I sometimes like to compare things going on now in the diva division to situations from the past. The situation you have now reminded me of that time Victoria and Gail Kim were feuding over the Women's Championship. Gail Kim was finally getting pushed again. She had picked up some wins against Victoria. All of a sudden, Lita and Trish are in the match. Trish Stratus walks out with the title. This isn't as bad as The Great Khali winning a match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus, but they pretty much overshadowed the original feud. You also have what was supposed to be Layla vs. Kaitlyn from a few years ago being won by Eve, but that was more understandable. Eve was involved in the story from the start and it really was her push.
In both those past situations in the diva division, you had a centerpiece trumping everything else. Neither Nikki nor Brie are being pushed as the centerpiece, yet, but recent developments make me believe even more that they may be preparing to go in that direction. They have not had a diva on Total Divas win the title yet. It really should just be a matter of time. But would a Bella holding the title be just for the benefit of creating material for Total Divas? Or will one of them actually fill that centerpiece void? I have said that Total Divas is like an elaborate PG-version of Playboy. From the time the golden age started, you never had Playboy divas win the title when they were getting their Playboy push. Candice won the title to be pushed as centerpiece, after already having done Playboy. Point is, some fans might say a title reign for The Bellas would just be for the sake of Total Divas, but it could be to start pushing a new centerpiece. Or it could be dark age shenanigans.
I didn't get to say much about the storyline between AJ and Paige and what they have been doing in recent weeks. It looks like whatever storyline they were having is going to be diluted now with The Bellas inserted. Let me still talk about that storyline. I really did not like it. It was turning even more into the type of storyline Mickie James and Trish Stratus had, just with poorer development. Paige did not debut as a big fan of AJ Lee. Paige debuted to show some respect to AJ. Those weeks AJ was gone, Paige never really showed any huge love for AJ. All of a sudden, Paige is skipping like AJ. I can chalk that up to playing mind games. Recently, you have had some lesbian undertones. How far can you get in PG? It is the kind of development you would have seen in Trish/Mickie, with Trish trying to play mind games with Mickie. And you have already had the two trade the title a few times. Whether AJ is leaving or not, it would only make sense for Paige to win the feud. Now with The Bellas involved, the story is different. To put it simply, the story they were pushing between Paige and AJ just did not have the same flow to it that the storyline between Mickie James and Trish Stratus had and just seemed like something they were tossing together.
Let me focus more on the characters these two women are portraying. I am not talking just about gimmick, but how they are portraying the gimmick. AJ Lee is a psycho. And she is creepy. That is one of the main reasons I am not as drawn to her as I was to Mickie James. Mickie James had this fun spirit to her. Even after they took the gimmick away, she still had that charisma. AJ isn't that fun psycho. She is a creepy psycho. I am not drawn to the things she is doing.
Paige is copying AJ. All it has really amounted to is her skipping. Aside from that, ever since she has turned heel, I have noticed she seems to try too hard to be sexy in some of her matches. She seems to be looking for approval. There really is no storyline reason for it. I liked her better when she was a face. Some reports say she was not engaging the crowd. If you pay attention to what she was doing, she actually was trying. Aside from her look, she is obviously not pushed as an anti-diva, but I don't think she needs to try the eye-candy diva route to get over. I would not be surprised if people backstage are telling her how to act. She just does not seem natural in what she was doing, although I think she does a good job skipping. But what will that do for her in getting her over? I don't think it will. The fans are not connecting with Paige. She is just imitating AJ Lee. And she is really not getting to show a character I think can really get her over. She needs to find her own groove and do it naturally.
Put it all together, that's why I don't like the storyline you had going on between AJ and Paige. The actual storyline didn't seem thought out properly, AJ's creepy character is not interesting me, and Paige's character just does not seem natural. Is it good that it is getting phased down? Will it be better with The Bellas inserted? Will The Great Khali walk out of Night of Champions with the Diva's Championship? Right now, I can't say. Let's see how things develop.
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