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Unwrapped: Eye Candy for the Week of February 22nd, 2010

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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!

Eve Torres‘ Close Knit
Grade: Sweet. According to Shad Gaspard, she’s the hottest Diva in the WWE and looking at this photoshoot — we can see why. Eve brings sexy, glamorous and girl next door into a single photoshoot with ‘Close Knit’. The Diva, wearing a navy blue knitted sweater dress doesn’t look overtly sexual, but manages to bring the sexy anyway. With an outfit like this and legs like that, Eve doesn’t really rely on posing as much and some of her poses may seem a little boring. But overall, this is a sexy photoshoot!
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Maria‘s Curtain Call
Grade: Sour. Who will do a photoshoot every single week now that Maria’s gotten the axe? In her final photoshoot for WWE, Maria gave us all the things we’ve become accustomed to in her pictorials: pouty lips and outlandishly garish outfits. Unfortunately, Maria’s patented gloves didn’t get to make their curtain call. It’s all you’ve come to expect from Maria and honestly, that’s not a good thing. Nonetheless, au revoir Maria!
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Read more to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots. 

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In Audio: Maria Kanellis’ First Post-WWE Interview on ‘Special Delivery Show’

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Making her first public appearance since her WWE release yesterday, Maria Kanellis joined the Special Delivery Show on XM satellite radio just under an hour ago to speak for the first time on her departure and also premiered in full, for the first time, her debut single ‘Fantasy’. In the interview, Maria said she believes … Read more

Maria Responds to WWE Release

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Maria posted the following on her Twitter page: Alright guys let’s talk. I did not ask for my release. I was released. I am still going to kick ass in other areas!! I am excited about the future! But I am sad about never getting the Championship. I am sad about not getting the chance … Read more

Maria Released

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WWE has announced the release of SmackDown Diva, Maria Kanellis. The shock announcement comes just hours after Maria competed on WWE Superstars last night. Kanellis has been with the company since 2004 and won the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year last December. Maria has already filmed a skit for NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice … Read more

SmackDown Redux Does WWE Superstars (Feb. 25th, 2010): The Dynasty Continues

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The Hart Dynasty, led by Natalya, continued their winning ways over the oddball team of Maria, Matt Hardy and The Great Khali this week on WWE Superstars. After beating the trio last week on SmackDown, the Harts handed the group another loss. I’m sure Uncle Bret being on Raw has nothing to do with their … Read more

SmackDown Redux (February 20th, 2010): A Bit of This, A Bit of That

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After concentrating on a single storyline for the past few months, this week’s SmackDown felt more in line with the mixed bag that we once saw on SmackDown pre-Diva Trade. There was a little bit of this mixed with a little bit of that and it just felt like WWE were trying to accomplish all too much with the Divas without any real substance to it ala a time when we had Michelle/Melina, Maria/Ziggler and Maria/Melina. It may seem cool to indulge in all of the Divas but after growing accustomed to a single storyline developing over weeks with plenty of effort, it feels like a step back to me.

First of all this week, we have new Women’s Champion Mickie James backstage with Vickie Guerrero apologising for last week’s incident:

Mickie comes into the office to apologise to GM consultant, Guerrero over the splatting incident last week but Vickie isn’t so accepting. She tells Mickie that she’ll face Michelle McCool next week, defending her Women’s Championship and the catch is that Vickie will be special guest referee. As I’ve been mentioning in the past couple of weeks, I really love the use of Vickie in the Divas storylines because she’s a woman herself and is in power, so it’d make sense for her to have a vested interest. It’s also interesting to have a storyline where the heel GM kind of exerts her authority over one of the talents and kind of makes their life hell — if done right, this could be a fun Diva version of Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon. My only fear would be that Vickie overshadows a ‘real’ Divas storyline. I could totally see them going for a gimmick match of Mickie vs Vickie at WrestleMania. While a step up from Santina last year, it would once again cheat us out of our desire to have a competitive, great Divas match on that big event and this year it seemed we were so close with the Mickie/Beth/Michelle storyline.

Speaking of which, once again Beth is noticeably absent from SmackDown despite being part of a big angle at the Royal Rumble and then being part of a big moment in the storyline the week after. I don’t know if there’s a bigger backstage thing going on here but I don’t know what else could explain them dropping the ball like this. There really is no excuse to just stop what was great development for Beth. Such a waste.

