Last week on Monday Night Raw, BFF co-champs, LayCool told Melina they had an “offer she simply can’t refuse” for the 900th episode of Raw. As promised, LayCool appeared on Raw to inform the Divas Champion of their offer, but not before taking her on in a tag team match. Watch below as LayCool face off against Eve and the Divas Champion, Melina:
We come from commercial to find LayCool already in the ring, checking their reflections in their belts. (Belt? Half-belts?) Out next is the team of Melina and Eve, and LayCool welcome their fellow champ by running that ‘Lady Wawa’ joke even further into the ground. Without much pretense, the bell rings and our match is underway.
Michelle and Melina start off the match for their teams and right off the bat, McCool charge at Melina with a clothesline. Melina evades, and fights back with a flurry of forearms. While Michelle is still flustered, Melina charges Layla in the corner, knocking her to the floor. Unfortunately for Melina, Michelle McCool takes advantage of the distraction and floors her with a belly to belly slam for a near fall.
Now in control, Michelle tags in Layla, who slams Melina face-first into the canvas, before flinging her across the ring by her hair. Layla pulls Melina to her feet and towards her corner for the tag, taunting her all the while, but Melina manages to shove her off and into Michelle (Doesn’t that count as a tag?). In the subsequent confusion, Melina rolls Layla up in a school boy pin for the win.
I wish I could really review this match, but honestly there’s not that much to go over. From bell to bell, the match didn’t even make the minute mark (Fifty seconds, to be exact), which has to be some sort of record, even for WWE. You would think that in a match showcasing all their Diva champions and a former champion, they’d give the match at least two minutes, right? Wrong. But let’s face it, this match wasn’t about the wrestling. It was merely a vehicle for Laycool’s offer. And what an offer it was.
As Melina and Eve celebrate, LayCool get on the mic and finally unveil their offer: A title unification match at Night of Champions (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!). Melina counters LayCool’s offer by making it a Lumberjack match, which prompts all of the Divas from all brands (except for Tiffany, of course) to come out and back up the Divas Champion.
In the past I have been very outspoken on the prospect of unifying the two championships, but I never thought that WWE would actually pull the trigger. Like I’ve said before, unifying the titles is a horrible move on WWE’s part. There are so many girls not being used as it is, (The Bellas, Rosa, Gail, Jillian…) and without a second belt to compete for, I doubt WWE will see the need for such a huge Divas roster. I predict many of the Divas being released before the year is out, especially with the possibly of even more Divas being called up as part of NXT.
Looking forward to Night of Champions, the thought of a Melina/Michelle rematch from last year is very exciting. They put on an awesome match at last year’s NOC, so hopefully we’ll see them do the same this year. That said, I feel like LayCool will find some way to make this a handicap match or pull out the win via sneaky tactics, even with the others Divas at ringside.
Hopefully, WWE will see the error of their title unifying ways and change this match before Night of Champions (not holding my breath.), but in the meantime, I’m interested to see what kind of interaction LayCool and Melina (if any) will have in the coming weeks on Raw and SmackDown.
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84 Comments
I still think it’s crap. The intercontinental and U.S. Titles are two different titles…why unify them? It’s stupid. Then less and less people will be champion. Now the likes of John Cena or Randy Orton will dominate the top championship matches while Melina, Michelle, or Beth will dominate the women’s . . .and the others will just be……there……doing things.
really not happy about this, the same people will be Champion all the time now, and out of everyone in the pic, i bet only 2 of them will ever hold the unified title (Melina & Maryse)
Meh. I like it. WWE needs to unify all the titles because it’s just not interesting anymore. Hell, WWE needs to fix everything. How about getting rid of PG… First time in a while I really don’t like what WWE is offering right now. Awful.
“I predict many of the Divas being released before the year is out, especially with the possibly of even more Divas being called up as part of NXT.”
Thats not nescessarily a bad thing. If they go back to the pre-brand separation and have the stars appear on both shows, they only need 8 to 10 divas and still be able to put on more interesting matches than we’ve seen in 2010 sofar.
theregoeskitty wrote: “really not happy about this, the same people will be Champion all the time now”
Nothing will change. It was always about “the 4 M’s” (Maryse, Michelle, Melina and Mickie), although Mickie has been replaced with Beth. And wether you have 1 or 2 titles is completely irrelevant, the title(s) will still stay on those 4 names. Only sometimes they break away from the main stars, but mostly because of injuries or just as a token champion to pass the belt from ‘face to face’ like Alicia and Jillian did.
