If you’re a fan of women’s wrestling and more specifically, the WWE Divas, then you are familiar with the “Piggie James” storyline that has graced our television screens in recent weeks. The angle has ignited a lot of discussion and controversy due to the sensitive issue it has been dealing with; a woman’s weight and image. The WWE constantly promotes their women as smart, sexy, and powerful and with those labels come certain expectations. I’m almost positive the girls employed by World Wrestling Entertainment are expected to maintain their appearance at the highest level they possibly can. I’m purely speculating here, but seeing as how the majority of their roster is filled with models, the girls get hired for their looks alone. If want to sit here and nitpick, the male portion of the roster has its fair share of lookers to but that’s not what’s important today. In the entertainment world, looks are everything, and as sad as it is, Mickie James could be considered big for a diva by some people.
Personally, I find it absolutely ridiculous to call Mickie James fat, but the writers over at the ‘E saw a chance for a storyline and they decided to role with it. Week after week we got a chance to see then Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool, and her BFF, Layla, humiliate and taunt Mickie for being “overweight”. Team Laycool (and sometimes Beth Phoenix) made Mickie’s life a living hell until the Royal Rumble when Mickie finally got some much needed and oh so sweet revenge. Laycool got served a nasty little dish of their own medicine and Michelle suffered the ultimate embarrassment of losing her precious title in less than a minute. I thought the end justified the storyline, and overall I thought the angle was brilliant. Lets face it, the WWE just doesn’t care about their divas like they used too. The Diva division has suffered in the post-Trish era. I don’t know if it’s because the WWE just doesn’t care these days, or if it’s because they don’t have the confidence in any of their women like they had Trish. Either way, women haven’t had legit storylines in a long time and their three minute matches have been sloppily put together and terrible to say the least.
Since the draft last April, Smackdown has more than proven itself as the place to be if you’re a diva. The girls on the blue brand are given a little more time and for the most part, better writing. As a diva fan, I didn’t find Piggie James appalling whatsoever. I found it funny, dramatic, annoying, and I enjoyed it. As a woman, I sympathized with Mickie and wanted to punch Michelle McCool and her perfect little self in the face. Us diva fans were FINALLY given a storyline we could get emotionally attached too. We were made to root for Mickie and we were made to hate on LayCool for their terrible actions. All women were given mic time. They were given segments. The storyline had extreme build and that’s something we haven’t seen since the days of Trish and Lita. Our girls were finally given time to shine. I had no idea Michelle was capable of comedy. I had no clue I could ever be made to want Mickie James win a match. I was so excited to see what Beth Phoenix would do and which side she would pick. I even marked out for Maria when she got herself involved and cut the best promo she’s ever done. This simple, childish storyline brought something out of each and every woman involved and it was refreshing to see. Despite the touchy issue it was built on, I think everything worked out well in the end. Us Diva fans were finally given a reason to get excited and emotional.
A lot of people are questioning why this storyline was allowed to play out to a PG audience. Since I’m not an insider, I can’t really answer that question, but I can pose another one. Why were Randy Orton and Triple H allowed to terrorize each other last year leading up to Wrestlemania? We got to watch Randy Orton punt elderly people in the skull. We got to witness Triple H breaking and entering into a man’s home, scream at the man’s wife, and vandalizing said home with a weapon. Then we got to watch Randy Orton absolutely destroy Stephanie McMahon and kiss her unconscious body while Triple H watched handcuffed to the ring rope. Surely that doesn’t send a good message to children. We can’t have double standards for the divas and superstars. It’s politically incorrect and frankly, it’s just downright unfair. If you are going to question why “Piggie James” was allowed to play out to an audience that caters to children, then you have to question most things the WWE does, including Orton/HHH from last year.
