Friday, May 4, 2012

Diva Classification

I am hoping this will be the simplest way I ever come up with to explain how I view the diva division.

You frequently hear fans talk about various groups on the roster. You have guys who are in the main event, upper-midcard, midcard, and lower-midcard. They discuss the roster in terms of various classes. They might sometimes talk about jobbers, legends, and other groups too. Point is, just sticking with grouping the roster based on the scale from main event to lower-midcard, how do they know who belongs where? Does the WWE spell it out for everyone? Not exactly. Fans know based on how the WWE uses the various workers. Where are they frequently positioned on the card? Who are they frequently working with? How are they frequently being used? Keyword? Frequently. You don't just judge based on one night. Jinder Mahal may be used in the battle royal to find a new #1 contender for the World Championship one night in the main event, but no one would honestly say that makes him a true main-eventer. Fact is, you know how to classify the men based on how you see the WWE using them.

Now, how does that work out in the diva division? Divas don't ever fill out the card on Raw, Smackdown, or PPVs in the same way the men do. That is to say, you don't see as many all-female matches and storylines going on as you do all-male matters. You can definitely argue that Trish and Lita were main-eventers, but even they did not spend the majority of their WWE careers wrestling in the main event. Just because you can't really use the same grouping you would use for the men, that does not mean you cannot classify the divas.

To me, there are 3 types of divas. Two of these are types that the WWE builds to be successful. One is the centerpiece. The centerpiece is the one that major diva feuds and title matters frequently revolve around. Then you have periphery divas. These are women built up well more in the men's world than the diva world. And what's left? How about those women who are mainly there to put over the centerpiece? Because the divas don't fill out the card, these women tend to only get used to serve that purpose, and then don't do anything too interesting. Once a guy is used to put over a centerpiece in the main-event scene, there is still spots on the card for him. Women used in this manner have almost always failed to get over. The only exception was Mickie James, and the WWE showed how they felt about that. I call these women credible jobbers, since they have to have some credibility in them to properly put over a centerpiece.

Just like fans base their classification of the men on the roster based on how they are being used, that is the same source of information I use for the divas. By looking at how the WWE pushes their talent, you can figure out what they are trying to do with them. Grouping things can help you anticipate what the WWE might do next. When you see a diva is being treated in the same pattern as a credible jobber, you shouldn't be too shocked by that depush that always comes, no matter how over she is. You can always cross your fingers and hope that the WWE does things better in the future, but that is not something that worked out for Mickie James fans. At least, by understanding what the WWE is doing, it might ease some stress if this ever happens to another woman.

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