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Jillian Hall

Jillian Will Steal Your Soul

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Jillian is back to her regular schedule of jobbing, so it’s natural she’d be reimbursed with a WWE.com photoshoot, right? Well, that logic doesn’t exactly stick, but nevertheless, she has a new shoot – “Soul Music” – in which she’s wearing a particularly fitting t-shirt. “Fitting” in both the sense that she looks like she’s … Read more

Raw Redux – September 15, 2008

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This week on Raw: Candice Michelle scored a victory over Jillian, then got a cheap shot on Beth Phoenix. Beth then got laid out by Batista. Layla provided the most entertaining promo on Raw. Oh and Kelly Kelly was seen with her ‘special’ friend (and by special we mean retarded), Mike Adamle.

Thoughts & Reactions
Karma’s a bitch! The theme of this week’s Raw Redux was set to be the same as last week’s: shitty booking. Well just moments before I began writing this column, I read that Raw did a dismal 2.6 rating last night and I’d like to be the first to offer my own “hawhaw”. It just goes to show that WWE is making it’s fans tune out with crap, non-sensical booking. A freakin’ toddler could poke holes through some of the nonsense that WWE had our Divas doing last night. First of all, if Beth Phoenix hates Candice so much – if they have such an intense feud – why would Beth simply walk out behind Candice? Why wouldn’t she try and clock Candice from behind with the title or something? And if Candice was so jonesing for a fight with Beth, why would she take a cheap shot and dropkick her as she is getting into the ring? Wasn’t the point that Candice wants to go face-to-face with Beth? Isn’t taking cheap shots heel-like? No Mercy is two weeks away and WWE hasn’t done a damn thing in selling this Women’s Championship match to me. In fact, it seemed WWE went in a completely different angle last night with Beth when they have a title match to promote!

Let’s start with Candice vs Jillian. Candice’s second match back on Raw and I know a lot of people were looking to see how she’d fare, I have to say it was a vast improvement over her return match. The work was much better and there was only one really visible botch to me. That said, I didn’t enjoy this match for a number of reasons. First of all, we all knew Jillian didn’t stand a chance against Candice but to actually have her control most of the match, it’s almost as though WWE was doing some damage control, having Jillian do most of the work so Candice didn’t mess up. What does it say for Candice if WWE is doing this? She has a huge title match in two weeks, WWE cannot hold her hand through her matches and I certainly don’t see any other Divas getting this favourable treatment. Candice got in some spots but it really was Jillian working over Candice for most of the match and we all know Jillian is the biggest jobber there is going, she barely got in a lick of offense against Mickie or Melina earlier this year. WWE definitely tried to protect Candice, contrary to what some of you reading this will try to insinuate, I am not trying to personally slight Candice. I’m just stating it the way I see it, WWE is holding Candice’s hand and one has to wonder how long they can continue to do so. This match was longer than the average Raw Divas match, which would’ve been good if it didn’t feel like the match was stuck on slow-motion. I could’ve aged a year between the time it took to go from one move to the next, Candice was slow. Whether that’s her being cautious coming off an injury, I will leave for you to speculate. Unusually for Raw, the crowd was pretty quiet for most of this match save for Jillian riling them up with her ‘singing’.

Later in the night, we had Beth getting verbally buried by both JBL and Batista, pretty much a slap in the face of the women’s division and I found it really rude and disrespectful to Beth. Sure she’s a heel, sure it’s meant to be ‘entertainment’, but if it had been one of the ‘models’ out there, I highly doubt JBL would insinuate that she was a man as he did to Beth last night with “Mr and Mr Phoenix.” That left a bad taste in my mouth, because it’s a cheap form of entertainment and really is a complete disregard for the huge push WWE has given Beth since becoming the Glamazon. Let’s just undo all that in one night…

Oh Layla, why you sparkle so? A promo from a Diva. An actual Diva promo. And Layla nailed it! Short as it was, Layla oozed confidence and personality and I loved the way she delivered her lines and I honestly think this was the best promo delivered on Raw last night. Yeah, way better than the likes of former World Champions Batista, Randy Orton and JBL. What does that say to you WWE? I really love this storyline and it was my favourite part of Raw. Plus we saw Katie Lea make her Raw return and Paul Burchill has returned from Neverland! I would love to see Layla, Regal, Katie and Paul form some sort of British faction. Layla and Katie could even team up and wrestle in the women’s division, it’d be fabulous! I do hope they name rename Layla, “Queen Layla” soon since Regal is the King of the Ring.

Kelly Kelly continues to appear in useless segments for the second week in a row because WWE can’t find anything better for her to do, but just wanna put her on TV because she’s hot. Bout sums it up. At least she didn’t wrestle because I’d have to call her moves ‘flashy’ and you know that’d expose my blind hate for her… Honestly though, poor Kelly. Bearing the brunt of WWE’s bad booking. Hopefully we’ll see her back next week. Mickie James was on the bench this week too and I think it’s much needed actually, she needs some time away.

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Raw Redux – September 8, 2008

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This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix defeated Mickie James in a Women’s Championship rematch and it was revealed that she will now face Candice Michelle for the title at No Mercy. Elsewhere, Layla continued her storyline with Jamie Noble and William Regal. Plus some random appearances from Kelly Kelly!