Another thing that gets me about the backlash of this angle is the fact people are personally attacking Michelle McCool and Layla for it. These women follow a script, just like actors and actresses. It’s highly unfair to sit there and criticize them as people for what they do on television. They’re merely doing do their job and if you hate on their characters, then that’s great. We’re not supposed to like the people they portray on television. But getting personal with them just isn’t right. I’ve seen so many petty comments it’s kind of ridiculous. Michelle McCool has more than proven herself as capable wrestler and she is one of the most consistent women performers the WWE has right now. She rarely makes a mistake and looks good with whoever she ends up in the ring with. That’s a pretty good thing in the WWE these days because there’s quite a few others who can’t perform. I’m not even a McCool mark but I can respect the fact she’s broken away from the Diva Search mold and made me forget she even came from that stupid contest.
At the end of the day, we’re still going to think and feel how we want, but I hope that I’ve been able to at least make one person see this angle in a slightly positive light. It was a positive angle for the WWE Divas and I can only hope that the WWE keeps giving them more opportunities to wrestle, cut promos, have segments, and build storylines.
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47 Comments
Im one of those who didn’t like the angle itself, however I admitted that thanks to it, all of the divas show improvement. But that doesn’t make a situation right or wrong.
I believe the WWE could have done a lot of amazing angles, without having to use this issue. Maybe using the redneck estereotype instead of the fat jokes in a woman who’s obviously not fat.
I found the entire angle hilarious,engaging,consistent,and down right awesome.Well…not the whole Piggie James thing,but the way it was used I was a fan of.Mickie ogt her revenge and Lay-Cool got what they deserved.Overall,a great stryline for this day and age.
I agree! Yea the topic might not have been the nicest thing in the world but it worked out for the good. the VERY good. michelle and layla were funny and got heat. beth was dominate. and mickie was getting huge cheers. that was the whole point wasnt it?
I also didn’t find this storyline to be in bad taste at all. This is a TV show and they’re playing characters. WWE has done much worse than this with the divas over the years, plus Mickie won in the end, as she should have.
Saying that, I also didn’t find it entertaining or appealing at all. For something that lasted so long, Layla making me laugh a couple times was really the only thing I personally enjoyed throughout the whole thing, and she was just the supporting act. I still find Mickie’s character to be stale and Michelle to be the most boring character, male or female, I’ve ever seen.
The general consensus seems to be that it was a success though, for the first time in who knows how long, they gave a diva feud adequate build and promo time to at least have a chance of getting over, so hopefully this results in other girls getting the same time and attention put into their programmes. I’m especially hoping they give the Raw girls something even half as thought out to work with. Maryse, Gail & Kelly are among my favorite divas in the company, and it does get frustrating seeing them get 2 minutes of screen time at best each week on Raw.
“Another thing that gets me about the backlash of this angle is the fact people are personally attacking Michelle McCool and Layla for it. These women follow a script, just like actors and actresses”
Do you mean things like “How dare they agree to do this storyline”? If so, I agree that is stupid and not needed. However, the negativity towards them I’ve seen in regards to this angle is mostly based on their speaking/acting talent (mostly towards Michelle), not their personal character in real life.
I Agree With You….
I Like All The WWE Divas. All Do The Best They Can And This Must Be Respected.
I Love The Work Of The Divas, “It Might Be Better”, But For Now I Can Not Live Without It.
Thanks.. Divas/Knockouts..
I agree with everything Cryssi.
McCool haters can die.
Totally agree with you Cryssi. This was very well put and I agree with everything you said. I LOVED the Piggy James angle. It helped Layla & Michelle McCool develop as fantastic heels. Everyone knows Mickie James isn’t fat, and she knows that just like everyone else. I applaud her for her fantastic work in the angle, along with Lay-Cool.
Thank you Cryssi for the Fantastic article. Keep it up!!
Regarding this storyline, it’s a very good thing to see WWE put in this effort, but I would assume the main point was to get Michelle and Layla over as heels. Yet, at the Rumble, apathy. On last week’s Smackdown, they actually caused the crowd to stop booking Vickie Guerrero and become silent. And the spoilers I read for this week’s Smackdown specifically mentioned Layla coming out to no reaction. It’s one thing for the fans to not care when WWE gives them no reason to care but still not caring after all this is scary. I hope it doesn’t prevent WWE for doing more long-term angles with the Divas in the future.
