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Small Screen Sirens: Serena & Blair in “Gossip Girl”

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Like “Terminator” to “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, Screen Sirens is transitioning from the big screen to the small screen! With the summer now over, we have no more female protagonists to analyse so we’ve decided to honour the launch of the 2008-2009 television season! Every September marks the launch of a new season in TV, with all our favourite shows coming back for new seasons and new shows starting too! In Small Screen Sirens, we will be finding out which female characters from our favourite shows would be a good fit for the Divas and Knockouts you see covered here at Diva Dirt.

Last week, “Gossip Girl” returned to our screens for it’s sophomore season. This is the show that has had teens and fans online hooked with it’s use of old school teen drama (such as those depicted in Beverly Hills, 90210, The O.C. so forth) but bringing it into the new age with use of technology such as blogging! The whole world fell in love with our Upper East Siders including vixens Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf!

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Candice, Don’t Let Torrie Hear You…

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Torrie Wilson may have nothing nice to say about her former husband, Billy Kidman, but one of her best friends does. Candice Michelle has praised Billy Kidman, who is currently a trainer in WWE’s developmental territory, for working with her to get her ring-ready for her return. This blog just comes days after Torrie blasted … Read more

Systematic Breakdown of Unforgiven

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The first ever Divas Championship match at Unforgiven – and the first ever Divas Championship title defence – is in the books. The All American Girl, Michelle McCool retained her title against the French-Canadian hottie who just happened to dress like Iron Man, Maryse. What’s the verdict? I’d say it was positive. In SmackDown’s second pay per view outing, the stars aligned for our Divas at Unforgiven, making up for the lack of time and excitement at Great American Bash when Michelle first won her title by defeating Natalya. This time around, the two Divas involved really worked it out, using their surroundings well to make a fun match up, plus they were afforded more time than the Divas are usually given on pay per view. The result was a good match from the SmackDown blondes – if a lot sloppy at times.

All in all, I think the work was strong, there was a lot of movement and a lot of story told in this match with Maryse going after Michelle’s leg and such. Neither Michelle or Maryse are at Mickie James or Beth Phoenix level so I definitely expected some sloppiness, but I think these two overcame the odds and by the time the final bell rang, they delivered a good match. The action was fast paced which I did not expect from these two, they both showed a lot of athleticism and I think it’s a true testament to how SmackDown has developed. Anyone who reads my Raw or SmackDown Redux, knows that I think it’s great when the Divas go on the outside and get a little rough and this was Raw calibre right here. Given they are not the most experienced Divas on the roster, I think it was great that they took the risk and Maryse throwing Michelle over the barricade and then Michelle clotheslining Maryse jumping off the barricade. I don’t think I’ve seen the Divas really do that, sure they brawl on the outside and stuff but this took it to the next level.

The second half of the match told more of a story, which I appreciated, with Maryse working on Michelle’s knee and her more on the offensive. We’re used to see Michelle dominating matches, so it was a nice change of pace and we got to see some great work from Maryse. I knew from the outset that Michelle would win, but I feel both Divas got some equal time to show off their moves and even though Maryse lost, she got to work it out. As I was talking about in the live blog last night, seems as though Michelle has changed her “Wings of Love” from an Awesome Kong “Implant Buster” to a simple front suplex, it doesn’t look as good or as effective.

It could have used a little more crowd injection, I don’t think they were into the match. I have a feeling because not as many people watch SmackDown as Raw, maybe the audience isn’t as familiar with the SmackDown Divas? Or maybe they just straight up don’t like what they saw? But in all, I enjoyed the match and the work from both Divas.

