First, what is it about Mickie James that Paige might possibly end up like? If you are a believer in Dave Meltzer, Mickie James screwed herself out of the WWE. Will Paige screw herself out of the WWE? Wrong question. Journalists sometimes fail to actually analyze what is going on. There is more to the story of Mickie James in the WWE than that.
The WWE runs their diva division in a manner that they want their main central focus (centerpiece) to be an eye-candy diva. They will rotate women with wrestling credibility around that centerpiece to put her over and use them as filler when needed. These are credible jobbers. The only place female wrestlers have gotten great careers throughout the history of the diva division is primarily on the periphery of the centerpiece, getting a lot of angles in the men's division. These are periphery divas.
What kind of career was Mickie James getting throughout her years in the WWE? She was a C+ player. She was always a credible jobber. These women do not become very over. They certainly do not become the most over diva on the roster and so over fans go crazy when they are released. Mickie James did become more over than those women the WWE were developing to be the new centerpiece after Trish Stratus left. The WWE decided to stick with the same agenda they have been going for since they started the diva division. That would kind of make a credible jobber being more over than the centerpiece a bit of a problem. And it is not hard to understand that the WWE won't keep giving title reigns to a woman they would rather phase out, which typically happens to credible jobbers. How easy is it to phase out the most over diva on the roster? You saw how easy it was to release her in 2010. Fans didn't like it.
Since getting rid of Mickie James, no credible jobber has really broken through and become that over. It is also true that the WWE has still been flopping to make a new centerpiece for their diva division. The best diva they have had in recent years has been AJ Lee, a female wrestler developed as a periphery diva. And she has really benefited from this dark age and lack of a centerpiece.
What about Paige? What kind of career has she been getting? She has only been around on the main roster a few months, and while she is already holding the Diva's Championship, she is a credible jobber. This is a filler push. She is not being pushed well. In terms of career, she is already in a position to end up like Mickie James. How about overness? It would be wrong to say she is not over at all, but I wouldn't say her overness is that strong. Why should it be? She just debuted and isn't featured that well. Regardless, the WWE has done a better job of promoting their developmental talent recently than they have in the past. A lot of WWE fans might have had no idea what OVW was back when they were working together. Today, NXT has pretty much become a brand for the WWE. And some fans that followed NXT would have seen Paige on that and started liking her since then. That can explain part of her overness, but I really think she is connecting well with some of those fans out there that may have not cared too much about NXT. Again, I wouldn't overrate her connection with the fans. But all things considered, it's fine.
Paige is a credible jobber with B-range overness. Will she be the next Mickie James? Can she become very over with this type of career? Will the WWE even allow it? Aside from comparing diva to diva, you should compare situation in the diva division to situation in the diva division. When Mickie James was in the WWE, the WWE was very aggressive when it came to centerpiece matters. You also had depth issues that frequently left Mickie James as the only face credible jobber available. Moreover, you had a separate division on Smackdown with a centerpiece that needed someone to put her over. Right now, the WWE has slowed things down. They are in a dark age. No centerpiece. One title. And they have lowered their standards on whom they would push as a credible jobber. They wouldn't push someone like Layla as a jobber to the centerpiece or interim centerpiece 10 years ago. Eye-candy divas not being pushed as centerpiece might get title shots here and there for Playboy pushes or in tiny feuds, but they never won the title and they did not get the same development in those feuds that credible jobbers would get. Eye-candy divas today are developed to be more solid in the ring and they are winning the title and getting used as credible jobbers. What does that mean for Paige? They do not need to push her as much in this state of the diva division as they needed to push Mickie James back then. The diva division has reset, the titles have been unified, and standards have been lowered in regards to which divas will be pushed as credible jobbers, which handles the depth issue. I wouldn't be surprised if Paige wins no more than 5 reigns with the Diva's Championship.
The WWE is more in control now. Not only do they not have to push Paige a lot, but if they do not like how Paige is connecting with the fans, they can bury her more easily than they did Mickie James. Mickie James went through spans in her time in the WWE when she was not being pushed at all for about 5 months. Fans started wondering why Mickie James was not being pushed. When they did get back to pushing her, it was either as filler or to develop her to put over the centerpiece. With Paige, the WWE can just overshadow her with a periphery angle or anything else very easily. Have the issues between Stephanie McMahon and Brie take up the focus on Raw or Smackdown. Have Alicia Fox and her crazy gimmick get focus. Have Fandango and Layla do something. Title matters are taking a backseat. That means Paige is taking a backseat. And if she can somehow miraculously take this treatment and become more over, those excuses will still be right there to keep her buried. You lacked this creative depth back when Mickie James was there. On the one hand, I love creative depth because it makes things more interesting. On the other hand, the WWE could take advantage of creative depth to bury people they really do not want over.
Dirtsheets had a hand in what happened to Mickie James years ago. Not only did they not analyze what was going on, they made things even worse for Mickie James by making it look like she was screwing herself. It's amazing fans were still so upset about her getting released. Dirtsheets have already gotten started with Paige. Record time? About a week or two after her debut, they say the WWE was pushing her like they were because they wanted her over. That's not how they push a diva they want over. A short while after, they are saying the WWE is unhappy with Paige's inability to get over. Despite that mediocre treatment, she was getting a solid reaction. They could have ran with her. That would have gotten her more over. They didn't. Instead, dirtsheets make her out to be a bust. And I have seen some fans talk about her like she is a bust. If this woman should become more over and the WWE still does not give her that better career, dirtsheets will be providing a fancy explanation for it. They always do.
Will Paige follow in the path of Mickie James? I don't think so. I don't think the WWE will even let it go that far. I don't think they could have ever imagined that Mickie James could get that over and their centerpieces would flop like they did. If they want to continue that same diva division they have been pushing for over a decade, they do not want another credible jobber getting that over. I believe Paige has potential. I think she could succeed with a C+ career. The WWE just won't let it happen. I love what Mickie James did in that diva division. Part of me would love to see it happen again. Part of me would hate it. No woman should have to go through that again.
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