This week’s SmackDown sees a Divas tag team match between Michelle McCool and Maria taking on Natalya and Maryse. Plus, a confrontation between the Divas Champion and her #1 Contender as well as Primo Colon trying to bag a date with Brie Bella.
Check out the spoilers for Friday night’s SmackDown below: Maryse & Natalya def. Maria & Michelle McCool in a tag team match. Jesse and Festus came out with a mariachi band, distracting Maria and Michelle. This allows Maryse a win via rollup. Backstage, Michelle confronts Maria and asks her what happened out in the ring. … Read more
This week on Raw: Candice and Kelly Kelly scored an impressive tag team victory over resident jobbers, Jillian and Katie Lea. Beth Phoenix and Layla also appeared.
Thoughts & Reactions
Monday Night Raw officially seems to be in “holding pattern” territory for our Divas of late. No storyline development, no challenger determined for our Women’s Champion. One Divas match per week to fill the ‘Diva quota’ (I know, I’ve overused that phrase… sorry) and that’s your lot folks! That said, the Divas matches of late haven’t been all that bad. The past few weeks have hinged on what I like to call the ‘Rise of Kelly Kelly’ and that continued this week with K2 scoring her third consecutive victory over Jillian. One could almost dub this a feud if the fans didn’t already know that Jillian would lose each and every match. Raw’s resident jobber brought along her second in command, Katie Lea – that’s nice of her right? So she didn’t have to be humiliated on her own this week. Honestly when you saw Jillian and Katie come out, did you actually think they stood a chance of winning? Though Jillian should think herself lucky to be on TV for nearly a whole month on a show other than ‘When Plastic Surgery Goes Bad’.
Sniping aside, I thought Candice and Kelly worked really well together and the crowd was into both Divas. Honestly, it was neck and neck in terms of cheers for both Divas. Candice looked the best she’s looked since her return, she seemed shaky still at No Mercy, but at this point I think the damage is done. WWE seems to be pushing Kelly into Candice’s old role as top-ish face, I say ‘top-ish’ because hard as they try to push both Divas, Mickie James always wins out with the crowd if there were a choice among the three. I think of Candice and Kelly in a similar vain, they’ve both come in from being unrespected bimbos, let’s be frank, to learning their craft. At this stage of the game, I would judge their in-ring abilities to be equal; I don’t think one is better than the other and I felt as though the moves Kelly did in this match, Candice has or could do and vice versa. Perhaps it’s a bad thing to have two Divas so similar (aside from hair colour) but at the same time, they both seem really popular and put on a decent match against Jillian and Katie. Even if you cannot find it in yourself to compliment their ability, as more ‘conservative’ fans do, you cannot deny that they worked the crowd. Could it be because they were the first on? I’d say that factored in, but Kelly has drawn a huge crowd response over the past couple of weeks from being further down the card also.
I think Kelly came out of this match the stronger winner than Candice, she’s the instigator – the dropkick on Jillian before the match and then coming in and getting the hot tag and finishing the match. Often in the past year, we’d see Mickie do all the work for Candice to take the credit in these tag match as she was pushed for the Women’s Championship and now it seems Kelly is being primed for Candice’s spot. What does that say for Candice? I think there’s more than enough space for her on Raw (personal preferences aside) but I don’t think she’ll receive quite the push she received in 2007, now or in the distinct future looking ahead to 2009. She’s not wholly to blame for being brought back off her game, but I think her ring rust hindered her chances of being champion again and continuing her ‘feud’ with Beth; WWE seems to be writing that off. But that is just my conjecture, in reality, Kelly has only scored a few wins – it hasn’t translated into a storyline with Beth or a match for the title yet.
As for Jillian and Katie, poor Katie! I think she has a lot of potential – though she has been less than impressive in the ring – she has a great look and character that could be built on. WWE seems to have just simply confined her to Jillian #2.
I didn’t watch the Beth segment, so anyone can fill me in the comments. Thanks! For the two seconds we saw Layla, she looked gorgeous with an elongated ‘goooooorrrrrrrrr’. Even if she doesn’t do much, she does it with style.