Thoughts & Reactions
Last night on Raw, WWE showed a) That their Creative Team, between them, haven’t got a brain to share, as they lack logic to the extent where a two year old could poke holes through their booking and b) They fully displayed their bias for Candice Michelle.

Candice comes back one week and the very next week she has a title shot? WWE’s blatant favouritism was on show as they couldn’t even book a simple scenario to suggest that Candice deserves the title shot that she will be receiving at No Mercy. How hard is it to kayfabe, have Candice come out and attack Beth after her match with Mickie James, with the announcers putting over that Candice wants revenge? How hard would it have been to have a #1 Contender’s match between Mickie and Candice with the winner facing the Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix? Apparently, a match with Candice is a far bigger prize than the title belt, as WWE so gratiously offered the winner of Beth vs Mickie such a “reward.” There is no logic to this booking at all.

Since Candice has come back, in no way have WWE pushed a feud with Beth and it aggravates me to no end, the pathetic booking we see from WWE when it comes to the Divas. This is not a feud. This is just Candice vs Beth, they are not promoting this feud one tiny bit. If they wanted to promote a feud they’d have Candice act all riled up and out for revenge, attacking Beth and really putting this over. But last week, in an unspectacular fashion, they have Candice come out and pin Beth right off the bat. How about booking this so that when the eventual match does happen, it means something? This match means nothing at this point. Considering Candice is WWE’s golden girl, I honestly thought for the first time in a long time, WWE would actually book a half decent feud for Candice’s comeback against Beth. The booking for this match at No Mercy is so far, non-existent. There may as well be no history between Beth and Candice, because that’s the way this thing is being booked. If WWE can’t fucking be bothered to show interest in their own work, why should we care? Honestly, I don’t care. I rolled my eyes through this entire match. The booking is lame, we have no investment in seeing this match because WWE has offered us none.

The match itself, this has to be one of the worst matches Beth and Mickie have put on together. The whole thing was pretty sloppy and awkward to watch. There were some spots that were fun, but on the whole, I think these two have produced better work. This coming from me, who has never really enjoyed the singles matches between Beth and Mickie. I don’t think I have much more to say about this match, we’ve seen it far too many times this past year.

As for the staredown between Beth and Candice, is this WWE’s idea of booking a feud? Coz let me tell you, it was not effective at all. I just felt like, “Move along…” waiting for the camera to cut to backstage or something. Speculate as you will, but I certainly lol’d that Candice didn’t have a match this week on live television. I particularly loved how Candice got her own special director’s chair, yet Layla has to make do for a shitty chair next to The King.

Nice segue there, because we’re moving onto Layla now. And finally, here’s some booking that was exciting – well it wouldn’t take much to top the Divas match. Last month or so, it was teased that William Regal and Layla may be hooking up. On the August 4th edition of Raw, I think Regal was about to say to Layla: “Every King needs a Queen…” when he was interrupted by Jamie Noble. The thought of Queen Layla certainly appealed to me at the time so hopefully, after Layla walked off with Regal last night – it just might happen!

Oh also, Kelly Kelly appeared in one or two useless segments, including one with Mike Adamle as he explained to her why he replaced Punk in the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven. Why would Kelly give a flying fuck? If I was Kelly, I’d be like, “I don’t care. What I want to know is why Candice got a title shot over me when I beat Beth in a singles match and I’ve been working like a bitch for the past two months.” Because let’s face it, Kelly has worked really, really hard since joining Raw and she does have a victory over Beth. Even if she gets a title match on Raw and loses, who cares? The fact is, she deserves it. I love how they try to compensate for pushing Kelly to the back of the division by having her appear in shitty segments.

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Raw Redux – September 1, 2008

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This week on Raw: Candice Michelle made her comeback in six Diva action, scoring the win for her team of Mickie James and Kelly Kelly by pinning Beth Phoenix, whose partners included Katie Lea and Jillian.

Thoughts & Reactions
She’s back and as controversial as ever. No Diva divides fans the way that Candice does and that’s been evident from reading your comments and reviews on Candice’s comeback on Raw last night. As for this blogger, I’m sure you all know Candice wouldn’t exactly make my Christmas card list (if I knew her that is) so I may be biased when I write about her. But hey, that’s what friends blogs are for. Some clever guess work on WWE’s part for having Candice make her miraculous comeback on a taped edition of Raw rather than the live thing, because the editing is causing an uproar among you Diva fans. The match was definitely edited at the end. I guess they knew that it wouldn’t be pretty, either.

Moving away from the wrestling to begin with: I couldn’t help but feel Candice’s comeback was the most contrived piece of television since Jade Goody decided to “redeem herself” by entering the Indian Big Brother house. From the outfit to the bad acting as she went to the top turnbuckle to tears at the end, this wasn’t as much a “comeback” as it was a “blubfest”. We’re supposed to feel sorry for Candice, we’re supposed to root for Candice – but in all honesty, Candice isn’t as likable as WWE would have their fans think. This is evident by the way she divides Internet fans. I can’t help but feel Candice is a contradiction of herself, she tries to come across so profound but then shows up on Raw looking like a dominatrix – one who can’t keep her clothes on, for that matter. If her outfit “defines beauty”, I’d rather be ugly. Then we have the tears after she retreated up the ramp following the match, “Pity me! Pity me!” I hope WWE realises that Candice is not the innocent babyface like Trish or Mickie and trying to have her act like she is will never catch on with the fans, just look at the furore she causes online. PS: I thought Raw was now a PG show?

