Heel Eve looks like she has her first face diva rival. That would be Kelly Kelly. That's right, after a few months with nothing really going on, Kelly Kelly is back in the picture. Heading into Wrestlemania, this looks like it will be the big diva feud for the event for the WWE.
The question you have to be wondering, who is really being used to put over who? After the feud ends, which woman, if either, will be depushed back into the mix. Is Kelly Kelly being used to put over Eve's new heel character? Was Eve turned heel so Kelly Kelly could have an interesting storyline to work with again? Or will both really benefit?
Should the WWE be taking advantage of the heel turn to benefit Kelly Kelly, that would mean the rest period they gave her was only meant to plan and develop a storyline that would benefit her. That is not too unusual. It would have been messy to overpush Kelly Kelly, while furthering an elaborate storyline involving Eve and still featuring Beth Phoenix, who is still holding the Diva's Championship. You could say that the WWE could have tossed the title back on either Eve or Kelly Kelly for this feud, but one of them will be holding it again soon enough. Besides, Cena didn't need the title for his feud with Nexus or recent feud with Kane. Sometimes, the WWE will invest more in non-title storylines than title storylines. I was never totally convinced that the WWE gave up on Kelly Kelly as centerpiece. Am I going to say that it was the WWE's plan all along for this to happen from the point they had her lost the title, or try to pinpoint exactly when they might have decided on doing what? Why bother?
If the WWE is using Kelly Kelly for the benefit of Eve, that could mean that they have decided to further her as a new centerpiece. Although Eve has held the title twice already, she was never really the centerpiece. The centerpiece is the person the WWE wants to be the main player in the division or show. When Eve won her first title, she lost it rather quickly to Alicia Fox, then got phased down for a while. When Eve won her second title, she became an afterthought around Wrestlemania time, lost it to Brie Bella in a mediocre feud, and got lost in the shuffle again. Her recent storyline has been the best she has ever had. I already compared it to what Trish Stratus got. But will the WWE follow through with it for her benefit?
What if this is for the benefit of both? The WWE is developing rivals in the diva division. They are developing two women who will be the "faces" of this era of the diva division. In other words, this is your new Trish and Lita. If that is their plan, it is weak, so far. Before Kelly Kelly came to Raw last year, there was no really strong relationship between these two women, in terms of the storyline world. They tagged up, would be out there for the other girl's matches at times, had a few segments here and there, and the relationship was casual. They didn't build up the friendship well enough. However, having them be rivals now can really add that story to their relationship. Inserting Zack Ryder will not hurt.
The situation I doubt will happen? Unless one of these two women flops in some way, you will not see both get phased out and pushed back down after this feud. Why would the WWE depush two individuals who feuded against each other? Look back at that feud between Tamina and Beth Phoenix. Where's Tamina now? Where's Beth? Someone can argue that the WWE is simply rotating things to keep it fresh, but I have two problems with that logic. First, the WWE did not invest well creatively in Beth's feud with Tamina. If the WWE really cares about making people into stars, they do more than just have them wrestle every week. Second, Tamina and Beth are the kind of women who have always been held back in the history of this division, so I can imagine them getting phased out easily, and possibly released eventually. To put it simply, rotating to keep things fresh? To me, what they just rotated out was poorly developed and involved women who the WWE does not want to make it. What just rotated in, on the other hand, has better development and includes the kind of women the WWE does want to succeed. There is an inequality here that makes the "keeping it fresh" argument fail.
Of the three real options as to where this feud between Kelly Kelly and Eve will go, I am think the WWE is trying to build both women up to be top divas. Even though Kelly Kelly was not absolutely perfect in the months before her depush, I don't think she did anything to make the WWE actually give up on her. It looks like it was just a rest they gave her to develop something else down the line. As for Eve, a lot of people could compare her to Lita, so why not build her up as the rival to the new Trish Stratus? But can the WWE get the fans to connect with it?
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