Posted by Melanie on December 4th, 2009
Congratulations are in order for the Divas of SmackDown as I can positively say that this week’s episode was the best Divas action that I’ve seen in quite some time. From the #1 Contenders Match featuring three of the most talented women in the WWE, actual storyline set up afterwards and the return of a Diva — WWE managed to pack a lot into 10 minutes [which is pretty long for a Divas segment on TV] but it all came across as being important. Watch the action below:
On paper, the triple threat match between Beth Phoenix, Mickie James and Natalya seemed full-proof and it was. The work between all three Divas was fantastic, particularly the interaction between the power houses of WWE’s women’s division — Phoenix and Natalya. The way the pair cleared the ring of Mickie James in the early going and then fought among themselves was a great touch. Natalya is probably one of the most talented Divas to ever step foot into the WWE but hasn’t received the same opportunities as Phoenix or James. If we didn’t have spoilers prior, Natalya would be the one I would be rooting for — and to be completely honest, even though I knew the outcome, I still kind of did hope for her to win!
Some beautiful spots in this match including Mickie’s hurricanrana on Natalya, and Natalya’s discus clothesline on Mickie. But perhaps the most impressive is Beth’s effortless Glam Slam on a woman that equals her in stature. A fantastic spot.
The end sees Mickie James dropkick Beth out of the ring and ‘steal’ the victory. I really liked Mickie’s placement in this match, she couldn’t conceivably be considered as physical as Beth or Natalya, so they used her as a scrappy underdog fighting against the larger Divas.
Meanwhile, the real greatness in this match was the work between Beth and Natalya. I’d absolutely love to see a secondary between these two as a result of this week’s show, in addition to Michelle-Mickie. With Beth squashing Divas left, right and center, here she got an opponent that can step toe-to-toe with her and have a knock-down fight with. Perhaps market Natalya as almost an equal to Beth and see which Diva comes out on top.
In addition to the match, we had storyline advancement in the feud between Mickie James and Michelle McCool. I don’t understand why Mickie needed to win a No. 1 Contenders Match to get a shot at the title when she had clearly been the
uncrowned #1 Contender. And surely, beating McCool’s team at Survivor Series could be enough reason to give her a title shot? Nonetheless, I really enjoyed that we got to see some real tension with that post-match promo. Mickie taking the mic really added some personal animosity to this feud and it seems that for the first time in a long time, we may actually get a storyline rather than just a feud between two Divas. While Mickie’s promo skills aren’t the most convincing, I think her intonation was there and she got across the emotion her character was feeling in those words.
The attack after, again, was nicely done and sold the animosity. Meanwhile it also sets up the return of Maria, who has been unofficially on leave. I can’t particularly say I’m looking forward to Maria wrestling in the near future but even I’ll admit, it’s great to see WWE acknowledging her return and having her come back in a meaningful way. She may not be my favourite in-ring performer, but I have something of a soft spot for Maria [as a person] — maybe I’m getting soft? It was kinda nice to see her back. Shock horror. I’m sure I’ll be over it by the time she tags in during next week’s inevitable tag team match!
All in all however, I think WWE ticked all the boxes this week: great match, great storyline set-up and though it is a tried, tested and perhaps cliched return — I much preferred this one to Maryse’s.
December 5, 2009 at 1:33 pm
That was a great match! It’s been a long time (years as it was mentioned) since I’ve seen a really good Divas match that not only I was into, but the crowd too! If WWE keeps it up (and I truly hope they will), I may start watching regularly again!
December 5, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Those cheers were not canned.It’s too easy to tell the difference between real ones and fake ones.Besides,the usual fake cheers WWE uses has someone whistle afterwards.For some reason I loved this weeks Smackdown.It all just felt……”right”,ya’ know?Mickie played her part well,but her promo was a little over-dramatic.She still needs to learn not to depend on her usual spots,though.Nattie is nasty!I love it!Even though I knew Mickie was going to lose,I was rooting for her to win!lulz,I love me some Nattie.The tension between Beth and her was priceless!Not to mention that crazy Glamslam on her!I knew Beth was strong,but dayumm!That was hardcore!
Overall,an amzing week for women’s wrestling.We have three guess set up for the future,so let’s see how it all pans out.
