It seems that the easiest thing to write about in WWE right now is the women’s division, specifically the ‘Divas Revolution’, which began just before WWE Battleground this summer, and has seen the likes of Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Sasha Banks emerge to put more of a spotlight on women’s wrestling on Raw and Smackdown.
People, including myself, have been giving their two cents on what could be done to improve the revolution before the division falls back into obscurity, which it inevitably will if they don’t give us some actual storylines to become invested in, and on who should be the face of the Divas division to really drive the nail home that women in WWE aren’t taking a backseat to their male counterparts anymore.
I for one think that Nikki Bella is a great Divas Champion, and I want her to break AJ Lee’s record and then some, despite my fondness for AJ. Nikki is the perfect representation of what a WWE Diva is. A lot of people don’t actually like what that entails, i.e. being a superstar on the E! Network, walking red carpets, getting movie deals, presenting awards on MTV, and basically being a Hollywood hit.
But you have to realise that this is what a WWE Diva is, and it’s not going to change any time soon. When Paige was brought up from NXT, everyone thought “wow, this woman is going to completely turn the Divas division on its head, being the Anti-Diva that she is”, and in a way, she has pushed the boundaries of what a WWE Diva can be, but at the end of the day, she is still a Diva. That’s not a bad thing, either, it’s just not the same as it was back when Lita and Trish Stratus were in their prime. This isn’t the Attitude Era.
There’s a reason they debuted the WWE Divas Championship in 2008, and slowly began to phase out the WWE Woman’s Championship. It’s because the two titles embodied different things. The old title portrayed wrestling, who could work the best, who was over with the crowd and who deserved it based on their all-around talent. Today’s title is still about wrestling, but it’s mostly about who the best woman to represent the Divas division is, and I think that’s Nikki Bella. You can feel free to disagree, though, that’s not what today’s article is about.
That doesn’t necessarily mean she should be the face of the revolution though, especially if they’re looking to hype up this “huge change” in women’s wrestling, because Nikki’s not exactly a newcomer. As for that, I’d pick Paige, but I do feel like a heel turn is in order, because the woman is slipping, as much as I hate to say it. She’s been having good matches, but I don’t feel like this whole team dynamic is doing her justice, and you can see it in her promo work.
That’s why I’m hoping Charlotte’s match on Monday Night Raw is interrupted by an apologetic Paige, only for her to double-cross her friend and subsequently allow Nikki to retain the title. It would be a nice surprise to see Becky Lynch turn and join forces with her, but like I said, Paige works better alone, and the division needs babyfaces.
There are endless possibilities for the Divas on the main roster today. Once all of the hype dies down a bit, hopefully we can start seeing Natalya wrestle some matches again, because it’s a crying shame that her talent is going to waste when it could really be put to good use. Axe the team stuff, and then we can be treated to multiple brilliant singles rivalries. We have seen two Divas matches on Raw every week since Battleground, so there’s no excuse to have just one feud at a time. Have something like Charlotte vs. Paige first, with the winner becoming #1 Contender, and while that’s happening, Becky Lynch can earn a shot at the Title and go into Night of Champions to face Nikki Bella.
However, and this is where my positivity about the future of the division begins to dwindle. NXT is a fantastic place for women’s wrestling. We just witnessed one of the best women’s matches in WWE history at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, and now Bayley will face off against Sasha Banks once again, defending the title in a 30-Minute Iron Man Match, in the MAIN EVENT at the next NXT Takeover event in October. First of all, holy shit, that’s amazing.
But it’s kind of hard to be excited after that, with rumours running rampant that Eva Marie will become NXT Women’s Champion before the end of the year. Some even say she could win it from Bayley at NXT Takeover: London in December, and if that’s the case, she is going to be lynched on her way out of the building. I can’t even imagine the reaction she’ll get, but I doubt she’ll leave feeling proud and fulfilled.
I don’t hate Eva Marie as much as a lot of people do. She does annoy me a great deal, but if WWE let me come in with zero experience and basically wanted to package me up to be the next big star, I’d be all for it. I’d train my ass off to be accepted by the fans, which Eva has done (in the comfort of her home state, mind you), but it’s not working. I saw some of her training videos with the ever-talented Brian Kendrick and I’ll admit, I was impressed, but it hasn’t come through in her live performances at all. She’s better, she’s just nowhere near NXT Women’s Championship material.
The thing that pissed me off about it all, was that the rumours stated that she could be given the title as a way of paying off all of her hard work over the last year. What a steaming pile of bullshit. You don’t give somebody a championship to create the illusion of improvement, they earn the championship by being the very best they can possibly be, and Eva Marie does not deserve it. I guarantee you, you give her the NXT Women’s Championship before the year is up, and not only does NXT’s stock go way down, but the Divas Revolution might as well have never happened. In the immortal words of Steve Austin, “and that’s all I’ve got to say about that”.
Before I finish up here, there has been something really bothering me, looking at WWE Divas’ social media posts for the last week or so, and it’s the fact that a lot of them have included Amanda from this season of Tough Enough, who came second to Sara Lee from Hope, Michigan. I am really ticked off at her presence for a number of reasons.
I don’t like how she’s getting this attention when Sara Lee was the winner, and I particularly hate how Naomi’s departure from Total Divas may be due to Amanda replacing her. I guarantee that if this is true, I am never watching that show again. It won’t put a dent in their viewership, but I can’t stand to see her on it now. Which means if she does get signed and ends up wrestling on Raw or NXT, I’m going to have to pick and choose what segments to watch.
If you’re wondering why I despise this woman, Mick Foley said it best on Facebook and Twitter after the Tough Enough season finale. The woman should not have gotten away with her slut-shaming Sara Lee. She called her a ring rat, and whether there is truth to the story or not is irrelevant. Amanda slut-shamed Sara in order to sway votes, and I think she is a vile, despicable human being for it, and shouldn’t be rewarded with a contract.
Can you imagine if Amanda got a job in NXT, or on Raw, and went to the head honchos backstage and tried to convince them to give her a championship reign over somebody more deserving, by fabricating stories about their sexual escapades? She would not last long in that environment, and if she’s willing to fuck someone over to improve her own chances, then she doesn’t deserve the opportunity to come to WWE.
I’m really worried that this vile human being is going to be a mainstay on my television screen if she gets hired, and I don’t think I could willingly watch her content. So between her possible introduction to WWE, and Eva Marie potentially becoming the NXT Women’s Champion in 2015, enjoy the Divas Revolution while it lasts…
That’ll do it for me today, folks. My role as writer, admin and editor for SLTD Wrestling could be a lot harder to perform now that I’m back in college this week, but I’m going to do as much as I possibly can to continue contributing to the site, and further making SLTD Wrestling the place to be for wrestling editorials.
If you enjoyed this piece, please share it on Facebook, Twitter and all other social media, and feel free to join the conversation in the comments below. You can also follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_UTS to speak with me about wrestling, my writing or anything at all. Thanks for reading!
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Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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