It’s a staple of tabloid magazines: hard hitting, investigative & highly entertaining! Best & Worst Dressed lists can make or break careers in Hollywood and for a site with ‘Dirt’ in the title, it’s only fitting we take this time tested feature & apply it to our Divas! Each week we’ll bring you the best and worst looks from the week gone by, it’s pretty simple right?
Key: School-like grading scheme
This week saw some cute outfits from the Divas who didn’t wrestle, including a trio from Raw and one from SmackDown.
Kicking off with Kelly Kelly, complete with Jeremy ‘Mercury Poisoning’ Piven’s arm over her lap. Yes, it looks like a poser-y Juicy Couture dress but what else to expect from young K2? It still looks pretty good on her. C
Raw’s Rosa Mendes knows black is her colour and looked hot from the tiny side glimpse we saw of her. Those legs! C
Adding some colour t0 the room was Alicia Fox, in a flowery strapless dress. It’s probably the weakest of the three looks but it was decent by Diva standards. C-
Former Women’s Champion, Melina sure does love the off-the-shoulder look, huh? Nonetheless, I liked her ethnic patterned red top, it reminds me of my mom’s native Morocco. C
I’m sure you’ve all heard of your ‘five a day’, but Diva Dirt is here to provide you with your ‘five a week’ in our Weekly 5. Join us every Sunday as we take a look back at the week gone by and highlight our top 5 moments of the week.
RAW IS GAIL?
There has been a lot of talk this week about a Gail Kim heel turn and as a Diva Dirt favourite, we are extremely excited about the possibility in the coming weeks on Raw. It looks as though Maryse’s loss [to injury] could be Gail’s gain; as WWE teased tension between Gail and new Divas Champion, Mickie James on Raw.
In the Saturday Supplement, the Diva Dirt team will aim to discuss a news story, a televised event or other relevant and current topics. The objective, like the average weekend newspaper, is to offer more indepth and lengthy discussion.
Some may have thought that the Women’s Championship match at Night of Champions signaled the end of the feud between Melina and Michelle McCool. Some may have even been hoping for that. However, for better or for worse, the feud isn’t stopping just yet. After upstaging the more hyped match last Sunday, Melina and Michelle are still showing the fire and intensity of a brand new feud, despite having been foes for nearly 3 months. They obviously haven’t had enough of each other just yet, but some fans aren’t feeling quite as content. Calls for its end or complaints about this “never-ending feud” have got me wondering: when it comes to Diva feuds, how long is too long?
The WWE has seen its fair share of extended feuds. The likes of Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, and even Edge have participated in slow-burning feuds that spanned months and headlined PPV after PPV. But when it comes to Divas, those examples are few and far between. One could say that Lita and Trish Stratus feuded for quite some time, but with that we aren’t talking about a constantly-running feud. In between their battles were moments of comradery and truces, so I wouldn’t quite count that as a “long-running” feud, but more so a career-long love/hate relationship. So, what could be considered a long feud in Diva-dom? Read on and speculate with me.
Another feud, also connected to Trish Stratus, is the epic “obsessive fan” feud between her and Mickie James. It commenced on October 10th, 2005, and through the twists and turns, it lasted all the way until Backlash 2006, precisely April 30th, 2006. Doing the math, the feud lasted a total of 171 days. Now, it may not be fair to compare it to the Melina/Michelle feud, as this was a full-blown storyline, complete with the introduction of a brand new Diva, an awkward friendship, a slow heel turn, and finally commencing with a more standard heel/face feud at WrestleMania and Backlash. This was much more than a simple feud, and simply cannot be duplicated without some major groundwork being laid. In this day and age, with the WWE running on a surplus of Divas, I can’t see anything like that happening again in the near future. In fact, the feud only ended when Stratus dislocated her shoulder and was forced on to the disabled list. Who knows how long this could have gone without her injury?
It’s a staple of tabloid magazines: hard hitting, investigative & highly entertaining! Best & Worst Dressed lists can make or break careers in Hollywood and for a site with ‘Dirt’ in the title, it’s only fitting we take this time tested feature & apply it to our Divas! Each week we’ll bring you the best and worst looks from the week gone by, it’s pretty simple right?
