This Monday’s 3-hour Raw is billed as a “viewer’s choice” show, with the fans determining what happens based on who and what they want to see. The extent of the viewers’ actual power is likely small, but it presents an opportunity for Diva fans to tell the WWE what they want to see. Of course, Melanie and Erin have a few ideas of their own–read through them and vote for the one you’d vote for this Monday night:

Melanie’s Ideas

Viewer’s Vote for #1 Contender — We all have our favourites and we all want to see our favourite in a title feud or get a title shot. My idea would be to allow the so-called WWE ‘Univese’ to vote for which Diva faces Eve Torres later in the night for the Divas Championship. And I’m not talking about a rigged vote either. I’m talking about a legit vote as they did with the Diva of the Year last year and as they’ve done in the Halloween costume contests over the years. This could be a way to really put the power in the fans’ hands: Will they choose the obvious favourite, Gail Kim? Or will the WWE Universe swerve us and go with Maryse? Regardless of whether or not she’s a heel, Maryse is incredibly popular amongst the fans at home who would vote via WWE.com. If it’s a real, legit vote, I think the result could be extremely surprising. With no Melina, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly or Maria, there’s no clear cut most popular Diva on Raw. It’d be really telling of how the fans think to see the winner of the poll become the #1 Contender and face Eve on Raw. I think the result would be shocking… I’m not convinced that Gail would win it, despite being the obvious ‘babyface choice’. The competition would be wide open to all of the Raw Divas, which would make the result that much more exciting. Could you imagine Brie Bella winning and challenging Eve? The shock value would make Monday’s Raw extremely buzz-worthy.

Lay or Cool? — Option number two for me is the fans voting which of the co-Women’s Champions compete in a champion vs champion match against Raw’s Divas Champion, Eve Torres. We know that SmackDown will be part of the big three-hour Raw and Lay-Cool always seem to pop up whenever we have one of these interpromotional events. Will the fans vote for Layla vs Eve or Michelle vs Eve? Like the first option, the vote really could go either way.

Raw vs SmackDown –Putting the power in the fans’ hands, the WWE Universe could decide which Raw Diva faces off against which SmackDown Diva in an interpromotional match. You could even have all the other Divas at ringside, lumberjack-style. Continuing my trend, there’s no clear cut winner for each side because the usual top dogs [Melina, Mickie, Beth etc.] aren’t around. Who would get the vote for Raw and who would get the vote for SmackDown? It’d probably come down to popularity which means we’d likely see Kelly Kelly in action for SmackDown, but which Raw Diva will the fans vote for?

Erin’s ideas & reader poll after the cut:

Erin’s Ideas

Battle Royal for Title Shot — I’ll give credit where credit’s due; Cryssi had this idea on last Monday’s Post-Raw Show, and I liked it so much that I decided to put my own spin on it here. I’d like to see, near the beginning of the show, a battle royal featuring Divas from both Raw and Smackdown. In a perfect world, this battle royal would be given a generous amount of time and would feature at most 5 Divas. The choice of Divas would address current feuds while giving deserving, underutilized Divas a shot at the spotlight–Maryse (addressing her feud with Eve), Gail Kim, Natalya, Kelly Kelly (addressing her budding feud with Laycool), and Alicia Fox. Now, the winner would get to face the champ of her choosing — it being a Supershow gives both brands equal footing and thus gives Divas a chance to reach across the brand lines.

So, if say Gail were to win, she could choose to take on Michelle McCool and Layla. Gail wrestling co-champions would in itself be interesting, but it would be a unique opportunity to see Divas who don’t often get to interact face off in a high-stakes situation. By the end of the night, the brand lines could be shaken, and that is something many people feel needs to happen with the Divas. It would be a creative and exciting way to pull off some switcheroos without going through the process of an impromptu Diva Draft.

