It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And over the next few days, we’re going to be reliving some of the goodies that TNA and WWE have put under our Christmas trees! Looking back at the Christmas themed matches we’ve seen the Divas and Knockouts involved in, the DD team will each be picking … Read more
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And over the next few days, we’re going to be reliving some of the goodies that TNA and WWE have put under our Christmas trees! Looking back at the Christmas themed matches we’ve seen the Divas and Knockouts involved in, the DD team will each be picking … Read more
As we all have become accustomed, this is the time of the year where folks sing carols, wrap presents, and the Divas amount to nothing more than skimpy red costumes. So we saw this coming, and it shouldn’t be surprise that this week’s Raw was absolutely pointless. In what has become an annual thing, Melina, … Read more
Former Knockouts Champion, Awesome Kong is helping Knockouts fans rein in the Christmas season with an awesome comedy skit. Kong stars as ‘The Meanest Elf’. Just what could that mean? Watch below: If that doesn’t get you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will! Show Kong some love on Twitter for the awesome video!
Diva of the Year, Maria has revealed how she believes her 32,000+ Twitter followers helped her to her shocking Slammy win a week ago today. Speaking in a behind the scenes interview with G4’s Attack of the Show, Maria says she was shocked by the win because she had been away ‘working on a charity’ … Read more
As posted earlier in the week, Diva of the Year Maria helped co-host G4TV’s ‘Attack of the Show’ on Thursday night. The show’s website has uploaded some fun and sometimes naughty [see above] behind the scenes pictures of Maria’s experience, including several shots with her rather dishy co-host and also a picture with the director of the legendary ‘Titanic’ and the newly released ‘Avatar’, James Cameron. Check out the pictures below:
For full video of Maria hosting the show, follow the cut:
It’s been the biggest week of Maria‘s career with appearances on all three brands but it ended on a sour note on SmackDown, with Beth Phoenix not only defeating her but stealing the show. Things have progressed at rapid speed for the WWE Divas over the past week; this time last week, we were talking about Michelle McCool vs Mickie James at TLC — a match that has now passed and since then, all the talk has been about Maria’s Diva of the Year win at the Slammys and now we see the rise of the Phoenix, Beth Phoenix that is.
The Glamazon was the one constant for the Divas this week on SmackDown, appearing in all three Divas segments and receiving some much needed character progression. One thing was clear from the moment Beth began speaking though — this was not the Beth Phoenix of yore. It seems as though that face turn many of our readers have been hoping for may just happen as Beth came across as more of a tweener than the big bad heel we’re used to seeing her as. Watch a more docile Beth with Maria and Mickie below:
The segment starts with Maria and Mickie playing the latest SmackDown vs Raw game, complete with silly commentary. I loved Maria’s, “We got ’em both. Got ’em both!” Perhaps my heart is beginning to thaw this yuletide but Maria’s slapstick is beginning to grow on me. In comes Beth as the ‘mom’, rather than act like the brash heel we’re used to seeing her as, it was clear that this was a different Beth. A Beth that was less threatening and more nurturing. It reminds me of that rant on America’s Next Top Model when Tyra yelled at that chick. “I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you.” Rather than get in her former rivals’ faces, she comes across as more of a ‘disappointed friend’. A clear sign that this is a new, tweener Beth. I really liked this segment, I have to say. Beth to me, came across as the voice of the people — the voice of the Diva fan. Sure it’s scripted but the way they’re scripting Beth is what the fans want and it shows that they aren’t out of touch with what the fans want because they have Beth here pretty much saying what’s on our mind. Again Maria cuts in with her humour, and again I’m amused. Damn you, Kanellis! The little ‘congratulations’ and ‘thank you’ between Maria and Mickie was cute too.
Next up, it’s time for ‘Beth goes roaming part two’ as this time she bumps into Layla and Michelle McCool.
