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SmackDown Redux (November 20th, 2009): We’re Not in High School Anymore

This week’s edition of SmackDown moves away from the juvenile high school pranks of last week and if it’s even possible, regresses to kindergarten, sandbox-esque bullshit. I don’t enjoy seeing any Diva berated and being called ‘Piggy James’, whether it’s ‘acting’ or not. We all know that unlike real scripted television shows, there’s a fine … Read more

Report: WWE Losing Faith in Melina

A report in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter suggests that WWE officials are losing faith in Divas Champion, Melina since her move to Raw last month. It’s easy to see why, considering Melina hasn’t had great showings in the ring since moving to the red brand. Until her move on October 12th, … Read more

Burchills Moving to Raw?

Since losing their spot on ECW this past week, it looks like Katie Lea and Paul Burchill may be moving over to the Raw brand. A schedule for the upcoming Raw house show in Charlottesville, Virginia on November 29th lists Paul Burchill vs Evan Bourne as one of the matches on the card. However in … Read more

‘Piggy James’ Jokes: Scripted Bullying or Subtle Nod to Internet Gossip?

This week’s SmackDown spoilers have caused an uproar. Diva fans across the Internet, including in our comments section, have taken WWE to task over what they have read. All this before the show even airs tomorrow. Without giving too much away to the spoiler-phobes among us, tomorrow’s SmackDown will see the continued taunting of Mickie … Read more

The Art of the Diva Comeback

comebacks

Former Divas Champion, Maryse is set to return next Monday night in what will likely end up as one of the worst kept secrets in forever, but the real question is: How will WWE pull it off? The company hasn’t had a great track record with the ‘Diva comeback’. Most of them have been rather boring and as with most things Diva, probably took around 30 seconds to write.

There was a time when comebacks were genuinely exciting and perhaps the best example of this is Lita’s return in 2003, saving Trish Stratus from a beatdown at the hands of Gail Kim and Molly Holly:

Like her or loathe her, this return had all the ingredients of an epic comeback: an iconic Diva who’d been gone for more than a year, a Diva the fans actually cared about and JR screaming to the point of losing his voice added an authenticity to it that made it feel like a WrestleMania main event. Many a Diva fan can recall where they were when this went down or remember their reaction when they first saw it. No ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ or ‘maybes’, this was a storybook comeback — for any Superstar, let alone a Diva.

Fast forward five years and the Diva comeback has been relegated to nothing more than a random appearance mid-match. Here’s one of Candice’s many returns:

While Lita’s return may have been epic, this one was more “Oh… she’s back.” But it didn’t have a patch on Ashley Massaro’s eye-watering return in a multi-Diva lingerie pillowfight. We’ll do you a favour and won’t post the video.

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What Should Katie Do Next?

Those of you [read: the two of you] who watched ECW last night will have noticed that WWE’s resident oddball Diva, Katie Lea and brother Paul Burchill were banished from ECW after Burchill lost a ‘Career vs Mask’ match to The Hurricane. So where does that leave WWE’s Twisted Sister and brother Paul? Should they … Read more

Becky Bayless Receives WWE Tryout

Independent wrestler, Becky Bayless received a WWE tryout this week at the company’s television tapings. The former ROH and SHIMMER star noted on her Twitter page that she had wrestled at Madison Square Garden on Monday night — which was of course host to this week’s Raw. PWInsider is reporting that Bayless also received a … Read more

Michelle McCool & Mickie James Advertised for Next Week’s Raw

SmackDown Divas Michelle McCool and Mickie James are being advertised for next week’s three hour episode of Monday Night Raw. The episode, which will likely also see Maryse’s return, is being billed as a tri-branded Thanksgiving special. McCool and James will serve as team captains for the Divas’ traditional Survivor Series elimination match the night … Read more

Official Results & Photos from SHIMMER 4th Anniversary Taping

shimmer2728resultsHamada makes her SHIMMER debut (IMAGE CREDIT: WrestlinWally.com)

SHIMMER has released the official recap from the 4th anniversary taping two weeks ago on November 8th. As previously reported, the company filmed Volumes 27 and 28 in Berwyn, Illinois. Check out the results below:

SPARKLE (pre-show)

1. SHIMMER Tag Team Champion NICOLE MATTHEWS defeated SKILLED DEATH ARTIST #2 after hitting Last Rites on the masked competitor. Matthews saw what appeared to be someone dressed as a ninja enter the ring, and came out to object on the microphone. Matthews shouted “Ninja please,” and agreed to fight on the pre-show to demonstrate what happens to people who are guilty of gimmick infringement.

