The WWE Career Of Mickie James - Part 6

I have talked about that infamous storyline on Smackdown a lot in the past year. This ended up being the farewell angle for Mickie James. Funny how that was one of the ideas they were pushing in it. And I don't think it was a coincidence.

As soon as Mickie James arrived, they pushed this angle in which Michelle McCool and her sidekick at the time, Layla, were bullying her. With the diva trade and Maria on leave, Mickie was the only face diva on Smackdown anyway. They ruined her clothes, cost her a match, and then started the weight angle. Dirtsheets had talked about weight being one of the reasons why Mickie James was "punished" by going to Smackdown like she did. The WWE pushing the storyline like they did fed dirtsheets, fueling that Mickie James was being punished. The timing of the whole thing was very insulting. But why should WWE care? Their mission was to get McCool looking great at the expense of any tool.

It was obvious Mickie James would win the title. Diva bully angles had occurred in the past with Chyna/Ivory and Lita/Trish. In those cases, the faces always win the title from the bully. Not so much an honor as it is how the story is meant to progress.

Mickie James had an infection which caused her to drop the title after just a few weeks. She worked the match to give it back to McCool and had surgery the next week. Many people doubted she would make it back in time for Wrestlemania, but she pushed herself to do it. She did it. But look at how the WWE hyped her return. They didn't. They just randomly placed her into the large, lackluster diva tag match at Wrestlemania. They just had her show up on Raw and stand by Kelly Kelly to watch a match. On Smackdown, they had her run out with the rest of the face divas to run off a bunch of the heels, leaving Beth Phoenix the sole face to get attention. This is not how you treat your most over diva. This was the first and only time Mickie James missed time from traveling with the WWE for an extended period of time due to anything health related. Yes, it only amounted to 3 weeks, but remember when Michelle McCool got injured in 2009? She was only gone for 2 weeks before they hyped when she would be returning. She did not even wrestle for over a month after that on Smackdown. Before she did return, they only mentioned her infrequently in backstage segments to say she had a knee injury. Boring reason leads to boring return. But then again, why would you hype a woman you knew you never liked and would be getting rid of soon enough? Mickie James was always just an option, not something to be treated as a priority.

And that is Mickie's 6th and final title reign. They did not even keep her around for more than a month after that. Their worst nightmare would have been realized if they had. Beth Phoenix injured shortly after. Kelly Kelly almost seriously injured at a house show. Tiffany suspended. They would have had to push Mickie James again to a 7th title reign. Remember who was closest to reaching Moolah's record before Trish eventually did and broke it? Ivory. WWE never let her do it. History repeats with Mickie James. They insulted Mickie James a lot worse than they did Ivory. She even got released while promoting the WWE's own Draft in her hometown. I cannot even measure how that slap in the face must feel.

A nice bit I hear is that "storylines happen". People who say that are missing the kicker. Storylines happen FOR A REASON. And that reason is not always entertainment. The current storyline involving Nexus and Cena is a means to inject credibility in the members, especially Barrett. This guy is getting a bigger rub in the main event than some guys who have been around for years have gotten. What reason can be found in what they did to Mickie James on Smackdown? Do whatever it takes to make Michelle McCool look like a great heel. Mickie James was the most over diva and a very strong worker. McCool was getting that heat. Fans were loudly chanting that she sucked. WWE and McCool have to blame themselves for it fading. They pushed the envelope too far and McCool was just too lame in the end to be a serious heel well enough. Once Mickie served her purpose, they got rid of her completely. Remember when Melina returned to Smackdown last year? Outside of feuding with McCool, she really got no true feuds or meaningful storylines with anyone else. They just used her and spat her back to Raw. She still had a few more reigns in her. Look at what they did to her recently. Put the title on her, used her to make McCool make history again, then immediately kicked her aside to give Natalya a push. You see who the centerpiece is. It is McCool. This storyline was done for her benefit, not Mickie's. Arguably, Mickie James even lost the feud against McCool. The whole thing about weight and being bullied continued after Mickie James won the title. They even added Vickie Guerrero, who served to add more to both the weight aspect and added to the bullies against Mickie. McCool got back the title. Mickie James was never treated with proper hype again after that. They never wanted her to be the centerpiece.

The WWE Career Of Mickie James - Part 5

Entering 2009, the WWE continued to push Melina as the only major face diva who mattered. Kelly Kelly was used as her sidekick. Candice Michelle, having lost support from the WWE, was used only in minor backstage segments. Mickie James, too credible and over to be in Melina's way to the WWE, was also given meaningless segments. She also was given a WWE.com angle with Cryme Tyme. Although I enjoyed seeing it, it did nothing for to keep Mickie fresh in front of those fans in the audience. It was an internet angle!

The rumor going around why Mickie James was being depushed this time? Injury. I do not buy it. It is true Mickie James had a minor car accident and sold an injury in a match just before 2009 started, but she was still at WWE events and she was selling the injury in that match, not really seriously injured. Besides, if you look at large diva matches prior to this time or a diva match that just happened this week on Raw, some women in a tag match do not really have to do much of anything at all. Mickie James could have been booked in the place of Kelly Kelly in at least one instance. She was not. Is that how you treat your most over diva or diva you intend to be a centerpiece? No. They did not push Mickie James as a vital part of the diva division.

Mickie James soon got matches and got focus back on her as the year progressed. Why? The WWE was drafting Melina, the face Women's Champion, to Smackdown to feed to Michelle McCool so she could make history by being the first woman to have held both female titles. In Melina's place, they sent Maryse, with the Diva's Championship in hand, to Raw. Watch how they treated Maryse and the Raw division for over a year. They were intent on making her a centerpiece. It was obvious both Maryse and McCool could not exist as centerpieces on the same show, especially with both heels. Maryse, however, was a poor wrestler after her injury. Mickie James was a credible face diva who could work with her and give her a rub. How often did Mickie James get promo time? Out of when she did speak, when was it really for her sake more than putting over Maryse's character? Maryse even had a story going on with Miz during all this, putting more attention on her. There is your centerpiece.

Pushing Mickie James like she stood a chance at making the same piece of history as Michelle McCool by having her feud with Maryse also served another purpose. When McCool did defeat Melina, mowing her over even, she did not just defeat one woman to make history, she also beat Mickie James in the race. Fans were talking about which diva would make history first. It was obvious it would not be Mickie James, the tool. They were just using her once again.

Mickie James did eventually win the title. Maryse taking time off starting the next day for her knee injury, which never fully healed, was no coincidence. They knew it was going to happen. They still had Maryse work and keep the title on her. Not only did this not do any favors for Maryse or the women that had to work with her, it was not good for the division. But since when does the WWE really care about the divas?

What happened after that? The WWE teased a heel turn for Gail Kim, but dropped it. The WWE built up challengers by giving them wins, having them win #1 contendership, and then just had Mickie James retain. They were not developing any good feuds for Mickie James or the divas she worked with. With Maryse gone, the WWE did not even try to keep their Raw diva hype up. With Smackdown running stale, the WWE decided to have a diva trade. They had Mickie James drop the title to a jobber, Jillian. They then sent her with no hype at all to Smackdown. With a whole lot of internet blame already going on Mickie James for things that happened during her reign, and combined with old rumors, Mickie's move to Smackdown was seen as a punishment. It was obvious that they only did it to feed her to McCool.

