I did not watch the match as it aired on Raw. I was paying attention to what fans were saying about it on Twitter. They were talking like it was something amazing. They were talking like it tore the place down.
I then went back and watched it on Youtube a few times. I watched it once without the sound on just to form my own opinion without crowd reactions distracting and swaying me. I then watched it with the sound on to see how the fans liked it. That match was solid. That is all. It was not amazing. It was not the match of the night. The WWE did give them time and they treated it like a proper title match. Without even talking about the finish, the body of the match could have been so much better. I would have liked to have seen more and better counters. Did Nikki even get a chance to go for her finisher? Paige has numerous finishers, but you only say her go for the PTO. I really do not consider myself a tough critic. But when you talk about a match in the men's division being awesome, you are usually talking about a lot of finisher tries, close calls, and great counters. Are we supposed to have lowered standards for the women? That match was not amazing. These women are capable of better.
I once saw a fan suggest right after the protest started last week that the WWE should just make a tag match and give the women 15 minutes to wrestle. If the fans loved what they were seeing, you keep on giving the women that great amount of time. If the fans do not respond well, you can say you gave it a try and go back to what you were doing. I actually like that idea. I believe in these women and think they can win the crowd over. I saw another fan respond to that topic by saying the WWE should book it in a smark city so that the fans are more likely to enjoy it. No. That is not how it works. You are just rigging it in the favor of the women. The whole point is that they have to go out there and achieve and earn it. If you put them out there in a city already likely to eat up what they do, it just isn't the same. And I don't think the WWE would be stupid enough to not realize what was going on.
If that match on Raw was the match meant to give these women a fair shot to earn better, how did it do? It didn't go for 15 minutes. And it was in New Jersey, not too far from the smark city of New York. It might not have been the ideal conditions to judge them, but how did they do? There was some reactions from the fans, but I do not feel those reactions were strong enough. Crowds are deader now than times past, but that is why it is a challenge to win them over. Twitter ate that match up better than the crowd in New Jersey. And to repeat what I said before, I do not feel those two women really put out their best work. Solid match, but they are capable of more.
AJ Lee then returned. She is from New Jersey. A lot of fans were anticipating her. And she got some CM Punk chants. They were pretty much in her backyard and she still gets those chants. You have AJ Lee, Paige, and The Bellas. These are the four women they were pushing well for much of last year. You have to wonder if the WWE really would have done anything different if the fans had not protested. Great that AJ Lee is back? Personally, I could have lived without it. The WWE has done so much for her and I do not feel she is getting the level of reaction that she should. Meanwhile, other divas are not given a chance to earn that type of career. This whole issue finally bubbled over after Emma was squashed in less than a minute last week. Where's she this week? You get AJ Lee.
The WWE has seemingly taken control of #GiveDivasAChance. They have mentioned it in promos now. AJ Lee talked about it. The Bellas bring it up on Smackdown this week. The WWE has taken control of movements and exploited them for their own goals before. Zack Ryder got over, fans protested him not being pushed, they used him as a supporting player to benefit Cena, and then tossed him aside. Daniel Bryan got a monster reaction at one time. The WWE did not want to give him the better career. CM Punk walking out and continued fan protest led to them giving him a better push. Sold some merchandise, but they get the same backlash this year, though not as strong, and use Daniel Bryan to put over Roman Reigns. Bryan now looks like he's dancing around a midcard title. #GiveDivasAChance will be used to put over whom the WWE wants to be the stars in the diva division. I wouldn't even be surprised to see merchandise for this. But when it comes to actually giving these women a fair chance to earn better and get what they earn, nothing will change. Why isn't Emma, the woman that jobbed last week, the one in AJ Lee's spot right now? Have her ditch the stupid gimmick and push her a serious character that has had enough of being mistreated. Instead, a woman that got over through being pushed harder than any female wrestler in the periphery in years is made to look like a real rebel. #GiveDivasAChance is turning into #TreatYourDivaStarsEvenBetter.
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