Next up, we have six person tag team action:

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Maria on Trish Stratus: ‘She Was Fearless’

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SmackDown Diva and aspiring singer, Maria has bestowed her praise upon legendary Diva, Trish Stratus calling the 7-time Women’s Champ ‘fearless’. Speaking to the Daily Record in the UK, she says: “She was fearless,” said Maria. “She really changed the face and perception of women’s wrestling. “Seeing her inspired me to enter a competition for … Read more

Maria Takes Gloves Off on ‘Apprentice’ Co-Star

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As an aspiring singer, SmackDown Diva Maria Kanellis no doubt looked up to Grammy-award winning singer, Cyndi Lauper — that is until she met her. Kanellis, who will co-star with Lauper on The Celebrity Apprentice, told an Arizona radio station that Lauper was ‘mean’ according to the Wrestling Globe Newsletter: “It was more like, girls … Read more

Unwrapped: Eye Candy for the Week Ending February 6th, 2010

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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!

Brie & Nikki Bella‘s Bella Bowl II
Grade: Bland. This is the second in a series where the Bellas dress up in support of the two teams competing in the Super Bowl. This may be only the second time they’ve done this, but it’s probably the 75th time they’ve done the “sexy sports” thing, so it’s nothing that hasn’t been done over and over. What’s interesting is the cute “trash talking” poses–that’s what these shoots should be like. I’m not digging the football pants and heels combo, nor is the beer hat look very cute. Still, it’s nice to see Brie and Nikki play off each other like they do in a few shots. I’d much prefer a shoot full of that than trying to look sexy while doing the Heisman pose–save that type of originality for every chick competing in the Lingerie Bowl. Gotta say, though, that I’m on Nikki’s side on this one. Geaux Saints!
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Jillian‘s Ripped to Threads
Grade: Sweet. Jillian’s style, despite her colorful and over-the-top personality, has always been on the simple side. There’s nothing wrong with that, though at times I’ve found her ring gear choices to be a bit uninspired. This is the first one I’ve really liked–the blue is really pretty, and the stitched portions are a nice interesting touch that don’t look tacky as they could if done in a less subtle way. Her makeup and hair are gorgeous in an understated way. Similarly, Jillian’s poses in this soot are rather simple, but she looks more natural here than she has in a long time. With such relaxed poses, this shoot almost seems the polar opposite of what we think of when we see Jillian, but I like that. Sure, the poses could stand to be a bit more exciting, but I’ll take anything that’s not a “duck lips” pose. It’s this type of natural feel that I like to see from Divas–funny that it’s coming from one of the most outlandish Divas, in terms of personality.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Read more to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots.

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Maria Reveals Album Details

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As reported earlier in the month, SmackDown’s Maria Kanellis will release her debut EP ‘Sevin Sins’ on April 13th and in a new blog at WWE Universe, she has revealed some more details about the record including the first single she will be releasing. She writes: My ALBUM!! Ahhhh…. one of my dreams is finally … Read more

Can SmackDown Give the Women’s Division Its Respect Back?

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In the past few years many people have [wrongly] assumed that the lackluster women’s division in WWE is due to the Divas themselves. With no Trish Stratus or Lita leading the pack, the division has admittedly waned but I would argue, it’s not because of the women in it. It’s because of the writing. In a post-Trish era, it all went downhill. Not to toot her horn too much, but it’s true — Trish was seemingly the only Diva that WWE had full confidence in carrying a real storyline, developing it for several months, engaging the viewer and delivering that great blow-off match that we all anticipate. When she left, the effort stopped.

It’s not that any one of the girls can’t do the same, they just haven’t been given the opportunity to. Storylines that once spanned months now span weeks, matches on Raw — once home of the coveted Women’s Championship — are now usually half as long and half as exciting. The audience itself, paying customers, have stopped lapping up the Divas action and instead feel something apathy and indifference. You may have your own arguments as to why Diva A or Diva B aren’t over but my argument is this: the audience, you know the ones that pay for the honour, don’t care because WWE has given them little reason to care over the years. Any one of those girls could be over if WWE gave them the attention to detail in character that they gave Trish, the same effort in storylining that they gave Trish and had a little confidence in the girls to do their own thing, like they did Trish.

