Diva Dirt reader Kristy sent in her own account of the action from last night’s SmackDown taping. The show airs on Friday. Click the ‘+’ to read:
Thoughts after the cut:
Diva Dirt Team Changes & Contribution Opportunities
Over the past couple of weeks, we have gotten more e-mails than ever from people wanting to be part of the Diva Dirt team or contribute to the site in some way. We are pleased to announce that we now have some opportunities available!
TNA correspondent
First of all, it’s with sadness we announce that Tiffany has decided to leave the Diva Dirt team. Tiffany has not only been a valuable member of our team but become such a close friend to all of us, we want to take this time to thank her for everything she has contributed and hope that she will return one day, the door is left firmly open for her.
With that we announce that the spot of TNA correspondent and a position on the Diva Dirt team is now available. This position will include posting relevant news regarding the TNA Knockouts, contributing other features, writing the weekly Impact review column in the style of the Raw and SmackDown Redux, writing a monthly pay per view review column and taking part in audio shows.
We ask that you be: fluent in writing English, have good humour and personality in your writing, have some use of HTML and WordPress, are able to use Photoshop and have knowledge in recording and editing audio. We also request you are able to use Skype and keep in contact by e-mail, instant messenger and cell phone. You will also have the opportunity to conduct interviews. Please note that we do ask for a considerable amount of time each week.
This position will provide excellent experience for future work in the field of journalism and particularly online journalism.
If you are interested, please e-mail us at [email protected] with the subject line ‘TNA correspondent’. In your e-mail include details about you [name, age, where you’re from, whether you study/work etc.], why you want to be part of the site, let us know how much time you can offer us and also please provide a sample of your written work — perhaps a sample Impact column.
Raw Redux (January 11th, 2010) – Split in Two
With two spots left in the semi-finals, the Raw Divas soldiered on with the Divas Championship tournament, competing in two matches. After last week’s two tournament openers (one on Raw, the other on Superstars), would the underwhelming feeling improve with this weeks bouts? Let’s see.. The first bout of the night featured Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox battling to go on to the next round:
Kelly makes her entrance, dressed in Maria’s leftover fabric scraps and shoes that are definitely not meant for athletic competition. You’re just asking for a sprained ankle with those skater shoes, girl.. Alicia follows, and the match starts with a rough tie-up. Kelly backs Alicia into the ropes, and the referee gets between them (literally) to break it up. Alicia takes this pause in the match to blast Kelly with a forearm, kneeing her and tossing her into the corner. She smashes her face into the turnbuckle a few times before hitting a snapmare.
Alicia keeps her grasp on Kelly’s hair, latching her into a sleeper hold. She makes a grab for her nose, wrenching Kelly’s face and switching the hold to the mat, keeping her locked in. Alicia shows some great aggression with this, the hold punctuated by Kelly’s screams. Kelly might overdo the screaming most of the time, but it’s moments like these that they’re effective. Kelly fights to get free, and Alicia moves back onto her knees, not letting go. Kelly eventually gets to her feet, punching Alicia in the stomach and freeing herself from the hold.
Still, Alicia reclaims control, irish-whipping Kelly into the corner. Kelly stops herself with the top turnbuckle, attempting a hurricanrana on Alicia, but she catches Kelly’s legs and tosses her over the ropes onto the ring apron. Alicia goes for the attack, but Kelly lands a forearm, grabbing her and pulling her over the ropes. Alicia lands on the outside, and Kelly hits a crossbody from the ring apron, then quickly tossing Alicia back into the ring. Kelly goes on her textbook offense (press the up arrow and triangle on PS3 to trigger it), punctuated by a long, twirly hurricanrana. She attempts a frankensteiner, but Alicia stops her momentum, turning it into a sick powerbomb, folding up Kelly into a pin. She gets the 3-count and advances in the tournament! She will face Maryse next week in the semi-finals.
Needless to say, I was extremely surprised to see Alicia win. I was pretty confident in the fact that the WWE wanted to push Kelly as the top babyface, given the great crowd reactions she gets and the fact that they use her in their marketing more than any other Diva. That’s not to say that I’m not happy with Alicia winning–I was rooting for her, in fact. I’m glad that she won, and I feel that she’s much more deserving of the Divas Championship than Kelly. It’s a little strange to think that, given how much longer Kelly’s been in the WWE. Most are aware that the girls were hired at the same time, though, and Alicia just spent her time training in the developmental system while Kelly did stripteases on ECW.
