After the underwhelming Divas Championship match at Over the Limit, I was hopeful that the following Raw would pick things back up and continue the Divas Championship feud down the more unique path we’ve been enjoying these past few weeks (exhibits , B, and C. Not so, folks, because it seems that we’re back in “piss break” territory. Of course, all could turn around next week, but a week’s stay in “piss break” territory still leaves you smelling of.. well, you know. Putting it in more eloquent terms, instead of continuing with the more unique ways of building this feud between Maryse and Eve Torres, the WWE decided to book them in a tag team match, effectively packing their feud together with the one between Alicia Fox and Gail Kim. That’s one 2-for-1 sale I’m not happy about. Watch the match below:
Gail and Alicia start things off. Gail goes for a tie-up but Alicia has a better idea, booting Gail in the stomach. She blasts her wit ha forearm before irish-whipping her into the corner. When she attacks, though, she gets a face full of elbow, setting Gail up to hit a top-rope hurricanrana (How long has it been since we’ve seen one of those??). Alicia flops around, sans equilibrium, finding a corner to lean against. Gail stays on the attack, hitting her hit-and-slip move. While on the apron, Maryse tries to sneak an attack, but Gail kicks her in the stomach. Gail stops another attack from Alicia, burying her shoulder into her midsection and vaulting over the ropes into a sunset flip pin attempt. However, she can’t even roll Alicia onto her shoulders, and Fox takes the momentum, holding onto the ropes. Maryse takes this opportunity to tag in, and as Gail rolls Alicia back into a pin, Maryse slips in and kicks Gail square in the back. This of course, breaks the non-pin.
Maryse lays another boot into Gail before going for a pin of her own. Gail kicks out at 2. She hoists her up into a backbreaker and toys around with her a bit before Gail kicks her away. Gail moves to tag in Eve, and Maryse tries to stop this, but Eve ducks out of the way of her haymaker, hitting a right hand of her own before finally getting tagged in. Eve goes on a string of offense (a clothesline here, and dropkick there, and a neckbreaker for good measure) before trying for the pin. Maryse kicks out at 2, but before she can pop up to her feet Eve kicks her back down, leaping over her and hitting a standing moonsault. She goes for the pin again, but Alicia break it up.
This brings in Gail, and with the referee distracted by her, Alicia boots Eve right in the face. This allows Maryse to set up the French Kiss, hit it, and get the pin.
Familiar ending, no? It seems like every Maryse win in the past few months has had taken place in a similar sequence of events. This only serves to remind us of the months of crappy, short matches we went through earlier this year when Maryse did just that–sneak out a win in a wholly unremarkable match. The match lasted 2 minutes on the button, and felt as rushed as if the booker told them that the mat would be set on fire at the 2:05 mark. The most exciting part of the match was easily the exchange between Gail and Alicia, that top-rope hurricanrana being the high point. They busted out a few exciting moments that were more entertaining than Eve and Maryse’s work because, unlike them, Gail and Alicia were doing things that were relatively new. At least, we hadn’t seen the exact same moves performed just the night before.
Pretty much every move Eve busted out she had done at Over the Limit, and it brought a sense of deja-vu that only reaffirms that belief that Eve is more style than substance in the ring–you’ve heard that claim many times before about several Divas. They bust out flashy moves but nothing to give the match some shape. It doesn’t help that she’s hitting them in rapid succession, so that it’s all packed into a few seconds: clothesline, dropkick, neckbreaker, standing moonsault. I’m sure the condensed match time had something to do with that, but when you’re short on time, maybe you don’t need to bust out every move in your repertoire. It only serves to make them seem overused and cause them to lose their luster. I’m sure Eve is capable of more, but right now she’s coming across as being low on ammo. Maryse isn’t any different, and even though she’s got her gimmick to hide behind–she’s a heel, so she cheats!–it doesn’t make it any more satisfying.
Unfortunately, it’s as if we reached the end of the plank, and it’s nowhere to go but down. Of course, that’s a big statement when one’s only judging from two nights worth of wrestling, but I can’t help but get a bad feeling about where we’re headed. For weeks, the WWE seemed to think outside the box with this feud, advancing it through brawls and backstage segments that really sold the hate between Maryse and Eve. Now, they’ve slipped back into familiar territory–tag team matches. And, to make matters worse, they’ve combined this with another blossoming feud. Gail and Alicia, I hope, are able to branch off onto their own again, but I suppose last week’s commercial-free status was a big reason that they got a match of their own at all. I say, if you’re going to have more than one Diva feud, keep them as separate as possible. Selling them together shortchanges both feuds. Its economical from a time-saving standpoint, but the quality suffers, and tonight’s match was proof of that.