The Plus side of this that this angle had what people would call serious “OLD SCHOOL” heat i.e it was based on a real life scenario that people could relate to
especialy people with body image problems and this is heat most old school workers would KILL for!it’s no diiferent than the Jake Roberts/Jerry Lawler Alcolholism stoyline
decades ago in WWE…
I was a fan of the Piggie James storyline, then again I was just pleased the Divas were getting some exposure within WWE. I think it was refreshing for me personally as I am not a big fan of the Mickie James character, nothing against her as a person, but I just think on-screen there’s not a lot to her, even though I prefer her as a face. It just felt she was being pushed for being the last product of Trish Stratus and had milked from that ever since, so this angle was really good because once WWE wasn’t making it out that Mickie had all the answers for once and we got to see more depth to her. Yes, the outcome was predictable and as I said before, I believe this whole angle was to teach its younger audience that you can ‘overcome your bullies’ if you stand up for yourself etc. I don’t know how well its going post-storyline, but the angle itslf was good, it got people talking for once.
Parts of what you say makes it sound like Trish is the beginning and end of the Divas, nothing before or after Trish has ever been done, unless its had her. I like Trish’s transformation over the years, but I really dislike it when people make remarks how she single handedly bought the division up, because without Victoria, Ivory, Lita, Molly, Jacqueline, Nidia, Jazz and co. I don’t think it would’ve been as good- I found that era entertaining coillectively…not just Trish. There’s a part where you say writers gave up on Divas after Trish which isn’t true, the Divas had storylines- in particular on Raw when Beth returned and she was involved in some storylines with Candice and Melina, they played out the Ashley and Melina feud for ages, getting all Divas involved in that massive tag match. I think it died down AFTER that, not when Trish parted ways with them.
The problems with the Divas is that WWE Has given them more to do with a more active division, new title etc. yet its not giving them ENOUGH time to do this in. Its grown backwards in the extent that the Divas have less storylines and more opportunity, whereas back then it was the other way round, especially on SD. I don’t know there’ll probably be a draft soon, so maybe this will all change?
This storyline was/is epic, and has been fantastic for all of the women involved. As unique and controversial as it seemed to be, at the end of the day it was just good ole fashion Pro Wrestling. The babyface was brutally beaten both mentally and physically, before rising above an unscrupulous heel. Most importantly, it had a certain consistency that the women’s division has lacked for years. Not every week has to be gold, but just don’t let the fans forget why they are supposed to care.
Completely agree with you! This whole thing about Mickie weight and everything got me behind a Diva and actually got me to feel some sort of emotion towards the diva’s besides frustration or disapointment. The fued in itself I thought was done very very well done. It had time to develop, was given enough emotion to work and had (mostly) botch free matches.
All in all this fued was one of my favorites in the last couple of years. To be honest I can’t remember getting so into a fued, so involved in what was happening since I was a child. The Trish Era as you say. I hope we get more of this, lets see another great fued that can make me continue to actually look forward to watching Smackdown every week.
the only thing that i’ve gotten out of this whole angle is enjoying the rarity that is layla getting to wrestle. it was repetitive matches, a champion not wrestling, and almost no continuity. i also don’t think that the subject should be excused just because it was better than terrible acting or because mickie got the final win, if this is the best they can do then i am really worried. mccool and layla should be getting booed out of the arena every week, but as somebody mentioned above, they aren’t. and that’s pretty bad. it seems that they’re still playing this whole feud out, and it’s been losing steam for the last few weeks, these writers need a serious kick up the backside. they also need to decide what they’re doing with beth. having her cheered during those squash matches, then getting her booed when she beats down mickie, then having her cheered again at the rumble.. they are seriousy ruining any character she has left.
apologies for the mickie sized wall of text above ;)
There’s a big problem with this whole column. The storyline isn’t over yet. Mickie beat Michelle, but that was not the conclusion. Watch Smackdown this week. There are still the fat jokes. Michelle is still talking about getting rid of Mickie. And now Vickie Guerrero is involved. Which means there can only be one conclusion to all of this: Mickie out of the company. Don’t you think it’s way too convenient that a storyline involving Mickie trying to be forced out is occuring right around the time her album is being released? Not to mention the fact that her departure from WWE has been rumored for a long time now.
