For weeks we’ve been following the Divas Championship tournament, with all its stops and starts. Two weeks ago we finally made the match-up for the finals, but getting to that match has been harder than it seems. Many of us want the WWE to just get it over with, as it’s been obvious from the start that Maryse will be walking away with the title. Thus, it’s been some acute form of torture to see the WWE stretch this thing out as long as possible. This week was no different, and on top of it we got some bad good news: the finals will be taking place in less than two weeks at the Elimination Chamber PPV. Until then, we’ve got two Raws to fill, and you better believe it that the WWE will give it as little build up as possible:
See? We’ve been treated to a random match between Gail Kim and Jillian, which kind of sneaks up on us because no one was given an entrance, and the match wasn’t even announced. Hey, they’ve gotta free up time for all the Shawn Michaels angst and John Cena beatdown replays! Maryse, of course, is on commentary, making this impending finals match-up even more of a laughing stock. You’d think the WWE would get that doing it this way makes it look like Maryse is the champion, scouting her challenger in Gail. I’m sure they notice, but just don’t give a shit.
In the ring, Gail and Jillian start with a tie-up, Jillian taking control and backing Gail up against the ropes. Gail slips through the ropes, falling to the outside. Jillian tosses her back into the ring and goes for a pin, getting a 1-count. She whips Gail into the corner and gets an elbow to the face when she goes for an attack. Gail climbs to the top of the turnbuckle, but Jillian sweeps her feet and knocks her all the way to the mat. Another pin, another 1-count.
Meanwhile, on commentary, Maryse talks about how much more sophisticated Raw Divas are in contrast to what’s been going on on SmackDown with Mickie James. Complain about the fat jokes all you want, Maryse, but at least they’re given more than 3 minutes of screen time. Maybe the Raw Divas should start having food fights.. Jillian pounds Gail’s head onto the mat and hoists her up, but Gail slips free, hitting the Eat Defeat. She pins Jillian for the win.
The match, which was literally ONE MINUTE long, was as good as any match could be with such a ridiculous time limit. I give boatloads of credit to Jillian and Gail for making such a joke of a match interesting and fun with what little they were given. Funny, though, that the post-match promo was longer than the match itself. Maryse, get priority? Never!!
In this promo, Maryse tells Gail that she’s looking forward to their match in 2 weeks and hopes that it is great. She then speaks in French, saying, “Gail, I just wanna say that you smell garbage at a 100-feet around.. Seriously, you stink! You look like a poor little girl, I have pity for you. You’re miserable.” (thanks to Zackitty on Twitter for the translation). Gail can’t understand this, but she reluctantly shakes Maryse’s hand afterwards. Maryse wishes her luck in the match, and departs.
The whole booking for this tournament has been so inconsistent and half-assed that I’m really not surprised that this point. It’s as if the WWE isn’t even trying to hide that Maryse is the one they’re pushing to the title. If they don’t give two shits about this tournament, why are they even putting the finals on a PPV? Why not get it over with a quick match on Raw if it’s that much of a hassle to book for? I suppose stretching it out this far lends them time with which they can avoid actually booking a feud. Meanwhile, we get even shorter matches than we’ve become accustomed to (I mean really, 1 minutes??) and Maryse gets to insult Gail on the sly. I wonder what language-hidden insult Maryse will come up with next week?
This just proves how low of a priority the Raw Divas are. Even with something that is supposed to be exciting and different–a championship tournament–it’s given embarrassingly little screen time and seems to be tossed together in the minutes prior to the show. I suppose the Gail/Jillian match was only fortunate enough to make it on the show because they found some extra time in between the multiple Triple H/Shawn Michaels bitchfest segments and replays of Batista’s beatdown on John Cena. Its this kind of lack of effort that makes it tough for Diva fans to even care about what happens on the show. I know that I find it laughable that I’m putting any effort into writing this Redux when it’s clear that the WWE is treating this storyline as an afterthought, something they can throw on TV if there’s extra time. It’s fitting, though, that on Diva Dirt Raw has become an afterthought of sorts to the exploits of the SmackDown Divas. I don’t even think the two brands are competing for our attention anymore, because if so, it’s one hell of a one-sided fight.
Food for thought: Do you think the Maryse/Gail match at the Elimination Chamber PPV will be given decent ring time?
Posted by 
February 10, 2010 at 10:18 pm
No heel WWE diva is going to get consistent heat, and the sooner diva fans realize that, the better. However I’ve actually seen Michelle, Layla, and Beth get the crowd involved. Part of that is more favorable booking, which is why I criticized RAW’s writers. But hell, Mickie/Michelle at TLC had more crowd energy behind it than any match I’ve seen involving Maryse. And that includes her own match with Ms. James. The same goes for the now classic “good-bye celebration”. Laycool garnered quality heat. Certainly more than I’ve ever seen from the likes of Maryse.
February 10, 2010 at 10:38 pm
“No heel WWE diva is going to get consistent heat, and the sooner diva fans realize that, the better.”
Michelle and Layla should be getting booed out of every arena, every week at this point. There’s no excuse for them not to be at this point, yet not only are they not hugely over, they’re not over at all.
“However I’ve actually seen Michelle, Layla, and Beth get the crowd involved. Part of that is more favorable booking, which is why I criticized RAW’s writers. But hell, Mickie/Michelle at TLC had more crowd energy behind it than any match I’ve seen involving Maryse. And that includes her own match with Ms. James. The same goes for the now classic “good-bye celebration”. Laycool garnered quality heat.”
The only crowd reaction at TLC was for Mickie showing a burst of offense. Whenever Michelle was in control, there was no heat. Even worse, after the big angle on the 1/22 Smackdown where Mickie had the cake dumped on her, Michelle and Layla have been getting as little response as ever. How is it not a complete failure to put in all of this effort and recieve the same apathy you’d get with no storyline at all?
