And That Leaves Kelly Kelly

I've been noticing Smackdown's diva matters being used for the benefit of Raw's diva feud lately. That may not sound too important, and it isn't, but it is a sign of a change in the diva division.

Who is the centerpiece over on Raw? Even though she lost the title, it is Kelly Kelly. Who is the centerpiece over on Smackdown? None. Smackdown has been used to further the feud between Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix. No centerpiece, or even interim centerpiece, has been getting attention. When Michelle McCool left, it looked like they would still treat Layla as the center of attention on Smackdown. Raw had Kelly Kelly. Layla got injured. AJ Lee's debut followed. It looked like she would get the spot Layla left. The WWE was working on some kind of angle featuring AJ, Kaitlyn, and Natalya as the faces. Alicia, Tamina, and Rosa were heels. Things sure have changed since then. The biggest change is that Natalya turned heel and joined Beth Phoenix. Whatever feud was brewing there is gone. Smackdown has no true diva feud of its own being furthered. They have Aksana, but that is another topic for another day.

This is somewhat like how things went before separate brands and two distinct titles. Let me just go back to 2008. From the time the Diva's Championship was created, Michelle McCool was the centerpiece of Smackdown, while Candice Michelle, even though she was injured at the time, was centerpiece of Raw. Candice flopped as centerpiece. Raw went a few months without a true centerpiece. Maryse moved to Raw with the Diva's Championship, sending Melina to Smackdown with the Women's Championship. Maryse was Raw's new centerpiece. McCool was still centerpiece of Smackdown, and had pretty much become the main focus of the whole division. Maryse flopped in 2010. The two titles were soon unified under McCool, surprisingly? Through it all, she failed to get over. In a kind of reverse to the bad luck Raw has had with finding a centerpiece since 2008, Smackdown is now the show without a focus. And the WWE does not seem too interested to get one. Using Smackdown to help further Raw's diva feud seems to be working for them. They get to build up more momentum.