Post-WWE Draft Raw shaped up nicely last night as for the first time in several years, we actually got some storyline for the Divas! Following the recent SmackDown route of a backstage promo followed by a match, last night’s edition of Raw managed to pack every single Raw Diva onto the show — hopefully a sign of what is to come. Did last night’s Raw start as it means to go on? Only time will tell but from last night’s episode alone, it looks like SmackDown — and TNA for that matter — could have some competition on its hands.
The night started off with Divas Champion, Eve Torres backstage doing a photoshoot with her belt, with her entrance music playing in the background. You know… as you do. I’m sure Lady Gaga has her songs playing when she does her photoshoots too, Eve! Watch below:
In comes tonight’s Raw Guest Host, Wayne Brady of err… some sort of fame unbeknownst to this Brit writer. Anyway, he is paid to tell tells Eve that she’s his favourite Diva. Just as they begin conversing, they are interrupted by Jillian who gives us another fabulous cover of ‘Fame’ from the movie of the same name… hey, it can’t be any worse than that awful remake last year! I think I’ll take Jillian over that movie, two hours wasted. Brady gets rid of Jillian in a rather funny moment ["Go, go go go... gone!"] before saying his goodbyes to Eve. And for a second there, it seems like the segment is just going to end there — another silly Jillian singing skit. But wait! As Eve returns to her photoshoot, she sees that her title is not where she left it. All of a sudden, in comes Maryse and clocks Eve with the belt before putting it over her own shoulder and posing with it.
As everyone has been mentioning, this really was an epic little segment with the belt shot being executed perfectly by both Eve and Maryse. Eve really sold it well. These days, it’s becoming rare to see physicality like that among the Divas — especially on Raw so this was a great spot that totally caught me off guard. What a creative and fun spot!
Next up is the match between Maryse and Nikki Bella:
We knew Maryse would be in a match tonight due to the fact that she was in her ring gear earlier but I don’t know about you, but I was hoping for a match with Raw newcomer Natalya. Boo! I thought it was interesting that Nikki got the match over Brie, which in my opinion is a good thing. As mentioned by Maria Kanellis in our interview and even by Kristin Astara in the Live Chat on Sunday, Nikki is definitely the more athletic Bella and she loves to wrestle moreso than Brie. Why not give her the opportunity? Being in the Bella Twins limits what she can do singles-wise because she’s always gotta do the twin thing but I like that they gave Nikki an opportunity tonight because by all accounts, she is the Bella that really wants it. It’s great that they gave her this chance to do her own thing for once.
The match starts with a tie-up as Maryse backs Nikki into the ropes and slaps her. However, Nikki gives as good as she gets — hitting the former Divas Champ with some forearms followed by a snapmare. Nikki now takes Maryse into the corner, hitting her head off the turnbuckle several times before Maryse rolls to the outside to catch a break.
However on the outside, she’s met by Nikki’s sister, Brie and as she turns around, she’s kicked in the gut by Nikki. Nikki rolls Maryse back into the ring, gets up the apron and as Maryse takes a shot at her, she ducks and shoulder blocks Maryse. She then goes up to the top turnbuckle but is thrown off by the hair by Maryse. Really nice spot and great selling by Nikki.
Maryse then picks up Nikki for a sick French Kiss DDT to take the victory. Ouch, that really looks like it fried some brain cells!
And just when you think it’s over… nope, we get even more! Maryse takes the microphone and presents her brand new photoshoot. On the titantron we see some hilarious shots of Maryse posing with the Divas Title over an unconscious Eve. Just as she hits another hair flip, out runs Eve — having trouble getting into the ring — and tries to go after her attacker however, she’s stopped by the referee allowing Maryse to make her getaway.
Let’s start with the match: For all intents and purposes, it did what it was supposed to do. It was a 2-3 minute short match that we usually see but I thought it was a nice platform to showcase new talent. It really feels fresh post-Draft to see girls like Nikki get a shot at wrestling, maybe see some more Alicia Fox soon etc. Raw has been about the same girls for the past several years so it’s exciting to see some new blood get that stage. Nikki was good in the ring and hit her moves well, as did Maryse.
