The Bella Bullies Target Kelly

As Kelly Kelly's first PPV title defense nears, the WWE seems to actually be developing some kind of story for it. The Bellas continue to be bullies. That started back when Kharma took her leave. It continues. The Bellas made fun of Kelly Kelly's looks. How did Kelly Kelly sell it? Not by having a breakdown. She attacked them. Eve helped. Bellas looked good at the end. Why not? Match is this Sunday. Person with the momentum usually loses in feuds like this.

But what is the WWE doing here? Why bully Kelly Kelly? There are three things I want to talk about. First of all, a bully being involved in Kelly Kelly's title storyline is not exactly something fresh. Remember Kharma? I just mentioned her five seconds ago. Before Brie & Nikki bullied her in her farewell segment, Kharma herself was being pushed as the bully of the diva division. I had said multiple times to keep your eye on Kelly Kelly just as much as you did Kharma. Kharma had destroyed pretty much all the eye-candy divas on the roster, except Kelly Kelly. It definitely seemed like they were building something for Kelly Kelly using Kharma. That may have all been ruined, but is it really a coincidence that Kelly is still facing bullies? Think of it as Kharma split in two, with also half the wrestling ability, and pretty much a lot less interesting in general. Nevertheless, something still exists to put Kelly Kelly over.

That is the second thing I want to talk about. This is all for Kelly Kelly. I see nothing to make me believe the WWE will push Brie Bella, with or without her sister, as the centerpiece. When I say this, I am looking at what was going on prior to this feud. The Bellas were stuck in pretty much mediocrity. You can debate whether Brie's title reign was better or not than Eve's title reign that preceded it, but both were poorly booked and hyped. Eve's got overshadowed by Wrestlemania matters. Brie was not pushed with as much focus as Kelly Kelly was in the weeks after Kelly was sent to Raw. Now look at Kelly Kelly. Not only has focus been on her for months now, she was also getting main-event focus on her on Smackdown earlier this year. She was the one who was originally being pushed with Trish Stratus against LayCool, not Snooki. Her title win and continued push to come are simply next in the chain of events to the build the WWE is giving her. This is character development. You see it all the time with John Cena. In the case of Kelly Kelly being bullied, it looks like they are trying to make the fans sympathetic to her. They want to make the fans want to see her shut the bullies up. She will. And because she is the centerpiece, she will not be the one depushed in the weeks following the title match. Kelly Kelly's character, in theory, will look strong and respectable.

Let me move on to the third thing I want to talk about. There was a very elaborate diva bully storyline done last year. Very elaborate. I doubt what is going on with Kelly and her bullies will get that elaborate. The bullies were LayCool. The victim was some forgotten jobber. I think her name was...Mickie James? What are the important differences between Mickie James and Kelly Kelly? To put it simply, one is a centerpiece being built up and the other is a credible jobber used to build up centerpieces. Let me take it one step further. Aside from use by the WWE, look at overness. Mickie James was very over. She was easily the most over diva on the roster at the time, and without proper support from the WWE. Kelly Kelly might possibly be the most over face in the WWE diva division right now, but she does not have that strong overness a centerpiece is supposed to have. That is why the WWE is trying to develop and sell her as a strong worker in the ring and develop her character through storylines. That way, she may connect more easily with serious wrestling fans and casual fans. At the time Mickie James was getting the bully storyline, she did not need help connecting to the fans from the WWE. The WWE was not really interested in giving it to her either. As I said before, she gained that great overness and held it on her own. The woman she was working with, however, was a heel centerpiece who was failing to connect with the fans. You have a face jobber who is mega over and a heel centerpiece who is not. The bully storyline made a lot of sense. Even before Mickie was released, the depush came. That is how you know Mickie James really was the jobber in this. The depush never came for Michelle McCool that year. Even when she would not have the title, more important focus would be on her than who did. In the present storyline, the depush will come for The Bellas. The heels are not the centerpiece here. The WWE is not out to get a heel over at a face's expense.

The WWE's plans did not exactly work out too well last year. McCool got her heat when Mickie James was there to cry for her. After that, McCool couldn't hold it. She could not get truly over. Mickie James remained over, despite the depush, the WWE never really doing anything strong to dispel the attack on her kayfabe character, and her release. The WWE's plans this year have not worked out too well. Kharma is gone. They still put the title on Kelly Kelly, but that does not make her monster over. That connection with the fans is the whole point. I do not believe this storyline will properly get the job done for Kelly Kelly. PWI will be naming their top women's wrestler of the year soon. From what I can see, TNA's Mickie James will most likely be getting that honor. It is going to take some strong booking and good luck to get Kelly Kelly to ever reach the level of the most over diva jobber the WWE never wanted. Mickie James is proving her worth outside of WWE.