Watch the match & see the photos after the cut:

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Podcast: Unforgiven, Stacy on ‘Samurai’, Mickie, Gail

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Another podcast! Check out my initial thoughts on last night’s Unforgiven match between Michelle McCool and Maryse as well as thoughts on Stacy Keibler on Samurai Girl, Mickie James on Psych and Gail Kim’s future! Listen below! [audio:podcast8sept08.mp3] Run Time: 07:04 PS: One thing I forgot to mention in the podcast is thanks to everyone … Read more

Diva Dirt’s Unforgiven Tip Sheet

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Tonight at Unforgiven, Michelle McCool defends her Divas Championship for the very first time against Maryse. It’ll be a SmackDown affair to remember. Who’ll come out on top? We’ll be live blogging throughout the show tonight live, so join us at 7:45pm Eastern (12:45am UK) for that! But now read our predictions on tonight’s outcome: … Read more

Perfect 10: Week of September 1st

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The Perfect 10 returns! The premise is simple: We will rank the ten Divas or Knockouts who we think have had the best week of television, similar to WWE.com’s Power 25. Who will make the grade and who will fall short? It’s all new and exclusive only at Diva Dirt!

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 1ST – SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2008

10. Layla (New Entry)
A brand new entry kicks off this week’s Perfect 10. Layla returned to Raw after a three week absence and boy did she look fine! Jamie Noble finally won over the 2006 Diva Search winner on Raw after weeks of Layla playing hot and cold. Layla likes what she sees and we like what we saw!

Erin: She may not be wrestling, but it’s still pretty interesting to see Layla involved in a storyline. This is a bit different from the norm, and the female has control of the relationship (I don’t consider Beth to be in sole control of hers, BTW), so there’s really no telling where this could go. Hopefully she can interject herself in some Diva matches soon, but for now, this is fine – the Women’s division is pretty crowded as it is.
Melanie: Nice to see Layla back on Raw after her time away to deal with her mother’s passing. Anyhoo, it was cool that they didn’t drop this storyline completely and we had Layla continuing her storyline with Jamie Noble.

• • • • • • • •

09. Victoria (New Entry)
Former Women’s Champion, Victoria may be on a two week losing streak but she’s a winner in our books. Victoria has plotted out two impressive matches with Brie Bella in as many weeks. Plus, anyone who adds their own commentary to their match, especially someone as naturally funny as Victoria, wins cool points with us.

Erin: I did call her a jobber a few days ago, but to be honest, she does it better than anyone else. She puts over her opponent so selflessly it’s ridiculous. I’d love for her to actually get a few wins once in a while, but she more than serves her purpose – to put over the younger wrestlers. She can carry them if need be, and with how vocal she is in the ring, it’s almost as if she’s doing 90% of the work sometimes.
Melanie: Victoria made the list because she works like no other Diva. Even though she’s on a losing streak, she is fantastic at what she does and has done a great, great job with Brie Bella recently.

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08. Michelle McCool (Last Week: #9)
Sure, Michelle didn’t have a match this week but she certainly made an impact on Maryse. The two blondes of SmackDown will collide for the Divas Championship at Unforgiven. Michelle showed her opponent that she was up for the challenge.

Erin: She didn’t do much of anything this week, so there’s not much to say. However, I’m really glad she’ll finally get the chance to defend her title. We’ll see what she’s made of, I guess..
Melanie: Michelle may not have wrestled on SmackDown, but we did get her put over her match for Unforgiven.

• • • • • • • •

07. Mickie James (New Entry)
Mickie James is a new entry at #7 this week, after her team picked up the victory on Raw. However, of the three Divas on the team, Mickie polls first… where will her partners come?

Erin: I hope she won’t be pushed to the backburner with Candice’s return, but that seems to be the case. This match showed that she can be an entertaining worker and fire up the crowd, but she’s still pretty bland as a face. Heel turn, perhaps? There are a billion and a half heels on Raw, I know, but a girl can dream, right?
Melanie: Mickie gave a great performance on Raw, one of her most enthusiastic matches in quite some time.

• • • • • • • •

06. Awesome Kong (Last Week: #6)
Kong continues to reign at #6 for the second straight week after one hell of a brawl on Impact. The monster left more than a few marks on ODB and someone better check on Roxxi, after she suffered an Awesome Bomb on a steel chair.

