There were many, many shocks delivered last night on Monday Night Raw and the WWE.com Diva Trade that succeeded it, but perhaps the biggest shocker is WWE’s top Diva Mickie James being shipped to SmackDown. Losing her Divas Championship so inauspiciously to Jillian and then being announced as moving to SmackDown; it seems like there is a much bigger story here. Has WWE lost it’s enamour with their golden girl?
Since Trish Stratus rode off into the sunset in 2006, Mickie James has undeniably been the top Diva in the entire company. Even though she had also, undeniably, lost much of her spark in the past few years, she was still the top Diva and the one that they relied upon the most. Four Women’s Championship reigns followed by a Divas Championship reign, making her only the second Diva Grand Slam Champion, means she is the most decorated Diva in the WWE right now.
Mickie’s career, much like Trish’s, has run for so long side-by-side with WWE’s A-show, Monday Night Raw. It was unfathomable to think that Trish Stratus could ever be traded to SmackDown and despite my call for her to be moved during the WWE Draft in April, at the time it looked as though Mickie would repeat Trish’s royalty claim as a Raw mainstay. Instead, they moved Melina, a Diva who had just returned to Raw five months prior and I felt, still had a lot to offer Raw. As I wrote back in April, it was time for a change of scenery for Mickie, she needed something to refresh her character completely and perhaps SmackDown could do the trick. The fact they so boldly kept her on Raw and moved Melina instead [granted they opted champion for champion trades] was very telling to me. I had then, consigned myself to the fact that like Trish, Mickie would be a Raw Diva for life.
So fast forward six months: Melina’s back on Raw and Mickie has unthinkably, been moved to SmackDown. Her title reign was cut short by WWE’s baneful, non-sensical management who decided to hold a Diva Trade for whatever reason. I just can’t help but feel that for Mickie, this move is something of a demotion or perhaps even a punishment.
It’s no secret, as our readers have been debating from months now, that Mickie has lost some of her luster in the ring and hasn’t turned in as many good efforts as we would expect of a top Diva. Her character has become equally stagnant, the girl next door charm she once had has worn off and now, I hate to say, her character is even a little unlikable. Despite the jumping on the ramp and big smile during her entrance, these days it all comes across as a bit of a facade — I can’t help but recall back to her facial expression after that match with Gail Kim. With the exception of a few matches here and there, it seems the passion in Mickie’s wrestling is no longer there & it’s all beginning to seem a little paint-by-numbers. The fans have caught — so perhaps WWE has finally caught on?
It’s almost an unspoken rule to have your top Superstar and your top Diva on Raw. Triple H, John Cena, Trish Stratus, Mickie James. This is why this trade in particular shocks me and makes me wonder what the backstage story could be. This leads me to my next point…
The exchange of Mickie for Melina. Is this a changing of the guard? In my humble opinion, since returning from injury nearly a year ago, Melina has been the antithesis of Mickie James. In every match she competes in, she seems to give every fiber of her being and acts as though every match could be her last; balls to the wall. I have thought it, and maybe said it a few times, I feel Melina should be considered the top babyface amongst the entire Divas roster and thus, take over the top Diva role. Moving her to Raw — is this maybe WWE’s way of giving her that nod? You want your top Diva to be someone that gives their all, sets an example for all of the women on the roster and Mickie unfortunately, hasn’t exactly lead by example over the past couple of years. Like Trish, Melina has shown a thirst to improve in every aspect; in-ring, in her character development, in her wardrobe and many other areas. The little attention to detail that makes a great Diva, a great Diva is there in Melina.
Is Melina now the top Diva in WWE? If so, I believe it’s been a long time coming. It was an unthinkable moment when Mickie was traded to SmackDown, but in the bigger picture — has she also been overthrown as WWE’s top Diva?
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October 13, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Maybe wwe has and if they did Im so happy…Im a Huge Mickie Fan and Im tired of seeing Mickie Top Face and Top diva she needs a break…put her in some other storyline for a while and build her character back up. Like I said before now that she is on Smackdown she can take Eve’s place and be in cyrme tyme and fued with Natalya and The Hart Dynasty.
October 13, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I think the Gail Kim may have been the final straw with Mickie.
