The diehard wrestling fan likely doesn’t hold a strong opinion of the Total Divas reality show, but that’s a huge mistake if looking at things objectively. WWE witnessed some huge positives from the E! Network taking the chance on a reality show based on the women of the company. Names like the Bella Twins, Paige, Natalya, Naomi, and even Ronda Rousey had their careers impacted by the show.

WWE took a calculated risk by investing time into the show growing and building an audience. There is sometimes a negative reaction to the reality show getting referenced on WWE’s weekly wrestling shows, but it paid off in the long run. Total Divas may not ever get the credit it deserves for women’s wrestling taking off in WWE and beyond.

The Women's Division Before Total Divas Wasn't Treated Well

The start of Total Divas in 2013 featured WWE looking to expand into a new audience. WWE didn't treat the women's division seriously at the time, with only a handful of talents getting consistent television time. AJ Lee was in the midst of her historic Divas Championship run and did help create some change. Lee's first t-shirt was a huge deal since that hadn’t happened for a woman in many years, which goes to show how bad things were.

RELATED: 5 Ways AJ Lee Was The Best Divas Champion (& 5 Ways Nikki Bella Was)

But overall, WWE would only have, on average, one short women’s match per show, with most ladies not on television unless there was the rare themed battle royal or holiday match. The idea of Total Divas was polarizing since it could have gone either way. WWE picked the original cast members of the returning Bella Twins, Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Eva Marie and Jojo for a nice mix.

Divas Christmas

The stories featured a real look at backstage moments like the Bella Twins having their mixed tag match cut from WrestleMania 29. While WWE signed Brie and Nikki to be the feature stars of the show partially due to their relationships with main eventers Daniel Bryan and John Cena, Total Divas gave the Bella Twins a chance to grow their own diehard fan base that followed them to Raw or Smackdown.

WWE Made Changes Because Of Total Divas

WWE slowly started to witness the rise of the female demographic for the shows after years of struggling to draw women. The cast would change with new members filtering in, such as Paige who was a huge success as both a breakout new star for the women’s division and for her presence on Total Divas as a fun personality.

Management started to factor in pushing the talents who were most over following the Total Divas success. The Bella Twins became huge merchandise sellers for WWE and joined AJ Lee as the most popular women in the company. Brie joined her husband Daniel Bryan’s huge feud against The Authority by having a massive match against Stephanie, and Nikki had a record-breaking Divas Championship reign.

Nikki Bella Rack Attacks AJ Lee

Underutilized talents like Naomi and Natalya finally found their way to showcase personality after struggling to get time on WWE television. Total Divas made E! Network very happy as one of the few successful shows behind the Kardashian reality empire for their bottom line. WWE continued to implement new talents on the reality series, and it helped add more name value to the women on the wrestling shows.

Total Divas' Success Is Still Paying Off Today

The recent rise of AEW’s audience on Wednesday nights have fans and pundits comparing their demographic. AEW’s biggest asset is having a strong 18-49 age audience. However, WWE has one noteworthy lead that splits the difference between them in a major way. Dave Meltzer reported that AEW’s audience is about 70% male to 30% female, a similar figure to the one WWE had before Total Divas.

The demographic evened out with Total Divas being one of the biggest reasons for new fans checking in. A major star like Ronda Rousey joining WWE and the reality show helped those numbers as well. WWE is closer to having 45% women watching the show due to the star power of female characters on the show. The women’s division reaching new peaks continues to build new female stars on WWE television outside of Total Divas since the fans have remained.

Evolution PPV

Without Total Divas, WWE would be in big trouble right now with their viewership, especially compared to that AEW. The older audience for WWE would typically be a problem for many companies, but the female audience more than makes up for that. Few diehard fans that didn’t watch Total Divas are missing out, if not giving proper credit. The underrated star power of the Bella Twins and a deep roster of beloved stars helped the women’s division thrive and the female audience grow. And Total Divas as a huge reason for that.