One of the great parts of Diva Dirt is reading what you have to say as commenters! Your opinions give us a good gage of what you think, who you like etc. And your thoughts also help me write my weekly Raw Redux. So we want to give you an open forum every week to … Read more
This week on SmackDown: Maria scored an opportunity of a lifetime in a ‘Las Vegas Pole Match’, she will now face Michelle McCool for the Divas Championship.
Thoughts & Reactions
This week’s SmackDown was a real mixed bag. Here’s the thing: I thought the work from the Divas themselves was just fine, the match in terms of ring work was good but a pole match? Really? Raw has it’s battle royals and I guess SmackDown has now adopted the pole match? It was fine when they did it the first time but three times in one year – I hope this was the last one for the remainder of 2008.
Because of the pole situation, the Divas are restricted in what they can do and the match is always formulaic. We always have girls on the outside, two Divas battling it out on the turnbuckle and such. There’s no real focus on the action. The spotlight in this match was firmly on Maryse, even though she lost the match, I don’t think we’ve seen her dropped from the title picture. Even though the focus seemed to be on Maryse and Maria, I was more focussed on following Natalya and Victoria who were really going at it. Is all not well between the BFFs? There wasn’t even any focus on this from JR, which I found slightly odd, as they are supposed to be best friends but they’re going at it. I doubt WWE will pick up on this, but it could be interesting if WWE broke them up. Maybe it’d be the push Natalya needed to be a title contender? Get away from the goofy character Victoria has become? Maria took a pretty sick bump when Maryse pulled her right off the turnbuckle, kudos to her. I really loved that spot, it seems nearly every week now we’re getting these Divas taking real risks and making the action that much more intense. I love that we have Divas who aren’t the best wrestlers as willing to take risks as the likes of Victoria. Brie Bella also took a hit, going into the ring post. Two very good spots that made this match a little more memorable.
The backstage segment with Michelle and Maria was nicely done if a little odd. Obviously they cut out some stuff, because in the spoilers we had Michelle talking about how she’s a competitor. It seems they cut that – maybe because it did come across as heel-ish as I suspected. Instead, they went the route where Michelle respects Maria. But then here’s where it gets really interesting: That cheek pinch? It came across as slightly bitchy and slightly heel-ish. I do hope it amounts to nothing because if you ask me, Michelle is the top face Diva of SmackDown and fills the role really well. I don’t want her to turn heel. As for Michelle’s promo skills lol, stiff as a board. She may have improved in the ring, but her line delivery (as some have pointed out) was almost robotic. Her accent isn’t the most appealing either.
As for the earlier segment with Maryse and Vickie, I have always said it’s kind of endearing when Maryse messes up when speaking English. I find it cute.
So Maria scores a title shot, so where do we go from here? Everyone thought Maryse had this one down. I think the Maria vs Michelle match will end up taking place next week with Maryse interfering and costing Maria the match, continuing her feud with Michelle. This could end up being a triple threat situation or just a forum for Maryse to upstage Michelle again. We’ll see next week!
Tonight’s episode of SmackDown seens a “Divas Las Vegas” pole match to determine the new No. 1 Contender for the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool. Watch the match and backstage segments featuring Maryse and Maria below:
Note: A segment featuring Maryse aired before the match. If you so choose to watch the videos in chronological order, the backstage segment with Maryse can be found after the cut. Also after the cut is a video featuring Maria and Michelle after the match.
Looks as though WWE has shown us it’s card and revealed our “fill” or rather lackthereof in Divas action for Cyber Sunday. For the second year in a row, we’re being subjected to a torturous and highly unertaining Halloween Costume Contest and we have a one third chance of seeing Divas actually wrestling. Great booking(!) … Read more
Spoilers are below, highlight to read:
– Backstage in Vickie’s office, Maryse complains about the Divas having to face each other in a ‘Las Vegas Pole’ (fuzzy dice on a pole) match to win a Divas Championship title shot because she just beat Michelle on ECW two weeks ago. Vickie says she loves Maryse, but too bad.