It’s time for her to go anyway. She really sucks in the ring now, and whatever personality she might have had is also gone. Her promo last week was pathetic, and the one she cuts this week looks even worse. She was never the best looking diva to begin with. And she doesn’t get great reactions anymore. I can’t think of one reason to justify her being pushed as a top diva anymore, when it’s obvious Mickie had faded.
I really hope this somehow involves Beth getting the top spot on Smackdown, because she deserves it. Her time in the Rumble got a MUCH bigger reaction than Mickie’s win, and she actually looks like she cares out there. I think the fans will embrace her once WWE pulls the trigger. Beth’s about the only interesting woman they have had since Trish left. Why do you think Trish always puts her over in interviews, and chose her as her opponent the two times she came back in Toronto?
The problem is the whole thing started out as a punishment. Maybe it turned into a good storyline but it was still a punishment for gaining weight and/or personal problems.
The fact that WWE are willing to call a woman “a pig” as a way to get her to lose weight, pretty much tells you everything you need to know about women’s wrestling in WWE, and where exactly women are on the the totem pole.
I agree! I dislike the way people use offensive words etc against the heels especially! WWE universe need to realise that they are in their “character”. What you see on television is not what they are like in real life. Backstage everyone are friends! You wouldnt get very far in a company on the road 24/7 with people you dont get along with! Its a tough world and when on the road everyone is more or less family!!!!
There have been many storylines the post-Trish era.
1. Mickie/Lita (Lita humiliating and embarrassing Mickie until the tables turned and ended up making Lita want to retire)
2. Ashley/Melina (in which Melina was pissed about the Playboy girls getting more attention than her and made it her goal to defeat all of them including the newest one, Ashley).
3. Candice/Melina (Melina (and the entire IWC for that matter) doubting that Candice could actually take the belt away from her, after Candice won a few tag matches ,and trashing Candice at every opportunity until Melina finally saw that Candice was more of a challenge than she thought and got the ultimate humiliation by losing her title to the ‘inferior’ Candice).
4. Candice/Beth (Candice and the entire womens division not being able to overcome the new powerhouse diva Beth – which still remains the best ‘storyline’ since Trish left along with Mickie/Michelle).
5.Melina/Beth (Beth thinking Melina cost her the belt on purpose and was set on destroying her).
6. Mickie/Maryse (Maryse trying to dodge Mickie James and not giving her a title shot after realizing Mickie could actually beat her).
7. Piggie James (we know that one).
There really weren’t any other ‘storylines’ since then, the rest were just plain feuds, but 7 is quite a bit. Candice/Victoria could count too since Candice wanted revenge for Victoria breaking her nose but it was never an actual feud so I didn’t count it.
On the last house show, Michelle McCool drew enough heat. Big difference with the tv tapings is that in that house show she interacted with the fans by insulting them repeatedly. Maybe thats where the problem lies for LayCool on Smackdown. They are insulting Mickie James, but why should the fans care about that? That usually only works when big stars like Mysterio, Jeff Hardy or Cena are insulted. Going for the direct approach and insulting the fans is much easier (it works great for CM Punk right now).
this story is not 100% fantastic for all the woman involved like i read some posts above….what about Beth´s role in all of this?the main thing was/is the rivalry between Laycool and Mickie,Beth´s presence there was/is pointless…..even because Mickie could have a credible Diva to even the odds but the creative decided the opposite way.like Kaledrina said here they´re playing too much with Beth´s character and that is hurting it badly again like happened on Raw….
i hate the storyline because I don’t find any of the girls involved interesting at all. I hate michelle, I don’t care about layla, and Beth is boring. But I like Mickie, she’s not one of my top favs but she’s okay in my book
At first i hated the storyline because it was making fun of mickie weight, but then when mickie won the womens title and covered Michelle and Layla in cake I was happy because it gave the storyline a happy ending. But now they’re just milking this as much as they can it’s gotten boring
RAW DIVAS FTW!!!!
