WWE Reportedly Makes Interesting Production Mandate For Raw Women's Segments

This past Monday night, "Raw" was dominated by Damage CTRL as Dakota Kai pinned Candice LeRae, while IYO SKY defeated Alexa Bliss. The faction also left Asuka, Bliss, and "RAW" Women's Champion Bianca Belair lying at the end of the show, with each member of the group ascending a ladder while carrying championship gold — perhaps a precursor to what may be in store at Extreme Rules on October 8. Before the closing post-match beatdown, a ladder was also used backstage; SKY used it as a weapon to injure Asuka's leg.

According to Fightful, there was a production mandate for the women's segments of the show, calling for the production crew to only provide 8 to 10-foot ladders for them. In the past for Ladder Matches in WWE, we have seen the use of much larger ladders, with the biggest ranging in the 15 to 20-foot range.

WWE has only started incorporating Ladder Matches into the women's division over the last couple of years. IYO SKY and Mia Yim had the first-ever "NXT" women's Ladder Match back in 2019 with the WarGames team advantage at stake. However, this Saturday's bout between Bianca Belair and Bayley for the "Raw" Women's Championship will be the main roster's first stab at it. 

Why the change in ladder height though? Perhaps this ties into recent comments made by Paul "Triple H" Levesque regarding wrestlers' safety in the upcoming WarGames. "When you have guys and women performing at the highest of levels, I feel like I spend more time talking them out of stuff than I do [otherwise] ... I feel like there's always a risk-to-reward ratio," he said. "Is it so big that people are gonna walk away from this with that vision implanted in their minds, and they'll never forget it? Because if you are risking your health and your longevity in your profession, over that spot, over that moment, it needs to be worth it.'"

Are more precautionary measures being taken for these dangerous matches with wrestlers' greater wellbeing in mind? This could explain the use of shorter ladders. We'll find out if this mandate sticks for Saturday's show.