In the words of Usher, “Oh my gosh!” WWE.com has a new feature to celebrate the high school graduation season with side-by-side pictures of some of our Divas as they currently look and as they looked in high school. The pictures come with quotes with the Divas coming up with something they’d tell their high school selves.
Check out the rest:
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: Foxy had a big night this past Monday and she picked a cute little outfit to go with it. We’ve seen Alicia in rompers basically every single time she hasn’t been in wrestling gear as of late. I’m at the point now where I want her to change it up. Her look is getting to be a big repeat of the same thing, only with different colors and prints. That said, this is my favorite romper of Alicia’s to date. I love the print and the way it fits. It’s flirty and sassy, perfect for Alicia. The boots are great too. Another nice week for Alicia. 8/10
Erin: I usually love Alicia’s little rompers, but, as I’ve probably said many times, all-over animal print is not my thing. It’s just too much going on in such a small space, with the mixing of prints and one-piece aesthetic. I much prefer when Alicia keeps it cuter. 5/10
Melanie: We all love Alicia’s rompers here at DD and this one is no exception for me. I’m not usually a huge fan of animal print but when done differently and ‘edgy’, I think it looks good. Alicia did wear something different and more edgy than the usual pants-and-top look, so I like it. 6/10
EVE TORRES
Cryssi: Eve is starting to bore me with her fashion but this look is better than the ones she’s had recently. The nice pinkish coral color really compliments her skin tone and her hair looks pretty this week too. Eve has what I like to call gypsy-like hair. It looks pretty when it’s straight and looks gorgeous when it’s wild and curly. Eve did well this week. 6.5/10
Erin: The peachy-pink color is cute and a different way to pull off the girly look. It pops a lot better than some of the other variations on Eve’s attire, and she wears the color really well. It mixes her tomboy personality and her lesser-seen girly side in an interesting way. 7/10
Melanie: I don’t like this colour at all on Eve. I don’t know why, but the colour just seems so sickly and especially against someone who is tanned like Eve. 4/10
Read on for more of this week’s outfits and to see who’s been branded our winner and loser.
Last week’s Raw gave me a sense that the Divas Championship feud was on the decline, quality-wise, but I was hopeful that it was a one-week thing and the WWE would again devote the same attention to the feud that they had for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re headed in that same southward direction, as this week we were given the type of match that completely exposes the lack of creavity on the part of the WWE booking staff: the mixed tag team match. And not only that, it was a mixed tag team match in which the parings made little sense: Eve teamed with Santino to take on the dynamic duo of… Maryse and William Regal? Did I miss a week of buildup that would connect these four people together? No? Okay, I’ll just go with it:
Before the match can begin, Santino tries to butter up Vladamir Kozlov, even putting up Eve for barter. She’s not into the idea. Anyways, with the bargaining over, Maryse and Eve start out the match, Maryse getting the first blow when she knees Eve in the stomach. She whip Eve into the ropes, but Eve turns the tables, rolling over Maryse’s back and hitting a dropkick. This is enough for Maryse, apparently, and she tags in William Regal. This brings Eve out and Santino in.
The men wrestle for a bit until Regal locks Santino into a crossface maneuver. Eve come in and breaks the hold in a move that’s uncharacteristic, but interesting. Babyfaces are often so one-dimensional, so it’s nice to see her break the rules a bit. Maryse, playing the vengeful babyface in this scenario, comes in and attacks Eve, and the two tussle. The referee is distracted by this, allowing Kozlov to come in, swerve Regal, and chokeslam him. Maryse, for some reason, leaves with him, and Eve and Santino get the win.
