This week on Raw: Candice Michelle made her comeback in six Diva action, scoring the win for her team of Mickie James and Kelly Kelly by pinning Beth Phoenix, whose partners included Katie Lea and Jillian.
Thoughts & Reactions
She’s back and as controversial as ever. No Diva divides fans the way that Candice does and that’s been evident from reading your comments and reviews on Candice’s comeback on Raw last night. As for this blogger, I’m sure you all know Candice wouldn’t exactly make my Christmas card list (if I knew her that is) so I may be biased when I write about her. But hey, that’s what friends blogs are for. Some clever guess work on WWE’s part for having Candice make her miraculous comeback on a taped edition of Raw rather than the live thing, because the editing is causing an uproar among you Diva fans. The match was definitely edited at the end. I guess they knew that it wouldn’t be pretty, either.
Moving away from the wrestling to begin with: I couldn’t help but feel Candice’s comeback was the most contrived piece of television since Jade Goody decided to “redeem herself” by entering the Indian Big Brother house. From the outfit to the bad acting as she went to the top turnbuckle to tears at the end, this wasn’t as much a “comeback” as it was a “blubfest”. We’re supposed to feel sorry for Candice, we’re supposed to root for Candice – but in all honesty, Candice isn’t as likable as WWE would have their fans think. This is evident by the way she divides Internet fans. I can’t help but feel Candice is a contradiction of herself, she tries to come across so profound but then shows up on Raw looking like a dominatrix – one who can’t keep her clothes on, for that matter. If her outfit “defines beauty”, I’d rather be ugly. Then we have the tears after she retreated up the ramp following the match, “Pity me! Pity me!” I hope WWE realises that Candice is not the innocent babyface like Trish or Mickie and trying to have her act like she is will never catch on with the fans, just look at the furore she causes online. PS: I thought Raw was now a PG show?
Anyhoo, onto the match – I really enjoyed the work from our Divas this week. Kelly and Mickie seemed more fired up than usual, Mickie in particular was the most exciting I’ve seen her since her fourth Women’s Championship win – perhaps she’s trying not to be overshadowed by Candice? Kelly continues to improve and she worked well for her short part of the match. Jillian and Mickie shared a great chemistry that I enjoyed thoroughly. As for Katie Lea, I think she works better in a tag team combination than in singles action and that’s odd, if you ask me. Her tag team work was much better than her series of horrible and bland matches with Mickie this past summer. As for our Glamazon, well I certainly didn’t like that they buried Beth straight away against Candice. So much for a “money feud” between these two. They ruined it in a matter of minutes by having them interact at the first instance. I would’ve had Candice pin Jillian or Katie and then have Beth retreat from the ring quickly, avoiding any confrontation between these two – prolonging that eventual match. Obviously, logic isn’t WWE’s strongest suit.
Candice’s in-ring return was a mixed bag, I’ll admit it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but it wasn’t great either. There were a few glimmers of excitement (such as that hair-drop thing she hit on Beth from the corner), but for every glimmer there’s a botched headscissor takedown. It seems to me that Candice has even yet to master the basic forearm, perhaps she should concentrate on getting her punches right before moving into anything too showy? As I’ve said with Kelly Kelly, it doesn’t help when you overcompensate for your lack of experience with flashy moves – try and perfect the basics. The end was definitely edited as one moment, Candice was behind Beth and then miraculously in front of her. Candice has a long way to go and I certainly wouldn’t rank her in-ring skills above the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool. That said, Candice isn’t as bad as some fans will suggest. She’s certainly a step ahead of Maria and former Diva, Ashley. To reiterate, thankfully for her and WWE this week’s show was taped but that won’t be the case next week. Hopefully, we can have a more informed judgement next Tuesday.
Individual Assessments
In this portion we will look at each of the Divas individually and the role they played, adding more thoughts yadda yadda:
Beth Phoenix: Last week Kelly, this week Candice. Maybe Randy Orton was right about the Women’s Champ… she’s not a very effective one.
Candice Michelle: What more can I say that I haven’t already?
Jillian: Worked well against Mickie but let’s face it, will never be more than a jobber.
Katie Lea: I’m not sold on Katie, I thought she could be a top heel, now I see her as just another Jillian.
Kelly Kelly: I would hate to see Kelly pushed further behind with Candice back on the scene. In a lot of ways, she’s similar to Candice but I’d love to see her go the opposite route of Candice and really become great before she’s hyped up and given a title.
Mickie James: Nice fun work from Mickie. Did anyone see her jumping split on the ring apron at the start of the match? Wow!