Lay-Cool At Odds — Fans aren’t fond of Lay-Cool’s catty ways, that’s for sure. One thing I think the general audience would make happen if they could would be to force these two to face each other and determine a true Women’s Champion. The audience, having seen them terrorize Mickie, Beth, and now Kelly would love to see them take their own Mean Girls tendencies out on each other. Michelle might think, in her arrogance, that Layla would lay down for her but Layla, in her own arrogance, could refuse to do so. Hidden tension is then manifested, and a real match commences.

I think it’s still a little too early to bring an end to Lay-Cool or this co-champ storyline, but it would be interesting to see them forced into a situation where they have no choice but to put aside the sisterly bond and show who really is the alpha dog. Things could resume as normal afterwards, and I’m sure they’d find some loophole that would maintain their co-champion bond, but for the night, that would make for quite an interesting bout.

Champion vs. Champions — WWE loves to pit champ vs. champ, and in a situation as unique as this, it might be too tempting for the fans to resist. Eve is the lone Divas Champion while Lay-Cool co-hold the Women’s Championship. The fans would probably not vote for the babyface to take on two heels, but it really does utilize both brands in a way that could advance two potential feuds, so I’d be all for it. Maryse could be present to take advantage of Eve’s disadvantage and thus reignite a little fire in their fizzling feud, and Michelle and Layla might find themselves at odds when one or the other wants to claim the win.

It also gives Eve a little more babyface sympathy from the fans in being double-teamed by the nefarious Lay-Cool while giving the Womens Champions heat in relishing the chance to double-team the “goody-two-shoes” fan favorite.

So, which idea do you prefer? Vote for your favorite below!

With Melina‘s ACL tear confirmed, the Armchair Creative Team is taking a look at how Raw can go forward in Melina’s absence. Many things need to be considered, chief among them the fate of the Divas Championship. So, how should they proceed? Erin and Melanie have a few suggestions.. Read them and vote for your favorite below!

Melanie’s Idea

A Babyface Swerve — With Melina expected to forfeit the Divas Title on Raw, it seems a new Divas Champion will be crowned on the same night, perhaps in battle royal fashion. Given that Melina was last feuding with Maryse, it seems she would be the obvious choice to win the belt. But… How about WWE makes it less obvious and goes with a babyface winning the belt instead? With everyone expecting Maryse to win the title, I’d much rather see an exciting swerve that could set up a new feud instantly.

Last year on SmackDown, Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio was suspended due to the Wellness Policy, while in the middle of a feud with Dolph Ziggler. However, WWE swerved fans by having Mysterio drop the title to John Morrison instead of the expected switch to Ziggler. The move led to an instant replacement feud between Ziggler and Morrison.

Going on that basis, I’d love to see WWE swerve us and give the belt to a babyface with Maryse then seething with rage and targeting the new Divas Champ as she did with Melina. Ideally, this role would go to Gail Kim who seems to be the most competent wrestler on the brand to replace Melina. However, knowing what we know about WWE, it’d be just as likely to see Kelly Kelly take the spot — WWE loves her, she’s higher on the totem pole than Gail and this could be the opportunity she’s been waiting for. Up until now, she’s always had a Melina or Mickie to play second fiddle to while bubbling under as someone WWE wants to push for the belt eventually. This seems like the time do it.

With Raw now more of an entertainment-based Saturday Night Live-esque show, there isn’t an immediacy to have your top babyface be a great worker as the matches for the Divas are usually 2-3 minutes and/or gimmick matches. Kelly, as seen on Raw last week, works well within those confines. As green as she may be, Kelly has proven that she can be relied upon for shorter length matches. It may not be ideal for us as fans, but WWE seem high on her and she is popular with fans.

Whether it be Gail or Kelly or even a third party, I’d prefer to see ‘the babyface swerve’ as it’ll give the opportunity to establish a new top babyface and push one of those ‘bubbling under’ Divas into top Divadom. Giving the belt to Maryse, who is already a top Diva, seems redundant.

