It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And over the next few days, we’re going to be reliving some of the goodies that TNA and WWE have put under our Christmas trees! Looking back at the Christmas themed matches we’ve seen the Divas and Knockouts involved in, the DD team will each be picking their favourite Christmas themed match and sharing with you over the next few days!
Today’s pick is from Erin: My pick is Trish/Jacqueline/Stacy vs. Molly/Victoria/Ivory, the Santa’s Little Helpers match from 2002. These “Santa’s Little Helpers” matches are meant to be silly, and this match took full advantage of that, with the puritanical Molly Holly wearing in a floor-length dress and falling out of the ring when Stacy pulls it up to flash the crowd. The teams were rather good–the babyfaces had Trish and Jackie, and Stacy was used well for her limited skills, mostly there to be the sexy foil to Molly. Victoria, Ivory, and Molly made a stacked heel team too, with each one being fondly remembered by fans. Everyone saw some ring time, so it didn’t feel as rushed as recent versions of the match. I especially loved the dual pins by Jackie and Trish as Stacy chased an embarassed Molly to the back–everyone served a purpose that went beyond them wearing the sexy costumes, and I appreciate that enough thought was put into the match for that to happen. Though honestly, the sight of Victoria angrily chomping down on the candy cane during her entrance would have sealed the deal for me on its own.
Watch below:
Share your memories of this match in the comments, or if you’ve just watched it for the first time, tell us what you think too!
Check back tomorrow for the next installment.
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23 Comments
You shouldn’t have posted this because it really shows how lame Monday’s match was now. LOL! This was the glory days, when the number of divas that could work outnumbered those that couldn’t. Sigh.
I was obssessed with this match back in the day.
Wow, this shits all over Monday’s match.
Woohoo! Women’s Champion Victoria! ….Those were the days. *sigh*
Even the divas that “couldn’t work” in 2002 could. Did you see that leap frog and round house kick from Stacy, bloody impressive. Did you hear the crowd when Trish entered? You couldn’t even hear her music! This is how I remember divas matches and really I blame the demise of the divas division on the PG rating.
Amazing match!!
I hope Trish comes back to WWE to be honest, although she wont I hope she will! She is what the divas division needs!
If only the Divas nowadays can make gret matches like this!!!
Check the crowd reaction and the commentating from Jerry/JR, so much has changed nowadays. They can still do this kind of matches if they really want to (its PG friendly), but the will just aint there anymore in management.
It makes me sad to see matches like this one (and the TNA one yesterday), it shows how bad these shows have become :(
WWE still has a handful of legitimate female wrestlers, with skills in the ring and on the mic to equal this. They don’t necessarily need Trish Stratus back or to change their PG rating. It’s their fault that they opt to go in a completely idiotic direction than they should go, in terms of the women’s division and Divas division.
“I blame the demise of the divas division on the PG rating.”
A lot of people blame it on the PG rating ever since RAW started to suck, but the truth is that WWE has almost always been a PG show, except for a few years in the attitude era. 99% of what they did back then they can still do. PG just means they cant use certain foul words, or a few controversial/sexual storyline, so you cant put all the blame on the PG rating.
Stacy is so damn awesome. I would take her over most of the current roster.
Then there’s Trish and not much else needs to be said about Trish.
It says a lot. This was not too dissimilar to this week’ RAW Divas match…but look at the difference. There is still good female talent in the WWE but the way they’ve been used this year has been appalling. While this 2002 match was a gimmick match it still showed how the division of earlier this decade was lightyears ahead of what they are doing now.
PG has some part to blame, but also the fact that the Divas aren’t allowed to have any individuality. Back then you had a number of types. Trish was the alpha female, Lita was the alterna chick who stood out so much from the others, Victoria the psycho, Molly the pure yet badass, Jazz was a bit like Beth Phoenix in her dominance. Today the only ones who stick out are Maryse (snooty French model), Beth Phoenix (the Glamazon gimmick alone required some kind of packaging) and Jillian (comedy American Idol singer, possibly a shot at Brooke Hogan when it was first conceived).
Victoria as Champion , Ivory , Jackie , Molly , Stacy & Trish…
Those were the days.
Sad isnt it ?.
I think the blame lays on the fact that today’s divas just aren’t as talented. Other than Gail and Melina, there wasn’t another woman, in Monday’s match, that could hold a candle to the women in this match, including Stacey!
Wow, a match with no botches and very fast-paced. Also, every single diva was in the ring at some point, without others their just clogging up ring space. Fuck the RAW writers, they suck.
i think that the past divas have set the bar to high for newer divas thats why they dont have good matches they only botch because they have to rush their match becuase they dont get much time, whereas tna keep raising the bar with their womens division. I mean i bet even TNA could make Rosa Mendez look a brilliant wrestler.
Man,those were the days.The Golden Age of Women’s Wrestling.
BTW,Trish pwns all.
the crowd went crazy when stacy intered!!
i remember i loved this match :D
Good wrestling, dirty commentary, not that much granny pantie action ( i think kelly was wearing some on monday lol), great crowd, heel divas getting booed….huh these where the good days.
i feel almost depressed after watching this. these are the days i want back.
although on the flipside, if there are any new diva fans who say, have only discovered women’s wrestling through wwe in the last year or so, would they think those days were rubbish compared to the stuff we non-”n00bs” have to suffer?
So much reaction from the crowd for the Divas, not even just for Trish! I too think it a completely separate issue from the PG rating, and I agree that it’s more to do with them not being as talented as the ones that came before, therefore it seems not as much effort is put into developing them. As wrestlers, it’s their responsibility to come up with their gimmicks anyway, I would have thought, and regardless they should make it work, whatever it is. If Al Snow made it work with “Head” (particularly in ECW)… If you’re only given 3 minutes to shine in a match, promo, whatever, that better be the best, most compelling 3 minutes you can give, and with WWE even that isn’t a guarantee for a chance for something better. WWE just doesn’t seem to care in general, therefore it is manifested in the way things are now.
*sigh* Twas the “Golden Age” indeed.
I think the real problem is not “how talented” are the Divas nowadays,but the use you do with them…If bookers can’t come out with good ideas,even the best wrestlers can’t do too much…Look at Gail Kim or Natalya,just for example…However,crowds are not like that anymore…This goes for the males matches too of course…This summer I was watching old Smackdown and Raw episodes and the crowds were totally crazy! Now if there is some noise it’s because someone is going to interfere with the match…In 2002,for example,you couldn’t understand that because there was so much noise all the time!Even though we’ve had some great matches this year (Melina vs Michelle,that Triple threat on SD! with Natalya,Beth and Mickie and so on) the crowd wasn’t too much excited…In these cases,however,I don’t think It’s WWE’s fault…
I think one handicap the 2009 Divas have that the 2002 Divas did not is that, in 2002, the 3-minute-long Diva match (tag matches, especially) and the Divas in costumes matches hadn’t been done 124,055,244 times yet. Even though it’s a different group of women, applying the same formula year after year on almost a weekly basis is bound to make people stop caring.
Bahaha, Molly Holly was awesome. Pretty good match. :D
THETommyTommy is right about Stacy. Even though her and Torrie were usually the T&A divas they still had some athletic ability. Matter of fact back then if models were hired they fitness models. Great example: Trish Stratus.