This week on Raw: Candice Michelle scored a victory over Jillian, then got a cheap shot on Beth Phoenix. Beth then got laid out by Batista. Layla provided the most entertaining promo on Raw. Oh and Kelly Kelly was seen with her ‘special’ friend (and by special we mean retarded), Mike Adamle.
Thoughts & Reactions
Karma’s a bitch! The theme of this week’s Raw Redux was set to be the same as last week’s: shitty booking. Well just moments before I began writing this column, I read that Raw did a dismal 2.6 rating last night and I’d like to be the first to offer my own “hawhaw”. It just goes to show that WWE is making it’s fans tune out with crap, non-sensical booking. A freakin’ toddler could poke holes through some of the nonsense that WWE had our Divas doing last night. First of all, if Beth Phoenix hates Candice so much – if they have such an intense feud – why would Beth simply walk out behind Candice? Why wouldn’t she try and clock Candice from behind with the title or something? And if Candice was so jonesing for a fight with Beth, why would she take a cheap shot and dropkick her as she is getting into the ring? Wasn’t the point that Candice wants to go face-to-face with Beth? Isn’t taking cheap shots heel-like? No Mercy is two weeks away and WWE hasn’t done a damn thing in selling this Women’s Championship match to me. In fact, it seemed WWE went in a completely different angle last night with Beth when they have a title match to promote!
Let’s start with Candice vs Jillian. Candice’s second match back on Raw and I know a lot of people were looking to see how she’d fare, I have to say it was a vast improvement over her return match. The work was much better and there was only one really visible botch to me. That said, I didn’t enjoy this match for a number of reasons. First of all, we all knew Jillian didn’t stand a chance against Candice but to actually have her control most of the match, it’s almost as though WWE was doing some damage control, having Jillian do most of the work so Candice didn’t mess up. What does it say for Candice if WWE is doing this? She has a huge title match in two weeks, WWE cannot hold her hand through her matches and I certainly don’t see any other Divas getting this favourable treatment. Candice got in some spots but it really was Jillian working over Candice for most of the match and we all know Jillian is the biggest jobber there is going, she barely got in a lick of offense against Mickie or Melina earlier this year. WWE definitely tried to protect Candice, contrary to what some of you reading this will try to insinuate, I am not trying to personally slight Candice. I’m just stating it the way I see it, WWE is holding Candice’s hand and one has to wonder how long they can continue to do so. This match was longer than the average Raw Divas match, which would’ve been good if it didn’t feel like the match was stuck on slow-motion. I could’ve aged a year between the time it took to go from one move to the next, Candice was slow. Whether that’s her being cautious coming off an injury, I will leave for you to speculate. Unusually for Raw, the crowd was pretty quiet for most of this match save for Jillian riling them up with her ‘singing’.
Later in the night, we had Beth getting verbally buried by both JBL and Batista, pretty much a slap in the face of the women’s division and I found it really rude and disrespectful to Beth. Sure she’s a heel, sure it’s meant to be ‘entertainment’, but if it had been one of the ‘models’ out there, I highly doubt JBL would insinuate that she was a man as he did to Beth last night with “Mr and Mr Phoenix.” That left a bad taste in my mouth, because it’s a cheap form of entertainment and really is a complete disregard for the huge push WWE has given Beth since becoming the Glamazon. Let’s just undo all that in one night…
Oh Layla, why you sparkle so? A promo from a Diva. An actual Diva promo. And Layla nailed it! Short as it was, Layla oozed confidence and personality and I loved the way she delivered her lines and I honestly think this was the best promo delivered on Raw last night. Yeah, way better than the likes of former World Champions Batista, Randy Orton and JBL. What does that say to you WWE? I really love this storyline and it was my favourite part of Raw. Plus we saw Katie Lea make her Raw return and Paul Burchill has returned from Neverland! I would love to see Layla, Regal, Katie and Paul form some sort of British faction. Layla and Katie could even team up and wrestle in the women’s division, it’d be fabulous! I do hope they name rename Layla, “Queen Layla” soon since Regal is the King of the Ring.
Kelly Kelly continues to appear in useless segments for the second week in a row because WWE can’t find anything better for her to do, but just wanna put her on TV because she’s hot. Bout sums it up. At least she didn’t wrestle because I’d have to call her moves ‘flashy’ and you know that’d expose my blind hate for her… Honestly though, poor Kelly. Bearing the brunt of WWE’s bad booking. Hopefully we’ll see her back next week. Mickie James was on the bench this week too and I think it’s much needed actually, she needs some time away.
