Let me start with something the status quo of the diva division is not. The status quo of the division is not simply this "diva" image. I bring that up because I have seen some people bring up Beth Phoenix in the same discussion as CM Punk because she is not the typical diva and defies the status quo in that regard. I have spoken about divas with "anti-diva" looks and gimmicks before. The WWE is not against having women like that, and has sometimes even developed women like that to be stars. I am not denying that there is a stereotypical image that is associated with the divas. Fine. But what about the image? It is how the WWE pushes these women that defines what the diva division is about.
That being said, the status quo can be put very simply. Whatever the WWE wants, that is the status quo. Whatever those individuals in power want to accomplish and are trying to accomplish, that is what defines what things are about. Whomever they want to build into top stars, that is whom they will develop to be top stars. Their agenda defines the status quo. You can even talk about the status quo of their agenda to really understand what they are about, but that might get confusing. Regardless, putting things like this is not exactly very specific. Are things really that random and fickle? Is everything simply a whim of Vince McMahon? A lot of things, possibly, but everything? John Cena would not be where he is if everything was random. Even though the WWE does choose what it wants, there is some consistency to what they are about.
Going for that more specific answer, what is the diva division about? Some people might say that the status quo of the diva division is not the same in recent years as it was under Trish Stratus and Lita. Things back then were better. The WWE had better women's matches and were pushing their women better. The quality was great. Most fans would grade it very well. Question is, was the status quo about maintaining that great quality or giving something the fans would grade very well? Was it about treating their women well, especially the female wrestlers? Or was something else going on?
When the diva division started, it was about developing Sable as the centerpiece. They would use female wrestlers to put her over. Chyna was the only female wrestler they were developing as a success, and that was in the periphery of Sable. You had a few other eye-candy divas being featured for their looks and not really being developed as serious wrestlers like they were trying with Sable until she left. When she left, the WWE really didn't develop a new centerpiece for a while.
When Trish Stratus arrived and the time was right with her, they started developing her as the new centerpiece. They used female wrestlers to put her over. The only female wrestler being developed as a success was Lita, and that was on the periphery of Trish Stratus. You had a few eye-candy divas being featured well. Does this story sound familiar? This is the same diva division they were running prior to the dark age that came after Sable left.
What has happened in the diva division since Trish and Lita left? What has the WWE tried to do? Their main goal for years was to take another eye-candy diva and develop her as the centerpiece, following in the line of Sable and Trish. Candice Michelle, Maryse, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, and Eve Torres have all been given that kind of push. It was not until a year ago that they pushed a female wrestler as a periphery diva. That would be AJ Lee. The WWE has continued to push female wrestlers as jobbers to the centerpiece and interim centerpiece when they are not around. However, with more eye-candy divas becoming solid in the ring, they are now starting to get the types of pushes that female wrestlers once held on a regular basis. Aside from that, the goal has not really changed. The means has not changed. Eye-candy centerpiece and women with wrestling credibility as credible jobbers.
Let me get to the answer. What is the status quo of the diva division? The WWE is trying to take an eye-candy diva and develop her to be the primary star of their diva division. They choose whom they want that centerpiece to be, whom they want the credible jobbers to be, and whom the other stars of the division will be. Go back to Trish and Lita being around. If the status quo back then was really about maintaining a certain high-quality diva division, whether in terms of treating their women with a certain level of respect when they push them or always trying to please their fans, it makes you wonder what happened. However, if the status quo really did revolve around getting the woman they were pushing as the centerpiece to work out, it really is no mystery as to why the diva division has fallen. If the WWE cannot get what they want, they will not do better with what they do have for the sake of treating their workers right or giving the fans something that really interests them. The status quo back then could have been due to a number of reasons, but when there is a connection between how things are now and how things were then, that connection should be seen as the status quo of the diva division. That connection is developing an eye-candy diva as the centerpiece. The status quo has not changed.
Some people may completely disagree with me when I say that the status quo has not changed. How can I look at how the division is today and say that things are the same? The agenda is the same. Moreover, the same status quo may not always lead to the same results. Let me give two examples.
First, imagine a football team that wins the Super Bowl one season. The following season, they keep everything exactly the same. They don't cut any players and don't bring in any new players. The coaching staff stays exactly the same. Every position in the organization stays the same. They even keep the same playbook. And yet, they fail to even make the playoffs for that season after they had done so well. What went wrong? In terms of who they had and the plays they were doing when they had that great year, they maintained the status quo. The state of affairs for them remained the same. Problem is, age, injuries, and other personal problems may have become an issue for some of the star players. Moreover, the other teams may have gotten better and be better prepared for this team. A winning status quo one season leads to failure the next. If that team was smart, they would not cling to an arrogant belief that doing exactly what led them to that Super Bowl win one season will do the same for years to come.
Second, let's talk about SpongeBob! Did you ever see that episode where Squidward has enough of SpongeBob and moves to a community of people just like him, who also have the same tastes as him? When he first gets there, he loves it. He gets into this routine of always doing the same thing every day. Soon, he loses his smile. He gets bored with it. He goes a little crazy. He eventually leaves. What went wrong? Wasn't this pretty much Squidward's dream status quo? It definitely pleased him at one time. Some people just get tired of the way things are. If the status quo is so monotonous, a status quo that was enjoyable at one time may become painful in the future.
What has changed in the WWE diva division is not the status quo. What has changed is the ability of the status quo to get the job done, in terms of pleasing the WWE, the fans, and treating many of these women well. Just because the division was so great under Trish and Lita, that does not mean it was the WWE's goal to please people who say it was great. As I have said before, you cannot confuse an opinion of the status quo for what the status quo actually is. The same status quo may not always bring absolute results. That diva division is about making stars out of whom the WWE wants to be stars. They want a woman with that "diva" image as their centerpiece. That is what has defined the diva division from the start. Things are currently in a dark age, with AJ Lee getting the spotlight, but will the WWE eventually go for another eye-candy centerpiece?
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