Having already entered the top 10 yesterday, Mickie James‘ debut country album ‘Strangers & Angels’ has now broken into the top five of iTunes’ top country music albums in the UK, currently at #4. Meanwhile in the US, it is at #64 at press time. Congrats to Mickie! If the upward swing continues, she could … Read more
TNA continues its three night filming spree today at the Impact Zone. Click the ‘show’ link for spoilers:
TNA may have turned her down but Wrestlicious seems keen to resurrect Ariel. Former Diva and Knockout, Shelly Martinez has tweeted that the company is interested in bringing her in as their new vampire character, a role that Martinez is already familiar with. She writes: ps wrestlisous is interested in me being their new vampire … Read more
The Glamazon sure has left some mighty big shoes to fill. According to the Wrestling Observer website, WWE is ‘desperately’ looking for a steady hand to come in and replace the injured former Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix on the SmackDown brand. Looks like we may be seeing someone new on Friday nights in the coming … Read more
On its first day of release, Mickie James‘ debut country album ‘Strangers & Angels’ currently sits at #61 on the US iTunes country music chart at press time. In neighboring Canada, it charts at #34. Meanwhile in the UK, the record has zoomed into the top 10, currently sitting at #9. A pretty great start … Read more
The Glamazon, Beth Phoenix underwent surgery at 7am ET this morning and has tweeted, presumably from her hospital bed, that she is doing fine and that the surgery was successful. She writes: “All done!! They said they used extra parts from RoboCop’s knee surgery and spare tissue from a Liger [sic]. I feel great!!” Beth … Read more
I think, if tonight’s Raw taught us one thing, it was this: less commercials means more Divas. Of course, that’s a bit of a leap in logic, but that fact is that tonight’s show, whilst being commercial free, featured more Diva face time than we’ve seen in a long time: 2 (count ’em, 2) matches, a backstage segment, and 2 faux-commercials. That adds up to a load of Divas being utilized, including 2 Divas that aren’t even technically apart of the brand. That’s a kind of efficiency I was beginning to think that the WWE didn’t know existed (that string of 1-minute-and-less matches didn’t help). Let us observe:
The beginning of our Diva-filled night was signaled by the appearance of a familiar face, home-country girl Trish Stratus. Unfortunately, that face was printed on a magazine cover rather than being flesh and bone, and we soon saw that Maryse was the face behind it. It was a slick move to get fans excited while risking disappointment, but it was smart to make Maryse be the one to “break the news”, so to speak. Let her be the one to put out the Trish Stratus bait and yank it back. It is a neat heat-generating maneuver that worked. Talking to the makeup woman, she details how Canadians suck and that fact that she’s French Canadian is a completely different thing. She starts trash talking Eve, and if summoned by the gods, Eve appears behind her, grabbing some baby powder and pouring it over Maryse’s head.
A makeup table fight ensues, with Eve smashing Maryse’s face against it a few times before the girls are separated. The fire in this feud continues to burn, and in this segment they showed real intensity. I mentioned this in the Post-Raw show, but I feel like whenever the WWE needs to inject some intensity in to a diva feud, they have the girls fight at the makeup station. But hell, it works! It allows the Divas to have a real, scrappy fight and makes the heat feel that much more real. It’s worked for countless Divas feuds before, and this one was no exception.
The UK Sun’s wrestling section has an article up today on Britain’s own Layla winning the WWE Women’s Championship last week. And wait, did I mention that I wrote it? Layla + Diva Dirt… it’s a winning combination. So what are you waiting for? Check it out right now by clicking here. Now, while you’re … Read more
Former WWE Diva and 5-time Women’s Champion, Mickie James has released her debut country album ‘Strangers & Angels’ worldwide today.
The album can be purchased via countryshowcase.com or digitally via iTunes for $9.99.
You can get a look at Mickie’s album cover in full by clicking here.
If anyone picks up the album and would like to send in a review, please feel free to email us at [email protected].
Tracklisting after the cut:
Tonight’s Raw will be hosted by legendary American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step foot on the moon (following that Neil Armstrong fellow). To watch the show, tune in at 9/8 CST on the USA Network. Discuss the show in the comments!
