You probably saw the commercials for Over the Limit, featuring fast-moving race cars juxtaposed with various wrestling footage. Of course, this was meant to send the message that this event will be chock-a-block with intense, non-stop action. But as we’ve learned many, many times before, commercials lie (What, you mean there isn’t a giant white rabbit looking to steal my Trix cereal?), and this Pay-Per-View as a whole proved that, and the Divas Championship match between Eve Torres and Maryse, as it turns out, wasn’t much different. Watch the match below and see if you agree:
The Divas start the match face-to-face, talking a little trash. Maryse tosses up her hand and Eve slaps it away. Maryse kicks her in the knee, and the action begins. Maryse tosses Eve into the corner, her shoulder hitting the exposed ringpost. She lays a few boots into Eve before going for an early pin, getting only a 1-count. She slams Eve face-first into the mat and continues to horse around with her, going for a Camel Clutch. Eve fights out at first, but Maryse eventually pummels her enough to lock it in.
Maryse gets into a standing position and Eve elbows her a bit before being let go, eating mat in the process. Maryse bends Eve’s back against the second rope, yanking her by the hair. The referee makes her let go, but Maryse then takes advantage of Eve’s prone position by knocking her through the ropes and out of the ring. Maryse stalks Eve to the corner and preps for a kick, but Eve moves at the last second, leaving Maryse’s foot to make contact with the steel pole. She screams and tries to get away, but Eve catches her and tosses her back into the ring. Maryse misses a clothesline and Eve goes on a tear of offense, stopped by a slap from Maryse.
Eve reverses and irish-whip and slams Maryse to the mat, setting her up for a well-executed standing moonsault. She goes for the pin, Maryse kicks out at 2. Eve goes for another pin following a sunset flip, but Maryse kicks out again, punctuating it with two boots directly to Eve’s face. Maryse goes for a pin of her own (And the crowd goes wild.. Gee, I wonder if it has to do with the position of it?) but Eve kicks out. This pisses Maryse off, and she yells at the referee to do his job (Meaning cheat at your job and count faster, I guess?). She becomes a bit unhinged and shows signs of a more interesting character than the “me sexy, you not” thing she’s been working with for so long. I’m not saying she needs to become a full-on basket case, but they could show her slowly losing a bit of her sanity in her desire to regain her title. Just a thought..
Eve battles back and Maryse holds onto the ropes to gain refuge. The referee makes Eve relent, and Maryse walks right into a reverse face plant. Eve goes for another pin, but only gets 2. Maryse tries to battle back but Eve kicks her in the face and positions her for a somersault splash. Eve pulls off the move, but Maryse pulls up her knees at just the right moment and nails Eve in the back. Both Divas try to regroup, and Maryse gets her bearings first, setting Eve up for the French Kiss. Eve blocks the move and sets her up for a new move, in which she stands over Maryse’s neck and slamming her face-first to the mat by dropping to her knees. It’s a silly looking move, and barely looks effective, but wouldn’t you know it? It’s enough for Eve to get the pin, the win, and retain her Divas Championship.
It wasn’t a bad match, but clearly didn’t reach its potential. It was like (if I may overuse the car metaphors) driving in neutral, so to speak–you’re moving, but you’re not making use of the engine. You’re basically coasting. This match, in the grand scheme of the feud, was coasting on the excitement of the past few weeks instead of utilizing it to put on a fiery, exciting match. The moves weren’t there to tell a story or build to an exciting climax–they (to me) merely brought them from point A to point B to point C and so on, and that makes for a match that’s more “going through the motions” than “showstopping”.
I mean, one of the loudest crowd reactions the match got was when Maryse went for the suggestive pin attempt. That says a lot about the match’s placement in the event. It’s not fair to put the Divas in the “death slot” between main events, because they get so little respect from the live crowd as it is, and putting them between two hotly anticipated matches will only make the crowd wish for it to be over ASAP. When a cheesy pin attempt is one of the few things that will get them to react, it proves that the WWE is making the Divas fight upstream when it comes to engaging the audience with this match. I’ll say it again–it’s not fair.
Still, this match wasn’t exactly the type of non-stop excitement that elicits really big crowd reactions, and it makes me wonder if they’ll be able to pick up the excitement as this feud moves on, because I’m beginning to doubt that Eve and Maryse have a show-stopping match in them. If that’s the case, the most compelling part of this feud will undoubtedly be taking place outside the ring, and it’s possible to make a satisfying feud out of that. You just have to do it carefully and utilize both girls to their potential. Eve can get the crowd behind her relatively easily using Maryse’s outlandish behavior. Maryse, as I suggested above, can become a bit unhinged in frustration at losing to Eve and pull some crazy stunts to get back to her. Of course, that could go over-the-top easily, but that’s what wrestling is a lot of the time–walking that fine line between quality and excess.
