Those of you [read: the two of you] who watched ECW last night will have noticed that WWE’s resident oddball Diva, Katie Lea and brother Paul Burchill were banished from ECW after Burchill lost a ‘Career vs Mask’ match to The Hurricane. So where does that leave WWE’s Twisted Sister and brother Paul?

Should they mosey on back to Raw? Or find pastures new on SmackDown? Either way, while they may be ‘banished’ from ECW… it’s pretty much a promotion for both. And I’m pretty sure Katie Lea is grinning from ear to ear because wherever they may go, there is a women’s division!

Let’s weigh the options:

Raw: Moving the Burchills back to Raw would be instant fodder for WWE Superstars, given that both have seen competition on the Thursday night show, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch anyway. Katie however, could potentially be thrown into the women’s division where the babyfaces outnumber the heels and surprise, Katie’s a heel! Perfect scenario, right?

SmackDown: Poor Mickie, she’s all on her own and being teased about her weight. Won’t anyone save her? Enter Katie Lea — with the miscommunication teased last night between she and Paul, a verbal beration from her brother could see Katie turn babyface and leave her brother’s side and join Mickie’s. The duo have already teamed up on the European tour and Katie even pinned the Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool on one of those dates. Katie would definitely help up the numbers on SmackDown where we’re about to run out of match options.

Wherever she goes, it seems there is a spot for her in either of the women’s division — something that wasn’t there when she and Paul were first moved to ECW. Moving her to Raw would help bridge the gap between babyfaces & heels, moving her to SmackDown and turning her face provides a plausible explanation if we go by the above scenario. Perhaps WWE will swerve us and find a loophole to bring the Burchills back to ECW — or worse, quietly release them.

Where should Katie go? Vote below:

[poll id="442"]

Raw
Faces:
Melina (Divas Champion)
Brie Bella
Eve Torres
Gail Kim
Kelly Kelly
Nikki Bella

Heels:
Alicia Fox
Jillian Hall
Maryse

SmackDown
Faces:
Maria
Mickie James

Heels:
Michelle McCool (Women’s Champion)
Beth Phoenix
Layla
Natalya

ECW
Faces:
Courtney Taylor
Savannah

Heels:
Katie Lea
Rosa Mendes

As you can see, there are still inconsistencies within the each of the rosters. Let’s look at each brand:

Raw: The face-to-heel ratio here isn’t great, granted they have more depth than SmackDown does [more on that in a minute], but as Steven mentioned on the Roundtable last night they will probably have to do an unexplained heel turn like they did with Alicia Fox earlier this year. My vote goes to Gail FYI…

SmackDown: Even gaining Beth Phoenix & Mickie James, the SmackDown roster is still somewhat depleted as it was prior to the Trade. What does this mean for SmackDown? Well, if you were sick of seeing the same tag team match every week, I wouldn’t hold your breath on anything changing too vastly. Same match, new faces.

Also, Mickie & Maria are now the only two babyfaces on this brand, that doesn’t bode well for the viewers [more Maria wrestling]. Perhaps an unexplained face turn for Layla? If not, I hope they bring up someone like Serena Deeb, but that’s not likely to happen though.

ECW: Honestly, doesn’t need much analysis. I doubt there’ll be much wrestling going on over here except the odd match here & there. ECW really has become WWE’s televised training camp and having three current FCW Divas on there proves it.

Check back later for individual Diva Trade analysis for the 7 Divas.

Surely a disappointing downgrade for Lauren, but not even Lilian Garcia started out that great. There’s always a chance to be promoted back to SmackDown, once she shows progression and comfortability in her new role on ECW. For those curious to see her announcing, watch the start of this video:

Also on last night’s ECW, General Manager Tiffany returned after her kayfabe car crash. I don’t watch ECW and haven’t watched Tiffany cut a promo since her first night as GM, so I was interested to see how she’s progressed. Though better from her first outing, she still sounds like a cardboard cut-out reading from a non-existent teleprompter. I guess she just has one of those voices, in fact I thought Lauren sounded more at ease on the microphone — though to Tiffany’s defense, Lauren has past hosting experience so mic work  would come easier.

Tonight on ECW, William Regal assumed the role of GM after announcing that Tiffany was involved in a car crash and was thus unable to perform her duties. Well, that was only partially true..

According to PWInsider Tiffany is legitimately injured, but not from a car wreck–she suffered a either a broken arm or wrist in a match with Mia Mancini (the artist formerly known as Serena Deeb) last week at an FCW taping. It is not yet known how serious the injury is nor how long this will keep her from her GM position.

Cute dress!

I like the tongue-in-cheek, “Oh look another backstage interviewer” comment. Paul Burchill gives me serious Christian Bale vibes… and that ain’t a bad thing. Someone tell Angela not to walk in the middle of his scene next time. He may trash your lights!

PS: What did Hurricane do to Katie Lea last week? I’m intrigued but y’all know we don’t give a fuck about ECW to go look it up, hence calling on our trusty readers. First one to comment gets a piece of candy.

The ECW Divas got a rare opportunity to wrestle last night on WWE Superstars, as Nikki Bella of the Bella Twins [in case you didn't know] took on Katie Lea of the Burchill siblings, in a rehash of the extremely one-sided feud from this past summer. You can’t really even call it a feud because if it were, Katie would at least get the upperhand once — hence the ‘one-sided’ feud. The Bellas win all the matches in rinse & repeat fashion. Watch below:

Without even watching the match, you would know exactly what happened and thus, it doesn’t even bear reviewing. You know those horror movie rules in ‘Scream’? Well here are the rules for ECW Divas matches:

A) If Katie Lea is in the match, she is most definitely going to lose.
B) If either Brie or Nikki have a singles match, they are most definitely going to switch places for the finish.
C) The fans will be bored to effin’ death & won’t give a flying fudge because they’ve seen it all before.

