Divas Champion Beth Phoenix has tweeted several times during her title reign that she will be “Divas Champion forever”, and last night she certainly certainly proved that she’ll do whatever it takes to make that eternal title reign happen — nailing her challenger, Eve Torres, with the biggest Glam Slam in history!

Let’s catch up on all the action…

As Kelly Kelly‘s theme hits, she leads out the entire Divas roster to ringside where they will serve as lumberjills for the Divas Title match. Oddly, they’re all in ring gear which lead me to wonder if the match would be turned into an impromptu Survivor Series elimination match, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Random thought: Oh my, Maxine‘s ring attire could very easily be non-PG.

With that out of the way, it’s time to meet the challenger, Eve, clad in white. Not sure if I like this color on her. But before I can decide, the Glamazon hits the ring with her BFF Natalya in tow.

As Natalya joins the lumberjills at ringside, Eve has a look of sheer determination on her face. She certainly looks like a worthy challenger. The champion confidently walks right up to Eve, hoisting her Divas Title in the air in an intimidating manner as the referee tries to keep the pair apart.

The Divas lock up as the referee calls for the bell and it’s Beth who gets the better of the move, shoving Eve. However, Eve fights right back with a forearm shot to Beth. Beth goes for a forearm of her own but Eve ducks and runs the ropes. She launches herself at Beth, who catches her mid-air and drops her. Beth goes for an elbow drop on Eve but before she can hit it, Eve uses her quickness to cut her off at the feet and Beth lands on the canvas. Eve with a nice strike kick, showing off her martial arts background, and a pin attempt but no dice. Eve again hits another nice kick before showing off her patented booty pop. “Shucky ducky!” Beth rolls out of the ring before Eve can hit her standing moonsault, however. The babyface lumberjills play their part, tossing her back into the ring where Eve goes for a nice neckbreaker. Eve finally gets to hit her standing moonsault and goes for another pin attempt but the mighty Glamazon kicks out.

Beth kicks Eve away as she tries to catch her breath, leaning against the ropes. Eve comes at her but gets tossed over the top rope. Eve, however, doesn’t fall to the piranhas below, instead landing on the apron as the Bella Twins and Natalya clamour around her hoping she lands on the floor. Eve with a shoulder tackle through the ropes on Beth. Natalya tries to pull Eve off the apron but gets kicked away. As Eve re-enters the ring, Beth hits her with a hard kick and begins stomping into her. Beth places Eve under the bottom rope, guillotining her windpipe. The Bellas and Natalya take great glee in this as Beth pulls her back into the ring for a pin attempt but Eve shows resilience and kicks out.

Beth now applies a camel clutch, hoping to make Eve tap out but the challenger continues to hold on. Eve fights her way out of the hold. Beth whips Eve into the ropes, but Eve hangs on. As Beth comes at her, she kicks Beth away. Eve then shows off some lucha-esque, jumping onto Beth and then launching her into the middle turnbuckle. Eve continues to keep the momentum going with a dropkick and back elbow and a hard kick to the face. Eve runs the ropes and hits a nice sit-out clothesline. With Beth down, Eve goes for a running senton splash off the ropes but Beth puts her knees up, which sends Eve down to the mat. Beth goes for the Glam Slam but Eve butt bumps & elbows her way out of it. Eve then applies that beautiful triangle choke submission hold that we saw at Vengeance, as Beth slowly slumps to the mat. Natalya tries to reach out to Beth to help her reach the ropes but the referee catches this. However, Beth finds a counter, flipping out of the hold and holding onto the ropes.

Natalya trash talks Eve from the outside, trying to distract her. She then jumps up on the apron and as Eve goes to knock her off, she quickly jumps down while Beth hurries behind Eve and rolls her up for the pin, but Eve counters into a pin of her own, however, Beth kicks out.

Eve hits Beth with a back elbow and then uses the bottom ring rope for a boost as she hits a nice kick to the side of Beth’s head. Beth looks to be out cold as Eve climbs to the top for the moonsault. As Eve climbs up top, Beth jumps back to her feet, pushing Eve off the top and the challenger lands in a precarious position on the top rope!

Beth climbs up to the second turnbuckle too. The two two exchange some blows, but Beth manages to hook Eve’s arms as we realize what she’s going for… YES! A Glam Slam from the turnbuckle! SUPER GLAM SLAM! And that’s all folks.

Beth emerges victorious as Madison Square Garden comes alive for the biggest Glam Slam in history. Now that’s an MSG moment!

Beth and Natalya celebrate the successful title defense as Kelly and Alicia try to scrape what’s left of Eve from the mat.

Thoughts: While not as long or as technical as their previous bout at Vengeance, I really enjoyed this match. The chemistry between Beth and Eve was once again on show. I feel like we’ve seen Eve’s potential really explode in these two matches with Beth. Every week on Raw or in matches with the likes of the Bella Twins, we see little sparks of Eve’s potential, but being in the ring with a veteran like Beth, she’s able to go balls to the wall and have a great match. We always say that the less experienced girls should be wrestling with the veterans like Beth and Natalya so they can get better and show the world what they can do, and both Eve and Kelly have done that with Beth. Eve is looking more comfortable and confident in the ring than ever before, and I think that Vengeance match last month really solidified her as a “wrestler” and not just a “former Diva Search girl”. Few Divas have been able to really shake off that tag — Michelle McCool is perhaps the best example of doing so — but I think Eve has turned the corner and is now heading in that direction too. Her performance last night was strong.

I would’ve liked to see the match get more time, but I think that they more than compensated that by doing a big spot at the end which will have everyone talking. The two matches between these two have been very different. The last one was long and technical, and this one was short and about the big finish. I think that given the time they were given, they did what they could to have this match as memorable as the last one. You can’t have a great long, technical match given the time, so why not go the other route and do the big finish? The finish was magnificent. There are no other words for it. Madison Square Garden is all about historic moments for WWE, and last night Beth had her historic MSG moment. That’s one for the highlight reel.

