Stephanie McMahon Accused of Stealing Credit for WWE Women’s Revolution

Stephanie McMahon has been part of WWE her entire life, and she knows the business inside and out. For a long time, she has been given credit for ushering in the Women’s Revolution in WWE, but now it appears McMahon has been accused of stealing credit for that idea.

In the mid-2010s, WWE’s women’s division was struggling, with female wrestlers getting very little TV time. Fans started an online campaign asking WWE to give them more chances. WWE ultimately listened, and Stephanie McMahon took charge, bringing in new talent and better matches that have only gotten better with time.

While speaking on BroDown, Vince Russo and Dutch Mantell talked about the Women’s Revolution in WWE. Vince Russo accused Stephanie McMahon of stealing credit for starting the revolution, arguing that Dutch Mantell had already built a top-tier women’s roster in TNA years earlier.

Russo pointed out that Mantell helped stars like Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, and The Beautiful People long before WWE focused on women’s wrestling. He argued that while WWE made the Women’s Revolution popular, Mantell had already helped make women’s wrestling great in TNA.

“You remember Stephanie McMahon came along, the Women’s Revolution, this that and the other thing? B*********. Because 10-15 years earlier, there was a thing called the TNA Knockouts, and we had the greatest female talent ever assembled on a wrestling roster. That was all freaking Dutch, every bit of it. I tell everybody that.

So Stephanie McMahon came Johnny-come-lately 20 years later, and she’s starting the Women’s Revolution? You could ask any one of those Knockouts, Kong, Gail Kim, the Beautiful People. Ask any one of them and they’ll tell you Dutch was responsible and behind all of that with all the women in wrestling.”

As for Stephanie McMahon’s current role in WWE, she is focusing on a WWE podcast as well as her upcoming ESPN+ series, “Stephanie’s Places.” Regardless, there is no doubt that Stephanie McMahon played a role in improving the women’s division in WWE, but Vince Russo certainly doesn’t feel she deserves credit for that.