So the WON is reporting that more Divas are considering pulling a Maxine (don't worry, I don't remember her either) and walking out of WWE. One would think this is stemming from having only one Diva with serious TV time, a certain agitator -- for privacy's sake, let's call her A.J....no, no, that's too obvious, let's say A. Jay -- and with most of them being born-and-bred models, there's probably easier ways for them to make money and a name for themselves than traveling on the road 250 days a year for two minutes of TV a week, maybe. Thing is, would WWE even notice? Or care? They did just fine without much eye candy in the Attitude Era and it's not like any of them draw a young female fanbase the way Lita did, plus they do run a lot of TV shows without any of the Divas already, particularly SmackDown. I don't particularly care for this crop of Divas outside of AJ and Beth anyway, so I can only imagine the apathy of the company paying these women a salary to do nothing but work house shows, Superstars, 90-second RAW matches, and those WWE.com photo shoots. Do you see WWE even bothering with putting up an attempt to keep some of them around or will HHH just ask Johnny Ace for his bikini brochure for the next line of expendable women in the company?
It makes me appreciate that Trish vs. Lita RAW main event match that much more; that has a good chance of never happening again.
Yeah, aside from someone like Beth who has the longevity and Natalya with the family connections, pretty much the entire Divas division is disposable and easily replaced. Plus the shelf life on a model is a LOT shorter than the men, unless you're Sable. It's no wonder that the Bellas, who were getting some pretty significant TV time, just decided to leave and do the convention circuit instead. Kelly Kelly looks to be the next one out the door, too.
On the other hand, they want to have their stupid "Divas Tour Bus" show to anchor the network, so expect another army of catalog models to find work as WWE Divas soon.
Beth, Kharma, Natalya with AJ and Eve having out-of-ring roles, sounds fine to me. Maybe tamina SNUKA will hang around so we can have diva tag team belts, WHO CAN THEY TRUST?!? THE DRAMA!!
ReplyDeleteDID YOU KNOW: That its Independence day in America and no one cares about the divas... besides AJ (for now)s.
ReplyDeleteIm going to get drunk and beat up some midgets
They should just hire models and call them Models, and not have them wrestle. Then they could get actual female wrestlers. They're going to three hours, right? Yeah, they're going to need the talent, unless they want the same twelve guys wrestling each other and talking and talking and talking for eternity.
ReplyDeleteduh thats the plan.
ReplyDeleteAJ skippin for 4 SEGMENTS!!
cuz im such a fucking patriot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M
I had no idea Maxine quit. Just last week I was praising her "performance" in the battle royal on Raw. It's a shame, she was a sneaky hot kinda girl, it took me over a year to clue in on how great she really looked.
ReplyDeleteP.S. "They did fine without much eye candy in the Attitude Era"- WTF was this guy watching???
If they can't fid time for them in three hours, something is wrong. Stop having Vickie wrestle and give the time to other Divas.
ReplyDeleteThe eye candy was there, and it was prime, but it wasn't that deep is the point. All you need is A.J. and Eve sniping at each other, and Beth and Kharma for the wrestling. Anything else is superfluous.
ReplyDelete''
ReplyDeleteThey did just fine without much eye candy in the Attitude Era''
Woah woah what? Sable, Chyna, Debra, The Kat, Jacqueline, Tori, Ivory, Terri...
"... they want to have their stupid "Divas Tour Bus" show to anchor the network" Holy shit that is such a stupid idea. Anchor the network? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What network?
ReplyDeleteI have problem with the 250+ day a year on the road part of the comment.
ReplyDeleteDivas are rarely featured on house shows (and when they are, it is usually a single match between the champ and a challenger). Most divas wrestle 30-50 nights a year.
Stop drinking the kool-aid. They have a very easy schedule.
AJ deserves all the time she's getting and is outclassing all of the "non-worker" divas by a country mile. She made Eve Torres look like shit on Monday. If the divas want more TV time, then they shouldn't suck. It's their problem.
ReplyDeleteWWE hasn't taken the division seriously in years so it's no wonder the current Divas are taking a page from Gail Kim and pursuing greener pastures.
ReplyDeleteI'd personally like to see Beth, Natalya, and (unlikely) Kharma jump to TNA where the Knockouts are actually given some time and are capable of putting on decent matches.