Michelle tries to gain Beth’s favour by saying she hopes she and Layla didn’t rub her the wrong way upon her arrival to SmackDown. This then descends into another excuse for WWE to take jibes at Mickie James. Michelle shows some improvement here and there’s more inflection in her voice than ever before, she’s definitely working on adding more personality to her promos. I was quite tickled by Michelle calling Maria ‘underfed’, oh the irony. The “She ain’t getting no food” was just lame. Michelle’s ‘huge proportions’ line was well delivered but outdone by Layla, who was quite funny in her delivery. Anyway, the camera cuts to Beth Phoenix who realises that all the things they’re saying about Mickie could apply to her too and she speaks up. I’m glad they did this because it’s that old age movie convention — bullies never prosper. It puts all the weeks of ‘Piggie James’ crap into context in that eventually, Michelle and Layla will get what they deserve although it seems, not at the hands of Mickie, but rather at the hands of Beth. It definitely seems like this sets the stage for WWE turning Beth and having her feud with Michelle. And as face turns go, I think this is a very logical way to do it. The sensitive subject of a woman’s weight that WWE is exploiting on national television is disgusting and I think that many of the audience members will be waiting to see Michelle & Layla get their just desserts. Having Beth’s turn face coincide with that could be a genius move, because as a result of serving said just desserts, the crowd will be behind Beth and that will give her momentum. But while Michelle and Layla’s characters may have to pay penance for their actions, the WWE higher ups who are pretty much ‘script-bullying’ Mickie, will likely never get their just desserts. But I digress, that’s a story for another day.
Next we have the Maria vs Beth match:
As well as apearing on Raw, ECW and SmackDown this week — Maria found time to make yet another television appearance last night on G4’s Attack of the Show as a guest co-host. Watch a clip below: From the little that we see in the clip, Maria did a great job and showed off her … Read more
Raw brand Diva, Eve Torres along with Chris Jericho, were on Fox and Friends this morning to talk about this Saturday’s Tribute to the Troops. Check it out below: Eve looked confident and preppy when talking, correct me if I’m wrong but it seems to me this is her first big television interview, so good … Read more
The latest bits of FCW to hit YouTube have surfaced, originating from the November 28th show. First, we have a match featuring the former WWE Diva (for all of 3 weeks) Courtney Taylor and AJ Lee. “Queen of FCW” Mia Mancini is at ringside to survey the match:
I have to say, starting a match with a rest hold doesn’t exactly allow one to hold much promise for an exciting match. Overall, it looks as though both girls were stuck in slow-mo–even the arm drags were slow. Courtney’s definitely giving me a Kelly Kelly vibe, especially with the ginger ring movements and flashy moves (what exactly was that handstand move in the corner, by the way?). AJ and Courtney just didn’t seem to have much chemistry, with mis-timed exchanges scattered throughout the match. They never got out of the starting gate and seemed preoccupied with slowing the match down to avoid any mishaps. The only excitement I got out of the whole match was AJ’s finisher, and even that was set up awkwardly.
So the match wasn’t much at all, but why did it fall so short? AJ looks to have a lot of potential, but Courtney seems to be a little uncomfortable in the ring so far, and that severely limited the match as a whole. Hopefully she can improve her ring presence and buck the inevitable Kelly Kelly comparisons (like the one I made above.. oops).
Newly crowned Diva of the Year, Maria dropped by ECW last night to appear on the least watched late night show of all time, ‘The Abraham Washington Show’. What makes this both eerie yet funny is that we joked about Maria and the ‘Abe Show’ on Monday night’s Post-Raw Show. Has someone been listening? Anyway, … Read more
It’s only one of my favourite ex-Divas and two time Women’s Champion, Jazz! After giving birth to twins, Jazz returned to the ring this past weekend at Women Superstars Uncensored and was interviewed backstage by fellow women’s wrestling site, Lethal Wow. Check it out below: I am beyond excited to see Jazz back in the … Read more
Last night’s Raw, in all its bloated 3 hour glory, was the annual Slammy Awards edition. Among the awards to be handed out were Diva of the Year, which was to be voted on by the fans at WWE.com. As we waited on pins and needles (not) to find out who won the award, we pondered whether the award would be given to support a storyline via rigging by the WWE or a popularity contest held by the voting public. As is turns out, it was neither, and I’ll explain my theory as we come to it.