Key: School-like grading scheme
It wasn’t a great week for Diva/Knockout fashion this past week. So I guess I’m clutching at straws with my ‘Best’ picks for the week, but congrats to Melina, Gail Kim and Michelle McCool anyway.
Big pay per view match usually means new attire for our Divas, as we saw at Night of Champions when Melina wore what I think was a new variation of her usual ring-wear. The maroon coloured tights are a nice addition to her wardrobe which ranges the rainbow already. C
As for Raw Diva, Gail Kim, her usual off-the-shoulder tops and shorts were back this week in silver. Again not out of the norm for G-Kim but I liked it in silver. C
Last but finally not least is Michelle McCool, who busted out a new colour much like Melina for their PPV match. Michelle is one of those girls that not every colour suits, so the colour choice could have gone wrong here… but thankfully, it didn’t. I would go as far as to say this is probably Michelle’s most flattering variation yet, green seems to suit her exquisitely. B-
To almost everyone, Melina and Michelle‘s match at Night of Champions exceeded expectations. Realistically, it would be tough to top that, and with the WWE’s tendency to follow up gold with crap, it’s pretty likely that this week’s SmackDown would disappoint. But does it? Are they continuing the Michelle/Melina feud, or are they moving on? Let’s take a look and see for ourselves:
As Melina makes her way to the ring, Michelle hightails it, demonstrating more of that “cowardly heel” shtick that I kind of wish they’d drop. Still, it’s great to see them keep up appearances and showing that things between them are far from over, with Michelle waving her title in Melina’s face like a T-bone to a cartoon pooch. Oh yeah, and Eve and Layla are there too. I couldn’t help but notice during Eve’s entrance that she got a really nice pop. Like, surprisingly good. It could just be canned cheers, but I was pretty impressed.
Layla and Melina start the match, and as they grapple for a moment, it’s clear that Melina has no interest in this opponent. She quickly disposes of Layla and turns for Michelle, who darts away. Layla takes advantage of this distraction to attack her, getting a bit of offense in before Melina takes her drown with an arm drag and tags in Eve. The two do a nice double-team move before Melina runs out of the ring at the referee’s protests (quite a change from her heel days, no?). Eve them performs quite a labored scoop slam (holding for applause?) for a two-count. Eve hits a dropkick, and some awkward exchanges later, Eve ends up on the second rope at the turnbuckle, her back to a standing Layla. Wait, what was she setting up for? Layla seems to be just as perplexed, kicking Eve and sending her to the mat. Layla tags in Michelle, who manhandles Eve a bit, a leg drop earning her a two-count.
WWE’s Night of Champions 2009 is in the books and with the dust settled, we have a new Divas Champion but the same Women’s Champion. Mickie James defeated Maryse to become the third title holder of the Divas title, while Michelle McCool retained over Melina.
SmackDown columnist, Erin looks back at the Women’s Championship bout:
With barely a mention going into the PPV, I didn’t have much hope for Melina and Michelle’s match to really deliver. It’s not that I don’t have faith in either woman to pull off a good match, it’s just that the buildup sucked. Will they exceed expectations? Let us see:
Just as Melina goes to make her signature entrance, Michelle baseball slides into her, knocking her off the apron. Melina takes a sick spill, and the match is off to an interesting start. It certainly got the crowd’s attention. I like that Michelle was the aggressor, instead of playing the cowardly heel they seem intent on portraying her as. Granted, attacking Melina when she’s so vulnerable isn’t exactly a brave move, but it still showed plenty of fire. Once she finally makes it to the ring, Melina tackles Michelle, pummeling her for a bit before letting up. Michelle tries to strike back, but Melina does the Ma-Trish move (Ma-Lina move?) to avert the blow, taking Michelle down with an arm drag and then holding her in an arm bar. She doesn’t settle for a rest hold, elbowing Michelle in the face and irish-whipping her into the corner. Melina runs up to the corner, jumping onto the second rope and doing her reverse kicks, nailing Michelle in her face and stomach. She covers a lot of area before relenting, adding one more frontal kick for good measure before Michelle bails out of the ring.
