Raw’s sly Diva, Alicia Fox picked a picked up a win that can only be called controversial last week when she defended her title against Eve Torres. Obviously, Eve has unfinished business with the champ, as she finds her way to commentary for Alicia’s non-title match with Gail Kim this week. Check out the match below:
We start with Eve already at ringside, posing and waving to the fans (One of her favorite pastimes, along with salsa dancing.) She joined Lawler and Cole on commentary as the Divas Champion makes her to the ring.
Alicia is clad in a brand new piñata skirt, this time in red and I must say, it’s an improvement over her last two even if it still looks like she raided a Party City store to make it. While Alicia struts her stuff in the ring and taunts Eve, they show a replay of last week’s match and how Alicia picked up the win.
Out next is her opponent, Gail Kim, who is looking phenomenal tonight. Gail does the usual babyface posing for the crowd before stepping in the ring to face the champ. The referee rings the bell and the match is underway.
These women waste no time locking up, but it’s the challenger who gets the upper hand, taking Alicia down with a simple takeover, followed by an armdrag and a dropkick. Gail whips Alicia onto the corner and tries for a monkey flip. Unfortunately for Gail, Alicia holds on to the ropes, sending Gail down hard to the mat. The champ follows up with a jumping knee strike, which ellicits a reaction from Eve on commentary. She must be remembering the time Alicia nailed her with that very same move. Alicia goes for the pin and Gail kicks out at two.
Frustrated, Alicia snatches Gail up by the hair and slaps on a headlock, taking her opponent down to the mat. Note that Alicia still has a handful of hair and is rubbing it in Gail’s face while ref isn’t looking. Probably more annoying to Gail than harmful, if you ask me but it’s neat little heel tactic. Gail manages to fight her way out and follow up with a flapjack and a flurry of strikes. Gail hits her patented cross body through the ropes, but is taken down with a snapmare when she goes for the dropkick from the top rope.
Perhaps sensing an opportunity, Alicia grabs Gail by the hair yet again, but makes the mistake of taunting Eve. Gail takes advantage of the distraction and goes for ‘Eat Defeat’ or as certain colleague would call it ‘Madame Guillotine’. Unfortunately for Gail, Alicia manages to counter, forcing her into a painful looking situation. Foxy follows up with her axe kick for the three count and the win.
Post match, Alicia taunts Eve and just when it looks like things might get physical, the Mystery GM inserts him/herself via email. The GM informs us, using Cole as a mouthpiece, that due to Alicia faking an injury, Eve will be awarded another title shot at the Money in the Bank PPV. That’s right, TWO Divas matches on a PPV.
To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed with the match between Gail and Alicia. It wasn’t a bad match by any means, but it paled in comparison to some of the other matches that they’ve had in the past few months on Superstars.
I also found myself unimpressed with Eve on commentary. She stumbled and mumbled all through the entire match, but I’ll chalk it up to being nervous. However, after some pretty decent mic work from Alicia, Tamina and Maryse last week, I’d say Eve really needs to step up her game in that department.
My last complaint with this segment was the reasoning behind Eve’s second title shot. Technically, Alicia didn’t break any rules last week, although her tactics were shady. I’ve seen many competitors use this trick before and their opponents never got a second chance because of it. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much since I’m getting two Diva title matches, which is a treat in an of itself.
In other Diva news, Tamina and Natalya competed in a 6-man tag match with their respective teams:
Unfortunately, not much to say here as Tamina and Natalya’s interaction was restricted to a mere catfight. As much as it sucks, I’m not surprised to see Natalya get pushed to the background. This is a Tag Team Title feud, after all. Too bad we never got that singles match. (I hate you, Nexus)
Not to be outdone, Maryse also made her presence known on last night’s Raw:
I have to say, Maryse looked drop dead gorgeous as she accompanied her man, Ted DiBiase to the ring for his promo. Unfortunately, she was insulted by both Ted and John Morrison, who came out to interrupt the power couple. As I said last week, I really like Maryse in a manager role. As we all know, Maryse’s strong suit is her personality, so being a manager is a perfect fit. I wonder if JoMo has anyone in mind to have his back against the team of Ted and Maryse (Tedyse? Mareddy?) Hmm…
All in all, not a horrible edition of Raw, but not a terribly logical one either. However, we managed to see most of the Divas used and got a second PPV match to boot. I guess that’s a fair trade-off. Hopefully, WWE won’t take the TNA route when booking the Divas next week.