I like that they are trying to make Melina top Face Diva, because last night it showed when Melina and Jillian botched her finisher, she didnt seem angry like Mickie did a few weeks back she just simply told Jillian go back lets do the other finisher. That moment right there showed me that she has what it takes to be a “Divas Locker Room Leader”, something I feel Mickie wasnt doing or trying to act.
October 13, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Mickie wasnt buried last night………….she was publically executed.
Jobbing to the Company Jobber ?
Its like Cena getting squashed by Hornswoggle (who has a better won/loss record than Jillian).
Mickie gets destroyed, Beth has hands wrapped around a Hollywood Starlets throat, who left RAW better ?
Beth isnt going to be the # 2 anything on Smackdown.
Mickie jobs to McCool to put her over, then disappears, following the Victoria path.
RAW……….jobbing on Smackdown…………Valet/Manager on ECW…………….Future Endeavored.
October 13, 2009 at 5:20 pm
slapshot u may be right but Victoria chose to leave the WWE.
I think that Mickie shuld go all psyco again lol then we wuld see a spark again i think. I also don’t see why Jillian was brought into this still. If it was an attempt to humiliate Mickie i wuld say it humiliated Jillian a hell of alot more. If they wanted 2 have Melina debut soooo bad they should of had her debut it the six diva tag match and have her get the title alittle bit further down the line like at Bragging Rights and let Jillian have her time to shine as a true deserving champion. cause Mickie wasn’t on the rope Michael Cole just mucked it up yet again he meant to say Jillian instead of Mickie. I am still thinking that there will be a Melina/Jillian feud.
October 13, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I, like many fans, long for the return of psycho Mickie back in her hey-day. That was definitely her at her height. I’d love to see her bring the crazy to Smackdown, however with Maria as the only face and 4 other heels, I highly doubt that’ll happen.
In some ways, I’m quite glad Mickie lost her title, as I’ve found her reign a little… stagnant (sp?) and was hoping Foxy would win it at Hell in a Cell.
HOWEVER, the way in which she won wasn’t the best. I’d rather they just said ‘Melina’s moving to Raw’, and then had a decent battle between the two, instead of having her commit ‘social suicide’ (thanks Mean Girls), jobbing to the resident Joberess.
October 13, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Melina V.S. Jillian really needs to happen. They’ve shown crazy chemistry as friends, let them show how they can go as rivals! Jillian is a great worker, Melina is a great worker, let the beauties brawl.
Mickie moving tp SmackDown was really good, she was getting pretty boring on RAW, so this may give her character some fresh air and she can start from scratch COUGHpsychoCOUGH…
October 13, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I disagree completely. Everyone knows that Smackdown has the lowest ratings of the the Red and Blue brand…and Unlike the Knockouts…The Divas segments on Smackdown are the lowest rated segments.
To me sending Mickie and Beth to Smackdown is like sending John Cena there. Both Mickie and Beth have a very large, almost cult-like, fan-base and their fans are going to turn in to watch them compete. And there’s NO WAY WWE would let Mickie take her title with her Smackdown. And I also don’t think she jobbed to Jillian. Jillian pulled a cheating upset, but then turned around and got Squashed by Melina.
I think that WWE is just trying to save it’s second show and by doing so they’re going to send two people that the fans really care about and try to up Smackdown ratings.
And guess what? It’ll work. I will now be officially turning into Smackdown on Friday nights.
October 13, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I disagree. I think WWE is building a major league of diva division in Smackdown. McCool, Beth, Mickie and Nattie will make up division that can compete with that of knockouts’. Now Raw has become kind of minor league. I think they are using wider viewers to develop divas like Maryse, Alicia and Eve into future top divas. Also giving chance to Jillian and Gail who has smaller base for being a top star compare to divas of Smackdown.
October 13, 2009 at 6:00 pm
OMG!! I just thought of this: Mickie James will be the next Women’s Champion. She’ll be Michelle (soonish) then feud with Natalya and then eventually lose it to Beth Pheonix!! I don’t know why that didn’t register with me earlier. Because there is NO WAY IN HELL that WWE will trust Maria with the Women’s title. *shudders at thought*
So now I am OFFICIALLY happy this stupid trade happened.
October 13, 2009 at 6:07 pm
i hate melina with all my heart.natayla should become top wwe diva.she has more experience than any of the divas,plus its in her blood
October 13, 2009 at 6:08 pm
“If it was an attempt to humiliate Mickie i wuld say it humiliated Jillian a hell of alot more.”
