After last week’s moving tribute to womankind, I was bracing myself for the worst with this week’s show. Surprisingly, the WWE decided to put on a straight wrestling match rather than mold the Divas action to guest GM Criss Angel’s gimmick, and for that I’m grateful. But was the match anything to write home about? Let’s see:
Eve Torres, Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly make their way to the ring for a 6-Diva Tag Team match. I guess it’s been a while since we’ve seen one of those, though I haven’t really missed them.. Already in the ring are Maryse, Alicia Fox, and Katie Lea. Scrimping for time, I guess, but that’s nothing new..
Alicia and Gail start things off, Alicia latching Gail into a belly-to-back hold. Gail gets free and locks Alicia into a side headlock. Alicia tries to lift Gail up and gain the advantage, but Gail whips her to the mat, still holding onto the headlock. Alicia frees herself with a few jabs and whips Gail into the corner, charging. Gail slips through the ropes and the two trade blows before Gail leaps out of the way of a shoulder attack, landing in a straddling position on the back on Alicia’s neck. She tosses Alicia back into the ring, but Alicia regains control and whips again her into the same corner. Again, Gail blocks an attack and climbs the turnbuckle. However, instead of attacking Alicia she hits a charging Katie Lea with a flying clothesline, knocking her off the ring apron.
Gail turns her attention back to Alicia and gets a face full of boot. Alicia goes for the pin, getting a 2-count. She takes Gail to her corner and Maryse, for a moment, motions for Alicia to pound Gail’s head into her boot, but she decides against it, for whatever reason, opting instead to be tagged in. Maryse his a back breaker on Gail and goes for a pin, but Gail kicks out. She slaps Gail on the head, looking more like she’s messing up her hair rather than actually striking her. She then knocks Kelly off of the apron. Maryse gets in Gail’s face and gets slapped, getting a taste of her own medicine. Gail springs to life and tags in Eve.
Eve goes on a string of offense, getting a 2-count on Maryse. A poke in the eyes gives Maryse temporary control, until Eve nails Maryse with a kick off the ropes. She hits her somersault splash and goes for the pin, but Alicia and Katie Lea break it up. Actually, they were slowpokes and Maryse had to kick out before the referee counted 3. Get the lead out, ladies! The two of them grab Eve and slam her onto the turnbuckle. The referee, meanwhile, does nothing to stop this. A blatant 3-on-1 and all you’re gonna do is act surprised? Okay..
This prompts Gail and Kelly to enter the ring, and the match unravels. They hit tandem dropkicks on the heels and leave Eve and Maryse in the ring. Eve climbs the turnbuckle, but Maryse stops her with a slap. Maryse tries to toss Eve off the turnbuckle but Eve latches onto her arm, flipping forward and landing on the mat in an armbar. Maryse immediately taps out, and Eve wins the match for her team.
The announcers made a point to emphasize that Eve has been on a roll as of late. I guess a pillow fight victory and a pin in a 6-Diva Tag Team match constitutes an “incredible roll” in their book, but I’m not getting behind Eve just yet. Though, it is a big deal for someone to best Maryse. After all, she was virtually untouchable during the course of that never-ending Divas Championship tournament. Still, the fans didn’t seem to give a crap about Eve nor the action, based on their lack of reaction during the course of the match. The crowd seemed more dead tonight than any has in a while, but I could be wrong. I can’t say I felt much excitement either, other than the fun exchanges between Gail and Alicia at the beginning of the match. Alicia seems a bit jerky in the ring, but she still did well combating Gail’s high-flying moves.
I wonder why they even made it a 6-Diva match, since Kelly and Katie Lea barely even saw any action aside from getting pummeled by one of their opponents while on the ring apron. A regular tag team match would have sufficed, and it would have given Eve even more spotlight, which was obviously the goal of this match. Gail, despite having been a victory away from the Divas Championship, wasn’t relevant enough to lead the younger Divas to the ring. Obviously the entrance guys base the team’s music on who had the most momentum going into the match.
But seriously, I’m all for Eve getting a push. I just hope she and Maryse can put on a decent match. Between her repetitive move-set (Yeah, I said it. Shoot me.) and Maryse’s non-existent move-set, it almost seems like a recipe for disaster. Gail, with all her excitement and unpredictability, still couldn’t get an exciting match out of Maryse, so I fear what that could mean for Eve. Maryse and Eve didn’t do badly against one another in this match, but their exchange was extremely short and didn’t really give us a taste for what a real one-on-one match would be like. It was just Eve hitting her signature moves and that submission she had only broken out once before. Speaking of that move, it was a lot more fluid than the last time. I’ll give her kudos for that.