The post-match segment was extremely creative and again, I never saw that coming. Maryse’s ‘photoshoot’ was hilarious and it just goes to show what an outlandish character that Maryse is — she doesn’t take things too seriously. It was really funny and really creative. It baffles me that in one night, the Raw writers managed to come up with all of this for the Divas yet they couldn’t do anything like this for the past few years?
What they pulled off tonight was fun, it was imaginative and it felt fresh and new. I really hope this is the beginning of a new era for Raw that seems that actually put time and effort into the Divas storylines. Hopefully with the right time and attention, WWE can put Eve over with the audience. This was a great night for the Divas!
RSS
Email
Twitter
Tumblr
Facebook
YouTube
47 Comments
Erm…the two videos are about the backstage moment…no match.
Oh…okay, you guys already fix it. Well I liked the segment, however if amuses me how a heel gets way more reaction than a face. Btw, Jillian is only used on RAW in this singing gimmick, yet she always has the more reaction because of this.
Maybe they should notice that and give the girl a decent push. Put Jillian attacking faces and winning some matches and then celebrate it with a victory song. The crowd would definitly react to that and it would be simple.
It kinda annoyed me to see Gail has a “candidate” for Ryder’s affection. I mean, she deserves way more than that. She’s a bloody veteran. Sometimes I wonder if they do that just because she was on TNA.
About the match…it was blah and like I said before, Maryse would benefit way more if she faced a stronger competitor. Natalya, Gail, Jillian…they were all better choices. Its hard to take Maryse serious if they only put her in short matches against not so strong competitors and doing just two or three moves. Maryse, like Kelly Kelly, desperately needs some more moves in their moveset, or else their matches are kinda boring. But hey, at least Maryse showed good skills in the backstage segment. It wasn’t just saying that she was sexy…she actually walk the walk instead of talking the talk.
The segment at the start was different, first of all, sicne when do we get photoshoots from the divas these days? And then there was the Belt clonk… wowza! Both women did what they did great and I loved that.
The actual match was dull for me, except with how Nikki sold that DDT… ouch! Its good to see someone different like Nikki to get some TV time and she deserved it after how she sold that DDT thats for sure. =-P
The photoshoot at the end was also very creative and funny, even though I’m a fan of Eve. And the only fails of the night honestly were Eve (trying) to get into the ring, plus the ref holding her back … why didn’t she just go the other side and sprint towards Maryse, common sense mun! xP
Either way it was a VERY VERY good week for Raw, especially with what has happened for the past year. Also nice to see (literally) ALL the Raw divas used tonight! (Minus an injured Melina) Hopefully this isn’t just a one night thing and this happens more often in the future, especially the promos and that. Maybe get Eve on the mic next, have her show some personality, as she truly needs to show it, even fans of her like me can admit that much. =-P
Did I hear Wayne Brady swear when he was dancing with Jillian? I’m sure he said ‘fucking hot’ or something…”NAWWTY, NAWWTY” haha
I have to say seeing the Bellas doing anything other than being escorts was actually a breath of fresh air. It was something different than usual for the RAW divas IMO. And I totally luvd their guidette outfit, def. something one of the girls from Jersey shore would wear if they got into wrestling. They both looked gorgeous and exotic! Again, something different, and a nice contrast to Maryse’s super bleach blonde and hair. The match was a bunch of nothing. They could’ve done more with Nikki getting in a little bit more offense and maybe Brie getting involved, but it put over the point which was to develop the feud between Eve and Maryse. That DDT was sick though, Idk if it was intentionally meant to be sold that way, but it looked like instead of dropping and flipping over as usual, she got cut off midway and landed flat on her head. Ouch girl, you better ice that shiit! Dang.
Is it me or Maryse with the long blonde hair kinda reminds me of Sable? Just a lot less curvy and sultry..