We start our Divas action (not counting the Divas presenting awards throughout the night) with a Jerry Springer-esque evening gown tag team match. The babyfaces–Mickie James, Melina, Brie & Nikki Bella, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, and Maria are taking on the heels–Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse, Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Alicia Fox, and Rosa Mendes. Most look out of place and trashy in their gowns, and I would critique them (I’ll save that for this week’s Style Jury), but I’m much more distracted by the fact that they’re WRESTLING IN EVENING GOWNS. Well, this’ll be one mesmerizing clusterfuck:
They start with a line-up face-off, trading verbal barbs before heading off their their respective corners. Mickie and Rosa start off the match, Rosa takign advantage and tossing Mickie around, pounding her head on the mat. They trade slaps, and Rosa tosses Mickie into the corner. Mickie blocks her attack, locking her head with her legs and hitting a hurricanrana. She then pulls her to her feet, hitting her Mickie-T to get the pin an the win for her team.
I have to say, this is one of the few moments where I’m glad that a Diva match was cut short. I’m glad that no more than two Divas had to humiliate themselves by wrestling in their dresses. Mickie and Rosa did as awkwardly as I expected, but hey, someone had to take the bullet. Now that the match is over, it’s time for the Diva of the Year Slammy to be awarded. The girls line up in anticipation as MVP and Goldust present the award.
Our winner is announced as, drumroll please…. Maria??? MVP’s reaction right before he reads her name says it all, and Maria looks as shocked as the rest of us as she goes up to accept her award, saying a typical acceptance speech before being interrupted by Batista in a douche costume, doing a Kanye West impression that’s not only awful but over 3 months old. If the joke were a carton of milk, it would have expired into a living organism at this point and, ironically, would be more worthy of a Diva of the Year award than Maria. Maria plays Taylor Swift as she left the stage and allowed Dave to be “escorted” off by security.
But as we watch the wild pink-polo-wearing douchebag be captured in his natural habitat, we’re left to ponder the reasoning behind this decision to crown Maria as Diva of the Year. Was is it truly a popularity contest, and she was just the most popular Diva among the fans? Or was it rigged for storyline purposes? As I said earlier, I believe it was neither, because I have a theory. Yes, Maria is popular, and I do not doubt that fans flocked to vote for her in the poll, but I don’t believe her star power amongst the casual fans is that much stronger than, say, a Mickie James or a Kelly Kelly.
In the latest FCW match to hit YouTube, Queen of FCW Mia Mancini teams up with Dylan Klein (and his tearaway jeans) to take on AJ Lee and Skip Sheffield. The last time Mia and AJ locked up in the squared circle, the result wasn’t very impressive. Did they step up their game or does … Read more
Often imitated but never duplicated, it’s the Tiffany Guide to Impact. This week, TNA’s creative team takes a nap. Meanwhile, this week’s episode of TNA Impact is laced with a boost of testosterone that could only be matched by that of Tiger Woods. First off, we’ll go right ahead and expunge the pink elephant in the room: The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky vs. Lacey Von Erich ft. Madison Rayne) in a mud wrestling match.
I’m on the fence about this “match” purely because any way I go about it, someone’s going to have some reason to complain. Whatever. For what it’s worth, this was a five minute erm… exhibition that went against the grain of most Knockout matches. Was it raunchy? Sure. Is it degrading? Eh perhaps, for some. The way I see it: it was a goofy segment that’s better suited to just disappear into the depths of pro-wrestling history. With the decent overhaul of Knockout action we we’ve been blessed with recently, this one silly Beautiful People segment gets a pass (and a well-received “yawn”). As long as it doesn’t become a usual occurrence, all should be forgotten soon enough. It’s not often that Velvet Sky wins a match single-handedly, so it’s best to just enjoy it while it lasts.