Earlier in the night Maryse has an encounter with guest GM Jon Lovitz. It was pretty much pointless, with Lovitz hitting on Maryse, speaking French to her, and then blowing her off. It’s worth watching if only for Maryse’s facial expressions:
Later in the night, in a more literal example of blink-and-you-miss-it Diva appearances, Jillian took part in guest GM Jon Lovitz’s “Superstar Search”, which was more like a drunken “The Gong Show” than anything else. Brie and Nikki Bella were along for the ride, too, more ornamental than functional. Of course, you could see Jillian’s shtick coming from a mile away–any opportunity for her to warble out a few lousy notes and the WWE will take advantage of it like it’s a chance for Santino to speak broken English and get his ass kicked. Both of those happened, by the way, but Jillian didn’t even get to open her mouth before Lovitz hit the buzzer on her:
Face time is face time, I guess, and at this point in Jillian’s career this is as much as she can probably ask for. It’s sad to see her relegated to such meager comedy bits, but it’s a paycheck, I suppose, and I don’t expect Jillian to be complaining about it any time soon. Let’s hope the next time she gets the chance to get her “I Love Lucy” on it’s for longer than 2 seconds.
But that’s not all, folks! Even later in the night, the Hart Dynasty were victorious over William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov. As they celebrated with Natalya, three people busted in and attacked them. The woman and three men took them out and each performed frog splashes on their foe of choice:
skip to 1:50
The woman, who we revealed earlier to be Sarona Snuka, took out Natalya. Her name in FCW is Tamina, so there’s a good bet that she’ll be sticking with that in the WWE. It was an unexpected debut, completely catching me unaware, and proved that the WWE still has some surprises up their sleeve, as much as I hated the predictability of the booking earlier in the night. I’m excited to see Natalya actually have some sort of feud, even though some have said that Tamina is still rather green in the ring. Fights outside of the ring and Mixed Tag Team matches could help disguise that for a while, but I hope she eventually gets up to snuff for a real one-on-one match with Nattie. After all, Natalya is such a pro she could probably get a half-decent match out of anyone. Above all, it’s great to see a new face, especially one that doesn’t look like all the rest. Here’s hoping the WWE will use her wisely. Welcome, Tamina!
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52 Comments
I liked the divas action tonight. Maryse did more moves and I hope that continues. I’m a fan of high flying style so Eve is quickly become one of my faves divas. I love any Gail/Alicia interaction. They work so well together and should be feuding for the title. I hope it happens at some point in the year. Tamina’s debut was goos. It kind of reminded me of how Molly Holly debut when she attacked Trish.
I’m not so sure that Gail and Alicia were there to continue an angle with each other. Maryse needed a win over Eve to even things up a bit but without having another one-on-one match so soon. Maryse vs. Eve at Fatal 4 Way could very well be the plan, which would explain having them face off on Raw in a tag match instead of one-on-one.
Match was decent, (hopefully somewhat of a visual of what we’ll be seeing come F4W) and the Snuka debut was pretty surprising (for me, anyway).
At 2:16 in the Tamina video the man on right falls off the turnbuckle……just thougt i’d add that :p
i like maryse and alicia teamin up they work well together! im bored of eve bein champ i think she needs to lose the title now!
are we supposed to believe that a bodyslam will keep all three members of the hart dynasty down for 23 seconds?
i love the debute, and the fact Sarona got to show some moves as well, it’s not everyday you see Natalya receive a snap suplex
i hope they go with the name Sarona instead of Tamina, or at least have her announced as Tamina snuka, Tamina on it’s own just doesn’t sound right
Maryse & Alicia vs Gail & Eve was meh, it needed more time.
seeing as Maryse got the pin on the champion that still makes her number 1, so this feud is obviously going to continue, and seeing as they combined Alicia & Gail’s story with Eve & Maryse’s maybe this will go on until fatal 4 way, i would love to have it end in a match for the Divas title and have Gail or Alicia get a surprise win
“are we supposed to believe that a bodyslam will keep all three members of the hart dynasty down for 23 seconds?”
We are suppose to believe all three members of the Hart Dynasty are big deals and the future of the company.. But how well have they come across on tv? haha
Again, for everyone wanting Gail and Alicia be used instead of Eve and Maryse, can you explain to me why? They are just all over the place and it awkward too watch. Maybe it is that weird mentality that “quantity > quality” when it comes to moves that most people have adopted in judging the divas.
The Lovitz thing was what it was.