RAW was considerably good this week, I must say. The backstage segment was surprising, taking into consideration that RAW doesn’t really care for the Divas. The match was also a decent squash match to be absolutely honest. Nikki showed athelticism, and really showed me in particular that she is somewhat the better of the 2 Twins. In actual fact, I saw a slight Heel glimmer in Nikki (with the “you like that, Maryse?” aggressive nature). If they were to pull of an evil twin storyline with the Bellas, Nikki would be sure to shine. Having Nikki lose to Maryse was a good idea, because would you really want to see Natalya or Gail lose to Maryse in that amount of time. What would’ve made the match better would be if Nikki would’ve hit a few moves on the outside on Maryse, and not just kick her and throw her back into the ring. Maybe a Facebuster on the arena floor, or being irish whipped into the barricade?
Maryse’s post-match segment was quite interesting to say the least, because first her English was good (even if it was limited) and second, the photo shoot angle seemed rather Diva-esque but came across very well. It reminded me of something that could’ve been done with say Torrie Wilson & Candice Michelle (after Candice/Victoria turned on Torrie back in March 2006).
Btw, I forgot my random comments:
- This is probably my favourite Maryse outfit. I love the color.
- Maryse’s Tan wasn’t at its best this week.
- Nikki’s outfit is hideous.
- I suppose Nikki is the best Bella, since she’s the only Bella who gets singles matches on RAW.
- Now its easy to see which Bella is wrestling, since Nikki is obviously the less skinny one. (Note: I’m not calling her fat, I’m just saying that Brie is the skinniest).
- Eve kinda screwed up her entrance in the ring, which was bad. The funny part is when Divas take their heels and run barefoot to the ring. Tiffany did that on ECW, but she was kinda faster and then did an epic spear. This Eve mistake kinda make the segment less brilliant and for whatever reason it reminded me when Maryse took an eternity to take off the turkey outfit.
Backstage Segment was very Different I liked it…but the match was bland…typical mayrse match i was hoping it was agianst Natalya…then Eve could have cost mayrse the win…but i guess it woudnt make sense for ayrse to show the photo shoot if she did loose
That was actually fun! For the first time in ages, we didnt cringe while watching the RAW Divas. The Maryse/Eve feud is coming along quite nicely. And that French Kiss DDT? Beautiful! Usually Maryse does it lazyily, leaving the other girl to do all the work, but this time it was done sharply. Great work by the RAW Divas, all around. I actually cant wait to see what happens next. When was the last time that happened?!
Awesome week for the Divas on RAW. The backstage segment was great and it’s good to see also that all the Divas were used in some capacity this week. Shame Gail Kim had to resort to being a prop on Mark Henry’s arm. Nevertheless, I’d rather see her do that than job to Maryse.
The photoshoot though is hilarious, what makes it brilliant is that Maryse looked gorgeous whilst it was funny. Great stuff, looks like that news article saying more focus was going to be put into the Divas was true. Let’s hope the creative team keep it up. :)
this was nikkis first loss?
This week’s Raw was full of win, W never usually get these type of segments with the Divas these days, & The match even though ti was shot, it served its purpose and its nice to see some story development on Raw. I hope this continues for Raw because this week was really unexpected. :)
When it comes to storyline advancement RAW really delivered this week, but the match itself was terrible. If only Maryse would add a few new moves, that could really help her matches, you can only go so far with showing the 1-move/match routine. And we know she has plenty of other moves, she just doesnt use them for whatever silly reason they gave her.
Great write up. Could’ve done without the mention of Eve’s ring mishap though. Already tired of that. But yeah, good week. I’m going to be cautious (and I think you should to Erin) about going into next week, because there is a tendency for Raw to follow a really good week with a really poor one. New era? One week doesn’t really determine that.
Random notes:
- When is Eve going to get her actual championship photoshoot?
- It’s her birthday tomorrow so everyone tweet her good wishes!
- Nikki was wearing the Italian colours, nice touch..
- There is still something about Maryse on the mic that makes me wanna punch her (to use Maria’s words on this week’s Apprentice)
- Finally, Eve was GORGEOUS!