But Melina won’t have any of that, grabbing Michelle by the hair and dragging her back in. I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before, but I love it when babyfaces aren’t passive and go after their opponent as fiercely as the heels do. Apparently, Michelle feels like playing keep-away, shoving Melina and making another break for it. Melina runs after her again, this time keeping her in the ring. Michelle pulls the classic heel move of calling time out, begging for a break. Melina seems to honor this for a moment, that is before dropkicking Michelle in the face. So much for good sportsmanship, eh? Melina keeps her momentum, bouncing off the ropes and performing a modified hurricanrana, landing on her feet instead and kicking Michelle in the gut. JR calls her “agile and hostile”, which is a pretty accurate description, I’d say.
Michelle ends up on the ropes in what I call the “taking the 619” position. Melina looks to knee her in the back of the head, but Michelle ducks out of the way, letting Melina’s own momentum send her flying through the ropes and out of the ring. Now she’s the aggressor, following Melina to the outside and pounding her against the barricade. She tosses Melina back into the ring, trying for a pin twice in a row (what, maybe 2nd time’s the charm?), but only getting near falls. Frustrated, she latches onto Melina’s leg, twisting her into a modified Boston Crab. Melina’s extreme flexibility and pained screams help sell the move, and she really an truly looks like she’s in agony. She almost looks like she’s going to pass out, half-heartedly reaching for the ropes that are a mile away. Michael Cole is so impressed by this that he diverts into the requisite “Michelle was a school teacher” mention. I wonder if there’s a single person left on Earth that doesn’t know her former line of work. I think the Divas need to fill out bio sheets, just so the announcers have some new things to talk about..
Anywho, back to the match. Melina advances towards the ropes, letting out an ear-piercing scream. Michelle lounges back before finally letting go, kicking the rope out of Melina’s grasp. She bends a standing Melina between the top and second ropes, pulling her back, pendulum-style, and letting her snap forward, smacking into the top rope. It seems like Michelle and Melina really collaborated on this match, coming up with unique ways to use Melina’s flexibility to their advantage. It adds another level to the match, and allows Michelle to look like a ring technician who truly deserves the belt she holds. Melina eventually falls off the apron, once again on the outside. Melina takes refuge on the barricade, and Michelle looks to duplicate her attacks earlier in the match, coming at her with a kick. Melina moves, and Michelle’s suddenly straddling the barricade. The fans let out a massive “ohhhhhh!”, as the move looks pretty damn painful.
Melina joins Michelle on the security wall, climbing onto it and nailing Michelle in the head. She advances to her feet, pulling Michelle up with her. The two fight for momentum, looking shaky, before Michelle latches onto Melina and performs a modified DDT, pounding her head into the barricade and landing on her feet. Melina’s out cold on the outside as Michelle gets back into the ring, stopping the referee’s count. (Was he even counting? They were out a helluva lot longer than 10 seconds.) The camera pans in for a fantastically evil closeup on Michelle’s face. Her crouched pose looks a bit Undertaker-esque, no? Sorry, didn’t mean to open that cans of worms..
Melina stirs on the outside, climbing back onto the apron. Michelle looks to use the baseball slide trick again to knock Melina off, but she telegraphs it, hoisting herself up by the ropes and letting Michelle taste the ringside mat this time. Melina sells her exhaustion, taking the moment to lay back on the apron. In a match with this much physicality, it’s so important for the girls to sell the damage they’ve received and keep continuity, and Michelle and Melina are doing this to a T. Michelle gets back up, back on the attack, but Melina catches her head with her legs, holding Michelle captive and pounding her head onto the apron. That’s certainly an inventive counter if I’ve ever seen one. She keeps Michelle contained for a few more moments before sending her back to the floor, kicking her in the gut. As Michelle gets back to her feet, so does Melina, and she comes flying at Michelle, screaming like a wild animal and doing a modified version of her spinning facebuster, both women landing on the hard mat outside.