Let me go back to some of the things people blamed Mickie James for. For not wrestling great matches with Maryse? Maryse was not a great wrestler to begin with, had lost a bit since her injury, and spent more time in her matches pushing her character than wrestling. Considering the WWE was high on this woman, and still are if you notice she is the only Raw diva in the last few months with any constant angle going on (Million Dollar Couple) and only Raw diva with any real storyline going on outside of the title feud, Mickie James cannot just mow over this woman. Not performing well with Rosa Mendes? Rosa is another poor wrestler. She could not take the DDT properly, timed herself poorly when Mickie James did a leaping spot in the corner, and did not fall properly in taking the Lou Thesz Press. Don't believe me with the last one? Look back to a certain spot where Shawn Michaels tried the same move on John Cena in 2009. Cena does not fall exactly in time with when Shawn jumps on him. For a brief moment, Shawn is just latched onto a standing Cena. Cena, no matter how bad a wrestler you want to say he is, was strong enough to stay stiff and still fall backwards properly. Rosa Mendes was not. She just rolled aside. The Gail Kim incident? Speaks for itself. Gail Kim took a bad hit and did not execute her end in Mickie's DDT. Mickie James motioned for Gail to take a kick to the mouth after that, which would still allow Gail to fall how she felt safest after that. Gail was still too out of it to work with Mickie. Mickie had to take her down with a forearm. The DDT spot with Alicia Fox? Mickie James did her end of the move the same way. Alicia had trouble flipping herself over while supporting Mickie. Look at Gail Kim vs. Alicia in early 2010. When Gail attempts a Reverse Frankensteiner, Alicia Fox once again does not take the move properly. Specifically, she does not flip or do anything to protect her head when coming down. Alicia is not as great as some would like to believe. And trying to flip through the monkey flip in her match with Jillian? Did you miss the part where Jillian bounced in her way?

This was Mickie's fifth title reign in the WWE. It was her only run with the Diva's Championship. She went through a period of nothing before finally getting her push against Maryse, and then mainly for the benefit of women meant to be treated as centerpieces. When Raw's centerpiece dropped out for health reasons, WWE just shuffled Mickie James through opponents. Mickie James still remained over. That overness is what made her use on Smackdown even more meaningful.

The WWE Career Of Mickie James - Part 4

Mickie James received her push at the end of 2007 after the injury of Candice Michelle. She was the most credible face option to work against Beth and keep her fresh. Mickie James ended up being more than that. The "story" of this feud soon became that Mickie James could not defeat Beth Phoenix. The televised match before their PPV title match, Beth Phoenix pinned Mickie. Without gaining any momentum before the PPV title match, Mickie lost again. Mickie lost to Beth several times after this. The WWE had Mickie James cry and act upset about her inability to defeat Beth. This was done to help Beth look stronger and fresher for Candice's eventual return. Mickie James could not take the title from Beth, but could Candice? This would not be the last time they used the tears of Mickie James. Had the WWE pushed this idea consistently, I would be arguing that this all really was done just for Mickie's sake. The WWE has underdog stories like this all the time. Problem is, they did not push Mickie James against Beth consistently.

In a tag match, Mickie teamed with Kelly Kelly to face Beth and Victoria on Raw. Mickie James pinned Victoria to get her first victory against Beth in any type of match for the first time in 2008. Mickie looked re-energized, like she would be closing in on Beth's title after that. Next week on Raw? Mickie James is not seen at all. Candice Michelle, however, makes her return to Raw to cost Beth a match. Mickie James was put back on Heat. Mickie James remained off of Raw until after Wrestlemania, while the WWE pushed "Bunnymania" between Maria and Candice (later replaced by Ashley) as the faces and Beth and Melina as the heels.

Fans wanted to know what happened to Mickie James. Enter the dirtsheets. They said Mickie James was being punished for saying in an interview that the WWE should treat their women more like TNA treats their women. Back then, when I was a little more naive, I bought it. In retrospect, do you know what it sounds like to me? It sounds like Beth Phoenix is pregnant. It sounds like the WWE is in love with Alicia Fox just because she is holding the title at the same time they sign her sister. It sounds like Eve will be a part of a triple-threat match at Summerslam with Alicia and Melina. It sounds like something I might as well flush down the toilet. The real reason Mickie James was depushed? The centerpiece came back. This is how you know the WWE wanted Candice to have the spot. They push everything else aside going on with Beth, putting the two in the same picture again, the day Candice returns. Mickie James really was meant to just hold things down. She did her job, they gave her a trivial win, and they tossed her aside.

Candice got injured again before Wrestlemania. Did they bring back Mickie James to compete at the big PPV? No. Although she is the most credible face diva and was just involved in issues with Beth before Candice returned, they wanted to push Playboy. Ashley gets Candice Michelle's spot in the match. Mickie James remains on Heat, acting as fodder for the heels in the match.

In a meaningless aside, I remember a certain topic in a message board I posted in at this time. The topic creator asked who your favorite diva was on each show. He even counted Heat as a show, even though it was primarily a place for Raw jobbers to get matches. He chose Mickie James as his favorite "Heat diva". A few others did the same thing. That is what the WWE would have liked to have done with Mickie's importance.

With Candice once again injured, and the WWE not yet at the stage where they would give the title to someone like Maria or Ashley, they once again push the woman they used when Candice got injured in 2007. With not many fresh options to work with Beth to keep the belt on her until Candice returned again and Beth not getting over with the title on her, not to mention the fans' support of Mickie James not breaking during her disappearance from Raw, Mickie James won her fourth Women's Championship in England.

I will skip over most of what happened during the actual reign itself. I have no huge complaints or see any great evidence that the WWE was madly in love with Mickie during this reign. It was still a good reign. However, Mickie's romance angle with John Cena led to many rumors that the two dated in real life. So many other rumors against Mickie James have been built on this. For now, I will only say that I am still waiting for a credible, impartial, direct source to confirm any of it. But I will bring it up again. It looks like one of the main reasons for the angle was just to give Mickie something to keep her busy while Melina turned face and feuded with Beth. Like every other angle Mickie James has ever gotten outside the title scene, this romance angle failed. WWE stopped pushing it. It never elevated Mickie James up the card. WWE just used it to push the idea that Mickie was trying to sleep around and keep it secret. Was that supposed to be the payoff, WWE? It accomplished nothing lasting for Mickie's WWE character.

History repeats itself. I said before that I would argue that the WWE intended for Candice Michelle to be a centerpiece because she was a model who became a credible wrestler under their watch, had a very strong build to the title, and most blatantly, had things pushed aside for her benefit when she returned from injury in early 2008. In August, having already lost momentum on the Raw before the PPV, Mickie James lost the Women's Championship back to Beth. Losing a PPV match to Beth Phoenix after not having momentum going into it? History really does repeat itself! Before the end of the month, Candice Michelle, not surprisingly, once again made her triumphant return to Raw. It is no coincidence that the title was put back on Beth, Mickie James received her "gold watch" victory, and Mickie was starting to be depushed again. The WWE were finally going to push Candice against Beth again. Mickie James was no longer that important to them. In fact, when Mickie James did finally get her rematch, the WWE had Candice Michelle sitting at ringside. They announced that whoever won between Beth and Mickie would face Candice. Could they have done anything more to make it obvious who would win? While Beth and Candice are busy looking at each other and laughing it up, Mickie James wastes her time trying to act like a focused challenger. Beth retained the title.

Let me go back a step. Candice Michelle made a fool of herself in her return match. Raw was taped, so most fans never saw the part edited out. This is not one of those instances where the opponent messes up his or her part, making the person executing the move look bad. Candice was not as solid as she used to be. This is the start of the WWE giving up on Candice Michelle as the centerpiece. That is the thing about centerpieces, they do not change like the seasons so trivially. A person has to really mess up for the WWE to really stop pushing them as a true centerpiece. In one year, Candice Michelle got injured, returned and got injured in her first televised match back, and returned and performed poorly against a solid performer, Beth Phoenix, in her first televised match back. She did not regain the WWE's confidence in the time before her title match. She lost and never got a second shot at Beth.