But people didnt take Jillian serious anyway, she is a “comedy heel”, like Santino was a while ago. Sure, the IWC knows about Jillian’s true skills, but the IWC is like max 50.000 people, while the show draws a few million of viewers. So for the casual viewer not much has changed, all they saw was the title changing hands from 1 populair face to the other populair face, thats all that matters to them.
October 13, 2009 at 6:13 pm
“natayla should become top wwe diva.she has more experience than any of the divas,plus its in her blood”
Natalya has only been on the main roster since April’2008. She is still young and her time will come eventually. But with 19 divas and only 2 matches a week, they have to make choices.
October 13, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I think the trade happened due to the consistent amount of botches with Mickie and Rosa on live tv. If you think about it, Melina has been praised for her in ring work as she makes everyone look great and Eve seemingly is becoming the new rising diva. They decided to have divas who have better quality of work on raw.
Mickie has no real chemistry with none of the current raw divas. Maryse, Alicia, Rosa and Beth and Jillian have just happened one too many times. Putting her on smackdown with Michelle, Natalya, and Layla seems like it would be more fitting. If this doesn’t work for Mickie i think
I’m stilling kind of confused about the whole Eve/Bellas trade although, they didn’t need much moving espacially Eve
October 13, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I think this trade will be very good for Mickie and Beth. Who gets the better diva matches?? Who has backstage segments with the divas?? That would be Smackdown. IMO, SD is becoming better than RAW. All you get with RAW anymore is a celebrity guest host, Cena and Orton ranting about eachother and facing eachother for the millionth time. The divas on RAW are lucky if they can get a 5 minute match. To me, that Diva’s title is kind of a joke so I am glad that Mickie and Beth will be on the same brand that the Women’s title is on.
October 13, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I find it a little weird that the Divas drafted to Raw are all Hispanic. Maybe they’re trying to increase the views of Raw now?
October 13, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I agree with Melina taking over as the top face Diva, she doesnt get mad during matches, and she normally tries to help her oppenent look strong, did anyone else notice that she was telling Jillian “I’m sorry” during that match, and she looked like she felt bad during her celebration, that makes me think it wasnt really planned out loke that, idk,
i think now with Melina on RAW (along with Jilly, Gail) RAW migth get more Divas segments and more time in Divas matches, Maryse is set to return soon also, and we all know how much WWE loves Maryse, so on the Raw Face side its~Melina, Gail, Kelly, Eve, Nikki&Brie and for Heels its~Maryse, Jilly, and Alicia IMO they shouldve put the Bellas on SD, Maria in ECW, and Katie Lea on RAW, then the heelvsFace would be even on RAW and ECW, then they couldve broght up Serena and put her on SD as a face so everything is equal, The Bellas can pull out some cool move, and everybody else on SD would be great wrestlers, and on RAWGail, Melina, Jill, and Katie are great wrestlers, Kelly can be better, if she would learn some actuall mat skills, Eve keeps getting better along with Alicia, and Maryse, when she first got injured she didnt have surgery (i dont think) now that she has, maybe the Stratus~like Maryse will come back, the one that improved by leaps and bounds every week, Raw and SD would be set, then ECW is still uterly screwed, but nobody said they needed Rosa and Maria
Too bad WWE didnt do this, instead they confuse everybody, and make it worse for themselves, maybe by the real Draft, the Divas rosters will be fixed, well i hope so
October 13, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I agree With MickieJamesFan07 anyone remeber Melinas move to Smackdown? She became amazing. I think right now everyone is angry but after a few weeks the we will all see why the draft was best for Mickie and Beth and Mickie will possibly be next womens champ!! Her and Michelle hold a grudge and grigde that wil make a big and impressive fued!!! Everyones Dream Match!!!!!
October 13, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Melina has deserved this since she came back from injury. Mickie has become boring, and her mean is showing through. She has botched and has shown her anger in her matches. I think she should become heel again. Mickie is old and boring now and its time for her to get out of the spotlight. there is a new queen and her name is Melina!
October 13, 2009 at 9:45 pm
This is probably the best piece I’ve ever read on this site, because it is spot on. Nice work from Melania here.