Was it better than Vengeance? No. Was it a good Divas match, however? Certainly, yes!

Match Rating: 3.5/5

What did you think of Eve vs Beth?

Madison Square Garden was rocked indeed tonight at Survivor… and not just by The Rock!

Divas Champion Beth Phoenix retained her championship over Eve Torres in a big way, hitting her patented Glam Slam on Eve  from the second turnbuckle.

In a lumberjill match with the other Divas surrounding the ring, Beth reigned supreme at the pay per view where she returned one year ago. And much like last year, Beth and Natalya celebrated the victory, only this time it was Beth holding the championship.

What did you think of the match?

Tune in at 8pm ET on pay per view.

Discuss the show in the comments!

It’s round two tonight as Beth Phoenix once again puts the Divas Championship on the line against Eve Torres. Can Eve exact some revenge or will Beth’s reign continue? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…

Bobby: Well, to start, I absolutely hate that this became a lumberjill match and it wouldn’t surprise me if WWE executives thought to themselves “Wow, Eve and Beth put on such a great match at Vengeance…we can’t have that happen again so let’s make it a lumberjill match out of nowhere”. Nonetheless, I hope the two can put on the same quality of match with all the Divas at ringside. I’m going to be honest when I say that I’m personally not enjoying Beth’s time as champion, and I would love to see Eve get an actual reign with the title. Who knows whether or not WWE would give it to her. Personally rooting for the philanthropic, Rubik’s Cube solving Eve Torres to win, and I hope the lumberjills don’t cost her by accident.

Cryssi: I’m 50/50 on this, it could go either way. They’ve done nothing with Beth as champ, and both times Eve was champion, they did nothing with her. I think we’ve reached the point where the Divas are forced to linger in limbo. They had a hot few months, but now it’s just kind of stopped abruptly. They’re getting their random two or three minutes here and there, but that’s it. It sucks and it’s sad. And when so little effort is put forth, a title change could just happen to happen. I’ve got to pick a winner, so I’m going with the Beth Phoenix, hoping an eventual feud between herself and Nattie manifests, but if Eve wins, I won’t be shocked.

Katelyn: Beth Phoenix. Eve, Kelly & Alicia have proven to be a strong force thus far but I still see the Glamazon picking up the win, probably with the aid of Natalya.

Melanie: This has the potential to be a great match to follow up the bout at Vengeance, but with the lumberjills at ringside, I doubt it’ll live up to its predecessor. I really feel like the lumberjills are being added to make the match more “girly” and less technical like their match at Vengeance. They want to see the girls pulling each others’ hair in high heels and such, and then do the big predictable brawl with all the girls at the end. Sigh. However, I think Beth Phoenix will win.

Who do you think will win tonight at Survivor Series?

As we get ready for tonight’s Survivor Series pay per view, we look back at some of the event’s classic moments…

2001 | In 2001, Trish Stratus won the first of many Women’s Championships in a six pack challenge that saw her face off against Molly Holly, Ivory, Jacqueline, Lita and the debuting Jazz.

Watch below:

As we get ready for Sunday’s Survivor Series pay per view, we look back at some of the event’s classic moments…

2005 | The fiery hellcat Melina was just getting her career started and finished up 2005, the year of her debut, with a big interpromotional match as she faced Raw Diva Trish Stratus for the Women’s Championship.

Watch below:

All of the WWE Divas, including Beth’s BFF Natalya and Eve’s pals Alicia Fox and Kelly Kelly, will surround the ring during the match.

More information here.

Eve won a second title match following a #1 Contenders’ battle royal on Halloween night.

The pair faced off at last month’s Vengeance pay per view in a match that drew a lot of praise.

Who’s ready for round two?

Last night’s Survivor Series 2010 marked the third meeting between Co-Divas Champions, Lay-Cool and the third generation Diva, Natalya. Natalya has faced off against both members of Lay-Cool individually and came up short, but last night the odds were stacked even more against. This time she’d have to face both members in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Can the first lady of The Hart Dynasty take out the BFF champions to become the first ever third generation Divas Champion? Check out the match below:

Out first are the Co-Divas Champions and Michelle McCool is looking stunning in a copper variation of her usual ring gear. Layla… not so much. I don’t know what it is about Divas and mixing neon colors and weird prints, but it never looks good and this was no exception. I’m usually a big fan of Layla’s choices in ring gear, but this was a definite miss for her.

Natalya comes out next in a silver version of her gear, which I thought looked fantastic on her. As she make her down the ramp, Matt Striker informs us that Lay-Cool will have to tag in and out of the match, instead of both competing at once as I had originally thought. After some of the usual taunting from the champ, the referee signals for the bell and our championship match is under way.

Michelle starts things off for Lay-Cool and almost immediately drops Nattie with a single leg takedown for a one count. Both ladies jockey for position with McCool getting the upperhand and laying in some stiff shots, before being reprimanded by the referee. Michelle pulls Natalya to her feet and hits her with a hard European uppercut, but before she can capitalize Nattie goes around and takes her down with a double leg takedown, followed by a front chancery, which is quickly reversed by McCool for another near fall.

McCool beats on Nattie for a bit more, before tagging Layla, who takes Natalya down with a flying clothesline for a two count. Layla stays on Nattie, blasting her with a few forearms, followed by a spin kick, leaving Nattie hanging from the bottom rope. Layla sees her opportunity and starts choking her opponent, prompting the official to pry her off. While the referee is distracted, Michelle jumps off of the apron and sends Natalya crashing down to the floor.