Does that mean the WWE pushes Mickie James hard against Beth again? If Mickie James really was the centerpiece they wanted, and there is already enough of an argument that she was not, she would have gotten that push. Her previous push against Beth was blown off easily in favor of Candice. Mickie James got one title shot, without any build to it, and did not win the title. She was once again just being used as fodder during this period. Since TNA's Awesome Kong was strong in 2008, the WWE continued pushing Beth hard as an answer to that. They had already bought out Gail Kim. Who would be the main face they push against Beth? They would stall until Melina returned from injury.

The WWE did not reinvest in Mickie James. They mainly treated her as a face diva on the same level as Candice and Kelly Kelly on Raw. They did place Mickie in the storyline between Jamie Noble and William Regal and Layla, but what did that do for her? She never got mic time, did not get adequate focus on her or her real involvement in the feud, and most surprisingly, their was never a televised mixed tag between these people. The feud just got forgotten as William Regal went on to win the Intercontinental Championship. Another failed angle for Mickie James. The WWE did not care to develop her, elevate her, or even keep her that fresh.

Despite being in the midst of this depush, Mickie James won the 2008 Cyber Sunday costume contest. Fans chose her two years in a row. She won over Women's Champion Beth Phoenix and her monster push, Diva's Champion Michelle McCool, Candice Michelle, Kelly Kelly, Maryse, and other women, some of whom the WWE had invested more into in 2008. Speaking of depushes and fans choosing anything, the WWE had a poll on their website for an event they made up called "All-Diva's Day" in early 2008, prior to Wrestlemania. Fans voted for their favorite divas throughout the day. At the end, the final three left were Maria, who was in the midst of her Playboy push, Kelly Kelly, who had gained attention from dancing on ECW, and Mickie James, who was off Raw and exiled on Heat at the time. Mickie James won that poll too. My point? The WWE has no excuse. They knew how over Mickie James was. Nevertheless, they pushed her only when they had to in early 2008, depushed her when the person they were high on came back, then use Mickie James as just an extra body for tag matches and jobbing for the rest of the year. You want to tell me this is the woman they were in love with?

There you have Mickie's fourth title reign. It is clear that she was not the first choice for the push. She was not the intended centerpiece. If she was, she would not have been depushed as she was the two times the same woman returned to Raw in 2008 to claim a title feud against Beth Phoenix. If she was, she would have regained the feud, not necessarily the title, after Candice was depushed. If she was, and since the WWE knew she was over, they would have invested more in elevating her or keeping her fresh outside the title feuds. All she got were angles that never saw a finish and created rumors that damaged her character. It didn't matter. Mickie James was already very over before her title reign in 2008, meaningless rub from Cena, and in between all these attempts to bury her.

The WWE Career Of Mickie James - Part 3

After Mickie James lost the Women's Championship to Melina, she won it back in a triple threat match at a house show in France. She lost it back in that same show. Why? They say the title was not supposed to change hands in the first place. With the buzz already spreading, the WWE decided to acknowledge the change anyway. What else are they going to do? Admit wrestling is fake the next Raw and they didn't book the change? Not going to happen. Mickie James held the title for a shorter period that any other person. Nevertheless, this title reign was never supposed to happen. So much symbolism in that. It was never supposed to happen.

This installment of my analysis of Mickie's WWE career is supposed to last until roughly when her feud with Beth in 2007 starts. Aside from the title reign I just mentioned, what really happened for Mickie James that is worth note until then? She feuded with Melina after Melina finished with Ashley's Playboy push, but that seems to have been just an intermediary or filler feud for Melina's sake until the WWE started building Candice Michelle.

Candice Michelle. A sexy model-type who improved her wrestling ability while in the WWE. That is pretty much one of the chief qualities the WWE looks for when trying to figure out who they want as a centerpiece. I do believe the WWE intended to make her a centerpiece. Aside from the strong build she got before winning the title, the real evidence comes the following year.

If the feud with Melina was meant to do something lasting for Mickie James, her push would have continued in some clear way. It looks like they just fed Melina more credibility and momentum before eventually using her as well. While Melina was getting used to put over Candice, Mickie James got nothing worth note at all. She became a sidekick face diva. She would partner now and then with Candice. She would wrestle on Heat against heels even further down the ladder. Imagine Gail Kim for most of her time since she returned to Raw. Imagine how Melina is being treated right now. She is doing nothing meaningful now. The only time you have seen her in televised action recently is when she wrestles on Superstars, which is pretty much on the same level as Heat. See these instances of face tools being used weakly? That is what the WWE would have wished to turn Mickie James into. They did not completely toss her aside at this time. I do not think they realized how over Mickie really was or how difficult it would be for other women to get that overness, including Candice Michelle's fall from grace.

During this time, I recall a blogger writing that Mickie James was not getting pushed better because she was not pushing herself hard enough. Incorrect interpretation. She is a sidekick. In most tag matches in which she teams with Candice, it is Candice who is meant to really shine. The commentators will be talking mostly about her, not Mickie. If Mickie does too much to take the spotlight, that will not make the WWE happy. Moreover, her matches on Heat are minor, not seen by all the fans, and against women who do not have much development or story attached to them at that time at all. The WWE would toss these small bones which they know will not do too much in really building a diva. It is the hype from promos, major wins, and from the commentators, and any other source I am forgetting, which the WWE really uses to build who they want to push. Lack of this could potentially bury a very over talent.

Mickie James could not be buried. Summerslam 2007. WWE booked a huge diva battle royal to start the monster push of Beth Phoenix. Candice Michelle, Women's Champion, sat at ringside and just watched. Aside from the obvious silence Beth got after winning, what really surprised me was the reaction the fans gave when Mickie James was eliminated. Those boos were noticeable. No, they did not boo because they hate Mickie. They would be cheering at her being eliminated if they did. They were on her side. This was not a Richmond crowd or in an arena very near to Mickie's hometown. Mickie James was still over.

After that night, still nothing special arose right away for Mickie James. Candice feuded with Beth. Mickie was given an angle with Trevor Murdoch, who was a Tag-Team Champion at the time. Trevor saved Mickie from getting hurt, Mickie tried to thank him and be nice a few times, Trevor's partner, Lance Cade, got in the way, and nothing else really came of it. Failed angle. Never saw a legitimate finish. Meanwhile, Beth wins the title and Candice gets injured in the rematch. They still did not rush a feud between the two.

Cyber Sunday 2007 featured a costume contest for the divas. The fans decided the winner. Mickie James won, getting more votes than divas which included Torrie Wilson, Kelly Kelly, Maria, Michelle McCool (surprising, isn't it?), and so on. Was Mickie James the sexiest diva there? I am a Mickie James fan, but even I know that a lot of fans would find Kelly Kelly more sexy, especially with the costume she was wearing. Was Mickie's costume revealing enough or very awesome? That is somewhat subjective. Was Mickie still a psycho lesbian for the past few months? Aside from just her kiss + kick finisher she just started using around this time, no. Mickie James won because she was the most popular diva in the WWE. If the WWE did not know that for sure by the reactions Mickie would get, this had to be a wake up call.