I do agree with you. The whole Mickie James thing was stupid, and yes some would consider her a “bigger” Diva, but I think she’s beautiful and far from fat. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Randy Orton fan, but I could have done without all the major dramatic stuff they put in that storyline. But here is the difference between a storyline like that and what they did to Mickie James: The Mickie storyline was something real. Although it was scripted on tv, it’s something that girls all over the world go through on a daily basis. The Orton/Triple H storyline you could tell was fake as hell, but it was aggression and fighting, and that’s what wrestling is all about, even if it is all scripted.
For WWE to go and pick fun at Mickie’s weight was degrading and wrong. I get it was scripted, and LayCool shouldn’t be blamed for any of it. They are actresses in a since, they were doing their jobs. It’s the WWE that shouldn’t have let it happen in the first place. As someone who was always picked on because I wasn’t the skinniest girl in school I could relate to the whole issue and it made me sick. Mickie is one of the best Diva’s we have today. That storyline should not have been allowed. And it’s because of stuff like this, picking fun of girls weight and size, that makes girls do things to physically and mentally hurt themselves. I’m glad it’s finally over. WWE needs to realize that there are women and girls who watch their show too.
I found the storyline very entertaining ?. Myself is a Huge Mickie James fan she is the first Diva I liked since Trish retired. All the time I have heard people kall Mickie Fat. It didnt bother me b cuz I know Mickie isnt Fat at ALL! Yeah there were times where you kan look at Mickie and it seems that a flab of her stomach is haniging out. That dosent mean she is fat ?. Mickie James dosent need to starve her self to prove nothing to no one. B cuz at the end of the Day Mickie James Health is far more important than some contract for WWE.
This story line helped Michelle & Layla further their character more. So for the people who wanna say ” Oh this storyline is boring ” Blah , Blah , Blah , and people who like to take cheap shots at Mickie ,Michelle & Layla for doing what thier told to do. Then clearly you guys arent real DIVA fans. B cuz clearly you kant see that similair stuff like this has been happening for years. At least WWE stopped a minute and took some time to give us a fully developed storyline and not some damn Cat and Mouse chase
Although I think Laycool has done a fine job, you make an excellent point Mikas, about heels who are allowed to toss insults towards the fans versus heels who simply oppose babyface. I’d say the divas would benefit from being free to wage war on the audience as CM Punk and Jericho do.
And yes, I believe this storyline has ultimately been good for Beth as well. You can argue that they need to get back on track with her development, but I’d say this storyline certainly revitalized interest in a character that had grown quite stale on RAW. The future of Beth Phoenix is now the most intriguing thing involving Smackdown’s womens division.
One of the best articles to come out of the website. It’s nice to see writers with an open mind and have the ability to see the good in something, no matter how bad it may seem. Good article.
They did give us hope didn’t they? Regardless of the possiblity of it being a direct personal attack on Mickie. A positive came out of a possibly incredibly negative storyline.
I know a lot of people are heavily critical when someone says “Hey, that was a good match so and so had.” if so and so aren’t Beth, Mickie, Melina, Gail, Jillian and Michelle. If people are default negative towards the matches, why should it be any different for the promos?
Just because they are getting promo time doesn’t mean they are delivering. Michelle is still as monotonous as ever. Layla still has no creditability. Beth still as directional-less and bald. And Mickie.. Well, Mickie stills gets the initial entrance pop, but that’s just about it. None of the segments or matches are getting any heat. None of the segments or matches are to write home about.
If people still don’t think Michelle’s relationship with Taker has NOTHING to do with her use, then they are clearly naive little marks. They have given her EVERYTHING to get some response and nothing. And as a Layla fan, I hate that she is teamed with her because Layla actually has charisma.. Which is something Michelle, Mickie, and Beth flat out refuses to have.
I have no idea why people are proclaiming SD as some Mecca for the Divas when ALL of the Divas on that brand ignore the most important part of pro wrestling: getting a consistent reaction and putting asses in the seats.
Mickie isn’t over? She’s the only diva that not only gets a pop for her entrance and wins, but can get the crowd to actually chant for her too, when she’s losing. If she’s not over, the other divas must don’t even exist! LOL!