The Divas Championship will be on the line at this Sunday’s Over the Limit pay per view when Eve Torres defends against Maryse. Eve defeated Maryse for the belt last month on an episode of Raw emanating from London, England. Join us Sunday at 7.45pm ET for our Over the Limit live blog.
Spoilers for Thursday’s episode of Impact below. Click the ‘show’ link to see:
Melanie’s thoughts ater the cut:
This is a bittersweet day for me and I’m sure a lot of readers will share my sentiments. The Knockouts division is on a decline and last night it lost one of its best performers. We knew it was coming, but that didn’t help dull the sting. Tara put her career on the line against Madison Rayne‘s Knockouts Championship and the champion walked away with the victory. Our last TNA images of Tara will forever be her being escorted from the ring by a security guard but the effect and impression she left on us fans will always be remembered.
The Knockout portion of Sacrifice begins with the Knockouts Tale of the Tape. They have a cute little joke up about how these BP spill gold, not oil. For some reason, I didn’t laugh. Maybe it’s because the oil spill has basically threatened all the businesses in my little town and that indirectly threatens my job, and yeah. Oil spill jokes equal not funny. They also mention that this is Madison’s chance to prove herself and that this could be the last time we ever see Tara. Speaking of, the former Knockouts Champion is the first woman to make her way to the ring. Now in my opinion, she already seemed a little emotional. I don’t know if it’s just me, but she seemed to sense that this was it, basically, and you could tell in her face and in her eyes. She savours her ring entrance and then her music is cut and replaced by that belonging to the Beautiful People.
The lovely trio makes their way to the ring and for once, all three look classy and gorgeous (ignore Velvet’s bra straps showing, plz). Lacey wows me in her maxi dress and I really like Madison’s top. They do their usual shtick must to Tara’s annoyance and once that’s all said and done, Madison decides to send the girls to the back. She wants to go at this alone and Velvet’s unsure. Madison reassures them both that everything is fine and as Lacey and Velvet are trying to leave, Tara attacks Madison from behind and sends her spilling out of the ring. It takes a second for Madison to gather her bearings but she does just in time and bounces up to fight back at Tara. She punches her a few times and then sends her back into the ring. Madison looks fairly confident and takes her time getting back in the ring. Tara greets her, rudely, but Madison is able to get control back and she levels Tara with a vicious kick to the face.
Spoiler for an upcoming taping of TNA Impact below:
A movie starring Raw Diva, Gail Kim which was filmed in 2005 when she was still with TNA, is finally getting a DVD release in the United States on July 20th. Ninja’s Creed, previously titled Royal Kill, will be available on DVD from July 20th. You can pre-order it now at Amazon.com. The movie stars … Read more
Recap of last night’s episode below, courtesy of our friends at Maria Kanellis Online. Please head over there for more including pictures and videos from the show!
This week’s week’s episode started with the 5 remaining contestants in the suite, celebrating. Sadly the celebration didn’t last long because Mr. Trump asked everyone to come back to the boardroom almost immediately. Once everyone was good and seated, Mr. Trump congratulated everyone for making it this far, then followed up by saying that someone was going to be fired right now. The 4 remaining players will then be interviewed by last year’s winner, Joan Rivers and the first ever Apprentice winner Bill Lansing before 2 more people are also fired.
Mr. Trump then began asking each of them why they shouldn’t be fired, Maria butted in during Curtis’ speech where he mentioned going out on his own at 21. Saying that they all started working for their dreams at a young age, then mentioning how she began modeling at 15. When Trump asked her if she should be fired, she quickly told him no because she’s not afraid of working hard and wants to keep fighting til the end. Almost everyone was then asked who they thought the weakest player was, Holly quickly answered that she thought Maria was the weakest. She said that she believed that Maria doesn’t come from the purest of places, that she never hesitates to basically throw everyone under the bus to save herself in the boardroom. Maria seemed to let her comments roll off her back, saying that she never says anything that isn’t supportive and then going on to say that she knows Holly has had a hard life and that she respects her. Sharon also thought Maria was the weaker player.