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: I love that Beth stood up to Batista, but if she did that backstage she’d find herself lining up at the job centre the next day.
Candice Michelle: I didn’t like the way Candice put up her dukes and wanted to go one-on-one with Beth, only to then dropkick her with a cheap shot as she was getting in the ring. She’s not meant to be a heel.
Jillian: Jobber the Hut.
Katie Lea: Welcome back to Raw, Katie! If anything, she looked fabulous head to toe.
Kelly Kelly: K2 is catching on.
Layla: Layla is the most exciting Diva on Raw right now, I can’t believe WWE is actually booking something right. Now that I’ve written that, next week they’ll fuck it up.
Fashion Focus
The Good: Katie looked positively glowing. Layla, as usual gorgeous.
The Bad: Candice, that outfit lol.
The In-Between: I didn’t like Beth’s top, it looked too ‘granny’ but I loved the way the jeans hugged her thighs and looked hot.
Digital Photos (Courtesy of WWE.com)
Posted by 
September 17, 2008 at 12:31 am
candice was slow in her match but she did better than her return match.
i actually thought it was entertaining the way the guys made fun of beth but at the same time it was kinda insuliting.
September 17, 2008 at 12:47 am
i was at the show live and it seemed great but idk i loved it!!!!
September 17, 2008 at 12:48 am
raw did a 2.7 according to wrestling observer.com
September 17, 2008 at 12:56 am
If Candice wants me to take her serious she must never do those wimpy “puter up fists” again. She was about as intimidating as Scrappy Doo when she did it.
Maybe they could pair Mickie up with Jamie Noble and have her feud with Layla? Not a perfect situation I suppose but better than sitting on the sidelines for the Woman’s Title hunt or being shipped off to Smackdown… If done right it could be pretty awesome…
September 17, 2008 at 1:00 am
Ah, look at you guys. So bias. Well everyone, enjoy Diva Dirt.
September 17, 2008 at 1:01 am
It’s a blog you fucking moron, of course it’s biased. This isn’t CNN.
September 17, 2008 at 1:24 am
i LOVED Layla she was rockin!!! one of the best divas on the mic! i also couldnt stand Candice getting a cheap shot on Beth..i didnt get that..and Jillian showed why she should be in the title hunt..Beth standing up to Batista was great, and I LOLed seriously when he offered her a title shot!
September 17, 2008 at 1:29 am
Mr and Mr Phoenix.. LOL Taking things out of context.
And Layla did the best promo on Raw last night? With her fake ass British accent, right? Poor Layla.
September 17, 2008 at 1:45 am
Finally they put Layla in something good and entertaining. I’m excited to see how this all will unfold just happy to see my girl Layla gettin her self some TV time.
Wow last night was the first time where I sorta opened my eyes to the idea that maybe Candice has been getting to many chances. Maybe Her come back won’t grow into anything great. I want to like her like i use to but it was like watching maria wrestle for second there. I tellin you Candice get in that ring girl and work your ass off cause if you blow at No Mercy it won’t be a good look for you.
Good to see beth used a lot, Kelly Kelly is bound to be paired with one of the new guys. Katie lea looking pretty, Mickie good to see you off TV you need 2 more weeks off because I need a break from you lol, and come back as a psycho lesbian with new ring attire so I can love you the way I use to.
September 17, 2008 at 1:49 am
I watched the match on You Tube and the crowd appeared louder then they did on tv. Candice got some decent reaction after being gone for 11 months.
Match was fine, thankfully. Candice looked and moved slow but more than likely she’s still has to comfortable in the ring. She took it slow for a reason.
The kick off the rope came off good IMO. At least she connected it this time. Good to know she’s trying new things with the little training she’s had this year.
I think she’ll be ready by No Mercy. I just hope she sharpens up on a few problems. Hell look at what these past two weeks have produced in Candice. (you can actually even minus a week since she went to Rome last week and couldn’t train).
I thought her dropkick to Beth was nice, she just didn’t hit Beth.
I hope we can get a promo next week or something so they can really emphasize on this feud. Beth just needs to drop from Glamerella, it’s really taking away from Beth and the feud in general. They’re trying to do two things at once with Beth and it’s taking away from her reign.