I'm still eagerly waiting for Santino's sitcom.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Kaitlyn will probably get the diva equivalent to a push soon.
ReplyDeleteI would be happy if we never saw a Divas match again
ReplyDeleteGood riddance. They should flush the whole diva roster down the toilet and keep a few as valets.
ReplyDeleteThat was the first thing I thought. The Divas were a pretty significant part of the Attitude Era. Sable was probably in the top 5 most over faces in the company for a good while. Debra got more heat than Jarrett ever did when they came out together. Chyna was a huge part of the company, though I'd hardly call her eye candy.
ReplyDeletechyna?
ReplyDeleteShe got enough plastic surgery done that she was at least eye....I don't know, grilled vegetables.
ReplyDeleteComin' again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah!
ReplyDeleteAll I want, at some point, is Kharma v Beth. Why is this too fucking much to ask?
ReplyDelete"That's sexy"
ReplyDeleteAnd have them wrestle instead? No thanks. Let 'em go and get real talent.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, let's see, there was a time when the only two Divas working for the company were Miss Elizabeth and Sensational Sherri. Rockin' Robin was the women's champion for awhile, but then just pretty much forgot about her and dropped the title for several years and nobody even noticed.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, I'm pretty sure they can survive with only two or three female performers.
BTW, unlike many of the other Divas who just want to use WWE as a stepping stone to something else, A.J. has actually been a wrestling fan since childhood and did a recent interview where she claimed that she actually cried after getting appear to Wrestlemania. So I can't fault them for giving tons of TV time to a Diva who genuinely wants to be there.
I was thinking more pre-2000 AE, before Trish, Lita, The Kat, Tori, etc. Unless I'm forgetting someone outside of Sable and Ryan Shamrock.
ReplyDeleteI don't even understand the point of having the girls wrestle at all. Fire them all, and keep a couple with personality around as valets, and a couple without personality as ring girls if you really want.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while have a couple of them have a mini feud where they have a match, if they are reasonably capable, but there's no reason in the world that we need a woman's "division".
I think it's a real stretch to claim that like Natalya "sucks".
ReplyDeleteI said the same thing a couple of days ago. If they insist on having them wrestle than bring in Manami Toyota and some of her people to teach them how to do it properly. She could probably give a lot of the guys a few pointers too.
ReplyDeleteI'd really wish they'd just scrap the whole thing though. I don't really need to see hot chicks during a wrestling show at all. There's plenty of places to see nice looking women on TV. To me, having all these models on a wrestling show is like having Danielson and Punk doing a match during the SI swimsuit issue TV special. Yeah, they're both fun to see but it makes no sense to combine the two.
I think in due time, the Divas will be sparked up in interest once again, in two words: Natalie Nova. AKA Buggy Nova, she just got signed by WWE & made her debut in FCW a couple weeks ago. I started watching her on NWA Hollywood's internet shows last summer and she got me hooked. They had a hell of a classic storyline with her & Candice LaRae, complete with Buggy going blind from hairspray and a blindfold match. The crowd was apeshit over that feud. Unfortunately, NWA-H dropped the ball and the feud never got a chance to go all the way. Since then, she's been wreslting indies all over and had a tryout with AJ Lee in some dark matches, as well as appearing in the Kmart ad with Sheamus from a while back, too. WWE noticed something in her. She can LAST in matches and hopefully will get more than 2 minutes of punchy-kicky-finisher action that we currently see. If all or most of the Divas leave, that would just propel Buggy/Natalie Nova into a high profile debut. She could out-do AJ and would be a great foil in this 'crazy chick' storyline.
ReplyDeleteI've never understood the WWE's insistence on marketing the Divas all the same way i.e. they're all playboy model wannabes.
ReplyDeleteThere's definately a place for that as a valet, but those girls shouldn't be getting in the ring.
Let the likes of Beth, Natalya and Kharma wrestle.
Keep the non-wrestlers like Kelly Kelly out of the ring. Having her hold the title on obviously little wrestling ability cheapens the whole division (albeit she did get better)
And the idea that female wrestling couldn't draw is just nonsense. Look at the reactions AJ is currently getting or the heat Kharma managed to generate in just the handful of appearances she's had. Or look to how over Trish, Mickie, Lita or Victoria were in their respective primes.
They all got over because they had a reasonable to good level of wrestling skill and they took time to build characters and angles for them. It's not rocket science and they could easily do it again if they were so motivated.
