Mick Foley wrote the following on his Facebook account:
THE UNSUNG HERO
Brie Bella is the unsung hero of the #WomensWrestling revolution. As anyone who follows me knows, I have been a HUGE proponent of the #NXT women – and firmly believe that what we saw last week on Monday Night WWE Raw – with the arrival of Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Charlotte was just a harbinger of great things to come for women in #WWE.
But if this truly is the revolution in women’s wrestling that I’ve hoped for, predicted and honestly feel will come to fruition, than I hope history will not forget that it may have been #TotalDivas star and former #Divas Champion Brie Bella who fired the first shot.
At a February 16, 2015 #WizardWorld event in Indianapolis, The #BellaTwins were asked about the women of NXT. This was Brie’s response.
“If I was an NXT Diva, I would not want to come up to the main roster because you get so much time down there. If you come to the live events, you’ll see that we get a lot of time at the live events. When it comes to TV we get so frustrated because it’s hard to tell a story in 3 minutes and especially when they want an entrance. You’re thinking, ‘What? Can you cut the entrance, we want time to wrestle?’ Especially after watching the NXT Rival pay-per-view and seeing the girls go 20 minutes, it’s like a dream. It’s something we’d love and we’re trying so hard to get more time. It’s a three hour Raw and you can’t give more time to the Divas? But, hopefully in the future.”
BOOM! There it is: an honest, gutsy, politically incorrect shot to the solar-plexus of the status-quo. Prior to that admission from one of the top women in WWE, I really had no hope that things could get better. Brie Bella was like that guy in the NASA control room saying, “Houston, we have a problem!” Except she was saying “Stamford, we have a problem!”Prior to that moment, I really held no hope that things could get better for the women in WWE. The incredibly talented women in NXT would one by one be absorbed into a system where good enough was good enough. Things have changed – A LOT! They will continue to change – A LOTI I now believe that the women of NXT will not simply be absorbed into the current system; they’ll change it forever!
I firmly believe (as I predicted RIGHT HERE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealMickFoley/photos/a.150133228350157.28288.126269440736536/1046840905346047/ _ ) that 2015 will go down in history as “The Year of the Woman” – and I’ll do what I can to make sure history acknowledges Brie’s courageous contribution.
Oh yeah, one last message for Brie – ROCK THAT FLANNEL! I’m proud to call you a friend.
Let me know what you think about Brie, Nikki (who I named to my mid-season All-Star team) Sasha, Becky, Charlotte and the changing face of women”s wrestling in WWE.
I agree with Mick on this. I think Paige deserves credit as well since she was outspoken in interviews on the treatment of the women. I don’t know if the pay issue with the women has been addressed but AJ Lee also deserves credit for bringing that up as well. Follow Mick on Facebook by clicking here.