December 5, 2009 at 8:25 pm
*three fueds
December 5, 2009 at 8:25 pm
I think the match was cleverly booked, actually. Natalya fell prey to arguably the most powerful woman in the WWE, but yet couldn’t put her away because of the fast thinking underdog. Given the odds Mickie James faced going into the match, the opportunistic victory didn’t detract from her face credibility. The work was present, as was the psychology and most vitally, the narrative progression. As for the post-match promo, Mickie ably handled the mic but the real actress was Layla. I loved the way she and Michelle McCool charged James like demented vultures!
December 5, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I really enjoyed the match, namely due to the fact they weren’t shining up Mickie. For once she wasn’t in control of the match and instead focused on building up Natalya and Beth’s strengths and creating tension in a feud everybody wants to see. I was a bit anxious to see Natalya in the Glam Slam, it was something I never thought I’d see, but it did work out well, though Natalya’s place in the match was a bit random, it felt like she was there just so Beth wasn’t put down a notch by Mickie. Grisham’s analysis of how Natalya winning the match could be ‘the biggest win in her career’ was a bit off as well seeing as she qualified to become the first ever Divas Champion, which I think is bigger than winning a title 50 other Divas have held. Loving the ‘Piggie James’ shirts, the speech at the end was a bit OTT, like adifferentsame said Lyla worked really well loved Mickie’s comment about dislodging Layla from Michelle’s backside. Maria’s return was a bit ‘meh’ you couldn’t help but feel that Mickie would be better off fighting ‘Michayla’ on her own than with Maria’s ‘skills’.
December 5, 2009 at 11:18 pm
I agree with those who’ve said that fake nouse sounds way different than real ones, which is exactly why I believed they were canned, especially when watching it on TV. On an HD television, the difference between Smackdown crowds and Raw/PPV crowds is like night and day.
For some reason, though, nothing was done to the Beth-Natalya confrontation (before the break) as the crowd didn’t react to it, and WWE left it that way. It is worth noting that Mickie’s reaction before the match was definitely real, as you could actually see it, rather than “cheers” coming from people just who are just sitting there doing nothing.
December 6, 2009 at 2:33 am
Take notes RAW! That’s how things should be done lol.
Seriously though, the match was great!!! There needs to be more ten minute matches with the experienced divas!!
Loved the promo that Mickie did b/c you could feel the passion behind it. LOL @ theregoeskitty, you are right…I think that chair is cursed when McCool sits in it. That slap from Maria made me go ouch. She did alright “cleaning” house, thankfully it wasn’t like the last time. It’ll be nice to see where things go with Beth & Natalya and maybe SD can have two divas feuds at the same time.
December 6, 2009 at 2:39 am
Mickie’s shortness bothers me….
December 6, 2009 at 3:05 am
Maria’s return was better executed than Maryse’s, but it’s telling that she couldn’t even deck Layla properly. The only positive I can say of her return is that it will add some variety to the Smackdown Diva format with the inevitable tag team matches, but I’m not looking forward to Layla jobbing to her. I’d prefer her progression was rewarded.
December 6, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Melanie I agree I’m not a fan of Maria’s work but it was a good return. Personally I think it’s better than Maryse’s.
December 6, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Look at Sarita vs. Hamada from iMPACT. They only had about 3 minutes, but they worked their asses off for those 3 minutes. Mickie vs. Beth vs. Nattie never got out of first gear. I don’t think any of them even broke a sweat — that’s the problem I have. Literally half the match was them just standing there, looking at each other. That does not make the match good, it makes the match slow and boring. If you only have 4 minutes to work a match then you damn well better put the pedal to the metal for those 4 minutes, otherwise you’re just wasting time.
December 7, 2009 at 4:57 am
Totally disagree ^. That match was just move after move, I couldn’t even understand why they were having a match, it seemed like just a match that had no meaning. I much prefer the SD match to this one.
December 7, 2009 at 7:33 am
“Totally disagree ^. That match was just move after move,”
That’s what happens when a match is fast paced. Too bad WWE doesn’t let their talent wrestle like that; they want all of them to work the slow, plodding “WWE style”, which is b-o-r-i-n-g. And regardless, the moves they were pulling out were a lot better than the ones delivered in the Smackdown match, which was pretty basic, IMO.