2. KACEY DIAMOND & SASSY STEPHIE (w/ Mademoiselle Rachelle) defeated KIMBERLY KASH & LEVA BATES in a tag team contest. Stephie and Kash made their return to SPARKLE competition here. The French Canadian Kacey made her way to SPARKLE from the NCW Femmes Fatales promotion in Montreal, while Leva is a newcomer out of the state of Florida who appears for Full Impact Pro.

More after the cut:

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Impact Taping Spoilers from Last Night, PPV Match Announced for December

TNA continued to tape Impact last night. This will be airing next week as part of the Thanksgiving episode. Click the ‘+’ to read:

Impact - November 26th, 2009
Tara won a Knockout Battle Royal for a title shot at Final Resolution which included The Beautiful People, Taylor Wilde, Sarita, Daffney, Hamada, and Tracy Brooks. ODB was out at ringside as a “special ref” to watch the action. After Tara won ODB got in the ring and raised her hand, Tara went to shake her hand but ODB slapped her hand away and walked out of the ring.

Hamada def. Sarita
These two had a really good back and forth match which ended with Hamada hitting the Michinoku Driver.

Thoughts after the cut:

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SmackDown Spoilers: November 20th, 2009

Spoilers for this week’s SmackDown are in. Click the ‘+’ to read. Show airs on Friday, November 20th:

SmackDown - November 20th, 2009
Mickie James def. Layla. After the match Layla tells Mickie to look at the tron, a video of Michelle McCool dressed like a farmer calling Mickie “Piggy James”. She sings Old McDonald while a picture of a pig with Mickie’s face on it appears. The video ends with another pig with Mickie’s face on it on a Looney Tunes background with “That’s all folks!” written on it. Mickie is shown crying in the ring & walks off. (Source: PWInsider.com)

Thoughts after the cut:

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Raw Redux (November 16th, 2009) – What Championship Match?

With just two weeks of buildup, we finally have our ~big~ Divas Championship match, pitting champion Melina against challenger Alicia Fox. Will this match live up to fans’ expectations, or will it–like its own build-up–be a mere shell of what it could be? Needless to say us Diva fans are used to disappointment, but we still hope for the best (against our better judgment). Let’s see if this match delivers:

Of course a big one-on-one Divas Title match in Madison Square Garden was too good to be true, because soon after Melina and Alicia’s entrances it is announced (by 30 Rock’s Judah Freedlander) that this will be a Lumberjill match. No, adding Lumberjills (as we’ve learned numerous times over) does not make a title match ~epic, it just sucks the attention away from who it should be on: the challenger and the champion. I understand that this is meant to build up Survivor Series, as the lumberjills are the participants in Sunday’s match, but surely there was a way to have this match and buildup the other match without needlessly combining them? I was actually looking forward to a good, long one-on-one Divas match for once and this move just neutered the match from the get-go.

Alicia starts the match by kicking Melina in the stomach and attempting to toss her out of the ring. Melina, however, gains control and tosses Alicia out to the wolves instead (Somehow I doubt throwing Melina out to the babyface side would’ve accomplished much of anything). Alicia dashes back into the ring before any of the lumberjills can touch her, taunting them when she’s safely back in the ring, and getting rolled up by Melina for her troubles. She kicks out, and attempts a clothesline that Melina matrixes away from. She continues on an offensive drive until Alicia tricks her, allowing her to fall out of the ring to the heel side. Melina takes a beating from the heels and the babyfaces come to her rescue, allowing her to be rolled back into the ring.

Alicia tosses Melina by her hair and goes for the pin (“Not very logical”, says Spock). She attempts to lock Melina into a hold, but Melina drives her into the turnbuckle. When Alicia charges after Melina, she’s met with a flapjack and a series of clotheslines. Alicia irish-whips Melina into the corner and gets two boots to the face, but is still able to counter a charge by Melina into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. She goes for the pin, but only gets a 2-count.

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Have You Met My Friend, Stace?

Former Diva, Stacy Keibler has landed a big guest spot — she’ll be appearing on the 100th episode of Emmy-nominated sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. Stacy will reportedly be playing a character called Cindy, a student of lead character Ted’s. The episode will air in early 2010. Could she be the mother? And will … Read more

Impact Spoilers For Thursday Night: November 19th, 2009

Spoilers for this week’s Impact taping are below! The show airs November 19th on Spike. Click the ‘+’ to read:

Impact - November 19, 2009
– Hamada defeated Taylor Wilde with a Ki Krusher.