The crowd seems pretty into this, what with all the out-of-the-ring action and amped up physicality. I have to say, if this doesn’t get them interested in a Divas match, I don’t know what will. The ladies are putting out all the stops, and it’s great to see the fans appreciating it to a degree. Melina is slow to her feet, but eventually grabs Michelle and sends her back into the ring. Michelle kicks Melina, sending her flying before she can continue her attack. Both women lethargically move about the ring, the physicality of the match taking its toll. Michelle takes her time going after Melina and pays for it, a scissors take down sending her into the ropes like before. Melina bounces of the ropes and knees her in the back of the head, performing the move successfully this time. She gores Michelle into the corner a few times as JR dubs the match “as physically intense as any Divas contest we’ve seen in a long time.” Took the words right out of my mouth.. er, fingers.
Melina sets Michelle into the corner, laying her across the second rope and jumping up, kneeing her in the stomach. The crowd is really reacting to these moves, and seem to be as into this match as any Divas match we’ve seen recently. Kind of ironic for a match with little-to-no buildup. Melina nails Michelle with a reverse spin kick, going for a pin but only getting a 2-count. Melina shows her frustration, looking to irish-whip Michelle into the corner, but Michelle reverses it, latching Melina into a belly-to-belly hold, finishing with a suplex. She gets a near fall, and spears Melina into the corner, turning away for a moment and paying for it, as Melina latches into her with her legs, chopping her in the head. She stays on the turnbuckle, hitting Michelle with a flying take down into a pin. Michelle reverses the pin into one of her own, bending Melina seemingly in half as the referee makes the three count. And with that, the match is over.
Melina looks on in disbelief, and Michelle looks like she can’t quite believe it herself. Both are absolutely wiped, looking like they just completed a marathon. The match, though clocking in at around 7 minutes, certainly felt like a marathon. The girls gave it their all, demonstrating that the Divas can put out all the stops at a PPV just like the guys. The fans were all the way into it, reacting to the big moves and moving with the emotions and tide of the match. This is everything a Diva fan wants – big moves, intense physicality, telling a story with the match, and great fan reactions. The end may seem like a cop out to some, but it just adds to the unpredictability to the match – no one thought the match would end so quickly, and it’s great to keep the fans guessing. It also adds to Michelle’s heel persona, almost as if she cheated the fans out of a spectacular climax. I loved it, personally, but to each their own.
As Michelle left the ring, Melina gave her a look that tells us that this feud is far from over, and I can’t help but love it. These girls have showed with this match that even though they’ve been feuding for quite some time, there’s no burn-out in sight. If they can keep delivering this type of intensity, I don’t care if this feud goes well into Christmas. A long-burning feud has shades of old school wrestling to it, and I don’t see problem with taking a cue from the ladies of the past and extending a feud as long as it’s still hot. And hell, if you don’t think this feud’s hot, you need to check your mental thermometer or something..
Melanie’s review of the Divas Championship match after the cut:
Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool successfully defended her title against Melina in a knock-down, physical bout. This match is must watch! Maryse vs Mickie still to come.
Two Divas matches tonight on PPV — way to spoil us WWE *cough* Tonight’s Night of Champions will see the Divas Championship on the line for Raw when Maryse defends against Mickie James. Meanwhile, for SmackDown the Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool defends against former champion Melina.
Our Diva Dirt writers weigh in:
Divas Championship: Maryse (c) vs Mickie James
Erin: This feud has been slow cooking for the past few weeks, which gives me the inclination that either they don’t give two shits about it, or they’re letting it build gradually (verrrryyy gradually). I have a feeling that they don’t know what else to do with Maryse as champ – everyone’s been complaining that she’s doing the same schtick over and over again, and the only thing to do to remedy that is to change things up. Let Mickie have the title, and either let Maryse chase or get into a non-title feud and develop her heel persona a bit more. It’s clear that Maryse as Divas Champ isn’t going anywhere (it feels like she’s been champ foreverrrr), so the best thing to do is move on. If not, the division’s gonna be going nowhere fast.