Former Diva Backstage at Raw
A former WWE Diva and Women’s Champion was present backstage at last night’s Raw in Minneapolis. Molly Holly, a Minnesota native, was visiting friends while the troupe were in town reports PWTorch. Molly has been on good terms with WWE since semi-retiring in 2005. She returned last year for the Miss WrestleMania battle royal at … Read more
In Video: First Commercial for Celebrity Apprentice Starring Maria
Check out the first commercial for NBC’s third season of Celebrity Apprentice which will star SmackDown’s Maria. Notice how she doesn’t even get to talk? You know who they consider the star power…
Divas Championship Tournament: Updated Brackets
For those keeping score at home, here are the updated brackets for the Divas Championship tournament based on tonight’s episode of Raw. Announced for next week is a semi-final match between Alicia Fox and Gail Kim.
Raw Response: January 11th, 2010
Tonight boxing legend Mike Tyson makes his return to the wrestling ring, serving as this week’s guest GM. Also, expect to see the Divas Championship tournament continue with another first round match. Discuss the show in the comments!
WWE Superstars Spoilers: January 14th, 2010
Check below for spoilers for Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars. Click the ‘+’ to read:
Thoughts after the cut:
FCW Watch: AJ Lee and Courtney Taylor vs Rosa Mendes and Naomi Night
The first FCW Diva match of 2010 has found it’s way onto Youtube. This match features rookie sensation AJ Lee teaming up with Courtney Taylor to take on the team of ECW Diva Rosa Mendes and the debuting Naomi Night. Check out the action below: skip to 3:30 I have to admit when I saw … Read more
Stacy ‘The Kat’ Carter Pitching Reality Show
What’s with the trend of Divas pitching reality shows? Last year we reported that an ensemble cast is pitching a Hills-like reality show, meanwhile TNA’s Tara is looking to get into the reality circuit too — and now the latest name to add to that list is former Women’s Champion The Kat, real name Stacy … Read more
Vince Russo Discusses Respect for Knockouts
TNA writer, Vince Russo has talked about his respect for the Knockouts division on his Facebook page. When asked whether we’d be seeing any ‘bra and panties’ matches in TNA, he writes: I don’t think you’ll be seeing any bras and panties matches–I respect our Knockouts way to much. But you will see other creative … Read more
Playing the Odds: The Divas Championship Tournament
Feeling lucky? In this new feature we’ve dubbed Playing the Odds, we will weigh the odds of certain Diva or Knockout events occurring, be it a championship win or heel turn.
We classify each like so: if the event’s occurrence is highly unlikely, it gets the Long Shot stamp; if it’s within the realm of possibility, it’s a Safe Bet; if it is extremely likely, it is a Sure Thing. Now, this does not mean everything we brand a Sure Thing is destined to happen–it just lines up with what we feel to be feasible from precedent or a person’s current position. Also, this is from our point of view, so don’t take this as fact or anything of the sort.
In this first edition, we will take a look at the ongoing Divas Championship Tournament, seeing which Raw Divas have the best shot at coming out on top. We may not be in Vegas, but we’re placing our bets anyways–take a look at ours and make a few of your own in the comments.
Alicia Fox
Odds: Safe Bet. Even though the WWE has been noticeably fickle about giving Alicia big pushes (they’re more of a “now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t” type thing), she is certainly a rising star in the company. They have felt comfortable giving her title shots before (twice, actually), and though her pushes were always short lived, they showed that she’s not destined to be merely a background player. Comparatively, a Diva such as Layla, who is still pretty much a background player, has never seen the kinds of pushes Alicia has been given. This makes us believe that Alicia might have better luck than her “replacement” (remember, Alicia was Michelle’s tag along first). This year could hold Alicia’s big breakout, and winning this tournament or even giving a good showing in it could effectively kick-start that. Though, as promising as her future looks, the WWE’s fickleness when it comes to her makes us hesitate to give her our full confidence in this tournament. It’s certainly possible that she could go all the way, but we’re not going to be betting the farm on it either.
Brie Bella
Odds: Long Shot. Yes, she’s already out of the tournament, which makes this sort of irrelevant, but when looking at it from an objective standpoint, pretending that the match had not taken place yet, it’s quite the long shot to picture Brie getting pushed all the way to the title. It’s not that we lack the faith in Brie having success on her own, but with the way the WWE books Brie and her sister–that is, extremely inconsistently–it’s tough to imagine the WWE giving either of them a title run. They seem to only use them in the ring when they need extra bodies. Otherwise, it’s escort duty fro the GM of the week. Bottom line, there’s just been no real investment made in the Bellas by the WWE. Until the WWE starts taking them seriously as competitors, they pose no real threat.
Read more to see how the other Raw Divas’ odds stack up.
In Pictures: Traci Brooks’ Wedding Featuring Knockouts and a Diva
Can you name the odd one out in this picture? Knockout Traci Brooks and wrestler Frankie Kazarian said their “I do’s” last week in the presence of several of their TNA family — but wait, who’s that? WWE Diva Gail Kim reunited with her former co-workers for the wedding and it looks as though she … Read more
WWE Offers Stacy Keibler Guest Host Gig
Remember that story last year about WWE shutting down Stacy Keibler when she offered her services to be a guest host on Raw? Looks like the ‘E has changed their tune. According to Keibler, WWE offered her the gig after her agent went back to them but a date couldn’t be hashed out. In an … Read more
Feature: Should TNA Create a Knockouts TV Series?