Loved this, finally raws done the divas right :)
Loved how maryse was when eve came down…
I loved this weeks raw backstage segment. Eve was flawless, and maryse was good to. Loved hoe eve went drop dead when maryse hit her. The match was ok, but like juicycuicybox said im as well tired of hearing how eve didnt quit get in the ring right.
It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when this is what we consider a ‘good’ Raw; however, that is not the most pressing issue for me at the moment. My biggest concern is when someone is going to be honest with Maryse and tell her that her extensions always look atrocious.
I think that next week we will probably see eve vs jillian with a post match attack with maryse hitting her french kiss on eve, then the next week we will have eve and a partner gail or one of the bellas vs maryse and jillian which will lead to maryse vs eve at over the limit
maryse got a great pop from the crowd larger than the babyfaces
this week was good but (sadly there’s always a but when talking about Raw) the match was far to short, i loved the segment it was creative and fit in with Maryse and i love that the Divas have been using weapons more, the hit with the title, the extreme make over match.
your right Melanie Nikki is the better in the ring competitor of the Bellas, sadly Brie seems to get all the singles matches
I thought the match, for what it was, was pretty good. There was some intensity and Nikki was really laying the forearms to Maryse. I would like to see a decent length match between Maryse and Nikki. But the writing was on the wall when Brie didn’t show up in attire. haha
Eve just isn’t clicking I think. They always talk about how atheletic she is, but she botches often. They always talking about how likeable she is, but she doesn’t get a reaction. Someone brought up how Eve’s mishap shouldn’t be bothered, but it makes perfect sense to bring up. One botch is all it takes to kill a crowd.. But then again, it’s like the crowd cared for her. Just like with babies, force feeding won’t result in liking what they are giving you.
Maryse is giving every reason to cheer her. She’s funny, attractive, and knows her place. Or it could be Eve is so bland.
NGL, Maryse was cracking me up last night. The only downside is the fact that she seems so much more interesting than Eve. I agree with ebmich, Maryse is one of the few heels that you want to cheer, if only because she is so often more entertaining that the face divas.
The minute Jillian walked in the room, I actually thought the bookers would really push her to become the contender for Eve’s title. Pretty disappointing that it didn’t happen, but I’m fine with Maryse aswell, although the whole Eve-Maryse-feud is getting boring. The match was alright, but Maryse really isn’t delivering in the ring since she returned from her injury. Eve botching the slide-in into the ring was hilarious though.
I loved this week’s raw. And I never thought that I would say that, lol. From Eve’s photoshoot to Maryse hitting her in the head with her own title belt. It was amazing. When was the last time we had a backstage segment like this with the raw diva’s. It has been awhile.
The match between Nikki and Maryse was okay I guess. It was nothing to get excited about. But I think if the match had more time, it could have been better then what we saw. But that is just my opinion.
After the match was my favorite part, lol. I thought the photoshoot was hillarious. I love Maryse as a heel. She is not the best wrestler. But she has personality. Which is more then I can say for the diva champion. Don’t get me wrong, I like Eve. But she gets zero to no reaction. And I really am rooting for her. But when you botch getting into the ring. There is something wrong with that.
I am torn about next week’s raw. I am excited but dredding it. With Flavor Flav hosting, I shudder to think what will happen with the divas. But I am being hopeful (:
Can someone tell me why maryse doesnt use here french tko move that she used to win the divas champ from michelle, she has done the move 3 times….
againste michelle to win title
to beth pheonix at surviro series
to michelle when gail kim made her debut
i love that move…. ill be in shock if she uses it in the coming weeks
Oh Maryse Maryse Maryse…You bore me! same thing all the time!!
@Desecrator: Who’s that in your profile pic?
Well I’m pleased with tonights raw divas action. The segment was hilarious and I never saw that coming. Match was short but Nikki selled that bump from the top rope really good as well as the French Kiss. Photoshooting was awesome, I really enjoyed. Maybe this is the beginning of something we haven’t seen for a long time: Divas feud on raw.
My favorite raw for the divas in years honestly, probably since Mickie beat Beth in the UK in 2008 to win the title. It was so creative and good and you never saw it coming in either of the segments. Each diva got screen time, and overall saying I loved it would be an understatement.
