WWE announces all-female pay-per-view event, 'Evolution'

WWE will be hosting an all-female pay-per-view event for the first time ever this October, chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon announced on Monday night.

The event, appropriately called “Evolution,” will take place on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. The event will feature four women’s championship matches as well as the finals of the WWE’s all-female “Mae Young Classic” tournament.

The announcement comes in a year that has seen female superstars make significant strides in WWE. Starting with the first ever all-female Royal Rumble in January, female superstars such as Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, Asuka, and Ronda Rousey have competed in high-profile and main event matches across WWE’s various brands and shows.

“This historic event marks another milestone in WWE’s women’s evolution,” McMahon said in a press release following the announcement. “The spotlight just got brighter for these athletic, talented women, who will once again showcase to the world that they can break down barriers and blaze their own trails.”

While WWE is normally very generous with its use of the word historic, there is no denying the magnitude of the announcement or its place in the ongoing “Women’s Evolution.” When news of McMahon’s planned announcement broke late last week, it sparked wild speculation and the moment itself on Monday night warranted a rare television appearance from WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

For years, women’s wrestlers were seen as an afterthought on WWE programming, with many of the female superstars being regarded more as eye candy than talented in-ring performers.

In 2015, following a 30-second match between the Bella Twins, Paige and Emma, WWE fans started the #GiveDivasAChance movement on social media. In the following year, numerous female stars were called up to the main WWE roster, including Flair, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch, and at WrestleMania 32 it was announced that the women would drop the “Divas” title, adopting the “Superstar” moniker that their male counterparts used and a new women’s championship was unveiled.

“Three years ago, our fans demanded a change with the hashtag, #GiveDivasAChance, and an evolution started,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in a release. “Since that time, our female Superstars have overdelivered in every opportunity presented to them, and I expect nothing different during our first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view event.”

According to WWE, October’s event will feature the entire women’s roster, as well as Hall of Famers Trish Stratus and Lita – two pioneering forces in women’s wrestling from the company’s fondly remembered “Attitude Era.”

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