Pretty much sums up this entire match, no? Rinse, repeat, bore.

It doesn’t help matters that the Bella Twins are awful in the ring and their ring gear is so ~f**king distracting~ I guess I should be over it by now, but seriously all the red is puke-inducing. Please Bellas, switch it up. A little bit of black — even if it is just your boots — would make it less nauseating. I really, honestly do feel nauseated when I see them. The ruffled arm bands, the boot covers, the flower in the hair… too much going on, DNW.

As for the match, you’ve seen it all before. It wasn’t as terrible as Brie vs Katie, it seems Nikki got all the wrestling competency in this duo. She’s comfortable in the ring & has good athleticism. She does start out with an awkward looking monkey flip, but then does a Gail Kim-like jump through the ropes when Katie comes charging at her. She then follows this through with a nice looking sunset flip.

Katie now takes control of the match, grounding Nikki while Brie screams on the outside [you can stop now]. She uses some cool chokehold using her leg on the ropes, before doing a similar move that we saw once before in the corner. Fast forward a little bit… Nikki begins to mount a comeback but Katie hits a nice samoan drop on her, not something we see everyday from the Divas.

Blah blah, skip to the finish and Brie switches with Katie and wins with a crossbody. Katie must be really weak if Nikki can kick out of a samoan drop, but she’s put away with a crossbody. That’s WWE for you! I feel like we should rework that “hos over bros” saying, “models over wrestlers.”

In all, this match was the equivalent of a first class ticket to Yawnsville. Though I am thankful it was Nikki and not Brie in the match.

FCW Diva Angela Fong will make her television debut tonight on ECW.

The standout star, who has been touted as the best female talent in developmental, just taped a backstage interview segment under the name Savannah. She interviewed ECW Champion, Christian and Tommy Dreamer.

What this says about the short-lived previous interviewer, Courtney Taylor, is up for speculation. Taylor had just debuted last month.

EDIT: (Now in HD) Watch her interview Tommy Dreamer and Christian below:

A former Hooters model (Oh dear..), Courtney had been training in FCW for some time, being used largely in a managerial role for Superstar Alex Riley. The pair had participated in dark matches in the past few television tapings. We’ll see if this interviewer role sticks, or if she’ll actually spawn into an official ECW Diva. Personally, I can’t say I see much of a promising future in interviewing ECW Superstars week in, week out. Though I must admit, it’s always exciting to see new Divas being born.

Random observation (blatantly stealing from Melanie here): Does she look a bit like Melissa Joan Hart to you? I’m getting Sabrina the Teenage Witch vibes.

EDIT: Watch Courtney’s debut below:

Following Raw and SmackDown, the ECW Divas got their WWE Superstars debut last night. It would be Brie Bella taking on Katie Lea, in a rematch to the Nikki-Katie match on ECW last week. The Bellas have impressed me more and more since moving to ECW, so could they make it three weeks in a row? Find out below:

Once again, Katie Lea got duped and once again the Bellas switched places. But what made this week so different? They finally found a unique, creative way to do it! The match was pretty much the standard Bella match, though I must say it somewhat missed the mark in comparison to Nikki’s match with Katie Lea last week. But the end salvaged what was an ‘average’ match at best, with both Bellas laying on the floor outside and tricking the referee into letting Nikki finish the match.

As I said, this was a typical Bella match for me so I won’t get into too much detail. You’ll see the usual monkey flips, flying snapmares and dropkicks. This match wasn’t as exciting as the match last week, with Nikki’s fantastic armdrag and Katie’s aggressiveness. Unlike last week, we didn’t see a vicious Katie Lea throwing Brie to the outside and jumping off the apron, it was more ‘safe’ and as a result, a ho-hum match.

But the creative solution to the switch, which has begun to wear on just about everyone in the past year, was a welcome change. I hope they continue to find creative ways to have them do the switch in coming weeks.

It’s unanimous that the ‘Trump Trade’ two weeks ago helped beef up Monday Night Raw, gaining the services of two Diva Dirt favourites, Alicia Fox and Gail Kim. Meanwhile, it’s becoming clearly evident that SmackDown is now suffering due to the lack of Divas available — case in point, we pretty much saw the same tag team match two weeks in a row with just one line-up change [Eve for Maria on yesterday's show]. Make no mistake though, I’m not knocking our blue-brand girls, they are definitely making the best of a bad situation; the work continues to be of a consistent standard.

It’s clear to me that the division is soon going to run out of match options considering the five active Divas it has — there’s only so many times we can see the same matches, right? I think it’s time WWE did something about that before the division starts to suffer — a kayfabe ‘Diva exchange’ between SmackDown and ECW. It shouldn’t be too hard to explain on television either, after all ECW GM Tiffany is the protege of SmackDown’s GM, Teddy Long, they are on friendly terms. Plus as a female GM, would Tiffany not want her Divas to be able to compete for a title? It’s win-win all around.

The ECW Divas – the Bella Twins and Katie Lea – can work matches on SmackDown, allowing fresh match opportunities. Plus they’d effectively have the chance to compete for the Women’s Championship, creating for more title storylines i.e. Katie Lea in the title picture.

With SmackDown and ECW working together, the combined division would be a little more evened out: Babyfaces led by Melina would include Maria, Eve and the Bella Twins. The heels led by Michelle McCool, would include Layla, Katie Lea and eventually Natalya.

