411’s WWE 24: Empowered Report

411’s WWE 24: Empowered Report

-A new episode of WWE 24 dropped after RAW and this one focuses on the 24 hour period leading up to and including the first Woman’s Royal Rumble Match.

-We start with what else, Stephanie McMaon doing voice over as she talks about making history and the women going from Divas to Superstars. HHH says that 10 years ago it would have been unthinkable to have a Female Royal Rumble match close the show.

-Carmella talks about how the WWE is in the middle of a Woman’s Revolution which is in the middle of a Woman’s Revolution going on in the world. Steph again as she talks about how this will show young girls that they can do and being anything. That leads to the opening graphic and we are off and running with a new episode of WWE 24.

-We start the night before The Royal Rumble with all the women coming together and some of the newbies are in awe of the legends that came back for the show. Nattie talks about how none of them ever thought about the idea of there being an all female Royal Rumble. Mark Carrano breaks the news to all the ladies that they are closing the show and that gets various reactions of shock, happiness, and just pure elation. That was a pretty cool moment actually and showed some genuine emotion from all involved.

-We jump back to Oct 2016 with the first ever woman’s Hell in a Cell match between Sasha and Charlotte. It was also the first time a woman’s match closed a WWE PPV (not counting NXT). After the match Charlotte tears up as she talks about the match and then she gets a standing ovation as she hugs her dad. She says the division is so good because they want to top what they did the last time.

-Back to the gathering of the ladies the night before the Rumble, and they focus on Carmella. That leads to June of 2017 when the women got to have their own Money in the Bank Ladder match. They scrub Ellsworth out and make it seem like Carmella just got the briefcase on her own. She also cries backstage as she never had a chance like that and talks about how surreal it all is.

-Alexa Bliss talks about the journey for the entire division. The next first is Alexa and Sasha having the first woman’s match to ever take place in Abu Dhabi. Steph talks about the outfits that had to be designed as they had to be respectful of the culture so neither lady could show any skin. Steph says nobody understood the impact of that moment until the two of them were in the ring and the fans started changing “This is hope.” Yeah, that’s pretty awesome! After the match Sasha is the one crying as she talks about wanting to show women that they can do anything they want and be anything they want.

-Back to Philly before the Rumble and the ladies have some fun talking with each other and taking bumps in a ring they have set up. Paige was excited to see Vicki Guerrero come back and other newbies mark out over being in the ring with women they watched while growing up.

-They talk about history and we get a nice package on the following women who helped pave the way blending in with some of the current women: Sensational Sherri, Cyndi Lauper, Wendi Richter, Alundra Blayze, Sable, Chyna, Lita, Trish Stratus, Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool, Paige, Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Charlotte.

-They touch on the Mae Young Classic next and the participants talk about the legacy of Mae Young. HHH says Mae is the embodiment of sport and entertainment. Kairi Sane wins the tournament and they show her finding out she is being included in the Royal Rumble.

-We are now up to the morning of the Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch mentions that she could barely sleep the previous night and can’t stop thinking about the fact they will be in the Main Event. Sasha says there is so much more to accomplish, but this moment is special as they will share the ring with women who helped pave the way.

-Asuka is talked about next and Charlotte says she is in awe of her. Steph talks about the transition Asuka made to a new country and calls her a bad ass as well. HHH says he saw Asuka in Japan and thought she was a game changer if they could get her. He talks about the girls being called up to RAW and SmackDown and he told them he wanted to keep Asuka as she would be the foundation of the next group.

-They touch on the NXT group that came up and Alexa mentions she never won a title in NXT and never had a match on a Takeover Special, so she had to proof herself on the main roster.

-Mandy’s journey started on Tough Enough (which I recapped and you can find here on 411mania) and there she met Sonya and they became best friends. They don’t mention that neither won the contest and the winner (Sara) flamed out of NXT rather quickly, but she seems to be doing well for herself. They show Sonya talking smack to the Tough Enough judges and Paige putting her in her place (Hulk Hogan makes it on this show as he was still a judge on Tough Enough at that point). Paige talks about how things came full circle as she was tough on those girls on that show and then years later they debut by her side when she makes her return to the WWE.

-The women start arriving at Wells Fargo Center and try to soak in the moment. Paige stops to sign some autographs and it had to suck for her to get injured and have to miss out on the Rumble. Steph talks about how hard all these women have worked around the world to just get a chance like this.

-The ladies talk about Stephanie McMahon now and how you can’t think of the WWE without thinking of her. Mandy talks about how empowering it is to have a female in a position of power and how Steph was a major driving force in the woman’s revolution. Nattie mentions that Steph wants them to break down barriers and reach for the stars. Steph says she can’t explain how excited and emotional she is and talks about her three daughters being there to see what women can do. That is the most important thing in that they will show little girls proof that they can do anything.

