Bayley-Sasha Banks rematch a true step in a revolutionary direction

Earlier this year, WWE's Charlotte said in an interview that she wanted to be in the main event a WWE pay-per-view.

Not an episode of Monday Night Raw or Smackdown, but a monthly pay-per-view offering. In fact, she went as far as to guarantee it.

"I know one day I will main event a pay-per-view," she said. "It might not be WrestleMania, but it will be a pay-per-view."

While it is always nice to see someone have lofty expectations for themselves, those seemed a little too lofty given how WWE typically presents women's wrestling, which is as more or less an afterthought to the men.

Although Charlotte has been a major contributor to the "Divas Revolution," not much has changed on WWE's main shows in making the women seem on equal footing as the men.

Sure, the women are having longer matches that span multiple segments, but their spot on the card hasn't drastically changed.

Although Ronda Rousey and the UFC have proven that a woman can be a major box office attraction, WWE has been reluctant in allowing a woman to reach to such a plateau.

Charlotte made this decree while she was still a full-time member of WWE's developmental territory NXT, which has grown into its own functioning brand at a rapid pace.

A major reason for NXT's expeditious growth is how the women are viewed. While men still dominate WWE's main products, NXT has showcased the women on a much higher level for more than a year.

Charlotte was entrenched in this movement — or dare I say revolution — and saw it work with her own eyes. She, along with Bayley, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and others, were given prominent spots on the card and time to fully tell stories in the ring.

But as much as NXT gave the women a platform to succeed, it still didn't put them in the main of its live WWE Network specials.

The women got a chance to close out episodes of NXT television, but not the live specials. That spot was still reserved for the men.

NXT is about to change that, and it has much to do with a faithful night in Brooklyn, N.Y. back on Aug. 22.

Bayley, the happy-go-lucky wrestler that always came up just short, challenged the ultra-confident Banks for the NXT Women's championship.

Despite the match boasting a quality story and characters fans were emotionally invested in, it was slotted as the semi-main event in favor of a ladder match for the NXT championship between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens.

While that spot is better than what WWE's main products give the women, it still wasn't the main event.

Although they didn't have top billing, Bayley and Banks put on a match that was more than worthy of it. The match was so good, and featured so much emotion, that it grossly overshadowed the main event.

By the time the bell rung for the Balor-Owens encounter, the fans at the Barclays Center were spent and still on an emotional high from Bayley's triumphant and euphoric victory.

The rematch, however, will get its proper billing.

On Oct. 7, NXT will present another live special. The main event: Banks challenging Bayley for the NXT Women's championship. The match will go on last, but that's not all. It is also a 30-minute ironman match. To say that Bayley and Banks earned this coveted spot is an understatment.

It isn't the main event of a pay-per-view, but Bayley going against Banks in the main event of an NXT live special is a step in the right direction of a real "Divas Revolution."

Better yet, let's call it putting women's wrestlers in the same light as their men counterparts. That's because Bayley and Banks are not divas. They are women's wrestlers that will take part in what will be the most anticipated match in NXT this year, and probably its entire history.

Yes, at the end of the day, NXT is still just WWE's developmental territory, and time will tell if this will have any effect on its main shows, but for now, it is a necessary step forward.