Stephanie McMahon On Why No Evolution PPV Took Place This Year, Ronda Rousey's Impact

If you were paying attention to WWE, then you might have noticed that they ditched one of their PPVs they held last October this time around. WWE Evolution was a historic event as it was the first WWE PPV to consist solely of women's matches, but there was no sequel to Evolution as no such event took place this year.

Stephanie McMahon revealed why that was in an interview with Bleacher Report that took place before Crown Jewel.

"We did consider it. A lot of our focus has been on having this particular match as a part of this PPV in Saudi Arabia," said Stephanie. "More to come on Evolution but it's most likely not going to happen in 2019."

When Stephanie said "this particular match" she was referring to the match between Natalya and Lacey Evans at Crown Jewel. Natalya was victorious in the first women's wrestling match to ever take place in Saudi Arabia.

Something else that was present for the women's roster last October but not this October is Ronda Rousey who last appeared on programming at WrestleMania 35. Rousey is taking time off but has reportedly been pitching Triple H ideas regarding her return whenever that occurs.

Stephanie was asked how important Rousey was in opening people's eyes and showing that women can draw when promoted in the right way.

"I think Ronda was certainly a part of that, for sure. You can look at Serena and Venus [Williams]. You can look at any number of female athletes who have been making such significant strides in their respective industries, Ronda being absolutely a huge part of that," stated Stephanie. "When you consider the history of what we call the Women's Evolution, starting with that hashtag that trended for three days worldwide in 2015, called #GiveDivasAChance, which was specifically calling for better character development, better storylines, more athleticism from our women which ultimately led to us rebranding the Divas division to the women's division.

"It led to unveiling a new championship belt more akin to the men's but still feminine, announcing that our women would now be called superstars same as the men, which then led to our signing Ronda, our women headlining and maineventing PPVs, including for the first time ever this past April Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch being the first ever women's main event of Wrestlemania at MetLife Stadium in front of over 80,000 people and breaking entertainment revenue records.

"That was history, too. We can't wait to make history again as a part of Crown Jewel."

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