While many have switched over to TNA or perhaps SHIMMER, it’s been a long road but hope isn’t lost. WWE does know how to do women’s wrestling because they’ve done it before and it seems, they may be looking to do it again. Last week’s segment on Friday Night SmackDown was easily the best thing the Divas have done in quite some time — the closest thing to the original ‘golden era’ of Divas that is so treasured.

This segment to me is the biggest milestone for the Divas division in years. It showed that the “smart, powerful and sexy” tagline isn’t just a load of BS. It showed a confidence in the Divas that has been less than visible of the years. And it showed that the girls can tell great stories too.

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Unwrapped: Eye Candy for the Week Ending January 23rd, 2010

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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!

Brie & Nikki Bella‘s Bronzed
Grade: Sweet. For all their matchy-matchy photoshoots, the Bellas usually find a way to differentiate their looks. Here, Nikki’s wearing boots while Brie’s got on heels. Both go great with the dress, which is quite pretty on its own. It’s rather simple in design, but the shiny bronze color looks spectacular against their skin and hair, and the requisite flower in the hair is a pretty cream color that compliments the rest of the outfit greatly, not looking as tacked-on as their “hair flowers” have in the past. The poses aren’t very exciting, but I love the different ways they pose with one another. The poses may not always work, but it’s cute to see them leaning on one another as they often do, and the chair poses (that would probably look awkward with any other pair of Divas) are cool too. Cute outfit, cute poses? It might not make for a groundbreaking shoot, but I think that makes for a nice Bella twins shoot. I guess the old adage applies here–two heads are better than one–because if this were occurring with only one Diva (the outfit and particularly the stoic poses), it wouldn’t be half as interesting.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Katie Lea‘s Redrum
Grade: Bland. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Katie Lea shoot (thanks to her ECW departure, I’m sure), but now she’s back to her old tricks–literally. This shoot is no different than the dozens we’ve seen before–spooky makeup, creepy poses, dark clothing. That said, it’s her forté, so she certainly does it well, but it’s just not that exciting when you’ve seen it so many times before. I’m not asking her to dramatically change her look, not at all. But it would probably help add some excitement to her photoshoots if she branched out into different clothing–still the same gothic feel, but more than just a top and trousers. Most Divas are able to mix up their looks without forsaking their characters, so it shouldn’t be impossible for Katie to do the same. She’s clearly perfected this photoshoot shtick, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t ever waver from it.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Read more to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots.

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SmackDown Redux (January 22nd, 2010): Seminal Moment for SmackDown

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It’s official: this is where women’s wrestling is at. SmackDown, in my humble estimation, is now the premiere series to be watching if you are looking for women’s wrestling on your televisual boxes. That was never more evident than tonight’s episode, where despite not even having a match, SmackDown proved that it is the show that everyone should be watching. Compelling storylines, well written characters and great performances — it’s hard not to do double-take. This is WWE, right? Despite the recent years of fluff and disappointment, WWE have delivered perhaps one of their strongest Divas storylines in quite some time and this week’s show is a seminal moment in what I expect will be a turning of the tide. There’s nothing Diva-y about this week’s SmackDown, to spin the old line used by WCW — this is where the big girls play.

Beginning this week’s Divas action, we saw the debut of Serena Mancini in what may go down as one of the most memorable debuts in Diva history.

PART 1

PART 2

Serena appears as a fan jumping the barricade during another scintilating straight edge promo from CM Punk, claiming she needs him. He says she knows he needs him. Honestly, the initial dialogue was as cheesy as a Twilight movie and I was expecting Punk to throw in a “You are my life now” at some point. That said, it did get better and Punk is golden at his whole shtick. We see Serena willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and denounce her life of addiction etc. and has her shaved head in the name of her saviour, Punk.

All in all, I think this was a good segment and Serena played the cult-like psycho very well. It’ll be interesting to see how she’s used from here with her bald head. I hope this works out for her, it’s a great sacrifice to make but she’s in the big leagues now. I hope she didn’t sacrifice this just to be the glorified bald manager for Punk’s Straight Edge Society. The setup of that group doesn’t really suggest to me that it’ll have a typical manager/wrestler dynamic ala Hart Dynasty. I expect we’ll see Serena actually getting nitty-gritty and I look forward to it. Perhaps she herself could target a Diva and try to ‘help’ them?

