Through the month of December, you voted for your favourite Divas and moments of 2008 and now the results are in! The results will be posted throughout the day, so keep checking back!
BEST GIMMICK
And the nominees are:
– Awesome Kong
– The Beautiful People
– Beth Phoenix
– The Bella Twins
– Jillian
Continue for the result:
The year 2008 is literally coming to a close all around the world as we speak, so Diva Dirt would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! And of course, as with any major holiday, the Divas have been gussied up and posed for a few photos to celebrate the occasion. Maria, Kelly Kelly, … Read more
We’ve got a whole mess of Christmassy Divas, as WWE as added numerous photos to their “Divas Holiday Spectacular” photoshoot. Beth Phoenix, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Eve Torres, Jillian Hall, Lillian Garcia, Mickie James, Tiffany, and Victoria have all put their own spin on the red and green to mixed, but interesting, results. Hey, where … Read more
This week on SmackDown, we’ve got some tag team Diva action. Looking to keep their victorious streak alive, Brie & Nikki Bella take on Maryse & Natalya: THE BELLA TWINS VS. MARYSE & NATALYA
We’ve seen our fair share of random props in WWE.com photoshoots, but maybe none as awkward as this: a piñata? Now I know Brie Bella, the lucky Diva lugging it around, is of partial Mexican descent, but is that enough to include such a visual non-sequitor? Nevertheless, “Piñata Princess”, as this photoshoot has been dubbed, … Read more
This week, the Michelle McCool, Brie Bella, & Nikki Bella take on Victoria, Maryse, & Natalya in a Six Diva tag team match. Keep a look out for a new (maybe improved?) side of Michelle: MICHELLE MCCOOL & THE BELLA TWINS VS. VICTORIA, MARYSE, & NATALYA
This Thursday is the great American holiday of Thanksgiving, and the Divas are celebrating in the only way they (seemingly) know how – dressing sexily and posing for pictures! Hoorah! Anywho, Candice, Michelle, Jillian, Kelly, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Melina, & Victoria, have dressed in their Thankgiving best – which, with their level of creativity, … Read more
Diva duo photoshoots are often pretty interesting, and Brie & Nikki Bella‘s second dual photoshoot “Pair in Pink”, is still pretty cool. However, it’s easy to tell that this could get old pretty quick. I mean, how much more can you do other than the back-to-back pose? Granted, they could always get a bit more … Read more
Last week on SmackDown: The Bella Twins were revealed as Brie beat Victoria in one on one action. And Michelle McCool continues to be “frenemies” with Maria.
Thoughts & Reactions
First of all, welcome back to the Redux feature at Diva Dirt! Our weekly Raw and SmackDown Reduxes have been in limbo for the past few weeks, I’ve been so busy and haven’t had a chance to write the column. But things seem to have settled down now and I’m back in a routine so the Reduxes are back too! I felt particularly compelled to write a review of last week’s SmackDown because I felt it was an awesome show Diva-wise. So let’s take a closer look…
Welcome to Friday night folks, the home of the best Divas action you’ll see each week. There are a lot of fans out there who watch Raw every single week and don’t watch SmackDown at all. Whether they go out on Friday night or they agree with the mantra that SmackDown is the B-show, who knows. But if you’re one of those people and you’re reading this, I strongly urge you, as a Diva fan, to start tuning into Friday Night SmackDown. Last week’s SmackDown was one of the best of the year and trust me, there’s been some great episodes to choose from in ’08. For storyline purposes, I would rank last Friday’s show very highly. It’s been a long, long time since the Divas on either brand have had a fully fledged storyline and that’s exactly what’s unfolding on SmackDown at the moment. In the main plot we have Divas Champion, Michelle McCool and Maria. And in a sub-plot we have the Bella Twins. It seems that WWE is hinting at a third plot too, Eve’s journey to become a wrestler. There’s a little something for everybody! SmackDown has really upped it’s game and all of our gorgeous SmackDown Divas are getting decent ring time and promo time each week.
Let’s start off with Michelle and Maria, who will go head to head this coming Friday for the Divas Championship. This plot is very intriguing to me and I haven’t really written much about it thus far, but for the first time in a long, long time we have an actual Divas storyline and one that is rather unpredictable at that. Since the Mickie-Trish feud going into WrestleMania 22, there hasn’t really been a big Divas storyline that’s festered over weeks and that’s exactly what this has become. However unlike that feud, which was predictable – I mean we all knew Mickie would turn on Trish – there’s no real indication in this one. For the past few weeks fans have been speculating that Michelle’ll turn heel after reading spoilers, however when the actual show airs, her comments – while sort of mean – don’t come across as too heel-ish. Despite implying that Maria is dumb, Michelle still manages to come across as a friendly face. So it’s anyone’s guess if Michelle will actually turn heel. Because to be really honest, I have no idea where this is going and you know what… I love it!