– In a ‘Las Vegas Pole’ match, Maria beat Brie Bella, Maryse, Natalya and Victoria. Maryse seemed to have control and was about to grab the dice but was yanked off by Maria who won the match.
– Backstage, Maria is walking with her fuzzy dice when she runs into the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool. Michelle tells Maria she’s happy for her because she’s always so cute and cheery while Michelle was a competitor who played with tomboys, was into sports and was lovin’ life. Michelle told Maria not to take it the wrong way and then left. Jesse then shows up and says that Festus has a gift for Maria: a single white rose. Maria thanks them.
Melanie’s two cents after the cut, SPOILERS AHEAD.
The most interactive deceptive pay-per-view of the year returns! Two Diva-related events have been scheduled for Cyber Sunday, which takes place in two weeks. Rock the vote to decide: • Choose which teams will go one-on-one in a Pick the Tag Team Match. Choose from one of the following matches: – Tag Team Champs Cody … Read more
This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix continued her starring turn on Monday Night Raw, the Women’s Champion’s powerslam on Johnny Knoxville is very much a talking point on celebrity news blogs as well as wrestling media. Meanwhile, Kelly Kelly and Jillian duked it out with tag team partners.
Thoughts & Reactions
This week’s Raw was so incredibly underwhelming that I have very little to write. Thus this will likely be a very short Redux this week. Beth Phoenix continues to get a push everywhere outside of the women’s division for which she holds a championship belt. The Diva has been involved in some high profile segments featuring top WWE stars over the past month or so, including Batista and now she’s getting blogged about by the likes of Perez Hilton (I don’t visit that piece of shit, so I’m not exactly sure if there’s a blog about it there per se but you get the gist of what I’m trying to say) by slamming Johnny Knoxville. All well and good, but this was done at the expense of one of the most anticipated feuds of the year – Beth vs Candice which has stalwarted since No Mercy last weekend. It’s nice to see a Diva get recognition elsewhere on Raw and in the WWE, but I’d much rather Beth drop the title and have Beth do all this fun stuff while having actual competition on the show as well. Anyway, that powerslam lol… I guess it’s not exactly Beth’s fault as she has to sell someone who has no idea what he’s doing, but still people are going to be posting that clip on blogs, it’ll likely air on The Soup and it’s a botched powerslam.
Speaking of competition, we got a severe lack of it this week. You know how I like to write that WWE uses Divas to fill a quota? Well what does it say when they can’t even get their usual one match spot? This week we had to put up with Cryme Tyme and Miz & Morrison being injected into our only Divas match of the night. A natural progression from last week’s Raw, but I’d much rather see a straight Divas match. I expected them to have this and then have a singles match with maybe Mickie or Candice. Nope. From what I remember seeing of Kelly and Jillian, they seemed to work well together as was the case last week. Kelly’s execution of that leg-spring off the rope was much better this go around. I noticed fans actually booing when Kelly had to be tagged out because of the mixed tag rules; the fans have really taken a shine to Kelly and that’s important.
We have Candice, who is arguably WWE’s favourite Diva and Mickie James in a useless backstage segment and Kelly Kelly in a wrestling match? That tells you something. I think WWE are seeing how Kelly fever is spreading the crowd and audience and are supplying the demand, they could have easily had Candice or Mickie in a match since Kelly was in one last week. Kelly’s developing before our very eyes, her ring-work is improving and the fans are really behind her. I like that WWE hasn’t rushed her into a programme for the Women’s Championship already like they’ve done in the past with Divas who’ve caught steam, they’re letting Kelly continue to grow and I think when she finally gets her big break, she’ll have deserved it. Kelly’s transition is very unique, it’s happening before our very eyes and Kelly’s still young, she has many years ahead of her. That’s multiple title reigns, many more fans to win over – she could really be the next Trish.
