We’re debuting a new format for our Eye Candy posts – complete with more detailed critiques and “graded” categories. View the photoshoot we’ve “hung” on our wall, read our critique, vote, and last but not least – sound off in the comments!
The Look: Alicia’s sporting her ring gear – a bright blue concoction reminiscent of Melina‘s gear in the design. In that respect, it’s not all that remarkable – couldn’t she have come up with a more unique design? I know there’s only so many variations the girls can come up with that’ll work in the ring, but for a girl that has such a unique look on her own (fabuloussss hair), surely she can cook up something equally as eye-catching. That said, she looks quite good in it. Her makeup is flawless. Can I say again how much I love her hair? In a sea of blondes and brunettes with pin-straight hair, it’s refreshing to see a girl go balls-out with her hairdo. Grade: B+
The Poses: She’s got the attitude down pat – the face, the hands, the “don’t mess with me” stance. It’s a far cry from the peace signs and grins of her earlier shoots. I love that she’s incorporating a lot of her character into the poses, and makes you believe that she’s, if I could borrow a common internet phrase, “serious business”. Grade: A
Uniqueness: I’ve always liked photoshoots with girl in their ring gear – it allows you to get a better look at their “signature look” and persona, as well as showcasing the hard work that’s obviously put into some of these tights. That said, there’s nothing terribly unique about them, but in Alicia’s case she’s truly putting on the air of her character, getting comfortable in her new persona. She seems to have a handle on her gimmick, and this type of focus is pretty unique, I’d say. Grade: B+
Overall: I’ve said it plenty of times, but I really like the ring gear photoshoots, so that alone makes this shoot interesting to me. Alicia doesn’t let me down either as her hair, makeup and poses all pull her persona together and package it up nicely, making for a dynamite shoot. Grade: A
Diva Dirt is dusting off an old classic, which just so happens to dust off old classics itself. Welcome back to YouTube Classics! Everyday (read: whenever we feel like it) we’ll be posting a classic Divas match/segment/moment from our trusty friend, YouTube!
I thought I’d share with you, what is probably one of my favourite matches of the past few years — Kelly vs Natalya.
We’re debuting a new format for our Eye Candy posts – complete with more detailed critiques and “graded” categories. View the photoshoot we’ve “hung” on our wall, read our critique, vote, and last but not least – sound off in the comments!
The Look: Maria’s keeping a dark leather theme with biker gloves, a vest, a bra top, and shoes. , The gloves, vest, and shoes are all studded, lending to the “tough as nails” motif, which I don’t exactly love, but at least it pulls itself together well. The skirt is the weak point, in my opinion, looking like a leftover from one of the “Santa’s Little Helpers” matcheshttp://www.diva-dirt.com/wp-admin/post-new.php from back in December. Maybe if she lost the white poofy trim, it’d fit a bit better with the biker look she’s got going. The intense accessories don’t overwhelm her like you’d think they would, and add some glam to an otherwise dark look. I love her hair, both in the color and cut – it’s simple and straight, but looks so sleek. Grade: B+
The Poses: The usual Maria fare, intense eyes, pouty lips, are on display, as well as some serious vogueing. I haven’t seen that much face-framing since Madonna made it famous. It all seems a little over-the-top and put on, especially when she’s giving you death glares in nearly every photo. Still, I can’t hate her for experimenting and mixing up poses – not one looks alike, and I dig that. Grade: B-
Uniqueness: Evey time Maria concocts an outfit, you know it’s going to be something memorable. Usually it’s not for all good reasons, as she’s got a style I just haven’t developed a taste for yet, but there’s never a dull moment. This shoot isn’t incredibly groundbreaking, though, as every diva has tried the “leader and studs” look one time or another. That’s not to say she looks bad, it’s just not all that unique. Grade: B
Overall: I don’t think it’s a secret that we at Diva Dirt aren’t the biggest fans of Maria’s style, but this particular shoot isn’t all that bad. She keeps her usual flare for the dramatic, but keeps it somewhat simple, if they ever is such a thing as “simple” with Maria. Overall, it’s a so-so, shoot – don’t love it, don’t hate it. As the French say, “comme ci, comme ça”. Grade: B
Last night (as you’ve all probably seen), I was sure that Kelly Kellywould leave Raw as the new Divas Champion. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the feeling but it just felt like it would happen. For some fans, they’ll be relieved to know that my hunch didn’t come true — as Maryseis still your Divas Champion, but for others the change was a welcome one and were left disappointed.