Finally, I just hope the new group can do more than bad impressions of their dads. That gimmick hasn’t helped DH or Nattie at all.
It was an ok night. I think it helped establish the obvious fact that it’s going to be Maryse vs Eve vs Alicia vs Gail at the new ppv, that is, if they actually get on the ppv. Alicia and Gail’s work together has always impressed me, so I loved wacthing them go at it. It was a decent night, and I liked Sarona’s debut to a degree.
Id rather see Gail Kim and Alicia Fox because they’re better. That’s why. Gail Kim is a superb wrestler, she’s hot and she’s got a variety of moves to keep me entertained. That’s opposite of Eve’s barely making contact dropkicks and her botching her ring entrances. And Alicia Fox is just as good as Maryse at being a bitch, except Fox can atleast look like a threat in the ring. That’s also opposite of Maryse flopping around the ring like a scared chihuaha who’s trying to bark and attack a Doberman.
There’s been one entertaining segment with Maryse and Eve. Is that any reason to want to see Maryse try to wrestle? She sucks. And yes, I like her character too..but I don’t want to see her in the ring anymore. I’m shocked she’s been a 2time Champion for that matter.
Jillian looked Gorgeous!
‘Her name in FCW is Tamina, so there’s a good bet that she’ll be sticking with that in the WWE’
It could be possible but not entirely true, I mean Serena before being brought to the main roster went under the name of Mia Mancini, then they changed it to her real name of Serena. Maybe they will keep Sarona Skuna as her normal name, however with Sarona & Serena sounding very similar, I wont be suprised if she does have a name change. =-P
Good luck Sarona, try and do what your bruv Sim couldnt do in the WWE, and thats become noticable. =X lol
Great redux Erin. Pretty pointless tag so pass on that. I just watched a vid of Tamina from a house show and she didn’t seem that green to me. She sold pretty well against AJ Lee and Courtney Taylor, and looked pretty capable imo.
i love maryse’s attire with tht thing on her waste..it remindes me with michelle’s catwoman…and again i cant feel eve as a champ!!
EBMICH – Quantity > Quality? Hahaha.
OK then. Let’s check the ratio.
Gail Kim has about 7 to 10 moves. She does all those moves wonderfully provided that “wrestlers” like Maryse do well to sell them and she can’t even sell the Eat Defeat properly.
Maryse:
Maryse has about 3 to 5 moves. Apart from the slap and the kick, the rest are horribly done. That DDT, after all this time, is still an unconvincing finisher because that hair flip makes her look like she’s about to roll backwards instead of falling on her head. And her Camel Clutch is lame. But at least she tries by occasionally doing a sloppy forward roll. Does that mean that if she was more athletic she’d try to do more stuff in the ring? I wonder. ;)
But in comes the inevitable excuse… she has a great gimmick. Yes. She does. After all, since it worked for Stephanie McMahon, who is not as “pretty” as Maryse, how can it not work for her? But then again, she’s a heel. Please. It is so easy to be a bitch that even Michelle McCool got people wanting Melina to beat her up. How hard can that be?
Back when Gail was in TNA, people backed her up because she was pushed right. Before Maryse got her title push, I barely even noticed her. So much for your theory. :)
The tag match was decent, a bit sloppy. I’ll agree that Gail and Alicia are all over the place at times, but I think it’s a combination of Gail’s moveset with Alicia’s crazy selling. I like the Eve/Maryse dynamic though and I like them in the title picture at the moment, I just hope someone else gets a shot after its done. I love Maryse but seeing Alicia or Gail get a run as champion would be nice. However I think sooner rather than later we will have the first ever three time Diva’s Champion. I have a strong feeling that Maryse is going to be to the Diva’s title what Trish was to the Women’s title.
The Sarona Snuka debut was surprising but it wasn’t all that great. The crowd was dead and she and her boys looked really amateur. The one guy fell off the rope and all they did was body splashes onto the Hart Dynasty. I mean, its better than nothing and I’m glad they are giving Nattie an opponent, but I think it could have been done better. Also, they should have done it while in Canada since it’s the only place the Harts are known and get a reaction. It would have been more successful and looked better on TV. Just my opinion though.
Correction: falling on HER BACK. My apologies. ;)
I thought the match was okay. But it wasn’t anything to get excited about. I hope we are not going back to the pointless one minute tag matches again. I think Raw has a whole sucked last night. Not just the diva match. Obviously you can tell how Raw is going to be with who is guest hosting Raw. I am hoping that next week will be an improvement.
I liked Sarona’s debut. It was interesting and unquie. Kind of wish she debuted on smackdown, rather then Raw, but oh well. Hope the WWE uses her right.