After the underwhelming Divas Championship match at Over the Limit, I was hopeful that the following Raw would pick things back up and continue the Divas Championship feud down the more unique path we’ve been enjoying these past few weeks (exhibits , B, and C. Not so, folks, because it seems that we’re back in “piss break” territory. Of course, all could turn around next week, but a week’s stay in “piss break” territory still leaves you smelling of.. well, you know. Putting it in more eloquent terms, instead of continuing with the more unique ways of building this feud between Maryse and Eve Torres, the WWE decided to book them in a tag team match, effectively packing their feud together with the one between Alicia Fox and Gail Kim. That’s one 2-for-1 sale I’m not happy about. Watch the match below:
Gail and Alicia start things off. Gail goes for a tie-up but Alicia has a better idea, booting Gail in the stomach. She blasts her wit ha forearm before irish-whipping her into the corner. When she attacks, though, she gets a face full of elbow, setting Gail up to hit a top-rope hurricanrana (How long has it been since we’ve seen one of those??). Alicia flops around, sans equilibrium, finding a corner to lean against. Gail stays on the attack, hitting her hit-and-slip move. While on the apron, Maryse tries to sneak an attack, but Gail kicks her in the stomach. Gail stops another attack from Alicia, burying her shoulder into her midsection and vaulting over the ropes into a sunset flip pin attempt. However, she can’t even roll Alicia onto her shoulders, and Fox takes the momentum, holding onto the ropes. Maryse takes this opportunity to tag in, and as Gail rolls Alicia back into a pin, Maryse slips in and kicks Gail square in the back. This of course, breaks the non-pin.
Maryse lays another boot into Gail before going for a pin of her own. Gail kicks out at 2. She hoists her up into a backbreaker and toys around with her a bit before Gail kicks her away. Gail moves to tag in Eve, and Maryse tries to stop this, but Eve ducks out of the way of her haymaker, hitting a right hand of her own before finally getting tagged in. Eve goes on a string of offense (a clothesline here, and dropkick there, and a neckbreaker for good measure) before trying for the pin. Maryse kicks out at 2, but before she can pop up to her feet Eve kicks her back down, leaping over her and hitting a standing moonsault. She goes for the pin again, but Alicia break it up.
This brings in Gail, and with the referee distracted by her, Alicia boots Eve right in the face. This allows Maryse to set up the French Kiss, hit it, and get the pin.
You probably saw the commercials for Over the Limit, featuring fast-moving race cars juxtaposed with various wrestling footage. Of course, this was meant to send the message that this event will be chock-a-block with intense, non-stop action. But as we’ve learned many, many times before, commercials lie (What, you mean there isn’t a giant white rabbit looking to steal my Trix cereal?), and this Pay-Per-View as a whole proved that, and the Divas Championship match between Eve Torres and Maryse, as it turns out, wasn’t much different. Watch the match below and see if you agree:
The Divas start the match face-to-face, talking a little trash. Maryse tosses up her hand and Eve slaps it away. Maryse kicks her in the knee, and the action begins. Maryse tosses Eve into the corner, her shoulder hitting the exposed ringpost. She lays a few boots into Eve before going for an early pin, getting only a 1-count. She slams Eve face-first into the mat and continues to horse around with her, going for a Camel Clutch. Eve fights out at first, but Maryse eventually pummels her enough to lock it in.
Maryse gets into a standing position and Eve elbows her a bit before being let go, eating mat in the process. Maryse bends Eve’s back against the second rope, yanking her by the hair. The referee makes her let go, but Maryse then takes advantage of Eve’s prone position by knocking her through the ropes and out of the ring. Maryse stalks Eve to the corner and preps for a kick, but Eve moves at the last second, leaving Maryse’s foot to make contact with the steel pole. She screams and tries to get away, but Eve catches her and tosses her back into the ring. Maryse misses a clothesline and Eve goes on a tear of offense, stopped by a slap from Maryse.
Eve reverses and irish-whip and slams Maryse to the mat, setting her up for a well-executed standing moonsault. She goes for the pin, Maryse kicks out at 2. Eve goes for another pin following a sunset flip, but Maryse kicks out again, punctuating it with two boots directly to Eve’s face. Maryse goes for a pin of her own (And the crowd goes wild.. Gee, I wonder if it has to do with the position of it?) but Eve kicks out. This pisses Maryse off, and she yells at the referee to do his job (Meaning cheat at your job and count faster, I guess?). She becomes a bit unhinged and shows signs of a more interesting character than the “me sexy, you not” thing she’s been working with for so long. I’m not saying she needs to become a full-on basket case, but they could show her slowly losing a bit of her sanity in her desire to regain her title. Just a thought..
