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.
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