Just under 24 hours removed from last night’s Diva Trade, what do the moves mean for each of the 7 Divas that have changed homes? We aim to offer our insight into what they could be getting up to:
The Bella Twins
Returning to Monday Night Raw, the Bella Twins’ brief excursion to ECW seems to be over… unfortunately. That said, given the fact they have been making trips to Raw over the past month or two anyway, it only seems fitting to make it official, right? I don’t expect the Bellas will be doing much in the way of wrestling on Raw, nor will they probably have much part in the women’s division at all — except at house shows. If they do wrestle, it will likely be as rarely as they did on ECW. So what does that leave them to do? What they’ve been doing already — backstage segments with the Guest Host for the week, maybe even a few skits here and there with Santino. It looks to me as though they were brought back to Raw for that reason, to serve as characters rather than wrestlers which I guess, is okay.
Beth Phoenix
I’m not entirely happy with this move for Beth, I truly feel not all of the avenues of the Beth Phoenix character were explored and there was more that she could have offered to Raw; feuding with Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly and possibly even Melina again. On SmackDown, while there is the possibility [technically] that she could go toe-to-toe with Michelle McCool or Natalya — both of which are salivating prospects — it just doesn’t seem likely with all three as heels. That just leaves two Divas: Maria and Mickie James. One of those feuds we’ve seen already and would be like beating a dead horse, the other of those feuds seems like an extremely mismatched affair. Nonetheless, it seems like Maria vs Beth could be the only avenue they explore in a singles situation. There is always the chance of a three-way feud with Michelle McCool and Mickie James also. Beyond those two storylines, I don’t see there being much for Beth to accomplish on SmackDown.
More after the cut:
Eve Torres
This could be seen as a promotion for Eve Torres, a Diva that has caught the attention of WWE management and will likely be a breakout star for 2010. I’m actually a little perplexed as to why they pulled the trigger on moving Eve at this moment in time. She was making a lot of headway on SmackDown and was meant to be the next contender in line for the Women’s Championship against Michelle McCool. To completely take her out of that programme and move her to Raw, where she’ll likely get lost in the shuffle doesn’t sound very fruitful to me. As I mentioned during the WWE Draft in April, once a star begins to gain traction on SmackDown, they are somehow drafted/traded to Raw. Sadly, I think Eve may get lost in the shuffle on Raw considering there seems to be a pecking order with Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim in second and third place respectively on the totempole; will Eve be able to bypass them? I think Eve will get some strong Kelly-like showings every now and then, by that I mean singles wins over Jillian or Alicia Fox on WWE Superstars but for the most part, will likely be Melina’s tag team partner.
Melina
Getting perhaps the best deal of them all is Melina. She comes into Raw, takes the Divas Title and shoots straight to the top of the roster. Not bad for a Diva who was about to relinquish her top Diva spot on SmackDown to Eve. Melina has the opportunity to work with long time friend Jillian, who is rumoured to be her first title contender for the Divas Championship. Plus there are also opportunities to work with Maryse upon her return and Alicia Fox, a Diva who she had some great bouts with over on SmackDown. If they turn Gail Kim heel, as I hope they do, that would also make for a to-die-for feud. Considering where she was supposed to be heading on SmackDown, she really has come out of this for the better. It was expected that Melina would turn heel and feud with Maria in the coming months, which looks to be scrapped now. I feel there’s much more to explore with Melina as a babyface, so this is a blessing in disguise for me.
Mickie James
Talk about a shocker! I can’t believe this one happened but it did; a little bittersweet though as Raw has been Mickie’s home for four years after all. I feel this could be a breath of fresh air for Mickie’s career, but only if we book this right. Let us not revert back to Beth-Mickie unless we have absolutely 100% exhausted all of our other options. There are two feuds that Mickie could go into right off the bat with Michelle McCool and Natalya, both of which sound promising. She could even work matches with Layla who is always improving. I think working longer matches on SmackDown and working with more experienced girls [Michelle, Beth and Nattie] could help rejuvenate Mickie as an in-ring performer. It seems the feud that they will go with is Michelle-Mickie straightaway, which like Melina-Michelle could go for a good few months. When was the last time Mickie really had a good, long programme? This could be just what she needs.