And as far as Beth, well, I think her lack of reaction is due to creative jerking the fans around. Cause she had plenty of crowd support at the Rumble.
As far as the actual Piggy James storyline, I thought it was juvenile. Only the divas would have a whole feud built around school yard name-calling.
I agree with your statements, I dunno what the big deal is when it comes to the angle. It is just a storyline. We all know what is real and what is not. This angle definitely played out well and did wonders for Michelle’s & Layla’s Characters. That’s definitely a plus, it also put Mickie over as a face and was meant to get the fans behind her which I’m sure it did.
Overall it was awesome, the segments were good, funny and just what we have been waiting for for a long time. I just hope this isn’t a one time thing and good storyline for the divas come out of this.
The only sad thing about this storyline is that the crowd at the events were not feeling it as one would think. They would sit there, not get behind anyone and just plain out scream this is boring which has a big chance to influence WWE on a lot of levels.
i liked the piggie james storyline.it kinda reminded me of high school drama,but in the style of wrestling.lol.i thought it was a very good and entertaining storyline.and not only that,it taught people a lesson
It may not have been the nicest storyline, but it brought out the best in all the divas.
I hate when people take personal digs at Michelle and Layla… they didn’t write the storylines, y’know…
The storyline was just dumb and embarrassing. None of these girls have a voice and weren’t even willing to step up and oppose it. I think Mickie went along with it because she’s leaving for greener pastures and we all know Michelle’s at the top because she’s ‘Taker’s girlfriend. Let’s get back to the glory days.
I for one have enjoyed it. What they’re doing with the SD Divas blows the directionless, 2-dimensional RAW Divas division out of the water.
Seriously put all the wrestling Divas on SD and keep the eye candy on RAW and keep just the Women’s title.
Let’s look at the bulk of the situation, shall we? Why don’t we compare this feud to the other feuds surrounding the other pro wrestlers in the WWE? To be honest, this storyline is juvenile. If anything, it merely showcases the still present chauvinism that the WWE has been wearing for a very long time.
Even until now, the company’s view when it comes to women is still depressingly shallow. And it’s ironic that they keep saying that the WWE Divas are “smart sexy and powerful” when the best that they can fight over are things that you hear on an overused high school drama.
They had Mickie James who is supposedly the top face breaking down over something as silly as “Piggie James.” Do you see the top men getting riled up by something that low? They had Michelle McCool who is basically sold as a tactician and a highly educated woman resorting to playground banter. Why can they not have her be as vicious as some of the top male heels?
Because they’re women and women are supposed to be a notch down in ALL aspects? Because women are supposed to be emotionally unstable? That’s ridiculous.
In all honesty, this is the best storyline that the Divas have right now. But that’s actually a bad thing. If this is the best that the WWE Creative Team can think of right now, then that’s just sad.
Oh, and before I completely withdraw from this post… let me bring back something a little off topic but generally relevant. Let’s go back to the Royal Rumble. A milestone occurred, right? Beth Phoenix, the Glamazon, the Most Dominant Diva and the Fabulous Firebird joined the Rumble. Oh yes… and we were given a moment to think: has the WWE finally matured when it comes to the way it views women?
Let’s see…
Her stay in the ring was something one could’ve missed if one decided to blink. Wonderful. But at least she eliminated someone, right? The Great Khali. But how did she do it? How did the Most Dominant Diva eliminate a male superstar? Can you guys recall? ;)
That’s all.
Ebmich wrote:
“If people still don’t think Michelle’s relationship with Taker has NOTHING to do with her use, then they are clearly naive little marks.”
Or they are more intelligent than the “naive little Smarks” who believe that she got everything thanks to the Undertaker. The Undertaker is a very respective person in the industry, everyone seems to like him backstage. If he would abuse his position just to get his girlfriend a title, people would complain about it backstage, and that would eventually “leak out” to the IWC. And FACT is that none of the credible dirtsheets have ever mentioned Undertaker abusing his power to help Michelle.
