Do You Miss The T&A in The Divas Division?

Do you miss it like the Bikini Contest stuff,The lingere Pillow Fights,Wet & Wild Matches,The Divas Bikni DVDs Stuff like that?

I think it been better without it really. I mean honestly wrestling wise the diva division improved and ain't always based on looks who is the champion

I never understood why they stop having the bikini contest they used to do those every summertime.It Dosent feel like summer without a bikini contest WE WANT THE BIKINI'S BACK!!!!

This might come off as cynical (What? Serial cynical? Never!) but here's my opinion on the whole T&A vs. female wrestling ordeal.

Wrestling at it's foundation, is low-brow entertainment whose key demographic is the Male 18-34 range (which is probably the most sought after demographic in all of television.) That said, to cater to that demographic, the "male gaze" was used. The "male gaze" occurs when the camera puts the audience into the perspective of a heterosexual man (i.e. the camera lingers over the curves of a female body.) In the male gaze, the woman is usually displayed on two different levels: as an erotic object for both the characters within the program, as well as the spectator who is watching the program. The man emerges as the dominant power within the created fantasy. The woman is passive to the active gaze from the man. At the end of the day, it reeks of inequality, but it worked for the demographic.

Why am I explaining the "male gaze," a feminist theory, in regards to pro wrestling. Consider some of the most popular divas of the past, and think back to how they started:

Sunny: Manager, sex symbol.

Sable: Manager, sex symbol.

Trish Stratus: Manager, sex symbol.

Lita: Manager, sex symbol who could do a moonsault.

They were all passive to a male figure, and usually scantily clad. None of the most popular females went from passive to active roles overnight, they all slowly shifted towards a more active role. Trish went from T&A to Vince to slapping Vince and turning face, all while still doing bikini shoots. She slowly shifted across the paradigm, maintaining her following while doing so. She was able to "trick" the audience into thinking she was still a blonde who looked great in a two-piece, but parlayed their attention into showcasing her actual skills.

Lita showed off her chest and had her thong straps visible, but became more active when she teamed with the Hardys. I think she really exemplified how women could not only be sexy, but could wrestle as well.

The divas back then caught our (note: when I say "our" I mean the general audience) curiosity with their cleavage and tiny clothing, but when they maintained our attention they showed that they could be entertaining even when not in a bikini contest or a bra and panties match.

With the PG era, the divas don't really have that outlet to fish for people's attention. Who have probably been the most popular divas of the last few years? Maryse? Started off in lingerie. Kelly Kelly? Started off as an exhibitionist.

Without being able to use sex to sell themselves, they have to grab the audience's attention immediately either through being spectacular in the ring or by having an extremely interesting character.

I could probably go on, but I'll save it for rebuttals, lol.

WWE Usually Signs T&A Girls to fill in The T&A Role (ex Stacy,Torrie,Maryse,Kelly Kelly,etc).I feel like In this business You Need The T&A girls because they bring in more viewers for example Let's Say Theres a Divas PPV announced and the Main Event is something like Beth vs Natalya for the Divas Championship but Kelly Kelly is on the cover and mostly promoting the show(Not Saying beth and nattie are ugly or anything) She uses her looks to get you to watch the show while you get the hardcore wrestling fans who were gonna order it regardless if Kelly wasn't on the cover or not.I can understand why WWE hires these types of girls they simply do it for business.

Yes, I miss it, I miss it ALOT!!

There was always fun to see IMO, especially when involving managers. It made it so fun. WHich is why in encourage the usage of non-wrestling managers. Just bring in 3/4 girls zero wrestling experience grea mic skills and toss em on some guys arm and just let them go at it in Bikini contests, Pillow fights, etc.

Also you guys fail to see, how many fun angle came from these bikini contests and pillow fights.

if we could have more of these http://www.wwe.com/videos/memorial-day-bikini-bash-raw-may-30-2005-26032041

WHy not? I miss it, I miss it terribly.

I much prefer it these days. I can't say I don't like a bit of T&A but it's hard not to feel skeevy when it's talented women wrestlers being forced to do it. I think if they keep it to the photoshoots on WWE.com or do a bikini spread in a magazine then that's better. By all means there are some gorgeous and sexy women on WWE television so that aspect of them should be promoted, as long as it's not instead of their wrestling ability

With regards to the "male gaze" thing, the way it went down was that us guys came for the T&A and we ended up staying for the wrestling. It was actually impressive how the girls were able to work with some of those matches. For example there were gravy bowl matches and pillow fights that the girls were still able to make fun and entertaining. I remember watching the lingerie match from WrestleMania XX and Torrie Wilson impressed me with a nice crossbody. There was a bikini match between her and Nidia that actually had some good wrestling in there. Ditto for a 6 Diva tag on Raw back in 2009, also in bikinis. Even the Divas tag match this year where they were wrestling in Xmas costumes was still a good match from a wrestling standpoint

These days they do provide T&A or "fanservice" as it's better known. We have Summer Rae in her ballroom dancing outfits and the Funkadactyls with their dancing. It's a bit more subtle and more of a parental bonus like how John Cena stripping off always gets a big pop from the females in the crowd. Trish Stratus herself said that there is a place for T&A in wrestling as long as it doesn't take away from the competition. At least these days it's not softcore pornography anymore

Looks like Bobby kinda touched it a bit already but if these girls were as dedicated and as willing as the girls from back then, they would have made these matches work.
Back then they made sure, what could they do in the match to make the part where my op gets ripped off the most important part? Which leads to Trish being thrown off the top of the ramp into a pool filled with mud/gravy.

Because they had so many obstacles to overcome and wanted to be taken seriously as wrestlers, they worked extra hard when in a T&A position. All the women of today are not hungry for wrestling like the one back then because they don't take opportunity of the 3 minutes they get no, they just complain about it.

Girls back then? Took advantage of every 2 minutes they had, every bikini contest they were tossed in, every bra & Panties match they were tossed in, every evening gown, pillow fight, Mud match they had. In ahll honesty I really do miss them a whole lot.