As for the actual segment, I thought Michelle looked smokin’ hot from head-to-toe, I loved her look. Her hair looked fabulous. I remember a few weeks back I said that Michelle’s line delivery was almost robotic and she had no charisma – well I’m pleased to say that I think she came across very well in this segment. I liked the little quip at the end to Maria, “Don’t get carried away now”, sounded good. Her acting was a vast improvement. I also thought there was some irony to Michelle’s line, “She’s a Playboy covergirl and that’s what she does best…”, because that sort of describes WWE’s whole hiring process when it comes to Divas. And it actually rings true for Maria, that is what she does best. Bless her cotton socks but she’s not the best wrestler, but extremely popular nonetheless for other things she’s done.
I think this is the second time also that WWE has hinted at getting Eve in the ring and I’m looking forward to it, more the merrier, I say! A few weeks ago there was the backstage segment with Vickie and now with Michelle. It’s great to see the writers building Eve up to her eventual in-ring debut rather than just thrusting her into the ring and going, ‘Hey, the backstage interviewer wrestles now’. By having her do these segments saying she wants to get in the ring, she wants to train, they’re building her up for that eventual in-ring debut. SmackDown has proven that you can have a large Divas roster but find a way to use them all on a weekly basis and make them relevant to the product, so Eve’ll fit right in.
The match between Victoria and Brie was once again, good. They’ve had quite a few match-ups now and this one was just as good as the others. I think the big pay-off here was the twin reveal, which was nicely done. I liked the symmetry of the two sisters performing the same moves at the same time! I guess we’ve got a built-in feud now: The Bellas vs the BFFs. Plus we also have that underlying storyline teaming the twins with Carlito & Primo. I like the idea of these four being one big Latin group, SmackDown does have a huge Latin demographic so they could get crazy over.
Really fun week, last week. This week the attention turns to the Divas Championship, Michelle vs Maria. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get two Divas matches with the tag team match also. In which case, the show would be loaded! Looking forward to it!
The newly revealed Bella Twins are contributing to a not-so-slow news weekend; as Nicole has been given her very own SmackDown profile at WWE.com and evidently, is now going under the name of Nikki Bella. And if that’s not enough for you, WWE.com has even posted a whole photoshoot featuring the twins for those of … Read more
SmackDown really delivered a great night of Diva action for this week’s show. Brie Bella facing off against Victoria plus a backstage segment with Eve, Michelle and Maria. Check it out below! And allow me to take a second to gush over how gorgeous Michelle looked this week! I loved her hair! EVE, MICHELLE & … Read more
On a Halloween edition of SmackDown, the Divas donned their costumes from Cyber Sunday in a six Diva tag team match. Brie Bella, Maria and Michelle McCool faced Maryse, Natalya and Victoria. HALLOWEEN COSTUME SIX DIVA TAG MATCH
You kind of had to figure that Team Blue would have their Divas dressed in costumes this week, because duh, Halloween is on Friday! And well, in Victoria‘s latest MySpace blog, she reveals that not only the funniest, but nastiest fruit of them all (Josie cannot stand bananas) will indeed make a cameo: Seriously! How … Read more
Finally, SmackDown’s newest Diva Brie Bella has her own WWE.com photoshoot! Entitled “Radiant Red”, it’s a bit different from regular shoots. For one, she’s wearing a full-length skirt, and I think those are so few and far between in the WWE, they might as well be extinct. I think it’s a little too “salsa dancer” … Read more
With Cyber Sunday Halloween Costume Contest set to go down this Sunday, I felt inspired to assign costumes to each participating Diva. Although several Divas have already shared what their costume will be, I’ve gone ahead and came up with my own ideas, making sure to avoid the more cliche and skanky costumes. I mean, I don’t know how many times you can see a sexy nurse before losing your mind. Without further adieu, take a look at the costume options below and cast a vote for your favorite! No text messaging fee here, folks
This week’s SmackDown sees a Divas tag team match between Michelle McCool and Maria taking on Natalya and Maryse. Plus, a confrontation between the Divas Champion and her #1 Contender as well as Primo Colon trying to bag a date with Brie Bella.
