Paige made a sudden debut on Raw this week and ended the longest reign with the butterfly title any diva has ever had. That was a shocker. The feud between Paige and AJ Lee is obviously just beginning, but this is where you will start to see whether or not the WWE is serious about developing AJ Lee as the centerpiece or she will be shipped back into periphery angles. One push or one title reign does not make you the centerpiece. Since her feud with Kaitlyn, the WWE had not developed one good feud for AJ Lee. All her feuds were about inserting a ton of momentum into a challenger, having AJ retain, and moving on. Even her feud with Kaitlyn was also an extension of periphery matters, AJ's breakup with Dolph Ziggler and Big E getting involved. If the WWE is serious about developing AJ Lee as the central focus of the diva division, this is a perfect opportunity to develop a credible jobber to put her over. That credible jobber would be Paige.
Some fans seem to already be acting like Paige is the best thing ever in the diva division. They are already moving on from AJ. You have to love these neckbeards. Do I think the WWE will phase AJ out and start giving Paige the type of push AJ had a few years ago? No to both of those ideas. This is not the end of AJ Lee and I do not expect Paige to get a hard push in the periphery. If anything, it's beginning to look a little more like the first dark age. Emma and Paige have both debuted this year. The WWE might be going back to once again utilizing actual female wrestlers more as credible jobbers. Although some fans may be very excited about recent developments, I am not convinced the agenda that makes the diva division what it is is over yet.
After Paige did win the title, I did a little thinking ahead. Assuming they didn't just do this to cause some buzz and will be dumping the title back on AJ Lee, who is likely to take the title off face Paige? I am thinking heel Summer Rae. And a day after Paige won the title, the WWE did something with Summer Rae. They had her split with Fandango. That makes me believe even more that they are preparing her for her solo career. But what a horrible way to do it. On Twitter? This is the woman they could try to develop to be their new centerpiece. You should be doing things to really help this woman get over. I have said before that relying on Total Divas to do it will not work. It does not get as many viewers as Raw. And now you run an angle on Twitter for something that should be getting segments on Raw or Smackdown? Fandango has moved on to Layla as his dancer. You would hope that Summer Rae still gets some kind of feud against them, but that does not seem to be happening right now. You look at some of the storylines past centerpieces of the diva division have had. Sable stood up to Marc Mero. Trish Stratus stood up to Vince McMahon. These are storylines that help to build the character of these eye-candy divas and help to connect them more with the fans. Even AJ Lee got some of that, even though she remained a top periphery diva. Of course, doing it like that might make Summer Rae a face. They might not want to do that or turn Fandango face. But a simple Twitter angle is so dull. Another sign of what to expect out of the Reality Era? Fact is, with some kind of creative interest being put into Summer Rae, a woman who fits with the classic image the WWE wants in their centerpiece, I am not ready to believe the WWE is changing into a direction that is truly favorable to female wrestlers. If anything, it's beginning to look a lot like 2000. You have your top periphery diva in AJ Lee (Lita/Chyna), your possible future centerpiece in Summer Rae (Trish Stratus), and a credible jobber in Paige (Ivory/Jackie/Molly Holly).
Aside from the few women I just spoke a lot about, the rest of the division just seems buried. You had all those women getting a shot at the title at Wrestlemania. None of them did it. The next night, Paige does it in an instant. I am not implying AJ Lee buried them. The WWE is the one not developing great angles for them. Emma is still with Santino and Layla is now with Fandango, but it is only a matter of time before those two guys are lost in the shuffle again. And their divas will likely go with them. And that endless feud between Santino and Fandango is not exactly exciting. That lack of creative depth is still there. You had the opposite in recent years. The woman holding the title would sometimes not be getting anything meaningful to do, but you had interesting angles in the periphery with AJ Lee. Now, all the attention is around the title matters, but you have a boring periphery. When will things balance out?
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