With a growing Knockouts division, two sets of titles and multiple storylines at the same time, a two-hour time slot shared with the men is beginning to become a little bit cramped. Thinking back to the early days of the Knockouts division in 2007, there is a reason why the feud between Awesome Kong and Gail Kim is so highly regarded — it had time to grow by receiving ample amounts of attention and spanned two pay per views. The feud and matches between the two helped put the Knockouts division on the map and showed the mass audience what women’s wrestling could be. Fast forward to present day and it seems to me that the feuds in the division are often half-baked and nothing more than a series of matches or run-ins or backstage attacks. Where’s the scripting and storyline gone? Should TNA just be given a pass because they have good matches?
With more Knockouts utilised than ever before, it’s a competition for screen time and usually the slots given to the women on Impact are fought over. Thus, a lot of the times you’ll see feuds rotate from week to week but this doesn’t seem to be working. Going back to that earlier example, Kim vs Kong, at the time it was the sole storyline for the Knockouts and was able to have consistent time and effort put into it. Perhaps today, the TNA writers are trying to do too much despite having too little time. Many times, feuds have just come out of no where and ended abruptly — Alissa Flash vs Hamada is one example. But even then, the bigger feuds such as Kong vs Tara if you think back, was nothing more than a series of run-ins and attacks with little explanation for the animosity between them, and no real dialogue or emotions being told in storyline.
The launch of a second set of titles means that the Knockouts are stretched pretty thin for the TV time and though they are made good use of on Impact, it just doesn’t seem to be doing them any favours in the long term.
With the Hulk Hogan era now underway, it seems the time devoted to the girls may decrease while the numbers within the division continue to expand as TNA is always on the lookout for new talent. Is it time for a Knockouts-only TV show?
Report: WWE Diva and Superstar Engaged
It’s being reported that WWE Diva and ECW General Manager, Tiffany and SmackDown’s Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre are engaged to be married. The report has surfaced from PWInsider though I’m not sure how accurate it is. The site reports that the pair will marry in May. Congratulations to the couple if true, I didn’t even … Read more
Perfect 10: Week of January 4th, 2010
The Perfect 10 counts down the ten Divas and Knockouts who have had the best week in television on Raw, SmackDown, ECW and TNA Impact. The Perfect 10 considers matches, promos, character development and more. Who’ll be #1 this week? THIS WEEK MOVEMENT DIVA LAST WEEK AWESOME KONG & HAMADA After a hard fought battle, … Read more
SmackDown Redux (January 8th, 2010) – Layla’s Time to Shine
She may not be the priority in the three-way feud between Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool and Mickie James but this week on SmackDown, Layla proved to be the dark horse in this storyline — the glue, if you will, that has held this feud together and that was never more apparent than it was on tonight’s show. Her fantastic acting, comedy chops and hard work in the ring have made her the perfect go-to girl for much of this feud. It’s not Michelle McCool that’s getting in the ring on a weekly basis and wrestling Mickie James and Beth Phoenix — it’s Layla. And if you ask me, it’s the teaming of Michelle and Layla that has helped the Women’s Champion break out of her box and show more charisma and personality than she has in the past several years. She may be treated like a jobber in WWE but watching her work this week, it became obvious to me that without her, this feud wouldn’t have worked half as well as it has and she deserves credit for it.
A few weeks ago, I likened the ongoing SmackDown storyline as a little bit like Lost — each week, the story seems to center around a certain character with the events unfolding from their point of view. We have had Mickie James and Beth Phoenix take starring roles in previous weeks and it seems this week was Layla’s turn.
It all begins backstage…
Once again we have a backstage segment with ‘Piggie James’ jokes, this time Team Lay-Cool unveil a pig trough for Mickie. Lame. Layla cutely gets some lettuce in her mouth with Michelle flicking it away. I’m particularly liking the underlying situation with Michelle and Layla with the latter playing the Gretchen Wieners to Michelle’s Regina George; Michelle, the leader of the group, kind of deflects everything onto Layla [“I think you annoyed her”]. It could play into an interesting feud should Michelle and Layla ever split up.
Next we have Beth vs Layla:
Beth makes her entrance first followed by a somewhat hesitant Layla, who by the way looks a lot like Halle Berry in Catwoman in that attire. Somewhat new fact about Layla — she’s Moroccan and fluent in Arabic, thanks Matt Striker! I love Layla selling her being afraid from the outset, wary of Beth Phoenix as she makes her entrance and does her signature pose on the ring ropes. All too often these girls have little psychology when it comes to stuff like that, they’ll come down to the ring all smiley-faced and happy as usual even though they have a big match ahead of them. Granted, this isn’t exactly a huge Michelle-Mickie type grudge match, but it’s nice to give that vibe of Layla being afraid of Beth and it paints Beth in a great light as well.