Now that the damage has been done, Layla relinquishes the official’s attention and slides out to the floor. As Nattie tries to get back to a vertical base, Layla lays in a kick to her injured lower back, before tossing her back in the ring and tagging in McCool. Looking to use the handicap stipulation to their advantage, Lay-Cool goes for a double suplex. Unfortunately for the tandem, Natalya blocks the attempt and takes Lay-Cool over with an impressive suplex of her own.

Unable to follow up, Natalya rolls to the outside, clutching her back, but is closely followed by Michelle. Not willing to give Nattie time to catch her second wind, Michelle blasts Nattie from behind with a forearm, followed by a few stomps to the lower back. After rolling under the bottom rope to break the ref’s 10 count, Michelle comes charging with a big boot, but Nattie evades causing McCool to run into the barricade crotch first.

Natalya takes a moment to collect herself, before retrieving Michelle from the crowd the hard way. Layla rushes over to help her friend, but Nattie sees her coming and nails her with a kick to the gut, then tosses her over the barricade and into McCool. Natalya finally manages to get Michelle near the ring, but Michelle sends her flying into barricade, targeting the lower back once more.

Michelle throw back into the ring and pulls Natalya up to finish her off, but Natalya reverses and throws her towards the ropes and into Layla, who was trying to enter the ring. Sensing that victory is afoot, Natalya rolls McCool up with a school boy pin, but instead of going for the pin, she goes straight into the Sharpshooter. Almost instantaneously, Michelle taps and we have a brand new Divas Champion: Natalya!

Post match Natalya is visibly moved to tears. Of course Lay-Cool has to ruin her moment by attacking her in the middle of the ring. Fortunately for Natalya, before too much damage was done, some familiar music came blaring out of the speakers.

That music belongs to the one and only Beth Phoenix! Beth comes to the rescue, taking out Michelle and planting Layla with a Glam Slam. After business has been taken care of, Beth strides over to Natalya and pulls her into a big, teary hug. The Glamazon then hoists the new champion onto her shoulder as she holds the belts in the air, in one of the most touching moments in Diva history.

First, let’s talk about the match. In my honest opinion, this was the best match in the Lay-Cool/Natalya saga, or my favorite at least. We saw some solid mat work from Michelle and Natalya and some good aggression from Layla. While the match could have been a bit longer, but it was longer than most of the matches we see from week to week. If I had a major gripe about this match it would be the quick ending. I would have expected Michelle to put up a bit more of a fight to keep her title, but I’m kind of glad she didn’t.

My favorite part of this match had to be the return of Beth Phoenix and her celebration with Natalya. Obviously, these two have a great deal of respect for each other and it’s was really touching to see them celebrate in the ring like that. This will be a Diva moment that fans will remember for a long time to come.

Now that Natalya has the belt, I’m not exactly sure where she goes from here. Does she continues to feud with Lay-Cool with The Glamazon by her side? Will a new challenger step up to the plate? Who knows? In any event, I’m sure we’ll get some kind of direction in this storyline on this week’s edition of Raw… maybe.

Last but not least, congratulations is in order. Wrestling has been Natalya’s life for so long and she’s worked so hard to perfect her craft. She bided her time and waited until it was her turn to hold a title and now she finally has it. It’s so wonderful to see finally get what she deserves.

Match Rating: 4/5

A flood of tears followed as Natalya finally realised her dream — to be champion.

The celebration however, was briefly cut short as Lay-Cool attacked Nattie post-match which prompted the return of the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix, returning to WWE after six months out due to an ACL tear.

After clearing house of Lay-Cool — exclaimed by a Glam Slam on Layla — Beth raised Natalya high on her shoulders as the new champion showed off her newly won championship. A real sight to be seen and a beautiful, tender moment as both Natalya and Beth were in tears.

Congratulations to Natalya and welcome back to Beth!

Join Diva Dirt LIVE for this exclusive post-Survivor Series episode! We will be on the air right after the PPV, to discuss all the Divas action and give you the opportunity to call in and discuss your thoughts too! Tune in at 11pm ET.

Interact with us throughout the show by calling in to have your say on the PPV. You can also tweet us at @divadirt on Twitter or alternatively, add the hashtag #ddlive when discussing the show. You can also comment with your opinions in this post. We’ll read out a sample of tweets/comments throughout the show. For full details on how to interact click here.

Please Note: ‘Diva Dirt LIVE’ is the exclusive content of Diva Dirt (diva-dirt.com), for which we hold copyright. By downloading our audio you agree not to repost the content elsewhere including but not limited to other websites, blogs or message boards. Failure to respect copyright will result in legal action.

The Divas Championship is on the line in a handicap match tonight as Lay-Cool defend against Natalya. Can the Hart Dynasty Diva finally topple the mean girls?

Tune in at 8pm ET live on pay per view.

Discuss the show in the comments!

Don’t forget to tune into our post-PPV special episode of Diva Dirt LIVE at 11pm ET.

The 24th annual Survivor Series takes place tonight as Natalya challenges both members of Lay-Cool for the Divas Championship. Will third time be the charm? We weigh in…

Cryssi: I’ve gone back and forth on this so many times this week. I really can’t decide who I want to win. The magic 8-ball I borrowed from Captain Charisma tells me that Natalya will win the championship tonight. It specifically said “all signs point to yes.” The evidence to support the magic 8-ball’s theory is pretty strong. Lay-Cool were buried on Raw and they came back and buried Natalya on SmackDown. Going into every other pay-per-view match, Natalya has gained the upper-hand which has set up a cheap Lay-Cool victory perfectly. This week it’s different. And this match has a different feel to it. This should be Natalya’s last chance to capture the title while Lay-Cool hold it and even the WWE isn’t dumb enough to keep her from it for a third straight time.

Or are they?