If I’m really honest, the feeling I got last night that we’d have a new champion actually made me realise something: I am so ready for a new Divas Champion. I think Maryse has run her course as the champion and it’s time for some new blood holding that belt. But that’s a story for another time…
This match was a rematch from two weeks ago on Raw, when Kelly picked up a DQ win over Maryse. And compared to that match, this was pretty much of the same. The in-ring work didn’t set the world alight, there weren’t too many memorable spots. In hindsight, the match itself is a blur in my mind. It’s a good thing that I always re-watch the matches a couple of times when writing the Redux, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about this match…
It looks as though the Raw writers have finally stopped being so bipolar and decided the feud they want to book: Maryse vs Mickie, as Mickie joined commentary for this match eyeing up the competition. This sort of stop-start booking harkens back to this time last year, with the ‘Will they? Won’t they?’ feud between Mickie and Katie Lea.
Maryse starts off showing some aggression, but instead of following up her first move with another she decides to do her usual narcissistic shtick. Things start to unravel as both Divas lock up and then for some reason, roll around the ring for a while… I don’t know what’s going on here. Kelly then takes the lead but they both get knocked out by a double clothesline, so far so slow. Maryse hits a very nice spinning backbreaker, as things begin to pick up from here. Kelly does a flip into a roll up from the corner and then takes control of the match some more. Kelly goes up top, but Maryse chops her leg and throws her off the turnbuckle in botchy fashion and hits her patented French Kiss far too close to the ropes for the win.
Post-match, we realise that poor Kelly has been just a pawn and her false push to the Divas Championship is meaningless. Maryse and Mickie staredown and dun dun dun, we’re back to pushing these two. I don’t exactly know what they’re building to considering WWE doesn’t book Divas on pay per view anymore.
Diva Dirt is dusting off an old classic, which just so happens to dust off old classics itself. Welcome back to YouTube Classics! Everyday (read: whenever we feel like it) we’ll be posting a classic Divas match/segment/moment from our trusty friend, YouTube!
Today we have a video that I happened to stumble upon, between two Divas I didn’t know had even wrestled each other before but the evidence is below! It’s Candice vs Lita:
As you’ve probably just seen on Raw, Vickie Guerrero has quit her position as Raw GM. However, behind the scenes it has emerged that she has genuinely quit her position at WWE, recently handing in her notice.
Vickie joined the WWE full time in 2006 after the death of her husband, Eddie. At the time, she was hired as a way of giving her and her two girls an income given Eddie’s sudden death. Over the years, she’s grown into one of the company’s best heels, coining the catcphrase “Excuse me!”
No word on when Vickie will make her final appearance, it may or may not have been tonight on Raw.
Our best wishes to Vickie, she really has become a legend in her own right over the past few years!
I am going to go out on a limb here and predict by the night’s end, we will have a new Divas Champion. I can’t really explain why, but just call it a hunch, I guess…
Tonight on Raw, Kelly Kelly will face Marysein a rematch from two weeks ago.
If you’re watching, use this post to leave your comments as it happens. Unfortunately, I won’t be tweeting Raw as I’ll be busy following Torrie Wilson on “I’m a Celebrity (8pm on NBC).
EDIT: Okay, so I guess my judgement ain’t what it used to be =P
We’re debuting a new format for our Eye Candy posts – complete with more detailed critiques and “graded” categories. View the photoshoot we’ve “hung” on our wall, read our critique, vote, and last but not least – sound off in the comments!