Tonight, the Divas Championship is on the line as Eve Torres defends against Maryse. Who will come out on top? The Diva Dirt team weigh in:
Cryssi: This feud is just getting good and to be honest, I would hate to see it end. I feel that if Eve wins, she moves on from Maryse and goes to a new challenger. I don’t know who Eve could feud with on Raw that would be as interesting as her feud with Maryse. I personally love the Gail Kim/Alicia Fox mini-feud so that leaves Eve with Jillian or the Bellas. Yeah… no. I reckon Maryse either gets disqualified and beats the crap out of Eve, or Maryse cheats to win the title back and Eve goes back to the chaser. I guess that makes me undecided about a winner so I’ll just say Maryse. Be sexy.
David: I am really looking forward to the Divas Title match Sunday night. The build between Eve and Maryse these past few weeks has been effective because it has brought out the best in Maryse’s character and also given Eve a solid first storyline as champion. I think a win Sunday night would be a major step for Eve, so I think Eve will retain the title. Right now Maryse should be used to chase Eve and ultimately put her over. I just really, really, really hope that the WWE doesn’t change the booking like they did at Elimination Chamber in February. Let the girls work and put on a solid title match!
Erin: I feel that the WWE is only getting started in building up Eve, so it would be strange of them to take the title off of her so soon. Also, this feud has a lot left in it–it’s only just started getting good, for God’s sake! I hope that they’ll continue this feud and build up to an even bigger blow-off match in the summer, and for that to happen, I believe Eve must retain her title. Of course, Maryse winning wouldn’t necessarily put a stop to things, but it would shift the momentum a bit and I think, for the first time in months, things have been going in a positive direction. I say stay the course and continue developing Maryse’s character (is she jealous, cowardly, or just plain old arrogant?) through her chasing the title. In short, Eve to win and keep the Divas Championship.
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 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.
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.
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.
This past Monday’s Raw was lacking in actual Divas action, but this week’s episode of WWE Superstars is looking to make up for that. It doesn’t hurt that these matches are consistently longer than their Monday night counterparts, so I’m all for the Thursday night matches. This week, we see Maryse and Jillian taking on Brie and Nikki Bella, I guess in some small way following up Maryse’s defeat of Brie over a week ago. Let’s see if the Bellas manage to get some measure of revenge:
Nikki and Maryse start things off, with Nikki getting in Maryse’s face, Maryse-style, and hitting a leaping snapmare. Nikki immediately goes and tags in Brie, and the two hit a leg split maneuver than sends Maryse flipping backwards. Brie goes for the pin and gets a 2-count. Right out of the pin, Maryse takes control, nailing Brie in the stomach and bringing her to her team’s corner and tagging in Jillian.
Jillian gets some licks in before backing Brie into the ropes, grabbing fistfuls her of hair and talking some trash. She Irish-whips Brie into the ropes, and Nikki makes a sly tag when Brie hits her side of the ring. Brie hits a cross-body off those ropes, allowing Nikki to come in and grab a bridged pin attempt. Jillian kicks out at 2. Nikki maintains control and whips Jillian into the corner, hitting a monkey flip after yelling “Bellas baby!” on the top rope. Not sure if that’s t-shirt worthy, but I appreciate her gusto.
Nikki climbs the turnbuckle but is distracted by Maryse. Jillian takes advantage of this distraction, getting a quick shot on Nikki, hoisting her across her shoulders, and hitting a Samoan drop. Jillian goes for the pin, but only gets 2. She keeps Nikki on the mat, planting a knee into her back and pulling her backwards by her hair. She relents when the referee gets close to the requisite 5-count, and brings Nikki over to her corner, bodyslamming her and tagging in Maryse.
They both hoist up Nikki–Jillian with the hands, Maryse with the feet–and slam her back onto the mat. Maryse tries for the pin, but Nikki kicks out at 2. Maryse goes for a suplex (dangerously close to the ropes.. watch your position, girl!), but Nikki blocks it, pounding Maryse on the back and shoving her into the ropes, sending Nikki to the mat and Maryse all the way to the floor. Wait.. what just happened here? Did both girls get knocked loopy? Anywho, Maryse gets back in the ring, but not quick enough to stop Nikki from tagging in Brie.