“I couldn’t even understand why they were having a match, it seemed like just a match that had no meaning.”
Hamada beat Sarita’s partner in a match and Sarita wanted to even the score. This was explained in the commentary.
“I much prefer the SD match to this one.”
You prefer a slow paced, boring match to a fast paced, exciting match? What in the world for? Beth & Nattie getting into a shoving contest followed by Nattie putting Mickie in a rest hold doesn’t excite or interest me. I’m a fan of all 3 women, but come on, let’s pick up the pace here! Sarita & Hamada made the most of the time they were given and packed in a lot of action, but the Smackdown match was 40% stalling.
December 7, 2009 at 11:25 am
If the commentators hadn’t said anything, I wouldnt’ve known that she wanted to even the score.
Side note at WWE Supershow: Mickie James defeated Beth Phoenix. Big pop for Mickie. Jillian tried to sing White Xmas and was stopped. Beth attacked Mickie as the match began. Mickie won with a DDT. The crowd was asleep for most of match. To be honest, nothing much to write home about.
December 7, 2009 at 5:19 pm
“If the commentators hadn’t said anything, I wouldnt’ve known that she wanted to even the score.”
And if the Smackdown ring announcer hadn’t announced that Mickie/Beth/Nattie were fighting for a title shot you wouldn’t have known why they were wrestling either. See, that goes both ways.
Come on, man. Isn’t it kind of self-explanatory? This is kindergarten-level wrestling psychology. Hamada defeats one half of the tag team champions in a singles match and later faces the woman’s partner. Gosh, I wonder what the partner’s motivation could possibly be….
Do you really need this stuff spelled out for you? Good grief. All you need to do is think for 2 seconds.
One of the things I appreciate about TNA is that they write their show for an older demographic, so they don’t constantly feel the need to explain every little detail that their audience should be perfectly able to figure out for themselves, unlike WWE, who cater to little kids and write the show accordingly.
December 7, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I don’t personally think it’s the best divas action in years! Don’t get me wrong, this match was great! All three divas delivered perfectly! Loving how Natalya and Beth Phoenix had their intense moment!
December 7, 2009 at 11:57 pm
i say the sd! divas have been on a role. see wwe look at what you get when you ue the more expericened then the less. but i love the less expericende ones too. anway does anybody else see a change of roles between raw and sd!. smackdown always was the show you count on for the sexy divas and girly type matches with no real type of storylines that will grab the fans well except maybe a few. and raw would be the show with storylines and hardcore divas with some good ass matches. now the shoe is on the other foot. well the barbie division is making a change. lol thats what call the division the barbie era. not because of the models. but because they all are so pretty and can do anything they put their minds to. just like hwo barbie was made out to be. so for now on this is known as the barbie era.
December 8, 2009 at 12:41 am
Mickie’s promo was nice, but I still don’t get why they’re making such a big deal out of the ‘Piggy’ thing. Honestly, ‘beyond personal’? Really? Surely the fact that most of the audience clearly lusts over Mickie makes that null and void? And look at who it came from! Melina called loads of women fat back when she was heel, and sure, that may have inspired an eating disorder on the part of a certain diva, but they never made a storyline out of it…
Oh, Mickie.
December 9, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Better late then never i guess, but anyways i was really happy to see this match happen the interaction at the end and most of all the fans. They were so into it, i was really shocked when Mickie hit that drop kick on Natalya to win, I thought the roof was going to blow on the joint, not an empty seat in the house. There is something very important about Mickie James and her role in the wwe right now, where ever she goes her fans will follow and scream her name, and i think wwe knows that and a great way to bring Maria back much better then Maryse return ehh. Anyways I think Mickie will win the title just because it looks like after TLC there will be a Royal Rumble for the divas title and poss. the following week Maryse will cheat her way into winning Melina title. So team Mickie James all the way!!
December 9, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Also to see three women who have trained so many years and worked there asses off to make it in this male dominated world and who just didn’t rely on there looks was awome the only other two people who would of made this match extremelly amazing would of been Melina and Gail but there on the Model show called Raw…