Erin: That’s what she’s best at – decimating. If she continues to do that week in and week out (and at this rate, she probably will), she’ll be on this list for a longgggg time. ODB might knock her down a few pegs, but I don’t see her losing her “monster” reputation for a long time, if ever.
Melanie: Kong is always a delight to watch and even if she doesn’t have a match, she always manages to make an impact.

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SmackDown Redux – September 5, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship, Maryse was on a high roll on her way to Unforgiven with a win over Maria. Following the match, Maryse and the champ herself, Michelle McCool had an almighty staredown at the top of the rampway. Next up, Brie Bella once again scored an impressive victory over Victoria… or did she?

Thoughts & Reactions
Did not see it coming. What am I referring to? The match between Maryse and Maria on SmackDown last night. Given the two Divas involved, I wasn’t expecting a match of this calibre – okay it wasn’t exactly Beth Phoenix vs Melina, but honestly, I thought Maryse and Maria delivered a very good match on Friday’s show. I didn’t have high hopes for this match, neither of these two Divas is that great in the ring, despite Maryse really improving – she is still not of the calibre of Michelle or Natalya but the two girls really carried this match well. As to be expected, there was some awkwardness but I honestly think both Divas gave a valiant effort and this match really exceeded my expectations.

I liked that, first of all, we got to see these two Divas who were less experienced than our veterans go on the outside and really make it work. It’s nice to see both Maria and Maryse willing to take bumps and take risks on the outside of the ring, it added a nice feel to the match too. Some of you think that I seem to hate Maria, but I don’t, she’s usually just not very good in the ring. Who knew that she’d really pull it out of the bag in a match with Maryse of all people? Her hurricanrana, in my estimation, was exactly spot on. Great work, honestly, I’ve seen the veteran Mickie James pull off some bad hurricanranas and she’s a four time Women’s Champion. This is the first time I’ve seen Maria do it and it was perfection. It looks like Maryse watched Brie Bella’s match last week and took some tips, she tried to make her moves look more interesting by finding fun ways to execute them. As for her DDT at the end, I love the way she executes it, that hair flip thing looks hot and her DDT is executed perfectly. Again to make a contrast, half the time Lita’s DDTs looked pretty sloppy but Maryse’s was nice and neat.

I loved the staredown between Michelle and Maryse and I’m genuinely excited for their match on pay per view tomorrow night, it could be pretty good. Then again I did say that about Michelle vs Natalya at the Great American Bash and that match was a letdown.

Oh I nearly forgot to mention that backstage promo between Maryse and Maria before the match. Lol, “You seem in the hurry”, says our Maryse. “You’re not going in the ring wearing this, don’t you?” Honestly, I’m not trying to make fun of Maryse, in fact, I find her little mess-ups to be really cute. Obviously, not having English as her first language is a barrier for Maryse, but I thought these little mistakes were really endearing and made me go “aww.” As for Maria’s promo skills, I have to say you wouldn’t be able to tell she’s a face. Now that she’s ditched the ditzy character, in her promos she comes across really bratty and bitchy.

Anyhoo, we got even more Divas action this week and after their great match last week, I really doubted if Brie and Victoria could pull off a match of the same calibre. I’m sad to report that it wasn’t as good last week but it was still good. Victoria controlled the match much more this week, so we didn’t really get to see Brie’s impressive moveset but I felt the match really built up Brie as the underdog rising star and I appreciated the work from both Divas. I noticed this week, the announcers are dropping hints to the switcheroo business as though we’re slowly but surely uncovering the truth that Brie is switching places with Nicole. JR’s commentary certainly insinuated so, I just want this to be a slow burner. I don’t want the reveal to happen too soon because I think there’s a lot of life in this storyline that could carry on for a good few months. Again in this match, we had less experienced newbie taking risks by jumping off the ring apron onto Victoria on the outside.

Honestly, both the matches this week were a great watch and miles ahead of the six Diva tag on Raw. These SmackDown girls are really working it out!

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Torrie’s Harsh Words for Ex-Husband

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Take it from me, Torrie Wilson is one of the nicest, sweetest people out there so imagine my shock when I read what Torrie had to say about her former husband, Billy Kidman in an audio interview with “The Interactive Interview”. In a game of word association Torrie said the following on her partner of … Read more

Divas of a Different Kind!