Despite my reservations, I really believe that these girls have a great match in them. This feud only seems to be getting started, and hopefully they can have much more fitting big-stage match at some point in the summer. This match only felt like a stepping stone, a forgettable step in their feud. I’m sure this match only took place because a PPV happened to come at this point, because it didn’t feel right that they were already at this stage within the pacing of this feud. They’ve been feuding for a while, yes, but it’s only just started to really get moving. Maybe later on in the summer they can pull off a match that actually reflects the intensity they’ve been showing outside the ring. But the question remains: can they keep the flame burning long enough for that to happen?
Rating: 2/5
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39 Comments
Maryse did actually a decent job, she did several movesets but eve’s new finisher is horrible she should stick with the moon-sault. im praying for maryse vs gail vs eve vs alicia at F4W PPV Next Month.
I actually really liked this match, I just hated the finish. After all the moves we saw, I was just kind of like “That’s what puts away Maryse?”
I thought it was weird that they gave a handful of digitals each to Maryse’s camel clutch and Eve’s backflip spots. They did more than that.. lol.
I know Eve is trying, but for some reason it just comes across as that she lacks intensity. I know she’s a face and faces are suppose to be nice to everyone, but its like she too nice to do anything impactful. Like when Maryse slaps someone, you feel she really wants to loosen some teeth.
And enough with the crappy (both in contrived-ness and stupid looking-ness) indy moves, please. If these women can’t strike good, why should we believe they can be all technical?
It was a better match than I expected. Not great, but still not terrible. The finish was weak and I hope Eve doesn’t keep that as her finisher. Maryse was more aggresive in this match than she has been in a very long time which is good, but Eve lacks any intensity and I find her to be a very stale champion. Still its better than most Raw divas matches we get.
The Finisher Eve did isn’t a bad move. Eve just did it bad. That finisher is the Hoe Down. That’s the finisher Courtney Taylor did in FCW. I like that move and if Eve hooked the arms and jumped up instead of dropping down, it would make the mat shake and it would look effective.
The match was pretty slow but if the forearms and the catfight was done better, it would of been alot better.
better than much of use thought it could be and i really loved everything about maryse…from her attire to her moves,character…everything was good about her
but eve…i belive in this girl and all but come on wht she actually did to become a champ??
a clothesline followed by one leg dropkick..even the bella twins do this..flashy moves,come on we all know its now exactly the signs of a good wrestler
i really cant accept her as a champ and cant belive she is a strong competitor
I Think It Was A Good Match I Mean What Kind Of Match Could People Expect A Mickie and Michelle Match????
Most People Were Worried That Maryse Want Do More Than One Move She Did Plenty Here….
The Match Makes Me Excited To See What Will Happen On RAW I Mean Will They Carry On The Fued Or Will They Add More People To It = Fatal Four Way
But I Believe At Fatal Four Way There Will Be Divas Champ and Number 1 Contender and Womens Champ and Number 1 Contender And Who Wins Gets Both Belts To Make History Of The First Diva To Hold Both Belts At The Same Time….
But We Have To See What Happens With Melina She Is The Next Thing She Can Either Become Heel And Fued With Eve So Eve Can Wrestle With Someone With Experience Or They Will Send Her To Smackdown To Help The Diva Division!!
I think the point Eve’s trying to make with these various finishers is that she’s versatile. She’s thus far deployed submission, high flying and technical moves as finishes to her matches. So I don’t think this move will become permanent. As for the match, it was alright. I’m starting to get behind Maryse again.
It was an ok match and the crowd couldn’t have cared less. Even Maryse, who some claim gets massive pops, was out to crickets. LOL! WWE is so behind on what gets fans behind women’s wrestling today. If they want to know what fans want, they should look at the early Knockouts stuff, compelling characters who could actually wrestle too. As it is, no one buys Alicia or Maryse as any sort of real threat.
“I think the point Eve’s trying to make with these various finishers is that she’s versatile.”
I think so too.. But I also think its because she hasn’t really found something that works for her. Kinda like how Michelle’s moveset for a while was pretty much anything she saw at an local Indy show or something.
Say what you want about Kelly’s limited moveset, but the fans know what to expect from her. Thus, it is easier to get into her matches because repetition is a part of wrestling or you won’t that feeling embarrassed for her because a spot in the match didn’t go the way she prolly would’ve wanted it to.
i dont see anything on eve other than her flashy moves. her face and reaction is so BLAH!.. theres no charisma at all.
the match was good though. i like how maryse is a bit of psycho looney, narcissist, aggressive, and humorous.. just wish she add more moves on her arsenal.
an okay match, compared to what i was expecting. as pretty much everybody else has said, weak finish, though. i still think eve needs to work on her pacing and perhaps calm down with the more flashy stuff, as it’s not too crisp yet.