The WWE slowly started building up Mickie by putting focus back on her as the main face diva. After about six months of nothing to keep her monster over, Mickie finally gets a push. Do not confuse the real reason the WWE did it. They did it because Candice was injured. Unlike what that blogger I mentioned before might like to believe, I do not see Mickie "pushing herself" more in the weeks prior to her push. She was working just as hard. They did not push Mickie because she won the costume contest either. Aside from being that popular, Mickie James was the most credible face diva on Raw to work with Beth. Sound familiar? Like the same rationale I pointed out as to why Mickie James worked with Lita in 2006?

Mickie's psycho gimmick had been gone for a year. She still maintained overness in 2007, getting consistently good reactions at events, and winning a costume contest which was basically based on overness. Some people make the argument that Mickie was only over because of that psycho lesbian gimmick. I already pointed out the flaw in that no other diva has ever become monster over from just a lesbian, psycho, or fan stalker gimmick, or any combination of that, in the past. Now you have the fact that many women were being pushed in Mickie's place. If sex appeal, what many people argue was the source of what made the psycho gimmick work, really was the key, why could Kelly Kelly not get those monster pops and win the costume contest? She came in second. With the way the WWE treated Mickie James, she was yesterday's news. What kept Mickie being over? Two things. First, the fans will not forget that easily. Thing is, many wrestlers have had great gimmicks that got them over, went through a depush and usually became more generic, and the fans just stopped caring. This is especially the case when the wrestler is treated as a jobber, not given the mic very much, and has other workers pushed ahead of them. Yes, Mickie James pretty much went through this stuff, but what really saved her? The second point, Mickie James was still bringing something the fans liked to see. They took away her gimmick, but they could not take away her charisma. They could not take her energy. They could not take away that she was an actual wrestler. She pushed herself. This is why Mickie James could not be buried.

2007 was not a remarkable year for Mickie James in terms of how the WWE pushed her, but you can learn a lot from looking at it. This was the year Mickie James got her first real depush. Why? The WWE was moving on to find a centerpiece. This was the first year after Mickie's psycho run, and she still remained over. How? Through her own doing more than the WWE's. The WWE certainly was not treating Mickie James as a major priority or centerpiece, and it didn't even matter. When they needed to push her again, she already had the overness to make the fans care, and they started to put the focus back on her. It did not last long.

The WWE Career Of Mickie James - Part 2

What a difference a handshake makes? A handshake between Mickie James and Trish Stratus was the first and pretty much only major step in turning Mickie James back into a face.

Why bring this up? Some fans out there seem to think that Mickie James only became so popular because both Lita and Trish put her over. Few flaws there. First, Lita and Trish put a lot of women over. None became as over as Mickie James did. Second, Mickie James was already getting good reactions before she got her first win over Trish Stratus. Lastly, there are a lot of instances in which someone is getting a good rub from someone a lot more legendary or over than them, but it does not really help much. Remember when Steve Austin "passed the torch" to Cena by giving him that beer years ago at the Hall of Fame ceremony? Cena still went on to get booed from people who were sick of him and his regular fans still cheered. If anything, the little bit from Austin only gave Cena fans a little more to be proud of. Haters shrugged it off.

The WWE obviously used the handshake as just a means for the face turn of Mickie James. Do I think the WWE was obviously trying to make Mickie James monster over and into a centerpiece just through that handshake? No. If they really intended for Mickie James to get very over from just that bit, it will be the second worst attempt at possibly trying to make a face diva centerpiece-level over. The only worse attempt would be if they thought Gail Kim would get it from her storyline and feud with Maryse in 2010.

If the WWE was not trying to turn Mickie James into the centerpiece with Trish leaving, why turn her face at this time? Lita wanted to retire now as well. There were absolutely no face divas who were credible wrestlers on Raw. How would it look for Lita to trade the title with Maria or Candice Michelle in her final weeks? Maria was never that solid and the WWE was not yet ready to push Candice. In any case, it would be more respectable for Lita to work with a real wrestler. Since 2000, the WWE had not put the title on a model with poor or mediocre wrestling ability. Why push Mickie James exactly? She was the freshest option and the easiest to put into the feud. She had been involved with both Trish and Lita weeks before her feud with Lita officially began. I do not think the WWE viewed Mickie's overness to be as strong as it was or was going to become. Mickie James went on to win her second Women's Championship from Lita.

Trish is gone. Trish was the top face diva. She was the centerpiece. Does the fact that Mickie James is now the face diva with the Women's Championship, and so over as well, make her the WWE's choice as the new centerpiece as well? Not necessarily. When was the last time the WWE/F lost a diva centerpiece. Some people can say it was when Chyna left the company while in the midst of her Women's Championship reign. I would disagree. Just because you have the major title of a show, division, or entire company, that does not mean you are the centerpiece. The classic example for me is when CM Punk won his first World's Heavyweight Championship on Raw. He was still on the same show with guys like face Batista and face Cena. CM Punk was indeed often booked as a midcard World Champion. Cena's PPV matches would still often be featured higher up on the card than CM Punk's title defenses. CM Punk could have quit and went back to TNA, the WWE would still have John Cena as their centerpiece. Back to Chyna, her title run was part of her first real run in the women's division. She was usually mixing it up with the guys prior to this. Time would have told how far the WWE ran with her in this direction and actually had things revolve around her during and after her reign, but she left before it could come to that. Chyna ended up with only one title reign, which is the same face Lita had gotten up to this point, which is the same as heel Stephanie McMahon, which is the same as a lot worse choices who got the title during this period.

When would I say was the last time the diva division lost a centerpiece? When Sable left in 1999. It is true that she only had one run with the title, but things were definitely revolving around her even before they decided to put the vacated title on a new woman. She was pushed greatly. She was really the diva the WWE had define this era. Just like some fans like to put Lita next to Trish Stratus when talking about that recent era, you can place Sunny by Sable, but Sunny was not treated like Sable in the actual wrestling division for the women. Moreover, when Sable left, you could tell that the WWE did not care in the same way for a while. This is the period where a man won the title, Moolah won a reign she did not need, Stephanie McMahon got a lengthy reign, and so on. However, there was a credible heel diva that the WWE had placed in Sable's place. Sable left as a heel centerpiece. She dropped the title to Debra. Debra lost it to heel Ivory. Ivory went on to win a total of 3 reigns. I can analyze each of these reigns, but I do not want to get off topic. Point is, Ivory may have been pushed as a major heel after Sable left, but that does not mean she was a centerpiece. Centerpieces are pushed consistently and, more often than not, for mainly their own sake at the end of the day. Ivory was not pushed consistently. Stephanie McMahon rose as a heel and won the title. She was not a credible wrestler, but she was something Ivory was not. Stephanie McMahon was a main-event diva. While Ivory would be depushed during this period and again after her final title run, can a McMahon ever really be depushed? Who is more important out of Ivory and Stephanie? There are valid points for both. Thing is, neither were pushed consistently in the diva division for their own sake, and with things mainly revolving around them, for a great period of time. Ivory went on to lose her final title to Chyna and never won it back, even after the rise of Trish. Three reigns. The bar had been raised to four with Moolah as far as the record for most reigns goes. Ivory, who was closer than any other diva to tie it, and not to mention beat it, never did. Keep that in mind.

I consider Ivory an interim centerpiece. The woman the WWE was high on left, so they pushed a credible wrestler with the same alignment until they could develop something better, but while also making sure not to invest too much into the interim centerpiece.