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This is just a random post that I thought I’d post for the hell of it! Hey, it’s the weekend! It’s rare to see all our Divas from Raw, SmackDown and ECW in the ring together but it’s even rarer to see the likes of Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Mary J Blige, Fergie and Leona … Read more

Mickie’s Denial: Skeletons Come Out to Play

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Mickie James‘ past came to bite her in the butt today and it was gooooood. The former four time Women’s Champ’s skeletons poured out of her closet and came back to haunt her on live radio this morning; someone send homegirl a supply of padlocks and chain because these are the kind of skeletons she’d … Read more

Brother Paul Facing Axe

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Poor Katie Lea may be mourning the death of a brother in the not too distant future. Internet reports suggest that Katie’s on-screen sibling is facing the chop from WWE. On the plus side, I don’t see our English rose following Paul Burchill out the door. Paul hasn’t been seen on television in a while, … Read more

Samurai Stacy: Promotional Pics

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It’s been two years since Stacy Keibler had her last big television gig on the hit series, Dancing With the Stars in 2006. Now in September 2008, Stacy returns to the small screen for a brand new mini-series on ABC Family, “Samurai Girl”. The show kicks off tomorrow night (Friday) at 8pm on ABC Family … Read more

Introducing Diva Dirt Podcasts: Sept. 3, 2008

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Diva Dirt is proud to launch a new venture on the site, which will hopefully bring you more exclusive audio content. We have tried to bring you a weekly “Diva Dirt Sheet” but Erin and I have limited time to synchronise and be able to record a full one hour show every week. We feel … Read more

Maria’s Mind’s in Disturbia

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Holy “Emo MySpace Poser Queen”, Batman! Seems as though like us, Maria isn’t too pleased with her WWE.com photoshoots so she’s taken to taking pictures of herself and uploading them to her Fan Nation profile. And boy, do they look cliche or what! Flicking through these pictures is like looking at that emo kid from … Read more

Watch: Stratusphere, Episode 1

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From former Women’s Champion to jetsetter, Trish Stratus‘ brand new Canadian travel series launched on Monday night. And for those of you who were busy watching Gossip Girl (speaking of, OMG was it good or was it good?!) or don’t live in Canada, we now have a video of the full episode! With kind permission … Read more

Raw Redux – September 1, 2008

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This week on Raw: Candice Michelle made her comeback in six Diva action, scoring the win for her team of Mickie James and Kelly Kelly by pinning Beth Phoenix, whose partners included Katie Lea and Jillian.

Thoughts & Reactions
She’s back and as controversial as ever. No Diva divides fans the way that Candice does and that’s been evident from reading your comments and reviews on Candice’s comeback on Raw last night. As for this blogger, I’m sure you all know Candice wouldn’t exactly make my Christmas card list (if I knew her that is) so I may be biased when I write about her. But hey, that’s what friends blogs are for. Some clever guess work on WWE’s part for having Candice make her miraculous comeback on a taped edition of Raw rather than the live thing, because the editing is causing an uproar among you Diva fans. The match was definitely edited at the end. I guess they knew that it wouldn’t be pretty, either.

Moving away from the wrestling to begin with: I couldn’t help but feel Candice’s comeback was the most contrived piece of television since Jade Goody decided to “redeem herself” by entering the Indian Big Brother house. From the outfit to the bad acting as she went to the top turnbuckle to tears at the end, this wasn’t as much a “comeback” as it was a “blubfest”. We’re supposed to feel sorry for Candice, we’re supposed to root for Candice – but in all honesty, Candice isn’t as likable as WWE would have their fans think. This is evident by the way she divides Internet fans. I can’t help but feel Candice is a contradiction of herself, she tries to come across so profound but then shows up on Raw looking like a dominatrix – one who can’t keep her clothes on, for that matter. If her outfit “defines beauty”, I’d rather be ugly. Then we have the tears after she retreated up the ramp following the match, “Pity me! Pity me!” I hope WWE realises that Candice is not the innocent babyface like Trish or Mickie and trying to have her act like she is will never catch on with the fans, just look at the furore she causes online. PS: I thought Raw was now a PG show?