The Look: The thought of a high-waisted overalls-esque look makes me cringe, but Melina absolutely makes it work. She manages to keep it from looking all costume-y, and the heels and red top compliment it quite well. The little accents and twists in her hair are cute and give it that extra oomph. While you don’t really see the correlation between her wearing this outfit and standing on the side of the road, it certainly looks good. Grade: A
The Poses: Melina uses her environment to her advantage, posing against the road barrier, ON the road barrier, and against a chain link fence. She certainly mixes it up from her body position, using the locale, and even her facial expressions. She’s not sticking to the “smile or pout” ultimatum some Divas seem to relegate themselves to. She does all of this pretty well, considering the fact that she probably had car after car buzzing by a few feet away. Grade: A
Uniqueness: I’ve gotta say, I probably wouldn’t think of using the side of the highway as a photoshoot location. It’s certainly versatile and makes for some unpredictable shots. A Diva lounging on a concrete road barrier while cars buzz past behind her isn’t something you see every day. And even though they obviously chose to avoid rush hour when shooting, this brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “traffic-stopping”. Grade: A
Overall: This shoot brings all the good variables together: she’s got a different look that catches your eye but isn’t ticky-tacky, she uses her surroundings to create great poses, and the locale makes the shoot unique in the effort you knew it took to put it together. Grade: A
It’s here, it’s finally here! Welcome folks, this is it – the launch of 50 Sexiest Divas 2009. Last year, nearly 1000 votes were cast and you crowned Melinaas the Sexiest Diva of 2008! Can the Women’s Champion successfully defend her crown this summer or will we have a new Sexiest Diva for 2009? The competition starts here and continues all summer long!
HOW IT WORKS: This year, the format is a little different. We have collated a list of 100 women from around North America, past and present. From WWE to TNA to SHIMMER, we’ve got them all! Those 100 women have been randomly put into five groups (Groups A-E), with 20 Divas in each group. Every week through the month of June, we will give you a chance to vote for your favourite Diva or Divas in each group. From each group, the 10 Divas with the most votes will secure a place in the top 50, and the 10 with the least votes will be cut. Once you have voted for every group, we will have the 50 Divas who will make up the ‘Sexiest’ list for 2009… but it doesn’t stop there! You will then vote for your favourite Diva or Divas in the top 50 to secure their place in the chart. This is when you’ll decide who is #1 all the way up to #50.
Last week, we posted the first 20 women for you to vote from and you voted in your masses! The votes for the first week of this year’s contest have already matched the entire contest last year! Nearly 1000 votes were cast last week, so thanks to everyone who voted. But there’s still more work to be done! This week, it’s Group B…
While the results from the Dark Match at Extreme Rules were posted earlier, I figured I’d give a more in-depth look at the matchup where Beth Phoenixand her intern Rosa Mendestook on Kelly Kellyand Mickie James. The quote I sent to Steven for the previous post was a pretty frantic text message as it was fairly hard to take pictures, record the matchup on video and text all at the same time while making sure I gave Diva Dirt the exclusive results coverage of the match as quickly as my fingers could type, not to mention that moron who spilled his beer on my newly purchased Extreme Rules t-shirt. I was extremely glad the Divas did get a matchup because frankly I was a little upset I paid close to $100 just to see that Hog Pen Match. So here’s my own coverage of Extreme Rules, live from New Orleans, Louisiana, where yours truly got to experience a great event and was in attendance for one of the best PPV’s of the year.
At the very beginning, the matchup was actually pretty confusing. Tony Chimel was the ring announcer for the match, but right before he came into the ring, Lilian Garcia told us we were going to have a special dark match. Once Tony got in the ring, he simply announced the Divas coming to the ring. Rosa’s name wasn’t mentioned in the introduction either. Nobody knew it was even a tag match since we just thought Rosa was coming with Beth to the ring. Kelly Kelly and Mickie James were just introduced as individuals, so we didn’t catch on to it being a tag team match until it actually began. While entering the ring, Beth started doing a wrong pose, which I thought was pretty funny. She started raising her right hand alone and then midway realized she wasn’t supposed to do that and stopped the pose, then raised both her hands in the typical Glamazon stance.
Once the Divas began coming to the ring, my natural instinct was to record the match for everyone here at Diva Dirt to witness. However, about two minutes into the actual match, security caught me recording and came over to me and asked me to stop filming or else my camera would get confiscated. So while I will be getting the video up for you all shortly, it will only take you through the entrances and midway through the match. And yes, I was talking for part of the video so you’ll enjoy that too.
