Women's Division: Evolution of women's wrestling in WWE over the years

You say you want a revolution? (2012 to 2015)

AJ Lee, the woman who many fans consider the real leader of the "Women's Revolution".

The Divas Championship was the only title for the women from September 2010 until it was retired in April 2016. It was held by women you might consider more "diva" than "wrestler", such as Maryse, Kelly Kelly, and Alicia Fox. Women considered on the "wrestler" end of the measuring stick include Beth Phoenix and in the belt's final stretch, AJ Lee, Paige, and Charlotte Flair.

Near the end of 2010, WWE did an all-female edition of their NXT competition series. The two women who made the biggest impact were AJ Lee and Kaitlyn. The latter would win the competition, but the friends would both soon join the main roster as a team. As time went on, Kaitlyn would become a fixture in the women's division and would win the Divas Championship in early 2013. Kaitlyn and AJ, who had become "frenemies" as time went by, entered a real feud later that year. AJ Lee would turn on Kaitlyn and, shortly after, beat her for the Divas Title in June 2013. AJ Lee would not look back.

AJ sparked what some call the "true" beginning of the Women's Revolution, pitting herself as a wrestler among a group of "Divas" who didn't belong in her division. Her target was the cast of WWE's hit reality show on the E! Network, Total Divas. It started a true discourse among wrestling fans as to what "real" women's wrestling was, even though the storyline itself was a bit awkward and had AJ lead her oddly named "True Divas" against the "Total Divas". Without naming names, the 7-on-7 Survivor Series match in 2013 featured only 5 women that most wrestling fans would actually consider "true" wrestlers. 3 of them were on the "Total Divas" team that AJ was rebelling against.

She ultimately lost that feud, but held onto the Divas Championship. Her final successful defense of the title marked the first time the belt was ever defended at WrestleMania, after being left out for the first 3 years of its existence.

Meanwhile, down in NXT (the wrestling show, not the game show), a number of young women were preparing, pun very much intended, to begin a takeover. This started with 21-year-old Paige, who, while still the reigning NXT Women's Champion, made a surprise debut on the RAW After WrestleMania XX. She would defeat AJ in her first main roster match that night, and the pot, as it were, had officially been stirred.

Paige relinquished the NXT Women's Title a few weeks later (don't worry, it was in good hands -- Charlotte won the tournament to crown a new champion, which also included Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Alexa Bliss). AJ Lee would retire a year later, in April 2015. Paige would stick around, and the women who were preparing for a takeover were ready to begin the war.