The feud between Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho has been disappointing. I am not just saying that because I didn't like this feud from the start. It has just remained in that cryptic stage. Why is Bray Wyatt doing what he is doing? It looked like he could almost give a great promo to develop this feud on Raw, but then he just started going off in vagueness. You can get a sense of what might be the kayfabe reason for the feud. Bray Wyatt thinks Jericho is a hypocrite. He claims he will save the fans, but never does anything. Bray can sell himself as the true savior. This feud will obviously go on beyond Battleground, but they better do a better job telling the story. Bray Wyatt will probably win at Battleground.
The feud between Jack Swagger and Rusev has not disappointed. Not only do I like it, the fans seem into it, as well. I can say that I would love for this feud to spill over to Summerslam, but I don't even know if the WWE can keep it going in an interesting manner. Having supporting players sometimes helps to prolong a feud in an interesting manner. You have Zeb and Lana. They have been the mouthpieces for their respective wrestler. It will really be up to what they do with them to help prolong this feud in a great way. Having back-and-forth debates that lead to brawls between Rusev and Swagger can only be done so often before it becomes stale. If they are going to prolong this feud, Rusev doesn't need to win this match. He shouldn't. I am not saying Swagger pins him or gets him to tap. Let the match end in a DQ or count-out. Keep Swagger looking strong here.
I want to spend some time on the diva match, which is why I left it for last. Paige gets her rematch against AJ Lee. Some people might say that there is no real feud here. They seem to be on the same side. Are you getting the kind of vibe that was there for Orton vs. Christian on Smackdown a few years ago? Christian finally won the big one, in terms of his WWE career, and loses the title right away to Randy Orton. That developed into a heel turn for Christian. Paige won the title, they can run this storyline where she is frustrated with people not believing in her and her inability to regain the title, and she snaps and turns heel. Just like they prolonged Christian's heel turn during that storyline, they will likely do the same thing now. Regardless, it just makes sense for AJ Lee to retain at Battleground.
Should Paige turn heel? I pointed out even before AJ Lee returned that there was horrible heel depth, especially with credible jobbers. Cameron turned heel, but that is no big help. You have Layla turning on Fandango and going face. AJ Lee might be turning face with the way things are going. You have had a lot of tweener action going on recently in the diva division. Very messy. No, I am not going to say that the diva division is the worst it has ever been because of that. There is still better creative depth now than a few months ago. You can say that all these storylines going on is the reason the line between faces and heels is so blurred. Okay, but I would also say bad depth also has something to do with it. They need a heel turn from someone with good wrestling credibility. Paige is a face credible jobber that is likely to turn heel. She should turn heel.
Is a heel turn necessarily a good thing for Paige? If a performer can't get over as a face, turn them heel. That is the philosophy of many fans. They sometimes overlook whether the WWE actually wants the performer over. I agree that heels sometimes have a better chance at connecting with the fans, but that is not the issue here. The issue is how the WWE will actually push Paige. I don't want to compare it completely to Orton/Christian. If the WWE ends up doing the same kind of storyline for Paige, I may end up doing an entry just comparing Christian back then to Paige now. Nevertheless, Christian's heel turn didn't exactly mean they were ready to treat him better. This possible heel turn for Paige isn't really an opportunity to get her over with the fans so she can get better treatment. This seems really meant just to cover depth issues.
How about AJ Lee? This is the best creative interest put into a diva title feud in a long time. The WWE just had Paige cycling through feuds. Some of those feuds were more about something else other than the title. Paige vs. Naomi wasn't as interesting as Cameron turning heel. Paige vs. Alicia Fox wasn't as interesting as Alicia's crazy gimmick. Paige vs. Tamina wasn't interesting at all. And AJ Lee had a lot of dry feuds prior to Paige winning it from her. Is the fact that they are investing in an AJ Lee title feud now a sign she is the centerpiece of the diva division? Paige is a credible jobber. They are developing what will likely be an elaborate feud. The WWE also gave AJ Lee a very good feud last year against Kaitlyn. That feud was also an extension of AJ's periphery matters with Dolph Ziggler and Big E. They need to show better consistency with AJ Lee in developing credible jobbers to put her over before I am ready to say they want her to be the centerpiece.
Taking that a step further, is the diva division over? The diva division is a women's division that revolves around a centerpiece and this idea that eye-candy divas should be featured prominently. Since 1998, they have wanted an eye-candy diva as the centerpiece. Developing AJ Lee as the centerpiece could be the end of the diva division. And yet, that does not mean the dark age is over. The dark age ends when things get efficient and respectable again. Things are still too messy, even with AJ Lee around. And with so many eye-candy divas around, including Summer Rae and The Bellas, I don't think the WWE has given up on the desire to create another centerpiece that will follow in the line of Sable and Trish Stratus. They need to do a lot more with AJ Lee and all the other divas, including hiring more female wrestlers, before I am ready to say the status quo has truly changed.
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