Erin’s idea & reader poll after the cut:

Erin’s Idea

Natalya Gets Her Due — We’ve reported on the news that Natalya will be appearing at this Monday’s Bret Hart-infused Raw due to the Hart blood running through her veins, and it was even suggested by Melanie that Natalya could take the Divas Championship in a shocking win. Personally, I would love that, but I would prefer that Natalya actually earn the title in order to avoid the inevitable “she doesn’t deserve it” backlash.

In order for this to happen, I feel that Natalya should be brought onto Monday’s Raw as a babyface, introduced by Bret. That shouldn’t be hard to accomplish, given that Bret will likely be brought in as a good guy. The Hart Dynasty can use his good will with the fans to go good as well, and Natalya can get an instant face turn by simply associating herself with her legendary kin.

I feel that the WWE might take the easy way out of the Melina/Maryse feud on Monday and have Maryse win the Divas Championship in a sneaky, underhanded way that would gain her more heel heat– say, cheating to beat Melina without having her injure her knee any further or cheat her way through a Battle Royale–and have her be the snotty heel champ that Natalya could face off against. It would be an interesting way to introduce Natalya into the Raw fold and provide a new, capable foil for Maryse.

Throughout this feud, Natalya’s profile would be raised significantly and, in my opinion, the end goal should be crowning Natalya Divas Champion. We here at Diva Dirt have long felt that a championship win is overdue for her, so it should be handled in a way that wouldn’t be tarnished by a hasty win. Sure, Bret could show some favoritism towards Natalya with his guest GM role, but it should be in a way that introduces her into the fold in an impressive way, not just literally handing her the Divas Championship.

So, which idea do you prefer? Vote for your favorite below!

With Maryse’s return looming, Armchair Creative Team gets a dust-down as we ponder what the future could hold for the former Divas Champion. As one of the most anticipated comebacks in Diva history — depending on who you ask — will Maryse’s comeback be a Melina or a Candice? We weigh in:

Feud with Divas Champion, Melina — Perhaps the easiest and most probable option is for Maryse to come back and feud with the current reigning Divas Champion, Melina. This one pretty much explains itself, right? Melina is the Divas Champion and top babyface, Maryse is a former Divas Champion, coming back from injury and likely will be the top heel — it writes itself really.

Create an alliance with Alicia Fox — While the above idea is probably the most WWE’s creative team’s creativity extends to, I have been pondering a different route to see Maryse feud with Melina. What’s worse than one Diva on your trail? Two! As two of the fastest rising Divas in WWE, how about creating a Diva duo with Maryse and Alicia? Not since Vince’s Devils have we seen a group in WWE and while The Beautiful People seem to have that market cornered in TNA, it’d be refreshing to see something like this in WWE. Alicia and Maryse are young Divas on the cusp of top Divadom, it would make sense for them to team up and take out the veteran Divas Champ. Instead of a straight one-on-one feud, you could have both Divas attacking Melina and being a general thorn in her side. Throw in some of those rare promos to explain the new tandem and get over that bitchy heel nature.

Feud with Eve Torres — Instead of starting out right at the top, like most expect her to, why not have throw fans a curveball and have Maryse work her way up? Rather than starting out straightaway in a feud with Melina, have her go through Eve Torres first. Both Eve and Maryse are Divas on the rise and have bright futures in WWE. With Eve now on Raw, you could have Maryse come back and claim not to know who she is [even though they worked together on SmackDown] and say she’s back now and Raw is her turf. Superiority is something Maryse does best and it would give Eve a bit of a rub, working with the ex-Divas Champion.

So what do you think? You’ve read the ideas and now you get to vote!

Armchair Creative Team is back! This time, we are booking Bragging Rights, the brand vs. brand PPV that takes place a week from this Sunday. This event offers rare opportunities for Raw and SmackDown Divas to go toe-to-toe, and the landscape is even more completed given this past Monday’s drafts. We’ll try and sort that out and offer you some interesting options. As always, read our match ideas & vote for your favourite!