Book any of the male wrestlers with no character, no promo time, no storylines and just 3 minute matches sandwiched between main events and I guaruntee they wouldn't get over either
Have they ever even done Beth vs. Natalya? Talk about a natural fit in terms of a match-up...
ReplyDeleteThey should have never broken up the Divas of Doom anyway.
Just give AJ the Divas championship already. Right now AJ is John Cena, the main event Diva to Layla's CM Punk, the Diva's champion.
ReplyDeleteYeah I get them trying to squeeze a little t&a into the show and trying to make some money off calendars etc but I'd prefer they dump it all and raise ticket and ppv prices to recoup that lost revenue
ReplyDeleteLet's also give AJ credit for being a wrestler even though most of her work at this time is for being a "non-worker."
ReplyDeleteI'm not a women's wrestling fan skip but I can tell your a big fan of this nova and enjoyed your post. So I have to ask how pissed are you gonna be when they wheel her out there as generic spunky diva #4235 and put her in a granny bathing suit and a kids pool.
ReplyDeleteThe dirty little secret is that the wwe is shitty at marketing products
ReplyDeleteBecause Kia Stephens had a miscarriage and has no timetable for her return to performing. That's why it's too fucking much to ask.
ReplyDelete"Book any of the male wrestlers with no character, no promo time, no storylines and just 3 minute matches sandwiched between main events and I guaruntee they wouldn't get over either"
ReplyDelete*Ryback sits in a corner and cries*
The loldirtsheets have said she's been ready for weeks and has been voluntarily been kept off TV because they don't know what to do with her.
ReplyDeleteAJ is too good for the Divas championship. If Rey Mysterio can be WWE Champion, why not AJ?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, one AJ is worth pretty much the rest of the Diva roster at this point. You had a reigning Miss USA trying to earn a spot on the roster...I think it's safe to say that if any of the current Divas are unhappy with their spot, they can rest assured that they would be replaced fairly quickly and painlessly.
(and even though Rima probably still sucks in the ring, an AJ/Rima feud would be all kinds of win)
Teaching the Divas how to wrestle "properly" would probably send the Diva injury rate sky high...
ReplyDeleteAJ's taken Kharma's mentally unstable schtick, few people want to see AJ beat Kharma, and perhaps fewer still want to see Kharma destroy AJ. And nobody cares about any other Diva, except perhaps to chant "Hoeski" at Eve.
ReplyDelete"Stop complaining, and eat your baby carrots young man!"
ReplyDeleteNatalya isn't what I would classify as a "non-worker" Diva. I should actually add a caveat that Vicki Guerrero doesn't suck.
ReplyDeleteBuggy Nova is indeed awesome. And I think it'd be almost impossible to drop the ball with her. Whatever "It" is, she has it.
ReplyDeleteFemale wrestling can bring something completely different to the table if done correctly. Honestly I believe WWE should be marketing more to women. I mean, if you get females, you also get their boyfriends.
ReplyDeleteThere's a "Kaitlyn"?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I mean, she is a trained wrestler. And yes, while she isn't perfect, remember that she's still young, I think...25-26. CM Punk had major flaws as a worker at 25. Daniel Bryan was boring as shit when he was 25.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that just in her indy matches on youtube: if there were 30 people or 300 people in the crowd, she connected with them as a face or heel, and just owned the moment. I think its her unique look that will come across, and stand out amidst the generic crap we are seeing. I would love to see an AJ/Buggy feud.
ReplyDeleteI think she has that 'it' factor that would rise above moments like swimsuit dance-arounds and kiddie pools full of chocolate. She'd have a way of making you forget she's around that crap.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're being sarcastic: Bryan was 25 in 2006 which was without a doubt his best year.
ReplyDeleteMost of the Divas I can see going and not affecting anything. Aksana, Kelly, the Fox girl. Eve has come into her own as an authority figure of sorts, AJ has a strong character, keep Beth and Natalya and Kharma. Oh and keep Rosa Mendes her hips they shake.
ReplyDeleteShe had that miscarriage over 6 months ago. It's sad, but..let's not act like that's the first time that's ever happened to anyone ever. She's been ready, they just don't want her to come back yet.