February 10, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Why should Michelle and Layla be getting boo’ed out of every arena? What type of examples are you using to make this assumption? The only women to achieve such a level of heat at any point even close to “recent” have been Lita, Vickie, and Stephanie. All three of those situations were extremely unique and either featured real life heat, or a annoyingly powerful woman able to book the show and screw over top babyfaces.
Michelle actually did get heat at TLC. But the real funny thing is, even if she didn’t, she was actually able to do her job as a heel and rally the fans behind the babyface. The same babyface that wrestled in front of a dead crowd when she defeated Maryse. That is very telling. As for the celebration, Laycool clearly received “you suck” chants by the conclusion of the segment, and mild heat throughout.
February 10, 2010 at 11:25 pm
“Why should Michelle and Layla be getting boo’ed out of every arena? What type of examples are you using to make this assumption?”
Rrelentlessly humiliating and insulting the most popular woman in the company for months. You’d think after all of that, people would care.
Instead, Michelle came out at the Rumble for the big match to no reaction and cut a promo where what sounded like 20 people out of 16,000 booed softly for a couple seconds before going silent like everyone else while, according to people in attendence, a good portion of the audience left for either the restroom or the concession stand. That’s the same reaction a random Divas match with no angle or build up whatsoever gets.
Then, last week, Vickie Guerrero was getting booed out of the arena while speaking. The moment Michelle’s music hit, the boos stopped completely, replaced by total silence. It was hilarious to hear, though, so I’m not too bothered by that one.
February 11, 2010 at 12:41 am
And the crowd does care, unless “you suck” chants are all of a sudden more of that “fake heat” that Michelle supposedly receives.
Shifting focus back to RAW…the WWE really needs to incorporate a “damage control” mindset. The damage mostly being done by Melina’s injury. The focus needs to be on passable in-ring action featuring the best workers in the division. I’d say that certainly makes Gail the best woman for the Divas title at this time, while Maryse needs to sit her ass on the bench for now, soaking up crucial knowledge from the veteran divas.
February 11, 2010 at 1:08 am
“And the crowd does care, unless “you suck” chants are all of a sudden more of that “fake heat” that Michelle supposedly receives.”
Yep, they chanted “You suck” for about 5 seconds, then went right back to being silent, no one cared about her at the Rumble, and now her presence can turn Vickie’s boos into silence. Oh, well, at least it’s kind of amusing.
February 11, 2010 at 1:15 am
Well well. Seems like not only must a heel garner a specific chant (boring chants are not allowed), they must also receive said chant for a specific amount of time. And for that heat to count, it must be on a Wednesday, on a full moon, when the crowd count is an odd number and there are exactly 27 people with the name “Chris” in the audience.
Goodness, it isn’t Michelle I feel sorry for. Given such strict criteria, it’s Maryse.
February 11, 2010 at 1:36 am
“Well well. Seems like not only must a heel garner a specific chant (boring chants are not allowed), they must also receive said chant for a specific amount of time. And for that heat to count, it must be on a Wednesday, on a full moon, when the crowd count is an odd number and there are exactly 27 people with the name “Chris” in the audience.”
So, since Michelle gets no reaction nearly all of the time instead of 100% of the time, it’s wrong to say she isn’t over ?
February 11, 2010 at 2:23 am
“Why should she be jeered? For being hot? For being pretty amusing with her over-the-top act? For never showing hostility towards the fans? For not doing anything that bad to babyfaces? I would agree if you were making this point about Laycool, as WWE has given the fans every reason in the world to hate them yet the crowd is still silent. With Maryse, the fans have no real reason to hate her.”
The fact that she’s an arrogant, conceited character who has done bad things to two of the more over face characters (Mickie and Melina) and still can’t garner the appropriate reaction makes her nearly as bad as Laycool, IMO. At least Michelle can make up for the lack of charisma with decent wrestling. Maryse is still struggling in-ring wise. The WWE needs to stick her as the Miz’s manager and work on building up the legitimate heels they have in Jillian and Katie Lea. As it is, I shudder to think of the job Gail’s going to have to do, carrying her in this finals match.
February 11, 2010 at 3:12 am
“The fact that she’s an arrogant, conceited character who has done bad things to two of the more over face characters (Mickie and Melina) and still can’t garner the appropriate reaction makes her nearly as bad as Laycool, IMO.”
I doubt Maryse will get booed until WWE has her do something a little more evil than using hairspray and the head of a turkey costume as weapons. Although, WWE clearly likes her as is, so I doubt much will change, which kinda sucks. It’s too bad Melina was too hurt to lose the title in the ring because having Maryse “injure” her and brag out how she “ended Melina’s career’ could have been a good angle, especially upon Melina’s return.
February 11, 2010 at 3:54 pm
“It’s too bad Melina was too hurt to lose the title in the ring because having Maryse “injure” her and brag out how she “ended Melina’s career’ could have been a good angle, especially upon Melina’s return.”
Yes, that would have been a very good step! Or at the least they could make her more annoying (like Angelina Love was…LOL).
February 11, 2010 at 7:16 pm
The match was good for how long it was given but it was a total joke. Like Erin said, it just shows WWE don’t care about this tournament one bit and we all know Maryse is going to win at Elimination Chamber. The little ring segment after the match was nice and something a bit different but when does Maryse never get to speak? I knew she wasn’t turning face anytime soon and my point was backed up by the translation of what she said, which was rather pathetic. She could have said something a little more threatening. I used to be a big fan of Maryse, but hair flipping can only get you so far.