I hope Beth doesn’t drop the title to Candice as a way of getting Beth fully involved with Glamerella as Candice still needs build up as a title contender.
I also wouldn’t mind a Jillian/Candice feud in the future. These two put on a decent showing and considering Candice’s state right now, I’d like to see these two actually work (not one sided like last year)once Candice’s ring rust clears away in a few weeks.
Not a bad showing, obviously some mishaps but I prefered Candice/Jillian over Mickie/Beth from last week.
I hope they really build this feud within the next THREE weeks actually, not two like they said.
September 17, 2008 at 1:58 am
yea candice actually did get a loud reaction
and yea i try to look at candice the way i used to back in 2007 but its hard cuz no i know so much more about womens wrestleing
September 17, 2008 at 2:11 am
Poor Candice. I think her’s body just built to botch every move she does. LOL
September 17, 2008 at 2:17 am
Crystal, I don’t recall Candice botching much of anything. :/
September 17, 2008 at 2:20 am
Jillian is so much better wrestler than Candice and i’m sick to see she’s be jobber this way
September 17, 2008 at 2:20 am
Not a good night to be Beth Phoenix, eh? She gets cheapshotted by Candice, then insulted twice, threatened once (by Batista), then gets a spinebuster. But, she did manage to look strong by standing up to Batista, and standing up for Santino (who at least got a swing in on Batisa before getting planted on the ground) So, it’s not a complete loss for The Glamazon.
In a weird way, this physical confrontation with Batista may put her over a little more.
Candice looked better and Jillian looked motivated. I’ll have to watch Layla and Katie later, since I didn’t get a chance to see them. (I had to watch my Eagles blow the game on Monday Night
)
September 17, 2008 at 2:26 am
Mike of course you wouldn’t recall it
September 17, 2008 at 2:41 am
Candice wasn’t that slow…I liked her work this week. Nice basic wrestling maneuvers in the beginning and a very nice way to hit the Candy wrapper on Jillian.
Beth was amazing, too. She had a lot going on this week for her.
Nice crowd reaction for Candice and I like how the crowd responded to her when she called for their support. When Michelle does it, she doesn’t get the same reaction…
September 17, 2008 at 2:56 am
You know what I don’t get about you fans ?? That some of you can’t see a truly bad WORKER while watching every week. Candice moves like molasses. Jillian was screaming so the crowd would boo Candice couldn’t even get the crowd into the match. A babyface is USELESS if they can’t get some cheers. My point is, out of all the girls there, Candice is only being looked at as serious because some of you think wrestling is real and can’t tell the difference between a person who can do things right and a chick with a hot rack.
September 17, 2008 at 3:08 am
Crystal, I honestly didn’t see anything really botched. There’s a difference between botched and a move not being performed quickly to the point of where it comes off choppy, which is how Candice was last night.
If she botched up the ring, tell me all the things she botched. Not trying to start anything but I couldn’t recall it, can you help me recall it?
September 17, 2008 at 3:09 am
Lumby, someone seems a little bitter, don’t they? lol
September 17, 2008 at 3:15 am
Candice just changed to much. If you see her before the injury and now you’ll see a LOT OF CHANGES. I think that the WWE wants to change Candice a little to fasr, but they should try to do it more slow. Change her a step at a time not like to fast like now! The WWE changed her to much!And the “chip shot” to Beth wasn’t something shocking. Every Diva will throw a chip shot now or later on.
It was kind of mean what Layla said to Jamie cause she maid it sound SO REAL!!!
I thought Batista was gonne KISS Beth! L.O.L
September 17, 2008 at 3:18 am
The match was better then last week’s match. Leave that to your own interpretation.
I found it irritating that The King was going on about how Candice “got one over on Beth” when she dropkicked her out of the ring when in was just a cheap shot, something completely akin to what Jillian, Layla, Victoria or Melina (in her heel days) would have done. IMO, it was more of a coward move then a face move, something like she wanted to face Beth, but didn’t want to get into the ring with her just yet. Candice’s boxing/hustling moves in the rings pre-dropkick looked awkward as hell too.
She did pull off some good moves and I think that if she and Jillian worked together some more, they would have some solid chemistry. I especially liked the hair slam thing from the turnbuckle. It seems very effective and if she added a little bit more, it could be a finishing move.
I love King Regal and Queen Layla, hands down.