– Sarita defeated Alissa Flash with a kick to the face. After the match, Traci Brooks runs to the ring and attacks Flash on the ramp. Security has to separate Flash and Brooks.

– Bobby and Kristal Lashley come to the ring. Bobby says that he has nothing to say to Steiner and all of his talking will take place at Final Resolution. Kristal calls Steiner sick and says that she has never been disrespected like this at Bobby’s MMA fights. Kristal says that when she barks, Bobby bites. (Source: PWInsider)

Thoughts after the cut:

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The Tiffany Guide to Turning Point: A Means to an End

tnaturningpoint2009

Setting women’s relations back faster than Tila Tequila and the Home Shopping Network, the Tiffany Guide returns just in time for yet another TNA PPV!  With the same quality you’ve come to expect, and the unbridled TNA commentary you’ve come to enjoy.

Good appeared to conquer all evil last Sunday night at Turning Point.  First in Knockout action sought the Beautiful People (Madison Rayne/Velvet Sky/Lacey Von Erich) vs. ODB, Sarita, and Taylor Wilde with all titles at stake.  Of course, what would a TNA match be without some complicated stipulations?  If ODB is defeated she loses her title; if Saritaylor is defeated they lose their titles.  Simple enough, right? I suppose this is the part where I go “TNA rulez!  WWE droolz!” or something to that effect…

The Beautiful People make their way to the ring looking very shiny and, erm… accessible. Before the sound of the bell, we are treated to even more gratuitous ass shots courtesy of Mi Pi Sexy – to bring even more credibility to this bout, of course.

Taylor Wilde and Velvet Sky kick off the match with a lock-up.  The referee tries his best to cop a feel while Velvet takes her aggression out on the Wilde one.  The ever-confident Velvet is distracted long enough for Taylor to trip her and drag her to the opposing side.  Tags alternate among the babyfaces as they all seem to take particular interest in Velvet’s nether regions.  ODB mounts her opponent, but Velvet says neigh.  Velvet powers out and leads ODB into her corner, tagging in her partner Madison Rayne.

Madison takes a break to indulge in a bit of self-admiration.  As per usual, Madison proves her salt personality-wise.  There is a way to be cleverly gimmicky without being overly gratuitous, and Madison masters that quite brilliantly.  Her beautiful partners should take note.

Madison’s exhibition buys ODB enough time to recharge and tag in Sarita.  Sarita outsmarts Madison with a series of flashy predicaments.  She then makes the tag out to Taylor, who she then assists into a moonsault onto Madison (rather flawlessly, if I may add).  However, Madison kicks out at 2.  Taylor draws her into a clutch and sends her down with a springboard arm drag.  Before she can even begin to capitalize on said move, Lacey Von Erich blindsights her with a clothesline.  Cue a very convenient wide-angled shot of a fan in the front row holding a “Lacey Von Botch” sign.

Madison regains control of the match with a swinging neckbreaker onto Taylor Wilde, but Taylor kicks out at 2.  Velvet Sky requests a tag and makes the assist into a double reverse DDT.  Taylor attempts to escape, but Velvet mounts her with a few punches and a very suggestive cover.  Taking a moment to tease her competition, Velvet flattens Taylor with a stiff kick to the back and a running front dropkick.  Taylor kicks out yet again.

There it is: the moment we all awaited with bated breath… Lacey Von Erich gets tagged into the match. Less than 5 seconds transpire before Lacey is subjected to the thoughts of the mass majority of TNA fans (and perhaps that of even Lacey herself) in the form of “You can’t wrestle” chants.  Lacey quickly exits the ring; the scent of defeat is almost too rancid to ignore.

Velvet gets her second chance in on the action by which she traps Taylor in an Octopus stretch.  Meanwhile, she bites the trapped arm out of the referee’s line of sight.  When Velvet attempts to shift the maneuver a sunset flip, Taylor runs (or rather trips) into Velvet’s face.  Hilarity ensues.

Both ladies make the hot tag.  ODB charges into the ring, taking out the legal woman Madison.  She also takes down Lacey Von Erich, which gets a rather positive reception from the audience.  Leading Velvet into the ropes, ODB catches her in mid-air and drops her with the fallaway slam followed by a kip-up.  ODB goes for a cover, but Lacey breaks up the pin.  Sarita and Taylor take exception.  However, in their effort to clear the ring of the excess plastic, they are sent out to the floor.  This gives the Beautiful People an opportunity to set ODB up for a potential double team move.  Instead, ODB overpowers their advances and takes Madison Rayne out with the TKO for the 3-count.

