While it has been reported that Maria Menounos could return to the ring at this year’s WrestleMania in an Eight-Diva Tag Team match, that wasn’t the original idea, according to a report from PWInsider.
The first match idea, which has since been nixed, was for former Divas to face off against WWE’s current crop. The former Divas penciled-in were thought to be Brie and Nikki Bella, Kelly Kelly, Maria Kanellis and Maryse. They would then have faced off against Divas Champion Kaitlyn, Layla and three other current Divas.
The article also mentioned that soon-to-be Hall of Famer Trish Stratus would have managed one of the teams.
The match was axed after negotiations with the former Divas broke down or stalled, rights to the character names being cited as one of the reasons for that. So far, only the Bella Twins have made a return to the company.
Would you have preferred to have seen this match?
RELATED: Report: Three Former Divas Receive Offers to Return
132 Comments
at
I would have enjoyed this more then what we are getting
at
I would’ve enjoyed seeing that match tbh. I never thought of Kelly Kelly as a heel.
lelloo7 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
i honestly think their team would be the face team, cz honestly none of them-except kelly- is relevant, so the presence of k2 in the team will make it the faces’ team imo
JD Sensations Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I think it’s probably supposed to be a heel and face vs heel and face kinda tag
at
That would have been a great idea ! I want Maryse back she was soooo funny & talented ! I would have loved to see the brunette Kelly in action also…
Moreover, it could have been awesome to see heel divas like Maryse and the Bellas teaming with 100000% babyfaces like Kelly and Maria².
I’m disgusted and I hope Maryse (and Kelly) will come back in a near future…
at
Think I’m one of the few people who would’ve loved to see this match!!
I mean there’s a lot to look forward to in this match
i mean there’s “the past generation” against divas of today, it’s not the average heels vs faves match.
Plus, I’d love to see how kelly and maria would work together since we all know maria had some not so good things to say abt k2
Kim099 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Say what about Kk and Maria?
lelloo7 Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
Maria tweeted something indirectly meaning that she could beat beth, mccool and victoria on raw matches but never for the title when current divas who aren’t as talented have the title after beating beth and other divas, and in a way , it was directed to kk so kk responded with something like “I won’t give you the attention you’re looking for”
(The story might be missing a few parts but that’s what i recall)
at
Honestly, I’m lukewarm to that idea.
at
in a weird way i would have really enjoyed this match i think, would have rather better former divas to return , but still it would have been an interesting match and interesting to see how they build it up
and also Maria is gonna induct Bob Backlund (weird)
TCsinger09 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Yea I dont get that?? Unless Maria and her fiancé Matt are coming to the WWE.
Jack Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I had previously reported that it was in fact, Maria Menounos who was going to induct Bob, as apparently they’re real life friends and worked together on a project before. For some reason, websites are now sayings it’s Maria Kanellis instead, who as far I know, has no connections with Bob Backlund at all!
wwestarlee Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
No not maria k. Maria menounos is inducting bob
at
yeah that would have been good but they should have went a little further back, like trish, lita, torrie wilson, stacy keibler perhaps
at
This would have been something worth watching
I can see trish with the current crop making it seem like she’s passing the torch
With that said I would see the currents winning
lelloo7 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
i actually think the current would lose cz Layla turns heel on Kaitlyn or something like that
lucky1now Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Yea true if layla isn’t heel already
But that will be a great heel turn
lelloo7 Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
True, it would be great to have a diva turn heel in a match on wrestlemania
at
i was gutted when i read this ! i would have loved to have seen this happen ! now we are going to get a crap celeb match ! its also reported that maria is inducting Bob Backlund into hof ! dont have a clue why but maybe Maria is one of the divas returning ? i wish i liked maria ! who do you think was the ones wanting the rights to there names and more money ? im thinking maryse kelly
Raekon Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Definately Maryse and Kelly since Maria already has the rights on her name and it’s her real name anyway.
Mr. AJ Lee Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
it would have to b Kelly or the Twins. Cause Maryse and Maria use their real names.
Raekon Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
Ah true about Maryse. :p
Forgot it was her real name. ^_^
She obviously only asked for more money and they said no.
at
That’s a shame their not doing it. They might of actually pleased some fans. Why would we enjoy Maria Meneunos or however you spell it over Maryse? And Diva’s that actually trained to WRESTLE.
Wolverine Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Negotiations broke down,not their fault
at
Notice that the only divas the WWE wanted back were all models that could barely wrestle. So those that thought WWE was getting serious about the division.. wrong again. I guess Trish was supposed to have a spot on the card, but got bumped off for the Extra host. Somewhere, Melina and John Morrison are laughing right now. And I’m almost positive the only one asking for rights to her character name was Kelly. She was getting some outside interest with the name, but that all died out when she left because nobody knows who Barbara Blank is. Basically Rena Mero 2.0
AJFan95 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
But I’m overwhelmed. You’re waaaaaaay too positive and optimistic. Calm down!