And then I think Beth standing up to Batista and actually just standing in the ring with the likes of Orton, Batista and JBL is a testament to how strong of a character she’s coming off as. I don’t see it taking away from her “Glamazon” status in the slightest.
September 17, 2008 at 3:30 am
im totaly into this beth,batista thingy…i like it alot n dont think it meant any bad thing to beth or women’s devision….dont tell me tht batista,jbl or orton would take a woman seriously
September 17, 2008 at 4:48 am
LMAO Mike, you don’t know how many times I get that !!
I’m a wrestler on the indies and sometimes it just bugs me that folks don’t pick up on what seem to me to be apparent things. I’m sure If I were to get a shot on live Raw, and brought forth a performance like that, I’d surely be told to brush up and neer try WWE again LOL !!
But you are def. correct, there were no botches, but definetly poor movement. I alaways say, when you get to WWE, you can’t be PERFECT (as no one can ever be), but you should look like you’ve got some years of experience.
Thnks for not taking the comment TOO seriously !
September 17, 2008 at 4:49 am
Katy..Laylas accent isnt fake..shes from England
i think shes most likely been in vocal training ordered by the WWE to possibly get rid of her accent or lessen it..its not as thick as it used to be
September 17, 2008 at 5:35 am
Mandice HOEchelle
September 17, 2008 at 10:22 am
Im so sick of Jillian jobbing, what a waste of talent – PUSH HER WWE!! make Katie job because shes sloppy. About the match, Candice botched a lot and she cant sell moves – Jillian carried the match yet jobbed..epic fail on wwe’s part.
September 17, 2008 at 11:47 am
CANDICE IS THE BEST!!! she was beautyful at raw! beth is bit**
September 17, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I disagree with this feeling that Beth’s confrontation with Batista makes her look bad. In a place with any other diva would’ve cowered and taken Batista’s potshots, Beth didn’t.
And the crowd responded accordingly. Maybe I was watching a different show, the crowd was going nuts when Beth got in Batista’s face after he took out Santino.
As a huge Batista fan(girl), it had me marking out for Beth more than anything else. The fact that she isn’t afraid to stand up to men (for her man no less) will work out for the best, IMO.
September 17, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I think people aren’t reading what I wrote properly. I have no problem with the segment between Beth and Batista. It was well done and I enjoyed it and I have no problem with her mixing it up with the top stars or taking bumps from Batista. But this segment could have been achieved just as well without the insinuation of Beth being a man by JBL.
September 17, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Quote of the night – “Pardon me, Dear!”
Oh, I do love having Brits in the wrestling world! <3 They speak my language! =P
September 17, 2008 at 2:39 pm
This site is getting boring. I am sick of your guys saying the same thing week after week. I don’t even check up here anymore because I know exactly what you are going to say. For intense, with Maryse and Michelle, you are going to say how sloppy Michelle is and say she is wearing something ugly, and then rave over Maryse. Then For next weeks Smackdown match you are going to say that everyone did a great job except Maria. It just seems that alot of the stuff posted on this site is really negative.
But this isn’t an attack, I still love and respect Melanie and Erin, this is just constructive criticism.
September 17, 2008 at 2:48 pm
When JBL said ‘Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix’ he wasn’t calling Beth a man, he was saying she ran the relationship. He was basically calling Santino a woman.
September 17, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Lol ???, the fact that you can’t actually use your real name says a lot. Coward. Did you ever think that maybe if the product wasn’t so crap, we’d have less need to be negative? And for your information, both Erin and I are big fans of Michelle’s work actually =)
Manda, JBL said ‘Mr and Mr Phoenix’. I thought he said Mr and Mrs too, but someone told me he said ‘Mr and Mr’ and I went back to look at it and he did.
September 17, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Ooooh, I getcha, my mistake!
September 17, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Eh, if things were so damn repetitive, maybe we wouldn’t be making the same criticisms. Just because nothing changes doesn’t mean we’ve got to invent new things to talk about.
I guess I should start hating the people I like and liking the people I hate, just to mix it up a bit. You know, so this blog doesn’t get “boring”.
September 17, 2008 at 6:23 pm
christi – Layla’s accent last monday was too forced. “Pardon me!” WTF? Maybe she can’t use “Excuse me” anymore. :p
For real, Layla was trying to be posh and she failed IMO. If you compare her accent with Katie you’ll see the differences.