Next up, Hamada challenges the TNA Global Champion, Eric Young.
Looks like TNA’s lame booking has worked… in a sense. The mud wrestling match from this past Thursday’s episode of Impact has been a huge draw for YouTube, where it is available to view in full, clocking 40,000 views in under 48 hours. In comparison, other videos uploaded at the same time have drawn around … Read more
With the last minute addition of a Women’s Championship match to this Sunday’s TLC pay per view, the Divas of SmackDown were given a brief build-up to the event. After Maria‘s return last week, we saw the obvious tag team match as she made her in-ring return, teaming with Mickie James against Layla and Michelle … Read more
With Maryse two weeks into her return, fans have been less than impressed with her all-around performance. Her return was more head-scratching than anything else and her match last week didn’t show her in-ring skills as much as a more refined affinity to sneak out a win. Will she continue on that path this week, or will we see a more ring-focused Maryse?
We start our night seeing that Kelly Kelly has been handed the duty of announcing the night’s first Divas match. I’m not all the surprised that they saddled Kelly with this random job, since the WWE has a tendency to stick Divas in announcing positions when they don’t know what else to do with them. We’ll see if this becomes a regular thing or was just a plot device to bring in Melina post-match.
The match in question is Gail Kim vs. Maryse. I’m psyched to see Gail get some one-on-one action, as she’s usually stuck in tag team matches (aside from the odd Superstars match). Let’s see if she can pull some good things out what’s so far been a lackluster return angle for Maryse:
The match starts off with a requisite show of arrogance by Maryse–she actually shoves Gail by the head twice. Gail seems to keep her annoyance in check until she spears Maryse to the mat, pounding on her until she’s shoved off. Maryse darts to safety at the other side of the ring, but Gail keeps on her, tossing her by the hair and whipping her into the ropes. Maryse hangs on to the ropes, but Gail drags her back to the middle of the ring by a leg, making Maryse hop along. Gail tosses Maryse’s leg aside, spinning her, and then slamming her down with a hard clothesline.
Maryse crawls to the corner, and once she’s to her feet, Gail charges at her, slipping out of the ring and back in under the ropes, out-smarting Maryse and rolling her up into a pin attempt. Maryse kicks out at two and wanders to the next corner, only to be sandwiched into it by a flying Gail. Maryse drops to her butt, and Gail proceeds to drive her knee into her neck, using her standing leverage to apply the pressure. Gail eventually backs off and Maryse gets to her feet, simply slapping Gail in the face in rebuttal.
Gail Kim may have had a disappointing year upon her WWE return but perhaps the standout of her time is this little gem from the television series for WWE’s farm territory, FCW. Gail takes on former SHIMMER standout and current Queen of FCW, Mia Mancini. Watch below: This is a definite step up from Mia’s … Read more
Coming off the heels of two successful title defenses against AJ Lee and Savannah, FCW queen Mia Mancini takes on ECW General Manager Tiffany in a non-title match. Watch below: To be honest, I wasn’t impressed with this match. In fact, I haven’t been very impressed with Mia since her FCW debut. Her new heel … Read more
FCW’s new Queen, Mia Mancini has had an impressive showing over the past few episodes of the company’s television series, and in the latest leaked episode she takes on ECW’s Savannah. Watch below: Compared to their first match which I wasn’t a big fan of, this go around, the work is far more solid and … Read more
This week on Impact, ODB gives Tara a panic attack, Dixie Carter spills the beans, Kristal lays down the law, Lauren gets woman-handled a la Mi Pi Sexy, and Jeff Jarrett tells TNA to kiss his ass! Meanwhile, Tazz responds with a sturdy “WHO?” to the mention of Lacey Von Erich. The Tiffany Guide to Impact: sharing the same sentiments with TNA’s road agents since 2009.
