Diva Debates: The Great American Bash Edition

Welcome to Diva Debates, the biggest battle since David and Goliath, Buffy and vampires, Trish and Lita… we present to you, Erin vs Melanie! In Diva Debates, we will battle it out for your vote – giving you two sides to a Diva argument. Once you’ve read both of our arguments, you can vote for who you agree with the most, the blogger with the most votes wins!

Diva Debates returns to Diva Dirt! Diva Debates has found a new home, every Wednesday here at the site. In this week’s Diva Debate: Michelle McCool and Natalya will do battle for the Divas Championship at the Great American Bash, who should win and why?

Read the arguments and vote after the cut!

Erin: I definitely see Natalya winning this. The WWE has pushed her for a while as being a very accomplished wrestler, so there’s no doubt that they want to keep her character strong. However, I don’t think that their main priority in having her win. Michelle, as many know, is SmackDown’s new golden girl. She’s the biggest babyface, and the WWE obviously wants to push her above everyone else. The best way to do that would be to have Natalya win the title, play an effective heel role, and have Michelle chase her. The WWE is notorious for their “underdog face” roles – they had Trish chasing the Women’s Title more often than not. Whether it was Jazz, Molly, Victoria, or anyone else, Trish was at her best when she was pursuing the champion instead of holding the belt herself.

This is what I think WWE might do with Michelle. Everyone is always eager to dub a Diva “the next Trish Stratus” – which is ludicrous IMO, because if anything, a sucessful Diva needs to be set apart from the others, not lumped in as some “second edition” of a beloved favorite. Even though I hope they don’t make her a Trish Stratus clone – we’ve seen that effort combust a few times before with other Divas – I can see them using the same strategy they used with Trish in getting the fans behind her as she pursues the heel champion. Make the fans eager for her to win the title – make them wait for it instead of giving it to her right away at the Great American Bash. That way, it’ll seem more triumphant and climactic.

So, where does this leave Natalya? I personally love her, but she’s obviously not SmackDown’s #1 priority, Diva-wise. Hopefully this wouldn’t make her a transitional champion. But, if this is played right, it can help elevate her heel status by toying with and beating on the fan favorite. If they draw this out long enough, it can be a win-win situation for both Divas, even if Natalya has to surrender the title. I initially thought Michelle’s big win coudl be at Summerslam, as it’s the second biggest PPV of the year, but that gives them less than a month of buildup. If they spread it out far enough in order to get a good feud brewing, Michelle could win it as late as Survivor Series. That seems like a long way away, but if the WWE put some reall effort into an extended feud, like they do with some Superstars, I feel it could definitely pay dividends in bulding the fledgling Divas Title and SmackDown’s Divas division. It seems unlikely that they’d put that much effort into keeping the feud fresh for that long, but that’s how I would plan it.. So there it is – Natalya is the winner this Sunday, but Michelle is the winner in the long run.

Melanie: In case you haven’t guessed, my choice for the win is Michelle McCool. Michelle has come so far since the days of the 2004 Diva Search, transforming into a great wrestler who’s worked so hard to help elevate SmackDown’s women’s division. No doubt, like Trish Stratus and Mickie James before her – Michelle McCool is the centerpiece of the SmackDown women’s division. Could there be any other candidate for the first ever Divas Champion?

From the Diva Search to the Great American Bash this Sunday, Michelle’s career has sky-rocketed and she’s one of the first Diva Search contestants to truly be able to shake off the “Diva Search” tag and be taken seriously as a wrestler. Her improvements in the ring and continued willingness to learn are what sets her apart from her fellow Divas – Michelle started with nothing and has gone onto become a true student of the sport. Matching her own accomplishments, is WWE’s faith in this Diva. Michelle McCool has gained quite the favour with WWE’s Creative Team who have continued to book her strongly for the past year or so, from her storyline with Chuck Palumbo to winning the title as “SmackDown’s Top Diva”, this girl has grown and developed to the top.

Now, when it comes to crowning the first ever Divas Champion – WWE has the chance to finally elevate Michelle to the level they’ve been prepping her for over the past year. After all the effort that both WWE and Michelle have made, it’s only fitting that she have her hand raised in glory this Sunday night, as the first ever Divas Champion.

So, you’ve heard the arguments but which blogger convinced you? Vote below!

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