So I can honestly say there was a lot to Raw last night, and this morning I have very little time to sit here and process it. Rough day, rough night, and pounding migraine but hey, work has to be done because it isn’t going to do itself. Last night, we had an interesting match along with some shenanigans that left me somewhat stunned. I’m not sure what to say, but what else is new? Let’s start with the match. It featured the woman who came up just a little short last night in her quest to win her first Divas Championship, Kaitlyn, and Aksana, the person who apparently attacked her way back at Night of Champions.
What surprised me most about this match is how much offense Aksana got in on Kaitlyn, whereas at Survivor Series, Kaitlyn practically dominated Eve. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect the match to be clean either, but it was. I haven’t seen Aksana inside the ring in forever, and she looked pretty good. I like how she tricked Kaitlyn into coming after her, which is what a heel should do, and I loved her illegal submission arm-bar using the ropes. That was really clever. Aksana is always a wildcard for me because she can play a character, but she can’t necessarily back it up in the ring. Tonight, I thought she held her own and it was the best I’ve seen her work. I think the WWE should give her more matches because she’s come along way. I hope they keep working with her, and I hope Aksana keeps at it. She has an amazing look, physically, with the jet black hair and red lips, her ring gear is unique. She’s just different, and I like that.
For the first time in awhile, the WWE has Divas that are all completely different from one another. Kaitlyn is a great face. She doesn’t come out to the ring with a smile on her face when she’s supposed to be annoyed. She doesn’t have the typical babyface move set. She’s a star in the making and I think the crowds are starting to become invested in her. She worked with Aksana surprisingly well tonight, selling the other woman’s offense and then ending the match with a flourish to get a much needed win. If I had to think of something that would make Kaitlyn a bit better, maybe a new finisher? I’m not too keen on a knee to the gut as someone’s finisher. Then again, no one has ever kneed me in the gut so I have no idea how badly it hurts, especially when I’m being lifted in the air and then dropped.
Overall, the match was solid between both of them. I was pleasantly surprised and I love it when that happens. I’m glad the attacker storyline wasn’t forgotten. I’m not necessarily thrilled with the big reveal, but Kaitlyn got some measure of revenge. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters, right?
Moving on to AJ Lee, Vickie Guerrero, John Cena, and Dolph Ziggler now… yes, this continued. And it continued in a most interesting way. At the rate we are going, Cena may end up in line behind Diva Dirt’s beloved Dawlf when it comes to getting his own Diva Dirt tag.
We get things kicked off on this side of the spectrum with Vickie walking to the ring with two people. Later on they would go on to be introduced as a Miss Whitney Smith and a Mr. Doug Brady. Apparently, they are eye witnesses to AJ and John’s torrid night in Sacremento.
The two witnesses made me giggle a bit. They reminded me of two people who so desperately want a paycheck they will say anything. Whitney Smith made sure to let us all know that AJ and John wanted a table to the back and that during the entire business dinner, they were seen being flirty and touchy. To back up that claim, Doug Brady let us know that they were in a parked car for awhile doing adult things and that a father even had to come to him and complain. Obviously it didn’t take long for AJ to come out to the ring. She got into it with Vickie yet again, but Vickie wasn’t done. She had to let us all know that Doug was creepy and had cellphone pictures. After some teasing, Vickie encouraged all of us to turn our eyes to the ‘Tron so we could see.
That brought out John, much to Vickie’s surprise.
Sweet John Cena, God love him, told Vickie that all she wants to do is get people to talk. That led to him showing Vickie a good way to get people to talk. He takes AJ and kisses her softly, and he looks like he’s a pretty good kisser to be honest. Once he breaks the kiss, he turns back to Vickie, but AJ has other plans. She literally attacks Cena with her face, and he does nothing to stop her. The two go at it with their mouths for a hot minute. It takes Prince Dawlf running to the ring to break this up, and he attacks Cena. John ends up throwing Dolph out and decides to chase him, but oh no. This is where it gets early. Not sure what happened, but Cena comes up limp and that doesn’t really bode well. We know how innocently injuries can happen… look what happened to Cody Rhodes on last week’s SmackDown. Ugh, still makes me cringe.
