Following Tuesday’s NXT season three premiere, it’s said that many ‘key’ people backstage were high on the NXT Rookie Divas, reports the Wrestling Observer. They write:
People were noting Maxine in her dance playing with Chimel’s tie, joking she never got the memo about staying away from ties (from the Bryan firing). When it was over, everyone was saying Naomi was going to win. She was not the original company choice, but she won over the key people. They liked A.J. as a young replacement for Mickie James as the spunky, small babyface. Jamie really wants to be a wrestler but they’re not sure if that’s the right role for her. She still may wind up in a ring announcing role. Backstage the feeling was Kaitlyn is the most attractive and had the best body (I guess it’s like a nuclear arms race there). They want to get her over as a face using Vickie brow beating her. Maxine was compared to Alex Riley as someone who could be the best heel on the season. Regarding Aksana, the reaction was that the foreign blond with the accent is too similar to Maryse, and the feeling is Maryse is the better performer, and more importantly, hotter. There were comments backstage about how these women overall had so much better bodies than the women on the roster. Realistically the way the company is structured, they are probably going to carry about 12 women total, so there will probably cuts from the current active women’s roster by the spring.
I find it interesting that these ‘key’ people just now realise that ‘foreign blonde with an accent’ Aksana is similar to Maryse. I also find it curious that Kaitlyn, with six weeks of training, is hot-shotted onto NXT and then this report comes out. I’m now wondering if it was simply to get her ‘hot’ body on TV? She fits the ‘Diva mould’ more than Aloisia, after all.
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43 Comments
Interesting article, which pretty much just tells us what we already knew. The stuff about Aksana was a bit harsh though. I mean she is cute, which differentiates her from Maryse; as Maryse isn’t cute, she’s hot. There is no way Maryse could portray Aksana’s character, it just wouldn’t work.
And if they are that bothered about Aksana’s hair colour, just dye it. Although, I’d prefer it blonde as I see her being paired Goldust after NXT and blonde would suit her more if she was with him.
i would’ve thought katlyn was not hot in wwe’s eyes. her muscles look bigger than beth’s.
i really like aksana, but yeah, unless she teams up with maryse, it’ll just be weird seeing basically two of the same gimmick, even if aksana does come across as a face version of maryse. although saying that, michelle and layla pretty much took maryse’s gimmick (without the french and her newly developed gold digger attributes) and they’ve been able to co-exist. and, heck, we all know all the face divas have the exact same “gimmick” point and smile, ladies.. point and smile!
I know that there are people out there who feel that 12 Divas is too much, but that doesn’t seem like enough to me. If they put six girls on each show fine, but everyone’s on RAW. It’s always been that way. Remember when the only Divas on SmackDown were Torrie Wilson, Dawn Marie, and Nidia?
I admire that Jamie really wants to be a wrestler. And I kind of feel that Liviana/Maxine and Aksana shouldn’t be wrestlers. I’ll always love the Manager/Valet roles when they’re done well, and I think that Liviana/Maxine, specifically, can do really well in that role. I don’t know why the WWE now thinks that everyone has to wrestle to get over (except for Natalya and Serena, who can and are/were just left as valets).
And as much as I like Aksana, I don’t see her or Kaitlyn lasting long in the WWE.
So pretty much they like all of them except Aksana.
Out of the six rookie divas which three do you think will get called up to the main roster?
My picks are:
Aj Lee
Naomi
Kaitlyn
I love Kaitlyn… she is very cute and she has bigger arms and legs… which is different… and she is very pretty…. hope she manages to show that she can wrestle… ~hope she’s a fast learner~
I kinda like Jamie.. but she is so stiff and boring…
Naomi… hate the way she talks… its kinda different and Naomi seems like she’s already too overrated…
AJ… over reacts to everything… hope she changes that..
Aksana- she seems like a good wreslter hope she shows more moves
Maxine- i dont wanna sound judgemental.. but i find her nose weird and her teeth look sharp…. sorry for judging her looks.. but thats what I see… Yes i know. may sound mean.. but come on…
Can’t wait for the next episode
With all the legit reasons to hate some of their creative & hiring choices I do not understand is why people get so worked up over the WWE continuing to hire Divas with blond hair, as if changing their hair color isn’t a very simple task to complete with the aid of hair dye.
alexl467
I’m glad that they seem to be high on the ladies, but it kind of bothers me that they are more concerned about their appearance than anything else. But then again, this is The E that we are talking about here. I dont like that they want AJ to be a Mickie James replacement. That will do nothing but rub certain fans up the wrong way and totally over-shadow her potential. They should just let AJ develop her own character and connect with the fans her own way.
