Paige Gets A Title Shot, While Naomi Turns Heel

There was a diva battle royal on Raw to determine the next challenger for Nikki Bella's title. Some fans were predicting Charlotte to debut in this match and even win it. That did not happen. Paige won. Naomi, whom the WWE was pushing in recent weeks, turned heel.

I do not really like what happened. The major issue is depth. AJ Lee, a face, just left. Naomi, a face, now turns heel. Who are your faces now in the diva division? Paige. And? Natalya has been treated as a tweener. Emma can play a face on the main roster, although it seems she is being utilized better on NXT. Charlotte will still eventually debut. The brand split is gone and depth is still pretty poor in the division.

You can say that AJ would have ended up turning on Paige had she not retired. Does that mean they still needed to turn anyone at all? I do not think so. It looks like Naomi is in the spot AJ Lee would have been in, but I will not be quick to say she is now an A player. She has not gotten the kind of build AJ Lee had from 2012. It looks like they are just doing this for the sake of the storyline they intended to do. I would have scrapped that storyline. It just would not work as well now. I never really liked how they developed the relationship between AJ and Paige, but Naomi filling the role of AJ is even weaker. They just should have come up with a different storyline.

How about Paige once again getting a title shot? I like Paige. I just do not feel she needs to be in the title scene so much. I felt the same way about Mickie James. In that WWE diva division, the title scene is sometimes the worst place to be. That is particularly the case for female wrestlers. They are usually not pushed there to be developed to be stars. They are pushed there to put over stars or used as filler. It is an eye-candy diva that the WWE likes to develop as the centerpiece, like The Bellas, although the WWE has not shown they are really committed to them as centerpiece. Of course, this is a dark age, so the WWE does not have the kind of division they want right now.

How would I have done things? First of all, I would not debut Charlotte now. No need. Save her for the summer. Meanwhile, push some of the other divas on the main roster against Nikki in title feuds. That includes Naomi. Let Naomi stay face and get a title shot. Paige would not be left with nothing to do. Push her in the periphery. Since she debuted, she has not gotten anything good in the periphery. She has had no angles alongside the men. She has not feuded with other periphery divas in non-title feuds, like how The Bellas faced Stephanie McMahon. The only thing she's had outside the title scene was that feud against Alicia Fox to kill off their partnership. It was filler. Find a guy you are willing to push well and consistently. Pair Paige with him. It will be good for her.