Rosa Mendes
This one kind of proves that WWE does know what they are doing… at times. It’s as though they, like the rest of us, realised Rosa wasn’t clicking as an in-ring performer and have packed her off to ECW like the Bella Twins before her. I honestly don’t know what will become of Rosa on the forgotten third brand. The Divas don’t see much wrestling over there, so it’s likely she will fall into the role of a manager/valet or perhaps, not even seen for weeks on end. As beautiful as she is, I think this is the right call. Given that the Divas don’t see much ringtime anyway, she could take long periods of time off and be sent down to FCW to train some more. Though perhaps this will be the final death-knell on Rosa’s WWE run?
So what do you think will become of each of our 7 Divas on their new brands? Share your suggestions and predictions in the comments.
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26 Comments
the bellas are the reason why it looks like Raw got crap,those 2 are useless and need to be released,they have no talent besides escorting the Male guest hosts,gaining the bellas was a downgrade for raw.EPIC FAIL
Mickie to raw makes sence because she needs something new and fresh in her career.APROVE
Melina also makes sence since mickie was sent to SD.APROVE
Eve was a big mistake,she’s just going to get lost in the shuffle.FAILE
Beth was the biggest mistake of all,she belongs on Raw,she never even had a fued with Gail kim,such a shame.FAILE
Rosa….well she’s Rosa.APROVE APROVE APROVE APROVE,lol
They could turn Beth a babyface on Smackdown, have her feud with Natalya or Michelle McCool – it could work if done correctly. Beth is a great actress and great on the mic aswell and she could showcase this on Smackdown more I hope. At least it would make more sense than having her as a heel with just Maria and Mickie to feud with.
I disagree with the bella twins on raw because I don’t see them as wresters.(don’t even have a finisher *hint diva bowl*)… I disagree with the beth to smackdown… I disagree with eve moving to raw. She was just starting to get good. Will probably see her in multiply diva tag matchs. ( and no more word up!)… I agree with the melina to raw because they needed help. Some pretty bad things happened since she left…. I agree with the mickie to smackdown now she can fued with michelle, or natalya. But now she has to pick up were eve and melina left off listening to maria…. I mostly disagree with rosa to ecw. They should have just put her on the first plane heading FCW. Because now she most likely gonna get released. The should have moved kelly and brie bella to smackdown because divas seem to improve on smackdown, and put katielea on raw
Maybe I’m the only one, but I wasn’t at all shocked to see Mickie go to Smackdown. It seems logical to me, since she has been on Raw since she debuted.
Anyway, I’m hoping that they turn Beth face. With her skill in the ring, it wouldn’t take much to get the fans behind her. Plus, we could have the clash of the Diva Titans: Beth vs Natalya!
I’m so happy that Melina is on RAW.
Beth Phoenix should stayed on RAW because she was the top heel diva so who going to take her place? So, I’m not happy about that move.
Bella Twin let them do what they do and don’t put them in the ring.
Mickie James thank god she’s going to Smackdown.
But I’m not happy about Eve going to RAW just becasue they would have Alicia job to her.
i think one of the divas that might have gotten the biggest shaft of all in this trade, wasnt even traded! its layla! what the hell!?! she was pretty much the number 2 heel on smackdown, but now with the fantasy matches involving mickie/beth/nattie/michelle possible wheres this leave her?
also eve probably got the biggest shaft out of all the divas traded, she went from being almost the top dog, to now pretty low which sucks
i like the idea of mickie on SD
im just worried about the fact its just mickie and maria on SD as faces
The thing about the Beth Pheonix/Michelle McCool/Natalya situation is if the WWE had any balls they would make it a triple threat regardless of them being heels. Plus Michelle McCool and Natalya have been into it before over the Divas Championship anyway. Another triple threat feuds should be Eve Torres vs Gail Kim vs Kelly Kelly. Happy Go Lucky Mickie James vs Spicy Saucy Layla El. Need I say more? In other words One of the top Divas vs a talented up and coming Diva. Melina Perez vs Jillian Hall would be good. Problem is every since Jillian has been in the singing gimmick she’s been sucking. So if they drop that then she can probably wrestle like she usually would. Rosa is okay but I think she should get more training too.
I agree with pretty much all you’ve said about them all. Maybe Katie could take Rosa under her wing and between her and Serena in FCW maybe train her a bit. Eve should’ve stayed on SD, there’s too many faces on Raw and too many heels on SD now. Plus it could really make her nervious, put a lot of pressure to step up her game for the A show. She’s got so much potential but Rome wasn’t built in a day. I hope it goes well for her. And hopefully this move to SD rejuvinates MJ’s career and incentive.