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68 Comments
I can’t believe that Lita was removed from the WWE intro at the beginning of the show.
And Jim Ross voice was replaced by Michael Cole’s annoying voice.
And I heard some woman jumped the barricade and held on to John Cena’s leg after the show was over.
WHAT!? they removed Lita? i wouldnt blame that woman if she wanted to join TNA just to piss WWE off.. they have treated her like crap A LOT
& yeah i heard some woman was taken away by security after attacking Cena, i wonder if she was a plant or an actual fan
I’m absolutely loving Maryse as a valet. This is the role she was born to play. Now, for the first time ever, I actually care about Ted Dibiase lol.
I’m not surprise about Natalya’s use in this storyline. It’s a tag team feud and there is no place for women. Really, we shouldn’t be suprised by this. Her career went down the drain when she tapped out to McCool at The Bash a couple years ago. Ever since that day, she has never been looked the same as a competitor. She can be so much more than a manager.
While Eve was terrible on commentary, that match was better. It wasn’t great, but is wasn’t awful. Plus, it gave us two matches on a ppv which is rare for a ppv that ISN’T named Night of Champions. I’m really excited for Sunday.
just about the jomo/maryse/ted thing, melina posted on twitter that she would like to come back to help out her “jomo”
Decent match between Alicia and Gail, though short.
As I said in the Post-Raw show thread, there’s no reason why Alicia shouldn’t be both Divas champ and DiBiase’s valet, especially if the plan if for to Melina to return to help Morrison. Alicia won’t stink up the ring in a singles or mixed tag match aganist Melina like Maryse will, the Divas title would be involved in a more important angle than it typically is, and DiBiase could still have the valet that he needs. I can’t imagine Alicia not being much better in the role than Maryse is. She has all the personality and none of the attention hog tendencies.
Lita was at the beginning intro? Since when! Is it just a RAW thing? The divas match was pretty good and the whole segment was 5 WHOLE MINUITES :O I really like Eve and she only stumbled once when she said divas champion I think she was great on commentary. Didn’t care for the Natalya and Tamina fight but I LOVED Maryse! Oh I love the french cuz I am french ;)
SInce it was Eve’s first time on commentery, I’ll give her a pass on that. She needs to work on her mic skills more. The match was really boring, I couldn’t get into it at all. I liked the stare down between Eve and Alicia at the end of the match. I’m more excited for the Eve/Alicia match then the Kelly/Layla match.
@ohiofan1 Eve wasn’t terrible on commentary she was fine the one second someone stumbles a word it’s like OH SHE SUCKS. She did fine and everyone stumbles words…including me :P
I definatly think maryse and Ted had more chemistry then last week (even still when ted insulted her) Can somebody translate what she said if they can please :) thank you
@Justin0422, Lita is shown doing a moonsualt at the beginning of the show before the music video thing. When it has the black and white video at the beginning.
I don’t think the issue with Eve on commentary was her stumbling over individual words, more the fact that she seemed to lack any real emotion. She should’ve been angry about being cheated out of the title twice, but instead, she was her normal smiley, mundane self, and even when saying things like “i can’t wait to wipe that smile off her face”, she didn’t sound like she meant it….to be honest, she was as timid on commentary as she is in the ring.
Plus, when she found out she had a title shot at MITB, she smiled, looked at Alicia….then turned around to hi-5 the army dude in the front row? wtf? Seriously? You’ve just found out you’ve got the opportunity to get your hands on a woman you’re supposed to hate, and to regain the title you were cheated out of, and you just smile at her? No trying to get the upper hand? No teasing an attack? Not even doing that idiotic motioning around your waist to signal you’ll be champ soon? No? *sighs*…
PS – loving “the fortunate son and the beautiful one”, as Michael Cole tried to say, more and more each week. Props to them for their sexy ring entrance…smoulderingly hot! And if JoMoLina are heading into a feud with these two, that may just be too much hotness to deal with!