Anyhoo, onto the match – I really enjoyed the work from our Divas this week. Kelly and Mickie seemed more fired up than usual, Mickie in particular was the most exciting I’ve seen her since her fourth Women’s Championship win – perhaps she’s trying not to be overshadowed by Candice? Kelly continues to improve and she worked well for her short part of the match. Jillian and Mickie shared a great chemistry that I enjoyed thoroughly. As for Katie Lea, I think she works better in a tag team combination than in singles action and that’s odd, if you ask me. Her tag team work was much better than her series of horrible and bland matches with Mickie this past summer. As for our Glamazon, well I certainly didn’t like that they buried Beth straight away against Candice. So much for a “money feud” between these two. They ruined it in a matter of minutes by having them interact at the first instance. I would’ve had Candice pin Jillian or Katie and then have Beth retreat from the ring quickly, avoiding any confrontation between these two – prolonging that eventual match. Obviously, logic isn’t WWE’s strongest suit.

Candice’s in-ring return was a mixed bag, I’ll admit it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but it wasn’t great either. There were a few glimmers of excitement (such as that hair-drop thing she hit on Beth from the corner), but for every glimmer there’s a botched headscissor takedown. It seems to me that Candice has even yet to master the basic forearm, perhaps she should concentrate on getting her punches right before moving into anything too showy? As I’ve said with Kelly Kelly, it doesn’t help when you overcompensate for your lack of experience with flashy moves – try and perfect the basics. The end was definitely edited as one moment, Candice was behind Beth and then miraculously in front of her. Candice has a long way to go and I certainly wouldn’t rank her in-ring skills above the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool. That said, Candice isn’t as bad as some fans will suggest. She’s certainly a step ahead of Maria and former Diva, Ashley. To reiterate, thankfully for her and WWE this week’s show was taped but that won’t be the case next week. Hopefully, we can have a more informed judgement next Tuesday.

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Melina Banks Sexiest Diva Title

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Diva Dirt‘s first annual 50 Sexiest Divas list has been unveiled and we can confirm that former Women’s Champion and Raw Diva, Melina has been crowned your Sexiest Diva 2008. More than 900 votes were cast and Melina was the clear favourite, taking the #1 spot on the 50-Diva countdown. Melina will be awarded a … Read more

One Year On, Comparing Candice

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It’s been nearly one year since Candice Michelle went down with an injury, but tonight she makes her return… her mini-comeback at WrestleMania time doesn’t count. Last year, Candice was praised by WWE, the fans and critics alike on her improvements, she was rewarded with the Women’s Championship and at the end of the year … Read more

SmackDown Spoilers – September 5, 2008

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Highlight below for this week’s SmackDown spoilers, the show was taped last night along with Raw: • Maryse and Maria had a backstage altercation over who would get a Divas Championship title shot. • In what I’m assuming is a No. 1 Contender’s match, Maryse defeated Maria. After the match, Michelle came out and stared … Read more

Perfect 10: Week of August 25th

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The Perfect 10 returns! The premise is simple: We will rank the ten Divas or Knockouts who we think have had the best week of television, similar to WWE.com’s Power 25. Who will make the grade and who will fall short? It’s all new and exclusive only at Diva Dirt!

WEEK OF AUGUST 25TH – AUGUST 31ST, 2008

10. Beth Phoenix (New Entry)
Kicking off our Perfect 10 is Beth Phoenix suffered a loss at the hands of Kelly Kelly this week, one week after winning the Women’s Championship. As well as faltering in the ring, Beth’s relationship with Santino Marella was on the rocks, with a break-up and make-up on Raw. How very Hills-like!