Somewhere during the 3-on-1 attack against ODB, a few of Lacey’s hair extensions fall out.  One piece even finds its way into the hand of a lucky fan in the front row, who takes the liberty of twirling it around like a prize.  Lacey then does something that will possibly put her my good graces for all of eternity.  She stuffs a piece of her lost extensions down her trousers and does a little hoe down.  From what we’ve seen in the past, Lacey is a master at not taking herself too seriously and being able to laugh at herself.  As embarrassing as weave-tragedies can be, that purely awesome act alone almost defuncts any and all of my criticisms of Miss Lacey.  Key word: almost.

While the outcome was predictable, all in all, I thought this was an impressive match.  If an MVP had to be chosen, my pick would definitely belong to Madison Rayne.  Madison has come leaps and bounds since her first run with the Beautiful People.  Ever since the departure of Angelina Love, Madison has been able to exude personality and charisma. Ever since Angelina left, people supposed the leader position would fall under Velvet Sky or even Lacey Von Erich.  However, I think Madison stands out as the one with the best balance between wrestling ability and temperament.  That being said, I don’t imagine it will be over between the Beautiful People and Saritaylor.  Velvet and Madison don’t strike me as the type that will rest until the belts are finally around their “pretty little waists.”  As for Lacey?  Well… between the Kong hug attempt and the weave fiasco, it’s safe to say that she is entertaining in her own right.  Just keep her in the background, and I will be content. After all, we’re overdue for another Botchamania.

Next up, in the long-awaited steel cage match, we see an end to World War III aka Tara vs. Awesome Kong.

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Natalya Reveals Dream Survivor Series Team

Ironically, the most notable Diva not involved in this Sunday’s Surivor Series pay per view is the Diva contribution to WWE.com’s new ‘dream Survivor Series teams’ article. Pretty simple: the Superstars and Divas pick the four stars they’d pick to be on their team in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. Third-gen Diva Natalya unsurprisingly … Read more

Turning Point Results & Discussion Post

Discuss tonight’s Turning Point pay per view right here in this post. Two matches have been announced: – ODB & Saritaylor vs The Beautiful People [Knockouts & Knockouts Tag Team Championships on the line] – Awesome Kong vs Tara [Six Sides of Steel] Results: Dark match Hamada def. Alissa Flash Title match ODB & Saritaylor … Read more

Unwrapped: Eye Candy for the Week Ending November 14th, 2009

In order to consolidate our Eye Candy coverage, we’ve developed a new feature: Unwrapped! We’ll take all the new photoshoots from the week and grade (or “brand”) each based on the following criteria:

Appearance (hair, clothes, makeup.. you get the drift)
Poses (are they versatile or just glorified statues?)
Uniqueness (have we seen this photoshoot a billion times before?)
Grading scale: Sweet (Great)/Bland (Iffy)/Sour (Awful)

Eve Torres‘s Golden Grappler
Appearance: Eve’s wearing her signature ring gear in a stunning shade of gold. The black and gold look fantastic with her complexion. Her hair looks fabulous too. The ruching and frills on the top is a little out of place, though, but I guess you won’t be seeing it up close when she’s wrestling. I just overall like her style of ring gear–it certainly sets her apart. The shorts and boots kind of give me a Lara Croft vibe.
Poses: The poses don’t alternate too much, but she looks gorgeous–she certainly can do the “sexy facE” thing without it looking over-the-top. I really dig the crouching pose.
Uniqueness: It’s a ring gear photoshoot, and Eve’s ring gear is unique in itself, so this shoot’s got that going for it.
Grade: Sweet. I love ring gear shoots and Eve’s gear is pretty interesting, so it’s a winning combination.
Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Layla‘s The Heat of the Moment
Appearance: Layla’s going for the “white hot” Miami Heat movement–it’s almost like she’s in the seats at the American Airline Arena during a big home game. The stark white shorts, sweatband, and Converse boots paired with the jersey would be a bit too much in a conventional outfit, but this is kind of a costume-y look, so I can accept it. The white look especially hot in this high-contrast lighting. It’s nice to see Layla’s got still got some team spirit in her.
Poses: White, white white.. Layla’s white clothes, posed against the white wall make for an interesting look. One wouldn’t think that you could do much posing in a corner, but Layla uses it well. She switches from smoldering and sexy to fun without missing a beat.
Uniqueness: Not many Divas (if at all) have danced for an NBA team, so Layla’s naturally got to show off her team spirit. This is one “sexy jersey” shoot that doesn’t come off as cheesy to me.
Grade: Sweet. This is more than just a “chick in a jersey” shoot–Layla puts her trademark spunky-ness into it to make it interesting.
Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Mickie James‘s Unflappable
Appearance: Mickie’s looking all flapper in her sparkly dress, long pearl necklace, and glizty hair clip. It’s costume-y, yeah, and looked kind of silly when she wore it on SmackDown, but this benefits from being in a photoshoot. The costume vibe is much easier to swallow. She fills out the dress beautifully, and her hair is wonderfully retro in a way we don’t see Mickie very often.
Poses: There’s a few blank stares that derail it a bit, but Mickie manages to inject her fun personality into it regardless. I especially love the over-the-shoulder poses.
Uniqueness: Not many Divas go to he roaring 20s for style inspiration. I like that Mickie’s gone a little outside the lines for this look, even if it looked a bit silly on telvision.
Grade: Sweet. Now let’s just see if she can do the Charleston.
Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Read more to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots and vote for your favorite.