On last night’s episode of FCW, Raw’s Kelly Kelly showed up to host a Diva-flavoured “twist off” competition and in true Diva fashion, it resulted in a catfight! Among the girls involved were the Bella Twins, a very fierce Roucka, Alicia Fox and honestly I couldn’t tell you who the others were. Maybe some of … Read more
This week on SmackDown: Brie Bella continued her sneaky ways as she scored a victory over Natalya thus remaining undefeated. Meanwhile, Victoria got a big shock from Hornswoggle!
Thoughts & Reactions
An okay week for SmackDown, if a little uninspiring. I was expecting (and looking forward to) the aftermath of Maryse costing Michelle the Champion vs Champion match last week on the All Star Kick-Off, instead these two Divas were nowhere to be seen. Sucks! But I won’t complain too much, because I did enjoy the match between Brie Bella and Natalya. I like both of these Divas and they both seem to have a lot of potential in the WWE.
This match started off shaky and got better as it went on, Brie looked green at the start with an awkward crossbody from the middle turnbuckle. But things did pick up and reminded me how much I missed seeing Natalya in the ring! When I read the spoilers for this week’s show, I thought what on earth are WWE doing by burying Natalya like this? Well it wasn’t like so, I think they did a good job of having Natalya look confused and Brie getting an upset because of this. I really love seeing Natalya in the ring and she seems to bring out the best of lesser workers and I felt this was another example, the match got better and proved to be entertaining at the end. I know many of you don’t like me comparing Natalya to Beth Phoenix, but I think they have similar backgrounds and similar looks. What I love about Natalya is that she really shows fire and intensity in the ring and this was on display on SmackDown, slapping Brie around and taunting her. That’s something we don’t see from Raw’s Beth. Natalya really uses the ring well and knows what she’s doing moreso than most of the Divas in WWE. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think she’s the best women’s wrestler on the roster. That clothesline looked sick! Anyone who can perfect the simplest of moves and make them look so effective is on the right track to becoming a future star.
As for the end with Victoria and Hornswoggle, very entertaining and funny. Plus it threw off the ‘big reveal’, I’m not sure when they’re gonna go for the reveal but hopefully soon! I loved that little wink from Brie (or Nicole?) when she came out of the other side of the ring, kinda cocky! Anyway, a decent outing for the Divas though not completely enthralling.
This week’s WWE.com Diva Dish mentioned Candice Michelle‘s newest tattoo, and this little bit inspired me to investigate which former and current Divas and Knockouts have their own selection of body art. Thus, a blog post was born! Below I’ve listed those I could find:
Angelina Love
• an angel on her hip
• her former ring name “Angel” scripted on her arm in Old English style lettering
• an angel on the back of her left shoulder
• the Chinese symbol for “angel” on her lower back, surrounded by a set of wings.
Why so angel-obsessed, Angelina?
“I have always had a fascination with angels. I love how they look, I love their innocence, and I love what they represent.”
Ashley Massaro
• a butterfly on her hip
• two black-and-pink nautical stars above the elbows on the back of her arms (her brother has a matching pair on his arms)
• Chinese lettering down the small of her back
• more Chinese lettering down each side of her torso, reading “Trust No One”
• an illustration of a dragon wrapped around the lettering on the left side of her torso.
Spoilers for the Friday night edition of SmackDown, the show’s second on MyNetworkTV are below: EDIT – More details have been added. Brie Bella beat Natalya (w/Victoria). At one point Bella went under the ring and Victoria followed her. When she emerged out came…Hornswoggle! He chased Victoria to the back. Later, Bella went back under … Read more
WWE’s developmental territory debuted it’s brand new television series on Sunday in Florida. The first episode of Florida Championship Wrestling featured a six person tag team match starring SmackDown’s Brie Bella and former SmackDown star whose current status seems to be up in the air, Alicia Fox. Hopefully, we’ll keep posting the weekly Divas action … Read more
This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix and Santino scored an upset victory over Jamie Noble and Mickie James in a mixed tag match after which things got heated between Layla‘s current and former squeezes. Plus Kelly Kelly picked up a singles victory over Jillian, in a match that was completely overshadowed by the inane ramblings of four grown men trying to act like they’re from the ghetto – while wearing body glitter.