Plus there’s some prime cuts of meat in FCW that could more than handle themselves on SmackDown, for example veteran Serena Deeb [who really doesn't need to be in developmental, let's be honest] and ‘homegrown’ talent, Angela Fong.

What do you think, should SmackDown and ECW once again exchange talents — even if limited to the Divas?

[poll id="382"]

Click in for video & thoughts:

Women’s wrestling finally returns to ECW with the arrival of the Bella Twins and to be fair, they are being used a whole lot more usefully than they ever were on SmackDown or ECW. Last week they delivered a solid segment with newcomer Abraham Washington and now this week, they get a promo and a match too! Joining us for the occasion is Katie Lea, who seems to be getting a day release from sitting in catering.

So we kick things off with a silly Bella promo. “We’re the Bella Twins.” No shit, ladies! It was an unnecessary promo but these two are pretty good on the microphone, as seen last week.

I have to say, this wasn’t a bad little match from what is essentially the step-child of the WWE shows. No one can expect a match on the caliber of Raw or SmackDown, but the girls involved didn’t do a bad job at all. It’s great to see Katie getting some ringtime finally… I can’t tell you the last time I saw her wrestle [maybe one of you guys remember?], she’s a great talent and is possibly one of the company’s hidden gems. Katie was sporting a rather different look for her TV return, with some funky makeup — not to my personal taste, but it sure does make her stand out from other Divas, right? It works for her and Diva Dirt is a big advocate for being unique.

So while Nikki is the one wrestling, both she and Brie coming out wearing the exact same thing — surely the audience, referee and commentators might question that? They should know given their track record, they pull a switcheroo? Oh WWE logic, how you defy me.

Katie is hungry for some screentime and is not playing from the outset, as she throws Nikki viciously throught he ropes onto the floor outside. I always like when the Divas go to the outside, Katie leaps off the apron with a double axe-handle on Nikki and continues her aggressive streak, throwing her back in the ring and hitting her face first against the mat by her hair.

Interesting spot here as Katie kinda tangles Nikki around the ropes and uses her leg to do something or other, not sure what was going on there.

Nikki then begins to fight back, with a very nice Gail Kim-esque armdrag, climbing up the turnbuckle. Nicely done, Miss Bella. Definitely was not expecting a spot like that from one of the Bella Twins. This leads into a one-legged dropkick into a backflip, while the dropkick was ‘eh’, her movement was on-point, it looked really nice and aerobatic.

Nikki launches at Katie, who throws her over the top rope, Nikki lands on the apron but loses her balance and falls to the floor. Ruh roh, not sure if that was planned… Katie then hits a nice neckbreaker through the middle rope.

The end sees Nikki and Brie swap and Brie hits the facebuster for the win… Nothing too spectacular about that.

There was some really good work from both Divas, Katie showed some really good aggressive wrestling while Nikki surprised me with her athletic nature, I’m still taking in that really nice armdrag.

I wonder if this will continue in coming weeks, I hope so, it’s not like ECW has much to lose in booking Divas as the rest of their programme seems to be filled with newcomers at least these girls are established names and faces.

ECW

Nikki Bella def. Katie Lea

SmackDown

Melina & Eve Torres def. Michelle McCool & Layla

I gotta be honest, I didn’t think much would come of the Bella Twins’ move to ECW. I expected it would be their restover on the plane to Releaseville, but last night’s show actually booked the Bellas in a way that set up a future storyline. I’m sure we remember their brief feud before WrestleMania that was dropped abruptly with a WWE.com video explaining that they’d ‘made up’. Well it looks like we could get a full blown feud between Brie and Nikki on their new home of ECW:

This was a really fun segment, I can’t deny it. I was laughing hard when ECW newcomer, Abraham Washington commented on their hair insisting it must be a weave. Weaves and extensions are one of the fun things we at Diva Dirt like to gossip about, in fact we spent a lot of our live blog this past Sunday talking about different Diva weaves haha. This guy has got some swagger, the jokes about a horse running around bald were hilarious — I refuse to believe that came from the minds of the Creative Team.

Meanwhile the subtle bickering between the twins was also fun. Who knew that these two had mic skills? They came across really well on the microphone and showed more charisma in one segment that they’ve shown since they started on SmackDown last year. And for once, isn’t it a nice change to have Divas who can talk without sounding like shrieking banshees? Seriously, most Diva promos make me cringe including Tiffany’s promo last night.

I really enjoyed the segment and was pleasantly surprised by these two. Seriously, who knew?! Now if this turns into a wrestling feud, that’s a whole ‘nother matter…

It does make me wonder though, why doesn’t WWE try and book them in a speaking role? Maybe as managers where they could be the mouthpiece to someone?

[poll id="375"]

Tonight on Raw, Vince McMahon announced his plan to move 15 Superstars and Divas to various brands in a move to “shake up” the rosters (even though we had a draft 2 months ago, but shhhh..). The moves have been announced on WWE.com, and here are the Divas making a move:

To Raw:
- Gail Kim
- Alicia Fox

To SmackDown:
- Natalya (with the Hart Dynasty)

To ECW:
- Brie & Nikki Bella

So, what does this mean for the Divas? Will Brie & Nikki officially fall off the WWE’s radar? What about Natalya – will this move actually allow her to wrestle now, even though she’s still with the Hart Dynasty? Will Gail stay babyface? Will Michelle survive without her minion Alicia? Sound off (and speculate) in the comments!!