Melanie: It’s time for a title change, Maryse has held the title for 7 months now. An unprecedented reign in the women’s division and also bear in mind, that it’s her first ever major championship. Her title reign has been exhausted and I just feel like it’s time for fresh blood. I definitely see Mickie taking the belt tonight. Maryse, I’m sure will get a rematch in the near future or even a triple threat feud involving Beth, with both heels gunning for Mickie. Either way, there’s more possibilites with Mickie as champ and it’s a nice change too. I expect this match will get more time on the card than the SmackDown match, because it’s the more fresh match.
Steven: A few weeks ago, I stated in our roundtable that I didn’t think Mickie was coming out of Night of Champions with gold (or silver) and I stand by that statement. By having Mickie lose, it would be the perfect opportunity to extend this feud and shape it into a decent rivalry a la Melina and Michelle. I say Maryse retains and Mickie wins at the next PPV.
Tiffany: This may be wishful thinking on my part, but I’m holding out to see Maryse pick up the win. I’m not entirely sure just how possible it may be, but I’m keeping hope alive. Sure, Maryse got the last laugh going into the event, but this feud has been so back-and-forth that it’s hard to tell. Maryse has had a lengthy reign so far, but I’m not entirely ready to see her let it go just yet. And, I’m not entirely convinced that WWE is either. We’ve seen Mickie in the title picture, but where exactly have we gone from there? So…I’d like to see Maryse prevail this weekend, as unlikely as that may seem. I think, by retaining, she has a lot more going for her.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of your ‘five a day’, but Diva Dirt is here to provide you with your ‘five a week’ in our Weekly 5. Join us every Sunday as we take a look back at the week gone by and highlight our top 5 moments of the week.
WORST. PAY PER VIEW. EVER.
Critics are calling it the worst pay per view of the decade. Wrestling Observer said it was worse than December to Dismember. Ouch! We are talking about TNA’s Victory Road pay per view last Sunday night, that saw two disappointing Knockouts matches and an equally disappointing and frankly, mind boggling title change. The PPV saw Angelina Love regain the Knockouts Championship from Victoria after just 10 days, in a match that was underwhelming for such talented workers.
Meanwhile, TNA had a bright idea to put Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell on pay per view. It was the shambles everyone expected it to be. This pay per view will ~live on in our memories~… for all the wrong reasons.
Night of Champions returns tonight on PPV, and is set to make a lot of unprecedented benchmarks: The first time two Divas matches have been held on one card since 2006 & also the first time the same match has appeared in two consecutive PPVs since late 2007. But the real history being made tonight is that Night of Champions marks the first time ever that both the Women’s and Divas Championships have been defended on the same night.
But enough about tonight, this is about the event ‘Through the Years’. Night of Champions was originally known as Vengeance and began in 2001, before being fully rebranded in 2008. Vengeance/Night of Champions has seen several grudges settled but the Women’s Championship was first defended in 2001, but not seen again until 2007. Tonight marks the first time the Divas Championship will be defended at the PPV.
It all began in 2001…
2001 Jacqueline vs Trish Stratus
At the inaugural Vengeance PPV, young rookie Diva, Trish Stratus was in the first of her historic seven Women’s Championship reigns. Just a month prior to Vengeance [held in December in ’01], Trish did the unthinkable — beat five other more experienced wrestlers to win the title. At Vengeance, Stratus would defend the title for the first time against the veteran, Jacqueline:
Remember a time when Trish was the one who was green in the ring? Feels like a lifetime ago, right? This was a nice matchup, though I gotta tell you, I don’t miss the ‘puppies’ chants one bit. As we all know, Trish would go onto hold the title six more times and get much, much better in the ring [we promise!].
It’s a staple of tabloid magazines: hard hitting, investigative & highly entertaining! Best & Worst Dressed lists can make or break careers in Hollywood and for a site with ‘Dirt’ in the title, it’s only fitting we take this time tested feature & apply it to our Divas! Each week we’ll bring you the best and worst looks from the week gone by, it’s pretty simple right?