Thoughts & Reactions
This week’s Raw was a letdown on the Diva front and by the time the second Divas bout rolled around, I found myself heading for the ‘mute’ button my remote control because I was frankly getting a headache. Awards for production, WWE will not be getting. Cutting from the actual action to four men standing around hurling abuse at each other like kids on a playground was pathetic and there was just no way the audience could get into the match going on in the ring between Kelly and Jillian. It’s hard to review a match I feel I’ve only seen half of. That said, from what we did see, I’d say Kelly looked as progressive as ever and the match was fine. It wasn’t spectacular nor was it a total wash out, the work was fine and it was nice to see Kelly pick up some steam after losing to Beth Phoenix last week. Her job to Beth had to be done last week to build momentum for Beth vs Candice at No Mercy, but I’m glad WWE is back on the Kelly bandwagon and pushing her because she’s becoming a solid worker and the more opportunities she gets to go out there and gain that experience, the better she will be. Judging No Mercy to last night’s Raw, I would say Candice and Kelly have some similarities – both are competent in the ring, but have their issues with timing and such. Kelly however, has something that Candice doesn’t: ring presence. Though awkward at times, Kelly really seems comfortable in the ring and even though her ring-work may not be on Mickie James level, that comfortability in the ring adds more credibility to Kelly’s wrestling style and I think fans, critics and WWE officials alike are seeing the improvement in Kelly’s work and seeing it as a positive sign. She’s not perfect, but she’s making good headway. Jillian will always be a jobber, but got a decent amount of offense in this match so it wasn’t totally Kelly-dominated as you might expect.
As for the mixed tag match, there’s not much to say as there wasn’t a lot of Diva action in this one. Then again, I think we’ve seen Mickie vs Beth countless times that we don’t need a repeat, we can just close our eyes and envision these two going at it. Coming off a huge week of victories last week, I expected more development for Beth this week, but it became ‘The Santino Show’. Beth is the one who notched up three victories over the course of seven days and was treated little more than background filler, you wouldn’t be able to tell she just came off a successful Women’s Championship match the night before. Speaking of which, WWE darling, Candice was noticeably absent from Raw last night. I find that a little suspect, because considering they want to promote Candice as their ‘top Diva’, you’d think she’d be guaranteed a spot on the show. Is WWE’s enamour wearing off? Are WWE putting their stock in Kelly Kelly instead? I thought Kelly’s win last night was a building block towards challenging Beth for the title. The Beth-Candice feud virtually wrote itself and could have been a focal point of Raw for at least three months but WWE killed any momentum with their ‘poison pen booking’ and totally wore off any excitement to see this feud continue. It seems No Mercy was a blow off match. Which begs the question: What next for Candice?
I guess Layla isn’t going to be a salacious, ‘sex-pot’ (God I hate that word) in the way Lita and Trish were when they turned on Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho respectively. I would’ve expected Layla to slap the taste out of Jamie Noble’s mouth or get somewhat involved in the brawl between he and Regal, but nope. On one hand, it left something to be desired but on the other, it was a nice change. It kind of suggests that regal/noble status Layla is aiming for in her union with Regal, that she won’t get her hands dirty personally – she’ll get her man to do it for her. It’s a nice twist to what we’ve seen in the past, such as the two examples above. I think Layla definitely could play that ‘spoiled girl’ really well, making Regal do her dirty work and not lifting a finger herself.
The history books for the 2008 edition of No Mercy will read exactly like the 2007 edition: Beth Phoenix def. Candice Michelle. The Glamazon retained the title against the former Women’s Champion and her longtime rival. I’ll be completely honest (when am I not?), this feud hasn’t interested me in the slightest bit and I … Read more
Below is the Women’s Championship match from last night’s No Mercy pay per view between Beth Phoenix and Candice Michelle. BETH PHOENIX VS CANDICE MICHELLE – WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP • Check back later today for our monthly “Systematic Breakdown of…”
Unfortunately, Erin and I are going to have to discontinue our monthly pay per view live blogs (for now anyway), as we are both back at school! But in lieu of a live blog, we’ve created this discussion post so you can discuss the pay per view and the Divas match! Tonight it will be … Read more
In an exact rematch from the same pay per view last year, Beth Phoenix meets Candice Michelle for the Women’s Championship tonight at No Mercy. It was at this event one year ago when the Glamazon first captured the title. Will history repeat itself with Beth walking out the champion? Our bloggers predict… Erin: With … Read more
This week on SmackDown: On the big premiere on MyNetwork TV, the Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix upstaged SmackDown’s own, Michelle McCool in a battle of the champions. Meanwhile, the rest of the WWE Divas observed from ringside as lumberjacks.