The match began with Kelly Kelly and Rosa Mendes squaring off in the ring. Rosa got the upper hand first, locking in an armbar and twisting Kelly’s arm over and over again. Kelly reversed the armbar into a quick 1-count rollup on Rosa, followed up with a jumping clothesline and a tag to Mickie James. Mickie did a really interesting move where she lifted Kelly up into a modified Glam-Slam and dropped her down on top of Rosa. Mickie locked in some more offense before Rosa countered and put Mickie into another armbar and dragged her over to make the tag to Beth Phoenix, who had been screaming at Rosa the entire time. Beth was really on top of her game tonight and she entered the ring into a stare-down with Mickie before the two started throwing each other around. Beth had most of the offense here on Mickie and Rosa came in for some double teaming on Mickie while the referee was distracted with Kelly. Mickie hit her Lou Thesz press on Beth, then Beth grabbed Mickie and did a huge slam on Mickie which got a huge reaction out of the crowd. Beth tagged Rosa back in and Rosa basically got beaten up by Mickie. Beth was going nuts on the apron stomping and screaming at Rosa while her hair was flying everywhere. I was extremely impressed by Beth in this showing.
Mickie brought Rosa over to her corner and got a tag in to Kelly who came in with a Sunset Flip for a 2 count on Rosa. Kelly then got pushed on to the mat by Rosa and Rosa delivered some big punches to Kelly’s face. Kelly countered Rosa’s Irish Whip in to the corner and did her usual “COME ON!” chant to the crowd, who responded nicely to it while she did her back handspring elbow. Kelly tagged in Mickie who put Rosa in the opposite corner and delivered her twisting leg scissors to Rosa. This brought Beth in who tried to attack Mickie but was tackled and taken out the ring by Kelly. Mickie hit her Mickie-DDT onto Rosa and scored the pinfall.
Diva Dirt’s very own Hassan is live at Extreme Rules at New Orleans, LA. While the Divas don’t have a spot on the PPV card for the second month in a row, they were in action in a dark match:
Welcome to the Perfect 10! Following a week of rough-and-tumble Diva and Knockout action, where do our ladies rank? Who scored an impressive victory? Who faltered in the ring? Were championships decided? The Perfect 10 ranks the ten best Diva performances for the week! Check back every Sunday for a new countdown!
THIS
WEEK
MOVEMENT
DIVA
LAST
WEEK
TARA
The incoming former Victoria has made quite an impact on the Knockouts division and is already the #1 Contender. She skyrockets to #1 on our chart too.
MICHELLE MCCOOL
Michelle McCool has her eyes set on the Women’s Champion, Melina and did a great job of distracting her to a loss on Friday night.
MARYSE
Maryse has finally scored a victory on her new home of Monday Night Raw. The Divas Champion has two rivals hot on her trail, Mickie and Kelly.
LAYLA
Layla picked up the biggest win of her entire WWE career, with a victory over Women’s Champion, Melina.
ALICIA FOX
Michelle’s protege was on the right side of the action this week, as the fledgling Diva teamed with McCool and Layla in a winning performance.
DAFFNEY
Knockout Daffney picked up quite the victory, over former Knockouts Champion, Taylor Wilde on Impact.
MELINA
Not a great win for the Women’s Champion, after a few weeks of wins on SmackDown she was finally pinned by Layla this week.
GAIL KIM
Gail Kim returned to SmackDown this week, though on the losing team, she showed just why she’s one of WWE’s best.
MICKIE JAMES
Following a hot win the previous week, it wasn’t a great one for Mickie this week as she and Kelly lost to Maryse and Beth Phoenix.
KELLY KELLY
From the mighty high of #1 Contender to a pin fall loss to Maryse, it hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for Kelly. But will she get her hands on Maryse eventually?
Welcome to Diva Dirt’s new feature – The Weekly Roundup, a look at the week in television! From Raw, SmackDown, ECW and TNA too, we look back at the week’s highs and lows as well as giving you the opportunity to catch up on what you’ve missed!
MAY 30th – JUNE 5th, 2009
This week has seen some solid TV efforts from WWE, an okay week for TNA and the emergence of women’s wrestling on ROH. This week saw the first time in history that Diva Dirt has covered ROH on HDNet & we’re very happy that we did…
Best Bet: My highlight of the week came from ROH, as it incorporated sister promotion, SHIMMER into it’s broadcast. I have to be honest and say I haven’t really seen much of SHIMMER or any of these girls before but I was thoroughly impressed by the triple threat match on HDNet last Saturday. If you haven’t yet seen it, check it out after the cut – it’s well worth it. I hope ROH does more “SHIMMER Lite” segments in future. (PS: I’m already preferring ROH’s production style to TNA’s rollercoaster sickness style on Impact).