You could say that last week’s confrontation between Maryse and Eve Torres could be described as wham, bam, thank you ma’am, but in a good way. It brought a sense of unpredictability to the feud, and packed more excitement into a few seconds than we’ve seen in this entire feud (save their intense fight at ringside two weeks ago). The feud seems to be building into something more than quick little matches and petty insults, and I’m glad for that. This week’s action, while not nearly as compelling, seems to be continuing in that same direction.
We see a video package reviewing Eve’s Divas Title win from three weeks ago. We don’t often see video packages for the Divas, so that’s cool, and it probably helped to refresh the memories of fans who don’t pay as strict attention to the Diva goings-on as we do. The package continues on to tell us more about Eve. Or, rather, illustrate what they’ve been repeating in every match of hers in recent memory. You see, Eve is Smart, Sexy, and Powerful™, has brains to back up her beauty, and has a background in Jiu-Jitsu. It’s a bit ham fisted and obvious in its attempt to get fans to embrace Eve, but at least they’re making the effort. I only wish they tried to do something about it a few weeks ago when they initially decided to push her. That way, they wouldn’t have to pack it all into a video package like it’s some Miss America profile. But hey, at least they didn’t run down her turn-ons and turn-offs.
We then cut to footage from Maryse earlier in the day. She appears to be training in Jiu-Jitsu herself, but also appears to be dressed like she’s in a Britney Spears music video, so who knows what’s going on. She does pretty well at first, hitting a few take downs. Her trainer then instructs her to sweep his feet, but she can’t, and he tells her he doesn’t think she’s trying hard enough. Maryse takes the news as you would expect–she slaps him, kicks him in the knee cap, and departs, tossing out her trademark hand gesture for good measure.
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: This is okay for what it is. It’s really simple and there’s nothing to it. That doesn’t make it a bad look because I personally think Alicia looks amazing in it. She’s the type of girl that doesn’t need flashy clothes and accessories to make herself stand out. She does that all on her own with her beauty and self confidence. 8/10
Erin: Really cute romper. I love the print and the billowy shape is something you don’t often see on Divas (or Knockouts, for that matter). Alicia looks great, and proves that a Diva doesn’t need to wear something skin-tight to look hot. Not all of them could pull off the romper look too, but Alicia looks fabulous, a perfect mixture of cute, stylish, and sexy. 9/10
Melanie: Original and different from the Diva norm, I mean could you imagine anyone else trying to pull off a romper? I love the neckline and how it is a little baggy on Alicia. However, I’m not a huge fan of the pattern — it’s a little too distracting. 6/10
Steven: Something about the pattern of this dress is off-putting to me. Reminds me of cheap wallpaper to be honest. I also don’t like the way it’s kind of billowy on top, like she just slapped a belt on and went on her way. Not a fan at all. 4/10
EVE TORRES
Cryssi: The Divas Champion didn’t score any points with that top she’s wearing but I love those jeans. I wish I had a figure as good as Eve’s so I could wear tight ass jeans. I kinda like the fact she went for a big belt buckle too. It’s different. 6/10
Erin: Tummy-baring tops always look so 90s to me, but the metallic accents and cut of the shoulders on Eve’s top certainly give it a more modern touch. I’m still not loving it, though. If only it were a bit longer.. 6/10
Melanie: I don’t like these super tiny shirts that show off the bra, which I’m guessing is the point when you’re a WWE Diva — to show some skin. However, it looks trashy. I do like the sequins on the top and the shoulders like Erin. 5/10
Steven: Eve looked great this week! I especially loved the top and the shoes. Even her hair was perfect! 9/10
Read on for more of this week’s outfits and to see who’s been branded our winner and loser.
Post-WWE Draft Raw shaped up nicely last night as for the first time in several years, we actually got some storyline for the Divas! Following the recent SmackDown route of a backstage promo followed by a match, last night’s edition of Raw managed to pack every single Raw Diva onto the show — hopefully a sign of what is to come. Did last night’s Raw start as it means to go on? Only time will tell but from last night’s episode alone, it looks like SmackDown — and TNA for that matter — could have some competition on its hands.