This week on SmackDown: Maria scored an opportunity of a lifetime in a ‘Las Vegas Pole Match’, she will now face Michelle McCool for the Divas Championship.
Thoughts & Reactions
This week’s SmackDown was a real mixed bag. Here’s the thing: I thought the work from the Divas themselves was just fine, the match in terms of ring work was good but a pole match? Really? Raw has it’s battle royals and I guess SmackDown has now adopted the pole match? It was fine when they did it the first time but three times in one year – I hope this was the last one for the remainder of 2008.
Because of the pole situation, the Divas are restricted in what they can do and the match is always formulaic. We always have girls on the outside, two Divas battling it out on the turnbuckle and such. There’s no real focus on the action. The spotlight in this match was firmly on Maryse, even though she lost the match, I don’t think we’ve seen her dropped from the title picture. Even though the focus seemed to be on Maryse and Maria, I was more focussed on following Natalya and Victoria who were really going at it. Is all not well between the BFFs? There wasn’t even any focus on this from JR, which I found slightly odd, as they are supposed to be best friends but they’re going at it. I doubt WWE will pick up on this, but it could be interesting if WWE broke them up. Maybe it’d be the push Natalya needed to be a title contender? Get away from the goofy character Victoria has become? Maria took a pretty sick bump when Maryse pulled her right off the turnbuckle, kudos to her. I really loved that spot, it seems nearly every week now we’re getting these Divas taking real risks and making the action that much more intense. I love that we have Divas who aren’t the best wrestlers as willing to take risks as the likes of Victoria. Brie Bella also took a hit, going into the ring post. Two very good spots that made this match a little more memorable.
The backstage segment with Michelle and Maria was nicely done if a little odd. Obviously they cut out some stuff, because in the spoilers we had Michelle talking about how she’s a competitor. It seems they cut that – maybe because it did come across as heel-ish as I suspected. Instead, they went the route where Michelle respects Maria. But then here’s where it gets really interesting: That cheek pinch? It came across as slightly bitchy and slightly heel-ish. I do hope it amounts to nothing because if you ask me, Michelle is the top face Diva of SmackDown and fills the role really well. I don’t want her to turn heel. As for Michelle’s promo skills lol, stiff as a board. She may have improved in the ring, but her line delivery (as some have pointed out) was almost robotic. Her accent isn’t the most appealing either.
As for the earlier segment with Maryse and Vickie, I have always said it’s kind of endearing when Maryse messes up when speaking English. I find it cute.
So Maria scores a title shot, so where do we go from here? Everyone thought Maryse had this one down. I think the Maria vs Michelle match will end up taking place next week with Maryse interfering and costing Maria the match, continuing her feud with Michelle. This could end up being a triple threat situation or just a forum for Maryse to upstage Michelle again. We’ll see next week!
The most interactive deceptive pay-per-view of the year returns! Two Diva-related events have been scheduled for Cyber Sunday, which takes place in two weeks. Rock the vote to decide: • Choose which teams will go one-on-one in a Pick the Tag Team Match. Choose from one of the following matches: – Tag Team Champs Cody … Read more
On last night’s episode of FCW, Raw’s Kelly Kelly showed up to host a Diva-flavoured “twist off” competition and in true Diva fashion, it resulted in a catfight! Among the girls involved were the Bella Twins, a very fierce Roucka, Alicia Fox and honestly I couldn’t tell you who the others were. Maybe some of … Read more
This week on SmackDown: Brie Bella continued her sneaky ways as she scored a victory over Natalya thus remaining undefeated. Meanwhile, Victoria got a big shock from Hornswoggle!
Thoughts & Reactions
An okay week for SmackDown, if a little uninspiring. I was expecting (and looking forward to) the aftermath of Maryse costing Michelle the Champion vs Champion match last week on the All Star Kick-Off, instead these two Divas were nowhere to be seen. Sucks! But I won’t complain too much, because I did enjoy the match between Brie Bella and Natalya. I like both of these Divas and they both seem to have a lot of potential in the WWE.