OMG, I really had a Trish Stratus Deja-Vu on Maryse’s segment. Anyways, I hope we’ll get Sarona and Nattie in one-on-one matches. Or since its RAW, and maybe I’m asking to much of them, I hope they at least get involved in six-men mixed tag team matches.
The Divas match was kinda boring to me. Its the same old moves.
Snuka is a very beautiful girls,
and the USO brothers are sexy.
Hall….no comment..
Maryse and Alicia make a great tag
team. The match was nothing special. Some-
times when Alicia sell moves it look kind of crazy.
I really believe that something going to happen next week
the way Jerry Lawler said “it was all Alicia” made me think
that something going to happen with Alicia next week hopefully.
Torres and Kim are both boring, but atleast Kim
can wrestle her as$ off.
The match was sloppy and it seems that Raw is back to quick 2-minute matches again. I dont buy Eve as a champion, so this fued is doing nothing for me. I’d much rather see Gail and Alicia fued. Sarona’s debut was nicely done, cant wait to see her in the ring I’m sure Natalya will bring the best out in her.
Eve is great divas champion. She did all great wrestling moves at over the limit I’m proud of her. Maryse is funny though. But good match.The thing like about eve she brings something new for her finishers she better champ then maryse though I have to admit. I wanna see gail get a push for the divas title or jillian. Or nattie.
rodneyclint wrote:
“The Sarona Snuka debut was surprising but it wasn’t all that great. The crowd was dead and she and her boys looked really amateur. The one guy fell off the rope and all they did was body splashes onto the Hart Dynasty.”
Do you remember the day YOU made your live debut on national television in front of like 10000+ people and 5 million viewers? Most likely the Uso’s didnt know they would be on RAW until 2 days ago after Carlito was released. It takes time to gain confidence when you have to perform in front of large crowds with lots of pressure due to the live show.
the chick that splashed nattie is one ugly motha f lmaO….
RadicalRhys297 – I only say that there’s a good bet she’ll stick with the name because that’s the one she used when they were doing the exact same gimmick (same three people) in FCW. Serena’s name change is an entirely different thing, because her FCW and WWE gimmicks aren’t similar in any way.
Didn’t Eve get booed???
Anybody footage of the Samoan Syndicate’s premiere? I fell asleep for 30 minutes and missed it. Thanx!
If all else fails I guess I’ll see it on RAW AM or the spanish rebroadcast.
RAW tonight was like Jimmy/Jules Uso’s turnbuckle botch, a fail! Every single part about the show was either rubbish or just far too squashed for time and both segments featuring Divas suffered miserably from time issues. If the WWE had nothing planned for the Divas this week, why not put that Tag Match on Superstars allowing for Tamina and the gang to make more of an impact? It wouldn’t have hurt and could have made the match loads better too as it would have had more time.
Nevermind I found it on YouTube.
@ebmich
once again your being negative, how can a person be so negative? alicia and gail arent all over the place, they interact with each other very well, gail is a high flyer, she is suppose to be flying from top rope to top rope, alicia is aggresive but she does flip around too much but thats how good she sells the moves. Alicia and Gail feud for the divas title would be amazing. michelle and maryse interact very well too on SD.
@art1e
that isnt funny, also its good WWE arent caring about her looks, shes an improved wrestler. Eve got boo’d but at OVER THE LIMIT she got a big pop, but anyway who gives a damn about pops and boo’s, like eve would care if she gets boo’d, i wouldnt, who cares what people say, why do you guys even bring up the pops and boo;s. what you should care for is the pops&boo;s that happen inside the ring as in like gail kim flying off the turn buckle,etc. Not the damn ENTRANCE.
When I said amateur I didn’t mean in skill or anything like that, they just looked like some random jobbers and some girl. I guess their look was just very generic. I’m sure they’re great wrestlers! Stop spinning my statements!
The Tamina/Natalya run-in shows how important the divas are to the WWE. Check out the camera angles that they used to film that segment. They hardly even show the guys. All the camera angles that they use focused on Natalya and Tamina. In the past, the guys would have been the focus of the run-in.
Actually if you listen Eve got mix of cheers too when she got taged in so. To me it just sounded like one guy booing loudly at her probably a Maryse fan haha
The tag match was dull except for Gail Kim’s hurracanrana. They shouldn’t of even done the star search and give an extra couple of minutes to the tag match. Next week it should be Gail Kim and Natalya vs. Alicia Fox and Jillian Hall with a 8 minute match and then Tamina could attack Natalya. Then it should be Maryse vs. Brie Bella with Nikki Bella as special referee. Then Nikki Bella wins and Maryse get angry and beats them up with Eve Torres saving them.