Less than a decade later, Trish wanting to retire marked another instance of the division losing a centerpiece, and without anyone else properly developed to take her place, in the WWE's eyes. Lita retired as well. Trish, however, was the true centerpiece. Who do they push to hold things down right after Trish left? Who takes the place of the face centerpiece? A face interim centerpiece, who just so happened to be a credible wrestler, much like Ivory. That is another reason why Mickie James got her second title run. Needless to say, treating her like this did not make her over. The WWE did not really care. They just wanted to pass the title along and work on finding something better. What followed in Mickie's career can be compared to Ivory's. Why so much more fuss over Mickie than Ivory? Mickie was a lot more over than Ivory. The WWE could afford to bury Ivory down and eventually just let time run up on her.

The fans were already liking Mickie James before her second title reign. The WWE did not have to push hard to turn her face, nor would they have wanted to. The face turn was done out of necessity to find a credible, fresh worker to go against Lita in her final matches and to just hold over the spot of top face diva until the WWE could find something better, similar to how they used Ivory until they could find a better, long-term centerpiece. Throughout this entire period, I would once again say the WWE never intended to make Mickie James very over and did not do anything noteworthy from their end that would produce such overness. Mickie's feud with Victoria after Lita left was good, but I would hardly say that could create a monster over diva. The storyline was not that epic. The same goes for the basic title feud that came after with Melina. Things went even quieter for Mickie after this.

The WWE Career Of Mickie James - Part 1

I have wanted to come back to this topic for a while now. I keep on seeing people who must think that Mickie James had to have done something awful for the WWE to treat her the way they did, culminating in her release back in April. Months ago, I will admit that I gave the abridged version of what I am going to talk about for the next few entries. Why repeat myself and not just rest on what I have said before? I am a firm believer that, in repeating some things, and while rewording things differently and bringing up new examples, you may eventually come up with a combination that will get at least a few people to understand you better.

Unlike what I did before, I plan to actually analyze the career of Mickie James in the WWE in sections. What was the WWE possibly trying to do when they pushed her, or did not push her? What was Mickie James doing on her side? Where were the fans? How did Mickie James get over and how did she stay over? To understand what I am going to say better, it will help if you accept at least one of two things. First, the WWE giving someone a title does not mean they are in love with that person. You have to look at WHY the title is changing hands. Second, the WWE does not have to be in love with someone just because they got very over. Did the WWE want them that over in the first place?

It all began with a storyline with Trish Stratus. I am not going to analyze every little segment or talk too much about the storyline itself. Going deeper than that, why have this storyline at all? To give Mickie James a chance to be awesome? One red flag comes out right away. At the expense of Trish Stratus? Trish Stratus was the top face diva at the time, Women's Champion, the centerpiece of the division, and if it really needs to be said, the woman the WWE had been building to be the greatest diva of all time. In general, when there is a centerpiece, or even someone pushed well consistently, in a feud with someone lower in the ladder, or pushed and depushed frequently, the centerpiece may be the one meant to come out on top in the end, whether the structure of the feud is linear or very complex. Gail Kim's feud against Maryse, who was Raw's centerpiece for their diva division, in early 2010 is an example where the centerpiece was meant to outshine the tool and move on. I have already spoken about that feud. An example of the opposite scenario is Triple H's feud with Batista in 2005. Triple H lost the World title to Batista and put him over a few more times after that. However, you have to note that Batista went on to be made into somewhat of a centerpiece himself for a time, and don't forget that Triple H was not exactly kicked to the curb.

Back to Trish, this would not be the first time the WWE pushed a fresh challenger for Trish's title, had them win the title, then had them eventually lose it back to Trish. Every woman who won her first Women's Championship from Trish Stratus up to Mickie's debut lost it right back to Trish. Jazz, Molly Holly, and Victoria. 100%. Aside from that interesting statistic, all these women are credible wrestlers. You can also argue that these women were not really treated that well outside of their title reigns or pushed as hard and well as Trish Stratus was. But Trish Stratus is Wonder Woman. The WWE cannot keep pushing these same minor storylines and feuds for her. They have already built her above that. Need proof of what I mean? What was Trish doing in between the time she returned from injury and Mickie's debut? She was teaming with Ashley to feud against 3 women. The odds against Trish? How can she overcome? Sound familiar to something that is going on now on Raw?

Mickie James debuted. This was not a linear feud between her and Trish. They developed it greatly. Why? For the sake of which diva? Look at who the constant in the picture is and you'll see. Mickie James became a fresh challenge for Trish to work with and look good in the end. They gave her a movie-like storyline to be the heroine in. I can compare it to The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, which came years before Trish was in the WWE, and Obsessed, a later example. In both movies, a psychotic woman makes life miserable for a family, but it is the strong heroine who eventually overcomes. Throughout this WWE storyline, Trish was the one you were supposed to side with. Mickie James was annoying her, molesting her, attacking her friends, would not respect Trish's wishes for space, and she, in case you forgot, was the one who turned heel by attacking Trish. The WWE built this storyline properly for Mickie to be hated and the audience to side with Trish.

Wrestlemania 22 is the clearest example. Trish got booed. Mickie James, the heel, got cheered. Do not fool yourself into thinking that was supposed to happen. John Cena is not supposed to get booed either. That "controversial" excuse is there to try to save his image just a bit. Do not fool yourself to thinking that the WWE pushed Eddie Guerrero as a heel that infamous period because they wanted him to get cheered. That makes storylines and feuds difficult. Eddie got cheered because he was entertaining and good at what he did. Why did Mickie James get cheered? I see people like to say it was because of the lesbian thing. By my memory, not one WWE diva has ever become as over as Mickie James from just a lesbian angle, or even just a psycho or stalker gimmick. It is not the role, but how well you handle it. Mickie James was entertaining. Pro wrestling is about that. The fans want to be entertained. Mickie James delivered. She did nothing wrong in getting over. She did her job. Do you think the WWE would actually want their diva legend, while face, to get booed against a WWE rookie? You can see from the start that they did not want Mickie James to get this over or did anything with the intent of her getting that over. Most of those segments were mainly, in terms of the storyline, just for the fans to see that she was annoying Trish. You were supposed to sympathize with Trish.

I was talking a while ago about every diva who won her first Women's Championship from Trish eventually losing it right back to Trish. Is my whole argument busted because Mickie did not lose that first title to Trish? Not quite. Their feud continued. The first problem popped up at Backlash 2006. Trish got injured in the title match. Second problem? A while after that, Trish decided to retire. The WWE moved the title from Mickie James to Lita so Trish can have a storybook finish against her greatest rival. You can tell it was a rushed job when you see the title moving from heel to heel like that. If Trish had not gotten injured and then wanted to retire, there is no doubt in my mind that she would have gotten the title from Mickie James eventually. Two reasons. First, 100% of divas pushed for their first title reign like this against Trish prior to Mickie James lost it back to Trish. Second, the movie calls for the strong heroine to overcome. Especially when the heroine is the centerpiece the WWE was already more than high on, why wouldn't they follow through?

There you have Mickie's first storyline and title reign. I argued that she was brought in for the benefit of giving Trish Stratus an epic angle, since the WWE would feel small junk would not be adding much to her legacy. Giving Mickie James the title here was not so much an honor for her as it was a tool in the storyline for Trish to eventually get back what the psycho took, while adding to Trish's own title count (although her injury and retirement ruined that). The title on the centerpiece is usually a tool to make them into a legend. What made Mickie James get over was not the WWE's intent, propaganda, or anything else done from their end with the hope that this would get her face reactions. That monster reaction she got at Wrestlemania 22 should be the first hint that this woman will either get a respected career from a company that wants to hand her the ball or she will get a lot of people questioning why she is getting treated as poorly as she is from a company that never wanted her over in the first place and is still looking for someone else to be centerpiece with Trish gone. Which would it be? The story continues...