Key: School-like grading scheme
Congratulations to Maryse, Lauren, Jenna Morasca (sort of), Alissa Flash, Melina & Michelle McCool for making our inaugural ‘Best’ list. It’s not just about the clothes you wear, it’s about the way you accessorize it and the way you do your hair too. These Divas and Knockouts displayed sexy, smart and well-rounded outfits this week.
Beginning with Maryse, a Diva who brings the sex appeal to any outfit she sports. Our Divas Champion opted for a slinky black dress this week, with an off-the-shoulder look. Finishing off with an aptly fitting belt and the most gorgeous pair of gladiator sandals ever. This girl knows how to accesorize and never over-does it. Grade: A
Meanwhile, TNA’s in-house correspondent Lauren looked sassy yet classy in a shoulderless black top and jeans. A simple look, but it’s in her accessorizing and hair that Lauren really pulls it altogether. The oversized long necklace adds a little more jazz to the simple looking top, while her hair looks effortlessly tied up. B+
Third on our Best list is Jenna Morasca, shockingly enough. Following her trashy look at Victory Road [more on that later], Jenna pulled it together for Impact this past Thursday with a cutesy look. I like the fun, vibrant loose-fitting top over the leggings. But the big plus is her hair, super sleek and straight with bangs on show. C
Both of our new TNA Knockouts make it onto this week’s list, but thankfully for Alissa Flash she makes it onto the good half. Ditching the uncomplimentary yellow from last week, Alissa looked more comfortable in her peachy/orange attire this week combined with a nice ring jacket. But it’s the hair & makeup I’m loving the most, the streaks of colour around her eyes is a nice look that I’d like to see her continue in coming weeks, using a colour that matches her attire that week. And her bouffant-esque hairstyle looks neat and tidy, which is something this blogger is a big fan of. B
Speaking of hair — our next two entrants are being honoured solely for theirs! Melina and Michelle McCool looked really pretty, Melina with her long straight, luscious locks. She always looks like something out of a shampoo commercial. Meanwhile, Michelle’s hair looks even better up than it does down. She should do it more often! Honourary mention.
We’re kickin’ it old school this week! For one week only, Melanie’s back, kids! Erin is off on her holidays this week but will return to the SmackDown Redux next week. Let’s hope I haven’t lost my touch…
This week’s SmackDown saw the final push into Night of Champions this Sunday, as Melina vs Michelle McCool was the final match announced for the card. For storyline purposes we have Melina ‘invoking’ her rematch clause for the Women’s Championship. Check out their segment below:
‘Monotone McCool’ is back this week — that’s what happens when you get rid of an amazing could-be mouthpiece. Yes, the scripting was kind of standard but I enjoyed the jibes: calling the make-up artist ‘historic’, forgetting Trish’s name. It could have come across well, but Monotone McCool strikes again. There’s no inflection in Michelle’s speech, there’s no emphasis on the words, I wouldn’t be surprised if Michelle flunked Drama in high school. It probably makes matters worse that I watched this segment after watching a promo by the Beautiful People on last night’s Impact. I watched this and in my head, I pictured how Velvet Sky would say it and how she’d hit the mark and have the right tone. Promos aren’t Michelle’s strongest suit granted, but the execution came off extremely flat & the truth is, this was one of the better scripted promos she’s received from the writers.
Melina on the other hand has always had great promo skills and we saw that here, I would say that Melina is the closest to Trish Stratus who was a master of the delivering humorous promos and interviews [click here for an example]. Melina’s promo called for humour, “Congratulate you… on being the biggest phony in WWE history,” and she pulled it off well. As a heel, Melina’s promos were awesome but as a face, it needs to be toned down so it doesn’t come off as bitchy and I think she found the right balance here. Melina’s the complete opposite of Michelle, she had the perfect inflection in her voice: “You know what that means.” My only advice to her would be to dial it up a little more on the humour a la Trish, using her hands and her face to match to kind of sell that comedy.