Beth v Michelle and Beth v Natalya should be off the hook. I hope it happens!
I honestly think that they should turn Beth face. It would be unbelievable. I have no doubt in my mind she could get the fans behind her, as she has done numerous times before this. I could see her following Chyna’s footsteps and being a really popular diva. I’m thinking perhaps Michelle attacks mickie, which leads to beth making a face turn and making the save for mickie. Make it happen WWE.
As for the other drafs, it sounds great to me. My only concern is the clearly unequal face/heel ratios on these shows. Hopefully WWE has big things planned to remedy this situation.
I don’t know who melina will face, tbh, it seems like it could be completely up in the air at this point, although maryse and alicia are the ‘top heels’, I can definitely see WWE mixing it up, so once again, hopefully they have something planned.
btw, I believe that bringing rosa to ECW could be a way to push Savannah and lead her into a fued with rosa. Maybe something like the Kelly vs. Layla feud.
I think you have to put the trades in perspective due to locker room politics. As someone said in another thread, Smackdown is Michelle McCool’s playground now. I’m not a hater, I think Michelle has talent and is quite attractive. But she gets the worst crowd reaction of any top Diva. Mickie, Beth, Melina, Kelly all get better reactions from the crowd. No heat at all. Yet she is pushed to the moon. So yes, I think the relationship with Taker matters.
The reason I bring this up is that I think a big reason for the trade is to give Michelle new, quality opponents. The Melina feud was over. Since Mickie pinned Michelle in the Diva Bowl and is a former champion, she will immediately challenge her in my opinion. Of course, Michelle wins the feud since this is about establishing her as a top diva. I do believe Beth will go face at some point, again to give Michelle a quality feud.
The good news is that these should be good matches, and a Beth-Michelle-Mickie 3-way would be good.
agree with everything
i think eve will be lost in there…
and on SD! there must be a face turn
I completly agree with ScottL.
It all makes since. Melina is a diva that gets big pops from the crowd and people would start to get angry with the constant losing to Michelle. They move her to Raw so not to make Michelle look bad, and give the fans what they want with the championship.
Michelle on the other hand needs to look good, so they make Mickie lose, send her over to SD! and then tada! instant push for Michelle. It’ll look like Michelle has taken down the top Diva making her look more powerful than ever before.
Mickies trade was to punish her but at the same time served the purpose of making Michelle look like the best Diva.
By doing this they are solving all of their problems.
chris jericho with Michelle McCool, came and said that there will be three Raw vs. Smackdown matches at the PPV and he can’t count on Morrison winning so Jericho asks if he can count on McCool winning her match. McCool says she can beat anyone at any time. Mickie James walked in and said she has a better chance of beating a Raw diva. McCool went to leave and brushed into Beth Phoenix, who told her she won’t be keeping her title for long.
Wrestlinginc.com
Good point by Glen there. Right now, Melina is too good to not be involved in a title scene. But so is Michelle, and it would be counterproductive to have her drop the title to the same woman she won it from. Not to mention, as good as it was, their feud couldn’t go on forever. The solution was to let your two top workers of 2009 take the lead in both of your divisions. Fine by me. Michelle and Melina deserve it after their brilliant efforts.
What hasn’t been discussed, but is encouraging about this whole trade, is that it HAPPENED. It tells you that management isn’t ready to completely bury the two divisions just yet. They recognize the need to freshen things up and put their workers in more favorable positions. MELINA is the babyface talent that you want carrying green heels like Maryse and Alicia. MICKIE is the one who could most benefit from being surrounded by an extremely talented trio of heel divas. And ROSA is the one who could most benefit from the low ratings of ECW. No one watching to see you botch girl! =)
They’re probably moving all of the divas away from Batista, LOL.
And replacing them with Mickie & Beth, who won’t fall for that old, roided up scrotum hat trick.
Michelle isn’t the mad scientist behind this roster shuffle to make her look good. Taker has pull, but he’s not going to make himself look bad by demanding his girlfriend get creative diva control. He respects Vince and the business too much. And Michelle’s not knocking down doors with demands or else she’ll complain to Taker.
If anything, Michelle probably asked them to do what they wanted to do anyway: give her new people to feud, because she couldn’t keep facing Melina every week, while Eve wasn’t ready for the belt yet. Bringing in Mickie and Beth breathes new life into SD. She’ll drop the title to one of them pretty soon.
