitter, using Patricia Arquette's Oscars speech as motivation.

Even though Lee has since retired from wrestling, she would no doubt have influenced the WWE and its treatment of women in the coming years.

#3 Stephanie McMahon

Speaking of the Billion Dollar Princess, Stephanie McMahon (who also happens to be Triple H's wife) has been responsible for getting the women equal treatment as same as their male counterparts in recent years.

In addition, she was also partly responsible for eliminating the demeaning matches which have made the women inferior to the men as well as getting UFC legend Ronda Rousey a job in the WWE.

#2 The Four Horsewomen

While the women on WWE's main roster were competing in two-minute matches on RAW and SmackDown, the women of NXT were getting longer matches as well as gaining popularity from the IWC thanks in part to shying away from eye candy looks to having tremendous wrestling talent and unique gimmicks.

The Banks vs. Bayley match at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special back in 2015 was considered the pivotal match which ignited the Women's Evolution, phasing out the models of Divas past.

#1 The Fans

When Paige and Emma faced the Bella Twins in a tag team match on the February 23, 2015 episode of Monday Night RAW, the match itself lasted all of 30 seconds. Largely influenced by the huge success of the NXT women, the WWE Universe angrily tweeted their thoughts on the match, using the hashtag #GiveDivas AChance.

Since then, the women have been getting longer matches with episodes of RAW, SmackDown and the PPVs featuring either two or even three matches as opposed to the Divas Era in which they would get one match (if they're lucky) with some shows not featuring a women's match.