The night started off with Divas Champion, Eve Torres backstage doing a photoshoot with her belt, with her entrance music playing in the background. You know… as you do. I’m sure Lady Gaga has her songs playing when she does her photoshoots too, Eve! Watch below:
In comes tonight’s Raw Guest Host, Wayne Brady of err… some sort of fame unbeknownst to this Brit writer. Anyway, he is paid to tell tells Eve that she’s his favourite Diva. Just as they begin conversing, they are interrupted by Jillian who gives us another fabulous cover of ‘Fame’ from the movie of the same name… hey, it can’t be any worse than that awful remake last year! I think I’ll take Jillian over that movie, two hours wasted. Brady gets rid of Jillian in a rather funny moment [“Go, go go go… gone!”] before saying his goodbyes to Eve. And for a second there, it seems like the segment is just going to end there — another silly Jillian singing skit. But wait! As Eve returns to her photoshoot, she sees that her title is not where she left it. All of a sudden, in comes Maryse and clocks Eve with the belt before putting it over her own shoulder and posing with it.
As everyone has been mentioning, this really was an epic little segment with the belt shot being executed perfectly by both Eve and Maryse. Eve really sold it well. These days, it’s becoming rare to see physicality like that among the Divas — especially on Raw so this was a great spot that totally caught me off guard. What a creative and fun spot!
Next up is the match between Maryse and Nikki Bella:
With last week being a bust, Diva-wise, there was considerable hope (at least on my part) that the Divas would have a significant part on the big, 3-hour Draft episode of Raw. While the actual Draft picks didn’t go the way we expected or hoped, it was the action inside (and immediately outside) the ring that surpassed expectations.
This go-round, the WWE went with a new route on Diva Draft picks. Instead of any match during the night putting a Diva up for a switch, it was only Diva matches that made them eligible for the Draft. Unfortunately, since we (like most weeks) were only treated to one Divas match, that meant we only had one girl get drafted tonight. And, for being the solitary Diva drafted during the show, it was a pretty underwhelming choice, in my opinion.
But before we get into the Draft pick, let’s see how it came to be. Michelle McCool and Layla (as always, with Vickie Guerrero) teamed up to represent SmackDown, and rivals Eve Torres and Maryse repped Raw. The winning team, of course, would win a Diva Draft pick for their brand. Watch the match to see which brand is down a Diva:
Most people’s reactions to finding out that Eve and Maryse were teaming centered on shock. Of course, these types of “strange bedfellows” matches have happened before, but not usually with such a tight-knit team as their opponents and with so much at stake. Still, they played it off to perfection, with Maryse breezing right past happy-go-lucky Eve as they made their entrance, even giving her one of the “talk to the hand” gestures as she led the way. Funny though, that they’re still pretty color coordinated.
New Divas Champion, Eve Torres is featured in this ‘Over the Ropes’ video feature on WWE.com showing off her other passion, jiu-jitsu. We’ve seen Eve show off some impressive moves in the ring of late including that armbar from the top turnbuckle and now we see where she all gets it from — the legendary … Read more
Upon flicking through some of the photos on WWE.com from the current European tour, the above photo stood out to me. Inititally because it was one of the first pictures of Eve Torres as Divas Champ since winning on Monday night, but then I looked around and noticed the spectacle surrounding Eve. Looks like WWE … Read more
So Eve Torres won a Divas Championship shot last week in what was probably the least prestigious win of its kind. That’s not a slight to Eve, though, because the evening gown stipulation dragged the match down like a rusty anchor. Still, it was promising to see an actual championship match made, and we moved on to this week with Eve vs. Maryse in the cards. So, did this match surpass its dress-wrestling origins? Let’s see:
David Hasselhoff introduces the match. Eve makes her way to the ring, and she dances a bit with Hoff. Michael Cole calls this an “interesting” and “unique” way to kick off Raw. I have no idea what that means, because while Divas Championship matches may be rare, they’re not exactly “unique” fare. Maryse is next, and the match starts. Maryse gets things rolling with a vicious slap, prompting a hair-pulling exchange that the referee eventually has to break up. Maryse slips out of the ring and Eve gives chase, meeting a blow from Maryse as soon as she reaches her.