To me, Mickie and Melina are forever linked. They’ve been enemies (in both kayfabe and reality) and they’ve been friends (likewise). They are the Trish and Lita of our era. Yin and Yang. They are the most exposed and decorated divas today. Complete packages.
But there is one HUGE difference between the two, that separates the “good” talents from the “legendary” talents. The superstars from the icons.
It’s heart. It’s desire. It’s the mindset that every time you go out there to perform you have something to prove. It’s the constant struggle to get BETTER each and every week. To expand. To grow. Melina has it. Mickie does not.
It’s funny to me when I hear from reports about Melina’s lack of confidence or “shyness”. She herself said that she didn’t consider herself to be a pretty girl. Ironically, it’s that one “flaw” in her personality that probably makes her so good. She never feels like she is good enough. Always with something to prove. Again, with Mickie, it’s the exact opposite. She’s never been known for a lack of confidence, and it shows (especially when she is holding a microphone). Not to mention, when the fans worship you over Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania before you are even half way into your rookie year, you’re bound to get a big(ger) head.
Backlash 2007 was truly symbolic. Poetic really. It is where Mickie began her decline and Melina began her rise. I consider it to be Mickie’s last “fantastic” match while on the other hand the start of Melina’s rise to excellence. Melina stole Mickie’s powers on that night folks, and she has yet to get them back. But don’t take me for a Mickie hater. She is my favorite diva of all time (Melina being my number 2). Let’s hope she turns things around on Smackdown. She has too much talent to simply fade away, leaving us with only memories of the sensational worker who set the division on fire in 2006.
October 13, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I absolutely love Mickie to death, but she has really been off her game lately. She doesn’t seem to have good chemistry with anyone she gets in the ring with anymore. Going to Smackdown could actually be a positive move for her career. She’s still one of the top female faces in the company, and will probably go right into a fued with Michelle McCool. The new atmosphere and some new feuds may help to give her a boost and get her old spark back.
I’ll be so happy for Melina if she does take the top spot, but I don’t think we should read too much into this untill we see what creative has in store for everyone.
October 13, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Glen-Oh hell yeah!All hail Queen Melina!The paparazzi princess if you will.
Undi-Wow,that was simply beautiful,*tear*.
See,now everyone’s starting to realize what I realized from the beginning,and that is that this girl’s got it.I’m not sure what “it” is exactly.Passion,desire,……whatever it is,she’s using it to her full advantage,and I’m loving every single second of it.Melina was ‘top diva’ in the company for me when she moved over to Smackdown,and rightfully so.Here’s to hoping that Melina becomes the first unified champion!
October 14, 2009 at 1:11 am
I agree with Melanie, and also with Undi. There’s no denying Melina’s pure passion for the business. It’s like Triple H’s (no matter what you may personally think of him), he took the time and had the drive and the passion to truly learn and grow and be the best of the best. Melina’s the same way. She’s a leader, when Jilly botched her one finisher, she didn’t get mad or show any fustration, you could tell she was whispering to Jill that they had to re-do it. Plus you could also tell she was genuinely sorry that this had to happen to her friend – there was nothing vindictive or really proud of arrogant about the win. She was very humble IMO. Melina is on her way to becoming a leader of the locker room and a future Hall of Famer.
October 14, 2009 at 2:05 am
i asked myself the same question when i read about the trade n the title drop
i think melina is the top diva now
October 14, 2009 at 3:51 am
Well said Undi…..Mickie & Melina ar emy top 2 Divas always has and always will be…M&M. There best matches was At Backlash 07 and on Heat during Melina’s WM push
October 15, 2009 at 11:00 am
WOW this article is SO spot on its not funny. One thing that annoys me is how people always comment on how the WWE holds Divas back from their true potential, since Gail Kim has debuted she has done more Plancha’s , Top rope maneuvers and taken sicker bumps than the entire female roster combined in the last year. So WHO is really holding these women back? my first guess is THEMSELVES. I LOVE MICKIE to pieces dont get me wrong, I want her to succeed but her matches have become sloppy, uninspiring and rather POINTLESS. We can re-run any of her matches and itll be the same business through and through. Its like Melina is travelling in the opposite direciton of Mickie and the two are getting farther apart, FANS will always love Mickie though. Unless she plans on dating Matt Hardy and screwing with Edge.