@ilovelita Oh I don’t get RAW I can only watch Smackdown and it shows Kelly so
I didn’t think Eve was too bad on commentary. She wasn’t a star, but she’s been given very few opportunities to shine on the microphone in any capacity. She was a little unsteady yet overall she didn’t detract from the match to me. Her role is the super baby face who doesn’t have to tear other people down to build herself up. Yes, she needs much more polish, but I honestly preferred her on commentary this week to Maryse on commentary last week.
Also, John Morrison is not funny – at all. Dear God.
@johnnythunderstorm i think she was trying to sound a little cocky or something and she looked pissed when she was looking at Alicia
I agree with Maxine
Ohiofan1: funny you mentioned Nattie tapping out to Michelle at The Bash 2 years ago. It was what ticked me off so much that I decided to broaden my horizons with Indy wrestling.
Anywho, I only saw the Alicia vs Gail match and I thought Eve lacked the emotion that one should have after losing a title and then being tricked into losing again the week after.
Shanti- You know I also think that match is the reason Michelle gets alot of heat today by many people here and the IWC. Nattie is an IWC favorite unlike Michelle. I think that if Nattie won, Michelle wouldn’t have been bashed as much as she does today. Alot of people, including myself, were pissed off when she won and by submission.
Justin0422- Eve stumbled but she was just very boring. Nothing she said was interesting and she lacked emotion when she was talking. It was like she had her script on the table and literally read off of it.
To be honest, the best moment for the Divas was Maryse’s face when Ted said that the briefcase and Ted were the most power couple in the WWE. I still like Maryse’s current shtick, but to be honest, her not being in Diva matches on Raw really hit any interests the general fan might have. Then again, I am still waiting as to why Maryse gets criticized for not doing moves, but Alicia is treated like the secondth coming of Hulk Hogan even though she can’t even do her finishing (and only consisent) move without it looking bad.
When doesn’t Eve lack emotion? Like I said in the response thread, either she sucks at acting or is too nice to fake being pissed off. I really don’t buy that whole “lack of mic time” for an excuse as to someone was bad anymore. People were praising Alicia last week for her promo, but before that, how many times has she spoken this year? I can only think of twice (which involved 2 guests host). Some people are just cut out to cut promos. I don’t think Eve is one of them at all.
Great writeup Steven! Spot on. ;)
Ohiofan1 – yup. I’m never been a big fan of Michelle but I always gave her credit where it was due. In that particular match, that thing that irrritated me the most was from what I recalled Nattie worked on Michelle’s knee the majority of the match and slapped the sharpshooter on her (once or twice) but as soon as Michelle put that heel hook submission on Nattie, she tapped out. I wouldn’t mind so much if it happened now because Michelle is better in ring, but back then she was still green and being pushed down our throats. I felt that killed any credibility Nattie had a powerhouse/technical wrestling diva who could of been an awesome heel for Smackdown diva’s division at that time.
the french moment was funny ! oh my goid i was cyring of laughing !!!
she said
“ferme la pour deux minutes là! prend une p’tite marche à l’exterieur du ring, passes le rideau puis VAS PRENDRE UNE DOUCHE ! parce que j’ai porté ton manteau la s’maine passée puis TU PUES!!!!!!!” HAHAHAHAHA
she says that HE is the one who must get out of the ring and go take a shower because she wore his jacket last week and HE STINKS !!!!!!!!
..oh and we DO take showers DAMNNNN!!!
i really hope for alicia/gail feud and also i hope melina’s return won’t ruin it .
i am kinda sad that gail kim was jobbing again i really hope that she is the one who well take the belt from alicia not melina alot of you like melina and me too but i think melina got to much spotlight and she should step aside for while.and let the like of gail and jillian take the spotlight .
maryse looking good she really should start to valet that part suit her good but i also think the mix tag feud is a great idea melina/morrison vs ted/maryse it well be nice.
i kinda like the hatdynasty and uso tamina feud it really build both ladies a power manegrial especially tamina
glad i’m not the only one sad they took Lita’s moonsault out the intro. I’m surprised they kept it as long as they did since they got rid of Trish and Torrie’s part rather quick. The Alicia/Gail match was passable. I want to see a Tamina/Natalya match so bad. I didn’t really like the Maryse segment. Morrison was awful and it just came off bad.