Maryse is showing more aggression than she has in a long, long time. I guess a championship defense will light a fire under anyone’s ass, but it’s nice to see her do more than run away–though she’s still doing that too. She slams Eve’s face onto the apron several times before tossing her back into the ring. Before Maryse can do anything more Eve goes on an offensive streak of her own, whipping Maryse into the corner, charging and getting an elbow to the face. Maryse tries to get in another lick but Eve again turns the tables, hitting a neckbreaker. She positions Maryse on the mat and climbs the turnbuckle, performing a beautiful moonsault.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet its mark, as Maryse rolls out of the way. Both Divas lay stagnant on the mat, and I’m pretty sure Eve knocked all the wind out of herself. God, that’s gotta hurt. Maryse laughs at her misfire, slapping her on the back of the head and standing her up for the French Kiss DDT. Even blocks it, though and, with that momentum, rolls Maryse up into an interesting bridge pin. She gets the 3-count and is the new Divas Champion. Eve celebrates while Maryse screams (in agony?).
New WWE Divas Champion, Eve Torres posted the following on her WWE Universe page just hours after winning the belt: I am still on a high! This feeling is indescribable. Who would have thought, 3 years ago when I was just interviewing for the WWE Diva Search, that I would hold the WWE Divas Championship … Read more
Congratulations to Eve Torres on becoming the new WWE Divas Champion on an edition of Raw taped in London, England earlier tonight. Eve’s title win makes some history as she becomes the first Diva Search winner to win a championship. Torres defeated Maryse, a two time Divas Champ, for the belt.
WWE has added some new Diva videos to its ‘Smart, Sexy & Powerful’ series. Last month, WWE.com uploaded videos dedicated to the likes of Michelle McCool, Mickie James and others, now we have three more for Eve Torres, Gail Kim 
and Kelly Kelly.
It seems as though they put more effort into these ones, they’re a step above the last batch for me. I particularly like Eve’s one, the narration makes her come across as a determined, serious athlete which is perfect given that she is competing for the Divas Title tonight. Watch them all below:
The rest after the cut:
Former Divas and Women’s Champion, Melina expressed who she wanted to see win tonight’s Divas Championship bout on her Twitter page last night. Looks as though Melina is backing the current champion, Maryse: Not only is she the most experienced out of the two but she is the most charismatic one. She is entertaining in … 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. Click each image to see it full-sized.
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.
As Steven is in Berwyn for SHIMMER, joining us this week as a special guest is John Canton from our family site TheJohnReport.net. He says: “Thanks to Melanie for the invite. I’m a closet Style Jury fan. I’m a straight male that loves women, but also has opinions on fashion because I was raised mostly by my two older sisters since our parents worked so much. I was also told by my dad that “the shorter the dress, the better…most of time” and those are words to live by, quite frankly. Style Jury combines two of my favorite pastimes: staring at women and writing. Now I’m doing both at once! I should add that it’s a shame we’re not writing about Mickie or Maryse since they’re my two favorites. Bad luck for me.”
So, let the proverbial runway show begin!
ALICIA FOX
Cryssi: On a night where the fashion made me die a little inside, Alicia managed to look the best and that’s not saying a whole lot. I wasn’t a huge fan of this dress but at least she managed to match her shoes to it which is a great achievement seeing as how the other divas mostly failed in this area. Small victories. 7/10
Erin: I know I’ve blasted animal print on dresses before (Rosa and Tiffany at the Hall of Fame), but this dress isn’t meant to be formal, as those were. The print suits this dress so much more because of that; it’s short, shiny, and works well on Alicia’s body. The colors are nice too–no tacky blue–and the print is able to dominate the dress without competing with various cutouts and necklines, so it doesn’t look like some busted prom dress. From the print to the color to the cut, this is a perfect look for Alicia. 9/10
John: Incredibly fit woman that can pull anything off, really. I like how short this dress was although that walk she does bothers me. It looks like an older woman with a broken hip or something. I know it’s a “sassy walk with attitude” but you need to get that checked out, girl. 7/10
Melanie: Absolutely gorgeous! This dress fits Alicia perfectly and complements her skin too. She really does look like a million bucks. I really like the detailing on the dress too… yes, it looks like bee stripes but personally, I didn’t see that until it was pointed out on Raw. I saw a fashionable, sexy dress. Perhaps one of my favourite Alicia looks ever. 10/10
THE BELLA TWINS
Cryssi: How shocking. They both wore red. These looks are basically identical except one has some fancy little crystal-esque designs on her dress. Neither of these looks are special and it’s to early in the morning for me to try and tell them apart. 5/10
Erin: The shape of Brie’s dress suits her really well, and I like that she keeps it simple and lets it work on its own. For once, the flower in the hair doesn’t look out of place. It’s a very simple but lovely look, and I can always appreciate when a Diva shows restraint when trying to look sexy. Nikki’s is almost identical to Brie’s look, but with detailing at the top. I loved the simplicity of Brie’s dress, and this dress lacks that. I feel that the Christmas tinsel-like detailing could be lost, and as Brie’s dress proves, it would be better without it. 6/10
John: Doesn’t matter what they wear, they always have that “wholesome” image to me. It’s fine, but they don’t scream sexy to me often enough. Their dresses were just okay. They have nice figures, so they can work anything they want. 7/10
Melanie: I think the Bellas looked prettier than they usually do in these red dresses but frankly, I think there’s far too much material here. I think they should have opted for something more form-fitting that shows off their bodies. This is just like a homecoming dress. 5/10
Read on for more of this week’s outfits and to see who’s been branded our winner and loser.