Let’s just hope this feud doesn’t get dragged out to the point where all momentum is sucked out. Gail and Maryse’s feud noticeably suffered from that, but I have a feeling the Eve is probably the Raw writers’ golden girl. She’s the hot new thing and they probably have more interest in making her look good than they did for Gail. At least that’s one thing this budding feud has going for it. Maybe, with that, the writers can keep their motivation going long enough to hold together a coherent (Dare I say suspenseful?) feud. I’m willing to hope for that, at least.
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34 Comments
The match was passable imo, it was alright but the only note worthy thing from it for me was that Eve got a new outfit lol. She looks good in green and it made her look like a star
Gail deserves that divas title but it’s obvious maryse won’t lose the title this early in her reign, the best thing to do right now is have the other girls like Eve and kelly get a shot and then have Gail re-challenge Maryse later on.
I Just Hope That Eve Be A Starter For The Feud Kelly Vs Maryse For The Divas Championship And I Wait So Long For Another Opportunity For Kelly, But One That She Win At Last Because She Is The Top Face On The Diva Roster, The Top Face On The Raw Divas And She Have A Lot Of Crowd Reacttion She Is the Best For The Divas Championship Belt.
I’m probably stating the obvious, but Eve’s push confuses me. You’ve got a good wrestler in Gail Kim and a popular one in Kelly Kelly, yet the one who gets the push is…Eve? Y’know, the one who has neither of these qualities?
Seriously though, I can accept the fact that they don’t want to push Gail on account of audience apathy, but look who the champion is. At least Gail can get a reaction when she does cool spots in the ring. And if not Gail, then why not pull the trigger on Kelly? She’s far from perfect, but she’s considerably more comfortable and able in the ring than Eve, and better yet, the fans actually care about her. Perhaps they don’t want to overpush her too early into her career, but it’s been what, three years now? It’s not like they have a lot of options…
Oh, Melina. :(
Im lovin the chemistry that GAIL and AILCIA has in the ring. to me this was the first time in a while that i felt like the DIVAS match wasnt rushed.
…um…. since it seems like the whole GAIL as DIVAS champ thing is out the window for now is anyone else looking foward to seeing EVE as champ or is it just me??
Like I said in the post-show I’m against a Eve Push…for now. Both her and Maryse need a good competitor that makes them look good. The only ones who enter that status are Gail Kim, Katie Lea and maybe Jillian.
For me, they should continue the Gail/Maryse angle and do a minor KatieLea/Eve angle until Melina comes back or better SD! girls are traded to RAW.
The other option would be turning Katie Lea a face, since her gimmick barely makes sense now with Paul gone. This would be easy: Maryse making fun of Lea for being all goth or whatever and Lea becoming rivals with her. It would be a refreshing feud, since we barely see nothing of Katie who is, in my opinion, the second best wrestler on Raw, after Kim.
Eve would get her shot when they we’re more qualifyed competitor. Maryse/Eve is probably going to suck and the crowd will not care. Botchfest might be all we will see for this feud.
oh yea i almost 4got.. :)***HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELINA****:)
it was an okay match. they really need to make a new formula or something though. gail starts out, gets her ass kicked, tags out to somebody, clothesline, clothesline, dropkick, finisher, crazy brawl, pinfall (or in this case, a submission). it’s always the same :(
one place where tna does better than wwe, is when they use all the knockouts in one show, it doesn’t come across as though they’re on tv just to get paid. i’d rather not see katie lea for a week or two than see her do nothing.
I enjoyed the match this week surprisingly. Raw is usually a big miss for me but I was pleasantly surprised. Gail and Alicia work great together so was happy to see that.
As for Eve, WWE is so high on this girl and have been wanting to push her for a long time so it seems like they’re finally going to. It sucks for Gail because everyone seemed to think she had the top babyface spot locked down when Melina got hurt but they just didn’t give her a fighting chance in the tournament. Already in two weeks, Eve has received more of a push than Gail. I’m excited to see some new blood in the title picture because it’s usually a Mickie/Melina/Beth/McCool/Maryse affair so it’s nice to see them give one of the younger/lesser pushed girls a shot. With Gail and Alicia, they’ve been pushed briefly but never sustained that push and had confidence in them beyond 2-3 weeks. Given how much they love Eve, I think they may actually be serious in making her a legit contender and give her that Candice-like push against Maryse. I think she may just win the title in the next few moths.
my only problem is Micheal Cole can never get his facts straight! urg! Gail is a one time women’s champion he’s keeps on saying two that for some reason lol
First day on the site, love your writing style Erin.