Erin: It’s embarrassing as hell to lose to Kelly Kelly, even with how far that girl has come in the ring. I don’t care if it was a fluke win, but having the Women’s Champion lose to such an inexperienced girl is pretty crappy. I liked seeing her beat the crap out of Santino, though that little “spat” didn’t last long. I would’ve preferred it if she stayed pissed at him rather than kissing him later in the night, but I guess that’s an “unstable” relationship for ya. At the very least, it keeps her character interesting, which is a problem she’s had since the beginning.
Melanie: I’m fine with Beth losing this match, it’s not as though Kelly totally out-manuvered her for the win. Even Beth Phoenix must taste defeat every now and then.

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09. Michelle McCool (New Entry)
The Divas Champion, Michelle McCool makes #9 on the list after suffering a loss to Maryse and Natalya on SmackDown. Despite the loss, Michelle showed a fighting spirit in her post-match brawl with Maryse. This girl’s got game!

Erin: She’s still the #1 girl on SmackDown, that’s for sure. It’s just a question of who she’s feuding with – Maryse or Natalya? At this point, it looks like Maryse, and if that’s the case, I don’t see Michelle relinquishing that top spot any time soon. She’ll be climbing up this list in the weeks to come.
Melanie: Michelle looked great on SmackDown and even though her team lost, I like that we finally had some emphasis on the actual Divas Champion. Since Maria debuted, it seemed like it was all about her but now we’re back to business: the Divas Champion at the forefront of things.

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08. Christy Hemme (New Entry)
Our first Knockout on the list is Christy Hemme, her team the Rock ‘n Rave Infection sent a message to the Prince Justice Brotherhood on Impact this week. Christy mixed it up with the boys, slapping Curry Man. Christy and the Rock ‘n Rave Infection will face the Brotherhood at No Surrender.

Erin: It’s always cool to see a girl mix it up with the guys, even if it’s minimal. Maybe Christy will be getting a bigger push in Gail’s absence, eh?
Melanie: I doubt that Christy will see much in-ring time in this match, but she came across really well on Impact this week.

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07. ODB (New Entry)
ODB certainly had a fire lit under her on Impact this past Thursday, enough to rank her at #7 in our countdown. ODB went after the unstoppable Awesome Kong in an all out brawl that had to be stopped by officials. As the Joker would say, “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?”

Erin: That sounds like quite the matchup – monster vs. monster! I think ODB could pose the biggest threat to Awesome Kong that anyone’s ever posed. I’d love to see them in something unsanctioned, like a street fight – now THAT would be a brawl.
Melanie: The brawl between these two was a lot of fun! I think this will be added to the No Surrender match and it should be a good match. These two faced off in February at No Surrender but at that time, ODB wasn’t over as she is now. ODB could come out of this match as the new top face among the Knockouts.

• • • • • • • •

06. Awesome Kong (New Entry)
Though Kong showed signs of weakness in her brawl with ODB, that doesn’t deny her victory over newcomer Sojourner Bolt. Kong was as dominant as ever.

Erin: She’s so unstoppable that it almost gets dull, but that doesn’t take away the fact that she’s the toughest that TNA has to offer. A feud with ODB can probably lend her a little vulnerability and still keep her “monster” persona. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to completely dethrone Awesome Kong, to be honest with you..
Melanie: Kong scored another victory following another vicious match.

• • • • • • • •

05. Natalya (New Entry)
We are now half way through the countdown and at #5 it’s Natalya. Natalya’s team scored the victory in SmackDown’s tag team match. Natalya and partner, Maryse scored the upperhand, once again, over Michelle McCool and Maria.

Erin: I’m disappointed that Natalya is being overshadowed by Maryse, because it seems she had her feud with Michelle stolen right out from under her! She’s still an excellent wrestler and heel, so hopefully there’s still something there for her. I’m praying she doesn’t get the “Victoria treatment”. She’s arguably the best wrestler on SmackDown, as this match demonstrated, so it’d be a shame for her talents to go to waste.
Melanie: Natalya is the best female wrestler on the SmackDown roster, if you ask me. I really want to see her get that Divas Championship shot but it seems she’s been pushed aside for Maryse. That doesn’t deny that she is a force in the ring and great to watch.

More after the cut:

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Weekend Analysis: TNA Needs Some Cherry Pie!