It seems as though Tiffany may remain the interim General Manager of ECW for a while longer. At first, the WWE wasn’t sold on her talents on the mic as well as her inability to connect with the fans. However, now it appears that things are looking up for the ECW Diva. It had been rumored that Tiffany was going to be replaced by Tommy Dreamer once his contract expires in June 2009 (at Extreme Rules), but the catch was if Dreamer even wanted the job. Well, it now has come to light that Dreamer does not want to be the General Manager of ECW if he doesn’t achieve his goal of being champion before his contract expires. He took to his blog to talk about the situation:

I think Tiffany does a great job [as the GM]. She is impartial which I can’t be in that postion and she looks so much better than me in a skirt. I do not want a non wrestling role if things don’t work out after June 6. I am all in as they say in poker. Win and I accomplish my dream. Lose and my dream is over!

From the looks of things, I’d say Tiffany should be pretty thrilled to hear this news. Whether or not company officials like her as the GM remains to be seen, but so long as they can’t find a replacement, she’s set to keep her job.

Aside from this, and I might be the only one, I am really warming up to Tiffany being the General Manager of ECW. I think throughout the time she’s spent as GM, her mic skills have really improved and she seems to be getting over with the audience as a big fan favorite. Plus, I believe keeping her as the General Manager for now will be better for her character in the future.

Judging by her recent match in FCW where she teamed with Angela Fong to take on Katie Lea and Alicia Fox, she has also come a long way inside the ring. As long as she continues working in FCW on her wrestling skills, I think keeping her in front of the ECW audience and working on her speaking will only help her when she eventually transitions into the ring as a full-time ECW Diva where feuds with Natalya and Katie Lea, and maybe even Serena down the line will be great matches.

What do y’all think? Are you finally warming up to Tiffany as the General Manager?

Were you guys watching ECW last night? If so, you might be wondering who that mysterious woman standing in the hallway was when Finlay was heading to the ring. Upon further research, it has been revealed the randomly placed Diva is none other than Serena Deeb.

In case you’re not familiar, Serena is a 6-time OVW Women’s Champ and current SHIMMER star. Serena has a lengthy history with WWE Divas Beth Phoenix and Katie Lea, as well as TNA Knockout Sojourner Bolt.

What does this mean for the landscape of ECW’s Diva Roster? Will we see Serena in the WWE? Will Serena be on hand to help Finlay against the Hart Trilogy? I, for one can’t wait to find out. Check the video below to see what Serena is made of. And a special thanks to Hassan for his help!

UPDATE: The ECW “After The Bell” segment features Mark Henry flirting with Serena, only to be interrupted by Tony Atlas. Check out that video here!

UPDATE #2: Courtesy of SHIMMER co-founder, Dave Prazak, here’s another Serena video. This one was shown before her first SHIMMER title match against MsChif. Enjoy!

OVW: SERENA VS. KATIE LEA VS. BETH PHOENIX – NO DQ MATCH

This week’s edition of ECW saw Evan Bourne defeating Natalya‘s boytoy Tyson Kidd. However, off air, the WWE Mobile Exclusive brought about a confrontation between the third generation Diva and the interim General Manager of ECW, Tiffany.

After his loss to Evan Bourne on this week’s ECW on Sci Fi, Tyson Kidd and his Extreme associate, Natalya , had plenty of complaints for ECW’s interim General Manager, Tiffany.

Reports are saying that this is being done to buildup a feud between Natalya and Tiffany. Apparently, by “constantly complaining” about Tiffany’s job as the General Manager, it will culminate with the two Divas squaring off in the ring.

Finally, a storyline involving the Divas of ECW! Hot off the news that WWE officials are not happy with Tiffany’s performance so far as the General Manager due to her inability to connect with the fans and speaking abilites on the microphone, I think this may be the opening both Divas were looking for.

This will allow Tiffany to really work on her speaking and lead up to her debut in the ring. She might not be sticking around for too much longer as the General Manager, depending on if ECW Original Tommy Dreamer wants the job after his contract expires, as he would be the one most likely replacing Tiffany. If he does take the job, this angle could be a buildup to a smooth transition for Tiffany out of the GM’s office and into the ring.

And I think it goes without saying that we are all patiently waiting to see Natalya finally getting into the ring. She’s without a doubt the most under-utilized Diva on the roster, and until the new Hart Foundation gets together, this would be a great way to keep her on TV as a heel and also working in the ring.

The only down side I can see to this is poor Katie Lea! Somebody give her something to do!

Superstars:
The crowd was predictably dead during Alicia/Michelle vs Maria/Gail. Maria got a OK pop however. Me and my girlfriend were torn on which team to cheer for, since we like both Alicia and Gail so we just cheered both. Alicia sold really well and looked very natural in the ring. McCool and Fox had good chemistry together. I hope they team together more in the future. Surprisingly the match was botch-free. Go figure.

SmackDown:
The Layla/Eve dance segment got really good reaction from the crowd. Both Divas were really working it. The cat-fight got a decent reaction as well. The crowd (myself included) were yelling ”Let Them Fight!”.

After The Show:
I saw all the Divas on the Card, except Michelle, exiting the arena. Natalya, Eve, Gail, Maria and Alicia all left together, along with Evan Bourne and Tyson Kidd. They all smiled and waved. Alicia stuck around longer than the other and waved and blew kisses. No Diva signed autographs though. In non-Diva news, Shad Gaspard hung out and signed my program. MVP and R-Truth interacted with the crowd outside. Jimmy Wang Yang also signed a few autographs.    