Anyhoo, onto the match – I really enjoyed the work from our Divas this week. Kelly and Mickie seemed more fired up than usual, Mickie in particular was the most exciting I’ve seen her since her fourth Women’s Championship win – perhaps she’s trying not to be overshadowed by Candice? Kelly continues to improve and she worked well for her short part of the match. Jillian and Mickie shared a great chemistry that I enjoyed thoroughly. As for Katie Lea, I think she works better in a tag team combination than in singles action and that’s odd, if you ask me. Her tag team work was much better than her series of horrible and bland matches with Mickie this past summer. As for our Glamazon, well I certainly didn’t like that they buried Beth straight away against Candice. So much for a “money feud” between these two. They ruined it in a matter of minutes by having them interact at the first instance. I would’ve had Candice pin Jillian or Katie and then have Beth retreat from the ring quickly, avoiding any confrontation between these two – prolonging that eventual match. Obviously, logic isn’t WWE’s strongest suit.

Candice’s in-ring return was a mixed bag, I’ll admit it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but it wasn’t great either. There were a few glimmers of excitement (such as that hair-drop thing she hit on Beth from the corner), but for every glimmer there’s a botched headscissor takedown. It seems to me that Candice has even yet to master the basic forearm, perhaps she should concentrate on getting her punches right before moving into anything too showy? As I’ve said with Kelly Kelly, it doesn’t help when you overcompensate for your lack of experience with flashy moves – try and perfect the basics. The end was definitely edited as one moment, Candice was behind Beth and then miraculously in front of her. Candice has a long way to go and I certainly wouldn’t rank her in-ring skills above the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool. That said, Candice isn’t as bad as some fans will suggest. She’s certainly a step ahead of Maria and former Diva, Ashley. To reiterate, thankfully for her and WWE this week’s show was taped but that won’t be the case next week. Hopefully, we can have a more informed judgement next Tuesday.

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Raw Redux – July 28, 2008

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I apologise once again for the delay with the Redux, there must be something in the water! I would do something like blame it on that darn earthquake in LA but alas, I live in London…

This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix and Santino continued their odd couple act, managing to beat Kelly Kelly in the process. Jillian made her Raw return in a competetive match with Mickie James, who was then attacked by the vicious Katie Lea. Oh and Layla too!

Thoughts & Reactions
Someone call it. It’s a record… all our Raw Divas managed to get some screen time this week. Perhaps there’s something in the water over at WWE too, because this is unprecedented. A far cry from the days of Ashley and Maria, all our girls were on the show and played a useful role on the programme. From the comedy routine with Beth and Santino, to Mickie’s victory over Jillian and then beatdown from Katie and Layla’s ongoing plot with Jamie – it seems Raw really has turned a corner and for the better. Where to start? The Women’s Championship, methinks! Last week, I gave Katie Lea an open challenge to excite me and boy did she ever! Here’s exactly what I wrote:

To tell you the truth, the Mickie-Katie feud has waned in recent weeks and I’m just not that excited to see another match between these two unless Katie pulls off the big one and becomes the Women’s Champion. I don’t really see this rematch as SummerSlam worthy unless the title were to change hands. The mixed tag was on par with the mixed tag team match we saw a month or so back with Mr Kennedy in Kofi Kingston’s place, both of these matches were good. But it did leave me wondering “What will they do next?” Because like I say, I feel this feud has lost it’s steam. And I hate to say that because I have been championing this feud and hoping it would really take off, but as of yet we’ve not seen anything too exciting happen between Katie and Mickie. Katie is a very capable wrestler, but as the weeks pass I’m beginning to wonder what flare she has in the ring – because so far, she has been pretty average. I would love to see Katie more confident in the ring and really show us a move set that sets her apart from the other Divas, Beth Phoenix and Mickie James have their unique signature moves that they can turn to in every match but Katie so far, has only displayed the basic moves. Katie, I dare you to excite me in the ring! Come on, I know you have it in you…

A week later, I think there’s someone on WWE Creative that’s clued into Diva Dirt. Not only did they inject some life and passion into this stale feud, they made me want to see a rematch between these two. Katie finally it took to the next level in her devillish ways, attacking Mickie and blowing her daddy a kiss in the process. I felt this was a really cool touch, I love the addition of Mickie’s dad being at ringside and the little blowing of the kiss; it makes this more personal and raw (no pun intended) – hopefully Mickie’s dad will continue to pop up between now and SummerSlam when I believe, this match will take place. I asked last week, “What will they do next?” And this week, they planted the seeds to what could be a really intense feud leading to SummerSlam. Having Mickie’s dad involved, they could really push the buttons on this feud – this is something we rarely see happen in the women’s division where Divas automatically have to be jealous of each other to ignite a feud. In my head, this could be great… maybe have Katie and Paul Burchill attack her dad next week in the ring, maybe even have Paul hold Mickie and make her watch while Katie slaps him around. From there, you could have Mickie go a little bit psycho (an ode to her old character) and really take the fight to Katie. If they follow up on this, we have ourselves a great match at SummerSlam. Katie showed a lot of flare and personality in this segment and really did excite me… now please let that translate into your match with Mickie. As I wrote last week, you cannot have this rematch once again only for Katie to lose. Katie has to finally go over and become Women’s Champion. The next few weeks will be pivotal to see if she’s really worth the title or not, because so far her matches have been simply average. The right storyline combined with the perfect match at SummerSlam and Katie as champion, is not so far fetched. Since my plea was answered last week, it couldn’t hurt to plead once again right? WWE, I dare you to follow up on this feud in the correct manner (i.e. as written above).