Honourable Mention: Like last week, SmackDown gives us our honourable mention of the week with an outstanding six Divas tag team match.
Low Point: I felt this week’s Impact didn’t see a strong enough followup to last week’s fantastic debut of the former Victoria. Not only has she been renamed ‘Tara‘, but she’s also stuck in a one minute segment from a two hour broadcast. Not a good followup at all.
Check out all of this week’s videos after the cut:
Last month, we set a task to all the talented video makers out there to create music videos to help us promote our second annual 50 Sexiest Divas competition, which kicks off today. Throughout the month, we’ll be highlighting all of the fantastic videos and at the end of the month, you the Diva Dirt readers will vote for your favourite. The creator of the winning video will win a $50 gift voucher to Highspots.com!
Here is our second entry created by Tunccy to one of my favourite songs right, “Let’s Get Excited” by the British songstress, Alesha Dixon.
Another pay per view, another Diva diss tomorrow night. A shame considering last year’s event gave us our 2008 Match of the Year. However we’re getting hypothetical with this pay per view, Extreme Rules, by asking you what match you would like to see at tomorow night’s event.
We’ve tried to come up with some creative ‘extreme rules’ matches that WWE could give us:
The Internet is buzzing about a dark match that took place during the three-day Impact tapings last week. The match saw former Knockouts Champion, Awesome Kong face her manager,Raisha Saeed who wrestled under her other gimmick, Cheerleader Melissa. Read the report below:
People were raving about the Melissa Anderson vs. Awesome Kong match that took place as a dark match at the last set of iMPACT tapings. Anderson is better known as Cheerleader Melissa or Raisha Saeed. The match was said to have blown everyone away.
It doesn’t look like she will be using the Cheerleader Melissa name and might be going with Melissa “Future Legend” Anderson if they decide to change her gimmick, a title that was given to her years ago at the Cauliflower Alley Club. There are no plans right now to use her on television without the Raisha Saeed gimmick.
The match was so good that when it was over, Raven remarked that it was the best women’s wrestling match he had seen in ten years. For what it’s worth, Raven isn’t known for being generous like that when it comes to complimenting someone’s work. Word is that if it was compared to the Kong vs. Gail Kim matches of 2008, this match was more believable but Kong vs. Kim was more spectacular.
It’s stories like this that give me some hope in TNA, something I lost in mid-2008. Looking at the great roster of females the company has right now, I think they could hit their stride again this summer. With fantastic workers including the former Victoria and Sarah Stock combined with some of the Knockouts already on the roster, you have a lot of things you could explore.
The problem however is, you don’t really know who’s coming or going in TNA. Knockouts appear so infrequently or just disappear altogether, that you don’t know who’s doing what and you don’t know who is heel or babyface. They need to clearly identify their top babyface – and they seem to be doing that with Victoria – and they need to identify who comes under her. Then identify your top heel, and who comes under her.
If I look at the roster, it seems there’s an uneven ratio of faces to heels. Fix it! If I had to re-order the roster, you’d have Victoria as the top babyface and under her would be Taylor Wilde, ODB and Sojo. Then on the heel side, you have the Beautiful People led by the Knockouts Champion, Angelina Love. Under them, you could have Daffney and introduce Sarah Stock and Ayako Hamada as heels. I think Hamada could help fill that aggressive, no-nonsense heel spot that has been left behind by the Knockout I’m about to mention.
The interesting thing about the Knockouts division is Awesome Kong, who is no longer a heel nor a babyface, but a tweener. You could use her where you see fit. She is an incredible star and she doesn’t need to be defined as ‘face’ or ‘heel’ given the way TNA has built her up. She could feud with Angelina one month and then feud with Victoria another.
This week’s SmackDown saw the next logical step given the way storylines have unfolded for the brand’s Divas. Gail Kim and Michelle McCool hate each other, then Michelle enlistedAlicia Fox. Gail Kim and Alicia Fox hate each other. Then Melinacame along and brought her shiny Women’s Championship to SmackDown and this distracted Gail and Michelle. They then fought for the #1 Contendership, which Michelle won. So now, Melina and Michelle hate each other and by proxy, Alicia and Melina hate each other. All the while, we have another Divas feud betweenEve Torres and Layla. So it was only a matter of time before we got all six in the ring at the same time! Watch below:
MELINA, GAIL, & EVE VS. MICHELLE, ALICIA & LAYLA (GUEST REF. MARIA)
And just for added measure, it looks like the SmackDown writers took pity on Maria – who doesn’t have (and frankly doesn’t deserve) a storyline – and decided to make her a referee for the night. Speaking of Maria, I keep meaning to write an indepth blog about what’s next for her in WWE, but the subject-matter isn’t much of a motivator. So you guys are going to have to motivate me. Is that a blog you want to see or not? If not, I won’t bother!
