I couldn't think of any good reason why Miz should win the Intercontinental title at Night of Champions. He won it. Okay. Not the first time the WWE booked a match differently than I predicted they would. Next night on Raw, Dolph Ziggler won the title back. That was annoying. What's the point? To let people see Miz and his understudy both come out holding titles? Funny moment, sure, but it seems like pointless booking beyond that. Is that the closest Sandow will get to a title reign? Could you imagine Miz one day beating Chris Jericho's record for most Intercontinental Championship reigns? If they keep handing Miz 1-day reigns, it could happen before he retires.
AJ Lee. Paige. AJ Lee. Paige. AJ Lee. Those are the Diva's Championship holders this year. That is not how you book a diva centerpiece. That is just bad. You have other women to push. And the development between these title changes has not been that great. I didn't feel Paige should have won it at Summerslam. She did. After that, I didn't think AJ Lee should win it back so quickly at Night of Champions. It should either go to Nikki Bella to make her feud with her sister mean more or keep it on Paige. They give it back to AJ Lee.
You might say that 2008 was worse than 2014 has been. The Women's Championship went from Beth Phoenix to Mickie James, then back to Beth. That's all. Keep in mind that Candice Michelle was the centerpiece at this time. She was injured, got injured again soon after her first return, and flopped after returning again. Had that not happened, she would have regained the title that year from Beth Phoenix. Also keep in mind that Mickie James was the only face credible jobber on Raw. They really didn't have any other options. These days, the brand split is dead, the WWE has lowered their standards on whom they will push as credible jobbers, and even ignoring all that, there is no reason to shoot the title back and forth like this. It is a dark age, and you can expect weird booking that doesn't look too respectable during these times, but I don't think you need to shoot the title around between Paige and AJ. Some stability in the title scene would be nice.
It would be better if the storyline between the two was better. They were supposed to have this "frenemies" thing going. I never bought that. It was obviously not something they were going for from the start. Paige debuts to show some respect to AJ. AJ was clearly heelish towards her. Title change happens. When AJ came back and won the title back, I never really bought AJ Lee wanted to be friends. She wanted her title back. And it is hard to take her seriously with her psycho gimmick. Is she being genuine or playing mind games to get her way? The two were then pushed like they were on the same side, but you could feel a heel turn coming for Paige. And it happened. After that, you had Paige skipping around and all that. Paige got the title back at Summerslam. AJ turned the tables on Paige a bit. I don't see any of this as a real "frenemies" thing. They were just playing mind games. Paige was mocking AJ. You go back to that Trish/Mickie storyline. Mickie James dressing like Trish Stratus made sense because she wanted to be like Trish in that storyline. Trish dressing like Mickie made sense because she turned the tables to play mind games with Mickie. They eventually went back to their own looks as the story continued. There just came a point where some of the things they were doing in this Paige/AJ storyline just did not make sense anymore. I think it came after The Bellas were inserted. Around there, the storyline between Paige and AJ just stopped really being developed. It just sat one place and they were playing with each other, including using each other's moves. That is where you can sell a "frenemies" story, but it really was not developed well to that point. You should be at a point where Paige and AJ are clearly feuding without still teasing that they are on the same side.
They aired a great Paige promo at Night of Champions. Not only was it put together well and Paige did a great job, but what that would have meant for that storyline would have been so much. Paige was clearly a heel in that promo. She was mocking AJ and Nikki. This promo should have been done on a Raw or Smackdown at least a week prior to the PPV. After that, which is essentially the turning point that gives this feud the emotion it should have, you can build up to AJ overcoming this heel that betrayed her. They aired the promo, then had AJ win the title just like that. No proper development. It doesn't seem Paige will be skipping anymore, but I doubt the WWE will let her follow up on the great character she displayed in that promo.
I think things would be better if AJ Lee was pushed back in the periphery. Some people sometimes say that a certain wrestler is at his best when he is chasing after the title, not while he is holding it. It is exciting to see whether or not they will finally get it. After they get it, some fans might lose interest. This kind of thing has been said before about Randy Orton. He might have even said it about himself in an interview. He likes chasing after the title. I vaguely remember that. Don't hold me to it. How about with AJ Lee? Is she at her best chasing after the title or holding it? The chase to her first title reign was an extension of her periphery angle at the time. Big E played a role in it. How good would that feud development between AJ and Kaitlyn have been without that? The chase to her second title reign was nonexistent. She won it back the very night she came back. And the road to her third? It got overshadowed by The Bellas for a while. It was not properly developed. The way it was handled, speaking for myself, she should not have gotten it back so fast. How about when she is holding the title? Her first title reign was long, but it did not feature good feud development. They were just going through the motions with her. They ran through the entire division. Her second title reign only featured her feuding against one person. I don't think it was developed well to have her lose it that quickly. She is now on her third title reign. I don't blame AJ for bad feud and storyline development around the title scene, but I think she is at her best when she is in the periphery. That is what got her over. That is where there is still great potential to feature her well. She's over, but I don't think she is maintaining the connection she had back in 2012. And I doubt the WWE will just keep tossing titles on her until she has 70 by the end of next year, so returning her to the periphery will eventually happen, unless she leaves the company.
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