To answer ebmich question I don’t give anyone a pass on only when it comes to moves. Everyone has the same 4 moves they do per match but they also change it up. All Maryse basically did for a year was a DDT and hairflip and she got praised for that. Alicia does her moves but she also does other stuff during her matches. Maryse runs around barely wrestles and picks up the win. Anyway how you see things depends on who you like. I happen to like both Alicia and Maryse but i’m able to see the best and worst in them. most Maryse fans can’t do that.
HAHAHA
Maryse is the best, Morrison for me jealous of not having a diva at his side, and because Ted did not spend any words to defend Mary, that’s absurd!
i think the lack of mic time excuse is a poor one, considering eve was once a backstage interviewer, as well as having a good handful of promos with cryme time. i think she even had a few talking moments back when mccool first turned heel and attacked her. i get the feeling that she wants to succeed and loves training, learning new stuff, but she’s just not cutting it for me.
even though the tamina/natalya action was little, i think it was a great way for them to cover up tamina’s greenness while at the same time including them in the feud. they could easily have had no action between the two, much like we see normal diva tags result in one or more not being tagged in, but they did get something to do – albeit only a teeny tiny catfight. i also liked how tamina wasn’t afraid of the guys, getting in there, breaking pins and whathaveyou.
the alicia/gail match.. not anything to write home about. alicia does need to change her finisher, though. i’m not liking how her “kick” is basically her jumping on the opponent’s back like she’s gonna ride on ‘em around the ring, horsey style. it looks like it hurts and not in the convincing, wrestling way – more of an “oh shit, i hope gail’s okay!”.
Why did they remove Lita from the RAW intro and who did they replace her with? Man what a crock! And its not like she’s in TNA or something….they’re behaving as though Lita is the biker chick! Grrr!
And Alicia and Gail was good. Well the Gail Kim part. I see what people have said about Alicia just bouncing all over the place, I see it now. But, with that said, its half as bad as Maryse’es flopping around like a fish out of water. But yeah, its there. Eve is a pretty gal but I have to say, at this point she’s not doing anything for me. Maybe she should go back to being a valet for someone? Maybe Evan Bourne? I dunno..
Good to see Natalya and Tamina, minimal as it was, I liked it. I hope Tamina was alright after landing on the outside. She seemed to be grabbing the back of her head all the way up the ramp.
I wasn’t a fan of the Maryse/Ted segment. They’re a hot couple, we get it. But I feel as though they have no chemistry together. I don’t know if its Maryse just being so freakin hot or if its Ted’s shaky promo skills. Maybe its both? Ted sounded nervous last night and he was almost stumbling on his words as well. Also when Maryse went on, it just kind of lagged. It got boring fast and I just wanted them off my TV after that.
**I meant to say, its not half as bad as Maryse…**
I am really hoping Melina doesn’t return to RAW cause she is needed so much on SD and if not then Gail needs to be moved to SD because Kelly needs to stay as far away from the Women Championship as possible. Ughh god even a title match is too much.
Lol @TaraFan I completely agree with everything you just said. Just don’t tell anyone before I’m chewed up and spit out! ;)
So onto a random note for anyone who is interested. On April 20th 2007, about 5 months after her official retirement/Lita/AmyDumas teamed up with Jerry Lynn for a mixed tag match. It was for indy promotion UWF. It was Jerry Lynn/Lita vs. Christy Hemme/Austin Starr. The official recording for it is now on youtube in two parts.
“All Maryse basically did for a year was a DDT and hairflip and she got praised for that. Alicia does her moves but she also does other stuff during her matches. Maryse runs around barely wrestles and picks up the win.”
Maryse’s matches are designed to get the crowd into them. She talks her smack, but gets smacked aside the head for her troubles.. But always gets the last laugh. Heel 101. Alicia does nothing but looks stiff and very very very and again very sloppy. Her only moves she does each match is that terrible kick and a headlock. Okay, she’ll bust out that back breaker only on Gail. Overhyped 101
@Ebmich- Sure she draws (some)heat, but how long can you go clinging to such a weak excuse to exempt her from the actual wrestling aspect? I mean how long has she been in WWE now? We can grasp at staws all we want, but the truth is Maryse got praised for doing jack shyt and looking hot for a whole year.