Canadian wrestler, Cherry Bomb is to get a tryout before WWE’s Monday Night Raw taping tonight. Cherry Bomb, real name Laura Dennis, is 23 years old and has previously wrestled at SHIMMER events on the pre-show, SPARKLE. Tonight’s Raw emanates from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, home of Gail Kim and the legendary Trish … Read more
Welcome to this week’s edition of Unwrapped! As always, we will be grading all of the new photoshoots (or “eye candy”, as we like to call them) from the week gone by, judging them like so:
Sweet (Great) • Bland (Iffy) • Sour (Awful)
You, the reader, will also get the chance to grade the “eye candy” yourself by giving your opinion on each shoot and voting for your favorite out of the whole bunch. Now, dive in!
Beth Phoenix’s Lady in Red
Grade: Sweet. Beth Phoenix may have had a short stint as the current reigning Women’s Champion, but at least she left a pretty decent photshoot in her wake! This attire is possibly the most appealing Beth has in her repertoire. Luckily, the red-and-black combination photographs just as well as it looks on television. A couple of the poses are more imaginative than your typical stone-faced vogue-ing. These bits of playfulness and cheerfulness show a different (and more pleasant) side to the Glamazon.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.
Natalya’s Change of Hart
Grade: Bland. The title of this photoshoot may serve to be ironic as there appears to be little to no variety between Natalya’s photos. This is your typical series featuring Natalya donning her Hart badge of honor. It is not quite ‘sour’ as she earns points for consistency (not to mention color coordination)! However, what Natalya’s portfolio could use is a little less pink and a little bit more imagination.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.
Former Knockouts Champion, Tara‘s career in TNA came to an end tonight when she lost a Career vs Title Match against the reigning Knockouts Champ, Madison Rayne. This marks the end of Tara’s one year stint in TNA which began on the May 28th episode of Impact last year. She leaves the company as a … Read more
Tonight at TNA’s Sacrifice pay per view, it’s ‘Career vs Title’ as Tara challenges Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Championship. Will Tara’s TNA career come to an end or will she become a four time Knockouts Champ? Tune in on pay per view to find out. We’ll be live-tweeting coverage on our Twitter page, also. … Read more
Will tonight be Tara’s last stand? The veteran Knockout puts her career on the line against Madison Rayne all in a bid to become the Knockouts Champion. The stakes have never been higher for the Knockouts — it’s Title vs Career tonight. Who will win? The Diva Dirt team weigh in… Cryssi: Out of all … Read more
Divas beware, we judge what you wear! Welcome to the Diva Dirt Style Jury. We compile the looks from the week gone by and mark each look on a scale of 1-10. At the end of the scoring, we work out the combined score for each look and the Diva with the highest combined score is our winner and the Diva with the lowest combined score is our loser.
A few rules: We only judge outfits/ring attire that we haven’t judged before or we have already seen several times on TV before. If a Diva is seen in more than one outfit in any given week, we mark them as ‘#1’, ‘#2’ and so forth.
So, let the proverbial runway show begin!
ALICIA FOX
Cryssi: Love how Foxxy can get away with the simplest little outfits. This one is better than last week’s IMO. I love the color, the length, and the way it clings to her body. Alicia’s hair is pretty and since I’m a big fan of headbands, I’m going to give her an extra point for that! 8.5/10
Erin: I like that she’s getting a consistent theme going with her cute rompers. I’ve liked the ones she’s worn before and this one is no exception. The green is gorgeous. I hope she keeps this trend going, because this is the type of look you don’t see Divas wearing too often. Any opportunity for a Diva to separate herself from the pack (in a good way) is something to take advantage of. 9/10
Melanie: Much prefer this to last week’s romper. The colours are really nice and reminds you of spring. Cute. 8/10
Steven: Another week, another romper for Alicia. While I’m slowly beginning to like the romper, I’m hating these patterns that she’s picking. They remind me cheap wallpaper. Don’t these things come in colors?! 5/10
Tiffany: I’ve been digging Alicia’s fashion efforts as of late. Her style is not typical, but I think she pulls it off well. 7/10
EVE TORRES
Cryssi: The Diva’s Champ sure does love her little cropped tops, doesn’t she? I guess if I had her stomach, I’d rock that look too. I like this week’s outfit a lot better than last week. My love affair with the color black probably makes this better than what it is. Eve rocks yet another great pair of jeans and the leather looking top is nice as well. She looks a bit bad ass without looking to over the top. She didn’t really need the necklace, and I think her hair would have looked better straight. But all in all, not bad. 7/10
Erin: I didn’t really like her crop top from last week, and this one isn’t much better, but at least it’s got a bit of an edge to it, it being black leather and all. I think I’d like it better if it was a vest instead of some tank top/vest hybrid. As is, it kind of makes me want to ask her where her Harley’s parked. 5/10
Melanie: Not feeling ‘Biker Babe’ Eve. It just looks like the top is wearing her and not the other way around. 4/10
Steven: I know WWE is into dressing the Divas in skintight clothing, but Eve looks like she’s one deep breath away from busting out of that leather vest. That said, she pulls off the leather top look better than most Divas that have tried it. 8/10
Tiffany: Somehow, I feel like I’ve seen this outfit on Eve like 5 times already. I didn’t like it the first time! I wish she’d learn to dress more for her body type. Sorry but, this style is not flattering. It just does not fit well on her. In other words: does she prefer “fashion victim” or “ensembly-challenged?” 4/10
Read on for more of this week’s outfits and to see who’s been branded our winner and loser.