Okay next up, we have a segment that just about everyone loved… Beth Phoenix and Santino teaming up against Kelly Kelly and the returning D-Lo Brown. Not much to write home about was this match, it was fine for what it was – to set up a comedy act between Beth and Santino. I don’t know where this is going but it adds a nice dynamic to the Glamazon. Great work from both Divas involved. Speaking of, great work from Mickie and Jillian later in the night – compared to their singles match a few weeks ago, this was a lot more competetive and back and forth with Jillian looking really good in the ring. It was surprising to see Jillian get as much offense as she did, but this was a really good match.

Match Ratings: PASS / FAIL
Comments: Both matches were fine.

Last but not least, Layla continues her storyline with Jamie Noble. I don’t think WWE even knows what they’re doing here, I really like the idea of Layla and Kofi Kingston so I was happy to see them in the ring together… make it happen, WWE!

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Call the Newspapers – Jillian is Alive!

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Jillian is joining in on the bikini party, but in a studio shoot, presumably modeling her bikini from the bikini content a few weeks ago on Raw. It’s nothing flashy, especially when compared to the colorful scenery Candice, Michelle, Mickie, and Kelly have posed in front of recently, but I’ll be honest – with as … Read more

YouTube Classics: Michelle McCool vs. Jillian Hall

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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with the first match for the SmackDown Divas Title coming this Sunday, our theme is “The All-American Girl”, matches featuring Michelle McCool. We’ve said time and time again how far Michelle has progressed in the ring, and we’ll show you throughout the week, starting from the humble beginnings … Read more

Who Should Challenge Mickie?

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SmackDown’s women’s division is heating up, in fact they’ve usurped the pay per view position usually held by Raw’s Women’s Championship as at the Great American Bash, Michelle McCool and Natalya will do battle for the all new Divas Championship. Meanwhile over on Raw, things seem to have sizzled out since Night of Champions, when … Read more

Raw Redux – July 07, 2008

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This week on Raw: Divas tag team action when Women’s Champion Mickie James teamed up with Raw’s newest Diva, Kelly Kelly to take on Jillian and Raw’s other newest Diva, Layla.

Thoughts & Reactions
“Raw stuck on bore.” Says it all really. While I am thoroughly enjoying Raw post-Draft, the women’s division – not so much. The quality of the product as a whole has shot up since the Draft show two weeks ago but it seems that all the emphasis on the other aspects of the show have led to a loss in quality and less attentiveness to the women’s division on Creative’s behalf. Last week’s Raw match between Mickie and Jillian was simply average and this week was more of the same – the Divas were only utilised to fill the weekly “Diva quota”, no storyline advancement here nor anything too interesting.

There is quite a lot to talk about this week though, first up is Kelly Kelly jumping from ECW to Raw. I believe this is solely due to the lack of faces on Raw at the moment, I guess it’s a wise move to make bringing in another face but why not call up a developmental Diva? I think that would have been much wiser, because let’s face it – moving someone two weeks after the Draft who wasn’t even drafted in the first place calls the point of the Draft into question! I much prefer Kelly as part of SmackDown, I think she was really developing and coming along great. This is a Diva that needs to be nurtured, I think she does have the potential to become the next Trish Stratus but she needs to be nurtured and cannot be thrown into impossible situations too soon. WWE rushed into giving Trish and Candice huge pushes but I had hoped they’d do things right with Kelly, only move her to Raw when she was truly ready. Alas, she is not. The perils of live television – all your flaws are exposed and Kelly was sloppy on Raw and it couldn’t be edited out. Kelly is best suited to SmackDown right now, where she can continue to grow. I had a little idea of my own for Kelly, I think she’s come a long way and I’m 90% certain she will be our 2009 Playboy covergirl; Kelly could be the first Diva to actually be worthy of a Playboy push. It’s a long time between now and WrestleMania, Kelly could have grown a lot more on SmackDown and then possibly challenge Natalya at WrestleMania for the Divas Championship and win. Unfortunately that won’t be happening now, still could but doubt it. Instead, Kelly is thrown into an environment I don’t think she’s ready for and I fear she will go the same way as Maria and Ashley before her, not improve anymore and be just another waste. Maria has potential but being on Raw for so long, she wasn’t able to realise it. Kelly has a lot of potential still but being on Raw hinders that, it’s not exactly a great environment for developing wrestlers. I did quite like the whole explanation for her moving to Raw, the line “We have contracts?” can be interpreted as, “We’re not bothered to think of a logical explanation.”

The other focus is Jillian. Are they just delivering us average matches to fill a Diva quota or are they actually planning on pushing Jillian? Because using her on Raw for two weeks in a row is something that seldom occurs. I do believe it’s the former, I don’t think WWE is putting any attention into the Raw women’s division and is simply filling a quota. There’s no big push for Jillian and in fact, while she is getting on TV more, it’s for the wrong reasons rather than the right reasons. Let’sface it, WWE doesn’t care about Jillian and will never really give her character a refresher or give her a chance to be a top Diva. She is a laughing stock.