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TNA Turning Point Predictions

turningpoint1

TNA returns to pay per view tonight with two huge matches. ODB and Saritaylor will defend their gold in a six-Knockout tag team match against The Beautiful People. Then in what could be the biggest Knockouts match in history, Awesome Kong and Tara will battle in a Six Sides of Steel match. Who will win? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…

ODB & Saritaylor vs The Beautiful People

Erin: There’s no way in hell that Lacey’s winning the Knockouts Championship, and that’s the only way I see it going if her team won. Maybe they’d pull some strings and give it to Velvet or Madison, but it’d still be a travesty. All my inclinations are pointing me toward ODB and Saritaylor, and I realllly hope I’m right on this one.

Melanie: No chance in hell The Beautiful People will win this match. If they do, there’s something seriously wrong with TNA and we should all boycott. By no means do ANY of the TBP members deserve the Knockouts Championship and it would just make the so-called prestigious title a complete and utter joke. ODB and Saritaylor have to win this one. There’s no other option otherwise I’m done with TNA.

Steven: As I said on the Roundtable last week, this match is a train wreck waiting to happen. With the limited ring work of The Beautiful People, I doubt TNA will put all the gold around their waists. Expect ODB and Saritaylor to retain at Turning Point. If they don’t, I’ll be staying far away from Spike TV for next few weeks.

Tiffany: I’m going to go out on a limb and call this one out in The Beautiful People‘s favor.  The Knockouts title has been needing a change of scenery, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the team of Madison and Velvet hold tag team gold.  Lacey Von Erich as the Knockouts Champion would grind a few gears, and that’s enough to root for her.  She’d already a shoe-in for being a more credible champion than Cody Deaner.

Kong vs Tara after the cut:

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Diva Dirt Style Jury: Week of November 9th, 2009

ddstylejury

Welcome to the Diva Dirt Style Jury! No more are the separate ‘Best’ and ‘Worst’ lists, instead we have come up with a scientific approach *cough* to compiling our weekly fashion column. The Diva Dirt team will weigh in on the different looks from the week gone by & mark each look with a score out of ten. The look with the highest average score will be our best look and the look with the lowest average score will be the worst look. Click each photo to see the look in full size.

Let the proverbial runway show begin!

GAIL KIM
Erin: The strapless top is cute, the jeans look nice, and the yellow is a much more fun color than most Divas wear as “street clothes”. I like the lighter side, though–not everyone needs to wear leather and bras when they’re not wrestling. It’s not an outstanding look on its own, but I like it on Gail. 7/10
Melanie: Not exactly an amazing outfit but damn, Gail looks super cute! 6/10
Steven: The pale yellow looks awesome on Gail, but I’m not a fan of the maternity-esque top. 7/10

JILLIAN
Erin: Was it “managers wear strapless tops” night? I prefer Gail’s more causal look, personally. Jillian’s is super tight and looks like it’s a bit in danger of slipping down. I like the purple color, but all together the look would probably benefit from the top being a wee bit longer. You know, to balance out the bounty up top by covering up the midriff at the bottom. 5/10
Melanie: Seriously, Jillian’s wardrobe consists of only strapless tops and jeans. Boring. 5/10
Steven: Jeez, does Jillian ever NOT wear jeans? All in all, a decent showing. Not bad, but nothing spectacular. 5/10

Read on for more of this week’s outfits and to see who’s been branded our winner and loser.

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Jacqueline Returning to TNA?

Former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout, Jacqueline may be returning to TNA tomorrow night at the company’s Turning Point pay per view, it has been reported. The veteran, who was released by TNA just earlier this year, will reportedly be brought back to work as the valet for Beer Money Inc., the team she managed … Read more