Melanie’s Ideas

Jillian & Melina vs Michelle McCool & Mickie James — This match would pit the Divas Champion & Women’s Champion against each other, but just to make things a little interesting also team them up with their rivals on their respective brands. It’s all but a given that Mickie will likely be Michelle’s next challenger for the Women’s Title while we have heard that Jillian will receive a push for Melina’s Divas Title. This match would force the unlikely teams to work together to represent their brand but also could serve some storyline progression in their individual feuds.

Beth Phoenix vs. Melina — Giving us another match between these two former rivals, this could be an unexpected surprise match for the Bragging Rights pay per view. To set the scene: Beth Phoenix, the Glamazon, comes to SmackDown and doesn’t want to play second fiddle to the Women’s Champion. Thus she takes the pay per view spot to prove that she’s the alpha female on SmackDown, going against the Divas Champion, Melina. If Beth wins, it sets her up nicely, giving her something to brag about on her new home and brings her out of Michelle’s shadow as a co-#1 heel rather than #2 heel.

Melina vs. Mickie James — Melina vs Mickie would be a battle of the babyfaces. There’s a lot of brand pride at stake for the Divas, but there’s also the chance to establish either one as the top babyface Diva in the entire WWE. They could it explain it as WWE’s two most popular Divas battling it out to determine who is the best Diva in the company as well as fighting for their brand. This one would likely draw a big reaction also, as both Divas have proven to be highly popular with the crowd — put them together in front of a live crowd, and they may just tear down the house.

Erin’s ideas & reader poll after the cut:

Erin’s Ideas

Now you’ve read all the ideas. Have your vote below:

Armchair Creative Team is back! And this time we are booking this Friday’s SmackDown 10th anniversary special. Considered the ‘season premiere’ of SmackDown, the annual special usually features tri-branded matches and Superstars and Divas from all three brands. Last year, we had a champion vs champion match when then-Women’s Champ, Beth Phoenix defeated then-Divas Champ, Michelle McCool in a singles match. If this year’s main event is anything to go by, it looks like this year’s ‘season premiere’ will feature more of the same interpromotional goodness! As always, read our match ideas & vote for your favourite!

Melanie’s Ideas

Champion vs Champion: Michelle McCool vs Mickie James — Pretty much following the formula from last year’s SmackDown season premiere. SmackDown’s own, the Women’s Champion Michelle McCool would face the Divas Champion, Mickie James in a singles match. And perhaps like past champion vs champion matches, you could even have the entire Divas roster serving as lumberjacks. Unlike past champion vs champion matches, this one would be even more about brand pride than ever before! Both Mickie and Michelle are born-and-bred on their brands, Michelle has been with SmackDown for her entire career and Mickie, the same on Raw. The brand pride these two would be fighting for, therefore, would be that much more amplified. They have shared some good chemistry in the past and this would be a dream match of sorts.

Melina & Mickie James vs Alicia Fox & Michelle McCool — Perhaps my personal favourite idea is to see these two dream teams back together again! There’s storyline progression to be had here, plus also nostalgia to be served. Melina is pretty much the #1 Contender for McCool’s Women’s Championship and same for Fox to James’ Divas Championship. Thus, this match would be in keeping with storyline. However, there’s also some fun personal history here. Before being drafted to SmackDown, Melina & Mickie’s friendship on Raw was really cute to see and they worked so well as a tag team. Meanwhile, Alicia Fox has made good after that brief period as Michelle’s understudy on SmackDown — she is now the #1 Contender for the Divas Title! For old times sake, why not reunite mentor and student? Could be a great interpromotional match.

Beth Phoenix vs Michelle McCool — Arguably, the two top badass heels in WWE right now. This would be a rematch from last year, when these two faced off as Beth put Michelle out with the Glam Slam. This year however, times have changed — Michelle is now rivalling the Glamazon in the bad girl stakes. This could make for an interesting matchup and show much progression from their match last year as both are now on a more even playing field.