Beth needed a fresh start away from Raw. So did Mickie, while also being sent a message. For Raw, Gail needed a spot opened. Melina didn’t want to leave Raw in the first place so she’ll be happy back, while at the same time gets to face someone other than Michelle. Eve gets to continue her growth. As an added bonus, Raw is getting Maryse back. Win-Win for both shows.
People are crapping on the Bellas move like the twins are significant. They’re not even taking anyone’s spot, so why complain? They’re not even cutting into Jillian’s time. WWE is paying their checks, not us. Even when they were ECW property, they’ve been on Raw the past few months. So what’s different other than where you can find their bios on WWE.com?
I completly agree with Glen and Scott L
Whatever happens with the SD trade this whole thing is likely going to benefit Michelle right now she is the top diva on SD because she is Woman’s Champion but WWE’s constant push of Michelle makes me wonder if SD is her playground. She has been the biggest pushed of any other diva so far in three years and they went up and down with her from number one babyface to number one heel on SD. Moving Mickie might solidify Michelle’s spot because she might possibly feud with the most popular diva but the thing is that RAW has always been the number one show for divas and that is where divas gain the most popularity and pushes. So traditionally speaking if a diva wants popularity they often move to RAW not the other way around/
Beth being moved to SD is very shocking because she is the oppostie of Mickie she is the number one heel on the roster and how will Beth find her place in the roster as the dominant diva if SD keeps on pushing Michelle McCool as being one
All i have to say is let’s just wait and see
WWE Messed Up There Divas Theres To Much Faces At RAW & 2 Faces At SmackDown
RAW Faces-Melina, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, & The Bella Twins ( I Think One Of Them Might Turn Heel?)
RAW Heels-Jillian Hall, Maryse, & Alicia Fox (There Ok But Need More Heels)
ECW Faces-Courtney Taylor, & Savannah (They Should Of Go To SmackDown)
ECW Heels-Katie Lea & Rosa Mendes (ECW Dosent Need Divas)
SmackDown Faces-Mickie James & Maria (Need More Face Divas Maybe Some Divas From FCW Need To Debut Already!)
SmackDown Heels-Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Layla & Natalya ( I Think One Of Them Are Going To Turn Face?)
But I Think The Reason Beth Phoenix & Mickie James Went To SmackDown Is Because One Of Them Are Going To Become Michelle McCool Feud! I Hope Its Mickie James So She Can Become A Five Time Women Champion! But It Sucks That She Lost The Divas Champion Thats Not Fair Marsye Had The Divas Champion For 6 or 7 Months & Mickie For 4 Months! & Poor Jillian Even Though I Dont Like Her They Should Give Her A Chance! But Melina Won Im Starting To Hate Her!
I think they didn’t want Eve to feud with Michelle over the Women’s Championship, but maybe with some other heel diva (the next Divas Champ after Melina?) over the Divas Championship, ’cause the Divas Championship is like the 2nd championship
I’m not completely surprised about Mickie going over to Smackdown. It isnt my ideal choice of brand for Mickie but I am happy that she will have different people to feud with. I have always dreamt of a feud with MIchelle or of one with Nattie. There arent that many Divas on Smackdown so Mickie and Beth will both be shown off quite often in my opinion. Both of these moves I’m biteersweetly happy about.
Melina to Raw was IMO the best move. She was getting stale on Smackdown. With her trying to get her Championship back way too many times and losing too many times was getting stale and ridiculous. With Eve on Raw now, Im hoping for a feud with Alicia when Maryse comes back so that Alicia and Eve dont get lost in the shuffle.
Rosa to ECW was a good move becasue she needs TONS more training. Working with Katie would be a good thing for her. It also gives me hope that when Wesley comes back from her vacation, theyll push Savannah to wrestle and possibly give her a feud with Rosa, like in their FCW days.
The Bellas are the Bellas. GThey dont wrestle so they dont affect me.
To address the huge imbalances in heel to face ratios, they definitely have to have some face or heel turns in the works. Either that or finally call up some seasoned veterans of the indies that they have collecting dust down in FCW. Serena maybe? or Miss April? It’ll make everything much better in the Divas landscape.
I’m not concerned about the 7 Divas that moved, there is some logic behind each one of them in their moves, except for Eve Torres who was kinda depending on Cryme Tyme’s popularity. Moving her to RAW will be a big test to see if she remains populair now that she is on her own.