Despite all that, it isn’t over. Here’s what happened next.
Vickie is in her office with a fierce looking Tamina Snuka when AJ shows up. Vickie tries to introduce the two, but AJ lets Vickie know that she will get to know Tamina a lot better in the near future. That being said, AJ is angry that Vickie had Dolph attack John, which prompts Vickie to mock AJ for sticking up for her man. AJ acknowledges the injury that we all saw happen and wants to know what action Vickie is going to take. The Queen says she’s not going to do anything about it, to which AJ replies that she will.
Oh boy.
AJ goes looking for Dolph and heads for the men’s lockerroom. Layla, looking adorable in a leather top and miniskirt, is right behind her and trying to talk her out of it. I suppose Layla is doing what every good friend is supposed to do. AJ basically brushes her off and tells Layla to back off, and without saying a word, Layla retreats. AJ faces the door to the lockerroom and after a brief moment of hesitation barges in. Unfortunately I’m greeted by the sight of Heath Slater in a towel, but there is Dolph. He’s sitting in a chair, minding his business, and AJ walks up to him. But Prince Dawlf, he’s ready.
He stands up and absolutely rips AJ apart. He shreds her personality, spits on her back story, and calls her trash. He also insinuates that she is lonely, weak, and pathetic, and sadly this hits home for me. I’m such an emotional wreck right now that I kind of just want to cry. But anyway, AJ stands there and takes it, tears forming in her eyes. When Dolph is done, he sits back down, checks his phone, and goes back to minding his own business. Well AJ snaps.
She really does.
She starts beating the living crap out of Dolph and it takes John coming in out of nowhere to pull her off. Dolph naturally attacks John, and they end up brawling into the bathroom. Dolph spears Cena through the wall of a bathroom stall… literally, and goes for the wrapped up knee. It takes referees rushing in to pull them apart, but that doesn’t help. Dolph is able to get lose and go back after Cena, who’s basically defenseless at this point. They finally get Dolph off Cena, and out of the way, and AJ rushes to Cena’s side to check on. He’s fighting through the pain but it’s on his face. You can see it.
Wow.
Dolph just got one heck of a push in the span of two minutes.
I’m not sure what to say other than that segment was a definite A-plus. Cena made Dolphy look like a million dollars, while Vickie comes off as this evil bitch of a person, and AJ could very well end up getting the blame for causing all of this. I think it was Sunday that I was bitching about there being no payoff in this angle, and how it wasn’t helping anyone. They flipped a switch pretty fast. I still don’t understand it, but wow. Everything just came off exceptional.
They didn’t even forget about Tamina. I think I’m going to enjoy her in this role. Solid effort tonight on Raw. I really can’t complain. I think the fallout from all of this is going to be nasty. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next week when the dust has settled and if Cena is legit hurt. I haven’t seen anything yet this morning to confirm anything, so I don’t know. I’m one of those people who can never tell if they’re acting or not when it comes to injuries so I try not to speculate. I just know that what wrestlers do is incredibly dangerous and I respect them so, so much for going out there every night, sacrificing their bodies just to give all of us something to talk about.
Until next time… Cryssi out!
54 Comments
at 8:32 pm
That Kaitlyn/Aksana picture… Errrm WOW! :|
at 8:40 pm
I see the divas changing… Everybody has their own personality and gimmick. The divas have two storylines. A diva attacked a superstar. I’m actually excited. I smell a new golden era for the divas (not saying they will compare to the original) But they’re finally getting their just due
at 8:45 pm
I love how they are using Tamina, i never liked her but with Vickie she can gain heat fast and she pratically towers AJ and Vickie.
at 8:53 pm
Excellent write up Cryssi, it was a great night for Divas action all around and yes Cena’s injury is legit, although they’re being hush hush on the severity for now. I know a lot of people complain about Aksana now owning up to being the attacker after denying it initially saying it makes no sense. When it actually does make sense in the context of throwing off suspicion for one since everyone basically looks at Aksana as being dimwitted and non threatening. Secondly she has up until this point been satisfied with rising to power by attaching herself to powerful men, now she’s chosen to take matters into her own hands and shown she can be a problem if underestimated.