A fan on the message board of the WrestleCrap.com site went to Raw last night and had a couple notes about the divas:
Apparently, Eve had more of a bad night than thought. Not only did she have the mishap getting into the ring, but she came out for the run-in wearing shoes and had trouble getting them off while coming to the ring. Luckily for her, Maryse was being shown at the time, so the TV audience didn’t see it. On top of it, she left the shoes on the ramp when she left after the segment, so someone had to get them and take them to the back.
Also, Maryse apparently got one of the biggest babyface reactions of the night live at the arena as the fan said the biggest pops of the night were for John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, and Maryse.
Being a guy and exepting terrible matches, I want the divas to at least where something sexy. But Nikki’s outfit was kicking my ass
Last night on RAW with
the divas was great. Maryse
is funny when shown her photoshop
had me ROTFLMAO thats how funny
it was.
Torres….no comment…..
Lmfao, clearly a rough night for Eve. I don’t think the WWE is shallow enough to punish, or de-push her for her botches. Sense apparently management is high on her, they’ll probably just let it go. But, Eve does botch a lot. Her moves, getting in the ring. Good gracious girl.
And, so not surprise Maryse got a pop. I noted that they cheered for her during her entrance, after she won and during her speech..
They wouldn’t stop Eve push, but if it was another diva botch the way she does they would have been stop that diva push. I just hope that Gail and Alicia is not watching someone wrestle at ring side everyweek.
Maxine: You’re so right. Those extensions are really crappy. Thats not Indian hair for sure. I also believe she should change her hair color to a darker shade of blonde, however I can’t imagine her with another hair color.
RAW was fabulous this week! The backstage segment was…well; EPIC! Maryse knocking Eve out was amazing. Eve sold it beautifully as well. Onto the match it was short but entertaining. The Bellas are quite underrated in my honest opinion. Sure they aren’t great but they are pretty solid in the ring compared to some of the other girls. Nikki is my favorite of the Bellas; Brie just isn’t as good in the ring compared to Nikki. Didn’t expect a long match so I wasn’t shocked at the length. Nikki sold Maryse’s moves to perfection. That French Kiss; WOW! Next was the worst part of the night when Eve got owned by the ring ropes haha. Love you Eve but for god sakes girl you really need to step up your A game. When Eve finally got in the ring the ref pissed me off when he held Eve back because I wanted to see Eve rip out Maryse’s horrible extensions.
I was so worried when I heard that Zack Ryder was looking to make Gail Kim or Alicia Fox his new arm candy girl. I don’t need to see Gail or Alicia as a managing role. Overall useless segment to get those two on the show. I hope neither one of them become Zack’s “girl.”
Natalya looked so beautiful tonight. Something about her just sparked for me; I don’t know what it was though. I was really hoping she’d get a welcoming match to RAW like Kelly but I should have known better. Hopefully she takes a serious role in the womens division in the upcoming months.
Overall a great night for the RAW divas! Did I just say that? Never thought I’d say that.
For me, this segment made me get more behind Maryse then Eve. I don’t care that she’s bullying Eve, shes funny! :D That match was actually pretty alright and that French Kiss was phenomenal. I think the Bella Twins never fail to deliver in matches.
Haha. In the 3rd picture, Maryse had the title upside down. The photoshoot made me laugh.
The segment was actually pretty good and I was surprised. Just give Jillian her damn push.
Match was okay, but the end was also refreshing, except Eve struggling a bit to get in the ring =P.
And im glad she didnt face Natayla because, let’s face it, we all would have been mad if Natalya lost to Maryse, because we’re mad when Gail loses to Maryse.
Oh yeah, btw.. Maryse please get rid of that weave. It looks disgusting
I swear every Raw Diva was featured on Monday; I really liked it, it did what it needed to do, sure the match could’ve been longer but it was finally focusing on a feud, a storyline! With purpose and meaning! Also I never really noticed before but as much as Jillian needs a total repackage, though she is the jobberette, she does get screen-time, she’s not underdeveloped in character which is why she does get heat, but she’s underdeveloped in terms of being booked etc. or using that character outside of segments.