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Diva Dirt’s Weekend Analysis is hotter than the Sunday newspapers… free DVDs included! This is the feature we aim to analyse our favourite and not so favourite Divas as well as the current news stories. This week, why TNA needs a slice of Cherry Pie… And no, I don’t mean actual pie. I mean newly … Read more

Exclusive: Mickie Gets Her Psych On

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As we reported last month, Mickie James will be making a guest appearance on USA Network’s Psych, that episode will air this coming Friday, the 5th of September at 10pm. Anyhoo, check out these episode stills of Mickie for the episode. What do you think, are you feeling her look?

SmackDown Redux – August 29, 2008

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This week: Maryse put herself forward as the top heel on SmackDown, as she and Natalya defeated Michelle McCool and Maria. The match ended in a big brawl between the Divas Champ and the French hottie. Meanwhile, Brie Bella made her debut beating Victoria… but there’s more to this story than just that.

Thoughts & Reactions
Okay, this week’s SmackDown Redux may read more like a rant so brace yourselves. As much as I’ve grown to love Maryse, how the hell did we go from Maria vs Maryse and Michelle vs Natalya to Maryse hijacking the Divas Championship title shot from Natalya?! I thought the tag team feud was about furthering Michelle/Natalya and Maryse’s supposed feud with Maria. Instead, we now have set up Maryse as the new title contender for Michelle McCool – and in the process, Maryse is now the top heel on SmackDown? This week’s episode really felt as though they were phasing out Natalya, who has been the biggest heel among the SmackDown Divas and pushing Maryse and this pisses me off. WWE has built up Natalya so strongly and in the course of two hours, they switch their game plan and now this division apparently hinges on Maryse who is a weaker wrestler and a weaker character than the thrid-generation Diva.

This week it seemed as though Natalya was being made to look like the new Victoria, in which case, what does that say about Victoria? Natalya was only on SmackDown to make up the odds for her team and to be the “hired muscle”, make no mistake, this match was all about putting over Maryse. I just don’t get it and after this match, I was left very frustrated and pissed off. Maryse has unfinished business with Maria and now she’s going after Michelle too?! Oh sure, let’s just give her two feuds. I don’t know what Natalya has done to piss off management or creative but after last night’s SmackDown, it seems that the third-generation Diva is on the outs. And I am not happy. The new direction seems to be Maryse as the new top heel. No offence to her, because I do like her work, she has improved so much and I’ve become a fan – but she is no Natalya. Maryse is fine as a secondary heel (sort of like the Melina to Beth Phoenix earlier this year), but I think it’s far too soon to break Maryse out as the top heel especially when you have someone as over and as capable as Natalya. NOT HAPPY.

As for the match, the work was good and I enjoyed both the match and the very impressive scuffle after the match. Michelle really went after Maryse after the match, did you see? I thought she was throwing some real stiff shots, it looked really real and looked so good on screen, so kudos to both Divas. To touch upon the segment that preceded the match, well let’s just say, Maryse spluttered her lines. Understandable for someone who’s first language is not English but if that’s the case, WWE shouldn’t be putting her in a position to cut promos.

As for the Brie-Victoria match, I already talked briefly about this yesterday but it doesn’t hurt to talk some more! Again, Brie was very impressive in her debut match. As I wrote yesterday, it seems that these inexperienced workers tend to try and pull off flashy moves (see Kelly Kelly) to compensate for their lack of knowledge. But Brie didn’t exactly go that route, her moves were pretty basic, she just found a new, innovative spin on them and that made her a lot of fun to watch. Like Melina, she is fun to watch in the ring and I thoroughly enjoyed her first effort. One match in and she is already a far superior worker to some of the girls who’ve been in the WWE and have been wrestling way longer than her such as Maria. I remind you, Brie has only been wrestling for one year down in FCW. We got a brief appearance from Brie’s sister Nicole after Brie went under the ring. You can spot the difference like so: During the match, Brie wore a belt. After “returning” from under the ring, no belt. Two very good matches, however the booking for the second was far better than the first.

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