I’ve thrown the magic 8-ball out of the window (sorry, Christian!) and have come up with this all on my own. Beth Phoenix will make her return tonight and she will intentionally screw Natalya out of the victory. Lay-Cool will escape with their championship reign still intact but now they will have the Glamazon to contend with, the very woman they took the Women’s Championship from way back when. So yes, Lay-Cool retain tonight with Michelle picking up the pinfall while Layla gets beat down on the outside by Beth as a message.”

David: Is the third time the charm for Natalya? Will she finally topple Lay-Cool and capture the Divas Championship at Survivor Series? This has to be it, right? Her third consecutive pay-per-view title match surely has to result in Natalya walking out with the gold, leading to the long-awaited break-up between Michelle and Layla. Even the booking suggests this will happen, with Lay-Cool getting in each other’s way, Natalya getting some help to ‘even’ the odds (rumored to be Beth Phoenix…gulp), and using the sharpshooter to force a submission. If this happens I would feel very good for Natayla, but in the end I think Lay-Cool wins the match and then beats down Natalya until someone makes the save. Maybe Beth, maybe the rest of the Divas. Unfortunately I don’t think this feud has been built to finish with a title change, it feels more like “filler” until Beth returns from injury. I hope this isn’t the case. Natalya deserves better.

EriC: This has to be the most predictable match since Maryse vs. Gail Kim in the finals of the Divas Championship tournament. Natalya is outsmarted when its one on one versus Michelle. The same when its versus Layla. In WWE land this of course means that she will be able to defeat both of them at the same time. Lay-Cool will screw up and Michelle will big boot Layla. Natalya either takes out Michelle and pins Layla, or sharpshooters? sharpshoots? (can you verb this?) Michelle for the win. The real expectations for this match lie in the aftermath. Will Natalya get a nice tearful celebration? Will a certain Phoenix reappear to challenge for the belt? I am hoping for the latter.

Erin: This feud could have ended several times. That’s not to say that I wanted it to, but if the WWE was planning on having Lay-Cool get the last laugh and leave Natalya in the dust, they could have accomplished that weeks ago. The fact that it’s lasted this long tells me that they’ve been working towards something more, and now it looks like they might have finally reached the point they’ve been building towards with this 2-on-1 feud. Let’s face it, there’s no greater way to stack the odds against Natalya than to have a handicap match, so if there’s any time when Natalya will win the Divas Championship from Lay-Cool, it’s now. This match, I believe, is set up so Natalya can overcome the odds and finally put Lay-Cool in their place. Natalya wins and take the title.

Jennifer: They say the third time’s the charm, right? I’m hoping this is the case, otherwise it really makes no sense for the WWE to build up Natalya, only to have her fail yet again and be regulated to the back of the line when Beth Phoenix returns. Although this time, she’ll have her hands full with both members of Lay-Cool to fend off. Still, I’m probably wrong, but I’m going with my heart once more. I say somehow, someway, Natalya will pull out the win and score her first championship.

Melanie: After nearly three months of teasing, I feel tonight will finally be the night where Natalya realises her dream of being a champion in WWE. Generally in handicap matches where the odds are stacked against the face, we see them overcome the odds and it seems like that’s how this will go. I predict Beth Phoenix will make a surprise return, distracting one member of Lay-Cool while Natalya applies the Sharpshooter on the other and takes the belt. That could then lead to a tag team match at TLC or even Beth vs Nattie vs Lay-Cool in a three-way feud. As for tonight, I expect Natalya to get the victory.

Steven: Lay-Cool vs Natalya part three is upon us and I’m quite confident I know how this will end. In their last two PPV encounters with Natalya, Lay-Cool has managed to keep the belts around their waist using shady tactics, but at this point Natalya knows all their tricks and will be well-prepared. I expect some miscommunication between the champs, allowing Natalya to pick up the win and take home the belt. Honestly speaking, if Natalya doesn’t win the title tonight, the time spent building this feud has been wasted completely. While most are predicting the return of Beth Phoenix, I don’t see it happening at Survivor Series. I think it’s much more likely to see Beth return on Raw this week to help Nattie fend off Lay-Cool, who will be looking for revenge if they lose the titles tonight.

Leave your predictions in the comments.

Survivor Series returns tonight with Lay-Cool taking on Natalya for the Divas Championship, but it was this time last year that Lay-Cool were gaining momentum when their target was Mickie James. Watch last year’s Team Michelle vs Team Mickie match below:

Diva Dirt LIVE returns for a pay per view special as we dissect all the fallout from tonight’s Survivor Series pay per view. We’ll be discussing tonight’s Lay-Cool vs Natalya match and as always, taking your calls throughout the night too.

All the details you need to call in, tweet and comment are after the cut:

You can either call, tweet or comment during the live show:

* Call in: We’ll be on the air live from 11pm ET/10pm CT/8pm PDT/4am UK. US listeners can call us on 347-989-8156.

Alternatively, listeners worldwide can call us for free via Skype and BlogTalkRadio. Make sure you have an active user account and are logged into both Skype and BlogTalkRadio. Then, during the live show visit tinyurl.com/ddlivesurvivor and click the ‘Click to Talk’ button (see below). By clicking, this will open up Skype and put you through to us.

* Twitter: If you can’t call in or you’re too shy, why not send us a tweet during the show? Tell us what you think of the topics we’ll be discussing, tell us what you think of the show and more. Send your tweets to @divadirt. Additionally, add the hashtag #DDLIVE to your tweets and we’ll be able to see those too. We will read out some of your tweets throughout the show!

* Comment: As well as Twitter, you can leave your thoughts the old fashioned way — in our comments section! Just leave your comments in the post for Diva Dirt LIVE, which will go online at 10.45pm ET. Again, tell us what you think of our topics and of the show, ask us questions etc. We will read out a sample of comments throughout the show, so keep ‘em coming!

