The Respect Women's Wrestling Gets Now Means A Lot To Former WWE Star Maryse

As WWE gears up for WrestleMania 39, one former champion is marveling at the heights the company has reached over the years in how it treats its women's division. Speaking with WWE's "The Bump," two-time Divas Champion Maryse opened up about improvements the company has made in terms of equity across its shows. In particular, Maryse said the fact women have been featured in the main event at WrestleMania in recent years shows "there's no ceiling" anymore for women in wrestling.

"Back in the days if we would have said that you're main-eventing WrestleMania and women are doing it, there is not even words to explain how crazy that is," Maryse said. "They're just doing it and they're doing it so well." WWE's women's division has undergone a drastic shift in both tone and presentation in the last decade, even down to its name. 

Once dismissively known as the "Diva's Division," the promotion's women — led by former champion AJ Lee — openly called for change in how WWE was treating the roster. Since the division was renamed in 2016, there has been the introduction of two new world titles, a tag team division, and a large increase in television time and representation that's more on par with the men's division — a level playing field Maryse rarely encountered during the prime of her career in the late 2000s. "I was there when times were a little harder, when we were trying to get more than two minutes in the ring, when we were trying to have matches that are meaningful, you know, promos that are meaningful, and just respect in general," she said. "Time has changed and it's for the best. It's for the better. It's pretty incredible what they're doing today."