Following her WWE Women’s Championship victory at the Royal Rumble over Beth Phoenix, Melina was interviewed about coming around full-circle following an injury to becoming a champion. Before the interview was over, Melina said this about the new age of women’s wrestling:
And what I also wanted to say is Trish wrote a blog about an end of an era. And it’s true; it was the end of an era when Victoria retired. But I’m hoping that we can create a new era of women’s championship reigns. And whoever wins this [championship belt] next; I hope it’s not anytime soon as I’m going to put up a fight!
What Melina said really got me thinking. 2009 really has been all about new beginnings for the WWE Divas. The so called “Golden Age” of Divas has come and gone, and we are now embarking on a new era. I’m not quite positive what this era of Divas will be known as, but that is for history to decide. It got me thinking how Divas like Kelly Kelly are constantly being called “the next Trish Stratus,” and as much as this is what it may seem, I don’t particularly like the comparison. I think Kelly Kelly is the new Kelly Kelly. Trish Stratus wasn’t some model that the WWE found in a magazine and completely transformed from a dancer to an extremely talented wrestler. In fact, to be completely honest, I never would have guessed Kelly Kelly would have made it this far. She seemed like some pretty face all about T&A and wasn’t even a really fantastic dancer. I think it goes to show that what we need to do is not focus and dwell on the past age of Divas, but look to the future with the Divas of today. Of course, Kelly Kelly should take notes from those before her, but with time she will, in my opinion, be a top championship contendor. Just look at Maryse. Who was she one year ago? A blonde who taped segments in a bath tub welcoming us back to SmackDown. As pretty as she was, if you would’ve told me that she would be holding WWE gold one year later, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.
I think what I’m trying to get at is that there’s really no telling what the Divas of today are truly capable of. Most of them are relatively new and haven’t had the wrestling experience that Divas like Ivory, Molly Holly, Victoria, and Jacqueline had. Who’s to say that Kelly Kelly or Melina won’t become an 8 or 9-time WWE Women’s/Diva’s Champion? If that is to happen, then the Divas of the future will then have to be dubbed “the next Kelly Kelly” or “the next Melina.”
2009 is off to a pretty great start; I for one am anxious to see what the future holds! Who do y’all think of today’s roster is the most likely to leave behind an amazing legacy??
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16 Comments
2009 is not off to a pretty great start.
Sure, RAW’s doing well and so is ECW, to a lesser extent.
But Smackdown drew the short straw. Maryse is on the sidelines, Eve’s wrestling and Maria’s still doing run-ins. Nothing “great” about that, now is there?
I laugh when I think about Kelly Kelly having any championship gold, let alone leaving behind a legacy. Come on. She’s a gymnast, not a wrestler. I think that Mickie James, Melina, Beth, and now obviously Michelle McCool are the only female wrestlers who have enough experience to win championships. If I see someone like Kelly Kelly, or Brie Bella win a title, I’ll be so shocked and disappointed. And for whoever said that Kelly Kelly was the next Trish Stratus, Trish should take that as an insult. That’s like comparing flats to heels, they’re just completely different. I believe that WWE Divas are increasingly lacking in the talent department. When was the last time we saw a diva storyline that was actually worth watching? Lita & Edge? Trish & Mickie? And that lasted more than 2 weeks. WWE is NOT using their little talent that they have properly. They need to open some more training schools, get nice looking, TALENTED women who WANTED to be wrestlers to begin with, and start more storylines. Men want to see divas in storylines, and it empowers us. This whole Eye-Candy bullshit needs to stop or the future of women wrestling will denigrates before this era is over.
whoa i had a lot of typos haha my bad =]
I totally agree with Hassan! In my opinion the only diva who has improved so much in her ring skills is Michelle Mccool, i know a lot of people wont agree with me, but she is extremely athletic in the ring, The diva’s who will leave a legacy behind in my opinion; Mickie James, Hopefully natalya as a third generation she deserves much much more! its so pathetic to see her job to bella twins/maria,
I Think comparisons between Kelly and Trish are bit off but not because Kelly isn’t talented it’s just that she’s not like Trish. While yes she isn’t a sound technical wrestler I can still appreciate a Girl that came in initially as eye candy and transformed her self into someone Fans are growing to love if they don’t already. People forget Kelly is on 22 she has a lot of time to prove that she can get better and bring out that extra quality that makes a diva memorable. Your thrown into a grueling work schedule and an are expected to maintain this image of what makes a “diva” along side being able to take to the ring. Call me crazy but I’m highly optimistic that she can prove that she’s more then just a gymnast and passable wrestler.
I appreciate that you all four are sooo gung-ho about posting up columns and blogs and giving us your input, I really do. And I don’t know if this is just me, but I feel like there has been just a lot of information and opinions and ideas thrown at the Diva Dirt readers in the past few days where it’s hard to really get a good discussion going. I mean, you go from SHIMMER to TNA to a Diva Draft to the “Golden Era” in less than 24 hours and it’s just a lot to take in and digest. I’d suggest maybe spreading things out a bit? Having specific posting days? I dunno, maybe it’s just me and the headache I’ve had for forever.
“Trish Stratus wasn’t some model that the WWE found in a magazine”
I don’t know if they found her in a magazine, but Trish was a model who only had minimal training at the time WWE signed her. Victoria, too. They worked out pretty well, though, to put it mildly, so I’m definitely not going to write off Kelly. As has been pointed out, she’s only 22 but has already been with WWE for nearly three years. She’s got all the time in the world to improve and have a great career.