Fashion Focus
The Good: None.
The Bad: Candice.
The In-Between: The rest.
Digital Photos (Courtesy of WWE.com)
JAMIE NOBLE (W/ LAYLA) VS. WILLIAM REGAL
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49 Comments
She didn’t even really get a good pop when she returned
you forgot about layla
I agree with basically everything you said Melanie.
Also does anyone else thing Mickie appeared to look a bit peed off at the start?
mickie did look a little pissed off at the beginning.her face looked a little aw here’s this bitch again when candice came out.i thought it was just me.i was happy to see candice return.hopefully she’ll improve even more now that she’s back.hope she stays healthy too.
my fashion focus would be
the good:layla
the bad: mickie & kelly kelly
the in between: the rest.
i was happy to see layla back as well even though she didn’t wrestle.i loved her dress by the way.
I thought Candice’s back tattoo was heinous… it reminded me a lot of that spine tattoo thing Brock Lesnar is sporting.
I’ll explain my thoughts later.
Okay, first of all, Candice wasn’t ‘taking her clothes off’, she was showing Beth her scar. Second, she botched ONE move. That’s it. Sure she isn’t the greatest wrestler, but she is far from bad. She’s above average. Stop trashing her, seriously, it’s getting you no where.
Candice needed a pair of pants that fit her right because they kept falling down.
Ok Candice is back but honestly is anyone really that bothered, i dont think she deserves to be top face on Raw jst now and shud be wrkin her way up again i dont want 2 see Candice vs Beth with Mickie and Kelly vs Katie Lea and Jillian for the rest of the year, I would rather see Kelly vs Beth.
Want to see Beth be so much more dominant like she was before but she has much more of a personality now so it shud be a more entertaing title reign!
DUUUUDE.
Anybody else notice Mickie was trying to earn attention at the beginning by doing those stupid leaps and stuff? She did /not/ look happy or excited that Candice was back, and she barely particaped in the match except for when she was actually wrestling, or that time her and Kelly helped Candice get on the top rope.
Mickie = attention whore.
Lily – I think Melanie was referring to Candice ripping her shirt off during her entrance. I know she’s done that with her coat in the past, but it seems a little more raunchy with it being a shirt and all.
Second, we only *saw* her botch one move, which was the headscissors. The other botches, according to reports from the taping, occured near the end of the match, and were edited out. You can see that if you watch the very end, where Candice goes from being behind Beth in one shot to in front of her the the span of a camera angle change. So yes, she botched more than one move.
I’d say overall she seems to still lack the basic ring presence that other girls have – she seems too wild, IMO – her punches aren’t believable, she’s running haphazardly into a move, etc. I think “ring presence” is just something some people have and others don’t. IMO, Candice never really had it – she’s always seemed a bit apprehensive to me. Someone like Maryse has surprised me in that she looks confident and has a certain way she handles herself that makes her look capable, even if she isn’t as experienced as Candice is.
I’m going on waayyy too long about this. But honestly, we should wait until next week to give a complete judgment.
Lily: I never said Candice was taking her clothes off, so I find it funny how you put that in quotation marks when it’s not actually in the blog. What I’m referring to when I said Candice can’t keep her clothes on is her strap on her top was coming down and her pants kept falling down. Nothing about her taking her clothes off.
mickie looked pissed omg i was laghing my ass of
candice looked horrible everything about her just loooked fake although i gotta say her boobs have gotten smaller ;]
I hate that ever1 is bashing candice just like they bashed ashley when she came back!!I think its so unfair that every1 notices 1 botch but mickie botches all the time and every pats her on the back 4 it!
I think people need to educate themselves on the difference between the words “bashing” and “criticism”, because people have been using the term “bash” waaayyy too liberally around here. Not every negative comment is bashing, for Christ’s sake. Get off the ledge.
Actually Kristen, there’s a big, BIG difference between criticisms and bashing. If I wanted to bash Candice, I’d call her a ‘whore’ and a slut’. I’ve said it time and time again and I’m sick of people launching their one woman martyrdom in our comments.
Trish = innocent?! HAHAHA
Trish was anything but innocent. And Mickie…
Remember her entrance?!?!
Talking about clothes. LOL I mean Trish and pretty much every Diva shows their underwear. Nothing new here.
Onto the match:
Candice is well. Of course she has ring rust. You can’t expect much tbh.
Kelly completelly botched her moves and its really sad to see her on Raw. I always thought Smackdown was a better place for her.