And if you had to look any further as to why Maria isn’t much of a motivator for me, look no further than this week’s SmackDown. Her spastic wardrobe continues to give me headaches everytime I see her on TV and this week was no different. I can’t begin to explain what she was thinking. I don’t know how any woman could dress like that, look in the mirror and think, “Damn, I look great.”
Speaking of fashion faux pas’, did Layla preserve herself in ice between last week’s taping and this week’s? Because she looked the same, head to toe. Usually, I wouldn’t mind if she dusted off one of her hot outfits twice in a row, but her look over the past couple of weeks has been less Layla and more Maria. Being in a lockerroom with Maria must be having a negative impact on her! Please straighten your hair and dust off the hot leather leggings.
Anyway onto this week’s action, I have to start off by saying it’s great to see Gail Kim back on SmackDown after a one week absence. I personally noticed her absence last week, perhaps because I unashamedly mark for Gail. And her work in this match proved just why fans should miss her when she’s away.
Looking at the match from top-to-bottom; we kick off with with rookies Eve Torres and Alicia Fox, and from the outset Alicia proves just what a head-start she has over Divas who have been on the main roster for longer than her by taking the lead. I really can’t fault this girl’s work ethic, she is already better than many of the Divas, I would argue she’s better than a certain Divas Champion too. Eve, who hasn’t really impressed me in the ring, shows some nice athleticism with a cartwheel into a chop-block, taking down Alicia. Eve retreats to her corner and tags in the lovely Gail Kim and things pick up from here, Gail and Alicia have a fast paced style, with Alicia being hurled into the corner but managing to counter and giving an arrogant reaction to the fans. Nice heel tactic there. Gail hits a really nice hurricanrana, then does her patented cross body through the middle rope and then takes to the top for another one.
Michelle tags herself in and immediately lays into Gail rather viciously. Things go a little topsy-turvy here, Gail goes for a hurricanrana but Michelle manages to grab her and powerbombs her into the rope and then it’s time for our “Gail Kim Bump of the Week”, with that sick over-head flapjack. Yizouch! Michelle picks apart Gail some more before tagging out to Layla, two of my favourite Divas in the ring now – Layla takes a lead over Gail and actually shows some decent mat skills. I think working more often with this group of Divas and Layla could become an extremely strong performer and give Alicia a run for her money. Layla hits a dropkick and Gail sells every move perfectly, Gail drop-toe-holds Layla into the middle turnbuck and hurls for a tag to the Women’s Champion, Melina.
The pace is about to pick up as Melina hits a well rehearsed chorus of moves and really riles up the crowd. The ‘Matrish’ into an overhead kick, showing her amazing flexibility. Then comes the knee smash in the corner, followed by the hair-drag smash and Layla looks to be done but somehow manages to kick out.
The end is nigh, as Alicia interferes and all hell breaks loose. On the outside, Eve clotheslines Alicia while on the ring apron, #1 Contender Michelle hits a big boot over the top rope on the Women’s Champ. This is enough to put out Melina, as the legal woman, Layla hits her ‘Layout’ for the win.
The end of this match caused a lot of mixed opinions in the spoilers post earlier this week, but given the context, I think it worked. Sure Layla has pinned the Women’s Champion, but it doesn’t derive from the fact that Michelle had a helping hand and will only further fuel their feud. But this is also a fantastic win for Layla, the biggest of her career thus far.
I would say this match could rival the show-stopping tag team match between Melina/Gail and Alicia/Michelle a few weeks back. Definitely a strong showing for SmackDown.
We’re debuting a new format for our Eye Candy posts – complete with more detailed critiques and “graded” categories. View the photoshoot we’ve “hung” on our wall, read our critique, vote, and last but not least – sound off in the comments!