Erin’s ideas & reader poll after the cut:

Erin’s Ideas

Now you’ve read all the ideas. Have your vote below:

We’re backkk! Yeah, I know we just did this yesterday but we can’t help ourselves. The armchair was calling us! Today we’re puzzling over the possibilities for tonight’s rumored Raw Roulette special. As most of you know, this is the one night where a spin of the wheel (and a predetermined stop) determines the stipulation of the matches. We’ll take our best shot at booking–two matches each–a show that is known to be one of the most unpredictable events of the year.

Melanie’s Ideas

Submission Match: Gail Kim vs Mickie James — I know what you’re thinking, “Girl, do you have a Gail and Mickie fetish?” I know I got all up in the Gail-Mickie action in the SummerSlam post too, but what can I say? I want to see these two Divas have great matches so we can act like last week didn’t happen. With two such talented Divas, especially the technical Gail Kim, a submission match could make for an exciting match filled with tense moments. Gail Kim’s Flying Dragon in particular would be quite the picture on Mickie James. I wouldn’t make this for the title, but rather a non-title match with Gail perhaps getting the victory using the Flying Dragon and earning herself another Divas Title match at Unforgiven Breaking Point?

Contract on a Pole Match: Beth Phoenix vs Gail Kim — Gail Kim may be Mickie’s current #1 Contender, but Glamazon Beth Phoenix is notching up victories and strong showings left, right and center. Why not have them duke it out for the next #1 Contendership? Having blown her last shot, I feel like Gail should have to earn another title match rather than have one handed and Beth, who has had lots of wins of late including last night at SummerSlam, seems like the perfect contender. WWE loves their pole matches so it seems like the best Raw Roulette stipulation for such an affair.

Erin’s ideas & reader poll after the cut:

Erin’s Ideas

Strange Bedfellows Match: Mickie James & Rosa Mendes vs. Gail Kim & Beth Phoenix — These matches are a rare opportunity to see two wrestlers–who under any other circumstance would be at each other’s throats–team up. Granted, neither team doesn’t seem to have deep-seated hate for one another, but it would be interesting to see the heels and faces forced to work together, with style clashes and attitude clashes out the yin-yang. The bit of history between Rosa and Beth would make for an interesting face off. But, most of all, it could help establish a lot more heat between Mickie and Gail in a roundabout way. If the WWE really wants to make this a feud and has a Divas Championship rematch in mind (and I hope they do), this could be the perfect way to send it in a more hostile direction. The match could start out as friendly competition but slowly morph into an all-out brawl, any trace of competitive sportsmanship abandoned. Let’s hope last week’s fiasco doesn’t discourage them from taking this feud forward.

Blindfold Match: Jillian vs. Alicia Fox — The little bit we saw of these two last week showed that they have a bit of history hanging out backstage together. Okay, so it was a few seconds, but whatever. If Jillian busts into the GM’s office, demanding a match after last week’s humiliation at the hands of DX, a spin of the wheel could land on something that would suit her role as the resident comic relief Diva–a blindfold match. Alicia could be on her bad side for laughing at her garbage-related misfortune, thus being pegged as her opponent. She could add to the hilarity by cheating and running circles around Jillian in the ring, even with the sight handicap. I’d love to see Alicia prove that she can be a true heel by sneaking her way to a dirty victory.

Now you’ve read all the ideas. Have your vote below:

The Diva Dirt armchair creative team known as Erin and Melanie strike once again, this time looking at what could have been at tonight’s SummerSlam pay per view. As we all know, the Divas were bumped off this year’s card despite a few possible matches being discussed.

Needless to say, we certainly won’t be bothering with tonight’s event, call me crazy but Randy Orton vs John Cena for the umpteenth time is about as exciting as rabies.