Layla looked amazing. I’m glad she’s back. :D
*Candice did well. Oops!
I have never beenmuch of a Candice fan. Not to ‘bash’, but her in-ring work is sloppy and she has little charisma. Not happy to see her back, and apparently neither is Mickie. Btw, has anyone noticed hasn’t gotten her rematch? If candice gets one , I smell a heel turn. Plz excuse any bad typing, I’mon my phone.
I don’t see any bashing in the post, all I see is honest, opinionated critisism. Anyway, Candice was terrible (although that’s obviously to be expected). WWE rushed her back too quickly I think, should have taken her return slowly and actually made it worthwhile, not just appearing randomly for a tag team match.
Face it, Candice could become Beth in the rign and she’d stil lget shit on.
I find it funny how people can always point out her bads but never praise her when she actually does do good. I also find it funny how everyone starts attacking her and saying she sucks, KNOWING she hasn’t trained in about a year.
The story made the match. WWE really brought the feud back last night and in a good way. Candice showing the scar, Candice being hesitant towards climbing the rope, knowing that’s where it all happened last year, and from her emotions and agressions toward Beth for putting her out.
I don’t see hwy it always has to be the match that’s critiqued. The match was meant to restart Beth vs. Candice and you know what?, they hit the nail on the head last night. The story was supposed to be the focus of the entire segment and that’s what made the match last night.
Beth’s reaction to seeing Candice after she thought she had rid of Candice forever was priceless.
It was nice seeing a RAW that didn’t revolve around Mickie or Kelly. It was something new and honestly, after last night, Beth vs. Candice could be a feud to look out for in the future if WWE books it right. If Candice can get back to where she was last year and keep improving, I see some good matches in the future.
After 3 injuries in her career, I definitely see Candice changing her style of wrestling once she starts training again and I hope it’s more technical, with the excitement added in that she always has in the ring.
And the clothes falling down reference is BS. Mickie’s thong pops out all the time and Beth’s has as well.
But of course no one ever mentions that. <_<
This is what I expected. Candice coming back and not being that great. Granted she wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t in awe. I have to say I really dug the whole robe thing from her old entrance, and I really hope she brings it back. Now her entrance is just plain.
I agree with Melanie, even though Candice is back, I want them to keep showing Kelly. Hopefully, they will be like Smackdown and have two Diva’s matches. One for Kelly (which makes a storyline, like SD is doing with Maryse). And the other for Candice (in which they are trying to push someone, likeSD is doing with Brie)
I agree, Mike.
Candice is always seen and judged by her flaws, and not her ability. She is a great in-ring competitor, not the best, but deffinatley not the worst. I just feel like every little thing Candice does, is put under a microscope, and she’s critisized for it harshly. It’s funny how Mickie, Kelly, Beth, and all these other big names botch moves all the time, but they’re never pointed out. So people, give Candice a break. She’s trying her best, and obviously she’s going to be rusty in the ring, it’s been about a year! So just cut her some slack.
Thanks Michelle for your comment. It’s appreciated when people see our blogs for what they are. There are so many marks out there that cannot understand a simply criticism without pulling the “bashing” card and need to be talked down from the ledge, as Erin says. Oh well, you can’t please anyone. And to be honest, I’d rather not try and please people who are too pig headed and cannot help but get worked up over *gasp* a blog on the Internet.
We may seem a little nit-picky, but this is mainly because it’s her return. We haven’t seen her in a long time and thus we’re ready to speak at length about her, just as we will on Melina and people did with Lita and Trish and countless others before when they returned to the ring after a considerable absence.
Mickie, Kelly, and Beth may botch, but that doesn’t catch my attention as much because, IMO, they aren’t overrated. The expectations meet the outcome. The way people speak about Candice makes me feel that she’s overrated – she doesn’t (and didn’t in 2007) deliver in the way that justifies the way she was pushed (winning the Women’s Title, getting a huge face push, etc.). Mickie can be sloppy at times, but she can pull off a great match more often than not, as can Beth – I can’t say the same about Candice. As for Kelly, my expectations are pretty low, and no one’s singing her praises like she’s some top Diva or anything. Kelly’s not being heavily pushed as a wrestler, but if that day comes and if she doesn’t deserve the push, you can bet I’ll be criticizing her.
If Candice continues on this path and botches in her matches, I’m not going to sit down and list every single one, because we’ll be beyond that. She’ll have more matches under her belt and more examples of how far she’s come in her time away from the ring. Now is kind of like having cabin fever – it’s been so long since we’ve seen her that we (or I, since I can’t speak for everyone else) are eager and ready to evaluate her performance.