While that pretty much summarizes last night’s episode in a nutshell, TNA still manages to squeeze in a 5-minute Knockouts bout in the 3/4 hour. Hamada vs. Sarita takes center stage in this installment.
Hamada and Sarita lock up, and Hamada grabs Sarita from behind. She takes Sarita over successfully the first time, tries for a second, but Sarita lands on her feet. Sarita leads Hamada into an arm drag. However, Hamada ducks a clothesline and flips Sarita into an arm drag of her own. Sarita reiterates the exchange with yet another arm drag, and both Knockouts go for a dropkick. Hamada and Sarita both kip up, and in typical Knockout fashion, they have a stand-off.
Readying themselves back into the match-up, the ladies link hands. Hamada breaks the hold with a kick to the midsection and a series of chops and headbutts to Sarita. Hamada runs the ropes, ducks Sarita’s knee, goes for a leg feed Enzuigiri but misses. A couple kicks to her opponent later, Sarita runs the ropes and utilizes this momentum to hop onto Hamada’s shoulders. This leads into an impressive hurricanrana. Sarita powers up, however Hamada quickly recovers and catches her with a superkick. Hamada covers Sarita, and Sarita barely gets the shoulder up at 2.
Always the risk taker, Hamada sails to the top rope and plants Sarita with a front dropkick. Transitioning this into a pinning position, it only results in another near-fall. Unperturbed by this close call, Hamada picks Sarita up by the hair and drags her into position for the Hamada Driver. Sarita is quick to counter into a victory roll, which surprisingly only renders a 2-count. Not to be outdone, Sarita swiftly grounds Hamada with a float-over DDT. Hooking Hamada’s leg, she goes for the cover again, but Hamada gets the shoulder up in time.
Here, the match takes an interesting turn as Sarita rolls Hamada into a rather complex (though aesthetically effective) submission maneuver. The hold doesn’t quite sustain Hamada, who maneuvers into a modified crucifix pin but only generates a 2-count for her troubles.
Consequently, Sarita staggers to her feet only to succumb to two nasty-looking spinning kicks to the side of the head. Hamada takes a brief moment to signal her signature driver, which she bestows upon Sarita for the 3-count and the win.
It was only a matter of time until the golden girls of the TNA Knockouts division would cross paths. While Sarita and Hamada have both managed nearly spotless records on Impact, this ménage à quatre (also involving Alissa Flash and Taylor Wilde) comes to a head with Hamada coming out on top. Hamada is quickly climbing the ladder in terms of Knockout stardom, and it will only be a matter of time before this winning streak calls for something extra. Hopefully, TNA will have something new and exciting in store for the incredibly talented Hamada. As far as Sarita and Taylor Wilde go… at least they can now bond over the fact that they have both been laid out by one of the greatest.
Next, Tara guest stars on “Trash Talk with ODB.” The Knockouts Champion and the #1 Contender come to blows, and a few interesting sentiments are exchanged.
Congratulations are in order for the Divas of SmackDown as I can positively say that this week’s episode was the best Divas action that I’ve seen in quite some time. From the #1 Contenders Match featuring three of the most talented women in the WWE, actual storyline set up afterwards and the return of a Diva — WWE managed to pack a lot into 10 minutes [which is pretty long for a Divas segment on TV] but it all came across as being important. Watch the action below:
On paper, the triple threat match between Beth Phoenix, Mickie James and Natalya seemed full-proof and it was. The work between all three Divas was fantastic, particularly the interaction between the power houses of WWE’s women’s division — Phoenix and Natalya. The way the pair cleared the ring of Mickie James in the early going and then fought among themselves was a great touch. Natalya is probably one of the most talented Divas to ever step foot into the WWE but hasn’t received the same opportunities as Phoenix or James. If we didn’t have spoilers prior, Natalya would be the one I would be rooting for — and to be completely honest, even though I knew the outcome, I still kind of did hope for her to win!
Some beautiful spots in this match including Mickie’s hurricanrana on Natalya, and Natalya’s discus clothesline on Mickie. But perhaps the most impressive is Beth’s effortless Glam Slam on a woman that equals her in stature. A fantastic spot.