So on Raw we had the hairspray and on SmackDown we have the foundation, anyone sensing a pattern? The little punch line “I also tone hair,” was cute. Michelle walking away didn’t really work for me, isn’t she supposed to be aggressive and no-nonsense? Wouldn’t she turn right around and left-hook Melina? It was okay but I thought it was unrealistic for Michelle to walk away.
Anyway that sets up their match for Night of Champions, a match that hasn’t really been pushed until now which sucks. There was a lot they could have explored between The Bash and this PPV. But Melina has been set up as a strong contender and a ‘thorn in Michelle’s side’.
The final match for Night of Champions this Sunday was made official at last night’s SmackDown taping. Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool will defend against Melina in a rematch from The Bash. The match, to me, is a thing of new in today’s women’s division where Divas can rarely get on the PPV cards let alone … Read more
In the latest Night of Champions promotional package, which airs as part of tonight’s SmackDown, Melina is included among a burst of title contenders that includes Jeff Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Mickie James and John Cena. The four are confirmed to face the World Heavyweight, Intercontinental, Divas and WWE Champions respectively next Sunday. I guess we … Read more
Have you ever thought that a certain Diva resembled another celebrity out there? Ever done double-take while watching a movie or TV show and thought “Hang on, isn’t that so-and-so?” Well we certainly have! Diva Dirt’s Dead Ringers aims to seek out our Divas celeb dopplegangers and highlight them here, for you to vote whether … Read more
I’m sure you’ve all heard of your ‘five a day’, but Diva Dirt is here to provide you with your ‘five a week’ in our Weekly 5. Join us every Sunday as we take a look back at the week gone by and highlight our top 5 moments of the week.
NIKKI BELLA… IS THAT YOU, GIRL?
Oh those Bella Twins! Just when you write them off, they come back and start earning their keep… just about, anyway. Last week, the twins impressed with their mic skills and this week, Nikki Bella made a solid effort against Katie Lea on ECW. Nikki’s Gail Kim-esque running armdrag made my jaw drop. Perhaps there’s hope for them yet? My eyes have certainly opened and I’m willing to give them a fair shot.
As you can see by now, the SmackDown Redux has been gifted to me by the generous Melanie. As she stated earlier, she’ll be handling the Raw side of things from now on. Hopefully you guys will warm to my style of Reduxin’ just as you did with her. Now with that settled, onto the show!
It seems as though the WWE can’t get enough of tag team matches, because it feels like that’s all we’ve been getting for weeks now. Of course, that’s hyperbole, but it’s clear that they’re using “paint-by-numbers” booking as a means to extend this feud between Michelle McCool and Melina. Melina’s got her third partner in a week, teaming with Eve Torres, who one can only assume gave up her seat on the bench for Maria (Don’t cry for Maria, she had more important things to do, like coming out of closets with Dolph Ziggler. I’m not even joking.). Meanwhile, Michelle teams with her new Alicia, Layla. Let’s see what this slight tweak in the ingredients does this week – watch Melina & Eve take on Michelle & Layla below:
Eve and Layla start off the match. Granted, that sentence probably would’ve scared you a few years ago, but their work wasn’t bad at all. Sure, it feels a little deliberate and calculated, but those two Diva Search alums have come far from strutting for Tom Grisham or whoever the hell hosted that thing. Eve remains in control for much of the beginning, until a sick kick to the head by Michelle takes her out. Michelle must have Inspector Gadget legs, because it’s like she reached Eve from the other corner of the ring. Damn.
In the week since last week’s SmackDown and today’s, the women’s division for the blue brand has become almost unrecognisable. There’s a new Women’s Champion in Michelle McCool and the brand took a severe hit, when it lost solid workers in Gail Kim and Alicia Fox. The aftermath of the trade on Monday night, hurt because we’re huge fans of Gail and Alicia as well as the way SmackDown was booked in the past couple of months.