As for the match, it was average again. Sloppy in-ring work for Kelly, not much else that’s memorable. All the focus was on Kelly that they nearly forgot that Layla, too is new to Raw. Poor Layla, she had finally escaped from underneath Kelly’s shadow only to have the shadow follow her. Layla was unceremoniously ignored on Raw, she didn’t even get any ring time. Even Michael Cole forgot to mention that she was new on Raw too after the “explaining” of Kelly’s move from ECW, Cole added that Layla joined Raw during the Supplemental Draft merely as an afterthought.

Raw’s women’s division is a holding pattern right now, I do think Creative will finally turn their attention to the Divas after the post-Draft honeymoon period is over. Right now they’re working so diligently on making the rest of the product “must see”, the Divas aren’t their top priority. Whatever happened to the Katie-Mickie feud? Where is Beth Phoenix? Is there any use asking? Poor Beth is probably on the shelf until WWE find something to do with her since Melina’s injured, kudos to them for not just giving us “Mickie-Beth: To Infinity and Beyond”, which would have been the easy option given there’s only a handful of Divas on Raw right now.

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YouTube Classics: Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall

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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with Mickie James’s big win at Night of Champions, our theme is “Hey Mickie!”, featuring some of Mickie James’s most memorable moments. Today, we have Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall back when the two Divas were fierce rivals in OVW. These two were known for their hatred towards … Read more

Raw Redux – June 30, 2008

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This week on Raw: Mickie James continued her roll, pinning Jillian in singles action. Meanwhile, Katie Lea continues to cause trouble.

Thoughts & Reactions
With Raw more eventful and more exciting that it has ever been in the past few years, why was the women’s action so average last night?! I have been left underwhelmed for the second night in a row, after the match at Night of Champions and then the match last night on Raw. While it was nice to see Jillian get some ring time, what was the point when it’s clear what WWE thinks of her? How can the fans be interested in Jillian when WWE beats a dead horse with her gimmick and has her job 24/7? Needless to say, I don’t think there’s much point to Jillian’s career at this point in time and I don’t think WWE are at all interested in rejuvenating it. When Jillian came out, didn’t you just know Mickie was going to win this easy match? The only thing that got me through was the fact that I thought Katie might hit the ring after the match, attacking Mickie to continue to their feud. That didn’t happen either…

So what we’re left with is an average night for the Divas… again. Is it just me or has the Raw women’s division lost some of it’s steam in recent weeks? Are the Creative team focussing so much on making the rest of Raw more interesting that they’ve forgotten about the women’s division? Last night felt like just a token Divas match to fill a quota. For many weeks, the women’s division was one of the highlights of Raw but while the rest of the product improved last night, the women’s division digressed. The match itself wasn’t bad, it was just average.

Later in the evening, we did get a hint that WWE will continue the Mickie-Katie feud in a backstage segment with Katie Lea and Paul Burchill, this was well done. I really like the idea of Katie being a trouble maker and Paul can’t leave her alone for five minutes without her causing more trouble! Her character is a lot of fun, I just want to see that translate into the women’s division and not in random skits putting over other Superstars. I was pretty disappointed with the lack of Layla too, I don’t think they’ve come up with anything for her, go figure.

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Draft Day: One Year On

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Doomsday… I mean Draft day is here!!! Which WWE Divas will be packing their bags and moving to a new home? We will find out in 12 hours, until then we want to look at the Diva draft picks from last year. Jillian, Torrie Wilson and Victoria all made the jump in ’07. Let’s see … Read more

Style Showdown: Raw Bikinis

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Welcome to an early edition of Diva Dirt’s Style Showdown! Remember that groundbreaking bikini contest this past Monday on Raw? Yeah, it’s kind of slipped from my mind already too. However, WWE.com has refreshed our selective memory by posting studio photos of each participant, modeling their summer finest. Take a look at the photos below … Read more

RAW Redux – June 16, 2008

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This week on RAW: Divas from all three brands competed in a Summer Bikini Blowout bikini contest. Meanwhile, Mickie James evened the odds teaming up with Mr. Kennedy in his feud with the Burchills, Paul and Katie Lea.

Thoughts & Reactions
This week’s RAW was about as fucked up as it gets… a freakin’ bikini contest?! Are you kidding me?! Here I thought the women’s division was on the up and just as I was looking forward to RAW each week, they throw us a curveball. Hey WWE, why don’t you just come out and say what you really think?! This week’s RAW was like, “Here’s your weekly dose of slop, eat it up you pigs.” It really was a demeaning, counter-productive and totally shitty segment. I honestly don’t have a clue why Melina was involved in this pile of garbage, it really hurt her character and the momentum she’s gained over the past few weeks. This did nothing for storyline development in her feud with Beth Phoenix, in fact it hindered it. If freakin’ Maria can get more cheers than Melina, it kinda hurts Melina’s growth and transition to a face in her feud with Beth. There was absolutely no logic to this stupid bikini contest and it’s just unfathomable how WWE can actually go backwards rather than forwards.

Do you think WWE’s creative team are masochists? They create a hot feud that the crowd are so into, which actually gets viewers tuning into RAW each week – and then they pull crap like this. It’s like they enjoy fucking things up, they enjoy taking their good work and turning it into shit. Fucking retards.