Stand Up For The WWE?

Vince McMahon is now pushing this new idea that the fans should "stand up for" the WWE themselves. Instead of WWE singing their own praises, which they did a lot of for one huge segment tonight, have the fans show that the WWE is great and defend them. This is stupid. WWE doesn't deserve it. Instead of pushing what the fans really want, or at least building what the WWE wants to push in a better way to get it over, the WWE pushes guys like Sheamus into the main event, mistreat over talent like Matt Hardy to the point where they either want to leave or get released as part of the mistreatment, and then hype certain shows just to provide mediocrity. They can hype all the PR until the end of time, it does not take the place of an entertaining program.

Smackdown's rating went up again. That makes the low rating the live debut episode on cable, which featured John Cena, even more funny. Makes you wonder how much Cena is really worth. I'm not saying he's worthless, but the WWE is realizing they cannot bank everything on this on guy. Luckily, as I have mentioned before, the storyline between Undertaker and Kane is a good thing going on right now for Smackdown. I just hope they do not prolong it needlessly long without good development.

Speaking of prolonging something needlessly long without good development, I almost thought Raw would end just on the note that Smackdown has momentum going into the big tag match from tonight's show. They had a very trivial backstage segment with Nexus and Cena. Cena was "forced" to raise Barret's hand. You had to end Raw on that note. It is not hard to see where WWE thinks they have hit gold. They push this idea that Cena cannot stand taking orders from Wade Barrett. Barrett acts smug about all of it. Cena acts like he wants to snap or like he is depressed about it all. Did Cole even say this stuff was "disturbing" before showing a highlight from last week? Last week's main event segment between Barrett and Cena was given a lot of time and both men put in their emotion for the promo, but it really wasn't that horrible to watch. I cannot even imagine kids old enough to watch WWE legitimately feeling "disturbed" because of this. Maybe it is because I was raised in New York City. Anyway, various segments tonight pushed that same idea. The in-ring beating of Orton was good. I enjoyed the segment of them trivializing Cena as if he was a waterboy, then having Barrett spill it in his face. That makes you feel bad for Cena. But the raising of the hand? And to end Raw? They could have easily attached that to the segment where Barrett lays Orton out. I understand that they would want to end Raw with Barrett's smiling face, but they could have had them do more than that. After all Barrett is having Cena do, or not do, this was supposed to be a big deal? If this thing goes on much longer, they will have one backstage segment early on where Barrett has Cena clean the toilets. They will have an in-ring segment where Barrett orders Cena to beat the crap out of R-Truth, then Eve. The Rock will return and beat Randy Orton for the WWE title in the main event, but then we'll go to a backstage segment right after that. Wade will say, "Cena! I order you to loan me 25 cents! I'll pay you back next week." Cena, with veins ready to pop and eyes twitching, will respond, "THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH A MAN CAN TAKE!", then beat the crap out of Barrett. Show ends with Cole and Lawler questioning whether this means Cena is fired. My point? The WWE can do a better job as they progress what Barrett has Cena do. I know the hand raising is symbolic, but it is a weak ending for the show. Besides, having Cena put the title around Wade's waist may be an even bigger insult after Wade wins.

Matt Hardy Is Free

Matt Hardy has finally been released by the WWE. For months now, he has been unhappy with how the WWE was treating him. He had not been seen on Smackdown in weeks. He has been vocal through his videos and Twitter account. He has been eying TNA. Want to guess where he may end up now?

I had made the comparison between the WWE's use of Matt Hardy to their use of Mickie James. I am not surprised that they would let Matt go, especially since he was basically wanting it. There is one difference between the situation with Mickie and Matt. Mickie James was not asking to be released or complaining to the fans about her treatment, which is remarkable if you consider the farewell angle the WWE gave her to put Michelle McCool over as a super heel. Matt Hardy got a very intricate angle to put over Drew McIntyre as a heel a few months before these issues arose. After Matt Hardy had done his job, even though he arguably won the feud, his push fizzled out. He was back in the same spot before he got the push in the first place. The WWE was using his popularity to get someone else over. I have said many times that this kind of treatment is fine, as long as you give the tool proper respect after they do their job and push them well as the draw they can arguably be. The WWE was not doing this. Because Matt Hardy was not in a closed division, like Mickie James was in, the WWE could have afforded to push him around like this for years, tossing him a midcard or tag title reign here or there when they felt like. He would never have to be in the way of John Cena, Undertaker, Triple H, or anyone else the WWE cared more about. I do not blame Matt Hardy for putting his foot down. You try to be positive and talk like you are going to make something of your career every year. What does it really get you? Unless the WWE books it, it gets you nothing.

I doubt this will end like the last time Matt was released. The WWE will not bring him back to appease fans and because they know they can push him around like I just said. I would hope the fans realize this is what Matt wants this time. Let him join his brother. Maybe the pay and the hype isn't as great down there as it is in WWE, but there is something to be said in just being able to go out there and have more freedom to really do a job you enjoy doing.

The Measure Of A Superman

Cena-less Smackdown actually got a better rating than the previous week's episode, which featured the WWE's top man. Let me put that in more professional terms. The second episode of Smackdown on its new home got a slightly higher rating than the premiere episode, which was live and hyped such wrestlers as John Cena, Undertaker, and Nexus members. If I remember correctly, it was a 1.78, which people will like to round up. Do be a bit more specific, don't round up and compare it to the 1.74 the previous episode got. Higher, but not by much. Smackdown on cable is still in the same ratings neighborhood as it was getting on network TV for the last few months. Why was there a small boost? Probably due to people wanting to see the fallout from the PPV. People wanted to see what would happen between Kane and Taker now. Rey Mysterio may have helped, but weren't they advertising him previously too? Although it was not a huge difference, is it a bit amazing that the man the WWE has created to be their face could not do too much for the ratings? They did say Cena would be there. It was no surprise appearance. There were no spoilers posted on sites for people to just read what would happen. In the end, that first episode of Smackdown on cable may just go down as a glorified attempt to pump Hell in a Cell more for buys, since the WWE Championship match was also hyped on this show in addition to Cena/Nexus. If PPV buys turn out to be bad, what did the WWE really accomplish? They didn't get a great rating for the show, they didn't convince a large number of people to order, and mediocrity lives on.

Speaking of Cena, he is still the centerpiece and main attraction of Raw. Randy Orton, who is WWE Champion and can arguably get an even better reaction than Cena on some nights in the last few months, is getting the short end of the stick. For the entire broadcast of Raw last week, you only saw Orton once. All he did was come out and hold the title in front of Wade Barrett. How many segments involved Cena? Nexus promo to start show, tag match, backstage interview and encounter with Nexus, segment with Otunga, and the main event. Am I missing any? I think my point is proven either way. This week? Orton gets a match against Gabriel. Final match of the televised show? Nope. Final match and segment goes to Cena. I'm not even going to bother listing what else he did in the show this time. This just illustrates the fact that you do not even need a title to be treated as the top guy of a show, division, or whole company. Not just speaking as an Orton fan, I think this is stupid. Fans who want to see less of a superhero and more action and attitude would appreciate Randy Orton over Cena. That is the direction the WWE should try heading now. Am I calling for the end to PG, like so many other fans? Not necessarily. If WWE can make Orton work in PG, while depushing Cena in a way that kids still like him, fine with me. Cena comes out there every week like a politician or some guy faced with a moral dilemma. Would Orton fail as "face" of the company? Everyone brings up that his first face run in the main event was horrible. Two things. First, his face character then was way different from what he is now. I believe that what he is now can work if done right. Second, the true "face", or centerpiece of the WWE, at this time was heel Triple H. He didn't really give it up until he left in 2005, a year after Orton won his first World title. Orton was not getting too fair a deal in terms of being somewhat held back then and not having developed the character he has now. He has the character now, but face Cena is still centerpiece. It could be true that the WWE will turn Cena into a true heel soon, possibly freeing the space for Orton, but I have my doubts. WWE definitely needs to develop Cena better than simply putting up a challenge before him and eventually having him overcome. Is it really that nice and fresh a story for kids? Too bad the product is sucking and a Jeff Hardy heel turn may do more for TNA than whatever WWE is trying for itself. Maybe.

