Diva Dirt reader, Bryan sent in detailed spoilers from last night’s taping. Show airs on Friday, check back for the Redux! Click the ‘+’ to read:
Thoughts after the cut:
WWE
Raw Redux (August 24th, 2009) – OutFoxing the Divas Champion
What do you buy a man who has it all? Nothing. You just let him hog Raw for most of the show. On a night where everything else played second fiddle to Vince McMahon’s birthday celebrations, there wasn’t much in the way of anything groundbreaking or storyling progression. In fact, judging by the pinfall last … Read more
Lilian Garcia May Host Final Raw
According to Wrestling Observer, Lilian Garcia may guest host her final episode of Raw, reportedly either next week or the week after. If so, I have to say it’d be a fitting end to our Decade Diva’s career! Also noted is that Lilian’s ‘final act’ will be to name her successor.
Random Observations from Raw (August 24th, 2009)
– “Mayweather Melee,” say that three times real fast. – Kelly ‘Kendra Wilkinson’ Kelly seems right at home in sports gear. – At least this time she has an excuse for wearing sneakers in a match. – Beth Phoenix’s pigtails… bless. – Is it just me or does Mickie James look hotter in boxing gear … Read more
Detailed SummerSlam Battle Royal Report
Courtesy of PWTorch, here is a full report from last night’s battle royal that no one got to see and if you do want to see, will have to pay 30-odd bucks for… not to mention wait another 3-4 months for the DVD by which time I can almost guarantee that at least one of … Read more
SummerSlam: Beth Wins Pre-Show 15 Diva Battle Royal
The Divas will get to represent at SummerSlam in a pre-show 15 Diva battle royal that will be exclusive to the SummerSlam DVD. This was confirmed in WWE Universe’s Live Chat just moments ago. We’ll have results from the match later tonight hopefully. EDIT: If you ordered the PPV, the match will air on the … Read more
Bonus SummerSlam Kick Off Pictures
Peep even more pictures from Friday night’s SummerSlam Kick Off event in LA, featuring more closeup looks of Melina, Mickie James and Tiffany as well as some of the other girls. So I have decided that Mickie looks gorgeous, I’m actually taken aback that she is probably the best looking Diva of the night. Meanwhile, … Read more
Divas Hit Red Carpet for SummerSlam Kick Off Party
Our favourites Divas from all three brands were present on the red carpet last night in LA for the SummerSlam Kick Off Party. The Divas and WWE Superstars rubbed shoulders with D-List celebs like Mini-Me and that girl who never gets to sing from the Pussycat Dolls. For the most part it seems the Divas … Read more
SmackDown Redux (August 21st, 2009) – Guess Who’s Back..
This week, we were promised the return of one Michelle McCool, Women’s Champion and recent victim of a knee injury. The details of her return were kept mum, so in what capacity will we see Michelle, if at all? Let’s watch and see if she turns up:
On the cards is a tag team match, teaming up Melina and her tag team partner (who we can only assume beat Eve in a coin flip) Maria. Going up against them will be Layla, Melina opponent last week, and Natalya, a Diva whom the WWE seemingly can’t decide if they want to wrestle or manage. This week, luckily, she’s on in-ring duty.
But who oh who makes the first entrance? Michelle! She makes her way (Gingerly? I couldn’t tell.) to the announcers’ table and takes a seat next to JR and Todd Grisham. We’ll see if they acknowledge her absence or just ignore the giant blonde hobbling elephant in the room. Melina and Maria then make a tandem entrance, and I wonder if Michelle visits Diva Dirt, because her first words on the duo express my sentiments exactly (“What is Maria wearing?!”). Gotta dig deeper than the obvious with these insults, Michelle.
A few more fashion-based insults pegged at Maria (Seriously, someone check Michelle’s browser history.), and Michelle shows a bit more charisma. Now, she’s not Trish Stratus or anything, but I sense some improvement. She just needs to work of her inflection and not sound dead-bored when speaking on the mic. As Layla and Natalya make their entrance, Michelle expresses some fondness towards who Todd describes as her “message girl”. Michelle refutes that claim, insisting that these past few weeks were just a vacation for her. Okay, so I guess the injury may not be as serious as once thought? You know, since they’re skirting around the issue and all..
Two Confirmed for SmackDown vs Raw 2010
The first two Divas to appear in this year’s edition of WWE’s flagship Smackdown vs Raw series has been revealed. Current and former Divas Champions, Mickie James and Maryse were revealed today to be in the game. The appearance marks Maryse’s first in a WWE video game. It is expected that the Divas Championship will … Read more
Raw Redux Does WWE Superstars (August 20th, 2009)
Raw Divas, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly got the Superstars treatment this week and delivered a very decent bout, considering this show is overlooked by most. Watch below: With no stupid skits to contend with, WWE Superstars usually consists of 3-4 matches filling up 42 minutes. That generally works out to 8-10 minutes per segment … Read more
Superstars & Impact Feedback – August 20th, 2009
WWE Superstars sees Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly tonight at 8pm ET. Meanwhile, Impact boasts a ‘Beautiful’ breakdown as well as a fatal four way match featuring Awesome Kong, Christy Hemme, Sarita and Traci Brooks. Discuss the shows in this post!
