This week on Raw: Divas tag team action when Women’s Champion Mickie James teamed up with Raw’s newest Diva, Kelly Kelly to take on Jillian and Raw’s other newest Diva, Layla.

Thoughts & Reactions
“Raw stuck on bore.” Says it all really. While I am thoroughly enjoying Raw post-Draft, the women’s division - not so much. The quality of the product as a whole has shot up since the Draft show two weeks ago but it seems that all the emphasis on the other aspects of the show have led to a loss in quality and less attentiveness to the women’s division on Creative’s behalf. Last week’s Raw match between Mickie and Jillian was simply average and this week was more of the same - the Divas were only utilised to fill the weekly “Diva quota”, no storyline advancement here nor anything too interesting.

There is quite a lot to talk about this week though, first up is Kelly Kelly jumping from ECW to Raw. I believe this is solely due to the lack of faces on Raw at the moment, I guess it’s a wise move to make bringing in another face but why not call up a developmental Diva? I think that would have been much wiser, because let’s face it - moving someone two weeks after the Draft who wasn’t even drafted in the first place calls the point of the Draft into question! I much prefer Kelly as part of SmackDown, I think she was really developing and coming along great. This is a Diva that needs to be nurtured, I think she does have the potential to become the next Trish Stratus but she needs to be nurtured and cannot be thrown into impossible situations too soon. WWE rushed into giving Trish and Candice huge pushes but I had hoped they’d do things right with Kelly, only move her to Raw when she was truly ready. Alas, she is not. The perils of live television - all your flaws are exposed and Kelly was sloppy on Raw and it couldn’t be edited out. Kelly is best suited to SmackDown right now, where she can continue to grow. I had a little idea of my own for Kelly, I think she’s come a long way and I’m 90% certain she will be our 2009 Playboy covergirl; Kelly could be the first Diva to actually be worthy of a Playboy push. It’s a long time between now and WrestleMania, Kelly could have grown a lot more on SmackDown and then possibly challenge Natalya at WrestleMania for the Divas Championship and win. Unfortunately that won’t be happening now, still could but doubt it. Instead, Kelly is thrown into an environment I don’t think she’s ready for and I fear she will go the same way as Maria and Ashley before her, not improve anymore and be just another waste. Maria has potential but being on Raw for so long, she wasn’t able to realise it. Kelly has a lot of potential still but being on Raw hinders that, it’s not exactly a great environment for developing wrestlers. I did quite like the whole explanation for her moving to Raw, the line “We have contracts?” can be interpreted as, “We’re not bothered to think of a logical explanation.”

The other focus is Jillian. Are they just delivering us average matches to fill a Diva quota or are they actually planning on pushing Jillian? Because using her on Raw for two weeks in a row is something that seldom occurs. I do believe it’s the former, I don’t think WWE is putting any attention into the Raw women’s division and is simply filling a quota. There’s no big push for Jillian and in fact, while she is getting on TV more, it’s for the wrong reasons rather than the right reasons. Let’sface it, WWE doesn’t care about Jillian and will never really give her character a refresher or give her a chance to be a top Diva. She is a laughing stock.

As for the match, it was average again. Sloppy in-ring work for Kelly, not much else that’s memorable. All the focus was on Kelly that they nearly forgot that Layla, too is new to Raw. Poor Layla, she had finally escaped from underneath Kelly’s shadow only to have the shadow follow her. Layla was unceremoniously ignored on Raw, she didn’t even get any ring time. Even Michael Cole forgot to mention that she was new on Raw too after the “explaining” of Kelly’s move from ECW, Cole added that Layla joined Raw during the Supplemental Draft merely as an afterthought.

Raw’s women’s division is a holding pattern right now, I do think Creative will finally turn their attention to the Divas after the post-Draft honeymoon period is over. Right now they’re working so diligently on making the rest of the product “must see”, the Divas aren’t their top priority. Whatever happened to the Katie-Mickie feud? Where is Beth Phoenix? Is there any use asking? Poor Beth is probably on the shelf until WWE find something to do with her since Melina’s injured, kudos to them for not just giving us “Mickie-Beth: To Infinity and Beyond”, which would have been the easy option given there’s only a handful of Divas on Raw right now.

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

Jillian: Last week I wrote, “Raw’s resident jobber strikes again.” So I guess this week is “Return of the Jobber?”

Kelly Kelly: Too much too soon.

Layla: Most unspectacular debut in Diva history?

Mickie James: Not much to say.

Fashion Focus
The Good: None.

The Bad: Jillian and Kelly.