The bartender could tell something was wrong. “You doing OK, man?”
I just kept shaking my head and staring at the ground in disbelief. Finally I said “Man, this started out as such a perfect night…” but it was barely loud enough for him to hear.
“What’s the matter dude? You’re in New Orleans…laissez le bon temps rouler!” I wanted to have fun, I wanted to “let the good times roll”, but instead I felt like I just got “coups de pied dans les noix.” (Translation – if you’re a guy that hurts.)
Seriously, it should have been a perfect night. I was strolling around Bourbon Street drinking a cold beer, the weather was beautiful and life was good. No problems at home, the job was fine, and Beth was the WWE Women’s Champion (I have always contended we are co-holders of the title, but that’s just a technicality). Then I thought I’d jump into a local bar, grab a refill, and check the Diva Dirt SmackDown spoilers. Just wanted to make sure my girl was still the champ after the Tuesday night tapings. Then I read the news… a 2-on-1 title match, Vickie’s back, a confusing ending, Michelle or Layla wearing the belt… what?!?! All I knew was that Beth wasn’t the champion anymore and I felt like my heart would explode from my chest. Not so much because she lost the title…but because I knew what this really meant – something was seriously wrong with her knee. “OH MERDE!” (Translation – very, very not good!)
The bartender said, “Hey, umm, can I get you a beer?”
I put my head in my hands and said, “Nah, I’ll take a Johnny Daniels over ice.”
“You mean Jack Daniels, right?”
I looked at him and mumbled, “He may be Jack to you, but when you’ve known him as long as I have…”
The bartender poured the drink and said, “Wow, you must really be upset about something.”
“You don’t understand, man, it wasn’t supposed to go down like this…I didn’t even get to write my Extreme Rules column yet.” Being that we were in New Orleans, lord knows what the bartender thought that meant. But I thought I had a few weeks you know? I wanted to be able to let the moment sink in and then write a coherent, entertaining column about one of the most exciting nights of my life. Now, the moment had passed, Beth had a severe knee injury, and Baltimore, MD seemed like a 100 years ago. The bartender said, “OK, then this one is on the house, you look pretty bummed out. Decu dans le Big Easy.” (Translation – I’m the only loser in New Orleans not having fun.) I looked back down at the floor and just kept thinking, “Did I jinx her? In some cosmic supernatural way did writing that stupid column about Melina’s injury cause Beth to blow out her knee?!” I don’t know.
That Lilian Garcia! Anyone would think she’s out to induce use into a nostalgia-steeped coma. Yesterday, we saw her reunited with former Women’s Champion, Lita at the Motor City Comic Con in Detroit and today, they’ve found another old friend. Today, Lilian posted a picture of the duo with fellow former Women’s Champion, Molly Holly … Read more
Three-time WWE Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix has posted a lengthy blog on her injury, which as reported earlier in the week was much more severe than first thought — Phoenix tore her ACL. She writes: Two weeks ago on Superstars, I had a match against new SmackDown Diva, Rosa Mendes. During the course of the … Read more