-Trish and Molly meet up with HHH backstage and he thanks them for being here. Mickie James says she comes from a previous generation and for her it is nice to have girls from her locker room back around again. Lita says she wanted to be in the Rumble when it was announced, but she didn’t know if it was possible or if they were going to bring back some of the older stars.

-Ember Moon talks about marking out over seeing all the legends backstage and gets in a great line as she went crazy over the fact that Torrie Wilson brought her dogs. Nice!

-We are up to the Rumble kick-off show with Renee Young and I kind of wish they would throw some credit her way as for some reason she gets kind of short changed in all this Woman’s Revolution talk. The women are starting to feel the nerves as we get closer to bell time.

-They show highlights from the Men’s Rumble and that ending sequence with Reigns and Nakamura was fantastic. Naomi says the Rumble Match from the guys helped her calm down.

-The women gather backstage as HHH gives them a pep talk. He congratulates all of them and tells them it happened because of the work they all did. Paige breaks down and cries because she couldn’t be in the match, but it hit her that she did do work to help make this match happen and help get some of the girls to this match. HHH tells them that there will be little girls watching this match and seeing that they can do anything they want. He lets them know that they have changed a generation and tells them to go make history. Good stuff there!

-It’s time for the Women to have their Rumble, and they show the girls getting focused backstage. They all put pressure on themselves to go out and make history. Sasha enters first and that will be a trivia question down the line. Charlotte talks about how proud she was of Sasha and then she started fist pumping when Becky Lynch came out second. It was the one time she wished she didn’t have the title as she wanted to be in the match. Lita comes out as the first surprise entrant and the reaction from the girls in the backstage area is tremendous.

-Steph talks about being on commentary and that even though she knew who was in the match, she couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment.

-Charlotte puts over the legends doing their thing, while the current roster kicked butt, and then the NXT girls showing they were coming. They show Naomi’s escape as she pulled a Kofi Kingston in avoiding the floor. Asuka enters at 25 and Graves is right on the money as he says “Game Over.”

-The talk turns to Ronda and how it was kept quiet from everyone all day. They show her sneaking into the building from a bus with a hoodie covering her face. HHH leads her into the arena and all this is happening around the time Trish entered the match. Charlotte loved the face off between Trish and Sasha Banks. The Bellas end up tossing Sasha who lasted over 54 minutes to set the longevity record.

-The match comes down to Nikki Bella and Asuka and it is cool seeing the girls who were eliminated watching backstage on the monitor cheering. Nattie thinks it was important to see Asuka win because she is different and not like most girls.

-Before she can make her decision on what champion she wants to meet at Mania, Ronda Rousey shows up to the delight of the crowd. As we have all seen, she is just beyond excited to be there as she can’t help, but smile. The girls in the back go crazy over Asuka refusing to shake Rhonda’s hand which was a tremendous character touch. They show Ronda going back through the curtain and HHH is there to give her a giant hug.

-The girls talk about what makes Ronda so special. Alexa was surprised to see her and thinks she will add something new to the division. She hugs seemingly everyone backstage and tells the camera that she believes this is what she was put on the Earth to do. She also feels that she can master anything with hard work. Charlotte gives Ronda a hug and tells her that she loves the Piper tribute. Ronda informs her that the jacket she is wearing is Piper’s. She starts to cry when she talks about Roddy’s son being there for the show as he flew across the country. He is the one that brought the jacket and Ronda says it is an honor for her to wear that jacket. She says people don’t understand that she wouldn’t be standing there if it wasn’t for Roddy Piper.

-The ladies all bond backstage after the show and they take various pictures with each other. They all talk about making history and how everything topped any expectations they had coming into the event.

-A video package shows lots of cool backstage moments before, during, and after the match while also showing highlights from the match itself.

-They talk about the future and show the women competing in the Elimination Chamber and then Rhonda getting her match at WrestleMania.

-The next goal would be closing the show at WrestleMania and Bliss thinks they can get there. Steph gets the last word as she talks about how proud she is of where they women are. The show closes with the group picture they took during The Rumble PPV.

-These shows have been great in the past and this one was no different. I am a sucker for seeing behind the curtain (even knowing the WWE only shows as much behind the curtain as they want us to see) and this was all that and more. You can say the WWE is focused too much on making history instead of just letting it happen, but I applaud them for giving these women a bigger platform than what they used to have. Once they ladies get through all these first and things settle down it will give them a chance to hone in and tell more compelling stories than just the idea of doing things only to make history. As for this show, as mentioned it was great and a lot of fun. For whatever reason I wasn’t looking forward to this one all that much, but it hooked me early and I enjoyed the emotion from all the ladies. This show is very much recommended to check out at least once.

-Thanks for reading!