There was nothing decent about the bikini contest, it was all boring and cliche. Charlie Haas is apparently the new Val Venis, Eve thinks it’s cool to wear sunglasses in-doors and Maria was probably happy to just be relevant again… even if it was a bikini contest. That’s right Maria, take your victories where you can find them.

As for the mixed tag team match, finally we get back to decent action. I’d like to say it made up for the shiteous bikini contest but it wasn’t nearly enough. I loved Mickie and Katie totally beating the crap out of each other, it was very physical and a lot of fun to watch. Maybe Katie can add some fire into Mickie’s character that has really been lacking during her feud with Beth Phoenix. I’m already enjoying this feud and they haven’t even had a singles match yet. In comparison, the Beth-Mickie feud was stale before it even started. I think this is the logical match-up to go into Night of Champions, but it hasn’t had much build up. WWE has teased this feud for the past month or so, stopping and starting the feud and only now are taking it off pause. This is what really pisses me off about WWE, they stop and start feuds at their whim and think they can just continue it up a few weeks later like nothing’s happened. Given a continuous storyline over the past few weeks, Mickie vs Katie could have been a great “must-see” match at Night of Champions. They’ve done the same with Michelle and Natalya, it started out very, very strong and many of us were anticipating a match-up between them… then they stopped having them appear on SmackDown! and it all kinda got less exciting. Of course, now they’re looking to restart the feud but that initial excitement is gone. We now have the same thing with Beth-Melina, they haven’t followed through this week and it’s dampened the investment, we as viewers, have in this feud.

The RAW women’s division is really in a precarious position at the moment, because someone thought it was logical to start up a feud between Beth Phoenix and Melina, a feud not associated with the Women’s Championship, in the run-up to Night of Champions. Don’t get me wrong, I really love this feud but at the same time, they should’ve developed the Mickie vs Katie feud rather than dump it on us now. The Beth-Melina feud should be reserved for RAW and Mickie-Katie should extend to the pay per view. WWE has no one but themselves to blame for poor ratings, their booking is horrible. I have no doubt that the end product will be great i.e. the eventual Mickie-Katie match and the eventual Michelle-Natalya match, but the booking leading to it has been so all over the place I can’t get as excited as I would if they had a continuous feud.

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RAW Redux – June 09, 2008

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This week on RAW: Beth Phoenix had a rough night, being worked over by both Mickie James and Melina. Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and Jillian and Maria managed to make random appearances too.

Thoughts & Reactions
It was a well rounded night for the women’s division on RAW, this week. Not too much went down but just enough to pass us into next week. There was storyline development in the Beth-Melina feud, with Melina coming out to an amazing pop when she attacked Beth. Prior to this, we had a decent match between Mickie and Beth, I have to say I don’t enjoy their singles matches and this was simply more of the same. This was an anti-climax compared to Beth vs Melina at One Night Stand, I guess some Divas work better with some and not others. The match as a whole, was fine, there wasn’t too much sloppy ring-work but like I say, it lacked the flare and intensity of the Beth/Melina match and I think we have seen this match far too many times also. However, what the fuck was up with Mickie beating Beth cleanly?! How does this help anything?! I think this was the wrong match to do and especially the end was weak. So Melina can’t beat her in an aggressive “I Quit” match and Mickie gets an upset with a fucking Thesz press?

The highlight of the night was Melina coming out and attacking Beth, which got one of the best crowd reactions I’ve heard for a Diva in a long while. The way that the fans have taken to Melina’s character and this feud has really astounded me, it really has been great television. I really loved the spot Melina used, with the hair drag smash from the top rope – it really seemed to do a number on Beth and in my eyes, it was a more believable spot than some of the stuff Beth has to job to from Mickie’s arsenal, afterall Beth is the Glamazon. However, after the spot I do feel Beth should have sold it for longer, she seemed to get up almost immediately – she should have been taken out for a few moments, to show the effects of Melina’s attack, that here is a Diva that is on the verge of taking out Beth Phoenix.

As for the other Divas, Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and what I like about this is that Katie isn’t just a manager, she’s just as involved as the guys. I really think this is Burchill’s big break and from here he could go onto the Intercontinental Championship or something, this is also good news for Katie as it keeps her relevant and on television. We had random spots from Maria and Jillian, as part of the Million Dollar Mania. I don’t think it requires too much analysis, it was what it was.

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RAW Redux – May 26, 2008

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This week on RAW: BFFs, Melina and Jillian came to blows in the ring, Beth Phoenix watched and commentated, an “I Quit” match was announced for One Night Stand, Mickie James appeared in a pointless segment while JBL made a “subtle” escort joke and Katie Lea shined on the mic!

Thoughts & Reactions
Erin’s psychic powers yesterday predicted that Melina and Beth will face off in an “I Quit Match” while I was leaning more towards cage match or strap match, but “I Quit” works fine for me too! Beth and Melina saw some storyline advancement going into their big battle this Sunday night and gosh, is it just me or is there an air of excitement surrounding the future of the women’s division right now? Of course, WWE has tightened up and are delivering solid women’s action but to go a step further and deliver a first with this match… I’m certainly excited! I just hope that all the WWE Divas will be in the back watching this on the monitor on tenterhooks. Because for me this match marks a revolution of some-kind and that’s something that all these Divas, no matter what show they’re on should support.