Beware of the spoilers:

Tonight’s ECW will see the brand’s newest Diva in her first match as an official member of the roster. Sadly, it isn’t much in the way of development for the WWE Divas, or much in the way of development for the women’s movement for that matter. The match will see Hornswoggle, yes Hornswoggle defeat Natalya in a one-on-one match. In my estimation, this is the ultimate slap in the face to one of the most talented women in professional wrestling today. Not to mention a slap in the face to the legacy of Nattie’s family.

That match airs tonight at 9pm ET on Sci-Fi. I know some may be curious to check it out, but I would urge you not to and rather YouTube it if you really want to see it. I wouldn’t want to contribute to ECW’s rating and hopefully, you won’t either.

To add further insult to injury, this week’s edition of WWE Superstars on WGN sees Finlay and Hornswoggle defeat Natalya and Tyson Kidd in a tag team match.

It’s such a shame to see such talent be wasted.

Now these big business types need evaluations right? So allow me to oblige:

Presentation: Decent, if a little frumpy. On her first night as GM, Tiffany went for the conservative suit but there’s nothing wrong with sexing up your image, if you’re a hot young executive. A day dress, maybe a loose fitting top or tight pants would have worked better (see Rosa Mendes’ outfit from Monday’s Raw).

Authority: Average. It didn’t take long for the ECW Champion, Jack Swagger to undermine the doe-eyed Diva (New catchphrase alert! Copyright, Melanie). Vickie Guerrero certainly wouldn’t stand for that!

Crowd Control: Average. Hijacking the music of a beloved former Diva sets you back a little bit. ECW isn’t the WWE A-show but has some great Superstars (Christian, Evan Bourne and Tyson Kidd to name a few), give the people what they want and they won’t turn on you.

Communicative Skills: Pretty darn bad. She may look like comedy actress, Kaley Cuoco but she certainly hasn’t got any of the wit or charm. Monotonous, bland and boring come to mind when evaluating her microphone skills.

Overall: Slightly average. She’s no Vickie Guerrero, she’s no Torrie Wilson and she’s no Kaley Cuoco. Tiffany’s got a lot working against her, but could grow into her new role. I don’t wanna be too harsh, because she reminds me of Bambi, also doe-eyed.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time, ECW Diva Tiffany has been announced as the new interim General Manager of the brand after Teddy Long upgraded to SmackDown at tonight’s tapings.

Remember, last night on Raw, Vickie Guerrero announced that she was giving up her SmackDown position to become the permanent GM of Raw.

And before someone says it, no I don’t see Tiffany becoming GM as a promotion – she’s still just a television character like any other Diva and like Vickie Guerrero. And no, I don’t think it’s because the Creative Team or Vince see something special in her. It just seems like she was introduced in the right position (as Teddy Long’s assistant) to be kayfabe promoted.

EDIT: Apparently, Tiffany has adopted Torrie Wilson‘s entrance theme, “A Girl Like That.” Is nothing sacred anymore? As a huge Torrie fan it annoys me. That music was written for Torrie for the Wreckless Intent album. You wouldn’t give away Trish’s music or Lita’s or Victoria’s. WWE slaps Torrie in the face once again.

ECW: BRIE BELLA VS NIKKI BELLA

Not a very good match at all. There were a couple of ‘decent’ spots but overall, this match was a mess from bell-to-bell. Neither of these two are experienced enough in the ring to pull out a decent singles match against each other. The timing was slow and the match just plodded along with no excitement or intensity. They’re supposed to hate each other, right? Your best bet would be to skip this match and hold out for Matt vs Jeff at WrestleMania.

ECW

Nikki Bella def. Brie Bella after a distraction by John Morrison.

SmackDown

Gail Kim & Maria def. Maryse & Michelle McCool. Gail pinned Maryse after hitting her with a neckbreaker.

In a prelude to Hardy vs Hardy conflict at WrestleMania, we’ll be getting a Bella vs Bella match tomorrow night on ECW! Brie (the good one) will take on Nikki (the bad one).

Now all we need is a Jerry Springer like twist (“I slept with your boyfriend and am now pregnant by him” sounds effective) and this one’s good to go.

After this week’s ECW on Sci Fi, ECW General Manager Theodore Long told his assistant, Tiffany, to submit a proposal for her brilliant idea – an all-Divas episode of ECW. Then, fellow Divas Alicia Fox, Katie Lea Burchill and Natalya offered Tiffany plenty of ideas for the episode.

Until the actual footage pops up, this is what we have to go on. But if you ask me, it’s much more promising than the visual of an unhinged Vince McMahon axing the show at the last moment. Hooray Divas!

Well now maybe we can offer a little explanation. Word has it that Vince McMahon himself was behind the axe of the ECW Divas Night as he “didn’t see the point.” Meanwhile, it was Stephanie McMahon that pushed for the special to take place.

Say what you will about Steph, her and her husband may be poison to the business or they may be saints, but never let it be said that Stephanie isn’t a supporter of the Divas. A number of past Divas have praised Steph for wanting to promote a strong vision of women on WWE television. The key word there being wanting, as we all know from the abundance of Bra & Panties matches and Lingerie Pillowfights in the past, that strong vision has never really come to fruition.

ECW has released a match listing and a preview for Tuesday’s ECW, and it is definitely not dedicated to the Divas. In fact, numerous other sources are reporting that DirecTV’s listed preview for ECW only mentions that ECW Champion Jack Swagger will be making an appearance. The announced card for the event is listed as Jack Swagger & Tyson Kidd vs. Tommy Dreamer and Evan Bourne, Morrison vs Carlito, and MVP’s VIP Lounge… and that’s it! If the WWE decides to have the Divas mentioned to hype the Battle Royal, it will probably only be for a segment or two at the most since there won’t be a whole lot of empty time in between those matches.