The end sees Mickie James dropkick Beth out of the ring and ‘steal’ the victory. I really liked Mickie’s placement in this match, she couldn’t conceivably be considered as physical as Beth or Natalya, so they used her as a scrappy underdog fighting against the larger Divas.
Meanwhile, the real greatness in this match was the work between Beth and Natalya. I’d absolutely love to see a secondary between these two as a result of this week’s show, in addition to Michelle-Mickie. With Beth squashing Divas left, right and center, here she got an opponent that can step toe-to-toe with her and have a knock-down fight with. Perhaps market Natalya as almost an equal to Beth and see which Diva comes out on top.
The Beautiful People’s Velvet Sky shows off her comedic talents as the ‘host’ of an exclusive webisode commercial for ShopTNA.com. There’s also a cameo from former Knockouts Champ, Tara. Check it out below:
Following Maryse‘s turkey-costumed return, fans came to a general consensus that it was pretty disappointing. But with this week came the opportunity to add some legitimacy to this blossoming feud. Would Maryse deliver, or would she–like the turkey she disguised herself as–not even get off the ground?
We begin the night with an entrance by Melina and Gail Kim. The feed cuts to Maryse and Jillian walking backstage, only to be stopped by Josh Matthews, asking Maryse what provoked her to attack Melina last week:
She explained her motives as this: Melina was holding her Divas title (not that Mickie held the title long before Melina and actually won it from Maryse in the first place) and provided a Trojan Horse, which for Melina turned out to be the turkey. I don’t want to go all history nerd and explain the many ways in which that makes no sense, but really.. I know the common usage of the Trojan Horse metaphor is with a “any trick that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or place”, in reference to the tale of the Greeks hiding inside of a giant horse that they left outside the gates of Troy, which when brought inside the gates (as a victory trophy) allowed them to overtake the city at night and win what has been a 10-year siege. But is the WWE ring really considered a securely protected place? Maybe the fact that Melina let the Gobbledy Gooker stand behind her qualifies as that, but that’s stretching it quite a bit. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t accepting the Trojan Horse (and ignoring the warnings of others) a sign of vanity? They believed that the Greeks were surrendering and accepted their “victory trophy” without suspicion, and were ambushed and slaughtered for doing so. I doubt Maryse was preyinf on Melina’s vanity with her scheme.
Either way you look at it, Maryse’s metaphor oversold the thing to a ridiculous level. It actually managed to make it look even more stupid, as she (AKA the WWE’s writers) tried to sell it as some mastermind’s trick. However, when the trick involves one party dressing up in a Gobbledy Gooker suit, I think trying to make it look like any sort of “master plan” is more foolish than the idea itself.
But enough of that. Maryse says “gobble gobble” to Josh (which I guess serves as a goodbye), which Jillian sings in repetition, and the two head to the ring. Melina and Gail’s reaction to this says it all, mouthing “wow” to each other a few times. As Maryse and Jillian make their entrance, Michael Cole recaps how Maryse lost the Divas Championship at Night of Champions and–rumor has it–when into a state of depression following her loss. What a crappy excuse.. I mean, is it really that hard to just say she got injured–which she actually did? All that does is perpetuate the stereotype of the “fragile woman”. Though, Maryse’s character is approximately 99% vanity, so such a blow to her ago could probably crush her in such a way. But still, around 5 months on the shelf due to depression? That’s treating pretty lightly what in real life is a big deal–a serious mental illness. But I guess, as we’ve seen several times already this night, analyzing the WWE’s motives is a lost cause.
I really need to stop sidetracking this thing. Let’s get on to the match.
Two of FCW’s standout Divas, Mia Mancini and AJ Lee locked horns on the company’s television series over a month ago — footage of which is now online. As well documented, both have previous wrestling experience; Mancini is particularly known for her work in SHIMMER while Lee has worked for WSU. On paper, this match … Read more