Thoughts & Reactions
As expected, the Glamazon picked up a victory over the Divas Champion. I’m in two minds about this: On one hand, it’s far more believable to have Beth go over Michelle but on the other hand, what good does it do in the long run for Michelle? SmackDown is her brand, after all and not Beth’s. I think SmackDown’s creative team did a good job in solving that problem and thus, I have no issue with Beth going over. As I wrote, it was to be expected and I think it was the right finish. Yes, SmackDown is Michelle’s show and while Beth gets to go back to Raw, Michelle must carry on in front of the MyNet audience having lost on the first night – I think the writing was strong enough in that we had an interference from Michelle’s rival, Maryse to blame for her loss. Nice set up to continue this feud and introduce it to the MyNet audience.
As for the match itself, I wasn’t sold one bit. I was really looking forward to this match, but I just felt the work was awkward and these two didn’t have any real chemistry. I love both Divas, but Michelle in particular let me down on SmackDown. I just felt she was awkward in the ring, wholly unexciting and frankly, I expected more from her. She seemed to veer towards kicks, arm locks… blah blah. None of the exciting, fast paced action we’re used to seeing from the Divas Champion. Honestly, I felt the match was sloppy. The finish was pretty strong however, not exactly making up for the poor match, but it was a good finish. The Glam Slam looked pretty sick and was an effective end to the match.
Let us not forgot the Divas on the outside of the ring! Oh the poor, unexpecting MyNet audience! I don’t know why the WWE Divas insist on looking like hookers, honestly, when they came out it looked like a hooker parade. I just wish these girls would dress decently, because it’s all their own doing honestly. It was almost as though the Divas who are less ‘slutty’ tried to slut it up to hang in there with the ‘models’, Jesus, Natalya looked like she couldn’t even walk in those stupid heels. Did they get the wrong memo? They dressed as if they were hitting up a night club (or a street corner), not dressed to act as lumberjacks for a women’s wrestling match. I think Layla is the only one who looked decent. As for the lumberjack brawl lol, all I really recall is loads of bad weaves flashing across the screen. Oh and I’m pretty certain I saw someone’s shoe come off! And apparently Lena‘s a heel… Who cares?
A lot of people brought up the fact that this match did nothing to put over Candice vs Beth and was more about Maryse vs Michelle. Actually, I’m all for it. This is SmackDown not Raw, I liked that the focus was on SmackDown’s Divas feud and building up that for the coming weeks. Sure, Candice and Beth have a Women’s Championship match at No Mercy, but it’s not their show and if Raw’s shitty creative team cannot fundamentally provide some decent booking for this ‘feud’, why should SmackDown’s writers put it over? I felt the glances from Candice to Beth after the match were sufficient. I’m excited to see where Maryse vs Michelle goes next, Maryse really is proving to be a big ole thorn in Michelle’s side and there’s so many ways they can go with this!
This week’s Friday Night SmackDown is an All Star Kick-Off to celebrate the show’s move to MyNetwork TV. Check out the inaugural Divas match on MyNet between Divas Champion, Michelle McCool and Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix – with all the WWE Divas at ringside as lumberjacks! Remember, check back tomorrow for the SmackDown Redux. BETH … Read more
There seem to be conflicting reports on this week’s SmackDown spoilers. So until we are fully sure, here’s both sides to the story: Scenario 1 Michelle McCool def. Beth Phoenix via the Wings of Love Scenario 2 Beth Phoenix def. Michelle McCool via the Glam Slam
This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix regained focus after an upset loss last week, scoring a win over Kelly Kelly and Candice Michelle with her partner Jillian. Plus in intergender action, the Burchills lost to Mickie James & Jamie Noble while Layla and King William Regal looked on.