The In-Between: Layla and Mickie.

Photos
Below, are digitals of the Divas match from RAW. Copyright to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Video
Watch the match below:

Of course, Torrie and Victoria were drafted to SmackDown during the WWE Draft last year, possibly in anticipation? What do you think of the news? Do you prefer the current plans or would you (like me) had loved to have seen Torrie realise the dream of a career?

Eve Torres is barely on my radar - in fact, I thought she was on ECW for some time. Someone had to correct me, informing me that she was actually on SmackDown. Now, I’m not the most attentive person, but that says volumes about how Eve is used on TV. It makes one wonder why they insist on continuing with the Diva Search if their winners do next to nothing on TV while “training” behind the scenes. Seems pointless to me to hire girls that require at least 2 years of training to be anywhere near TV-ready. Just hire proven wrestlers and you skip a step!

But anywho, I’m really liking this shoot - Eve looks quite pretty. Perhaps that’s why it’s called “Perfect in Pink”? That shade of pink suits her, I’d say, and the gold accessories work as well. Eve seems to be very good at not looking “drag queen-esque”, as many a Diva has fallen victim to. So to recap, she looks pretty, but can’t do much aside from hold a microphone. Yep, sounds like that Diva Search investment is paying off!

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Continuing with their Summer Skin feature, WWE.com has added Mickie James’s photoshoot, along with a video of the shoot, Mickie’s men preferences, and info on where to purchase her bikinis.

I have to say that I like Mickie’s shoot much more than Michelle’s - it’s a lot more exciting. Mickie seems to mix it up a lot, pose-wise, and her bright and bold bikinis pair well with her bubbly personality. Not to mention, she looks like she’s having fun. I also love that she doesn’t have the “Sport Illustrated” bikini model body. She looks gorgeous, but doesn’t blend in with the rest of the pin-thin girls.

To view the video and see what Mickie looks for in a guy, follow the cut.

• View the video of Mickie’s photoshoot.

• How to Date a Diva - Mickie James

• Interested in finding out where to purchase Mickie’s bikinis? Look no further!

Body Glove
bodyglove.com

Opera Swimwear
operaswimwear.com

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In case you missed Raw last night, Kelly Kelly has officially joined the Raw roster. I guess the move was made to counteract the lack of faces on Raw at the moment. I’m not sure how I feel about this, sure Raw could use another face but I felt Kelly was making strides on SmackDown/ECW and moving her to Raw will just stalwart her improvement. Kelly, while impressive, is still very green in the ring and there was no hiding that on live television as her flaws were out in the open for everyone to see last night.

Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with news of Chyna’s possible return to the ring, our theme is “The 9th Wonder of the World”, showcasing memorable moments from Chyna’s WWE career. Today, we have Chyna vs. Eddie Guerrero in the 2000 King of the Ring qualifying match. Chyna and Eddie were on the rocks, and this match only served to worsen their relationship. This storyline was one of Chyna’s best - it showed her vulnerability and provided for some pretty damn entertaining moments.

Natalya is on her way to The Great American Bash to potentially become SmackDown’s first Divas Champion, and she’s clearly stepping up her game in every facet - even photoshoots! Take a look at this one for example - “Best in Black”. She keeps it simple, donning a gorgeous LBD and wearing her hair straight (if a little disheveled). She seems to have gotten the hang of posing too, mixing it up without overdoing it.

The look isn’t very “Natalya-esque”, I’d say. She just doesn’t usually dress so feminine. I’m liking it, though. She’s showing that you can dress feminine in the WWE without showing all your bits and pieces, although she must have one hell of a pushup bra on, because those puppies don’t sit like that naturally. I’ll look past the boobage, though, because I really dig this shoot. Her waist is looking rather bare though, isn’t it? Perhaps she’ll have that godawful-looking belt to occupy that space soon..

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TORRIE WILSON IN “TROPICAL PLEASURES”

Welcome to the return of our new summer feature - the Summer Sizzler Series! (and for those in the know, yes, I “borrowed” it from OVW :P) Today, we have Torrie Wilson’s segment from the “Tropical Pleasures” DVD from 2002. Enjoy the HQ video and stills!

Mickie was wrestling independent worker Sara Del Ray on the show, which was ended after Moose hurt herself. This does leave in doubt Mickie’s TNA career, Moose has only just joined the company full time and if the past two weeks are anything to go by - she was receiving one of the biggest pushes of any Knockout since Awesome Kong. Diva Dirt would just like to send our best wishes to Mickie, get well soon!