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I’m calm. But only a fool would be optimistic for the divas getting any good treatment at WrestleMania. It hasn’t happened in nearly a decade and yet people still fool themselves in to thinking WWE will change. You guys must be masochists or something. Nice screen name, btw.
jonboi Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Got to agree with everything @AJFAN83 said its time to give up the ghost thinking wwe cares about woman wrestlers, Sure they will Always put a beth or paige or lita or kharma & nattie on there roster Just so they can say we train models & they can pin female wrestlers, paige & the NXT divas are just going to job to the likes of summer rae, History proves wwe will waste there female wrestlers & discredit them as performers just so they can have a Model or Fitness Model pin a hard ass wrestler from Sable pinning luna then Trish pinning jazz ( trish is the exception) bellas pin beth. KK pinning Nattie, see the patern here…..
Getdownwithachola Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
They asked Beth to comeback and they renewed Kharma’s name though.
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Beth couldn’t even get a WrestleMania feud when she was at her peak. Her coming back would accomplish nothing. I also think the Kharma ship has sailed. She might get brought back, but her chance to be the next Chyna or whatever is over.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
The unnecessary jabs at Trish make you seem a little obsessed. And Maria M. didn’t bump Trish off the card. Several former Divas rejected a return offer. She probably doesn’t care either way. She has a bigger night ahead of her to prepare for.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I agree with you on Kelly asking for the rights to her character name. With the exception of the Bellas and Kelly, all the other Divas used their real names while in WWE. The Bellas returned to the company, so there were no objections on their part. Therefore, this only leaves Kelly.
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Do you respond to anyone else but me? Who is the “obsessed” one now? Maria is probably going to bump Trish off the HOF telecast as well. You have to see the humor in it. I find it equally funny that AJ won’t even have a match on the show despite being the best built diva in years. That says it all, really. The “greatest diva ever” and the most popular woman on the roster will be ignored so McMahon can convince himself his company is mainstream, using a woman that mostly gets “Maria Who?” whenever they namedrop her.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I respond to people whom I disagree with you. That’s not obsessive. Obsessive would be taking jabs at you in all of my posts like you do with Trish. I’m glad that she’s always on your mind. Your posts are glaringly obvious with the constant negativity they exude. You should try to be a little happier. Even the most cynical fan sees some good in the product she’s following, which leads me to believe you’re probably not much of a fan. You do you, though.
Whether she makes the telecast or not, she’ll get plenty of royalties with sales of WM DVD. And that DVD is usually the one that sells the best, so she’ll easily get a check in the 4-digit to 5-digit range. She’s happy. :)
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
So the woman WWE hypes as their greatest diva is probably going to be relegated to the DVD because of a tabloid TV host and you don’t see how that makes the entire division look like crap? But hey, good for Trish getting a nice royalty check. Maybe she can pull a Madusa and post a picture on Twitter. Just laugh at the situation, moron.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
“You have to see the humor in it. I find it equally funny that AJ…”
Just laugh at the situation, moron. Are we not supposed to see the humor in it anymore? Why the sudden change?
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I do find it funny. You’re the one that got all defensive about it. AJ’s situation is even funnier. She got the biggest diva push in years and what’s her payoff? A lower spot on the card than last year.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I’m not defensive at all. Trish can appear on the telecast or not. I don’t have control over it. I trust that if Trish wants to be televised, she’ll fight to be televised. I’m happy she’s going to be the youngest person to ever be inducted, and she’s the first Superstar of the new millennium to be inducted.
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Unless the show is two hours she will lose that fight. I don’t really care either way.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
We’ll see. There was no point in bringing it up if you didn’t care, but of course you live to take jabs at Trish, so I understand.
AJFan95 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Virginia speaking nothing but the truth. She summed up everything perfectly, especially on the Trish obsession. Go on, girl.
AJFan95 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Yes at everything Virginia is saying! His obsession with Trish is worrying. Co-signed.
ajfan83 Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
Oh please. I don’t need to take any more shots at her. I won’t. Plenty of people on this site to do that for me. I guess you two little twirps ignored everything else I touched on about WWE’s treatment of divas and simply focused on the Morrison/Melina joke.
AJFan95 Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
You sure about that? I actually think you’re incapable of taking shots at Trish. No one here drags Trish here half as badly as you do. Your obsession is much more needed to be made note of, I couldn’t care less about your ridiculous opinions of everything else. Just had to acknowledge your troubling obsession.