Nostalgia Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
That could also be brought into play
Kaledrina Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
im just glad aksana is being used in a storyline. a part of me actually thought the end was nearing for her after that cesaro dude broke it off with her.
at 9:23 pm
I love AJ, but she should never try to come off as intimidating, especially with someone like Tamina. As a fellow short girl, I can say that it’s hard to get in someone’s face when they’re a whole head taller than you and you literally can’t reach their face.
Ed Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who had a problem with this. AJ trying to act like a badass against Tamina who’s like a foot taller than she is and probably has at least 50 lbs on her just came off as unintentionally funny. I mean, come on now, compared to Tamina she looked like a 12-year-old. AJ’s got more range than most Divas, but she can’t pull off “intimidating badass”. It just ends up looking really silly.
TheGamergirl22 Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 12:05 am
Yeah AJ should get some Tamina’s size like Kaitlyn or Natalya for back up, but if they’re in a chairs match it not unbelievable she would get beat up by a chair but Tamina shouldn’t be like Big show and beg for mercy AJ is no Sheamus,
light_it_upAJ Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 5:35 am
Funny how things work. AJ didn’t back down from Kane of all people, and everyone loved it. She doesn’t back down from Tamina, and everyone hates it. I don’t get some people’s logic. Rey Mysterio has beaten the Big Show, Kane, Batista, Khali, and nobody seems to care. AJ gets the better of Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Kaitlyn, shows no fear of Tamina, and everyone complains about how she’s too small to do these things. By that logic, she should never win a match, and should never go on to be Diva Champ. Does anyone realize the size difference between Rey and the aforementioned guys is far greater than the difference between AJ and the other Divas?
Raekon Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 7:23 am
@Light_it_upaj
I fully agree.
The size of a person doesn’t always matter and tall people are not always undefeatable or as indimidating as some people think.
AJs attitude shows that she has guts and believes in herself which is a great thing in my opinion.
Only because she is smaller than others, it doesn’t mean that she has to be everyones punching bag and by standing up for herself, she delivers this message to everyone that underestimates her because of this.
T@KESH1 Reply:
November 22nd, 2012 at 4:50 am
You’re totally off!
Do you see Rey doing AJ’s lil kid hug version of strong double-leg takedown to some hard ground and pound like they had Aj to to kaitlyn?! Or a match ending strike-flurry in the corner to a prone, defensive Natalya that was ruled a DQ but really is wrestling’s version of a tko from strikes?!
Those things would be obvious to anyone but a crazed AJ mark.
gl83 Reply:
November 22nd, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Go to last year when we had Kelly Kelly beating the crap out of Beth Phoenix. The attitude that just because someone isn’t big, means they should be used as ragdolls is stupid and outdated. If that were the case people like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk would be nothing but career midcarders especially in Bryan’s case where his entire offense is built upon strikes. If people can buy his strikes actually affecting giants like Khali and Big Show, and buying into him as a threa against them then there should be no reason people can’t buy AJ as a threat to other Divas.
at 9:35 pm
I also expect to see a mini grudge match between Tamina and Alicia now.
at 9:58 pm
The Kaitlyn/Aksana match came off much better now than I thought it did when I was watching Raw.
The AJ/Cena thing finally feels like it’s going somewhere. Most of the problems with it have come from WWE’s writing of it and dragging out all this evidence of Vickie’s for weeks but last night actually seemed to move and start having a bigger picture.