Be sure to join us at 11pm ET live!

See you all tonight!

Survivor Series is 24 hours away and it’s time to reminisce. In 2008, WWE finally gave us what we’d been waiting for — a traditional Survivor Series elimination match for the Divas. We hadn’t seen one since that one involving Debra, Moolah and Mae and frankly, that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

Relive the Raw vs SmackDown Divas elimination match from 2008 below:

Just announced tonight on Raw: The third generation Diva, Natalya will be facing off against not one, but both members of Lay-Cool at Survivor Series. Natalya has come up short on two occasions due to Lay-Cool’s antics in the past. How will she fare when both of the flawless ones are legal participants in the match? Can Natalya overcome the odds and finally bring home the Divas Championship?

Thoughts: This seems like the perfect opportunity for Natalya to recruit someone to have her back. Hmmmm… I hear a certain Glamazon is healing up pretty nicely…

The saga continues as Natalya will face either Michelle McCool or Layla for the third pay per view in a row at Survivor Series later this month.

Natalya won the right after defeating McCool earlier tonight on Raw.

Thoughts: These are the kinds of feuds that I miss, seeing Divas’ storylines develop over a series of pay per view matches rather than a different challenger to the belt every pay per view. I have a feeling that third time will certainly by lucky for Natalya!

WWE is advertising Survivor Series taking place in November in Miami.

I know many — including Diva Dirt — have been enjoying the annual traditional elimination matches for the Divas so I’m pleased that the tradition will live on.

WWE will not be promoting another Survivor Series pay per view, Vince McMahon revealed today in an investors conference call. The WWE Chairman called the concept ‘obsolete’ in light of falling buyrates in recent years.

The November pay per view will be rebranded beginning this year, putting an end to the 23 year long Thanksgiving tradition. The Survivor Series was considered one of the ‘big four’ along with the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

The original concept saw teams compete in elimination matches and in the past two years, the tradition has been extended to the Divas.

Melina and Mickie James have the distinction of being the final sole survivors in a Divas traditional elimination match at Survivor Series.

Given the prestige of the concept, I’d love to see Night of Champions moved to November and become part of the ‘big four’.

Last night’s Survivor Series match was billed as Team Mickie vs Team Michelle but it was Divas Champion, Melina that scored the final pinfall and took the win for her team. When originally announced, it seemed odd that the Divas Champ would be playing second fiddle to someone else as team captain, which it makes it all the more surprising that last night we saw a ‘switcheroo’ of sorts with her gaining the win.

What that says about each Diva and their current favourability with management could be looked into; Melina’s omission from captaincy and the fact that even though it was her team, Mickie wasn’t the one to win the match. I’m sure it’s not by mistake given the reports we’ve heard in the past week about both. But despite where they might stand with WWE higher ups, there is no doubt that they are still the two top Divas in the company and would still have to be booked as such — despite backstage politics.

Overall, the match was as expected: we saw a lot of quick eliminations before a few Divas were left standing. Anyone who expected anymore than this would be foolish. Even with an elimination match like this which requires more time, the Divas aren’t going to be a priority compared to the men and if we think about it — they did get more time than they’re usually afforded. What should be considered more highly then, is not the timing, but what the Divas did with it. And if we’re looking at the layout of the match, I think all ten women did a great job with the time they were given.

Watch the match below:

As with last year, we got to see some new combinations. The tease of Gail Kim & Michelle McCool was interesting and harkens back to their good work together on SmackDown in April. Meanwhile, Jillian vs Eve is a WWE Superstars match waiting to happen. Though in comparison to last year, the excitement level for these mini-matches just wasn’t there. It was a year ago at this event that we were initially teased with Michelle vs Mickie, something I still remember to this day, so it’s interesting that now a year later — we’re in the midst of building to that match. Meanwhile other matches such as Melina vs Michelle have already been done. It really drums the point home: there are very few fresh matches left between this group of Divas. Even with the rising Diva, Alicia Fox, we’ve already seen her versus Mickie and Melina. Perhaps the injection of Natalya could have lead to some interesting combinations with Melina, Mickie and/or Gail.

That said, I can’t help but feel this year’s match was more cohesive than last year’s. The supposed ‘weak links’ weren’t so weak; Alicia, Eve, Kelly and Layla all played their parts well. The initial exchange between Kelly and Layla was far from what we’ve seen from them in the past, both came across as more confident and knowledgable in the ring than ever before. Layla, though she didn’t connect it, hit a beautiful spinning kick in the corner on Kelly, while Kelly’s step-up legdrop is easily one of the most silently effective moves. Eve held her own against Michelle, though I have to say, her exchange with Jillian was sloppy at times. Meanwhile Alicia Fox, who is without a doubt the standout of 2009, had a good showing with Mickie James including a beautiful northern lights suplex. Just breathtaking to watch her arch.

Some had expected the Glamazon to be booked more strongly in this match and to them I say, she was. Despite being eliminated third in her team, she took out two Divas in quick succession and WWE did their bit to keep her strong in that sense. Arguably, Alicia and Michelle are the top heels on their brands right now as they’re involved in the title picture, so it wouldn’t have served as well for Beth to survive till the end. I think WWE did a good job in making her look dominant and powerful and that’s all we can ask for.

Nearing the end of the match then, we got two exchanges: an exchange between Mickie & Michelle which will likely be a full blown match in the near future, and an exchange between Melina and Michelle which has proven to be a winning formula this year. I don’t know what it says about Mickie, but I thought the difference between the two exchanges was vast. On the one hand, the work between Mickie & Michelle was more slow and at times, boring while the work between the two champions was as it has always been: fast, hard hitting and a spectacle. If we are to watch Michelle vs Mickie for a full length match then I would hope it’s a step up from this encounter. Technically sound though it was, there wasn’t an entertainment factor. It’s the same situation with Mickie/Beth and Melina/Beth.