And if managment were smart, they would keep a close eye on Kaitlyn. She is definatly a diamond in the rough. She had alot to live up too, being Aloisia’s replacement. She carried herself well and was fun and natural.
I wonder what would happen if for some reason Askana won. Would they just pretend that this season of NXT didn’t happen because obviously its not the result there after.
For some reason i read that article as if it was a bunch or fat perverted guys talking about the women :|
“they are probably going to carry about 12 women total, so there will probably cuts from the current active women’s roster by the spring.”
Damm another time i have to worry about Jillans career :(
sounds to me they like Naomi, Maxine, and Kaitlyn the most, but also like Jamie determination,
ya aksana, seem like there least favorite, but a 0.96 rating is good i think for all the divas show, and i hope it doesnt go down much next week, or maybe up, who knows, but what i do no is that with WWE debutiing almost all the FCW divas on NXT only leavin Christina Crawford aka Hayley turner, and ALoisia, so they need some new ones
My vote goes to WOW Lana Star, aka Wrestlicious Malibu MacKenzie,
It doesn’t surprise me if they see AJ as a probable Mickie replacement. Mickie when hired, was probably supposed to be a brunette Trish. Its normal. It doesn’t work, but its normal.
Aksana is just a Lithuanian version of Maryse. However the Lithuanian accent is cute, while Maryse’s accent is supposed to be conceited.
Kaytlin is gorgeous, but so was Maria. Hot doesn’t mean good in the ring, unfortunately. I hope she looks good in her first match.
Naomi showed the most personality on NXT. She doesn’t just say the lines. She gives life to the lines. It almost makes me believe that her character is real.
I found AJ’s mic skills slightly boring, but maybe thats because of her gimmick.
I was expecting way more of Jamie. Maybe they’re right and she should stick to announcement or being a valet. Lets wait to see.
i honestly dont see kaitlyn continuing wwe that long… she doesn’t look like she have a passion for wrestling/wwe. and damn have you seen her legs… its like a big hunk beef jerky.
and how the hell could they even compare maxine to alex riley. first of all, her promotion suck so bad and her wrestling skill is just as bad as her promo intro. not to mention that dreadful wrestling attire shes wearing.
imo, jamie has the best body out of this six rookies, too bad she sounded like shes reading a teleprompter when she did her promo intro.
aksana could be the comedic version of maryse. pairing her with goldust is just genius.
aj lee – LIKE OooooHMAYGAWD.. LIKE YOU ARE SO ADDDORRABLE, LIKE OooooooHMYGAWDDDD, LIKE SOOOO FEEETCH! …ayyy stick to wrestling.
naomi – the most likable of all divas, and only the only one that seem very sincere about wrestling/wwe. imo shes the kaval/daniel bryan of season 3.
Naomi and AJ are probably going to be called up right away. Maxine could work as the woman DiBiase has on the side- her character is perfect for it, and Maryse could become a tweener as the woman scorned…
About the cuts:
I imagine they’re releasing Rosa. I hope they don’t do that to Gail or Jillian, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Maybe Tiffany, depending on what happens on court.
Ana- I agree w/ you on Rosa, probably Gail (isn’t she getting a lot of money?), maybe the Bellas. You need a female jobber, so I think Jillian will be OK for now.
i am thinking they will release, Rosa, tiffany, Tamina, Gail , and someone else
Raw- Melina, Alicia, Gail, Jillian, Eve and Maryse can make a dvision with the occasinal Natalya and Tamina.
Smackdown- Lay-Cool, Bellas, Blondtourage, AJ Lee and Naomi Night. They could have a tag team divison. Rosa can occasinaly job
Frankly the rest of the NXT divas need traning. This is the perfect way to bring in all divas in a good way to put all on television.
Wouldn’t surprise me if they released Rosa, Jillian, and Gail. However, there are reports that WWE wants to get rid of the Bellas. Also, if the only reason for hiring Gail Kim was to bring down the Knockouts division, then I don’t see them releasing her for awhile. However, I still fear for Tiffany because she has so much potential.
AJ Lee as the next Mickie James? I can’t really see that. Personally, she comes off as a female Rey Mysterio.
I think it’s so funny that WWE realizes things too late. Aloisia’s “erotic” photos, Aksana being too similar to Maryse, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kaitlyn was eliminated first cuz her her trashy photos that were discovered last minute. But then again, she probably gets away with it cuz she’s more Diva-like than Aloisia (a lot of “newz” sites had very mean comments on Aloisia’s looks).