ECW will be taped tonight following Raw, so what officially happens will remain to be seen. If it doesn’t happen tonight, then next week’s ECW is the last chance to do Divas Night before WrestleMania 25 on April 5. It’s still a possibility… but who knows! WWE never even mentioned anything about Divas Night on WWE.com!

Looking back, though, when Howard Finkel blogged about Divas Night, he said that Tiffany “had a great idea for an upcoming episode of ECW” and never technically said it would be this week. In the actual clip, Tiffany says Divas Night would be “one night” for the Divas. I guess there’s still a chance of it happening next week, but regardless, there is no Divas Night this week! Let’s just hope it’s not really cancelled!

[poll id="308"]

In this very special one-off edition of Creative Team Meeting, my aim is to book the entire one hour broadcast of this coming Tuesday’s ECW show. Why? Because as you all know, this week’s ECW will be an all Divas special branded “Divas Night.”

First of all, as the show is one hour – or 42 minutes without commercials – this usually breaks down into four segments. Thus I will attempt to book the show into four segments, a mix of matches and promos.

The aim is to create a programme that not only highlights the current Diva storylines but also builds up the Miss WrestleMania battle royal at WrestleMania 25.

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains spoilers about next week’s SmackDown. Avoid reading if you don’t want to be spoiled.

Notes
- Raw ring announcer, Lilian Garcia would replace ECW’s Justin Roberts on duty this week to tie in with the Divas Night theme.
- Eve Torres will serve as backstage interviewer.
- Throughout the night, Eve and/or the announce team will reveal some of the legends returning to compete in the Miss WrestleMania battle royal. Perhaps not all six so there are a couple of surprises on the night, but three at the most.

Opening Contest
Alicia Fox, Kelly Kelly, Maria & Mickie James vs Jillian, Katie Lea, Layla & Natalya
This match will feature Divas from all three brands in the opening contest. It will likely result in the babyfaces picking up the win, perhaps Mickie pinning Katie Lea.

Announcers introduce the night’s main event, a rematch between Divas Champion Maryse and Women’s Champion Melina.

Commercial break.

Eve Torres interviews Melina on her match with Maryse.

Second Match
Brie Bella (w/ The Colons) vs Nikki Bella (w/ Miz & Morrison)
Brie & Nikki grudge match following what happened on ECW last week. I would have Nikki go over by having Miz or Morrison cheat on her behalf. Brie would get retribution that Friday on SmackDown, as it’s been taped that her and the Colons will beat Nikki, Miz & Morrison.

Announcers reveal that Torrie Wilson will compete in the Miss WrestleMania match.

Commercial break.

In-Ring Segment with Beth Phoenix
Beth Phoenix makes her way down to the ring with Santino & Rosa Mendes. She brags about how she will win the Miss WrestleMania match. The main aim of this is to put over Beth a little more as she is no longer Women’s Champion. Trish Stratus appears on the titantron and cuts a short promo saying she’ll see Beth at WrestleMania, this would obviously get a good reaction from the fans.

Backstage, Eve is with Maryse to talk about the upcoming main event. Maryse insults Eve in her usual cocky fashion.

Commercial break.

Announcers announce the Divas Championship match between Maryse and Michelle McCool this Friday on SmackDown. They then run down the WrestleMania card and announce that Sunny will be in the Miss WrestleMania match.

Main Event
Divas Champion, Maryse vs Women’s Champion, Melina (Lumberjack Match)
Following the first match between these two which was won by Maryse, Melina picks up the win here. Michelle could slap Maryse, resulting in Melina hitting her with the Last Call. After the match, all of the Divas brawl as the show goes off the air.

In the process of unification, we also received a case of deeper division, or a current non-case of “sisterly love” concerning the Bella Twins. Last night, there was bad blood a brewing between Brie and Nikki. They’ve made their loyalties known in the Miz/Morrison -vs- Carlito/Primo issue, but it looks as if  an apple a day (thanks to the Colons) won’t keep these two away!

Mr. Long’s lovely assistant Tiffany returned and had this idea of having a Diva’s Night for an episode of ECW. Nice thinking, Tiffany. Yes, it has never been done before, and I know it would pique my interest. By the way, I see that Tiffany will be a part of the Divas Battle Royal at WrestleMania 25. I hope she knows what she’s getting into. I mean, have you seen her in any in-ring competition yet on ECW-TV? Nope. It would be a bold way to make her WWE in-ring debut, and at the biggest event of the year, no less…..Go for it Tiff!

Again, I’m really glad that the Bella Twins have finally been split up. Their characters were way too stale and the whole dressing-alike gimmick and just standing at ringside was just making them become less and less important. Finally, those who can’t tell them apart will be able to, and if all turns out well, Nikki may even find her way onto the ECW roster as a heel while allowing Brie to stay on SmackDown as a face.

With the feud brewing between the sisters, it’s obvious that we are bound to have them feuding with each other for a good month or two and they will inevitably be in 3-on-3 tag matches (see next week’s spoilers) and at ringside when Miz & Morrison battle the Colons. They will also no doubt be at ringside at WrestleMania 25 when the two tag teams square off to see who becomes the unified Tag Team Champions. Will the Bellas play a deciding factor?