The hot tag to Melina at the end of the match was superbly done, the crowd got into it as the favourite, Mickie struggled to tag in the fresh Melina and when she did, the crowd got behind it. The pops for Melina’s signature moveset added an excitement to the end of the match and I guess, if we must end this match on a high why not go with a proven formula — Melina vs Michelle? These two Divas have insane chemistry and as in the past, worked great together. A satisyfing conclusion.

In an ideal situation, the Divas would get as much time as the men and the eliminations would be more sporadic. However given the way the match went, I think they used their time well — cut the fat and then have a few Divas go at it till the end. The formula worked. We were able to invest more in the three Divas at the end of the match because we weren’t distracted by multiple tags and eliminations too close to the end.

In comparison to last year’s match, which is a favourite, I think this isn’t better nor worse — but on par. A great effort by all involved.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Divas will battle at the 23rd annual Survivor Series as Mickie James & Michelle McCool lead teams into a traditional elimination match.

If you’re unable to join us for our live blog, discuss your thoughts on the show in this post.

Join us to discuss the 23rd annual Survivor Series pay per view as it happens. Tonight, it will be Team Mickie James taking on Team Michelle McCool in a Divas traditional elimination match. Join the chat below!

Mickie James & Michelle McCool lead their teams to war tonight at the 23rd annual Survivor Series. Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool has proven to be quite the thorn in Mickie’s side, reducing the Diva to tears in recent weeks. But when it comes to battling it out in the ring, who will have the last laugh [or cry]? Which team will win? Who’ll be the sole survivor or survivors? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…

Erin: I feel like, since these teams are literally branded Mickie vs. Michelle, the fate of the teams are based on their leaders. Given that Mickie has felt “humiliation” at the hands of Michelle and Layla for a few weeks, it’s inevitable that she get some form of revenge. So, what better revenge than have her team defeat Michelle’s team at a PPV? Okay, maybe there is better revenge, but these are the cards we’ve been dealt. I just feel like it’s the natural course — one side gets the upperhand, and it soon shifts to the other. This would be that shift. Team Mickie for  the win. In order to make the match interesting, I feel like there will only be one survivor — any more and it looks like some pathetic domination of the other team. As for the actual survivor, I see Mickie getting the job done. This is pretty much her story; God knows Raw isn’t pushing any of their girls for the PPV. Since Mickie’s getting the biggest PPV push out of her team, it seems like it would be the biggest payoff for her to be the sole survivor and thumb her nose at Michelle in the process.

Melanie: This will all boil down to Mickie vs Michelle, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Melina & Beth Phoenix hang around until the end also. Likely, this won’t receive a lot of time and we’ll probably see one elimination after another with a slew of signature moves. I think given everything that’s happened to her on SmackDown that this will be Mickie’s turning point, defeating Michelle here and subsequently earning a Women’s Championship match. For that reason, I think Team Mickie will win. As mentioned, I expect it will come down to Mickie & Melina vs Beth & Michelle. If WWE wanted to keep the Divas Champion strong, I expect Mickie & Melina will end the match as co-survivors after Mickie pins Michelle perhaps. If it was me booking, that’s the route I’d go. Maybe have Melina pin Beth as a receipt for last month’s Bragging Rights and then Mickie pin McCool and have them both as co-survivors.

Steven: Even though WWE is billing this as a 10 Diva elimination match, lets face it, this is all about Mickie and Michelle. I don’t expect to see much from the anyone else, save for some brief interaction between Alicia and Melina. For Team Mickie, I see Mickie being the sole survivor for her team. As for Team McCool, it’s a toss up between Michelle and Beth. Beth definitely has the odds in her favor as she was last’s year sole survivor. I also predict there will be some tension between Michelle and The Glamazon. Beth has made it no secret that she’s gunning for Michelle’s title and this could be an opportunity for her to show Michelle who’s really top dog on SmackDown. As for the winner, I see Team Michelle coming out on top. A win here will give her even more ammunition this Friday when she finds a new way to assault Mickie’s morale.

Tiffany: Even though Michelle’s team picked up the win at Bragging Rights, I wouldn’t be surprised if her team gained the victory at Survivor Series.  Overall, I’d say Team Michelle is the stronger team. As predictable as it would be, Beth Phoenix could more than likely be the sole survivor again this year. I think she could benefit the most from a victory this Sunday.

Join us tonight at 7.45pm ET/12.45am UK for the Survivor Series live blog. Live bloggers will have an increased opportunity to win one of our three Survivor Series prize packs.

Survivor Series returns to pay per view tonight for the 23rd time, but before Mickie James and Michelle McCool lead their teams into battle, let’s take a look at past events…

1987
Team Moolah vs Team Sherri

At the very first Survivor Series in 1987, there were only four matches — one of which went to the ladies. Fabulous Moolah lead the team of Rockin’ Robbin, Velvet McIntyre and the Jumping Bomb Angels against the team of Women’s Champion Sensational Sherri, The Glamour Girls, Donna Christanello and Dawn Marie [no, not that one].

Watch a small clip below:

This inaugural women’s elimination match clocked in at 20 minutes…

1995
Team Bertha vs Team Alundra

Some 7 years after the first women’s match, it was a 4-on-4 affair at Survivor Series 1995. Bertha Faye led Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe and Lioness Asuka into battle against Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chaparita Asari.