Virginia Devereux Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at
You are PERCHED in every post that’s made about her. It’s clear to everyone. Move on with your life man. You’re accomplishing nothing. She doesn’t know who you are and never will. She’s busy building a successful brand and enjoying her life. Try to focus on building your own life. Maybe try to make it at least a quarter as successful as hers? And don’t forget to smile! :)
You shouldn’t play up how devastated you are that the WWE treats its Divas like crap. You with your misogynistic opinions clearly tell us exactly what you think of the Divas. Good day!
at
That would’ve actually been really interesting. I mean, I wish the “former Divas” were more nostalgic choices but it’s a unique idea/storyline that we don’t see often with the women.
at
I would’ve preferred if WWE went completely different and instead of any tag matches we would get AJ vs Kaitlyn for the Diva’s Championship. Still don’t know by they haven’t made it happen
Zaye Reply:
March 23rd, 2013 at
AJ vs Kaitlyn for the Divas Championship is a NXT match, there was a video of their entrance and the bits after the match(pin/and after Kaitlyn retained.) you can find it on ajleerussia.tumblr.com/page/3
at
Is it so hard to pencil in an actual Divas title Match on Wrestlemania? Easy booking really
at
If true, this would’ve been awesome with some build, and if negotiations went through positively.
But it didn’t, so hopefully we can get just a straight 1v1 title match with Kaitlyn and Layla, and no “celebrity” involvement.
at
i love first match idea !!!!!!!!!!!!
at
Rights to characters names? Plural? The only one there is Kelly Kelly
tnatiffany Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Marysa Maria
jonboi Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Mayrse & maria use there own name K2s the only name that wwe made up
at
Awww the poor management boys are having sooo much trouble to book a proper divas match for mania.
Instead of using their current talent and involving them in proper storylines they are going for Maryse so she can hairpull twice, give a slap, give a kick and hit her finisher OR Kelly to let her do the whirlybird headscissors “I love” sooo much along witht butt slap and the stinkface right?
Seriously management guys, get your act together and do something proper for the money you are cashing in.
If it works for the guys, it can work for the divas aswell.
Stop these pathetic bookings and give us FINALLY a good booked match with your current divas. They all can deliver from the first to the last but you rather water down their movesets, cutting down their time, OH WAIT…. what time?
Over a month on the main show with 2 segments about a moustache?
The time could had been used to build up a proper feud with the champion and not one but 2 or more divas while having a side feud now with the bellas and caomi but noooo…
Let’s fill 2 hours of a 3 hours show with rebounds, clips of “happened moments ago” (after like 2 minutes had passed) and advertisement instead right?
at
no i care less about those kind of matchs and also care less about the one they thinking of now they need to ditch the 8 divas match to and have a 4 way for the divas belt be more entertaining katlin natalya layla tamina
at
Typical Illuminati wrestling stupid shit.
No wonder why everybody I know calls wrestling “Lame”
Wolverine Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Maria is definitely Illuminati
at
Why can’t they ever pull through with any of these plans?? As a fan who watches the WWE almost primarily for the divas, it gets extremely irritating. It just goes to show you that they could care less about the entire division. If they cared, they would make diva plans for WM months in advance, like they do with every other match!!
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Because most of the divas that WWE is high on end up leaving the company and they are stuck with the “scrubs”. This has been happening since Sable, and with Eve being the most recent example. I used to blame the divas for quitting, but am starting to think it goes deeper than that and is probably a management problem.
at
That still means there is a 50% chance that Maria will be returning. Man I wanna cry almost as much as I did when she got fired. I got my fingers crossed I really hope she does return.
at
Meh, the casual WWE fans don’t care for this match.
Hmm,I wonder why Lita’s name didn’t pop up with the other former divas they supposedly wanted to bring back…
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
It sounds like WWE is only interested in more modern divas. But it is a little odd Lita hasn’t signed some sort of contract considering she travels to shows with Punk. She can’t be working much if she has time to do that.
WweLitafan4ever Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
That’s what I’m saying.
And I don’t think she is doing much. I know she teaches Kettlebell classes in Atlanta. And she travels to every RAW and single WWE ppv.
She can work out some sort of deal considering she has the traveling schedule covered. I guess she doesn’t want to; she’s more of a one time appearance person.
It’s just they are reaching out to a bunch of former diva,but not Lita? She is already backstage at WWE shows!
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
I’m pretty sure Lita had an open door to come back whenever she wanted. If they offered it to Lillian and Vickie they certainly would offer it to her. Maybe after a certain point WWE realizes certain people just aren’t going to resign so they stop making offers. Ball is in Lita’s court.