This match started off shaky and got better as it went on, Brie looked green at the start with an awkward crossbody from the middle turnbuckle. But things did pick up and reminded me how much I missed seeing Natalya in the ring! When I read the spoilers for this week’s show, I thought what on earth are WWE doing by burying Natalya like this? Well it wasn’t like so, I think they did a good job of having Natalya look confused and Brie getting an upset because of this. I really love seeing Natalya in the ring and she seems to bring out the best of lesser workers and I felt this was another example, the match got better and proved to be entertaining at the end. I know many of you don’t like me comparing Natalya to Beth Phoenix, but I think they have similar backgrounds and similar looks. What I love about Natalya is that she really shows fire and intensity in the ring and this was on display on SmackDown, slapping Brie around and taunting her. That’s something we don’t see from Raw’s Beth. Natalya really uses the ring well and knows what she’s doing moreso than most of the Divas in WWE. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think she’s the best women’s wrestler on the roster. That clothesline looked sick! Anyone who can perfect the simplest of moves and make them look so effective is on the right track to becoming a future star.
As for the end with Victoria and Hornswoggle, very entertaining and funny. Plus it threw off the ‘big reveal’, I’m not sure when they’re gonna go for the reveal but hopefully soon! I loved that little wink from Brie (or Nicole?) when she came out of the other side of the ring, kinda cocky! Anyway, a decent outing for the Divas though not completely enthralling.
WWE’s developmental territory debuted it’s brand new television series on Sunday in Florida. The first episode of Florida Championship Wrestling featured a six person tag team match starring SmackDown’s Brie Bella and former SmackDown star whose current status seems to be up in the air, Alicia Fox. Hopefully, we’ll keep posting the weekly Divas action … Read more
Okay, it’s not really an exclusive, I just wanted to go for a fun tabloid-esque title! As has been much reported online recently, the Bella Twins – Brie and Nicole – are featured in the November 2008 issue of WWE Magazine in a feature on FCW. Of course this ruins the current SmackDown storyline. Anyhoo, … Read more
Every week, we have comments with people discussing the weekly SmackDown Divas matches on YouTube before they air on television. Usually, we wait till the SmackDown Redux to discuss the matches but we’ve decided that each week, we will post the matches from the show right here every Friday for you to watch and discuss. … Read more
This week on SmackDown: Michelle McCool toppled Maryse once more in a Divas Championship rematch. Brie Bella and Maria ran into Natalya and Victoria. And even Eve Torres teased she wanted in on the action!
Thoughts & Reactions
Last night’s Friday Night SmackDown proved exactly what I’ve been saying about the SmackDown women’s division for so long now… it’s superior. For months I’ve touted that SmackDown provides the best Divas entertainment of the week, fun matches, likable Divas, great chemistry and last night’s show, to me, was a seminal episode. For those who don’t know what seminal means:
highly original and influencing the development of future events: a seminal artist; seminal ideas.
That’s exactly what I felt about last night’s Divas action on SmackDown. The Divas Championship match between Michelle McCool and Maryse was a seminal moment in SmackDown’s Diva history. That match tore it down! I really enjoyed their work at Unforgiven and when I first read the spoilers, I thought “How are they gonna top that?” but they did in a huge way. I loved the Unforgiven match and I loved this match, I want to say it was better than Unforgiven and in many ways it was, but both matches were very different and focussed on different things. I guess if it came down to it, I would say last night’s match was better but the two matches were very different: Unforgiven was more about telling a story, having in-ring psychology whereas this match was more fast paced and action packed. It depends on what you like to see in the ring in deciding which you preferred. The SmackDown match was incredibly action packed, so much fun to watch and the work was incredible. I’m sure they edited some stuff, but in all you can’t fake great ring presence and you can’t fake comfortability in the ring – these two are no Victoria or Mickie James – but they exuded ring presence and comfortability, which cannot be edited into a show.
Seeing how well Maryse and Michelle used their surroundings (the ring, the ring ropes), it made me feel as though I was watching a match between two veterans. Both of these Divas worked so hard and the work was fantastic. There were several great spots in this match and I was honestly blown away, just when I thought they’d let down, they got even better. The match was given a great length, had many different spots and felt like ‘must see television’. I love that Michelle is using the ‘Wings of Love’ again, it’s a great move and a nice fitting end to this match. Would I have Maryse and Michelle continue to feud? No. Michelle has two victories over Maryse now, I think it’s time to move on. I honestly think these two are 2-for-2 in their singles matches and I wouldn’t want them to ruin the great work they’ve had together by having loads more singles matches together. If and when Part 3 takes place, I would want it to mean something like Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong. I felt really proud watching this match, as though my allegiance to the SmackDown women’s division was rewarded.
