9 Things That Have Changed In The WWE Women's Division Since WrestleMania 32

On April 3rd, 2016, the landscape of the WWE was changed forever when WWE Hall of Famer Lita introduced a new WWE Women's Championship belt (later renamed the RAW Women's Championship when the RAW and SmackDown split into two brands again later that summer) just prior to the critically acclaimed Triple Threat Match between Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 32.

This retired the WWE Divas Championship as well as the Divas moniker which were both loathed by numerous fans as well as both current and former WWE Superstars such as Flair (who was the last Divas Champion), Banks, Lance Storm and many others.

It all began with the February 23rd, 2015 episode of RAW where the Bella Twins faced Paige and Emma in a match that took all of 30 seconds. Citing the huge success of the NXT women (particularly Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Bayley and Becky Lynch, AKA the Four Horsewomen), fans started the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance which trended on Twitter for several days. It was that moment that helped changed of landscape of female wrestling in the WWE.

Since then, there have been numerous changes made for the WWE Women's Division thanks in large part to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon and this slideshow explains these forthcoming changes.

Former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis

9. Not Just About Looks Anymore

The seeds for the shift of change in the WWE Women's Division actually began back in the summer of 2012 when Triple H replaced John Laurinaitis as WWE's Head of Talent Relations.

Big Johnny was criticized by the IWC as he hired female talents from modeling agencies and swimsuit catalogs (Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox were two examples) while avoiding independent wrestling promotions such as Shimmer (Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Paige, Katie Lea Burchill, Mickie James and A.J. Lee were notable exceptions). Triple H then hired independent wrestling legend Sara Del Rey as a trainer for the women.

Though the likes of Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Naomi and Nia Jax have captivated the WWE Universe with their stunning looks and wrestling ability, most of the female talents today have excelled in the independent wrestling circuit, including Shimmer alums Bayley, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay and Asuka.

8. No More Riqsue Photoshoots

During the so-called "Divas Era," WWE female talents took part in revealing photoshoots for WWE's website WWE.com as well as WWE Magazine. In the days heading up to SummerSlam for example, the women would wear skimpy bikinis such as Kelly Kelly above.

With the rebranding of the Divas Division to the Women's Division, WWE's female talents have been appearing in less photoshoots which displayed more on eye candy than actual talent.

The Boss is here.

7. Unique Gimmicks

During the Divas Era, the female talents were pretty much generic cookie cutter models with either one of two gimmicks: the good girl babyface such as Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, the Bella Twins and Tiffany or the mean girl heel such as Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse, Alicia Fox and Eva Marie (Beth Phoenix's Glamazon gimmick and A.J. Lee's tomboy gimmick are couple of exceptions to the rule).

These days, the women have unique gimmicks ranging from Sasha Banks' The Boss to Asuka's Geisha Girl to Charlotte Flair's The Queen to Becky Lynch's Lass Kicker to Bayley's Hugger to Carmella's Jersey Girl to Alexa Bliss' The Goddess, proving that it takes a unique character to win the fans over.

Alexa Bliss tangles with UFC legend Rousa Rousey.

6. Increased Number of Matches

Women during the Divas Era as a rule would usually get one match on either RAW, SmackDown and the pay-per-views (usually a feud involving the Divas Championship) while there would be some shows that would not feature a women's match.

These days, RAW and SmackDown usually features two women's matches (sometimes even three) while most pay-per-views will usually feature three women's matches (this year's SummerSlam is expected to have four) in addition to an upcoming event entitled WWE Evolution which will feature nothing but women's matches.

5. Less Matches On WWE Main Event

WWE Main Event and WWE Superstars were hour-long shows which featured low-card talents who were not involved in any storylines. In addition, these two shows also occasionally featured slightly longer Divas matches.

These days, WWE Main Event rarely features women's matches (unless they feature either the likes of Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox or Mickie James, for that matter) as a typical show features a match involving either the likes of Titus O'Neil, Apollo Crews, Heath Slater, Tyler Breeze, Curt Hawkins or The Revival and a match involving the cruiserweights.

Kelly Kelly, Natalya and the Bella Twins

4. No More Demeaning Matches

From bra and panties matches to pudding matches to pillow fights to bikini contests to Halloween costume contests to Santa's Little Helpers tag team matches during Tribute to the Troops, sexy but demeaning women's matches were the norm during the Divas Era.

But thanks in large part to Stephanie McMahon as well as the TV-PG rating, those matches have taken a back seat as a result as the WWE treats its female talents as equals to its male talents. Instead, it leads to the next slide...

3. History-Making Match Stipulations

For years, only the men got to take part in matches such as the Royal Rumble, the Elimination Chamber, the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, Falls Count Anywhere, Iron Man Match and Steel Cage matches.

Nowadays, it's not only WWE's male Superstars taking part in these matches but the women as well as demonstrated at the NXT TakeOver: Respect special back in 2015 where sasha Banks and Bayley followed up their critically acclaimed match at the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event with the first ever women's Iron Man Match.

2. Longer and More Exciting Matches

The women were given five minutes at best on RAW, SmackDown and the pay-per-views as they were often placed at the cooldown spot before the main event. It was that period where many fans reserved that spot for either a trip to the restroom or get a snack at the vendor (that spot is now reserved for the cruiserweights)

Things have really changed these days as the women now get anywhere from ten to even thirty minutes which resulted in the most memorable matches in WWE history.

1.New Women's Championship

In the summer of 2008, then-SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero introduced the WWE Divas Championship where SmackDown female talents could compete for, replacing the original WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The belt was despised from the start as it looked a lot like a toy belt with a pink butterfly on it instead of a legitimate title belt.

The so-called butterfly belt was detested more when the NXT women started getting better ratings and reviews for their matches not to mention that the NXT Women's Championship belt wasn't as ballyhooed as the butterfly belt.

Citing pressure from the fans and talents, the WWE created a new Women's Championship belt not to mention phasing out the equally loathed Divas moniker.