The Look: Gail’s dress is a sight to behold – see-through and tiger-striped. Given that description, you’d think this look would be something to gawk at. Truth is, Gail looks fantastic and balances out the craziness of the dress with sleek nude heels. Her hair is sexy and voluminous, and her makeup echoes the sheen of the dress, complimenting it perfectly. She seems to know that the dress is eye-grabbing enough and lets it do the talking, as she should – it’s the star of the show! Gail’s so tiny that a look like this works. On a taller Diva is probably wouldn’t – not to mention the hem would probably hit at their belly button. Grade: A
The Poses: The poses are pretty “meh”. She seems to be just alternating “hands on hips” poses with “hand in hair” poses. Your smile is gorgeous, Gail, but we want to see something more! Mix up your poses while you’re at it, girl. Though, it’s probably tough to move around much in a dress that short.. Grade: B-
Uniqueness: The poses are nothing to write home about, so the real unique element of this shoot is the dress – I think it’s unique that a Diva can wear a glorified slip and not look like an outright floozy. In fact, Gail almost makes it cutesy. That’s probably not what she was going for, but it gets her some points in the ‘unique’ department. Grade: B-
Overall: It all comes down to the look, and she rocks it. It holds up the other lackluster elements of the shoot, because quite frankly I can look past the “meh” posing and say that absolutely love this photoshoot. Grade: A
While all us Diva and Knockout fans may be all about Victoria‘s (I don’t care what TNA says, I’m NOT calling her Tara) debut, but there’s one person who may not be too crazy to see her in TNA. Sarah Stock.
According to online reports, Victoria’s sudden appearing has effectively bumped Sarah (or Sarita) from the top babyface spot she was slated to have. Sarah was backstage at last week’s triple iMPACT! tapings, filming some vignettes, but wasn’t used on the show. At this point, it is unknown when Sarah will finally debut.
I gotta say I’m pretty upset about this. I’ve been big Sarah Stock Fan since I seen her in SHIMMER, and was hoping to see her do big things in TNA. That being said, her debut at this point would be overshadowed by Victoria, dropping her head first into Sojo/Madison Rayne territory. Maybe she’ll luck out (a la Alicia Fox) and be paired with Victoria to battle The Beautiful People. We can all agree she could use some backup to keep them off her back.
I know that we don’t usually cover Ring Of Honor on Diva Dirt, but they’ve thrown us a curveball in the form of a triple threat match. Watch below as SHIMMER Stars Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze take on SHIMMER Champion MsChif in a 3-way match:
ROH/SHIMMER 3-WAY
Steven’s Thoughts:
If you aren’t a SHIMMER fan yet, this should definitely make you a convert. From bell to bell the match was action packed. Del Rey started thing off taking out Haze and MsChif, but MsChif got back in control quickly with a gorgeous standing moonsault. The ending saw MsChif take a page out of Tajiri’s book, hitting Haze with the Green Mist and finished her off with her cradle DDT dubbed The Desecrator.
My favorite thing about this match was how they played up the fact that there were three women in the ring. Often in WWE, Triple Threat matches play out like several small one on one matches. Rarely do you see all three competitors involved at the same time. Here there was rarely an instance where all three girls weren’t involved.
Coolest spot in the match goes to MsChif. Locking in the hurricanrana armbar, then avoiding the reversal by switching to the opposite side. Genius! Why more of these girls are not a part of mainstream promotions is beyond me. Maybe WWE needs to send a few scouts to SHIMMER, or at least make it a training camp.
What did guys think of the match? Sound off in the comments!
It’s week two for new Knockout, Tara aka Victoria. She’s the Knockout that’s got us watching & discussing! As with last week, share your thoughts on this week’s Impact right here.
We’ll be tweeting through tonight’s show, as soon as the Knockouts action begins. You can catch our updates at twitter.com/divadirt or in the widget to the right of your screen.
Get discussing!
EDIT: Just revealed, Tara vs Angelina Love for the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary.
And yes, that name sounds even dumber when they say it on TV. TNA = dumbasses.
We’re debuting a new format for our Eye Candy posts – complete with more detailed critiques and “graded” categories. View the photoshoot we’ve “hung” on our wall, read our critique, vote, and last but not least – sound off in the comments!