CM Punk On Raw

CM Punk made his return to the Raw roster tonight. They are treating it as part of the trade for Edge to Smackdown. Punk had been working Raw house shows recently, so that kind of gave away any surprise a bit. Then again, why would the WWE really be interested in making it too much of a surprise?

There are two points I want to make here. First, it is becoming obvious to me, although I can be as wrong as the average wrestling news site writer, that the WWE does not appreciate Punk that much. They appreciate him about as much as a certain other person Punk had worked with before in other promotions. Should I be more specific? Yes, I should. Sadly, I won't. Edge got the hype as he left Raw. Upon his return to Smackdown, he just seemed more in place than he did for most of the time since his return this year. What's even more impressive, he's doing it as a face. CM Punk, on the other hand, was pretty much not involved in anything except losing to either Big Show or Undertaker, and also helping WWE kill off his stable. WWE had been building it for months, which makes me doubt rumors that Serena was released for drinking problem even more. Party girl? And this is so different from many other wrestlers because...I go off topic. Point is, Punk goes from poor use on Smackdown to being the trade for Edge and ends up on Raw, where he gets tossed on the same team as midcarders, main-eventers, and a jobber. He also helps out the WWE by "injuring" Evan Bourne, who needed the time for surgery anyway. I do not think Punk will be doing too much in terms of pushes are concerned for a while. Of course, his fans will be easily intoxicated by how good he is in the ring and on the mic, especially with his gimmick and being a heel. Punk is great, don't get me wrong, but the WWE can afford not doing much with him and still keep him around. He never has to touch the WWE title in the near future. He's not in a closed division. He does not even have to touch Daniel Bryan's U.S. title. As WWE proved on Smackdown and how they treated his move to Raw, they can push him however and wherever they want. He's in no one's way.

Second point, I think WWE may have made a mediocre move by switching Punk and Edge. Everyone can agree that Smackdown needs star power and all that. Sending Edge to Smackdown was good for that. But taking CM Punk off? That is trading one top worker for another. Many can say that Edge was getting stale on Raw, but his character was finally starting to get great again as he feuded with that computer. What does the WWE do? Kill that feud off and have the machine send the wrestler to Smackdown. Edge can still do good there, but he had more potential on Raw. Who stands up to the GM now? On the other side, people can say Punk was getting stale on Smackdown. Considering the WWE was killing his stable, having him lose to top stars so often recently, and not investing in him properly, is it really hard to figure out why Punk was losing momentum? They weren't giving him momentum! A move to Raw will not fix that unless the WWE hands him direction and focus. They need to give him the momentum. Time will tell if they do, but I think they should have left both Edge and CM Punk on Smackdown. Send The Dudebusters to Raw. If the WWE is really so upset about losing two top heels in Edge and Jericho for Raw, send over McIntyre and Rhodes as official Raw members. Aside from the gold they hold, being treated like top heels on Raw may have helped develop them a lot. If they did not want to do that, just stall a little more until Triple H returns and turn him heel, after he squashes Sheamus of course. Nexus is a stable full of heels getting main-event rubs. Developing them better singularly could have also solved the problem. If nothing else, Cena is supposedly the top guy on Raw anyway. No matter how stale the show is because of the lack of heels, which is only one reason the show is not as great anyway, Cena will keep some fans tuning in. Raw also has that luxury of having hype on its side more than Smackdown. Smackdown is missing these things. Undertaker and Rey Mysterio are top guys on Smackdown, but Smackdown is still getting mediocre ratings. If the WWE really cared about the show, they might have tried keeping Punk on and treating him better. They didn't. I do not have a good feeling for Punk's chances in this respect on Raw either.

Jeff Hardy Goes Heel

"They" turned out to be a few faces turning heel. Of course, I am talking about TNA's angle they had been teasing through Abyss for a while now.

Why am I only mentioning Jeff Hardy, who was helped by his new friends to win the TNA World Championship? Was anyone seriously expecting him to turn? Hogan or Jarrett would have been somewhat unsurprising. Jeff, on the other hand, was a fan favorite who has never had a good heel run. Yes, he has been heel before, but none of those instances were too memorable or came after his first run as World Champion in WWE. It is not easy to see how all these guys can mix together under one banner, but it will be interesting to see what this will do for Hardy. It will put a whole lot of attention on him. I am sure this will be treated better than how WWE pushed him as a heel, but if Jeff cannot pull it off, this will be a failure for TNA. They might as well have put the title on Anderson and turn him heel. Less shock value, but maybe he could pull it off better.

How Long Can Kane Last On Top?

This is the best Kane has ever looked against The Undertaker in his entire career. That is saying a lot. A lot of men come and go in the WWE without even getting to look half as good against Taker in a 1-month feud. Kane is not only the one who put Taker in that "vegetative state", he has looked better than Taker at every PPV since Taker returned at Summerslam. Recently, Paul Bearer did indeed turn heel and side with Kane. Undertaker is once again on the ropes.

I am surprised that they have developed so much in making Kane look strong. I was happy the first time he retained the title against Undertaker, but was not expecting to win at Hell in a Cell too. Do they feed him to Taker now? It would be nice if they invested one more title feud for Kane against someone else first. But who? And why? Just to make his title reign seem a little bit more full, as if he really could be considered the centerpiece for this time. He has been definitely getting the promo time and focus.

Why should Taker still eventually go over Kane? Why not? Taker is the face. This is obviously what the WWE is leading up to. Unless the face gets injured, decides to retire, or some combination of that and anything else, this is the kind of story in which it is only logical that the face eventually wins against the well-developed heel. Taker bringing in Paul Bearer could have been a way to get his "power" back. That backfired. That creativity is in the WWE's hands. How can Taker get it back together to get his revenge against Kane, and also Paul Bearer to some degree? That is a question that can draw for Smackdown. It would be funny if that does a better job at getting a 2.0 for the show than Cena hype. I doubt it will. Still, got to give WWE credit for the attempt.

The Rise And Fall Of Gail Kim In Early 2010

In August, I mentioned a hypothetical "closed division". Not surprisingly, I was really alluding to the women's division. Women competing against men and for titles traditionally held by men is not the norm, it is the exception. Especially in this era in the WWE, you do not see it often. The WWE would rarely push two diva storylines/feuds on the same show without one getting the short end of the stick sooner or later. Look at Natalya's "feud" with Tamina. It went on while Diva title issues also did on Raw. Great? Few problems. First, the feud between the two women was really just an extension The Usos and Hart Dynasty battling over the tag titles. Second, aside from the beatings the heels gave the faces, nothing great was really invested in this feud. That leads to the third thing. It did pretty much nothing great for either woman. Tamina and her guys quickly got depushed. Natalya did not really gain much. She would have had credibility for the push she now has based on the fact that she was hired as a wrestler, feuded with McCool before, and, if it must be said, she's related to Bret Hart too. What's more, and I am not saying the matches were horrible, the interactions between the two really were not good enough to put either on the map more than they already were from being credible wrestlers and relatives to legends. You also had divas feuding for Raw's Diva's Championship. All you had during this time was the passing of credibility through the passing of the title. Once again, I would not say the WWE invested very well in getting either Eve or Alicia properly over. Maybe they did give it a good try, but it still failed. I would say both diva matters that were going on got the short end of the stick in terms of potential and bringing results for the women involved and true entertainment value. There is more I can say on this, but my point is that the WWE's treating of the diva division in this manner is one of the reasons it does suck.