But I’m pleased to report, that the trades haven’t affected the quality of the show as this week business continued to boom for the Friday night show, showing no signs of mourning for the dearly departed Divas. Watch below as Melina teams up with an unlikely partner, Maria to take on the now heel again, Layla and McCool:
Looks like we aren’t the only ones fawning over Alicia Fox, as former Women’s Champion Melina sang the rookie’s praises in a radio interview earlier this week. Fresh from her Women’s Championship loss at The Bash, the Melina press tour continued as she was interviewed on B95 showing a lot more personality and humour than … Read more
We all know Melina can act the part; she’s awesome in the ring & always looks great, but then there’s the other side of being in the public eye — doing publicity. It’s always interesting [and rare] to see the Divas get interviewed on shows and stuff, seeing how they carry themselves etc. Check out … Read more
Just thought I’d pop a little tribute in there! # Just beat it, just beat it # They say patience is a virtue and our patience truly paid off last night, as for the first time in 6 months, the Divas got booked on pay per view and the result was everything I imagined it … Read more
The WWE Divas finally return to pay per view tonight and what a comeback match we have; SmackDown’s Women’s Champion Melina defends for the very first time against Michelle McCool. Neither Diva is a stranger to The Bash, though they’ve had varying degrees of luck at the event. Melina competed for the Women’s Title in … Read more
Tonight, WWE holds the 6th incarnation of it’s ‘Bash’ pay per view, a former staple of the WCW PPV calendar. Up until this year, the event had gone by the name of ‘The Great American Bash’, but in an effort to make the show more globally-friendly, it has been shortened to ‘The Bash’.
Tonight at The Bash, the Women’s Championship will be defended for only the second time at the event when Melina defends against Michelle McCool. Neither Diva is a stranger to this particular event, Melina was involved in the very first Women’s Title defence in 2007. Meanwhile, McCool’s career landmark came last year, when she became the first ever Divas Champion at this PPV.
Let us take a look through the years at the various Bash events, ahead of tonight’s big pay per view! Remember to join us for our Bash live blog from 7.45pm ET/12.45am UK!
2004 Sable vs Torrie Wilson
The first Bash pay per view was held in 2004, when WWE ressurected the event for it’s SmackDown brand. With the advertising campaign based around the brand’s top Diva, Torrie Wilson, it only made sense to put her on the card. Sable and Torrie had started out as bitter rivals in 2003 before making up to appear on the cover of Playboy together in March 2004. They even notched up a huge victory together at WrestleMania XX for the SmackDown brand. But just a few months later, they were back at each other’s throats (both on screen and in real life!) which led to this match at the Bash:
It may not have been the most technical affair, but Sable could teach our current crop of Divas a thing or two about in-ring psychology. Her heel mannerisms are resemblant of current Diva, Maryse’s. Though Sable stole a win here, Torrie would get her revenge the very next week on SmackDown.
Welcome to Diva B-Sides, the Diva Dirt exclusive where we match WWEÂ Divas and TNA Knockouts with new entrance themes. In honor of this Sunday’s PPV, The Bash, I’ve decided to take exception to my new one-Diva-per-post rule to bring you guys a B-Side for both the champion and the challenger. Let’s get right into things with the #1 contender Michelle McCool:
MICHELLE’S PICK: “BREAKING DISHES” BY RIHANNA
I think we can all agree that Michelle’s current theme has long wore out it’s welcome. It just doesn’t fit her new persona. She could also stand to change that tron, because running along the beach in a skimpy bikini just doesnt scream ‘heel’ to me. Alas that’s another post for another time.
At first listen, this song might not seem to fit Michelle, but I think it’s message of being a powerful woman, girl power etc. fits her perfectly. I think that a song with so much character such as this one could help McCool make up in the charisma department (where she is somewhat lacking).
The final stop for the SmackDown Divas before the big Women’s Championship bout on Sunday, saw Michelle McCool and Alicia Fox take on Melina and Gail Kim. Watch below: Following their epic tag team match last month, which I gave rave reviews, these four women had a lot to live up to when it came … Read more
This week’s Friday Night SmackDown sees a return match from a few weeks ago, as Melina faced off against Alicia Fox with Michelle McCool in her corner. With just 9 days to go until these two Divas face off at The Bash, McCool made a point to turn up the heat with a pay per … Read more
Some may have thought that the Women’s Championship match at Night of Champions signaled the end of the feud between 