But let us speculate over what could have gotten us excited — the Diva possibilites! Erin and Melanie offer their options from Raw & SmackDown below:

Raw

Divas Championship: Gail Kim vs Mickie James — The first match was originally on the SummerSlam card however was bumped off and put on Raw this past week. In hindsight, it probably was a good thing because I’d hate to see that botch on a pay per view. That said, I feel this match is pay per view caliber and deserves to be billed as such. These two Divas are two of the best that WWE has to offer and as such, they should be considered more PPV worthy than every Kelly, Alicia or Rosa. Perhaps bill this as a rematch from the match we saw on Raw, like they did with the MVP-Swagger match.

Divas Championship: Beth Phoenix vs Gail Kim vs Mickie James — The other possibility is to throw the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix into the mix. While Gail Kim may be the #1 Contender, Beth Phoenix [along with Jillian] has a tag team victory over these two Divas and has been quietly working herself back up to title stature in the background. We saw the prominence of the Glamazon in the fatal four-way match a few weeks ago and also a big win over Kelly Kelly on Superstars this past Thursday. Having three talented girls in the ring is surely better than two?

Divas Championship Battle Royal — I’m not a huge fan of battle royals but I feel that SummerSlam or any of the ‘big four’ pay per views are likely to be booked with multi-woman matches rather than singles matches — just look at April’s WrestleMania 25. Part of this match is due to nostalgia, I feel like it’s been a really long time since a title was defended in a battle royal. Having all of the Raw Divas in a battle royal would likely be less time consuming than a singles match that WWE seems to want to avoid putting on a SummerSlam card [as noted in the past] and would give all the girls involved their SummerSlam payday. For us, we know that this group of girls can work together from past multi-Diva matches and it could be pretty fun in that sense. I’m not suggesting that Mickie lose her title in a battle royal but defending it successfully would add more value to her title reign as she has beaten all of the Divas on Raw.

SmackDown options & reader poll after the cut:

SmackDown

Women’s Championship: Michelle McCool vs. Melina — We still don’t know the severity of Michelle’s injury or if she’ll be back in the ring soon, but if we assume that she’s well enough to wrestle, it wouldn’t be too far fetched for the WWE to slap a last minute match together. Michelle and Melina have numerous weeks of buildup, so to make a match with Michelle only back a week wouldn’t be as absurd had this feud been much newer. Plus, these two are able the manufacture heat like nobody’s business so a match, even with fractured buildup, has every chance to be a showstopper.

Melina vs. Layla — Layla’s coming into her own on SmackDown as of late, and her recent match with Melina exceeded most fans’ expectations. If Michelle is not well enough to wrestle, why not use her “message girl” (sorry Michelle, I like the term) to wrestle for her? Have Michelle present at ringside to add that extra level of excitement, but let Layla and Melina go at it one-on-one. Of course, Melina would be distracted by Michelle’s presence, but the match would still be focused on her and Layla–let’s not insult Layla by having Melina abandon the match in favor of pounding Michelle. This would achieve two things: it would raise Layla’s profile as a heel and keep the fire burning on Melina and Michelle’s feud. They’d have to explain Michelle’s inactivity with something more than a mere “vacation”, though, but I’m sure they could come up with something (Michelle: “Melina hasn’t earned a match with me yet!”).

Fatal Four Way for the #1 Contendership: Melina vs. Layla vs. Natalya vs. Eve — Let’s say they’re buying time for Michelle to fully recover. She could steer clear of in-ring action, but promise a future championship match to whoever proves themselves worthy. Thus, we have ourselves a #1 contendership match. In it we could place two of the brand’s rising stars: Layla and Eve. Melina, of course, would be in the mix, itching to get her hands on Michelle at all costs. Natalya could be included as well, perhaps as an informal welcome to SmackDown’s division–she’s been inconsistently wrestling on the show for a while now, but hasn’t been given a solid spot in the division, so this could help remedy that. Each Diva gets PPV exposure, and Michelle, acting high and mighty at ringside, gets to observe her competition and perfect her cocky heel act. Will Melina earn a the match with Michelle she’s been dying for? Will Eve or Layla get that golden opportunity? Will Natalya emerge as a contender out of nowhere? So many possibilities, all combined into a single match, decided by a single pinfall.

