First thing's first, Kelly's release itself is a blow to WWE in multiple ways. Not only was she popular, but she was also marketable. Kelly might never have been responsible for tons of extra buyrates on a pay-per-view like Brock Lesnar, but she was clearly one of the fan-favorite women if you're talking about the girls that watch wrestling as well as the guys that watch it FOR the girls (in a non-wrestling capacity for the latter, naturally). They just lost someone that could help market them at events and do special TV appearances elsewhere. The likes of people such as Aksana and Tamina and Rosa Mendes aren't filling that gap. They don't have the charisma or the notoriety for it.
Secondly, we have to address that this is the latest in a string of releases, quits, firings, etc when it comes to women in wrestling. It seems like a switch has been flipped all of a sudden. Not only has there been talk that Triple H isn't fond of the divas division, but also on the TNA side of things, Bruce Prichard is said to not be a fan of women's wrestling as well. In a relatively short span of time, we've seen Kharma released, Ivelisse Velez (Sofia Cortez) released, Raquel Diaz released, Velvet Sky and Angelina Love leaving TNA, Beth Phoenix leaving WWE, now Kelly Kelly leaving - and I'm sure I'm forgetting others at the moment. Curiously, Ariane Andrew has survived her DUI charge. It seems like the women in wrestling are getting fed up with what's going on and flat out leaving the business entirely, as opposed to jumping ship from one company to another. Granted, some have (like Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim having gone over to TNA) but it's still an alarming amount of women being shuffled around in a compact time frame.
Does this mean that we're on the cusp of a restructuring of how women's wrestling plays into the sports entertainment field? Is it dying out like it did before, wherein we'll see more of a 90s "here and there" placement and nothing more? Are we going to see WWE and TNA play it safe and be less likely to hire models to wrestle (seeing as they tend to go off and do their own projects as soon as they can, like Maryse) and instead, go more for the women that are wrestlers first and foremost so they don't have anything to fall back on? Maybe the Hottest WWE Divas and TNA Knockouts Tournament ruffled feathers? [Haha just kidding]
What do you guys think this means for Kelly Kelly, the WWE, and the state of women's wrestling itself? Leave a comment below!
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