I am going to talk about Gail Kim here. In my opinion, there is no better, clearer example of how the WWE views women like Gail Kim, Melina, Mickie James, Victoria, and the past credible wrestlers who revolved around Trish Stratus than what they did to Gail Kim earlier this year. I know I probably talked about this in my dead diva blog, but I want to revisit it since it will also help in developing the larger topic for the future. On a small scale, it illustrates it very well.

Gail Kim returned to the WWE last year. She had become the centerpiece of TNA's highly-praised female division. By buying her out, the WWE did a small bit in crippling it. Fans were hyped for months, thinking Gail Kim would do some kind of magic in the WWE. Where is she now? In any case, when Gail returned, she laid out both Michelle McCool and Maryse on Smackdown, setting her sights on the Diva's Championship. Funny how she was the closest one to making history by becoming the first woman to hold both titles by this time, isn't it? Victoria had left, no one else on Smackdown had held the Women's Championship before, and no one on Raw had held the Diva's Championship or had a shot at getting it while it was on Smackdown. In any case, Gail's push got destroyed pretty easily. Also, Gail Kim was easily depushed and not very over. What went wrong? Three things. First, Gail Kim's overness did not carry over from TNA to WWE. Second, the WWE did not invest in her hard or well enough to try to make her over. Third, as much as I do like Gail Kim, she does not have what it takes to get over or stay over independent to how she is treated by the promotion. WWE just moved her around as they felt, using her as a low-level tool. She had more credibility than some in that she had held the WWE's Women's Championship before and was an actual wrestler, but she was still just there to put people over.

At the end of 2009, Diva's Champion Melina got injured. As 2010 started, a tournament was announced to crown another. As the year progressed, which diva had the best win-loss record for televised matches? Who was undefeated, getting wins pretty much every week? Not Michelle McCool, Mickie James, or Maryse. This diva the WWE must have loved so much was Gail Kim. They had to love her, right? Why else would they give her the wins? Because they wanted to develop a credible wrestler to feed to Maryse. That is what Melina was. She got injured. Who is left as the most credible face on Raw? Kelly Kelly? She is the most over face at the time there, not the most credible. Eve? She was who the WWE was going to pump credibility into through a title reign in the near future, but not the most credible at the time to put Maryse over. Bella Twins? Prostitutes for guest hosts. I already said where Gail got credibility from. Gail also went over every heel diva on Raw. The mission with Maryse at that time was always to try to get her looking like a credible wrestler by associating with them. She didn't need help getting monster heel heat, since the WWE would want a woman with her sexy gimmick to actually be somewhat liked, not hated like a Michelle McCool around this time.

Speaking of gimmicks, the WWE also pushed a minor storyline at the same time in which Maryse would speak face English and heel French, as if Gail could not understand the latter. This was meant to push Maryse's sneaky and conniving side. Fans were supposed to find that somewhat cute. Some even read lesbian undertones. It's Maryse! Of course pervs would read lesbian undertones! In any case, the story ended when Gail finally revealed she could speak and understand French too. HAH! TAKE THAT MARYSE! GAIL WAS SO....so....what? Entertaining? Were fans supposed to feel sympathetic for Gail because Maryse was trying to make her look stupid, then fall in love with Gail after she revealed she was not fooled? If the WWE honestly had this storyline to try to turn Gail into a monster over face diva, it is the absolute worst attempt I have ever seen in any diva angle. Obviously, it was not what they wanted. They wanted people talking about Maryse. People were. What was she telling Gail? What is her plan? Is she turning face for real?

On the same night that Gail supposedly won the storyline against Maryse, the two were supposed to face each other to crown that new Diva's Champion. Gail still had that undefeated streak and momentum. Who got the pinfall win that night? Who else? Michelle McCool! Wait, what? The match was changed into a tag match. McCool/Layla vs. Gail/Maryse. Michelle McCool, centerpiece of the whole damn division, was the first woman to pin Gail Kim and give her the first official loss. Next night on Raw, Maryse picked up the scraps to win the title from Gail Kim. It was a pretty mediocre performance from Maryse, which is another reason to be glad the WWE went with a credible wrestler like Gail as the tool. Could have been worse.

What has become of Gail since then? She worked Wrestlemania and Fatal Fourway, but she has never gotten the attention that she got when the year started. Why should she? The WWE moved on to Eve. Melina returned. Natalya is pushed now. Do not shake off that Gail only got that treatment in the first place because the face they would have rather had pushed against Maryse got injured. If the WWE really loved Gail Kim, her treatment since then would have been a lot more respectable than just using her when they need a face diva for some reason. It is clear that she was only being used for Maryse's sake. The WWE was definitely high on Maryse being the centerpiece of Raw's division at one time, and may still be. Tool putting over centerpiece. That is what you had. The wins were not a sign of respect for Gail in so much as they were really building her up for Maryse's, or McCool's as it turned out, benefit. The storyline, as mediocre as it was, was meant to do more for Maryse's character than Gail's, even though Maryse "failed" to outwit Gail in kayfabe. The entertainment value was still on Maryse. Even right now, Maryse is still in a better spot as valet to Ted DiBiase than Gail Kim is as...as...pretty much the same place she was in before her 2010 push. It did nothing lasting for her. Wasn't meant to.

Once again, this example is on the small scale, but it is clear how the WWE didn't really care much about Gail for her own sake. They handed her wins. On a larger scale, they hand some women titles. I know a lot of people believe the WWE must love someone to give them a title. Is it hard to believe this same way of thinking can be used to say that the WWE must love a wrestler to give them a win? Especially an undefeated streak like they did for Gail? Love must be relative. Just like you need to stop thinking about wins meaning the WWE is completely on the side of a wrestler, you need to think about title reigns/wins in a similar way. Wins help to build credibility, as do titles. It is just an issue of scale. Titles are higher up than straight wins in matches. Look at what the WWE just did to Melina. They handed her a title, crammed title defenses in a few short weeks, didn't develop any of those "feuds" very well, built Melina's character very little, fed her to McCool, had her lose a clean finish to Layla, and she has been replaced by Natalya. If the WWE really cared about Melina, they would have found something better to keep her fresh since then. How long did it take the WWE to pair Maryse with DiBiase after her last real shot at the Diva's Championship at Fatal Fourway? A day. You can tell they care about this woman a lot more than certain others. The title was not a real honor or sign of WWE support for Melina. Fans will read it as if it is, just like some would read Gail's wins earlier this week as being done for her benefit in the end. Wrong. Melina has not even gained any real overness through all this. The only real difference between Melina and Gail in respect to all this is that Melina is a higher level tool than Gail.

I have been talking much about the diva division here. It is a closed division that relies on the creation of tools to put over the women the WWE wants over. Injuries sometimes lead to the WWE having to push women it would rather have not pushed, giving them "honors" they would otherwise have not gotten. This is not the end story. In a week or two, I will get to the real topic I want to discuss. Yes, it will be on Mickie James.