The Michelle-haters are looking for a “reason” why she is pushed, and although i agree that her push is ridiculous, it has nothing to do with the taker. The answer is very simple…Michelle is a ‘corporate’ kind of person who does what WWE want her to do. She doesnt annoy management backstage (unlike Mickie James), lives a clean live (no drugs), doesnt have a bad track record of getting into trouble with the law or unprofessional behaviour (missing shows, coming in late). So just like a person like Sheamus, she fits the “WWE mold”, she is exactly the kind of employee they are looking for, and thats why she got her push. Additionally she has also been around for 5+ years, which is LOYALTY TO THE COMPANY, and WWE always rewards loyalty (if the wrestler doesnt screw up somehow).
Undi wrote:
“”And yes, I believe this storyline has ultimately been good for Beth as well. You can argue that they need to get back on track with her development, but I’d say this storyline certainly revitalized interest in a character that had grown quite stale on RAW. The future of Beth Phoenix is now the most intriguing thing involving Smackdown’s womens division.”"
are you really sure of what you said?this story good for Beth?where?they kept going back and forth with her,acting face/acting heel – going back to face/going heel again…and her presence in the PIggy James story was/is pointless because the main actresses were/are Mickie and Laycool,they could have paired Beth with Mickie to even the odds but they decided to make Beth look like a yo-yo.
and if Beth´s future is intriguing,is not because of good reasons.
i love this angle and i see all girls did good
hope all storylines get in depth like this one
I get what you’re saying, and I do think it was a good idea in theory. I just think it was badly played out. Honestly, the only strong aspect to the storyline was Mickie, and she’s donebetter work in the past. McCool was wooden, and whilst Layla had her moments, they were minimal. Meanwhile, Maria didn’t do much, and Beth’s involvement was often unnecessary, random and badly written. On top of that, the main purpose of the angle – to get McCool over – doesn’t seem to have happened. Sure, she’s getting a few more boos, but it’s pretty clear that it’s not going to last.
If you compare it to theast notable diva angle – Melina turning on Beth – then it kinda puts things into light. That storyline suffered setbacks and was getting much less time than this one, yet the fans really reacted and both girls looked strong. Meanwhile, this one’s inspiring a lot of ‘Pleeease end it’ discussion on forums, and bar Mickie the women aren’t nearly as over. It says a lot.
I find that criticizing someone for their weight is a VERY PG storyline; it’s like the kids movies where the “fat” kid is either the bully or the one being picked on. It’s juvenile and unimaginative on the part of WWE (as well as over done and once too often done), however, what’s important is that they actually gave the Divas lots of screen time to work with. Aside from the antics of Layla in particular that gave me a laugh, this story was not particularly compelling to me. Of course we can’t expect Oscar-level performances out of wrestlers, but it wasn’t something that pulled at me or drew me in. To me, this is not the kind of stuff grown women should be concerned about and therefore I couldn’t identify with it.
I think of people like Molly, Jackie, Ivory, Gail Kim, Jazz, Victoria, and Trish and to me those wrestlers and those storylines were compelling to me. That being said, while I think McCool is not good on the mic, I respect that she has made such impressive improvement, and I think it RIDICULOUS that the IWC have the nerve to have anything to say about a person’s personal life (e.g. who they’re dating). You get on at any job by who you know and what you do/can do for them; those are just the facts, but farbeit for some smarks to think that a person’s work ethic has ANYTHING to do with their success. I agree that Lay-Cool should have been insulting the crowds all along; they’d be getting a (bigger) reaction. Beth’s been completely superfluous throughout this whole thing but in any case its been a great opportunity for her to get screen time.
I have to say too that sometimes it seems like Trish and Lita’s names are often thrown out there so much (and I do understand why: the pops/fandom they had) but the the aforementioned 6 women before Trish’s name were beyond in terms of ability in MY opinion. There’s frightfully few female talents left with their ability.
Talents left in WWE, I mean. And even some of the few still there who do have impressive skills keep sticking to the same routine.