But hell, I kind of like this “disagreement”. We don’t have to agree, and I’m pretty sure we never will. At least we can have intelligent discussions without name calling or finger pointing. We speak our minds – that’s what this blog is for. :)
Micki DIDN’T look so HAPPY!
Yes, Erin. I’m glad we can speak our minds on the site. I just want to get a point across, that Candice /is/ capeable of pulling off good matches. Right now, she’s certainly not at her best, because, you’re right, it is her return, and we haven’t seen her in so long. I also want to tell all the people who say ‘Candice can’t wrestle’ and ‘Candice sucks’ and all that stuff; She can wrestle, and you can’t deny that. She has ability, and we’ve all clearly seen her progress, and improvement over the years.
Erin, but noone’s overrating Candice though. Noone’s saying she’s the best.
If someone’s getting overrated around here, it’s Kelly. I ahven’t seen her put on a technical match one time that involved ACTUAL wrestling moves. I’ve seen alot of Candice’s house show work last year and she really put all of her effort into them and no it jsut wasn’t her doing sots. What you saw on tv, yes it was all spots, but at house shows, Candice worked actual technical matches with Melina, Beth, Jillian, etc. They were good matches.
You cannot really judge someone’s performance based on tv as all of it is rushed. If we were gonna judge people’s tv performances fro mthe WWE, then Beth’s a sloppy worker, Jillian and Katie are sloppy, Melina messes up sometimes, Victoria’s an old ass wrestler who cannot even beat a model anymore.
If we judge based off tv then that’s how those people come across. But we know they aren’t like that mainly due to their work outside the WWE TELEVISION and working house shows is like working indy’s, there’s more oppurtunity for better matches since you’re not being rushed. Obviously Candice messed up last night but you have to give her the benefit of the doubt. She went in there with 0 training in about a year and if you guys are expecting her to even do good work, you’re nuts. WWE obviously brought her back before she could clean up her ring rust and in a few weeks, she SHOULD BE fine.
ok lets see…even if candice is a gr8 wrestler(which is not true she still need to work on the basics as mel said)she still cant beat beth….NO WAY we cant take it anymore
I do think Candice is overrated by some of her fans, definitely. But almost every Diva is overrated by the people who like her. And last year, the WWE was pushing Candice like crazy and people were singing her praises when I honestly didn’t see her as being that proficient in the ring or deserving of such a push (not to mention a Title run). In that sense, I do think she was being overrated.
But yeah, people do get pushed undeservingly – that’s wrestling for you. The question is if she responds to that and can convincingly defeat these people she’s being put over. I don’t think Candice necessarily fulfilled that last year. It’s similar to Torrie’s monster pushes back when she ruled SmackDown years and years ago – I just couldn’t buy that this girl was deserving of being pushed that far.
Kelly is not overrated by my standards. I’m just impressed that she can wrestle AT ALL. That doesn’t mean I’m hoping she gets a monster push or a Title shot or any of that nonsense. I also think that’s because the expectations for her are sooooooo low that it’s easy to be impressed by her. Candice has been around much longer and has been training much, much longer. The expectations are higher, and when she doesn’t meet them in my eyes, and people still speak of her pretty highly despite those faults, I take that as her being overrated. I never said anyone said “she was the best”, because I’m fairly certain no one has.
It’s kind of like Maria, to me.. She and Maria have a certain awkward presence in the ring, like they don’t seem confident. I’m not just talking about Candice’s recent matches – it’s ever since she turned face. I don’t know.. Maybe it’s a face thing, like they feel they need to bounce around and be herky-jerky and not just breathe, take their time and not oversell things. Maybe that’s why I don’t see either of them as being 100% convincing as capable wrestlers.
hey! you didnt say anything about LAYLA!! shame! i dont like Candice and I never have..accept what youve done in the past and own up to it, dont try to deny stuff about you…shes never been good to me and I understand that shes high on vince’s list and thats fine..im surprised they didnt hype her return, especially on a holiday..they shouldve let us know last week with some vids like they did last time…i agree that shes overrated cuz shes been put into these spots and situations shes not ready for..and thats the same way i feel about Michelle McCool as well
Kelly is really growing on me cuz you can tell that she is trying really hard to get better..i mean compare her from a year or 6 months ago..i really like her cuz i know she trying and i respect that about her
^ You respect that about Kelly but you can’t “respect” Candice?