Original SummerSlam Plans for Divas + New Plans
We’ve already mentioned that the Divas were supposed to be on the SummerSlam card for this Sunday. Now we know which matches were going to be booked. There was, if you’ll believe it, actually meant to be two Divas matches on the card and both were scrapped. SmackDown’s Melina vs Michelle McCool was originally booked … Read more
FCW Diva Wesley Holiday Debuts on ECW
If you were watching ECW tonight, you might have noticed a bright young face interviewing folks backstage, going by the name of Courtney Taylor. She would be Beverly Mullins, better known to FCW fans as Wesley Holiday. Phew, did I list out enough aliases for you? A former Hooters model (Oh dear..), Courtney had been … Read more
SmackDown Spoilers: August 21st, 2009
Spoilers for this Friday’s SmackDown are up. Click the ‘+’ sign to view:
Thoughts after the cut:
Raw Redux (August 17, 2009) – Where Did It All Go Wrong?
A much anticipated match ended with a death stare. Caused riot on the Internet. And possibly had the worst botched finish for any match featuring women of this caliber. Rivalling the horrible finish to the Mickie James-Trish Stratus match at WrestleMania 22, they can’t just edit this one off the DVD and act like it never happened, because there won’t be a DVD. And try as they already have to eliminate the evidence [click here], we all know what went down last night and there is no way to spin it — the ending was horrible. Watch what will soon become ‘the infamous’ Gail Kim vs Mickie James match below:
Honestly, as some may expect me to do, I don’t want to blame anyone for what happened. Yes, the finish was awful but I actually enjoyed the match until that point. In fact, I told Erin right after it happened: “Just watch, after that finish no one will remember the match or talk about the match, it’ll be all about the finish.” And lo-and-behold, I do believe I was right. The whole match, I feel, is getting painted with the same brush stroke as the finish. Whether you enjoyed the match is down to your own personal opinion but I was liking where it was going.
I don’t want to scrutinize either Diva or suggest it was either of their fault. The finish was horrible but it was a freak accident & shouldn’t be a reflection on either of their in-ring ability. It definitely looked as though Gail hit her head and was out of it following the crossbody and as one can expect, was in no fit state to continue the match. She was out of it. For that, I applaud her for finishing the match and I applaud Mickie for attempting to improvise the finish.
Random Observations from Raw [August 17th, 2009]
So because I like to indulge myself in time-wasting, I thought I would do another round of random observations from last night’s Raw: – Did we transport to WrestleMania 22? – And if we did, they can’t edit that out on the DVD because there won’t be one! – But they did try and edit … Read more
Superstars Spoilers For Thursday
Even more Divas action on Superstars this Thursday night! Show airs at 8pm ET on WGN. Highlight to read: Beth Pheonix def. Kelly Kelly
SmackDown Redux (August 14th, 2009) – Shoot the Messenger
You might have noticed that I decided to forgo a Redux last week, as there was no match on the show, and analyzing a mere backstage segment with no real bearing on the women’s division would be akin to giving G.I. Joe a thorough character analysis–there just ain’t no point. However, this week’s SmackDown started off quite inauspiciously with what else but another MARIA-CENTERED BACKSTAGE SEGMENT!!!! *cue Psycho theme* Jump to the 1:00 mark to watch:
I feel silly for really “reviewing” this, but I figure it might lead to something eventually, so I’ll just go for it. Maria‘s gushing about Dolph, and Melina smiles, playing the supportive friend. It feels so strange to see her even care, since I’m so conditioned to her nasty heel attitude. At this point, I’d kill for her bitch side to take over–it’d keep segments like these to a minimum.
And just as I pray for daylight, Layla comes in to save the day. She plays the catty heel pretty well (“YAYYYYY FOR LOVE!”) and, like Melina did last week, warns Maria against Dolph, for for much different reasons. Apparently, the glorified Oompah Loompah twin is a hot commodity backstage, and Maria may not be hot enough to hold him. And shifting to more important matters, Layla delivers a message to Melina: Michelle will be back next week. It’s kind of funny, though, because it’s a minuscule version of what I suggested they do with Melina/Michelle/Layla earlier this week. Melina seems unenthused at the news, but I’m doing backflips. Melina tells Layla that she has a message for Layla to send back to Michelle, and she’ll give it to her in the ring. OH, IT’S ON NOW!
Raw Redux Does WWE Superstars (August 13, 2009)
The Divas got the main event last night… though calm down, it’s not that auspicious because the show was WWE Superstars. Plus they had to share it with the men, so even less auspicious. All in all, Divas Champion Mickie James and Rosa Mendes came off as an afterthought [now there’s a shock] to their male counterparts.
Regardez:
That Rosa Mendes, quite the hellion, isn’t she? Girl, if you don’t have the moves to back yourself up, please don’t step to the Divas Champion. But she did! There was a nice exchange to kick off the match, with Carlito and Kofi Kingston pulling apart the two Divas. And as you can see in the image above, Rosa shoots a scowl that would make a serpent blush.