I wasn’t really happy with the Melina-Jillian match, partly because just a couple of weeks ago they were BFFs. I think this is a feud they could have explored after Melina’s done with Beth. But they rushed it and it was all over in like 2-3 minutes. I do understand that there’s no other heel Divas so that would explain why they went this route. Melina is officially a face, I have always wondered what that would be like since she’s so devilish, but the fans seem to love her – note the big pop when she came out. To be a great Diva you need to be versatile as a face and a heel, Melina seems to be going in the right direction so far. Anyway, this match was a little sloppy, see the end spot before Melina hit her submission hold. Adding soundtrack to this match was Beth Phoenix on commentary, for me it didn’t work. After hearing Melina on commentary last week, I was underwhelmed by Beth, she came across really bland and boring and “textbook” like she was reading an autocue. Anyway, I cannot wait till One Night Stand!

Mickie James has been stuck on “backstage” mode in recent weeks, I guess it makes a nice change but at the same time, she is the freakin’ Women’s Champion. I guess we’re not going to get Katie vs Mickie after all *sniffle* no advancement there. Instead, Mickie gets a backstage segment with Vince and JBL. A nice subtle reference to Ashley there, I guess it was inevitable and Creative thought enough time had passed. Notice how Ashley was again, noticeably absent… not that I’m complaining. I don’t know about you but the phrase “bodily fluids” makes me cringe, it always has. Mickie is a bad actor.

From Mickie’s robotic Razzie winning performance, we get Katie Lea who is rather playful on the mic, isn’t she? Her mannerisms are very diva-ish, not Diva-Diva-ish, but like Mariah Carey diva-ish. Finally, a high profile feud and push for the Burchills. This segment came across very well, I think working will Mr. Kennedy will help give Paul the rub, while we get to see more of Katie. I was kinda hoping Mickie would run down the ramp and attack her *sigh* maybe a mixed tag team match is in our futures, though.

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WWE to Jillian: You Suck (Basically)

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WWE continues to find new ways to infuriate fans. This time, WWE.com is counting down the 25 most annoying gimmicks in history. Hmm, oh yeah just dump it on the talent when it’s fucking retarded writers that come up with this shit. Worse yet… one of those annoying ones listed is the uber talented Jillian … Read more

DJs Are a Matter of Life or Death

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WWE.com has an article up in which they question Superstars and Divas on what they would put in their own personal “survival vault”. The answers from the Divas range from the trivial (a DJ?) to the sentimental (friends and family): “I’d definitely put an iPod in there with me singing,” noted Raw’s tone-deaf songstress, Jillian. … Read more

RAW Redux – May 12, 2008

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This week on RAW: The Divas were packed to the rafters as we saw memorable segments including Lilian Garcia singing “Respect”, Mickie James possibly making a lurve connection with John Cena and Beth Phoenix beating the crap out of Melina!

Thoughts & Reactions
Now that is how you do it! See, WWE’s writing team are capable of creating great storylines for the Divas… so why don’t they do it more often?! Last night’s RAW was very much eclectic and very memorable for the Divas as more girls than ever before were utilised in the two hour broadcast making for a really fun show with Divas at every turn! Lilian Garcia and Mickie James kicked things off in the opening segment, which actually made me sit through the beginning because usually I record/download it and skip through to the parts I want to watch. I was forwarding through the opening segment till Mickie popped up! This was pretty cool to have a Diva involved in ongoing storylines (in this case, William Regal’s storyline) and not just the Superstars coming out and doing the opening promo bit. Lilian then belted out an amazing rendition of “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, which I loved every second of!

Could WWE be angling towards a romance between Mickie and John Cena? I don’t know how I feel about that, I’m 50-50 but I’m leaning more towards “bad idea.” The backstage segment between these two was pretty fun to watch too although I didn’t really sense much chemistry between them; the chemistry between Cena and Maria back in the day was electric however. The tag team match itself was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t really a match per se, I look at it as more of a segment to advance storylines and it did a great job. Beth sold incredibly well, the intensity in her eyes as she glared at Melina. Great stuff!

And to cap off the evening, we have an intense backstage brawl between Beth and Melina which was the highlight of the entire show, for me. Sure, Beth is the strong, dominant Glamazon but they did a great job of building Melina up and not making her look weak, by having her strike the first blow. This showed Melina wasn’t afraid of Beth and sets up this feud nicely. I can’t wait for the triple threat match at Judgment Day! Though one thing I don’t understand is why Jillian ran away to get the referees, did she forget that she’s a wrestler too? Jillian and Melina could easily have teamed up to take out Beth.

A very mixed bag of action, kudos to WWE for utilising all of the Divas in a useful way that contributes something to the show rather than useless segments. And extra kudos for keeping Ashley off the show entirely. I really loved all the different Diva action last night, the variety of matches, backstage segments etc. I wrote last week in my SmackDown! thoughts, that RAW usually just throws the girls out there for a match and rarely varies it up by having in-ring segments, backstage segments etc. They really did a great job with that this week.

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RAW Redux – May 05, 2008

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On this week’s RAW, we saw a Women’s Championship Lumberjack Match, the return of Trish Stratus and Katie Lea and Paul Burchill continued their handicap stint.