Last week’s Raw brought a level of disappointment that made me vow to never again underestimate the WWE’s ability to undervalue the Divas. So, maybe that’s why I’m not as disappointed by Raw as I normally would be. Sure, the match this week was based on a lame and degrading idea, but at this point I’m not expecting anything better.
I’m sure most of you have heard the saying “all dressed up and nowhere to go”, which means, in a fashion, that you’re prepared for something that’s not going to happen. This applies pretty well in this case, as Diva fans, the gluttons for punishment that they are, are continuously hoping for the best. They’re prepared for something interesting, exciting, or at the very least respectable. But if you look at the last few months of booking for the Raw Divas, you would know that it’s not going to happen–at least not anytime soon. Unless they take a hard left turn, it’ll be a while until we’re treated to something that demonstrates that the Raw bookers have an ounce of respect for the Divas. Until then, we’ll be treated to matches like the one that took place tonight. Don’t get me wrong–it wasn’t a trainwreck, but the whole idea of it speaks volumes about the respect (or lack thereof) that the Divas receive. It was close to being a perfectly acceptable match, but one addition, one finishing touch, threw it out of whack. That “touch” was totally unnecessary, and served to pretty much ruin the match for me.
The match in question was a “Dressed to Impress” battle royal, in which the winner would earn a shot at Maryse‘s Divas Championship. That’s a great idea, because we all know that the only thing that could top the awkwardness of a battle royal is a battle royal where the competitors have to wear dresses. Why were they wearing dresses! Why, to fit in with this week’s GM of course! Who is he? I don’t know, but who gives a shit, right? I say bring on the hot mess!
We’re joined at ringside by Maryse, who takes her spot at the commentary table. Surprisingly, each Diva gets her own entrance, which I assume is an effort to show off their fancy dresses. I can’t say I like any of them very much, but I don’t blame them for not pulling out the good duds–you wouldn’t want to risk ruining them when you’re tossed over the top rope. Anywho, we’re joined by Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Gail Kim, Rosa Mendes, Jillian, Katie Lea Burchill, Brie and Nikki Bella, and Eve Torres. Maryse trashes all of their looks, but puts special effort into dogging Eve. It’s not secret that she’s going to win this match; she gets the last entrance, a stare down with Maryse, and special emphasis on commentary. If that doesn’t allow you to telegraph Eve’s win from a mile away, you’re just not paying close enough attention.
The match starts and the Divas break off into pairs, all except Rosa, who charges at the Bellas and pretty much jumps out of the ring. It’s a messy exchange, but the Bellas eventually complete what’s left of her journey and heave her over the ropes and out of the ring. Rosa is eliminated. Soon after, Brie and Nikki are eliminated, with Katie Lea and Alicia doing the honors. Brie & Nikki Bella are eliminated.