“So, I’m confused. Is there going to be one title or is there going to be 2 titles and a tag team that holds them?”
if they go ahead with the unification, there will only be one title between all the women.
I’m all for it. Less titles makes it a much bigger honour to be a champion. You can go on and on and on about WWE focusing on the same women, but they do that for a reason. When they placed the Diva’s title on the likes of Alicia Fox and Eve Torres, to me personally it was absolutely clear that they weren’t ready to be champion, and it devalued the belt.
A title should be placed on someone who is already over and can already compete at a high standard – it shouldn’t be used as a tool to get someone over, like we’ve been seeing in recent months. My hope is that in unifying the belts, more women will be encouraged to step up and show their true colours in order to prove that they deserve a shot, rather than coasting by without putting much effort into anything.
I don’t think Melina will be holding the belt for long or Maryse getting a tiitle shot. If they decide to go with the Ted/Maryse vs John/Melina feud. I think Melina and Maryse should be dropped from the title hunt.
Unifying the titles does suck. It means a lot people will either lose their jobs or some will get sent back to FCW until they are needed again.
WWE PG isn’t going anywhere until Linda’s election run is over. I’m not sure if they’ll go back to PG-13 after that. Which they should.
If they were going to do the whole Morrison/Melina reunion to take on TDJ/Maryse, then I honestly think it would’ve started up about a month ago, when Morrison and DiBiase were still actually feuding.
Personally, I think Melina would make a great first ever unified Women’s champion. :) Then a Metro reunion would be nice, but I won’t hold my breath.
I’m going to refrain from commenting on the unification of titles because I kind of have the same opinion as seasons-of-love.
Instead, I’d like to point out how much Alicia Fox looks like Tyra Banks in that photo at the top. I personally love that look on her.
If they only focus on a few women no one will care for the other women. I loved the Lita and Trish era, but even then some people complained for the lack of other women since Lita and Trish were their main girls.
The purpose of the belt is, in a way, to get someone over. Giving Alicia the belt was a good thing.
If they only gave the belt to a select few (Melina, Michelle, Beth and other) then they might as well release all the others women.
Most of the roster is filled with trained models that are not as good as the ones above (yet). Not everyone catches on as quickly or can reach that level. So for those who have trained should miss out on a title shot because they aren’t as good?
Trish wasn’t a good wrestler when she got her first title reign. Compare Trish then to Melina now, Trish SUCKED. But she got better as time went on, to be a 7x Women’s Champion.
“I’m all for it. Less titles makes it a much bigger honour to be a champion. You can go on and on and on about WWE focusing on the same women, but they do that for a reason. When they placed the Diva’s title on the likes of Alicia Fox and Eve Torres, to me personally it was absolutely clear that they weren’t ready to be champion, and it devalued the belt.
A title should be placed on someone who is already over and can already compete at a high standard – it shouldn’t be used as a tool to get someone over, like we’ve been seeing in recent months. My hope is that in unifying the belts, more women will be encouraged to step up and show their true colours in order to prove that they deserve a shot, rather than coasting by without putting much effort into anything.”
You sound like Melina.
How do you expect the “rookie” divas to get over if they never get pushed? I don’t know what happen with A. Fox But in Eve’s case them pushing her and putting the title on her. actually helped her get over with the fans.
Trust me the WWE just throw around storylines, if they want to bring it back they’ll find away. Melina just got back. So the feud they were planning couldn’t have started. It was meant to be the John/Melina and Ted/Maryse feud anyway. Well Miz/Maryse until he got his push.
I can see it happening again. Maryse wants a title shot, but Melina won’t grant it or accept. Ted tries to buy it a title shot and/or buy the title from Melina, but Melina’s still not having it. It some how finds a way of Ted doing something to Melina and outcomes John to save the day thus starting the feud.
I’m not holding my breath for that though.
Thank you @Tom
Every division has its stars, but that doesn’t mean the other wrestlers won’t have a shot. For the most part Trish was the focus back in 2002-2006, but Molly, Victoria, Jazz and co. all got their chance to shine. It’s not just about waiting for WWE to action and push you, it’s about pushing yourself and forcing people to take notice. Alicia Fox has gotten ample opportunity, but she hasn’t connected. Likewise with Eve, although I willl admit to her becoming more popular in recent months (it would’ve been bizarre had she not, tbh).