Gail Kim- She’s a Knock Out not a Diva and has all but said she’ll finish her career in TNA. I don’t blame her taking the money one bit, but I don’t expect her to be pushed too much- which sucks. In 2 or 3 years she’ll get the “best of luck with your future endeavors” and head back to Orlando. I truly believe that’s why Vince won’t put the Diva’s title on her. She would be the only women’s wrestler to win all 3 major singles titles and Vince can’t have that for a TNA girl. People say Velvet & Madison can’t wrestle, please, I’d put Eve & Kelly at Lacey’s level or worse. I hope the WWE pushes Katie Lea, her ladder match vs Beth is amazing if you haven’t seen it.
ok eve really so many other divas could be better for champ kelly,Alicia,gail,katie. At least kelly is more popular so the crowd would care.dnt get me wrong i like eve bt WE DNT NEED THE BOTCHFEST QUEEN AS DIVAS CHAMPION. come kelly its take for you to take your divas title cuz we kno that gail not getting it anytime soon
Cyndi could Micheal Cole be recognizing her TNA title? no that’s crazy talk- there’s no TNA in the WWE universe…
lol funny thing is that WWE doesn’t even diss them like TNA does them.
Watching Eve in the ring gives me secondhand embarrassment. That’s all I really have to say about RAW this week.
Some diva fans are so closed-minded when it comes to wwe pushing a new diva into the spotlight, it’s really sad. Eve is not as bad as people are trying to make her out to be. Yes, shes still a little ‘green’ but so is Maryse. I willing to give both a chance though they both have a lot of potential. I was there when they had their summerfest a few years ago ,and giving enough time they can work very well together in a match. I think their feud will be interesting to see. Its something new at least.
Melanie Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Mel — I think anywhere you go though, there are fans who are close-minded, it’s not just wrestling. That said, I’m right there with you — I’m willing to see where Eve vs Maryse goes and give them a chance rather than make up my mind just yet.
Oh, but I think Maryse is terrible too, to be fair. I’m all for giving new divas the spotlight…I just wish they’d choose divas who aren’t totally awkward and out-of-place in the ring. Alicia Fox was bad enough, but Eve makes her look confident.
I firmly believe that WWE should push Kelly Kelly. She’s infinitely better in the ring than Eve (I’m not saying she’s perfect, I’m just saying that Eve is terrible), she’s over, she has natural charisma in the ring, she’s confident and she has underdog appeal. I really don’t get why WWE won’t pull the trigger when it comes to her, at least during Melina’s absence. They need someone who can actually get the crowd interested, and she’s the girl for the job.
Then Melina can come back, become a bitch again, kick Kelly’s ass and reign surpreme as champion for ever and ever. <3
I really hope Eve isn’t the one who will get pushed as the new Divas Champion, did anyone else notice that when Gail was in the Match and going up against Alicia all you heard was Gail Chants from the front row, come on push her or even Kelly Kelly she didn’t even get tagged in. I know that Eve has worked hard and looks better and better as weeks pass in the wwe, but you already have a popuar and talented veteran in Gail Kim and a very beautiful and popular diva in Kelly Kelly, so why not push them first and then let Eve get to that level of Champion caliber. Honestly i would rather see Kelly Kelly win the title before Eve does, because in my opionion she is more deserving well right behind Gail Kim of course…lol…
although i would have preferred it to continue with maryse vs Gail i think EVE can handle herself in the ring, i wont get my hopes up for her tho, WWE have stopped so many Diva pushes, also this could just be a distraction before the rivalry where maryse actually loses the title
Yeah I know. But In wrestling it’s probably the worst IMO especially with the diva fans.
Eve needs to work the arm more, its unbelievable for people to tap out right away when the arm hasn’t even factored in on the match as a whole lol.
I though the match was ok considering the amount of time they gave them.
I think Eve being is not the best thing to do right now for the Raw divas division but its something fresh & new so hopefully Eve & Maryse can have a good match together.
Also did anyone else notice that Gail and Alicia were both moving so fast i thought it was just me but they were doing there move sets hecka fast, I really do hate how they get such a minimal amount of time to do there move sets. Sucks so bad.
Maryse has the ability to put on a good show, but she can’t seem to do it with the time/plot-line constraints that Raw keeps putting on her. She can wrestle, she just…doesn’t. SEND MARYSE BACK TO SMACKDOWN!!