ReplyDeleteA possible solution? Debut Kharma as AJ's bodyguard. No one really buys AJ as a physical threat to Punk or D-Bry, but Kharma? The guys would make Kharma look like a million bucks before transitioning the women to the Divas division have them run roughshod over all the divas until Beth and/or Natalya can be built up as the only force capable of taking AJ-K out (or alternatively, if AJ-K get over as badass faces, Beth and Nattie can be their main antagonists).
ReplyDeleteShe's got the same kind of advantage that CM Punk had, sort of, in that they can't really change the character that much due to the distinctive "punk rock" (or whatever) look. Buggy could act like Luna Vachon did in bikini contests, except with the advantage of actually being hot.
ReplyDeleteI'm not 14 anymore, so simply putting hot half naked women on television doesn't excite me. I've never been a big fan of the woman's division. I just don't get into it, I don't care who's champion, I don't care who's chasing the champion, I don't care if the title changes hands, I currently can't remember who is the champion...
ReplyDeleteI think the Divas can be useful, but mostly as characters who take part in storylines with the men. A Diva is an instant reason for two characters to be fighting if they make you care about the characters/relationships. Lita, for example. Established she was with Matt Hardy, so her leaving him for Edge created an instant heated feud. Then she was established as Edge's girl. Had she turned on him for someone else, there's another feud. Now they just do brief relationships that don't lead to anything. I think Carlito alone was paired up with like 3 Divas, none of which went anywhere.
With Batista gone they really don't need to have them on the road as much.
ReplyDelete2006 was when he stopped being boring and started having a personality. Dragon's promos were...lacking for a long time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, plus she already has a WWE-ish offense of a couple of signature spots and a lot of working the crowd. She's not "too indy" if you get my drift.
ReplyDeletePost-chin and pre-crazy, Chyna was nice on the eyes. I'm speaking for myself of course. Dressing like Demolition probably helped.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty cut and dried.
ReplyDeleteEither hire actual female wrestlers and showcase them in actual storylines and actual matches.Or just axe the division.
Here's WWE's problem: they can't just eliminate the Divas. They actually serve two semi-important functions. The first being, piss break match. When you need to let the crowd cool off between big matches you go to the Divas. Sure, you could give that match to Santino or Ryder or someone they don't intend to push beyond the midcard but that leads into the second point. Sexism. WWE has enough problems fighting the image of being a backwards rasslin company that completely eliminating positive female role models from their company will make them look sexist. We know that Vince, and some of the roster, probably is, but they're company not a promotion. They have to worry about stupid semantic bullshit.
ReplyDeleteI always figure it has to do with some sort of requisite female hiring. It kinda sucks when they have to eat up roster space in the SVR/WWE games when those slots could go to current Superstars or legends...you know, wrestlers that players would actually pick to play.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is most of the current women are cut from such the same mold that I don't really see how you could discern them into characters. Back in 2002-03 when the RAW women's division thrived, you had a spectrum of different females with Trish, Lita, Molly, Jazz, and Victoria who all had a different look and manner to them. What could you actually make of someone like K2 or Alicia Fox?
ReplyDeletePlease tell me you weren;t one of the ones who rushed out to buy Chyna's Playboy issue, Maffew. If so, well......JEEEEEZUS!
ReplyDelete/was never into Chyna
a glorified ring rat.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather see Vicky, at least she has a fuckin personality unlike most of those blank slate bimbos.
ReplyDeleteWorks for me.
ReplyDeleteI spanked to her. Cryin shame what became of her.
ReplyDeleteShe wasn't dressed like Demolition, so I didn't buy it.
ReplyDeleteDid you really refer to the Divas as "positive female role models"? Yeah, my daughter wants to be a surgeon, but I'd rather she get inspiration from a bunch of interchangeable bimbos who strip on command.
ReplyDeleteYes, and she's very similar to Trish Stratus in terms of being good looking, having a great personality, and always striving to improve.
ReplyDeleteThat's how the company perceives them. And honestly? They're both off than most of the female characters girls are looking up to today. I'd rather a young girl watch someone like Beth Phoenix than follow the puritanical values of a Bella Swan.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea. Like a diva shawn and diesel
ReplyDeletePromos maybe, but db was a world class worker in 06
ReplyDeleteHe was always a world class worker. Punk was always a world class promo. I'm saying it takes time for wrestlers to truly find themselves and become great in multiple areas.
ReplyDelete