I agree with both Litaker and ebmich on the intensity issues. Maryse comes off very “I’m going to rip her hair out! I’m going to kill her! I’m going to eat her children!” whereas Eve is very “oh, goodness! please get away from me.” Another issue I have with Eve is that while her spots were great, the set up for her spots is always wierd.
Now more fantasy booking! (I tried my hand at it in the post-show thread, but instead of just focusing on Maryse and Eve, this one is a bit more encompassing)
So, Maryse storms into the GM’s office demanding another shot at Eve, that Eve got lucky, blah, blah, etc. GM says no, Eve needs to focus on new opponents. Maryse storms out and gets stopped by Miz and Jericho. They offer her help in getting her butterfly back in exchange for her help in keeping Natalya at bay. Maryse accepts… the Egomaniacs MJM feud with the Harts over the summer-giving Maryse a chance to wrestle an experienced diva. Eve feuds with Jillian (for a little while) who wins a battle royal or something on some off chance. Hopefully, Gail and Alicia is wrapped up and Alicia can go against Eve while Maryse is managing JeriMiz.
On Smackdown… they can turn Rosa face or at least make her a tweener as she fails at getting into Laycool’s clique. They can either go with a Laycool break-up or tease one until Melina or another experienced diva comes over.
Eve is BORING. Maryse tryed to carry all the charisma, but Eve just doesan’t have any kind of spark when she gets into the ring, she’s so generic. Hopefully she’s still just learning the ropes, but it has been a couple years already. Can’t wait till Melina comes back. The division needs her.
It was better than what I was expecting, but not good. If the finish was better, I think I’d look upon it more favourably. Crappy, weak-looking finishers anger me. :P
Maryse’s attire looks so good i love it!
accept the boots, not mad on those
Eve’s attire was ok but i don’t think white and gold look good together
“maryse will do anything to get her deeeevers championship back” WTF was that cole
i think Eve was very good, and although Maryse still isn’t back to her former self she did a lot more and actually seemed like a threat
There was noting fast paced abt that match…..but I loved Maryse attire though it made her look so sexy! But she is still boring and stale….I miss the 07 Kick ass i dont give a F**K who I mess with maryse…
As for eve she did good , I like her finsiher it looked weak but we will have to see if she keeps it…
MUCH better than expected. I’d give it a 3.5/5 tbh. Nice review Erin.
Eve is most definitely boring! she gives off no charisma. She does have improvement on her side and Maryse is actually starting to do other things/moves. Maryse has tons of charisma that eve doesn’t. I think thats the main reason why people aren’t excited to see eve all the time or as champ. I still thought the match was pretty good considering how short the feud has been.
And might i add that Maryse was truly living up to being the “Sexiest of Sexy”.
she looked hot!
@Jamal
“As it is, no one buys Alicia or Maryse as any sort of real threat.”
Actually Alicia Fox Is A Threat To The WWE Divas and A Tease From What We Seen Of Her She Is Vicous Compared To Maryse Shes Just A Pretty Face But WWE Should Give Alicia A Big Feud Where She Attacks The Diva Like Maryse Did With Eve. Alicia Is A Tease Because Of How She Got 2 Champion Pushes In Less Than 2 Months But Lost Both Oppurtunities, We’ll Be Seeing Alicia As Future Champion By The End Of 2O1O.
So much hate for Eve here. So she’s boring, so what? she’s a face. they’re all boring, you point to the crowd, you flash your pearly whites, show a little bounce on your steps, walla you’re a face. that’s pretty much what all faces in the womens side does. that’s the diva face mold and unless you’re a heel in wwe universe that’s pretty much all the character development you would ever get. Atleast Mickie, Melina and Beth all had a chance to play a heel role thus making them a lil bit more interesting but everyone is going to agree that when they turned face their character suffered. even trish suffered from the boring and stale face black hole. it’s a downgrade on the character department.
mojo makes a big point the only face i think had a really set character in the good diva days was probably lita but even her character was just this extreme girl
but as far the match went it wasnt a horrible match they both hit their spots and sold well i think the main issue as other people here have said was the timing of the match both girls were a little slow going from move to move especially maryse i think she over did the gloating thing that she does. but u cant really bame them they are used to doing timing for 2-3 minute matches and having to rush to get everything in when u give them a decent amount of time im not shocked that they wanted to slow down the pace abit i just think they over did it. after seeing this match i think that those too could pull a really good match too erin i just think they need to work on their timing. and WWE for godsake give eve some mic time i mean have they let her say 2 words since she won the title?
I thought the match was actually pretty good. I expected it to be pretty shitty, but I am glad that it wasn’t. I think this was one of the better Raw diva matches we have been on a PPV in awhile.
The only thing I didn’t like was the finishier. I think it wouldn’t have been that bad if Eve didn’t rush it. She tends to rush moves and I think she needs to calm it down, but besides that, I thought both of the girls did a great job.