Now you’ve read all the ideas. Have your vote below:

Oh, we Diva Dirt writers. Always a step ahead of WWE’s own Creative Team, thinking up solutions to problems that they have yet to even acknowledge. Okay true, we don’t have five hours of television to write every week so I guess we should cut them some slack, but these are the guys that thought Ashley headlining WrestleMania was entertainment, so forgive us if we’re quick to offer criticism on their ‘hard work’. Heard of ‘armchair casting directors’? Y’know, those guys who sit behind their computers and offer their opinion [without being asked] on which up-and-coming actor or actress should play the latest obscure superhero character that hasn’t been done yet. Well we consider ourselves an ‘armchair creative team’, those girls who sit behind their computers and offer their opinion [without being asked] on WWE’s booking.

With all the hubbub surrounding the current SmackDown situation, we thought we’d pull up an armchair, roll our sleeves up and see if we can’t solve this problem. Women’s Champion Michelle McCool‘s status remains in doubt after suffering an injury over a week ago at a SmackDown house show. The result has lead to widespread speculation about whether Michelle will be back soon after a short resting period or if she’s going to be out for a lengthy period. It seems the current uncertainty surrounding the Women’s Champ is far more interesting than the stuff they actually book for TV.

Well our Diva Dirt editors, Erin and Melanie both have their own solutions for this division-crippling conundrum:

Erin’s Solution:
Okay, so my plan has a lot of “what if”s. What if Michelle keeps the title? … What if Michelle is only out for a short period of time? … What if Michelle is out for the rest of the year? I’m going to try to find an answer to this problem while bearing those in mind.

What if Michelle keeps the title? If the WWE has no desire to write into the storyline that Michelle must vacate the title or defend it crippled, then we’re stuck with a champion-less SmackDown. The WWE pulled a similar trick when Maryse was injured last year, but her stint on the disabled list was a short one. If Michelle’s injury keeps her out considerably longer, we could see the division in suspended animation, with everyone just biding their time until the champ comes home. Hopefully, if that were to happen, the WWE can still cook up a decent storyline not involving the defense and chase of the Women’s Championship.

What if Michelle is only out for a short period of time? If Michelle’s injury is minor, and thus only requires a few weeks on the sidelines, perhaps they could keep her in the fans’ minds by using her in a non-wrestling capacity. Now, I know that traveling cross-country isn’t exactly feasible on a bum knee, so these could be handled with weekly video packages or “video diaries” taken at home directed towards Melina, with Michelle updating Melina on her status in a very sarcastic and oh-woe-is-me way. This could bring a bit of humor to the feud while allowing Melina to seethe, taking out her frustrations on unlucky opponents week after week until Michelle finally returns. She can maintain her heel heat whilst continuing her feud with Melina, which had been pretty hot before her injury. You could even bring Layla into the fold by having her act as a “liason” for Michelle and give her more screen time and room for her heel character to grow.

What if Michelle is out for the rest of the year? We could stay in that same storyline, except after a few weeks of agonizing frustration, Melina takes a trip to Michelle’s house, beating her down in a fashion that you rarely see a babyface do. It would make the feud that much more compelling, in seeing the face act with malicious intent rather than be passive or sympathetic. It’s very Stone Cold Steve Austin, but if anyone could pull it off, it’d be Melina. She could then steal Michelle’s belt, and parade around with it, effectively branding herself as unofficial Women’s Champion. What could Michelle do about it? Not much, and that’s what would make it so frustrating for her–you would never know if Michelle would show up one week, unannounced and hobbling, intent on getting her property back. In the meantime, Melina could feud with some lesser-used heels, such as Natalya or Katie Lea, giving them the screen time they deserve and don’t usually get. In Michelle’s absence, deserving Divas can get the exposure they wouldn’t get otherwise, sort of making lemonade out of the lemons we’ve been dealt. When Michelle finally returns, the title situation could be settled with a big, winner-takes-all match (technically, Michelle is still champ, but the months of absence have sort of put it in limbo, a GM decides). Boom! You have instant month-long buildup, and Michelle didn’t have to step foot in a ring. Tension was built, the stakes were risen, and all in a way that allows Michelle to recuperate on her own time.