People seem to forget that Melina, McCool, Mickie, Beth and the rest of them were all rookies without fan support themselves at one point. And yeah, you could argue that they were given more screentime and support from management, but do you really think Melina would be were she is today had she not gone all out in proving herself as a) a manager and b) a wrestler? No, she absolutely seized her opportunity in her first few years, and has won over people as a result. No way in hell would they have given her as big a push had she not tried her hardest in those initial few segments and matches. And look at Michelle McCool…she was initially walking around doing nothing with Lauren Jones and Rochelle whatshername, but she came about with time and proved that she was passionate to improve as a wrestler. Say what you will about her and The Undertaker, but to deny her obvious passion is ridiculous. It’s even the case with Maryse…she did her best to stand out, and it paid off.
Basically, it’s tough for the women, but if you have ‘it’ and if you push yourself to the limit then WWE will take notice and make an effort. Frankly I don’t see that with a lot of these ‘underutilized’ women: sorry if that offends, but it’s how I feel. The exception is Nattie, but I have utmost faith that her time will come. And Gail and Jillian have both been pushed before, and Jillian has survived numerous roster cuts, so don’t pull that card. They’re in a good position.
Ahh, that was a big post, lol. Sorry.
Rosa is lined up among the heels…. is she still a heel??? I really hate what has happened to the Divas Roster…
Well, obviously the match was stupid and pointless and Im sick of seeing roll-ups :/
So, with that being said…
I said this on the poll comment page but, oh well lol
To me it’s like, if it wasn’t obvious they were giving up on the Diva’s division before, it is now. Having one title means they only have 1 storyline to half-ass instead of 2. Plus, girls who didn’t have a chance before, really don’t now. Even if it’s defended on both brands, there are too many Divas for just 1 belt. They don’t really lack Divas on SD, it’s just they chose not to use Rosa, Beth got hurt, Tiffany is suspended, Serena wasn’t involved but now she’s released.
So, to me, this is goodbye for Rosa, The Bellas, Jillian, Gail, and maybe even more. I don’t want them to go but it’s probably true :(
For what it’s worth, I’ve been hearing that WWE is planning to unify ALL the belts. One tag title, one womens title, one mid-card title, and one world title. If that’s true, at least the Divas aren’t the only one’s getting shafted.
Most of the women you named were from the indy circuit who had years of training and wrestling behind them. Compared to the WWE trained models.
Melina wasn’t WWE trained, she was from the indys. Lita (i think), Mickie, Beth, Jillian, Gail, Serena and a few others are all from the indy circuit.
I won’t deny Michelle’s passion, talent or skills but most of her push is due to the Undertaker.
Most of the Divas who didn’t need a push a still got over were the ones who could actually wrestle. You think if Beth couldn’t wrestle she would have got pushed.
A lot of divas past and presence pushes weren’t always because of passion. Look at Stacy and Torrie. Their looks and the INVASION storyline got them over and got them pushed over a good few of deserving divas. Candice Michelle was HORRIBLE, her LOOKS is what stood out, once she got a push which took a while, she got better and got over.
Same with Trish. It was mainly her looks and WWE taking a chance, until she proved she could wrestle and get better. But look what she had to go through to get over and finally get a decent push. She had to be Vince’s bitch and be humiliated in front of the world on LIVE TV.
It took the Hardy’s to get Lita over. So it’s hard even if you have a passion for the business and will do anything for the company. Look what Lita went through she was willing to almost every storyline including her final storyline with Edge.
It was mention back in 2001 or 2002 that Trish offered up a storyline got a big laugh to the face.
Women only get chances when the WWE feel like taking chances on them. No matter the passion, talent or skill.
Why do you think the WWE isn’t too keen on hiring indy women now. They’re mainly hiring models. They don’t care about the division like they used to.
@shannymac:
but unlike the men who will still have more titles to for, the divas only have one. So more divas than men will get released. :(
There is nothing more to say this is the beginning of the end….Well at least I dont feel some what pissed off , I hear they are going to unify all the titles. Or maybe this might turn out to be a great thing we will have to wait and see…with NXT season 3 Rookies… I can see another Major Cutt like they did bak in 04-05 when they released Molly , Jackie , Ivory , Jazz etc….