Officiating this match, you may have noticed, is the same referee that does all the Divas matches [including this week’s Raw and SmackDown]. He really should just get a t-shirt that reads “Official Diva Mascot.”
Anyhoo, after some wrestling between Carlito & Kofi that I skipped through, we get a tag from Carlito to Rosa which means Mickie has to come in too. The Divas Champ wastes no time, throwing Rosa over the top rope, the rookie lands awkwardly. Mickie gets things off to a good start, with a clothesline then a double forearm on Mendes. The Latina however fights back with a knee to the gut, Mickie hits a baseball slide and snapmares Rosa. A nice front dropkick by Mickie.
Rosa gets to her feet and hits an awkward looking elbow to Mickie’s face, followed by a double axehandle and a shimmy. Yes, a shimmy.
A few exchanges between the two as Rosa has Mickie on the canvas and locks in a headlock. Mickie begins to mount fan support and counters the sleeper. Rosa throws Mickie into the corner, Mickie uses her leg to stop herself from eating turnbuckle, turns back and we have a head-on collision. Rosa quickly tags out to Carlito and that’s pretty much your lot, save for the standard catfight near the end.
So what have we learnt from this week’s show? Not a lot. Not too much Divas action in there so I left feeling a little ‘eh’. Not to mention the prospect of Rosa vs Mickie isn’t all too exciting, let’s be honest. Rosa still needs to work on her timing & her selling, she tends to land awkwardly and I fear one day she may hurt herself.
If you’re feeling as underwhelmed as I, there’s a fun yet random Melanie observation after the cut:
Superstars & Impact Feedback (August 13th, 2009)
Big night of women’s wrestling tonight, as WWE Superstars and Impact boast matches featuring your favourite Divas/Knockouts. WWE Superstars tonight features Carlito & Rosa Mendes teaming up against SummerSlam 2008 tag team partners, Kofi Kingston and Mickie James. Impact has advertised a fatal-four way between Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, ODB and Tara. Also teased is … Read more
SmackDown Spoilers: August 14th, 2009
We’ve got spoilers for this Friday’s SmackDown for your perusal. The show will be airing August 14th. Highlight below to read:
*According to sources, Melina and Maria have a backstage segment similar to the one on last week’s show, except with Layla added into the mix.
*It is announced that Michelle McCool will be returning to SmackDown next week.
*Melina defeats Layla.
Thoughts under the cut:
Raw Redux (August 10th, 2009) – Divas Eat Gail’s Defeat
So that Raw match. Bit of alright, wasn’t it? Last night’s show saw Gail Kim become the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship, in one of the best Raw matches of the year. The Divas involved including Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly put on quite a show in the ring and out of it.
From the outset, the Divas got a nice rhythm going, setting the tone for the rest of the match. It seems like they took the time to choreograph the match meticulously and plan spots for all four girls involved and that’s a great thing. Usually in these matches someone tends to get lost in the shuffle, but they did a great job here of giving each Diva something to do and they all looked great.
Kicking off with Kelly and Beth in one corner and Alicia and Gail in the other. Kelly gets an early start on her screaming, going for a hurricanrana on Beth into a pin but Beth kicks out and goes for a Glam Slam very early on. I like her style, it shows that she’s trying to pick off each of the Divas from the outset and trying to secure the #1 Contendership. Nice logic. Gail interrupts and we see a succession of rollups; I gotta be honest, this fell flat for me but it seems to have worked in getting the crowd into it with all the rollups from each of the girls. This is followed by an awesome tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Alicia on Gail, these two have always had tremendous chemistry and Alicia can go in that ring with the best of them.
With Gail out of the ring, the heels turn their attention to the ‘innocent’ Kelly Kelly, who shows Trish Stratus-like courage in trying to fight off both Divas. This was a nice change of pace from what we had just seen, with Fox and Phoenix crowding around her and Kelly trying to scout the both of them. Beth grabs Kelly in a headlock and warns Alicia off, and the feisty newcomer isn’t taking that lying down. Alicia shows she’s not afraid of the Glamazon, hitting her with a boot to the face, but then gets hit with an awesome missile dropkick from Kim.
Random Observations from Raw
Whenever I watch wrestling, my mind begins to whir and think all these things that aren’t actually important. It’s like word vomit of the mind. But don’t worry, Desperate Housewives has taught me that in a few years I can pop my kids’ ADD pills. Only joking… kinda. So as I watched last night’s fatal … Read more
WWE Superstars Spoilers for August 13th
Divas return to Superstars on Thursday night. Check out the spoilers by highlighting below:
Carlito & Rosa Mendes def. Kofi Kingston & Mickie James. Carlito pinned Kofi after a Backstabber.
Thoughts after the cut:
Raw Response: August 10th, 2009
So Gail Kim is the new #1 Contender for the Divas Championship. Confused? Surprised? Happy? Talk about tonight’s Raw!