@Manda: I know that all these posts about different things is a bit much at once but there’s a few things into account.
There are 3x as many bloggers as there was a week ago, so there is bound to be a flood of posts by 7 different people with different opinions.
Also, this internship isn’t as long as you might think. Were all trying to impress you guys in the short time we’re given.
Don’t worry Manda, I’m sure things will fall into place by next week. Just bear with us interns. We’re a lil’ eager. Lol.
Watched RAW this past Monday night, seemed like the same old shit to me. You cannot start a new era overnight and while Melina goes about her transitional reign, she better find different ways in creating a new era, because it’ll take more than one title reign and sadly I don’t see her getting another, just like Mickie.
The only way you can create a new era is if you get booking behind you and it’s clear that support is not there.
I can see where people see the relations of Trish’s starting & Kelly’s.. Both brought in as models with no experience, even though Kelly did serve in OVW while Trish did not have any training… Both were used in T & A storylines for the first year or two of their careers in the WWF/WWE.. Both came from literally no where and started to shine once taken out of their management/eye candy roles. Heck, Trish won gold on her first real big match at Surv. Series, and I remember people talking about how the other girls like Ivory, Jazz, Lita, and Jacqueline who were in that match, were screwed over by some no talent manager.. As much as people adore Trish now, she really was just great at making you believe she was a great wrestler via her quickness and flashy moves. A true wrestler is someone like Natalya, she is the only true WRESTLER on the roster within the past 9 years; you may consider Beth, but that’s debatable. The rest of them have been great athletes and performers (Trish, Lita, Michelle, Molly, Victoria, Jazz, Mickie, Melina, Jillian, etc etc) in their own rights.. Then you have the Stacy’s, Nidia’s, Torrie’s, Candice’s, currently Kelly & Maryse, etc etc that have proven they are going to be medicore ring talent wise, but play the manager/storyline/gimmick enhancement well.. Then you have the Maria’s, Terri’s, Eve’s, Tiffany’s, etc etc who just well should not be in the ring till they reach passable level in development..
Eh so long post made short, I can see future diva’s being called the next Kelly and it be a good thing.. Heck, Kelly went from the “Next Torrie Wilson” to the “Next Trish Stratus” in a year; I’d consider that an accomplishment in it’s own right. All of this IMO, of course. lol
Another boring and generic blog idea I’ve seen on another site just a few days before you posted, Hassan. Tut tut.
why hating vassy?
Yeah Vassy, I’ve happened to see your recent shots at Hassan. Ok, do you know how many diva blog sites there are? I’m sure they are all at some point going to discuss this and give their opinion about it. Plus this is his idea! It’s not like he copied it word for word from a site. So leave him alone. Aside from that, I loved your blogs so far Hassan. Agree with everything you have said.
I would like to think of 2009 for the Divas as The Era.
No more bra and panties or any stupid gimmick matches, straight up wrestling!
As far as the Kelly Kelly/Trish comparisions, Trish is her own person and so is Kelly. There are similar comparisons but they are just that comparisons. Kelly is doing a good job for a wrestler of her caliber right now, give or take a few months or years, she could just be a good wrestler, not okay but good.
I would like to see Eve in the ring, I mean, she won the Diva Search in 2007 and I want to see what exactly has she learned and how she has developed wrestling wise.
I also have a feeling that this is going to be the year of Natalya, 3G baby!
I’ll have another comment later.
There won’t be another era because not enough people really care about women’s wrestling. When the Golden era girls came up, they were being pusjed as legit and real wrestler. They were main eventing Monday Night RAW, doign cage matches, hardcore matches. They were being done rgiht. Our Divas of today don’t do anything but have tag matches and the random championship match. If anything, the only era that would be good is repeating the legit wrestler hype: Melina, Beth, Mickie, Natalya, Katie, Jillian, basically anyone not associated with the Diva Search or girls that came up from the indies. Right now, if we’re in an era, its the diva Search girl era.
i do agree with the fact that in order for it to be an era that’s memorable, you’ve got to have proper booking. the men’s division or any division for that matter is the same thing. you can have all the talent you want but if you’re constantly doing uninteresting things, then its not going to matter. the booking isnt there at the time but i think, at least for smackdown, since freddie prinze jr came on board, they are completely different than they used to be. at least there’s a smackdown division! i think if you ASKED the Divas, theyd probably tell you they have no problems competing in hardcore matches, cage matches, and other gimmick matches. its just that booking and creative doesn’t allow them to be at their full potential (im looking at you jillian and katie lea lol)
i do think melina will be around for a long time and will have more title reigns; she can carry a great match and has one of the more unique movesets out of most of the Divas.
and i know kelly kelly is nowhere near ready to be a champion, the point of my post about her was to indicate that she is improving on a weekly basis, but she’s got lots more polishing to do before gold goes around her waist. this new era is definitely not going to happen overnight, but i think the divas are doing pretty darn good!
lastly, thank you to afca and CJ…..im not sure who this vassy person is but hey, they are entitled to their opinion. i know my ideas are original and clearly im not copying someone else’s EXACT ideas of my draft post. that’s a lot of suggestions for someone else to have done already. id like to see what “other site” you are referring to though, if such a site exists. i love blogging here and i’ll continue to do so as long as im given the opportunity and yall are enjoying reading what i have to say.