The only person i am really concerned about right now is Gail Kim. Of the 6 faces she is the least populair with the fans, and thats not good. There is no way she can compete against that. Even if the Bellas are turned heel, she would still has to compete with Melina/Eve/Kelly. Her only chance of survival will be a heel-turn, naturally that kills off her popularity as well (outside the IWC), but at least it puts her in the picture as the main heel (together with Maryse). I wouldn’t want to be in the position Gail Kim is right now.
Eve can maintain and increase her popularity if they frequently pair her with Kelly. I think the crowd will latch on to Eve more than Gail. Gail gets little reaction unless she’s doing a high risk move. Eve shows more personality and sexual charm, plus can pull off athletic moves the crowd will pop for. She just can’t be taking away Kelly’s somersaults, which has become a signature of Raw’s most popular Diva.
I think wwe divas officials like most of its fans were tired of the same old tag teams and same old storylines on these shows. And with the limited amount of divas they work with it is really hard to do anything new so this was really there only option.
The Bella Twins(Raw)- Well there is not much here with the whole special guest host gimmick they will just be Velet starting with Mondays show they will more then likely walk Snoop Doog to the ring, so i really do not care about this trade.
Beth Phonix(Smackdown) Wow this one kind of shocked me but i am really happy with this trade i think with Beth on smackdown and having a 4 to 2 heel vs Face mark that one of the heel divas have to turn face and my moneys on Layla. I also fell that beth will work good with Layla and help her rise even more above the level of wrestling royalty.
Eve Torress(Raw) bad move for Eve she is just probably going to get lost in the Face scuffle and will be thrid in line behind Kelly and Gail but if Gail is to turn Face i fell possibly Eve will get a little push and feud with her.
Melina(Raw) Wow Melina got the best of all these trades back on her favorite night and winning the title on her debut match back on Raw woo, but i like this move felt Melina always belonged on the big stage and will get a huge push and become the number 1 diva!
Mickie James(Smackdown) Now 2 words i never thought i would say back to back, this one shocked me the most, i knew somehthing was up when Jillian beat her so fast. This move makes me a bit sad because one of the reasons i wastch Raw was for Mickie and i really think that most people are going to turn away when they see a divas match coming forth. But back to Mickie I really think the reason she was moved is not because she was getting punished for being big, but more because she lost her light her desire, she seemed as if her facing less then steller divas like Rosa Mendes and i think her last straw was probably that Divas title match between her and Gail. Sadly i hope Mickie Stays face and has a good steedy feud with Nattie. I think having an exciting feud like this would only make Mickie want to work a few more years. Also she could possibly join her old friends Cryme time and then that could start the feud with nattie. I am going to Miss Mickie on Mondays but i think this move is good for her and will help her reach for that motivation and desire she seems like she has lost in these past few months.
Rosa Mendes(ECW) Who cares!
Bella Twins: I think that they will be there to be in backstage segments and interviews, etc. They’ll probably compete in Battle Royals, if they do compete.
Eve Torres: This is a good thing for her WWE Career. I see Eve being one of the top Divas by the end of next year. This should be interesting to see what WWE does with her on RAW.
Melina: It’s going to get interesting with Melina and Jillian again, hopefully. I would think that the feud would have more depth and more of a story to it than the Melina/Michelle feud on SmackDown.
Rosa Mendes: This is an interesting one. She wasn’t doing much as part of the RAW Roster, so it’s probably better for her, as ECW lacks in Divas. Then again, it could mean that Rosa is on her way out, or she will be training. I would like a Rosa Mendes/Savannah feud. I would write it so that Rosa finds out about Savannah being the new backstage interviewer, and says that Savannah isn’t really who she claims to be- Savannah is actually Angela Mendes- Rosa’s younger sister. Rosa accuses Angela of being a copycat, stealing her spotlight, etc. and it descends into a feud.
Beth Phoenix: Beth should feud with Michelle McCool to become the most dominant/powerful Diva in WWE, and be aligned as a Tweener. Then she should have a run as Women’s Champion, defending against several different Divas, and not just against the same 2 or 3.
Mickie James: SmackDown should be a fresh start for Mickie. It also gives Mickie the opportunity to face Divas with excellent ring presence, such as Natalya, and the impressive Michelle McCool. Mickie James to SmackDown is a good move… that is unless they turn Mickie into the next Victoria.