The eventual Tamina/AJ match should be interesting. I think this will be a good role for Tamina and she and Vickie have tweeted about being together for ages so now it gets to happen.
at 10:07 pm
I like the gutbuster as Kaitlyn’s new finisher, but how many is she up to now? I swear, this girl changes her finisher every 3-4 months. lol At least this one emphasizes her power; the inverted ddt didn’t fit her at all.
Kaledrina Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
it’s annoying that she keeps changing her finisher but it’s also kinda good as it means she wants to find the perfect fit? i remember eve and even tessmacher over at tna doing the same thing when they started wrestling regularly.
even though the power moves suit her due to her build, the gutbuster just doesn’t come across as very face-like for me?? =/
Ed Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
“even though the power moves suit her due to her build, the gutbuster just doesn’t come across as very face-like for me?? =/”
Yeah, not really. But Kaitlyn’s probably better suited as a heel anyway. As Cryssi pointed out, she doesn’t really have a babyface move set. Plus, if you’ve seen her work as a heel on NXT, she looks like she has more fun playing a bad guy. I’m sure that will happen at some point, especially if they ever pull the trigger on Kaitlyn vs AJ; there’s a lot of stuff unresolved between those two.
at 10:53 pm
without trying my bestest to look for them, i don’t have any real criticism for how the divas were handled last night. it’s easy to get all wrapped up in it, and it’s totally cliche to say, but hopefully it’s a sign of things to come :)
at 10:55 pm
I’m kind of iffy on the Aksana/Kaitlyn match. I Didn’t think it was bad, just a bit slow and sloppy. Aksana is a great character, but her ring work has always been off to me. I also didn’t like that Kaitlyn only really got in some offense towards the end. I would have liked to see her fight back more, but whatever. Kaitlyn is pretty, has a great body and a lot of physical strength and comes off as kind of different and quirky at times. I think she needs more training, but she can keep getting over if given the chance.
Kaledrina Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
in the ring, aksana kinda reminds me of how maria used to be in the way that it shows she doesn’t want to get hurt? almost as if she’s scared and subconsciously takes and performs bumps just flat out weird?
hado Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 11:42 pm
Maybe so @Kaledrina but I thought she nearly died with that flapjack. My heart seriously missed a beat.
at 11:10 pm
Finally!!!! The divas got spotlight on Raw, with a five minute match and backstage segments, and they’re different one from another! Aksana, Kaytlin, AJ, Layla and Tamina all did great! So happy for the divas right now. I hope not to see more stinkfaces, roll ups and blink-and-you-missed-it types of matches. Keep going and the divas will get better and better!
at 11:39 pm
The only logical payoff is for AJ to screw Cena over and we find out she was with Ziggler the whole time.
at 11:40 pm
I take it I was the only one who heard Aksana calling the match? She was telling Kaitlyn to go shoulder first into the turnbuckle (seemed like Kaitlyn forgot the spot) and she said something else but I couldn’t hear what she said. Though after the match I could hear Kaitlyn saying to Aksana “Good work” or something down those lines. I really enjoyed the match though, Aksana, I seriously love her, haha. I hope we get to see more of this in ring work and like her FCW in ring work.
hado Reply:
November 20th, 2012 at 11:41 pm
And I forgot to say, Tamina looked hot!!
Aksana Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 3:42 pm
I noticed Aksana say “good job” whilst being pinned by Kaitlyn.
hado Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Wasn’t it Kaitlyn saying to Aksana “Good Job.”
at 12:01 am
Tamina looks good in dress clothes a lot better than why she wore on Survivor Series, when was the last time a diva was a bodyguard surprised they didn’t do that with Beth Phoenix before she left.
Also wasn’t Tamina AJ’s first match, The Chickbusters need to reunite against Tamina and Eve and Vickie
I wanna see Natalya and Tamina in the title picture and feud with AJ or maybe 2 divas matches at TLC
at 12:11 am
Listen closely during the pin, you can hear Kaitlyn say “Good Job” to Aksana!