Thoughts & Reactions
After a lackluster few weeks, things were a little better this week but not enough to make me that interested in this week’s Raw. I liked that Beth got an emphatic win this week, regaining her focus towards the Women’s Championship match at No Mercy. Her win killed two birds with one stone: A) it tied in with her ‘mini-feud’ with Kelly, who got a fluke win over her as Beth pinned Kelly and B) it sent a message to Candice ahead of their title match. I didn’t like that they had Beth and Candice start out the match straight away pretty much giving away their pay per view match, shouldn’t you try and keep them apart and have them get in a hot tag? The whole booking for this ‘feud’ has been lackluster, so why start making sense now! The work was fine for most of the match, but I really wasn’t into the first half of it, it just seemed to plod along between Candice and Beth then Candice and Jillian. Candice continues to look uncomfortable in the ring since her comeback, but she has never really had much ring presence if you ask me.
The interesting dynamic of this match was how would Kelly and Candice work together? Sufficiently, I would say. When the match was announced, I didn’t think this duo would work out, you’d need someone like Mickie to lead the tag team, both these Divas are still learning. They worked together well. One thing I observed which I certainly didn’t expect is that Kelly, who has had less opportunity in the ring than her partner, was the ‘Mickie figure’ in this match. The Diva who got the hot tag, fought off both the opponents etc. while Candice did most of the brunt work for most of the match as the ‘weaker Diva’. You would think, considering WWE considers Candice to be their top Diva, she’d be doing the superhero-like hot tag – especially considering the fact that she has a title match this Sunday. However, I think Kelly worked in the role very well and lit up a match that otherwise plodded along, when Kelly tagged in, things picked up in the way that they usually do when Mickie tags in. I would say Kelly has a certain quality about her and I really picked up on this last night, I can see this girl going really far. To me, she seems to be creeping up on Candice and outdoing her in terms of matches, fan response etc. even though Candice is the one WWE wants to push. I can definitely see Kelly continuing to grow and eventually become the top Diva to succeed Trish which is what Candice had been groomed for. Kelly got way bigger pops than Candice, I’m not usually one to go by the crowd, but it was really hard to miss on Raw last night – Candice even got some boos. Not a slight to Candice, but Kelly has more of a likability factor than the former Women’s Champ and is proving to be more well rounded. It’ll be interesting to see how Candice and Kelly’s careers intertwine and mould around each other, to say the least.
As for the intergender tag match, as always good fun. It was great to see Mickie back on Raw, though I’m happy for her to remain in the background and let other Divas get over. If and I mean only if WWE can somehow work her into this storyline with Jamie Noble and Layla, then I’m all for Mickie to come back as a full time character but after the past few months, I think Mickie has run her course and needs to make sporadic appearances and not be burned out completely. I wouldn’t mind seeing a tease of an eventual match between Noble & Mickie vs Regal & Layla. The three different couples on show during this match made me think I was watching some sort of swingers party lol! Layla and Regal looked really good in that throne =)
All in all, not a bad week for Raw. I do like that we got to see more utilisation of all the Divas, very SmackDown-esque but I don’t think Raw has fully redeemed itself in my eyes. We’ll see what happens at No Mercy and going forth.
WWE.com has changed it’s match description for the Champion vs Champion match between Beth Phoenix and Michelle McCool to a Lumberjack Match, with all the other WWE Divas surrounding the ring. The match takes place this Friday night on the SmackDown All Star Kick-Off on MyNetworkTV. Should be pretty cool, but what do you think … Read more
Tonight’s Raw is set to be the “go home” show for this Sunday’s No Mercy, and with the lack of storyline development in Beth Phoenix & Candice Michelle‘s feud, we’ve been pretty concerned with how they’ll build up this Sunday’s Women’s Championship match. With that in mind, the following match has been announced for Raw … Read more