The Look: Rosa keeps with the tropical colors, sporting a bright orange top and white shorts over a similarly-hued bikini. Paired with some statement earrings and some serious heels, she is clearly looking to stand out – and she certainly achieves that. The colors work well with her complexion, whereas they probably wouldn’t on someone a bit paler. The outfit would look a little trashy in a more conventional setting, but poolside it’s perfect. Grade: A-
The Poses: An unbuttoned shirt compliments her relaxed poses – she doesn’t have to “sex it up” for the photos, as the look is already doing it for her. The photos look so natural it almost looks as if she if we accidently came across her lounging poolside and broke out the camera. Grade: A
Uniqueness: Several other Diva are probably going to end up with Mexico photoshoots, so this doesn’t appear as unique as Mickie’s did yesterday when she was the only one. Still, it’s nice to see Rosa in a more relaxed look and setting. Grade: B-
Overall: Rosa still has her signature flashy style, but implements it in a way that suits the shoot. She poses naturally and looks right at home in the steamy setting. Seeing this makes me wonder what she could have done on one of the old, classic Diva bikini photoshoots. Desert Heat photoshoot, anyone? Grade: A
For Candice fans and I guess, Diva fans in general, that gaudy, horrible techno mix of Candice‘s theme music is definitely embedded in your brains (unfortunately). One of the lines is “All eyes on me.” Well, with the former Women’s Champion’s pending return to the WWE – all eyes are literally on her and not in a good way.
Our partners at the Wrestling Globe Newsletter have the scoop (PS you can subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to [email protected]):
Candice Michelle said that she expects to return to the ring next month. There is a ton of heat on her right now similar to which just caused Vince to fire Kennedy; the perception that she is always injured and a lousy worker. One source told us: “She doesn’t exactly help her cause when she’s running around in LA hanging out at bars and going to Dodger games… What happened to rehab and getting back in shape? There are guys on our roster with far worse injuries sucking it up and still coming to work.” On the flipside, one of her biggest supporters in WWE is said to be Stephanie McMahon.
If WWE can cut one of their top Superstars in Kennedy, I fully expect that they are willing to drop Candice. Her comeback is make or break, if she looks bad in the ring, if she messes up – she’s gone. WWE management will likely scrutinise her every move and rightfully so. She’s an average worker and she’s injury prone. In these tough economic times, WWE cannot afford to waste a paycheck on someone who can’t do their job.
Cut-throat, I know, but she’s had plenty of opportunities and my key gripe (regardless of how much I dislike her) is the fact that she can’t stay healthy. Next time, WWE should just cut her.
Shit! Just as we thought we were out of the woods! TNA’s official website has a revised preview of tonight’s Impact and a new graphic to boot (see above) – where they refer to the Diva formerly known as Victoria, as Tara.
In all earlier references, they had referred to her as ‘Lisa Marie’, which appeased us fans but it looks like they’ve gone ahead and jumped on the ‘Tara’ bandwagon anyway. A big step back, if you ask me.
‘Lisa Marie’ works just fine and it’s much better than bland, boring ‘Tara’. The reason behind the name switch is because like WWE before them, TNA wants to have full copyright ownership of the ringname Lisa uses in TNA so if she were to leave, she wouldn’t be able to piggyback on the back of the name. In a report earlier this week, one wrestling news site suggested that Lisa isn’t the caliber of ‘top stars’ like Kurt Angle or Bobby Lashley, who were allowed to retain their real names.
Funny that considering the Knockouts segment last week, which featured Lisa, was the highest rated portion of last week’s Impact. Furthermore, Shane Douglas – a barely there midcarder for TNA and WCW – is back under his real name, if I had to argue, I’d say Lisa is a far bigger star than the now fat Douglas, who made his return last week too.
It just goes to show that TNA is no better than WWE and doesn’t consider women’s wrestling a draw. While WWE’s ratings do show that male stars outdraw the female ones, in TNA it’s the other way around. If TV ratings counted – and they should – the Knockouts of TNA should be treated like stars over the men. But alas, wrestling is a “men’s sport” and there will always be unfair prejudice against women in it.
TNA had the opportunity to prove they take women’s wrestling seriously. They could have really pushed Lisa, who is without a doubt a hot commodity – male or female – and make her their top babyface under her real name, giving her the same ‘star treatment’ as Angle, Lashley and Douglas. Instead they prove that they are no better than WWE and consider Lisa ‘just another Knockout’ by opting to change her name.
As you’ve probably just seen on Raw, 
DAFFNEY
MELINA