Now, that title may sound like I actually enjoyed the action from last night’s Raw, but anyone who watched the show would know that that just isn’t possible, unless you enjoy watching acute forms of torture. What I mean by the title is that, like last week, we always claim that the WWE’s treatment of the Raw Divas cannot possibly get any worse. I mean, we go from a 1-minute match to a 50-second match and many of us jokingly suggested that the WWE can do better than that–they can get the matches EVEN shorter! Needless to say, they met that challenge head on and delivered a match that somehow, by the grace of Zeus (who, by the way, I picture looking like Liam Neeson dressed in shimmering armor) was even shorter, more pointless, and an even greater waste of talent and time. Like I said, I’ll never underestimate the WWE again!
Now, getting into the specifics, we started the show with what was obviously an omen for how things were going to go. We are told that tonight, in keeping with the theme of the show, which was hosted by Rob Corddry and Clark Duke from “Hot Tub Time Machine”, we would be treated punished with a hot tub “match”. As it turns out, it was more of a hot tub contest, with the winner being the one who stayed in the hot tub the longest. Tiffany, Rosa Mendes, Brie Bella, and Nikki Bella are sporting bikinis and seated in a rather unhygienic looking hot tub with the night’s hosts.
Now, I know as well as you that the punchline is coming from a mile away–unattractive person enters the hot tub and chases the men away. But still, someone suggests that the winner get a shot at the Divas Championship. Great, because that’s just what we need! It’s been about a year since a man won a Divas-only distinction. We’re due, yes? Obviously, that was not meant to be taken seriously because, as you see, we’d then have Mark Henry challenging Maryse, and I don’t think anyone’s holding their breath in anticipation for that. Oh sorry, did I spoil the ending for you? Sorry. Watch the “contest” below and try to enjoy it regardless:
PART 1 
Thankfully, we went into this year’s WrestleMania with rock-bottom expectations for the Divas and thus, you couldn’t exactly be disappointed. For the second year in a row, the Divas match centered around an outlandish character and ‘comedy’ rather than giving the Divas a showcase. It’s not as though this match didn’t have some talented girls in it that could have wrestled for 3-5 minutes which seems to be all the time they had for the girls, instead this became the ‘signature move melee’ that often plagues these multi-Diva tag team matches. Lazy booking to get a cheap pop. The end, with Vickie Guerrero going over with what WWE refers to as the ‘hog splash’ on Kelly Kelly, pretty much echoed what happened last year in the Miss WrestleMania battle royal. Even with fans, critics, the Divas past and present and company officials within WWE scolding last year’s trainwreck, they evidently still haven’t learnt from their mistakes.
The show opened this year more positively than last year with Vickie and company getting a backstage promo which eventually featured cameos from Jillian and an injured Melina, the first time she’s appeared on WWE TV in 2010. I can’t recall the last time, if ever, that the Divas got to cut a promo at WrestleMania but I liked that they were given some extra attention this year. I absolutely loved the facial expressions from Alicia and Maryse in the background as Jillian was singing and my eyes were totally focused on those two. It was really lovely to see Melina get to be part of ‘Mania — I had an inkling she would somehow make a cameo because Candice did last year while she was injured. There was a nice reaction when she popped up on screen too, so nice to know she hasn’t been forgotten. Let’s not even discuss Mae Young…
Next up, it was time for the Divas bout. Watch below:
First of all, out comes Team Vickie to Michelle McCool‘s music. I’m one of those people that finds entrances interesting as I believe it tells you what WWE thinks of its Divas — who the current flavour is etc. Seeing the Divas come out to McCool’s music and seeing her front and center in the lineup was no surprise. Usually, the Diva who is announced last is the one that is the ‘star’ of the team; her being announced last as the Women’s Champ, taking precedent over the Divas Champ Maryse, was again no surprise but I still found it interesting. We know WWE loves Maryse but in the long run, McCool really is becoming top dog for the Divas roster entirely. Next out are the babyfaces and anyone who listened to the After Show last night will know that I was bewildered that the babyface team came out to Eve Torres‘ music. I know she’s the current flavour of the month over on Raw but going by the fact that Beth Phoenix was the one that was front and center and announced last, which are my two tell-tale signs, why did they come out to Eve’s music? Surely they should’ve come out to Beth’s music? Nit-picking, I know and it’s hardly a big deal but still, this kind of stuff interests me and in this case, baffles me.