More after the cut:

1998
Jacqueline vs Sable

The first Survivor Series match in the ‘Diva age’ took place in 1998, when the newly reformed Women’s Championship was put on the line. The [real] original Diva, Sable finally realised her dream when she defeated Jacqueline or the belt:

1999
Mae, Moolah, Tori & Debra vs Luna, Jacqueline, Terri & Ivory

The 4-on-4 theme returned in 1999, as 12 years after the first Survivor Series, Moolah returned and enjoyed success.

2000
Ivory vs Lita

The Women’s Championship was put on the line in 2000, Ivory put the belt on the line against fairly new Diva, Lita. Unfortunately for the extreme Diva, this wouldn’t be her night.

2001
Six Pack Challenge

This is where it all began for a Diva who would become a legend some years later. The first of 7 Women’s Championship reigns was realised at the 2001 Suvrivor Series when Trish Stratus defeated 5 other Divas for the gold.

2002
Trish Stratus vs Victoria

In 2002, another Diva who became a legend arrived — Victoria. And what a kick start to her career, Victoria earned her first Women’s Championship from Trish at the 2002 event in a hard fought hardcore match.

2003
Lita vs Molly Holly

Just a few months prior to November 2003′s Survivor Series, Lita had made a triumphant return to Raw and had earned herself a Women’s Title match against then champion, Molly Holly. Watch below:

2004
Lita vs Trish Stratus

2004 saw the renewal of the Trish vs Lita feud and with the Women’s Championship on the line, things turned ugly fast between these two career-long rivals:

2005
Melina vs Trish Stratus

2005 saw the emergence of a rising young Diva named Melina. By November, the SmackDown Diva had earned herself an unprecedented Women’s Championship match against Raw’s Trish Stratus. Watch below:

2006
Lita vs Mickie James

Lita said goodbye to the WWE three years ago at this pay per view. And let’s just say, her final night wasn’t quite the storybook ending her rival got a couple of months prior:

2007
Babyfaces vs Heels

Following multiple years of Women’s Championship matches, WWE pulled the trigger on a 5-on-5 Divas match at the 2007 edition. Though not under elimination rules, however. The ‘goodbye’ theme continued from the year prior, as it would become Torrie Wilson’s final pay per view.

2008
Raw vs SmackDown Elimination Match

For the first time in over two decades, we finally got a Divas elimination match at Survivor Series as the Raw Divas took on the SmackDown Divas. As with 2006 and 2007, this would be Victoria and Candice Michelle’s final PPV matches.

So what was your favourite Survivor Series match? Vote below:

[poll id="443"]

Don’t forget to join us tonight at 7.45pm/12.45am UK for the SS ’09 live blog!

Ironically, the most notable Diva not involved in this Sunday’s Surivor Series pay per view is the Diva contribution to WWE.com’s new ‘dream Survivor Series teams’ article. Pretty simple: the Superstars and Divas pick the four stars they’d pick to be on their team in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match.

Third-gen Diva Natalya unsurprisingly picks Diva legends such as Trish Stratus and Sensational Sherri but also opts for current Diva, Beth Phoenix and rounds it off with Japanese legend, Manami Toyota. Explaining to WWE.com her selections, Natalya says:

“I’d pick Trish Stratus,” Natalya said, favoring a fellow Canadian Diva. “I think that she brings everything to the ring as far as strength, beauty, power, grace and poise. And I’d pick the person I respect the most as far as females today — Beth Phoenix.”

With two strong, modern-era Divas on her side, Natalya added a WWE Hall of Famer to the mix. “Then I’d pick Sensational Sherri, because she has so much charimsa, so much energy. Plus, she has a couple of extra things up her sleeve.”

“And I’d pick Manami Toyota,” Natalya said, showing respect for the legendary Japanese star. “She’s one of the greatest female wrestlers of our time. I think she’d bring a worldy skill to the team and we could get a different flavor of ice cream.”

A fun little game, no? Which leads us into… Who would be on your Survivor Series dream team?

It’s a hard one but I think I’d go with Trish, Lita, Mickie, Melina and Gail Kim.

WWE has revealed the Divas who will compete in the Divas traditional Survivor Series match on November 22nd. As previously announced, it will be Team James vs Team McCool with Mickie James and Michelle McCool serving as team captains.

WWE has announced that James’ team will consist of Divas Champion Melina, Eve Torres, Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly.

Meanwhile, Team McCool will feature Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Jillian and Layla.

In a minor spoiler, WWE will announce this Friday night on SmackDown, a traditional Survivor Series elimination match for the Divas. It will be Team McCool vs Team James, of course those teams will be captained by Women’s Champion Michelle McCool and Mickie James.

Given the lack of Divas readily available on SmackDown, I’m going to guess this will end up a tri-branded affair with the Divas ‘picking’ other girls from Raw and possibly ECW.

Diva Dirt has teamed up with WWE to give away three Survivor Series prize packs ahead of this year’s annual event! On November 22nd, the Superstars and Divas of WWE will fight it out in the Thanksgiving tradition that is WWE Survivor Series, one of the most anticipated pay per views of the year!

Visit the official website for all the Triple Threat Match details and find out how you can order the PPV!

So what can you win? Each prize pack contains:
- 1 Survivor Series anthology DVD
- 1 Survivor Series 2009 t-shirt
- 1 DX Skull Cap

Sounds good right? Find out how you can win by following the cut:

Competition Rules
1. Closing date for entries is November 23rd, 2009.
2. This competition is restricted to fans in the United States.
3. You may enter only once. Those found submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. You must be able to provide a postal address to receive your prize.

To win, simply answer the following question:

Which Diva was the sole survivor in the Raw vs SmackDown Divas match at Survivor Series 2008?
A) Candice Michelle
B) Maryse
C) Beth Phoenix

Send us an e-mail to divadirt@gmail.com with a subject line of ‘Survivor Series Prize Pack‘ and the following in the body:

Name:
E-mail:
Age:
Location (i.e. Boise, Idaho):
Answer:

Good luck to all!