Even as the match is about to start, Layla tries to call out to Michelle on the outside of the ring to help her and begs Beth not to go through with the match. Nice touch. Layla extends her hand for a handshake but Beth grabs it and uses it to shoulder-block Lay to the canvas. Beth then hoists Layla over her shoulder, again Layla is screaming for her life in great comedic fashion. Beth circles the spot dizzying Layla before dropping her front-first.
Raw Redux Does WWE Superstars (Jan. 7th, 2010): Getting Out of the Gate
This past Monday saw the start of an 8-Diva tournament for the Divas Championship, with Maryse advancing into the second round. The tourny continued tonight on WWE Superstars, pitting Gail Kim against Jillian. Who will get one step closer to holding that butterly belt? Watch and see:
Jillian comes down to the ring, headset on. She says how excited she is about this tournament and that she has a good feeling about her chances to go all the way. This reminds her of that Black Eyed Peas song that’s overplayed on the radio to the point that it has surpassed the category of music and and has transformed into an acute form of torture–that song being “I’ve Got a Feeling”. She, of course, butchers it, and Gail’s entrance music eventually puts a stop to it. Kim makes her way to the ring and the match is on.
They start with a tie-up, Gail taking advantage and wrenching Jillian’s arm. Jillian escapes this by rolling forward and sweeping Gail’s legs. She goes for a pin, but Kim doesn’t even let the referee get a 1-count down. Jillian picks her up and holds her in a side headlock. Gail forces Jillian back into the ropes and shoves herself free, making her run the ropes.
On the return, Jillian shoulder-blocks Gail, but Gail grabs her feet before she can go anywhere, making her fall flat on her face. Gail bridges into a pin, but barely gets 2. Kim delivers a few blows to her face and goes for an irish whip that Jillian reverses. Gail ends up in the corner, but skirts through the ropes when Jillian charges toward her. Jillian blocks a punch and lands one of her own, then going for a shoulder blow to Gail’s midsection, but Kim hoists herself up, landing in a seated position on Jillian’s back. She heads to the top rope, hitting a lateral press on Jillian and going for the pin, getting a 2-count.
Jillian gets to her feet, only to be taken down again with a frankensteiner. She tries to regroup in the corner, dodging an attack by Gail and sending her flying through the ropes. Gail manages to hang on, though, and Jillian grabs her by the hair, knocking her head against the steel post and allowing her to fall to the outside.
Jillian spears Gail against the ring apron and tosses her into the ring, attempting an unorthodox pin that Kim kicks out of. She picks Gail up and slams her back down with a sidewalk slam, going for another pin that results in another kick-out. An irish whip into the corner sends Gail into the turnbuckle and down to the mat, as she’s unable to stay on her feet.
In Pictures: Official Cast Photos of Maria on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
Peep the first cast promo shot of our Maria on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. She sure looks contemplative! Really cute picture, Maria’s face is beautiful when she’s not trout-pouting.
Traci Brooks Married Today
TNA Knockout, Traci Brooks and fellow TNA star Frankie Kazarian [Suicide] got married today according to Christopher Daniels’ Twitter. A big congratulations to the happy couple! Click here to listen to our interview with Traci last year.
Ratings Drop for Knockouts on Monday Night
The Knockouts Tag Team Championship match on Monday night’s live episode of Impact saw a somewhat scary drop of viewers. The 9.15pm quarter, which the match was part of, lost 840,000 viewers though not necessarily to WWE’s Raw over on USA Network. The loss is the biggest drop for a segment in the company’s history. … Read more
Melina on John Morrison DVD
Now former Divas Champion, Melina will be one of the featured interviewees on John Morrison’s upcoming DVD release. As well documented, Melina has played an important role in Morrison’s career and personal life so it’s fitting to see her take part in his DVD. Maybe one day he can return the favour? Perhaps that’s wishful … Read more
Hamada Working with Sprained Ankle
One half of the newly crowned TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions, Hamada sprained her ankle during the Knockouts tag team match on Monday night. Hamada was noticeably limping around halfway through the match and it was also picked up by Taz on commentary. Being the incredible athlete that she is, Hamada worked through the rest … Read more
In Pictures: Angelina Love’s TNA Return Last Night
(IMAGE CREDIT: Angel-Williams.net) Former TNA Knockouts Champion, Angelina Love made her return to the company at last night’s Impact taping and pictures have now begun circulating. Angelina’s official fansite have posted some pretty non-spoiler candids of her first scenes back which you can check out by clicking here. Thanks to Suze for the tip! Love’s … Read more