And.. “accept what youve done in the past and own up to it, dont try to deny stuff about you…” What is that?!
Whoppie!!! Candice is Back! (WHO CARES?!?!?!?!) She should have stayed gone forever, I mean with all the firings and everything. They should have kept Cherry and gotten rid of Candice. She never should have gotten that championship to begin with, and You want to know what really sucks is that they are probably going to give Candice a shot at the title before Mickie gets her rematch. And they will give Candice the title again and Mickie gets screwed! It is not right, she should not just get tossed back into a title run just because she lost it to Beth. It is not right, I mean Candice sucks, she thinks she is all that when really she isn’t worth the money that they are paying her. She can’t do s*** in the ring and she is just to damn stuck up for anything she does to be believable. She also has the most annoying voice I have ever heard.
well Katy i feel like people judge her about her past in terms of the sex stuff and what not and i do feel like she tried to shy away from it and not own up to it..even though she did pose for Playboy while in the WWE
and i do respect Candice for trying to improve I think shes being pushed in a way that is overrated (which isnt her fault) but thats how it comes out for me as a viewer
I dunno. In the weeks leading up to their match (anyone besides me remember Mickie STILL has her rematch clause?), Beth will do things to garner heat, but while Candice was gone, Beth really got over with the crowd, especially in her angle with Santino (which may have been silently finished) and we may see a bit of backlash, with some fans rooting for Beth instead.
But, I think with Kelly Kelly’s improvements and Mickie still a face (for now), it may be tough to really get the fans to get behind Candice like they did last year.
“I never said anyone said “she was the bestâ€, because I’m fairly certain no one has.”
Eh, go on another all-diva fan site/blog. I just did, said Candice wasn’t too good on RAW and had like 5 people jumping on my back, calling me a hater/basher, degrading names and telling me “CANDICE IS DAA BEST!!111!!!”.
im sick of candice already, shes a sloppy ho who doesnt deserve to be in the wwe. I fear that the katie lea, jillian, kelly kelly, gail kim and melina (when they will return) will really suffer as wwe put over this dried out candice.
Release her, she cant wrestle and will only drag the rest of the divas down.
I was really sad last year when she took the we women’s championship from melina and now this year if she takes it from beth espescially now that she sucks even more i’d be really pissed
mICKIE’S NOT AN ATTENTION WHORE IT’S NOT HER FAULT SHE’S A waaayyy BETTER WRESTLER THAN CANDICE AND HSA waaayyy MORE FANS. cANDICE WAS AN ATTENTION WHORE LAST YEAR
i dont like candice at all what kind of role model is she shes not she been in porn and everything that makes her a whore
SHE SUCKS
She is last on My List
Mike, I just want to touch on your comments about you can’t just judge a wrestler by their television performances. Because I honestly, and excuse me for my wording, think you’re just pulling excuses out of your ass with that.
If you can’t judge them on their television performances, where the hell are you supposed to judge them? I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a spare million dollars to attend every single house show ever to watch and judge the Divas wrestle. And more times than not, the footage isn’t on the Internet. When they’re on television is the only time, in reality, we can truly analyse a performance.
Nah your well wrong.
Maria is totally better than Candice
N i dont like either TBH
christi -
Ohh okay. But still… i don’t think she never denied anything about her past.
Mickie did “nasty” things aswell but no one seems to care. *rolleyes*
If Mickie gets her rematch then its like a vicious cicle. Mickie wins her rematch then Beth has a rematch and wins and so on… BORING!
I think its unfair to bitch about Can Can now. If she stays like this and botches every match she gets then something is wrong and she deserves criticism.
Lol the first sentence of the Redux. ‘She’s back and more controversial than ever.’, just look at these replies to prove that one.
Aza, Candice is a much better wrestler than Maria and I’m not a fan of either. Both look awkward but Maria doesn’t seem to want to take falls atall as in people performing moves onto her. Just look at every battle royal the Divas have had and I’m pretty sure in most of them, if not every one, Maria clings onto the ropes and makes her exit look crappy. Whereas other divas, including Candice will actually fall from the ring and make it look painful – taking a bump if needed.
Katy, people aren’t bitching about Candice, as stated above. They’re analysing her performance. They’re doing so more seriously as it’s her ‘big return’.
I found out that the Raw was shot on Mickie’s Birthday, that could be why she seemed different. Because during the match Mickie seemed more driven and was more exciting to watch.
like when the match finished mickie was like wierd she didnt help candice which is very funny and idk i kinda feel sorry for her cuz shes being overshadowed by candice