"As much as I am personally proud for winning five championships, I'm equally proud just being part of a women's division that has gotten so much better with all these great athletes here." -Seven time Women's Champion, Trish Stratus

To be blunt, the WWE has never respected women.

As I mentioned in my previous article The Power of a Wrestling Rule Book women are generally viewed as "props, crazy, weak, slutty or catty." Even during Trish Stratus' heyday when they "allowed" her to main event on Raw with Lita, women like Dawn Marie and Miss Jackie were in a feud over Dawn having an affair with Jackie's fiancée, Charlie Haas. Exactly six days after Lita and Trish made history, having been the second women's match ever to main event Raw, that blood feud between Dawn and Jackie got a 1:43 match on December 12, 2004 at Armageddon.

For reference, I'm a heterosexual male. I've been exposed to a culture that objectifies women and, sadly, that culture has been implanted in my feeble little mind. I admit it, as much as I try not to, I objectify women. I'm not saying that finding females attractive is wrong but constantly subjecting them to scrutiny for how they look is. I do notice pretty women and sometimes it's so passive that I don't even notice I'm noticing them. I'm like the opposite of the Fresh Prince. That being said I am self-aware enough to realize that women have more to offer than a sleek pair of gams, a pretty smile or a cute tush.

When two, three or 14 (re: Wrestlemania 30) attractive women enter the squared circle for a match something clicks in my brain; I recognize that these athletes are doing their darndest to entertain me with their wrestling abilities. Whether or not they're pretty, have shapely bodies, or nice hair doesn't enter into the equation anymore. I want to see a bunch of badass women do wrestling moves to each other and have a great match. Notice I haven't used the word WWE likes to utilize when referring to women and I refuse to do so.

For as much as WWE seems to progress with its women's division, it always seems to simultaneously regress. Having a reality show on female wrestlers is a good way to get their product to a wider audience, but WWE keeps cattiness at the forefront and I can't enjoy the Bellas as wrestlers knowing how they behave on that show. There seems to be an unwritten rule that each show is its own little world within the WWE Universe.

--See, more rules!--

It appears as if the shows are being treated as promotions in the territory days. However, it's not like Bruiser Brody who could be a face in one company then a heel in another without either audience realizing the switch happened. Nikki Bella is on Total Divas* Sunday night then on Raw the very next night and each show is owned and promoted by the same company. People have access to everything and it's impossible to ignore the blatant character changes and inconsistencies.

In recent memory, AJ Lee gave a worked shoot and even as she approached the edge of the ramp all the commentary team could do was call her "cuckcoo" or "CRAZY!" As amazing as that promo was it was very heavy handed in the women hating department. Granted, AJ was trying to do something different, but she can only poke a few holes within the box she's trapped inside. On a side note, I'm still not sure what the Bellas were accomplishing by screaming back at AJ during her promo. Within the last year, however, they've worked really hard to improve in the ring so I'll give them all the Brownie points for that.

What did the WWE do after AJ's promo?

Basically nothing.

AJ went onto a bunch of short, recycled feuds then lost the strap earlier this year to the newcomer Paige. There were some rumbles about how the Bellas squashed any progress AJ had created. This is part of the problem. Instead of them appreciating what AJ was trying to do they patched up the holes of progress she created within the box. Apparently, they were hurt by the remarks AJ said in character to their characters. Buying into the character one plays has gotten many wrestlers in trouble over the years so we shouldn't be all that surprised. Yet, here we are.

Speaking of people getting into character, Alicia Fox is currently on a roll but she'll need to be careful not to slip from entertainingly off-balance into "crazy." Recently at a house show I attended the audience was given two options to vote for on Twitter regarding Nikki Bella vs. Alicia Fox: a dance contest or a match. The result was far too close for comfort but sanity prevailed and they had a match. Thank goodness for that because they were actually given time to work, both of them got the appropriate pop or heat from the crowd for their roles and it was one of the best matches of the night.

Fox along with Paige, Emma (minus Santino), Summer Rae (minus milk and kitty litter), Lana, Natalya, Naomi, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella and all the ladies in NXT would make for a very interesting women's division if it were handled properly.

Some more recent history seems to confirm that all hope should get pipe bombed.

Karma will save us! She was gone in a few weeks because she got pregnant.

Beth Phoenix will make the women's division legit again! How was she rewarded? Thrown with Santino! I'll admit it was a far more entertaining pairing than it had any right to be.

Eve Torres will make the women's division important! Ryder. Kane. Cena calls her a slut. Now she's teaching women how to fight in real life because she's a badass.

Natalya has always been a good worker! Farts. Is mainly featured on a reality show and working the odd decent to good match on NXT.

Kaitlyn vs AJ is going to be a super feud for all time! Kaitlyn is "fat." AJ wins all the matches. Both are off TV now.

Paige is going to save us for reals this time! Look, Alicia Fox has some character development! As entertaining as they are all they got was a quick match at Payback so we're still left holding our collective breath.

The women's division could matter if the WWE made the audience think it matters. I've listened to Trish Stratus talk about how it's on the ladies to work hard, develop their characters and create a story for themselves. They either didn't get the memo or aren't having their voices heard.

Again, I bring up Alicia Fox because she seems to be someone who may have gotten through. She's done some great work with the time they've given her but that's just one person. On top of that, she's already lost a PPV match clean while challenging Paige for the belt and they had almost no story to speak of.

There are great female wrestlers in WWE today and around the world. In other countries women's wrestling is well respected and people pay to see it. Long ago in North America people paid to see ladies wrestle because it was something different. Good women's wrestling matches can equal dollar signs. "Moolah" made her moolah this way.

Women are more sexualized than men, endure greater scrutiny of their bodies and still get paid less than men. Even on lovely sites such as this there's been such an abundance of blatantly sexist posts that our fearless leader, Geno Mrosko, had to lay down a set of rules regarding language concerning women. He's even had to go so far as to hire a "feminist" moderator to make sure our language is on the level.

Respect for women is very important in living a healthy life. If you show respect for women maybe you'll be lucky enough to find one who will watch a few shows with you. If you're super lucky she'll become a super Daniel Bryan fan that screams with joy or agony every time something good or bad happens to him.

Female wrestlers, people with power in WWE and the wrestling audience have come to accept things as they are. The match used to buffer two big matches on a PPV is usually the women's title match. It's the "death spot," "piss break," "yawn-a-thon" slot. Trademark pending on yawn-a-thon.

Women get less than 5 minutes for a match because no one wants to see them wrestle for more than 5 minutes because we're used to only seeing them wrestling for 5 minutes. Let's think outside the box!

By letting these ladies develop stakes through character development, interesting storylines and actually having them wrestle for more than a few minutes, the women's division could be vastly more entertaining for all. More importantly, instead of being demeaning to the point of being infuriating, WWE could actually use them as strong, uplifting, confidence boosting role models for young girls around the world. Finally, on top of all that, the WWE could use the women under their employ more consistently for the reason they're employed. As wrestlers.

Cagesiders, please weigh in with your thoughts on the importance of women's wrestling and how you think it should be handled. Respectfully. And if you want to read more of my Fanposts click here.

*Writer's Note: I had to use that ridiculous word once because it's the name of the dang show. Cruel world!