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WWE Divas Still Get No Respect From 2K

WWE Divas Still Get No Respect From 2K

The WWE 2K games get me every time. Each year, I hope I’m going to have a chance to go through the My Career mode as a female wrestler. Each year, I’m denied. Each installment, without fail, goes out of its way to offer fewer options to people who want to use women in the game, and it’s a shame. Despite progress being made in the real world to improve opportunities for and salute the women, WWE 2K17 shows that the games just can’t and won’t keep up.

It’s clear by looking at the roster. Including DLC, there are 156 playable wrestlers and managers in WWE 2K17. Which is great. Except only a small portion of them are women. How small? Last I checked, only 27 of them were women. But that number goes down to 26 immediately, since Stephanie McMahon is counted twice – she’s available as a manager and wrestler. You can whittle that down even more, as Nia Jax is only available in the NXT Edition add-on and Ivory and Jacqueline are DLC. That’s 23 women immediately available, compared to 129 men.

Generally, this isn’t too big of a problem. Most of the people in the WWE shows are men. That’s fine. But the WWE 2K17 roster leaves out a number of active and legendary female wrestlers. NXT’s Aliyah, Billie Kay, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, and Peyton Royce aren’t in the game. Icons like Stacy Kiebler, Torrie Wilson, Chyna, Maryse, Sable, Mae Young, The Fabulous Moolah, and Bull Nakano have been left out. There are plenty of famous faces that could and should have been in the game, but aren’t.

Even if these women were going to be left out, WWE 2K17 should have expanded the My Career options to bring them in. This year, interviews are out and replaced by text-prompt promos that don’t require any voice acting. Would it have been so difficult to make a route for female wrestlers to follow? Especially since this isn’t a new request. People have wanted it for years. Certainly, these custom superstars would have fewer opponents, but if real world female wrestlers have something to do week after week, then our virtual ones should too.

WWE Divas Still Get No Respect From 2K

Of course, the outdated phrasing in WWE 2K17 should be a clue something is up. Back at WrestleMania 32, the term “Diva” was formally retired. Its championship was renamed the Women’s Championship. That match is actually in this game. Yet, at every turn, WWE 2K17 refers to the female wrestlers as Divas. Sure, women’s events still aren’t major main events for WWE Pay Per View. They may never be. But, later this month, the October 2016 Hell in a Cell PPV will have Sasha Banks and Charlotte facing off in the very first women’s Hell in a Cell match for the Women’s Championship belt.

We know the female wrestlers aren’t the WWE’s biggest stars. The odds of them being the main event at a PPV is slim. The best they can hope for is semi-main. And there will always be more men in this business than women. But, in a game like WWE 2K17 that can draw from past WWE rosters and let us use our imaginations to do unexpected things, the women should get a little more attention. We should be able to use them in My Career. At the very least, though, the game should recognize that the term Diva was retired and they’re referred to as women wrestlers now.

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