Alicia’s axe kick looks so goddamn sloppy everytime she hits it.
Gail actually got a decent reaction from the crowd when she came out! I think she NEEDS to go to SD!. I can’t say that enough :). Good match between Alicia & Gail, Eve on commentary is torture but atlease she’s good to look at. Not much to say about Natalya & Tamina because there wasn’t much there. You could tell Maryse just wrestled a match because her hair was wild! lol. I’m pretty surprised in you Steven! I can’t believe you of all people didn’t bring that up! It took me to notice/say that! (tsk tsk). I’m just biding my time until my Melina comes back! Hopefully her & Maryse fued because I was dying to see that match happen!
“Sure she draws (some)heat, but how long can you go clinging to such a weak excuse to exempt her from the actual wrestling aspect? I mean how long has she been in WWE now? We can grasp at staws all we want, but the truth is Maryse got praised for doing jack shyt and looking hot for a whole year.”
Maryse got praised for playing a character, and being good at it too. She isn’t trying to *prove* she’s a “good” wrestler or world class athlete. Maryse the character is someone who is used to getting what she wants because of her looks and thinks everyone else is beneath her. The WWE is all about giving people reasons to get invested in their wrestlers. Especially since their style isn’t meant to be at 1 bazillion miles an hour like in the Indy feds.
If doing moves counted more than what character you have, people like Gail, Beth, Michelle, Eve, and Layla would blow the roof off the place compared to the other divas, but they sure as in heck don’t. If nothing else, why weren’t people noticing Maryse back when she was busting out 15 moves in one 2 min match?
somebody in the back must be teaching Ms foxy wrestling moves in the back she’s learning attacking style moves like the jumping knee lift standing knee to the face witch i see eve remember from last week
“Alicia’s axe kick looks so goddamn sloppy everytime she hits it.”
thank you! i have no idea why, but most people seem to love how sloppy it looks. i’d prefer alicia using her variation of the bridging northern lights suplex pin as a finisher instead.
I’m not really seeing all the heat everyone’s giving Alicia about her wrestling. I personally think it’s much better than others (the Bellas, Eve, Maryse) and honestly, the way WWE has used Gail Kim has made me bored of her. Alicia doesn’t really use the same moves over and over again and in my opinion, her finisher is one of the best out of the Divas because it always looks believable. I think her selling is fun and she’s interesting to watch in and out of the ring and I hope she just puts the final nail in Eve’s push at MITB, that needs to be over with.
The Natalya/Tamina action was fine, whatever. It was kind of hard for me to watch the whole segment because I’ve just got really bored with this feud.
LOVE Maryse as a manager. I agree with pretty much everybody that THIS is what Maryse needs to be doing! She’s such a better manager than wrestler it’s not even funny. She looks great, she cuts awesome promos, she’s funny, her face reactions are spot on, ahh she’s just amazing. WWE don’t screw this up!
Steven you hit the nail on the head here, tonight’s show wasn’t bad but nothing special either. Two title matches however is a real treat, can’t wait for them both, especially Kelly vs Layla.
RAW wasn’t bad and I don’t think Eve was as bad on commentary as some people are making out. She was ok but she did lack emotion, which she has lacked throughout this entire storyline, which is why I don’t care for it whatsoever, well it’s why I don’t care for Eve so much, I’m liking Alicia in it though and Eve’s not so bad in the ring, so thats a plus point about the fued. However, Eve really cannot tell a story or sell a story, she really needs to improve on that instead of just smiling.
I think WWE removed Lita’s intro cuz they think she was that biker woman at victory road.
Well the intro doesn’t look good anymore now with Michael Cole’s voice on it and Jim Ross’ gone.
Eve on commentary wasn’t bad she does sound more intelligent than a lot of other divas do maybe thats why she sounds or lacks emotion. It almost came off as if she was giving a literature lol.