Thoughts & Reactions
The Women’s Championship match, when I first read about it, I thought for sure they’d made the wrong decision; they should’ve kept this match for Judgment Day. The match itself was not good. Plodding along with kicks and punches, it really wasn’t fun to watch and that is a problem I have with matches with these two Divas, their Armageddon match last year bored me to tears. It wasn’t until Melina was injected into the picture on New Year’s Eve in a triple threat match, that this feud got a little more exciting. That was a fun match. Live from London, Mickie and Beth really pulled it out of the bag, it could’ve been a really bad match a few weeks ago when Mickie won the title but it wasn’t, thankfully. I think everyone got into it because of the London crowd and the big fight feel; but this match it felt dull. Not to mention, some incredibly sloppy ring-work from Mickie James, a few of the spots in this match were really awkward to watch. I didn’t expect that from Mickie, but last night, she wasn’t on her game. All these repetetive descriptions of Beth Phoenix by the announcers is getting really boring; how many times can we hear that she’s the most dominant Diva to ever enter the WWE, she’s this, she’s that. Jim Ross, you’ve been doing the same shtick for over six months, get some new material.

As I said earlier, I felt they should have kept this match until Judgment Day but I can see why they haven’t. Even though the match was pretty dull, the ending was very well done and it brings Melina into the fold and I can’t knock that. I predict a triple threat match at Judgment Day, so hopefully that match will be better than this one – Melina is a lot of fun to watch in the ring. But there are a few possible routes WWE could go here: Could Melina turn face? After all, she cost Beth her match, I could see Beth trying to retaliate and “bully” Melina, effectively making Melina a face. This is something I would love to see and it would also balance out the women’s division in terms of good in-ring workers. Either way, I’m glad they’ve bought Melina into the fold, why waste a talent like her?

Trish Stratus’ return was a fun little cameo, as I’ve written in another post, she’s stepped back onto RAW in a 50-second segment and shown more character and personality than any of the current crop of Divas could ever hope to display.

I’m glad they’ve continued having Katie and Burchill team up, despite the horrible commentary from Mike Adamle. I mean seriously?! “She’s definitely not a pretty face!” Excuse you?! I think he meant “She’s not just a pretty face”, but that kind of shocked me. I hope Katie can join the women’s division soon or at least play a bigger role than just directing traffic for Burchill, even though she’s in the match too.

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RAW Redux – April 29, 2008

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RAW Redux is set to become a regular feature here at Diva Dirt, so on with the thoughts on last night’s show:

Thoughts & Reactions
I was bittersweet with this week’s RAW. On one hand, you had a 12-Diva rematch and on the other hand, you had Katie Lea‘s in-ring debut. I think it was a huge risk – and a bad choice – to have a rematch of the Divas match from Backlash. Going into that match, we were all very uncertain and uneasy because it could’ve gone the totally wrong way, thankfully WWE pulled it out of the bag and put on a pleasantly surprising and good match up. But then to do the very same match the next night, when the first one was so touch and go, I just knew last night’s match wouldn’t be very good and in truth, it wasn’t. It wasn’t a very good match, didn’t achieve the things that the first match did on the pay per view – and actually, has hindered storylines not developed them. What possible reason is there for Team Mickie to win other than because the heels won the night before? This storyline is meant to be centered around Beth Phoenix and Mickie James, having Beth win at Backlash had her come off strong and sent the message out there that she was coming after Mickie and the title. The very next night, Mickie gets one over – it doesn’t leave much room for the storyline to go anywhere. We’ll have to see what they do (if anything at all) next week to develop the obvious rematch at Judgment Day.

One more thing, what is with the face Divas acting like heels? Cherry getting in the ring breaking up the count and Michelle kicking Melina? I don’t get the logic behind that.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the aspect of Katie Lea and Paul Burchill teaming up. It had shades of Essa Rios and Lita, which was a great gimmick while it lasted. Now, I know this is just rehashing that old gimmick but if it gets Katie in the ring and gets her and Burchill over, I’m all for it. I’ve really liked what I’ve seen of Katie thus far, I hope it’s not too soon before she gets involved in the women’s division! Hopefully this gimmick will continue for a little while longer, with Katie and Burchill teaming up in 2-on-1 matches. Katie is the star of this duo if you ask me, Burchill’s head is up on the chopping block – Katie can easily be integrated into the women’s division, hopefully WWE has enough sense to mix her into the fold.

All in all, it was a really blase week for the Divas on RAW. Hopefully SmackDown! kicks it up a gear this Friday night!

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Killing 12 Birds With 1 Stone

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Looks like the Divas are getting the shotgun treatment – WWE.com has announced that all 12 girls who participated in RAW’s “West Side Story”-style face-off are going to compete in a 12-Diva tag team match at this Sunday’s Backlash. Now, I’m not saying this match was made ridiculously late because most matches not featured on … Read more

Complete Heat & RAW Spoilers – HUGE NEWS!

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Highlight below for explosive, gargantuan spoilers from tonight’s RAW that will have you going “OMFG!”

Heat
Melina & Jillian def. Maria & Ashley

RAW
Mickie def. Beth Phoenix to become the new Women’s Champion! They do “big fight” introductions. Afterwards, Mickie cries with joy and Ashley and Maria come to congratulate her.

Our thoughts after the cut:

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