Later in the evening, we got Eve Torres teasing that she too, could be making her in-ring debut in a segment with Vickie Guerrero and the Big Show. How do I feel about this? The more the merrier! If she is decent in the ring, why not? I’m excited to see her wrestle if and when she makes her in-ring debut.
The backstage segment between the four other Divas was another display of fine work, this time not of in-ring ability, but promo ability. Seems as though newbie, Brie Bella is just as good at cutting promos as she is in the ring. As for Maria, I think after posing for Playboy, she needs to drop the ditzy gimmick and it seemed she tried to go back to that on SmackDown. It doesn’t really work, if you ask me. She needs to find a new niche. Natalya and Victoria were entertaining as ever and I love that this segment actually promoted a match for next week. Will Nicole finally be revealed?
If you ask me, this week’s Divas action was fantastic and perhaps I am being biased, but it proved to me just why I look forward more to Friday nights than Monday nights.
Every week, we have comments with people discussing the weekly SmackDown Divas matches on YouTube before they air on television. Usually, we wait till the SmackDown Redux to discuss the matches but we’ve decided that each week, we will post the matches from the show right here every Friday for you to watch and discuss. … Read more
This week on SmackDown: Michelle McCool and team mates, Brie Bella and Maria picked up a pin fall victory over Maryse, Natalya and Victoria in six Diva action.
Thoughts & Reactions
A few weeks ago when I said Natalya is being treated as the new Victoria, boy was I right. Despite all the hype surrounding her arrival and an initial push, Natalya has been pushed behind Maryse and Victoria behind Natalya. There was a time when during entrances, the heel Divas would come out to Natalya’s music and she’d be the centre Diva with Victoria and Maryse on either side of her – it’s evident that Maryse is now being pushed as the top Diva on SmackDown. As beautiful and talented as she may be, there is no stronger heel on among the SmackDown Divas – hell, there isn’t a stronger heel among any of the WWE Divas – than Natalya. Natalya excels at every part of the Diva package; she’s hot, has a great entrance, is comfortable on the microphone, oozes confidence and above all else – is an amazing wrestler. Natalya’s skills not only undermine most of the Divas, but most of the men too. I dare say, Natalya has been a more effective heel than Beth Phoenix in her short time in the company. It’s sad to see her being pushed aside, WWE doesn’t know what it’s missing.
After seeing Brie so impressive in the ring against Victoria, it was time to truly bring her into the ‘Diva fold’, by having her team up with Michelle and Maria. Not only did she team up with them, but scored the win for her team. Since Brie joined SmackDown, she seemed to fit like hand to glove and I am really enjoying the gimmick WWE is doing. It’s not very often the Divas get a gimmick or an actual storyline, so Brie is definitely one of the luckier Divas of the pack. Against Victoria, she had two great matches and I think it’s a definite admission to Victoria’s extraordinary in-ring ability because this week, against Maryse, Brie faltered. Both of these Divas are still learning and growing, so putting them in the ring together isn’t effective. The work between these two felt sloppy, whereas Brie seemed to work great with Victoria and performed a great monkey flip on Natalya. Perhaps Brie needs to be led in her matches?
Michelle and Natalya have great chemistry and I love seeing them in the ring together (minus that awful Great American Bash match), I liked their start to the match. Michelle seems really polished in the ring and has ring presence and to me, that’s what sets her apart and makes her the best wrestler to come out of the Diva Search. I think Erin pointed out something about how it looks odd when Michelle does the “big boot”, personally I love it. It’s such an un-Diva thing to do which is why it stands out to me, not to mention Michelle has the height to pull it off.
As for our Maria? She wanted to pull off a few complicated moves this week, but Maria has yet to work the basics. Maria really should concentrate on those first and not try to mask her lack of basic wrestling skills by pulling off flashy moves. It didn’t work for Kelly Kelly and it doesn’t work for Maria. Maria’s timing is slow, I felt like I was waiting ages for her to pull off an inside cradle on Natalya.
Here’s a thought: How about one of these days, when Brie and Nicole switch places, Nicole actually wrestles for a little bit before getting the win? I’d love to see Brie and Nicole switch mid-match, so Nicole can wrestle a bit too. Maybe they chose Brie to run the angle because she’s a better worker? We’ll see. I don’t know why Michelle’s music played at the end, it’s usually the person who got the pin fall whose music plays. Decent effort by all, I liked the match.