Stephanie McMahon appeared on the British daily show “This Morning” on Monday as the rest of the company prepare for Monday night Raw at the O2 Arena in London.
The WWE executive has been hailed for her work with the women’s division in recent years.
Female superstars were once branded “Divas,” but McMahon admitted fan pressure to treat WWE’s female superstars equally led to the label’s removal and an explosion of talent on the roster.
“There is something we call the women’s evolution and the credit goes to all the women who have ever stepped into WWE or a wrestling ring,” McMahon, 40, said. “I like to give the credit to our audience because they started a hashtag called ‘give divas a chance’ and, at the time, our women’s division was branded as the ‘Divas.’ It trended worldwide for three days, and our fans’ voices were so loud.
“They wanted more athleticism, character development and storylines. They wanted more of our women. We heard them and we responded and since then the ‘Divas’ division has been re-branded to the women’s division, and all of them are called superstars just like the men.”
Now stars like Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks and Bayley can carry “Monday Night Raw” or “Smackdown” on any given week.
McMahon — who has three children aged ten, eight and six — insisted she would not push her children into the family business if they don’t want to when they grow up. But her eldest and youngest daughters already have expressed an interest in the company, McMahon revealed on the show.
“They do watch it, my oldest and youngest in particular,” she said. “My oldest would love to be the women’s champion and my youngest wants to marry John Cena, so she needs to hurry up because he and Nikki Bella are now engaged. It is conflict resolution and the only difference is ours are settled in the ring in some great live action.”