I thought that was so cute!
hado Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 5:31 am
Haha that is what I heard as well. I said that it my comment too. I think she was saying good job to Aksana, because she was calling some of the match. If you listen closely you can hear Aksana say to Kaitlyn “Elbow” and she said something else as well in another spot!! :)
at 12:33 am
Nice pop for the finish at least.
at 12:45 am
Unrelated note: anyone see Allysin Kay vs MsChif Sunday at midnight on ROH?
at 1:08 am
I’ve been following Aksana’s career since FCW and I really think she can really wrestle. If you haven’t seen Aksana in FCW, you should check her because she has some badass movesets.
moogle Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 1:26 am
I agree co pletely.
And it frustrates me, because she’s a strong girl, she does powerhouse moves in fcw and yet on Raw and SD it’s almost like she’s focusing on the sexiness a bit too much…I want her to bring the inventiveness onto the main roster!
ahlanthony Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 8:23 am
When Kaitlyn was lying on the corner, I thought Aksana was going to do one of her signature moves which is the Running facewash but she just crawled and slap Kaitlyn. I thought it wasn’t that bad for her character but I just love that Badass Aksana we’ve seen in FCW.
at 1:27 am
Kaitlyn = Sonya Blade
at 1:30 am
DAMN! Tamina looks GOOD. Love the new hairstyle and body!
at 1:49 am
@Kaledrina, it think management is behind the constant moveset changes, sure Kaitlyn has input but management has to sign off on it. I agree that her gutbuster isn’t a traditional Diva move but to me it isn’t heel like, I find moves tsuch as this similar to a ddt, standard move that heels and faces can use. What makes them heelish are the mannerisms which accompany the move, I. Honestly have no problem with Kaitlyn being a bit of a bad ass anti hero. We’re 15 years removed from the attitude era and the traditional happy go lucky faces and brutal, devious, scary, no nonsense heel are largely a thing of the past although they still exist here and there. Kaitlyn would benefit from and edge and being an Orton type face to a degree. Happy go lucky smiley faces always annoyed me and I’ve watching wrestling for a long time, I mean seriously why are you smiling all the time when you got your ass whupped the previous week? you got mollywhopped and humiliated, shouldn’t you be be upset about it?
at 3:07 am
Aksana’s clothesline got a nice pop from the crowd to. and I thinks its funny, NXT all rookies 2012 Ones on almost every segment, being pushed for divas title and the other is getting matches and an actual character. Match was good, no bothces so that’s always a + haha
at 3:16 am
The good news is that Aksana is, albeit slowly, developing into a very serviceable presence. Her character has always shown potential – and I think she does possess a fair degree of skill. She looked well on the attack here.
For the second time, Kaitlyn in the spotlight has underwhelmed me. I’m a big fan and I love the fact Kaitlyn sells a match as more than just a spotfest, but I still think she has a long way to go.
I wish they would keep AJ as far away from Cena as possible, to be honest.
at 4:06 am
I love Aksana’s Hanging Armbar :) & she need to improve herself & prove that she really can wrestle (like Candice,Michelle,Eve).
ahlanthony Reply:
November 21st, 2012 at 8:29 am
Actually, Aksana is a better wrestler than Candice. Aksana has some sick ass movesets if you haven’t seen her in FCW. She can sell moves and she rarely botch. Candice was good but she’s no hard hitter like Aksana.
Chryst Voegele Reply:
November 22nd, 2012 at 5:56 am
I ever seen every Aksana’s match and still think Candice is better, she’s not hard hitter but athletic & prove that she can wrestle. Aksana can wrestle but sometimes she look sloppy & not everybody ever seen her in FCW then she NEED to prove that she can bcuz most of wrestle fans still think she can’t & I believe if she can prove she will be good wrestler :)
at 4:16 am
Okay if WWE continues like this I will be a happy girl! you have two diva feuds, one which can slip into many different ways in like Kaitlyn/Layla or continue with Kaitlyn/Layla/Eve/Aksana, and you have AJ /Tamina with Vickie/Dolph/John and they keep covering their bases on Raw! Kinda mad that their is no divas match on Smackdown but they did further one storyline!!!