@mojodoom
True But Not Only Do Face Divas Prance and Smile All The Time, Alicia Fox Loves To Skip and Dance On The Way To Ring Just Like What She Did In Her First Match Against Gail Kim.
I thought the match was good, but I didn’t go in expecting much at all. Eve isn’t that great yet, as a lot of you have said she rushes and does too many flashy moves to hide the fact that she can’t wrestle well. Maryse hasn’t actually been wrestling for a while now, instead just taking a beating and then hitting the French Kiss and getting a win. All that considered I didn’t think these girls would be able to pull anything remotely good off even with all the great buildup over the last couple of weeks. The good thing is they proved me wrong. There were no botches and I liked Maryse’s physco side being teased again. They need to flesh that out, however I’m afraid the writers are so dimwitted that they probably don’t even see the possibilites. This is the gimmick that got Mickie over and the gimmick Victoria had at her peak. Of course it would be different in this PG era plus Maryse is a totally different kind of character and wrestler than the former crazy ladies. I will also agree that Eve is pretty stale, but it’s not entirely her fault. True she could try and bring more to the table instead of opting to do what every other face does, point and smile, but it’s also because the writers haven’t given her much to work with. They have done better these past few weeks with having Maryse coming at Eve to try and get the fans behind the champion, but it hasn’t been entirely successful yet. Hopefully they keep this going because let’s face it, Maryse is the only heel on Raw who is really over with the crowd (I don’t know why someone said she came out to crickets here, both ladies got good responses considering where the match was placed). Jillian gets cheap heat and Alicia isn’t over yet. If they keep this going they could easily get more people into it and bring a little prestige to the title and Raw’s women’s division. I give the match 3.5/5 for showcasing Maryse can actually do things, Eve’s agility, but suffering from pacing and a weak finish.
That was a decent little match. The knee’s to the back when Eve was going for that flipping senton looked really painful.
I think she should have ended the match with that Flatliner rather than that little facebuster type move she did.
maryse was awful & her selling & the finish was horrible as why not end it with the complete shot sto thingy after the leg thingy that was awful ending lol…..eve did very well considering shes in the ring with someone whos not that good….
@ebmich: Kelly’s three minute spot fest is why I can’t get into her matches. There’s no variety to the execution. No element of surprise.
As for Eve, I think all faces are boring until they are placed in a good matches. Much like Mickie James until she was being bullied by Lay-Cool.
I honestly thought Maryse would win after Maryse countered Eve’s finisher and started laughing. I was like “This is OVER, Maryse new champion xP” The DDT Eve did on Maryse should have been the ending move AND Eve’s new finisher.
i think the next pay per veiw goes to smackdown divas right????
maybe michelle vs layla vs kelly vs savannah???
the match was good but her finisher looks like a rip off of courty taylors one….
this was a good match :)
This match was pretty good. They finally let Maryse do more than a hair flip and DDT. I wish she would’ve broke out the French TKO. Eve really impressed me during the match. I loved the standing moonsault and the flatliner like move was great. I wasn’t too thrilled with how the match ended but it was still pretty good.
Great write up Erin, really spot on.
Not a bad match, it did just ‘coast’ really, which is a shame. I think one of Eve’s finishers should be the reverse face plant, it was nicely executed and more effective looking than that stunted pedigree she used. She got a nice pop when she won. I like Eve, I hope this feud with Maryse continues. They need more backstage segments to open up Eve’s personality so the fans can connect with her.
The match was okay. Its just weird that the match started without holds and counters. I thought eve and maryse knows jujitsu but I didnt see much holds in this match. Eve finisher is kinda lame. Courtney Taylor’s version is much more better. Im glad maryse actually wrestle in this match. =d
If Eve were to keep this finisher, I just hope she makes it come from out of nowhere … I.e, If she were ontop of Maryse’s shoulders whilst she was standing, or from the turnbuckle or even the ropes =/. That would make it look like it could put Maryse or another diva away.
However, I’d much prefer the Faceplant she used about a minute before the finish :).
For most of the people, this was the piss break.
I was actually quite shocked and pleased by this match. I tought it was a good stepping stone into their next ppv match up, which should be the pinnicle of their feud/matches. It’s sort of like the infamous Melina-Michelle matches in 09′, their first ppv match was good and their next one was great. The reason for that being that they learned form their past ppv match. Now it’s Eve and R’yses turns to learn from this.
Overall, I thought it was a good match, and they completely surpassed my expectations.
For me, it’s 3/5.
I’m hoping for an amazing match at Fatal 4 Way, hopefully Eve Torres vs Gail Kim vs Natalya vs Tamina, but then again, it’s WWE, we probably won’t even get a Diva Match!
Let’s hope Smackdown gets a PPV slot & makes it good
Eve’s finisher on here was the one Courtney Taylor used when she was in FCW