For the first time ever, the main event of WrestleMania will feature all women, the World Wrestling Entertainment — better known as WWE — announced on March 25.
The Raw Women’s Championship Match will see Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch face off in a historic match.
It’s been my...it’s been OUR goal to main event #WrestleMania. It was never just talk, it was the hard work of every woman past, present, and future to get us here. We won’t let you down. 13 days. #HERstory#Evolution 👸🏼
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) March 25, 2019
I came. I saw. I changed the game.
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) March 25, 2019
Three women are going to headline #Wrestlemania this year.
•
I won’t hold my breath expecting any thank yous, but you’re all welcome anyway. 😎 #MRSwrestlemania
•https://t.co/k4IrxSiFbX
And wrestling fans couldn’t be more excited.
all of the wwe women tweeting ab how happy and proud they are that women are finally main eventing wrestlemania i’m so soft pic.twitter.com/P14It6d6wh
— han (@hannbecks) March 25, 2019
Congratulations On Another Historical Accomplishment! The First Time Women Have Ever Main Evented WrestleMania!!! @BeckyLynchWWE, @RondaRousey, And The Greatest Female Athlete In The WWE, @MsCharlotteWWE!! You All Should Be So Proud! Dreams Do Come True! WOOOOO!
— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) March 25, 2019
becky lynch has been dreaming about main eventing wrestlemania since before she even stepped foot in wwe and now she’s going to be one of the first women to ever do it maybe i’m fucking CRYING
— han (@hannbecks) March 25, 2019
10 years ago when I started wrestling, the idea that women would main event Wrestlemania would’ve been laughed at. This is amazing and such a dream come true for all female wrestlers to know that the sky is truly the limit now. https://t.co/jtg8i5wztd
— “HEARTcore” Shazza McKenzie (@Shazza_McKenzie) March 25, 2019
First ever Women's Main Event at #WrestleMania35 EPIC!!!! #WrestleManiapic.twitter.com/6aKxEH4Z6w
— Coach Brian leads people to new realms of health. (@CommitToTriumph) March 28, 2019
Last time Wrestlemania was at MetLife Stadium, only women’s match scheduled on the card was scrapped... This time around, the women are gonna be the MAIN EVENT at the grandest stage for the first time ever. Chills
— joelene (@sarayascabello) March 25, 2019
Rousey, an Olympic gold medalist and former Ultimate Fighting Champion, hopes that enthusiasm will translate to success for the event.
“It needs to do extremely well in pay-per-view buys. I mean, I want it to be the best ever, because we need the women headlining WrestleMania to not be an isolated event,” she said in a recent vlog. “We need it to be proof that this works.”
Over the past few years, WWE has worked hard to improve gender equality within the sport and to shine the spotlight on its female athletes.
The company renamed its female league — formerly called the Divas Division — as “the Women’s Division” and announced a new women’s championship title in 2016, HuffPost reported. And last year it held its first pay-per-view event featuring all-female athletes called Evolution, which was attended by a sold-out crowd, according to WWE.
Gender inequality is widespread in sports, from double standards to large disparities in wages to outright sexism. But efforts like these aim to empower women both through greater representation in the industry and by showing young girls everywhere that they can do anything they want to.