I really like that they are praising Tiffany by allowing her to have been the one to come up with Divas Night next week on ECW. (Her character is finally given some meaning!) It seems that Howard Finkel also had the same idea as me when he said that WrestleMania’s Battle Royal could be WWE’s way of planning out Tiffany’s official in-ring debut, which would allow her to become an active wrestler on ECW. It’s about time she stop doing pre-recorded backstage segments and finally enter the ring and show us what she’s got! I’m definitely looking forward to this and I’m predicting a feud brewing between her and Katie Lea or even Nikki Bella, assuming she becomes an ECW Diva by joining Miz & Morrison.

After all, this is a wrestling business and if Tiffany doesn’t hurry up and do something meaningful, she’s bound to be wished well on her future endeavors!

If you missed ECW tonight, you sure missed out on a lot of Diva developments! Aside from the breaking announcement that next week’s ECW will be an all-diva special to promote the Battle Royal at WrestleMania, the show finished off with an edition of Miz & Morrison’s Dirt Sheet which saw the apparent splitting up of Nikki and Brie Bella! Since the Bella Twins were now joining Miz & Morrison following last week’s SmackDown, they too were in the ring for the Dirt Sheet, where their former flings, Carlito & Primo, were mocked.

Having had enough, Carlito & Primo came out to stop the mockery and proceeded to challenge Miz & Morrison to a match at WrestleMania 25 where both sets of Tag Titles would be on the line and the winning team would hold the unified Tag Team Championship. Carlito & Primo then went to spit apples in the face of Miz & Morrison, but they ducked and the spit ended up hitting Brie Bella! Nikki Bella, however, laughed hysterically at what happened to her sister, and the irate Brie turned around and speared Nikki, causing a catfight to ensue! The Colons and Miz & Morrison were able to seperate the two, but a reconciliation did not happen; Nikki Bella left the ring with Miz & Morrison while Brie Bella stayed with Carlito & Primo!

It seems the “dynamic-duo” twin gimmick has run its course and creative has finally decided to split the two up and turn Nikki heel while keeping Brie a face. I’m sure loving this new jolt of life put into their characters as it was much needed and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds! A 3-on-3 tag match next week perhaps? At least they can finally stop dressing identically and, who knows, if Nikki stays with Miz & Morrison, she just may be ECW’s newest Diva!

Looks like there won’t be any alliances between these two at the Divas Battle Royal and I’m predicting Brie will get her revenge by eliminating Nikki from the match!

At last night’s ECW taping – to air tonight – WWE recorded a backstage scene between Teddy Long and Tiffany discussing how next week’s show will be an “all Divas special.” I’m assuming this will feature Divas from all three brands.

While the timing is random, this is definitely going to be something to check out. I’ve always thought WWE should have one hour Divas specials a couple of times throughout the year. Hopefully if the ratings hold up, this will be the first of many Diva-centric episodes.

ECW: ALICIA FOX VS NATALYA

I enjoyed this match, while Alicia hasn’t exactly been in the spotlight too long, she is extremely likeable. I’m not sure what it is, I guess some people have that ‘it factor’ and Alicia most definitely has it. She looked really comfortable in the ring and matched the more experienced Natalya very well. As for Natalya, I savour every moment she’s in the ring because she’s truly a delight to watch.

That said, I don’t think this match was great. It started off strong then got a little slow, but it did pick up for the finish. Good ring-work from both Divas.

Natalya (with Tyson Kidd) def. Alicia Fox (with DJ Gabriel) with a Sharpshooter. After the match, Kidd tried to attack Gabriel.

Anyone who got to watch ECW last night, was probably just as surprised as I was to see everyone’s favorite third generation diva, Natalya. Last night Natalya officially debuted as a member of the ECW brand, accompanying her real life fiancee, TJ Wilson, now known as Tyson Kidd.

To be honest, I don’t know I feel about this. While Natalya really wasn’t doing much on Smackdown, at least she could’ve have earned a title shot. Even with the current flood Divas migrating to ECW, there still is no division to speak of. She can only wrestle Alicia Fox and Tiffany so many times. Or maybe a feud with Katie Lea?

Hopefully, this new arrangement will give her a chance to develop as a character and finally be top Diva she deserves to be.

What do you guys think? Was the trade a bad move? Do you wanna see Nattie get extreme? Let us know in the comments.

  

Alicia Fox & DJ Gabriel def. Katie Lea & Paul Burchill

I don’t know if it’s just me, or if you guys do this to, but every week I wonder about how WWE can follow up on the week before. I always come up with what I’d book for the week etc. And I thought why not introduce this to Diva Dirt as a possible weekly feature. So here’s how I’d book this week’s shows:

Monday Night Raw
Air Date: Monday, January 12th
So last week we had Melina and Goldust defeating Beth Phoenix and Santino, meanwhile Kelly Kelly beat Jillian. I think the logical move for this week’s show would be Melina & Kelly vs Beth & Jillian in a tag team match. I think Melina should go over here again, maybe getting another pin over Beth to gain momentum.

Meanwhile, Kelly also has her storyline with Kane. I expect she’ll be at ringside for his match with Randy Orton.

ECW
Air Date: Tuesday, January 13th
Following last week’s match between Alicia Fox and Katie Lea, I expect they’ll go for a mixed tag match this week. I wouldn’t mind, however, seeing a rematch of last week’s match with Alicia getting the win this time. If they do go for the mixed tag route, I expect the Burchills to pick up the win.

