WWE News: Social Media Influenced Rebranding of Female Wrestlers, Reveals Stephanie McMahon
Social media has once again proven its influence in this time and age when it paved the way for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to drop the word "Diva" in reference to its female wrestlers.
According to a report of Fortune, WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon revealed at yesterday's Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado that the clamor of Twitter users over the dropping of the word "Diva" for its professional female wrestlers has been intsrumental in the rebranding of WWE's female wrestlers.
It has been learned that fans criticized WWE on Twitter and asked it to reconsider its portrayal of its female wrestlers. Eventually, WWE fans used the hashtag "GiveDivasAChance" as they demanded to give the WWE female wrestlers more air time and interesting storylines. According to McMahon, the said hashtag trended for three days, prompting her and her father, Vince McMahon, to tweet back and assure the fans that WWE is listening.
While the WWE semi-reality show that features the female wrestlers still carries the word "Diva" in its title, "Total Divas," the company has since then referred to its roster of male and female wrestlers as "superstars."
The rebranding of WWE's female wrestlers culminated in last year's Wrestlemania event when one of the company's most successful wrestlers in the later '90s and early 2000s, Lita, introduced the new WWE Women's Championship without the word "Diva" and changed the design of the female championship belt into something more similar to that of the male wrestlers. Since then, McMahon revealed that WWE's female wrestlers have been on equal footing with the male wrestlers as far as programming is concerned.
Meanwhile, this week's edition of Smackdown featured two of its best female superstars, Becky Lynch versus Charlotte Flair, in the match. While the match between the two female superstars was a close one, Lynch eventually ended the battle with her victory.