“Again, for everyone wanting Gail and Alicia be used instead of Eve and Maryse, can you explain to me why? They are just all over the place and it awkward too watch. Maybe it is that weird mentality that “quantity > quality” when it comes to moves that most people have adopted in judging the divas.”
if you mean what i think you mean, i agree to an extent. i even find myself wanting to see the bella twins and rosa more, simply because i don’t see them wrestling enough.
i think it was an okay match for what it was, still not buying eve as champion, though. and to thannya.. yeah, she did get booed. i’m sure if she wasn’t champion, i’d like her more but it’s as if having the belt around her waist has just highlighted all her flaws for me. i think the emphasis on alicia helping maryse get the win is good. it could be a hint towards her and gail indeed becoming involved in the title scene at fata fourway (if there is a fourway match). i don’t like that their feud has seemingly ended, though. there was so much possible longevity in it.
next week i’m hoping for a gail vs maryse singles match. perhaps with alicia at ringside or on commentary. both she and maryse could then beatdown gail afterwards with eve making the save.. could push things towards fatal fourway more.
definitely excited for the debut of tamina. there’s not been many exciting diva debuts the last few years. not sure where it could go, though.. she could easily be an afterthought as she’s only there as a person of circumstance, it’s a new heel team they were after, she just happens to be connected to them. if it gets natalya wrestling, i’m all for it.. but i can see her having a pure valet role only, getting involved every now and then. perhaps how lita used to sneak a hurricanrana or moonsault while the referee was unaware.
@Trisha
You find Maryse exciting to watch yet Gail Kim is boring?? I can’t figure that one out? Maryse is given more opportunities to develop her character..so she’s one up on that one I guess…but everything else is an epic fail for me. And Maryse is given more chances to wrestle..but she wrestles like she’s on crack or something…
ozzyv,
Yeah Kim is boring the only thing
that girl do it smile and thats
it. That what make her boring TO ME.
Did I not say that Kim can wrestle, but
she have a very boring personality.
Maryse is funny and no she isn’t the
best wrestler but atleast she have a
personality and a character unlike Kim.
Even Alicia doesn’t have a character but she
still have a personality.
So, you figure out now??
Different strokes for different folks I guess?
You find Maryse funny, I can respect that. I like her too, but its not Gail Kim’s fault she has no character. You can blame the lazy writers for that. In TNA Gail Kim was awesome. Now in WWE they’ve reduced her to nothing more than eye candy, who sometimes wrestles.
I thought the week was ok. I liked that Eve was quicker in executing her moves, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the girls learn to use some chain wrestling. Its actually boring to see nothing but flash in a match, it takes away the impact of the actual move.
I just read a news report from wrestling epicenter that says Daffney might be dropped from TNA soon. Also that ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Hamadas contracts will expire soon. :(
Next week for RAW I’m expecting Alicia vs. Gail Kim with Eve at ringside, followed by a Maryse run in and maybe a brawl between all 4 afterwards. This is to further push the 4way bout. If it happens lol.
“In TNA Gail Kim was awesome”
she still didn’t have a character, though, which makes me regret her release that much more as they seemd they were going to give her one, what with her “sister” debuting. thankfully she’s one of a handful of women who get by on wrestling ability alone.
ozzyv,
I agree that it isn’t Kim fault but
the writers. She can’t get over by herself
she need a character.
@Kaledrina, yes I suppose your right. Gail Kim on her AGame is exciting to watch, even without a real character. She is somewhat over…though her pops are inconsistent much like the rest of the divas. On a positive note..the writers do seem to be investing more time and effort into everyone on the show. So maybe the divas will more character development this summer.
**Will get more character development this summer.
My bad. I use DivaDirt Mobile off my Cliq phone…I’m always a tad off haha.
The hart dynasty will punish these newcomers! I hope natalya get to wrestle more!
no divas action taped for smackdown or superstars? :(
We haven’t seen a Diving Hurricanrana from a WWE Diva in 4 and a half years….on that note, I miss Lita
Eve was terrible…what else is new. Her dropkicks all missed and then a sloppy neckbreaker. thats what we get from a Divas champion?
Tamina’s frong Splash looked impressive, I’ve never seen her wrestle so this will be intetresting
yeah you need to get your eyes cheaked because Eve hit both of her dropkicks
see
http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/photos/14556738/evekimvsmarysefox/
How did that Tamina chick get to make a debut before Serena?!?!?!??! What the hell, WWE!!!
WE WANT SERENA!!!!!