I also forgot, if WWE has a problem with Aksana and Maryse being too similar, why don’t they keep them on separate brands or have one cut or dye their hair? And different gimmicks wouldn’t hurt. Aksana can be Goldust’s new Terri/Marlena, and Maryse can be the woman scorned who is after Ted’s mistress.
Poor Aksana. She’s been getting nothing but crap for being a “Maryse wannabe,” and now even “key” people backstage is saying it. But what did WWE expect? They hired a foreign blonde in her twenties, sound a lot like Maryse to me, they knew what they were getting into from the beginning.
But honestly, I think Aksana is more like Trish, than she is like Maryse. Meaning, she’s more versatile and can be a believable face and heel (as, to where I see if Maryse went heel, she’d get the Melina treatment and people wouldn’t buy it because she’s more heelish) also, I think Aksana is the better performer post Maryse injury, anyway. Not knocking Maryse, that’s my girl. But she dropped the ball unfortunately, and unless she picks it up I think she’d make a better manager whilst Aksana can grow to be a better in ring performer. And no comment on whose “hotter” between Aksana and Maryse. Geez, they’re both beautiful, gorgeous women, WWE. Lay off.
And, AJ can’t be the “next Mickie”. I thought she could be, but Mickie had a natural spunk about her and people – especially HUGE Mickie fans – are going to bitch and moan about AJ “ripping off” Mickie, just like Trish fans did to Candice, or at least I know I did. :-P
@FCW Divas su yung and jemma palmer should be starting Fcw soon.
@Ana_Nattie_rules
I agree on Naomi’s mic time, she just seems so “real” when she speaks, unlike a lot of the Divas that put on so much bravado a many of of them who might as well be porn stars with similar caliber acting. Naomi could be like “the people’s Diva”. All down to Earth and chilled out. Just really love the way she talks.
By the end of the show, Kaitlyn should have had about four months of daily training, right? Let’s hope she is as hungry for it as Naomi and Savannah were and picks it up quickly, although it took even those two (the best models they’ve ever hired in terms of picking up the in ring skills and the results speak for themselves IMO) 6-8 months to really start delivering good matches so I’m not expecting anything miraculous here. Just please learn something, girl. I’m begging you to apply yourself as much as possible! They clearly want you as the new Maria but please try and exceed her wrestling ability.
Aksana is Maryse. Or is Maryse Aksana? Either way, they are basically the exact same, only Maryse speaks in French.
Rooting for AJ, but I think Naomi has the best shot.
“There were comments backstage about how these women overall had so much better bodies than the women on the roster.”
You have got to be shtting me! Who ever said this needs to be fired!
Eve, Maryse Layla hell I’ll even throw Michelle in there to for the shits. Any of them came out and stood next to these chicks theres is no way people would say shit like that. Divas > NXT chicks
This drives me crazy- I can’t believe that:
1) Caitlin is getting “great reviews”; She was not great on the mic. (which will get better with time) but she’s not even a wrestler yet… Let’s wait to see if she can hold a match-
2)I know it’s people’s opinion, but it baffles me when people say Aksana is a good wrestler- She couldn’t even sell the moves correctly and botched the ending- and when she and AJ attempted the same spot AGAIN, it looked sick- but it could’ve ended up a disaster (if you saw how AJ landed).
I love Naomi- LOVE the way she talks and how she handles herself in the ring. If she and AJ aren’t in the finals, the world will- or should come to an end…
Maxine can go, Aksana can go, Caitlin should go in my opinion, but I’m sure she’ll be the Undisputed Women’s/Divas Champion by this time next year.
(Insert woman wrestler) would roll over in their grave to see these matches. Both endings were botched… but as long as they’re attractive, it doesn’t mean shit.
(but I did love when Aksana said ‘I will entertainment you.’)
@RedHotVixen
Yeah, you are right that some Mickie James fans will get off with WWE calling AJ a Mickie James which hurt AJ’s her potential. I agree with you that they should just let AJ develop her own character and connect with the fans her own way. As a Mickie James fan, I wouldn’t say that AJ is ripping off Mickie as AJ does bring a different style to the ring. If anybody is ripping off Mickie James its Kelly Kelly. Just watch one of Kelly’s matches after Mickie was release and you’ll see Kelly copying Mickie’s wrestling style. Maybe it’s just me but AJ does kind of look like she could pass as Mickie’s younger sister so maybe that’s where the comparisons are coming from. But like I said maybe it’s just me. Anyway I’m not hating on AJ as I hope does success in the WWE.
Now who will get released from the WWE possibly by spring? Well, the right choices would Kelly, Eve and the Bella Twins. But ones that they will most likely release are; Gail Kim, Jillian, Natalya and Tiffany.