Next up, Mickie’s ‘going away’ party:

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In Video: Kelly Kelly and Maria on Sky Sports News

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As we mentioned on Twitter earlier this week, Divas Kelly Kelly and Maria joined the Sky Sports News broadcast on Thursday in the UK. The duo were in London to promote the Royal Rumble on January 31st. Watch the interview below:

Again, another fun interview and both girls bounced off each other and showed personality.

I believe Kelly was on Sky Sports 1’s Soccer AM this morning, so I’ll add a clip here when it hits YouTube. It’s now on YouTube:

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Maria Looking to Leave WWE?

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A precariously worded article at The Sun suggests that SmackDown Diva, Maria may be ‘eyeing her WWE farewell’. The recent Slammy-award winning Diva spoke on Sky Sports News yesterday, which is cited in the piece: TAKE one last lingering look at these snaps of stunning Maria Kanellis — because she might not be a WWE … Read more

Maria Reveals Album Title and Release Date

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SmackDown Diva, Maria Kanellis will release her debut EP entitled ‘Sevin Sins’ on April 13th. The album will feature pop-rock songs. The title, a pun on the phrase ‘seven sins’, is dedicated to her partner Vin. Fellow SmackDown Diva, Mickie James will also release her debut country album this March, while former Diva Lilian Garcia … Read more

Maria on Apprentice: Official Cast Announcement, First Cast Photo

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NBC officially confirmed today, the cast for the third season of The Celebrity Apprentice. As previously leaked, our own Diva, Maria Kanellis is one of the names competing along with Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper and former WCW star Bill Goldberg. Peep the official cast photo below featuring the contestants with Donald Trump. Filming on the … Read more

Second Divas Match Cut from Tonight’s SmackDown (+ Video Clip)

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A second Divas match taped for tonight’s episode of SmackDown was cut from the broadcast, it seems. A six person tag team match saw Diva of the Year, Maria team with Slam Master J and Jimmy Wang Yang against Natalya‘s team, The Hart Dynasty. According to spoilers for the taping, Natalya attacked Maria after the … Read more

SmackDown Redux (December 25th, 2009) – A Christmas Corker

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Santa has delivered this week’s SmackDown early, hurrah! So instead of interrupting your Christmas Day celebrations, and mine, I thought I’d write the Redux tonight instead.

This week’s Christmas Day edition of SmackDown was sort of like a Christmas cracker — someone gets a prize but someone has to lose. It’s all very bittersweet. That’s how I felt about this week’s edition of SmackDown. On the one hand, the blue brand once again delivered gripping Divas action that will leave you on tenterhooks until next week but on the other hand, there was an over-abundance of that God awful ‘Piggie James’ crap to boot. I’d like to think however, that by all the Divas action was said and done — the Christmas edition of SmackDown was quite the corker!

Let’s start off with the backstage segment in which Michelle McCool and Layla give Mickie James a Christmas gift:

So Michelle and Layla present Mickie with a Jenny Craig gift certificate and it’s very evident that whoever wrote this put more effort into coming up with the ‘Christmas ham’ line than most things they do with the Divas. The creative new ways they seem to find every week to insult Mickie goes to show that when they actually care, the writers put in effort. It’s a shame what they care about is ridiculing a long time, valuable employee on national television every fucking week. The end of the segment sees a long gazing shot at Mickie who is clearly upset by McCool and Layla’s ‘gift’.

As for the acting in this segment, despite what was being said, I thought McCool and Layla had good delivery. Though the unison chanting with hands in the air has already gotten old. As horrible as it may be, the attention that this storyline has gotten week to week, has to be something of a motivator to Michelle because I feel she’s stepped up her game in recent weeks in the acting department. She does sell the part well and I think this could be the storyline that finally draws her heat from the crowd.

Next up, we have a Divas tag team match.

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Maria Thinks Twitter Helped in Slammy Win

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Diva of the Year, Maria has revealed how she believes her 32,000+ Twitter followers helped her to her shocking Slammy win a week ago today. Speaking in a behind the scenes interview with G4’s Attack of the Show, Maria says she was shocked by the win because she had been away ‘working on a charity’ … Read more

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