I like Eve, but she seems to go for all flash nowadays and doesn’t spend time practicing the simple moves. I don’t think she’s ready for a title, but I like seeing get time in the ring.
Now, ALICIA, she’s ready for a title. She’s great, in every way that a diva needs to be. All those years she spent practicing, while Kelly Kelly was off traveling with WWE doing dirty dances, it’s payed off big time.
Why do people keep saying that the arm bar is an unrealisitic finisher?if you have been put in an arm lock you would know how much it hurts.
I liked the match, Eve is trying and she isnt as awful as some people would make out. They just need more time.
Eve knows how to make arm lock look realisitic she is dating Rener Gracie after all (the guy who is teaching her these moves)
EVE really? really? im not sayin she sucks but shes not good at all she cant do a dropkick for goodness sakes they need to give the push to THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN EVER KELLY KELLY im not sayin kelly’s perfect in the ring but shes better than EVE and shes got alot better than she used to be least she can excute a dropkick and the crowd is WAY behind.
LOVE YOU KELLY KELLY UR THE BEST
ok so i didnt see it the way everyone else does till last night.. i love eve dont get me wrong but she cant wrestle in my opinion.. i say a diva draft needs to come real soon, smackdown is in deff need of face girls and raw just needs alot of help. they need to put Kelly Kelly vs Maryse i know that the fans will be more behind that match then any other.. Gail and Alicia do have a chemistry in the ring just like Michelle and Maryse do. is safe to say tho that divas title is not happenin at Mania.
Gail already got her push, its some one elses turn. I would perfer kelly/maryse tho. A beauty contest type fued lol I think it would be entertaining
Wow, this just solidifies my opinion in regards to the RAW Divas.
Eve: debut – late 2007, Maryse: debut – mid 2006 The former has shown POTENTIAL to me; the latter doesn’t seem to care (though I could be wrong and MAY BE WRONG) and hardly does anything. People aren’t even giving Eve a chance when she’s actually TRYING. She makes me think of some other now-”esteemed” wrestlers who weren’t great when they started out but as time went on they tried very hard and started to improve. To me, some people’s reactions is indicative of how people’s regard for WWE women’s wrestling has changed. But to each his/her own. : / This supposed push for Eve is laughable in that I think of all the past “pushes” that went nowhere. Alicia Fox, anyone? I couldn’t care less who got a “push” because WWE has made it quite clear to us that they will put the belt on whoever THEY think will be the best champion and not who WE think would be. We are, each of us, welcome to our opinions, but the reason Maryse is champion right now is because of a similar way of thinking. In MY opinion.
Aside from that, it was a “good” Diva-quality match.
Yeah everytime Michael Cole says Gail is a former 2 times womens champ I get so confused, like did I miss something?? I don’t really understand how he keeps messing that up…
Anyways I think people should chill on the whole idea of Eve being the #1 contender, and Maryse being the current champ. It’s the DIVAS title, not Women’s, and I think its cool this belt seems to be about the newer girls..
Gail should really be on Smackdown! as a contender for the Women’s title, and I hope Melina returns there also.
I am really happy for Eve and this push. I’ve been a fan of her for a long time now (in terms of her short WWE career) and she has shown that she belongs in that ring. She has the passion and the drive. Many of us here at DD (including our mods) have repeatedly pointed out her sloppiness in the ring. Heck, some of us wanted to throw her under the bus for “that” dropkick. But really, a title push will really show us what she’s got. Lady Sheamus mentioned that these pushes don’t matter because we like to think we know the outcome of them. I disagree. To me the question isn’t “will Eve be women’s champion?” It’s “How will she perform in all this?” This is going to be her biggest weeks in the WWE in terms of booking. She’s probably on top of the world that she’s getting this opportunity, let’s just hope she can use that fire to prove all the naysayers wrong.
“Lady Sheamus mentioned that these pushes don’t matter because we like to think we know the outcome of them.”
I have to say that this is not what I implied/meant at all. What I meant was our favorites and WWE management favorites are different and therefore those who we may think deserve to be champion could different from who WWE WANTS to be champion. This was what I meant. :)
I have to agree with ChrissyL on Maryse. Maryse has really shown us what she can do on Smackdown. Unfortunately, they’re not letting her really shine on RAW. I think they’re trying to keep her as the heel who gets beat up and then at the end pulls out a win, just so people can get angry with it. Just like how it was when Stephanie McMahon was the Women’s Champ. So hopefully sometime soon, they will let Maryse do what she was doing on smackdown!