Friday Night SmackDown
Air Date: Friday, January 16th
I’m going to get a little more adventurous here… I think Maryse is set to return this week, so I’d have her return to SmackDown be billed as ‘Maryse’s Victory Celebration’ where she has an in-ring celebration for her Divas Championship win. Confetti, scantily clad men carrying her to the ring… y’know, something fun. A cocky promo about how it’s an honour for the fans to have Maryse as their Divas Champ only to be interrupted by the debuting Gail Kim. Gail comes out and says she’s excited to be back in the WWE and wanted to introduce herself to Maryse and couldn’t think of a more perfect time since Maryse was celebrating being the new Divas Champion, Gail says she’ll be sure to invite Maryse to her victory celebration when she’s the new champion. Maryse gets pissy and slaps Gail, Gail slaps Maryse back and Maryse falls to the canvas and Gail celebrates. Maryse has a tantrum in the ring to end the scene.

A fun segment that introduces Maryse as the Divas Champ, debuts Gail Kim, introduces a new feud to SmackDown and in case Maryse is still hurt, it doesn’t require her to wrestle.

And if they’re feeling extra generous and want to give us a Divas match too, I would have Eve vs Michelle McCool. Eve wants revenge against Michelle, but Michelle beats her thus sending a message to Maria who’s still at home.

ALICIA FOX VS KATIE LEA

For such a short match, this was actually very good. As I wrote in my ‘Big FCW Post‘ last year, I’m very impressed by Alicia’s in-ring skills and she brought that to ECW last night. Alicia looks incredibly comfortable in the ring for a newcomer; she’s good at taking bumps, she’s good at offense and doesn’t necessarily need to be carried through a match like some of the other developing wrestlers on the Divas roster. Hopefully we’ll see more of her in future, because I think she has a lot to offer.

Meanwhile, I think this is Katie’s best outing yet since her debut. Her matches thus far have been lackluster and somewhat boring, her matches with Mickie James last year were just not up to snuff, but here she came across aggressive and had a fierce nature about her. There’s definitely something salvagable in Katie, because on Raw she was coming dangerously close to becoming Jillian 2.0. Moving her to ECW, it turns out, was a good move.

A nice effort from both Divas, this match wouldn’t look out of place on Raw or SmackDown. No one can expect these two to get more time given ECW’s running time, but they used their time well.

Nice change for WWE, as we’ll have had four Divas matches this week!

Katie Lea def. Alicia Fox

I’m going to hazard a guess and suggest that this move was not made with Katie in mind, rather WWE just moved her because they moved Burchill. While Katie has been used as Jillian 2.0 on Raw, that’s still one heel Diva we’re missing from Raw. Hopefully, they start utilising Layla more often.

Though this could be a blessing in disguise as ECW talent appear on both Raw and SmackDown, so if WWE wanted to, Katie could eventually get the best of both worlds – competing in both the Raw and SmackDown women’s divisions. And hopefully, the Burchills debut in ECW leads to a mixed tag feud with Gabriel and Fox.

So, we’ll see you in an actual wrestling match in about a year’s time? Okay, see you then…

The show may change but the Divas stay the same! Welcome to a very special “extreme” edition of SmackDown Redux – ECW Does SmackDown Redux that is! Last night on ECW, Divas Champion Michelle McCool tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of Maryse.

Thoughts & Reactions
For the first time in months, Divas action came to ECW last night! I don’t understand WWE’s logic, is there idea of ‘fresh’ having the same match from last week’s SmackDown but just on a different show? I can’t say I’m complaining too much because the Divas who can do no wrong, Maryse and Michelle McCool did something that Spider-Man or Pirates of the Caribbean could never do – create a perfect trilogy. It’s usually the threequels that let let a trilogy down but not this one! Once again, Michelle and Maryse delivered a great match full of intensity and fire. Would I say it was as good as their match last Friday on SmackDown? No, but let’s face it, that’s a hard one to top! Both girls really did try though and I watched this match with a smile on my face and when it ended, I loved and respected both of them that much more.

This match was more about Maryse playing the aggressor and she was fantastic. We keep saying it, but for someone who’s been wrestling for such a short time, she has not only the moves but the heel mannerisms down to a tee! Maryse has fantastic ring presence as a heel, she knows how to play the crowd and knows how to work her opponent and I have to say, she brings a lot of fire out in Michelle that we’ve never seen before. Many complain about Michelle’s lack of personality and such but if you watch this match, I thought Michelle responded incredibly well to Maryse and these two share an insane chemistry. There’s something almost charming about Michelle taking more of a backseat and jobbing for most of the match, if you’re a face champion, it’s good to look vulnerable to your opponent and then win where it counts – a title match.

To trackback, when you heard this was a non-title match didn’t you just know Maryse was going to win? It’s a good move though, as this sets up Maryse as having earned another title shot against Michelle. In fact, I can actually see Maryse going over Michelle and winning the title in the near future. At this point, I don’t care if we see Michelle vs Maryse every week as long as the calibre is the same as this and their past matches. Great stuff!

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention: the commentary for this match was fantastic. I don’t watch ECW so I never realised how good Matt Striker is, he and JR really put over the Divas and the in-ring action rather than going off on tangents like Raw. Giving focus and attention to what we’re watching really adds to the experience, I really loved the commentary and it definitely added to my viewing.

Individual Assessments
In this portion we will look at each of the Divas individually and the role they played, adding more thoughts yadda yadda:

Maryse: Maryse wins finally!

Michelle McCool: But Michelle was great too!

Fashion Focus
The Good: None.

The Bad: Michelle, I wasn’t feeling the top and pigtails, Michelle? Really? You’re not in fourth grade.

The In-Between: Everyone else.

Digital Photos (Courtesy of WWE.com)

MICHELLE VS. MARYSE