If Alicia was Ted’s valet, no one would give an eff about his segments, matches, etc. I’m sorry, but Alicia barely gets any reaction from the crowds – look at her match last night for example, DEAD. I wish everyone would stop coming down on Maryse for “hogging attention” away from Ted’s matches, segments. It’s not like Ted was this huge superstar before they put them together – WWE was without any creative ideas for him and since they put Maryse and Ted together, it’s been non-talk whether you love them, or hate. They’re becoming gossip for everyone and she actually is bringing attention to their stable – they’re a duo, not just Ted – it’s Ted AND Maryse.
Anyway, off that note. I thought the Divas match was okay. I agree with everyone that Eve needs some more emotion instead of just smiles, but who cares. I’m putting all my money that Alicia will retain come Sunday and that’ll pretty much signal the end of the feud. I only hope that there will be a Alicia/Maryse, Alicia/Melina or Alicia/Melina/Maryse feud, soon.
“She’s such a better manager than wrestler it’s not even funny. She looks great, she cuts awesome promos, she’s funny, her face reactions are spot on, ahh she’s just amazing.!”
She’s not over as a heel, and she seems to try to get cheers, even though she is a heel and is supposed to be helping a heel wrestler get heel heat.
Her English is lousy, and she mostly likes to speak in French, which is useless because the fans don’t react to it since they don’t know what she is saying.
She overshadows her wrestler unless she does nothing, which a skilled valet (like Natalya or Melina) knows how to avoid.
At best, this pairing is useless beyond making sure Maryse gets a segment on the show. At worst, a guy with promise could have his career ruined Marc Mero-style because WWE had to find a new role for a woman who has no heat and was too bad in the ring to be kept as a full-time wrestler.
Yep, sounds like a fantastic manager (assuming that WWE really hates Ted DIBiase for some reason).
im not gonna talk about anything but maryse…man she led the segment
they look like barbie and ken by the way!!
@chrisP Maryse is ”over” (hate that word) with the crowd. She gets boos when she wants to and cheers when she wants to she controls the crowd she can come out with cheers and leave with boos. She has a FRENCH accent of course her english isn’t the best I am french and I don’t have an accent but my grandparents do. I can’t even understand my grandpa. And the fans do react. Are you deaf or something? She is amazing as a valet you are just a hater
Good write up Steven. I really enjoyed reading it.
I am excited about the prospect of two divas matches, I am excited to see Alicia beat Eve and put an end to this dull fued.
I wasn’t sold on the Tamina Nattie catfight, it just seemed a bit random.
Maryse was awesome tonight. I like her as a valet. Now we have the PPV to look forward too. I think Lil Ms Fox is going to win as will Layla, any way I digress, this is about the red show. I think a legitimate win, might put Alicia over a little bit more, although I love her sneaky diva act. I think that Eve is pretty, stunning in fact, yes she has a little bit of spark in the ring, but she is just like Kelly Kelly, I just find her bland to watch and has a generic personality. Well that’s my penny’s worth.
I agree with Justin0422. I’m not going to argue about whether or not Maryse is good at being Ted’s valet. I think she’s amazing at it and so do a majority of the people on here. IDK why there is so much hating on Maryse, she is tons better at everything but wrestling than the other Divas(minus Laycool)
“@chrisP Maryse is ”over” (hate that word) with the crowd. She gets boos when she wants to and cheers when she wants to she controls the crowd she can come out with cheers and leave with boos. She has a FRENCH accent of course her english isn’t the best I am french and I don’t have an accent but my grandparents do. I can’t even understand my grandpa. And the fans do react. Are you deaf or something? She is amazing as a valet you are just a hater”
I’m not a “hater” (there’s a word I hate). I’m being realistic. On an average night, a very small group of fans will start a chant of her name that can barely be heard on TV and quickly dies. That’s about as good as it gets for her on an typical night on Raw or a PPV.
@chrisP Oh your clever! No one chants her name cuz she is heel SHE GETS HEEL HEAT she is heel so of course nobody will chant her name. She just gets cheered sometimes. Daffney in TNA is heel but people cheer for her do you hate her too?
If Maryse just stood along the side and did nothing, then people would complain that her being out there is pointless. And, when Maryse actually does show character and personality, she is “overshadowing?” When exactly is a valet doing just “enough?” Because last I checked, most valets (Melina, Lita, Trish, etc) showed character and personality in their segments, too. Watch Christian and Trish’s segments. Maryse isn’t doing anything wrong.