Melanie’s idea after the cut:

Melanie’s Solution:
There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about Michelle’s health; does she just need a few weeks at home or is it more serious? We don’t know and WWE doesn’t seem in a big hurry to tell us, so thinking of a solution is hard when you don’t have the groundwork. But like Erin, I believe that there should be different solutions for different situations.

If McCool has simply tweaked her knee and is out for a short period, let her stay at home and rest. I wouldn’t strip her of the Women’s Championship because let’s face it, it’d mess up the flow of the division and a few weeks won’t hurt a la Maryse’s injury in late December/early January. In the meantime, they could do something different to pass the next few weeks. I’ve noticed Melina’s former beau, John Morrison is currently involved in a feud with the Hart Dynasty — they could have a ‘mini-feud’ consisting of tag team matches and an eventual singles match between Melina and Natalya, perhaps. Then when Michelle is ready, they could have her come back and insert herself right into the mix and bring the Women’s Title into the fold. Rather than feuding with just Melina as she has been doing, she’ll have inherited Nattie too by way of their feud in her absence, which brings us fresh match possibilities and an eventual three-way for the title.

But all signs are indicating that Michelle’s injury is pretty serious, judging from the correspondence we received with one of our contacts last night. In that event, I believe the best thing they can do is vacate the Women’s Championship as soon as possible and allow a new champion to be decided, to keep the division going. I would hope that they have all the information they need on McCool’s injury by tomorrow night’s taping and can make an informed decision i.e. strip her of the title at the taping. You could then have General Manager, Teddy Long announce a battle royal at SummerSlam to determine the new champion and given the shallow pool of talent on SmackDown, as we have talked about in the past, allow the ECW Divas to compete for the title and have them in the match too.

Allow me to explain my reasoning; first of all, let’s be honest, the Women’s Title isn’t seen as a ‘major’ belt in WWE so there’s not an immediate need to crown a new champion right there and then on SmackDown like there would be with the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship. Having the battle royal at SummerSlam would give the fans their much-wanted Divas match, as we have reported that WWE had scrapped plans for a Divas match on the PPV. By having a battle royal, it’s not exactly a time consuming match and we all know WWE loves to offload all the Divas in one short battle royal. It wouldn’t be taxing to book or as consuming on the event as a standard one-on-one match would be. And it certainly seems like they didn’t want to go for another one-on-one Divas match for SummerSlam.

This also adds some importance to the belt and the new champion, by having the title decided on pay per view and especially one as big as SummerSlam. Rather than giving this away on TV, putting it on PPV would make it mean more to the fans and to whichever Diva wins the belt at the event.

Finally, putting the title match at SummerSlam which is still two weeks away, allows time for the division to re-grow. If they had the battle royal on SmackDown this week, you’d have Diva A win the title and the next week randomly begin a feud with Diva B. By having a couple of weeks to build up, they could tease tension among the Divas by having them compete in different combinations of matches; having tag team matches and singles matches using the Divas of SmackDown and ECW, it would show competition among the Divas as they all want to win the title. Those who pick up wins in their matches would be given a leg up and come across as strong contenders to win the gold in the eventual battle royal.

Coming out of SummerSlam you have several feuds you could do using the new champion and her battle royal rivals, enough to fill in the time until Michelle comes back.