The segment was a bit of a shock and as for the music, I think it was used to introduce Eve into the scene as a ‘mini entrance’ rather than have an awkward silence, course they could’ve just used the Raw theme, but who knows what they think backstage? I’m glad we’re seeing more of Eve, the champion – and not Eve the breakout Diva Search winner – as long as they build her character up I think she’d make a reaosnable champion. Its like they did with Maryse, they gave her such an empowering gimmick, no one cares that she has an artillery of five moves because she can rely on character. Also, I’m really turning on the Bellas here, I really enjoy them, I sympathise because you feel that they’re at a natural disadvantage but want more, I think they looked stunning tonight and so glad that they didn’t do a switcheroo and dressed different. I still think they should be tweeners though, they work so well as mischevious than the faces BFFLs and arm candy to the hosts.
I agree also, it was so weird when Maryse just lifted that weave up like it was a piece of scrag. Finally glad the Divas are benefitting.
Plus using Natalya so soon would just be weird, I’m glad they’re saving Natalya for now, though I want her to turn heel, it just seems to Trish like for her to be pushed as a face – Blonde, Canadian, Valet to a tag team, pink and black, just seems too reminiscent and Natalya works so much better as a heel.
This RAW reminded me why I liked Maryse so much. Lol, woman’s hilarious and Eve…well Eve really isn’t that interesting. She got pwned by the ring which made me lol and feel bad for her at the same time. The Bellas thankfully arean’t that annoying when they arean’t switching but someone needs to destroy Nikki’s outfit. Immediately.
Plus: PUSH JILLIAN AGAIN!!!!!!!! Lol, they really need to take a hint when a singing gimmick she’s had for years now gets more heat than their current Diva champion.
Good storyline progression for the RAW Divas, for once.
Hahahaha! Omg…Maryse is hilarious! That was the best thing ever.
I REALLY hope Raw keeps this up.
Those extensions need to shoo away like flies, but the backstage segment was good. Then again, most backstage segments done are creative, especially involving Maryse. Though I go back and forth on her wrestling skills, she’s a good actress, and her good acting skills are apparent everytime she’s in a segment.
This was definitely one of my favorite segments and one of the best in a long time! My older sister, who doesn’t watch wrestling but happened to be there while i watched Raw, pointed out a few things:
(Bella Twins entrance) “They’re twins?” “That other one is a little bit skinnier.” “She needs to work on her abs”
(Maryse’s 2nd hair-flip) “That hair is so fake!”
(Eve’s Entrance) “Haha!”
Hmm, how insightful. Well I guess she was right in what she said. She also laughed at Maryse’s segments. I did too. I really liked Raw last night. Maryse and Nikki aren’t the best of the best though, but they got storyline progression between Maryse and Eve so thats good. Also I think that what Maryse lacks in the ring, she makes up for in personality and charisma. Which I don’t really see in Eve…
Eve was a really good actress in this. I was surprised. Her and Maryse were both great! I loved it!
The Bella twins did a great job too. Nikki is the better wrestler & I think that Brie does a great job on the sidelines. She doesn’t just stand their like some managers do. I loved the little moment when Maryse was turned to Brie & Nikki came up behind her.
Did anyone feel really giddy inside when Maryse clocked Eve? I could not stop smiling, I was ecstatic. Amazing RAW all around.
Lol!! Omg!! DId anyone else notice that when Maryse flipped Nikki off the top rope the announcer said, “Nice takedown by the Divas Champ.”
Somebody plz get back to me on this i want to know if I am hearing things or what!?!
:)
@ReyStyle… I had some tingling too. But I like crazy Frenchie more than cowardly sexpot.
I think Maryse’s extensions were actually starting to come out or something. During her victory hair flip her extensions didn’t even match the motion of her real hair. And her hair is too long. She really just needs to keep it right past her shoulders.
Meh on the match (it served a point but aside from that), kudos on the backstage stuff. And yes, Maryse is actually interesting. Eve bores me as of now. I think she has in-ring potential but she is like Michelle as a face… dull as dishwater.