To be fair, a lot of the ‘Please end it’ discussions were down to the storylines roots of poking fun at Mickie James’ weight and sending out a bad message, not down to Beth’s or whoever else’s role, you can’t judge and compare two storylines when one was a storyline, whilst the other was a storyline with an underline message.
As far as going over is concerned? Sure, Michelle’s not got an standing ovation of boo’s, nor is Layla, however you said it yourself they’re getting MORE boo’s than before, showing that the angle has worked to a degree for their character. Divas will never be as over with the crowd as Mickie James was, however if Mickie hadn’t been introduced through such a high profiled storyline with Trish Stratus, I doubt she’d be anywhere near as over. Mickie is the last remaining product of Trish, therefore people worship her more to do with that than her current character, which to be honest was bland until this storyline because it encouraged people to sympathize for her rather than cheering her on all the time in trash talking sessions as every other feud goes, whilst it was unfair on her in real life, it made her character interesting again, despite the fact she seems fast in decline in terms of her wrestling, in which she just looks awkward ever since she won the Divas title last year.
And Layla had her moments? If Michelle hadn’t held the championship this might’ve well have been as 1 on 2 feud, which it actually was in parts. Layla’s part wasn’t as sporadic as Beth’s or Maria’s, she was there every step of the way. I’m not saying the storyline was perfect, but it was the best Diva feud in years, the fact its had so many people talking and sparked so much controversy proves that its high profiled, whether you think it was good or not.
Actually thinking about it, Mickie had also buried Lita in her final match. The fact Mickie beat two of the most popular Divas in WWE history in their final moments with the company, benefitted her as a performer and got the crowd behind her. Like I said, it’d have probably had the same effect on any Diva and I think that this is why Mickie seems to be top of the Divas, because of the characters she’s beaten rather than the character she is.
The fact that Mickie was able to turn nearly an entire crowd to her side, during her Wrestlemania match against top female Trish, says that people were definitely feeling her character. Plus, she has been able to maintain her fanbase, with Trish gone. Like Krissy Vaine said, Mickie comes off as really likeable and relateable, something that more divas unfortunately can’t do.
And I totally agree with you, Lady Sheamus. it is annoying to always read about Lita or Trish, when Molly, Jazz, Jacqueline, Ivory, Gail, and Victoria played as just a big of a part in the women’s division. And I also agree that the majority of them definitely eclipsed Lita and Trish in the skill department.
The majority of ‘Please end it!’ posts I see seem to be coming from people who are bored with the storyline, actually. It’s not the distastefulness that’s putting people off, it’s the repetitiveness and the poorly done segments. Most people don’t want to sit through six minutes of McCool droning on about nothing.
Of course McCool’s getting a bigger response, but it still doesn’t seem in keeping with the push she’s been receiving, and further more, the boos are dying down already. She’s being pushed as a superheel, but the fans aren’t reacting. They tried to make fans react with this storyline, but in truth it hasn’t accomplished that. All that’s really been acheived is an even louder response for Mickie, thus making the others look even *less* purposeful in comparison.
And I don’t think you’re giving Mickie enough credit. It was clear when they feuding that fans preferred Mickie to Trish, and like someone said, Mickie’s managed to retain that popularity for the best part of four years. She’s just very, VERY likable. In contrast, the majority of other women either just don’t have the capacity to be interesting or appealing, or haven’t been given the opportunity to connect with audience. WWE have to ‘go to’ divas in Mickie and Melina who are there to pick up the pieces (the latter moreso as a heel), and have proven that they can excel in storylines and PPV matches. Then there’s Kelly and Maria, who can at least get a cheer from the crowd? Aside from them? Eh…
I’m not denying that Layla didn’t have a large part to play, I’m just saying that on the whole she wasn’t very good either. And yeah, the storyline’s gotten the attention of some people, but so did Melina/Beth, which wasn’t as lengthy or as heavily pushed, and didn’t use cheap tactics to garner heat. In fact, crowd reactions show that the fans were much more interested in it. Why was that? Because it involved Melina, and because it they played it out well. A storyline needs strong workers and characters, and the workers need a half-decent storyline.
Two, not ‘to’. There are other typos as well, but blah.