Armchair Creative Team: What Next for SmackDown?

Oh, we Diva Dirt writers. Always a step ahead of WWE’s own Creative Team, thinking up solutions to problems that they have yet to even acknowledge. Okay true, we don’t have five hours of television to write every week so I guess we should cut them some slack, but these are the guys that thought Ashley headlining WrestleMania was entertainment, so forgive us if we’re quick to offer criticism on their ‘hard work’. Heard of ‘armchair casting directors’? Y’know, those guys who sit behind their computers and offer their opinion [without being asked] on which up-and-coming actor or actress should play the latest obscure superhero character that hasn’t been done yet. Well we consider ourselves an ‘armchair creative team’, those girls who sit behind their computers and offer their opinion [without being asked] on WWE’s booking.

With all the hubbub surrounding the current SmackDown situation, we thought we’d pull up an armchair, roll our sleeves up and see if we can’t solve this problem. Women’s Champion Michelle McCool‘s status remains in doubt after suffering an injury over a week ago at a SmackDown house show. The result has lead to widespread speculation about whether Michelle will be back soon after a short resting period or if she’s going to be out for a lengthy period. It seems the current uncertainty surrounding the Women’s Champ is far more interesting than the stuff they actually book for TV.

Well our Diva Dirt editors, Erin and Melanie both have their own solutions for this division-crippling conundrum:

Erin’s Solution:
Okay, so my plan has a lot of “what if”s. What if Michelle keeps the title? … What if Michelle is only out for a short period of time? … What if Michelle is out for the rest of the year? I’m going to try to find an answer to this problem while bearing those in mind.

What if Michelle keeps the title? If the WWE has no desire to write into the storyline that Michelle must vacate the title or defend it crippled, then we’re stuck with a champion-less SmackDown. The WWE pulled a similar trick when Maryse was injured last year, but her stint on the disabled list was a short one. If Michelle’s injury keeps her out considerably longer, we could see the division in suspended animation, with everyone just biding their time until the champ comes home. Hopefully, if that were to happen, the WWE can still cook up a decent storyline not involving the defense and chase of the Women’s Championship.

What if Michelle is only out for a short period of time? If Michelle’s injury is minor, and thus only requires a few weeks on the sidelines, perhaps they could keep her in the fans’ minds by using her in a non-wrestling capacity. Now, I know that traveling cross-country isn’t exactly feasible on a bum knee, so these could be handled with weekly video packages or “video diaries” taken at home directed towards Melina, with Michelle updating Melina on her status in a very sarcastic and oh-woe-is-me way. This could bring a bit of humor to the feud while allowing Melina to seethe, taking out her frustrations on unlucky opponents week after week until Michelle finally returns. She can maintain her heel heat whilst continuing her feud with Melina, which had been pretty hot before her injury. You could even bring Layla into the fold by having her act as a “liason” for Michelle and give her more screen time and room for her heel character to grow.

What if Michelle is out for the rest of the year? We could stay in that same storyline, except after a few weeks of agonizing frustration, Melina takes a trip to Michelle’s house, beating her down in a fashion that you rarely see a babyface do. It would make the feud that much more compelling, in seeing the face act with malicious intent rather than be passive or sympathetic. It’s very Stone Cold Steve Austin, but if anyone could pull it off, it’d be Melina. She could then steal Michelle’s belt, and parade around with it, effectively branding herself as unofficial Women’s Champion. What could Michelle do about it? Not much, and that’s what would make it so frustrating for her–you would never know if Michelle would show up one week, unannounced and hobbling, intent on getting her property back. In the meantime, Melina could feud with some lesser-used heels, such as Natalya or Katie Lea, giving them the screen time they deserve and don’t usually get. In Michelle’s absence, deserving Divas can get the exposure they wouldn’t get otherwise, sort of making lemonade out of the lemons we’ve been dealt. When Michelle finally returns, the title situation could be settled with a big, winner-takes-all match (technically, Michelle is still champ, but the months of absence have sort of put it in limbo, a GM decides). Boom! You have instant month-long buildup, and Michelle didn’t have to step foot in a ring. Tension was built, the stakes were risen, and all in a way that allows Michelle to recuperate on her own time.

Melanie’s idea after the cut:

Melanie’s Solution:
There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about Michelle’s health; does she just need a few weeks at home or is it more serious? We don’t know and WWE doesn’t seem in a big hurry to tell us, so thinking of a solution is hard when you don’t have the groundwork. But like Erin, I believe that there should be different solutions for different situations.

If McCool has simply tweaked her knee and is out for a short period, let her stay at home and rest. I wouldn’t strip her of the Women’s Championship because let’s face it, it’d mess up the flow of the division and a few weeks won’t hurt a la Maryse’s injury in late December/early January. In the meantime, they could do something different to pass the next few weeks. I’ve noticed Melina’s former beau, John Morrison is currently involved in a feud with the Hart Dynasty — they could have a ‘mini-feud’ consisting of tag team matches and an eventual singles match between Melina and Natalya, perhaps. Then when Michelle is ready, they could have her come back and insert herself right into the mix and bring the Women’s Title into the fold. Rather than feuding with just Melina as she has been doing, she’ll have inherited Nattie too by way of their feud in her absence, which brings us fresh match possibilities and an eventual three-way for the title.

But all signs are indicating that Michelle’s injury is pretty serious, judging from the correspondence we received with one of our contacts last night. In that event, I believe the best thing they can do is vacate the Women’s Championship as soon as possible and allow a new champion to be decided, to keep the division going. I would hope that they have all the information they need on McCool’s injury by tomorrow night’s taping and can make an informed decision i.e. strip her of the title at the taping. You could then have General Manager, Teddy Long announce a battle royal at SummerSlam to determine the new champion and given the shallow pool of talent on SmackDown, as we have talked about in the past, allow the ECW Divas to compete for the title and have them in the match too.

Allow me to explain my reasoning; first of all, let’s be honest, the Women’s Title isn’t seen as a ‘major’ belt in WWE so there’s not an immediate need to crown a new champion right there and then on SmackDown like there would be with the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship. Having the battle royal at SummerSlam would give the fans their much-wanted Divas match, as we have reported that WWE had scrapped plans for a Divas match on the PPV. By having a battle royal, it’s not exactly a time consuming match and we all know WWE loves to offload all the Divas in one short battle royal. It wouldn’t be taxing to book or as consuming on the event as a standard one-on-one match would be. And it certainly seems like they didn’t want to go for another one-on-one Divas match for SummerSlam.

This also adds some importance to the belt and the new champion, by having the title decided on pay per view and especially one as big as SummerSlam. Rather than giving this away on TV, putting it on PPV would make it mean more to the fans and to whichever Diva wins the belt at the event.

Finally, putting the title match at SummerSlam which is still two weeks away, allows time for the division to re-grow. If they had the battle royal on SmackDown this week, you’d have Diva A win the title and the next week randomly begin a feud with Diva B. By having a couple of weeks to build up, they could tease tension among the Divas by having them compete in different combinations of matches; having tag team matches and singles matches using the Divas of SmackDown and ECW, it would show competition among the Divas as they all want to win the title. Those who pick up wins in their matches would be given a leg up and come across as strong contenders to win the gold in the eventual battle royal.

Coming out of SummerSlam you have several feuds you could do using the new champion and her battle royal rivals, enough to fill in the time until Michelle comes back.

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