September 17, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I agree with Manda about the turnbuckle-leapfrog-hairgrab-whatever-the-heck-that-move-was. I don’t know about it so much as a finisher, but I think it could make a neat little signature move. As for that kick after bouncing off the ropes… meh, not a fan. I’m glad to see Candice got it right this time, but I think it looks bad. I don’t even think it’s her fault either! I swear! It just seems… too slow? I can’t imagine it happening faster than that either, so I have to say blah to that.
I’m tired of my girl Jillian jobbing out. She’s such an awesome talent and really great in the ring when allowed to work it. ;.; C’mon, WWE, stop letting me down!
I think the segment with Beth in the ring did nothing to stomp on her or the women’s division. I think that, yeah, there was definitely not an ideal choice of words there with the “Mr. and Mr. Phoenix” bit, but all the same she stood her ground. After JBL and Orton had run scared, she still stuck around and stood up to Batista. She stayed in his face, didn’t back down, and he continued to sell the slaps she gave him like they seriously hurt. I don’t think she was diminished in ANY capacity beyond the “Mr.” part, but I don’t think that’s what will stand out from that segment on down the line. ;.; IMO. I agree that it could have gone over just as well WITHOUT JBL’s comment, but the guy’s gimmick is a loud-mouthed ass. If he HADN’T said something inappropriate it would’ve been strange to me. =P I do really see your point though.
Finally… in this message which is far too long… I freakin’ love Layla. I’m so glad she’s getting a chance to shine! She’s gorgeous, charismatic, and brings a heck of a lot to the table. Regal is another favorite of mine, so these two together is like a dream come true. I can’t wait to see how this progresses!
September 17, 2008 at 6:39 pm
melanie n erin r the best bloggers n they always say wht they actually think…i like reading thier blogs..it helped me to understand more things about wrestling…..n ya jbl said mr and mr..but i still find it intertaining n worked well with everyone’s character
September 17, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I loved the blog anyway, i agree with every thing you said.
When i first heard JBL say the Mr/Mrs Comment. I thought he said Mr and Mrs, but he did say Mr and Mr, could have been a mistake i think because Beth and Santino didnt react when he said it but thats what i think anyway.
September 17, 2008 at 7:03 pm
while I’m just lurking around and being obnoxious, haha, I also have to majorly disagree with Layla “failing” at sounding posh. I think that there was a change in her word choice that fit the character, but as for her accent… it was the same as it has always been. imo, as always!
September 18, 2008 at 5:51 am
people have to remember that not everyone from England sounds the same..different areas have different dialects
plus, Layla has lived in the U.S. for many years, and she may have lost al ittle of her accent
September 19, 2008 at 2:49 am
Lol wtf was Candice wearing? Aside from her repulsive ring attire, she put on a good match (except for the botched CandyWrapper). Far more improved from her dreadful return. Layla was smoking and really delivered the goods tonight. I’d love to see some British royal faction with Regal, Layla and the Burchills.
As for the Beth/Santino/main eventers promo, I felt a lot of the comments were pretty demeaning to not only Beth, but the women’s division as a whole, which I feel had worked hard recently to throw off the stigma associated with it. Still, it’s WWE. There’s no reason to expect they’d actually respect women.
September 19, 2008 at 3:31 am
eh i thought they all did a good job monday night. i’d personally love to see jillian pushed over candice, but if candice can take the title off beth it will be good to see a heel chase the title; a heel that is not beth phoenix.
imo beth has kinda grown out of the raw diva division, kinda like kong has grown out of the knockouts. there is just nothing real special about them when they face women, but beth shines when mixed with the male roster. i think it would be good for her career to take the title from her via a screw up from santino, and continue to use her to make santino come off as well as she has. thus leaving heels like katie, jillian, layla, and possibly melina if she returns as a heel, to chase the title for a change. that or turn one face and go after beth, cause im sick of seeing mickie/beth.
September 19, 2008 at 11:10 am
i wonder if they’ll ever end this feud
September 19, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Totally agree Chirsti, I see comments and people are talking about Layla and her accent as if she were American born and bred and was attempting an English accent and failing. They also sound as if they think England is a town not a country.. we have SO many different accents in England it’s unbelievable. Even people living in London can have different accents. I love Layla’s voice! <3
September 20, 2008 at 10:05 pm
at 3:50 it sounds like jillian is saying i dont like her either LOL