I think It could be a good or bad thing. The good thing is it will make the slacker divas work harder because there is only one title and they’ll be releasing girls left right because they don’t need them all. Also the divas championship felt kind of like it was given to anybody who happened to raise their hand first backstage or caught it when they threw it in the air. Now they’ll actually have to prove themselves and work. Fans really get behind champs who work their butt off to get why they want.
It can be a bad thing because WWE has a whole bunch of rookies girls coming in and they need to push them if there trying to get a stable division when all the other girls leave. We all know who gets all the titles in the divas division(Michelle,Beth,Maryse,and Melina). So I’m afraid the rookie divas are gone to get pushed aside untill the other girls retire.
I hope it works out for the best and we don’t have to say good bye to some of our favorites. I know TNA is like rejoicing. There waiting for the releases of some of the top girls. It’s like an early Christmas present I bet
I’m for it. The Divas Championship never really had a purpose and only continued to make the joke of the division something more to laugh at. Perhaps this is a move by higher ups to start focusing on a smaller, but stronger division. The ‘Golden Age’ had one title and less than 10 girls, I see no reason they can’t do the same here.
Honestly I hope that they are moving towards removing the brand split.
Also I doubt you will see Gail or Jillian go anywhere.. They are the jobbers for their alignments, and that is job security. Rosa, the Bellas, Tamina, and all these NXT girls that don’t win, are who should be worried imo.
The Divas title never had any real meaning to it. Get rid of it. The only change I’d make is this: instead of having one member of Lay-Cool, have both of them in it and make it a triple-threat match. Melina wins, then Michelle and Layla can finally start feuding with each other.
I may be the ONLY one to just have REWATCHED and LISTEN to it just now and I realized that Michelle said.
“When we (LayCool) win. We unify the Diva’s and Women’s Championships!”
So if LayCool win, the titles are unified but if Melina wins they won’t.
But we know of rumors and word that some time next year, they will be unfying a lot titles.
Also why is Tamina up there and not Nattie?
@imj1995
“I know TNA is like rejoicing. There waiting for the releases of some of the top girls. It’s like an early Christmas present I bet”
LOL! So true. But when a wrestler gets fired from the WWE, they have to wait 90 days to wrestle on TV again with another company. (They can do indys all they want) So it will be by Christmas when TNA can get a fallen diva.
This is all because of theyre bad drafting at the begining in april and all theur releases,, why dont they just put jillian and the bella twins on smackdown?!?!?!
People tend to forget that Melina didn’t really have much experience prior to Tough Enough, and that a large amount of her time later on was spent managing. And model or not, the point is that she was initially pushed due to her determination and work on the mic (well, and her looks, but that goes without saying). Then she put on some good matches, and WWE realised that they might have someone potentially special. Alicia Fox has been wrestling for what, four or five years now? Eve has been wrestling since 2007. They both have experience not too far of Melina’s back in 2005, and likewise with Kelly, the Bellas and others. The point is that either they’re just not as capable or they’re not passionate enough. If they were, then they’d be doing better, because they HAVE been given a fair opportunity. They just by and large haven’t delivered.
And it was blindingly clear that Michelle McCool was going to be pushed in early 2007. The Undertaker stuff didn’t surface until long after that. So I don’t buy the ‘She’s only here because of Undertaker’ argument. Sure, perhaps he’s had an influence, but I’d bet management was always big on her. She stepped up, and was pushed accordingly. Candice too. Even Christy Hemme back in 2005 got that treatment. Like I said, WWE seem harsher when it comes to their women, but it still seems that if you push yourself then, well, you’ll be pushed, and it’ll pay off.
0:56 right side laycool sign LOL….half sign…Melina goes sloppy throw hairpulls lol..
why is the focus on mccool when layla is the champ mccool cant defend the title only the champ can so she cant defend the belt…
i think this may be the start of a layla vs mccool feud they could slowly start tension between them…
melina talking just sounds heel to me lmaO…mccool on mic awful layla awesome.
If Their Just Unifying all the Titles Smackdown should Just Move to Raw. If That’s The Case. I THINK iT’S sTUPID bECAUSE. kELLY nEEDS TO BE WOMENS CHAMP. & Gail Kim need to be Divas Champ. & Everyone knows LayCool gonna win cus of Vickie. It’s Not Fair.
I’m sorry but Kelly has a long way to go to be women’s champi, now if you said diva’s champ then maybe I would’ve agreed.
I don’t think the WWE will get rid of SmackDowm, but I think Raw and SmackDown are going to stop being interbrands. Like they was before the draft.