WweLitafan4ever Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
Well,she always said how she has a good relationship with the WWE and is cool with everyone there;also, when she came back in 2010,there was a rumor going around how WWE offered her a contract.
I guess Lita doesn’t care for it and doesn’t want to do it. I honestly think that Lita fans(myself included),care more about her making appearances than she does.
I still think they could use Lita at Wrestlemania 29 in a 6 person mixed tag team match. Big E Langston, Dolph Ziggler,and A.J. vs Daniel Bryan,Kane, and Lita. I think it’s kinda cool because A.J.’s a Lita fan and Kane has history with Lita..so it makes sense.
ajfan83 Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
“I honestly think that Lita fans(myself included),care more about her making appearances than she does.”
That’s it in a nutshell. If she wanted to come back, even part time, it would have happened by now.
revivingophelia Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
With the injuries she dealt with as a wrestler – coming back from neck surgery and also knee surgery – I can understand Lita not wanting to come back for more than an occasional appearance. She had bad luck with injuries, and her neck injury was really severe. (I remember a wrestler saying in an interview way back when – it might have been Lance Storm, but I’m not sure – that Lita’s injury was one of the most severe neck injuries anyone had come back from.) It’s possible that she just doesn’t want to risk it again.
revivingophelia Reply:
March 20th, 2013 at
*Yes, I realize that Lita’s neck injury was actually on the set of Dark Angel and not in the ring, but it was still a huge injury to have to come back from, and the injury actually happened when a stunt person dropped her on her head during a hurricanrana. I can definitely understand why she only did that move a few times when she came back.
WweLitafan4ever Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
But she’s fine now. Also,when she retired,it wasn’t due to injuries/her neck like most fans claim it was.
Heck, she was better in the ring after her neck injury as well. I honestly doubt her lack of matches post retirement is due to injuries,she probably just don’t care about coming back;guess it’s not serious for her. Although,someone should ask her exactly why.
revivingophelia Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
I know that she had reasons for retiring that had nothing to do with her injuries. I also know she’s fine now. What I was saying was that she may not want to come back for another run because she wants to STAY that way. Wrestling is hard on the body, and neck injuries can come back to haunt a person. Edge came back after neck surgery and now is to the point where doctors will never clear him to step in the ring again and he may have problems for the rest of his life. Who wants to risk something like that?
ajfan83 Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
From what I’ve heard out of Lita’s own mouth, it just sounds like she is mentally done with wrestling. She took all the abuse from Matt Hardy fans to heart and just lost her passion for it. If she wasn’t dating Punk she would probably still be keeping her distance.
WweLitafan4ever Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
@Revingophelia
By another run do you mean full time? I wasn’t talking about full time,I was talking about a little part time return. You know,a match on RAW,Smackdown,and PPV.
@AJFan83
I don’t know about the first part of your statement,but as much as I love and respect Lita, I do agree with you about Punk. If she wasn’t dating him,she wouldn’t be tweeting about WWE shows and sure as hell wouldn’t be backstage every week.
I really wonder why she doesn’t want to come part time for a little,fun run. I want to meet her again,and if I do,I’d definitely ask her that question.
It intrigues me because she’s cool with everyone backstage,said she had fun(she said that during her radio show about her return at RAW 1000) and said it was really cool,she knows fans love her,miss her,and want her to come back,and she always gets nice crowd reactions. What’s stopping her?
ajfan83 Reply:
March 21st, 2013 at
She just doesn’t want to. You said it yourself, the Lita fans are more in to the character than the woman that portrays her at this point. I’m actually glad she isn’t doing the Rock/Jericho/Lesnar deal where they only work for 2-3 months a year. It’s pretty disrespectful to the people that are there full time, even if they aren’t as popular. And I don’t think there is any “torch” to pass, either. You can’t pass a torch when you’ve been out of the business for 7 years.
WweLitafan4ever Reply:
March 22nd, 2013 at
@AJFan83
True,true.
I know I’m contradicting myself here lol,even though Lita doesn’t want to come back/doesn’t care for it,I still wanna see her. She’s my absolute favorite and I always mark out for her,so it’d be nice as a fan to see her back.
at
well there will only ever have tag matches cause they love to give them all there wm paydays
at
This just shows wwe doesn’t care about wrestling out of all divas who left over the last 8 years they think looks over ability THANK FCK it was nixed, Any ideas for the Divas Wm match should just be nixed I don’t fancy seeing an 8 diva tag with that Extra woman OR a 10diva match with maria mayrse bellas & KK, Now if it was lita jazz melina beth trish vs tamina lalya kaitlyn AJ & naomi or A fox why can’t wwe think like that…. Fckin Idiots who come up with that shit!!!