Promotion Denied

In my endless quest to articulate my diva theory in different ways in the hopes that new readers may find it easier to understand or some readers may one day use it in a discussion on the diva division to help others get a better understanding of what is going on, I want to talk in terms of certain job terms.

First, when it comes to understanding what the WWE is doing with the diva division, there are basically three classes of divas. There are centerpieces, periphery divas, and credible jobbers. That is my terminology. I am not getting this off of Dave Meltzer or Vince McMahon. What good is making up terminology without explaining what the words mean? The classes or positions within the diva division are dependent on whether or not the WWE wants the diva over and how they will support their overness, if they do want them over. If the WWE does not really want you around to push you to become over, you are a credible jobber. If the WWE wants you over by making you the prime focus of the actual diva division and title matters in the division, you are a centerpiece. If the WWE is supporting your overness through storylines, rubs, and hype predominantly on the sidelines of the main diva feuds, you are a periphery diva.

Second, the divas don't change positions weekly. A single diva may appear to be a centerpiece one week, being pushed on the periphery the next, and look like a jobber after that. What decides how the WWE really views them and is using them? You have to look at how they are pushed over time. Not a week or two, but months and months. Look at the circumstances in which they are being pushed. Look at the qualities they possess. Look at what seems to be the most consistent features of their use in the WWE. If they spend most of the time in the course of a year holding the title or chasing after it, centerpiece. If they spend the time mostly wrestling guys, not women, periphery. If it looks like an inconsistent mess of pushes, depushes, storylines that are poorly hyped and possibly end abruptly, Mickie James. Oh, excuse me! I mean, jobber.

Now, with all the terminology planted, let me move onto what I really want to talk about. There is sometimes movement between the classes. I don't know how good a job I've done in making that clear in the past. If I am going to talk about changing positions within a company, why not use job terminology?

Demotions. Instead of moving up the ranks, you are sent down. You cannot really be demoted below being a credible jobber. That is the lowest position. You can go from being a jobber who was built up to put over a centerpiece to a jobber without even that much attention, but you were still a credible jobber the whole time. The clearest examples of demotions come from failed centerpieces. Candice Michelle and Maryse are the two best examples of this. Both were pushed as centerpieces at one time, both suffered numerous injuries, both failed to maintain a solid performance in the ring, both lost the WWE's support to become and stay as over as possible, and both are now gone.

Promotions. Funny thing about that. Usually, workers get a promotion when they prove they deserve it and can handle it. In my weird world, that is how it works. Things are not exactly like that in the diva division. The best example of promotions in the diva division is the creation of centerpieces. Sable, the first centerpiece, was being developed well on the sidelines of the actual wrestling matters in the women's division before they promoted her and pushed her to win the Women's Championship. The exact same thing is true for Trish Stratus. Both women were given storylines to develop their character and sell their sex appeal even before becoming centerpieces. Both were used as valets and in feuds not involving the title at first. They were given periphery treatment. Instead of really proving that they are at the level of real wrestlers before the WWE desiring them to be centerpiece, the WWE already is intent on making them a success and will help to build them into great wrestlers through centerpiece booking.

What about credible jobbers being promoted to being centerpieces or at least periphery treatment? If you are wondering about women who seem to debut in the periphery (usually as valets) and become credible jobbers after that, keep in mind what I said before about having to pay attention to how a diva is treated over time. A lot of credible jobbers will debut with some hype in a position outside of the title feud. They are not needed to put over the centerpiece as of yet, but if the WWE is not pushing them to become as over as possible from their periphery position, it is only a matter of time before they start jobbing. Let me go back to part of the original question I just asked. Promoting a credible jobber to periphery treatment? If the diva has been loyal, is doing a great job, and is very over, giving them at least periphery treatment would be great. That has never happened yet. Lita was a real wrestler pushed on the periphery. Thing is, that is where she started out. There was no centerpiece in place when she debuted. She was not a credible jobber who got promoted to periphery treatment. Chyna was not a credible jobber promoted to periphery treatment either. Needless to say, no traditional credible jobber, which means those with wrestling experience prior to the WWE used to put over the model centerpiece, has ever been promoted to being a centerpiece.

Interim centerpieces. I've used that term before. If you follow any sports, you probably hear "interim" all the time. The WWE has even given some superstars "interim" positions of power in storylines. In football, you might have an interim coach. The position is just temporary. The same kind of thing happens in the booking of the diva division. When the centerpiece is injured, has flopped, left the company, is getting a storyline where they do not need to be in the title feud, or anything else like this, the WWE will push an interim centerpiece. Once again, just temporary. Let me step back for a second. Sometimes, if that interim coach does a really good job, they take the "interim" off and make him a regular coach. That is somewhat like a promotion. That never happens in the diva division. The WWE will frequently use a credible jobber to be an interim centerpiece when they need one. How many times has the "interim" come off for these women and they continue to be pushed as a real centerpiece, not just filler? Never.

If there was ever a woman in the diva division who deserved to be promoted up from being a credible jobber, it is Mickie James. That is not the Mickie James fan in me talking. That is the realist talking. I honestly believe people should have to earn promotions, not have them handed to them because the bosses want to make you into something awesome without you really proving you can handle it or deserve it first. Sadly, that is how pro wrestling sometimes works. Mickie James debuted as a credible jobber in an elaborate storyline designed to put over Trish Stratus. After that, she was used at least twice as an interim centerpiece and used to put over the likes of Michelle McCool and Maryse. Not only was she loyal to the WWE and hardworking, she brought the results centerpieces and periphery divas are supposed to get through the WWE's treatment of them. As a credible jobber, she was bringing these results without proper support from the WWE. I sincerely doubt Mickie's inability to get the promotion out the low class she debuted in was because of all the fancy stories dirtsheets have given. As I said before, no credible jobber ever gets promoted to the centerpiece position. Moreover, if you actually look at her career, those pushes and depushes she received match more closely to how they would have pushed her even if she was not over, not punishments or depushes because of injury. Besides that, just take a look at Zack Ryder and how hard it has been for that guy to get used right. He gained his overness on his own. Does the WWE automatically treat him well? Nope. Same thing with Mickie James. Instead of promoting her up the ranks, they used her up and spat her out. That was not smart business at all. It just goes to show how rigid and unfair the diva division is.

Let me just summarize what I did here. I laid out the three classes of divas in the WWE based on how the WWE treats them. You have centerpieces, periphery divas, and credible jobbers. I then talked about movement between these classes using terms traditionally used in discussing career advancement. You do a good job, you might get promoted. If you are not measuring up, you get demoted. If the company needs a temporary worker to do a job, you get someone to fill the interim position. The main point I wanted to illustrate is that the WWE is very classist in how they handle things. There are definitely divas in the WWE whose main purpose is to put over who the WWE wants to be the major successes, not be a major success themselves. In this articulation of my usual diva theory, you can say the major crime of Mickie James in the WWE to get her treated as she was simply was her belonging to the class that is never meant to succeed.