The phrase ‘match of the year candidate’ has been thrown around in regards to last night’s Divas traditional Survivor Series elimination match. But it’s time for Diva Dirt to weigh in… was the Raw vs SmackDown match really that good? I would say while it was not the most technical match, it was a lot of fun to watch and for that reason I too, would consider this a potential match of the year candidate.

This match has been a dream match for me for a while now, I really wanted to see the Divas get the traditional elimination treatment and finally that became a reality. I didn’t think it would happen, I never thought WWE would give the Divas enough time on the card to have an elimination match but they finally did. And my verdict is that it turned out really well, it was fun, fast-paced and the fans were into it. I would definitely like to see this become a permanent fixture to Survivor Series each and every year. It doesn’t need to be Raw vs SmackDown every year (maybe heels vs faces or team captains picking their Divas), but I definitely think that the risk paid off and WWE should treat this as a guinea pig for future Survivor Series pay per views.

Anyway, the match got a good 10 minutes which is about the most I thought the Divas would get. I feel it could have benefited from more time, as eliminations occured far too often whereas with the men’s matches, they are sporadic. However, given the time they had that was to be expected. The real shocker here is some of the Divas who were eliminated early on: Kelly Kelly was the second Diva to be eliminated and SmackDown’s team captain, Michelle McCool was third. I’m not sure what happened there given their strong, prominent roles on television. Meanwhile Jillian lasts almost the entire match? Okay!

The match started out very strongly, Beth vs Michelle was good stuff, they had great chemistry and were really going at it. Beth then did some good moves with Maria but here’s where things began to go downhill for a moment: Kelly got tagged in. Kelly vs Maria? The next minute or so seemed to plod along as Kelly and Maria stumbled around the ring, sure they’ve improved but pitting them against each other showed just how green they really are. Thankfully, Victoria tagged in and order was restored. The match livened up as Mickie tagged in and here came one of my favourite parts of the match: Michelle and Mickie. They shared a really great chemistry, great athleticism and it really whet my appetite to one day see them go at it one-on-one. The prospect of that match is very appealing to me now.

If you ask me, Candice was the weakest link of either teams last night during her part of the match with Natalya. She looked hesitant and slow in the ring. Natalya got a great reaction from locking in the Sharpshooter, that was fun to see. The MVP of the night has to go to Maryse, her cockiness and arrogance really made this match. From fighting with her own team mate to standing up to Beth Phoenix, Maryse was on fine form and I really hope that come Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings she’s put back in the forefront of the Divas Championship picture. She really shone in this match. Beth wins to the shock of no one…

I think it’s a real testament to SmackDown that there was interplay between their Divas, even though they lost the match. They managed to play up on storylines such as the hate between Michelle and Maryse as well as the ‘rivalry’ between Michelle and Maria. Meanwhile Raw had no story to tell except shock horror, Beth is the strong, dominant Glamazon. SmackDown are the real winners here, they have come out of this pay per view with fuel to add to storylines come this week’s SmackDown.

I definitely think this was a risk worth taking, it showed that the elimination match for the Divas can work and I hope this is the start of a yearly tradition. The crowd seemed as into the end of this match as they did the men’s matches, which is surely a good sign.

Discuss tonight’s Survivor Series pay per view in this post as it happens! The Divas of Raw and SmackDown will be facing off in tradition Survivor Series elimination match. Who will be the surviving Diva? Place your bets now and chat about all the goings-on in the comments!

For the first time ever, the Divas get the Survivor Series elimination match treatment. It’s shaped up to be a doozy, Raw vs SmackDown. Team captain and Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix heads up the Raw side which consists of Candice, Jillian, Kelly Kelly and Mickie James. Meanwhile, SmackDown’s team is captained by the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool with her team mates Maria, Maryse, Natalya and Victoria.

So, the big question is whho will be the last brand standing? Raw or SmackDown? Over the last year, Raw and SmackDown have managed to even themselves up in terms of talent, so this one is a close call. Who do you think will be the last brand standing? Vote now!

[poll id="230"]

Discuss: How do you think the eliminations will play out? Who’ll be the last Diva(s) standing when all is said and done?

You’re forgiven if you mistakenly read that as ‘Survival of the Sluttiest’, because that’s exactly what happened to me when I glanced over WWE.com. I nearly spat out my drink, before I took a second look. Maybe the WWE.com tech geeks are purposely trying to confuse us lol? Subliminal messages!

This is what the parting of the red sea must have felt like, because my dreams have come true! There will be a Raw vs SmackDown Divas match at Survivor Series! Eek! And better yet, WWE is going all out and making it a traditional elminination match as opposed to the usual ‘one fall’ fare.

And if you ask me, the teams are right on the money. I’m glad they stuck to the Survivor Series-style teams with 5 Divas on each side rather than throwing in the Bellas, Katie Lea and Layla for the sake of it. Sucks for them but oh well. I gots to say, I’m pretty freakin’ excited for this pay per view now!

Eleventh hour much? I’m getting a little anxious as WWE is still yet to announce a Divas match for the Survivor Series this Sunday. After a crappy showing at Cyber Sunday, I don’t want to be cheated out of a Divas match at one of the biggest events of the year! It looked as though the Divas Championship match would take place at the pay per view before WWE shotgunned it to last week’s Friday Night SmackDown.

Given the way that match ended (and how short it was), I think the book has been left open for a rematch. Though SmackDown has already taped it’s show for this week and no such announcement was made (though this can be edited in or announced on WWE.com). Another option would be to make a Women’s Championship match tonight on Raw. But personally, I’ve been hoping for a Raw vs SmackDown elimination match for the longest time with Beth Phoenix and Michelle McCool as team captains.