They’re going to release divas from the active roster??
If they release Jillian Hall I am going to be soooo upset, I don’t know what I’ll do.
They’re going to release Jillian, aren’t they? I hate the WWE.
AJ is no replacement for Mickie James. How dare they even think for a second that they can replace her.
I can’t see them releasing Nattie! That would kill me. I really like Naomi and I had a feeling she would stand out. She just seems so genuine. Vickie’s rookie… idk like I previously said I like here but I’m worried about her in the ring. If the rookies heard these I assume there pretty flattered aside Aksana. Poor thing she’s precious to me, like a kitten. :D
I don’t understand how when everyone says that they will release wrestlers eveyone assumes Jillian. Vince Mcmahon Loves Jillian’s gimmick and he thinks she’s absolutley hilarious so there is no way that they are going to fire her anytime soon unless we hear a report about how Vince is tired with her gimmick, but even then they could just try out another gimmick, Jillian is only 28 so she’s got a least another 2-3 years before they fire her. I’m wondering though which diva’s would get released if all six made it? I’m going to guess Rosa Mendes, Bella Twins, Maybe Melina (but thats only if she gets Injured again soon cause then they will start to think she’s injury prone), other than that I can’t think of anyone else.
maryse vs aksana feud !!!!!!!!!!! aj should win, niomi is good, jamie should be valet or stay ring announcer, maxine should be a job wrestler or a REALLY good mic person, kaitly idk what 2 say
sorry kaitlyn
I don’t get the hype with Kaitlin. Sure she can play Maria 2.0 but other than that what else can she do? Plus they sasid she was the best looking one out of all the NXT divas? I think the girl is pretty but best looking? In my opinion no. Aksana to me is more likable than Maryse. I don’t know it’s just something about her I like. AJ will be okay no matter what. She’s awesome. Maxine should be a valet or something. For as long as she has been in FCW she wrestles just above Rosa’s level. Jamie seems plain right now. Maybe i’ll change my mind when I see what she can do in the ring. It’s nice that Naomi is getting her shine. She deserves every bit of praise she gets.
The only diva I wouldn’t be sad to see go is Rosa. She does nothing and I wouldn’t care she is got cut. Everyone else I feel has something to offer in some way. I would even say Brie can go but I have a feeling if one twin goes so does the other.
My heart just started beating after the word “cut”. So who will get released? Jillian..& Rosa. I dont see other’s getting released it would be a shock for any of the other diva’s to go. I see Maryse & Alicia being Top Heels in the future. I see Tiffany & Eve being Top Faces also. AJ & Naomi being the secondary divas with maybe Kaitlyn, Maxine and Aksana being the Rosa, Bellas and Kelly of the roster.
@Sugarrush
I couldnt agree anymore. But also i dont care for Jillian even though she is one of the best diva wrestlers there at the moment. She just hasnt nothing left for her in the WWE . She’ll just Job to aksana, AJ and naomi in the future, so its best for Jillian to leave instead of being humiliated. TNA would most likely accept her.
I say no to divas getting cut. You just get so attached to these women that you would hate to see them lose their job. :( Damn you double double E!
22 with the NXT women I believe. That means they’re supposedly about to cut almost half of the roster.
i can see alot of divas going if they only want 12 or so,rosa<shes way overdue to be fired,jillian,layla since they cant treat her right & if shes not with mccool shes gone,bellas,tamina with the guys,alicia i can see her gone,jamie,tiffany <i think thats who will get released if they have too…even thou i want layla to stay i cant see her staying if they want to cut the roster..
Typical WWE… PG rating, but big breasts is a requirement for women to make it in the company… they need a gay man up there to do the damn booking and talent hiring so the women’s division is actually WORTH something…
The divas cuts
Gail kim,the bellas,rosa mendes,tiffnay,aksana.
If it really does get down to 12, I’m guessing:
AJ -positive NXT comments
Beth -central star
Kaitlyn -positive NXT comments
Kelly -young & popular
Layla -safe as long as LayCool is going strong
Maryse – Maryse > Aksana comments
Maxine -positive NXT comments
Melina -central star
Michelle -central star
Naomi -positive NXT comments
Natalya -legacy of an extremely well respected family
Plus one of Alicia, Eve, Gail, Jillian, Tamina or Tiffany. Jillian and Tiffany have the upper hand here with Vince supposedly loving Jillian’s gimmick and Tiffany being the wife of one of their newest star projects.
Aksana, Bella Twins, Jamie and Rosa look to be on the shakiest ground and thus would seem to be the first on the chopping block.