Normally, I might be split on how to feel about what the WWE did. This is not one of those situations. What the WWE did was foolish. I do not like it. I do see a lot of fans complaining about the quality of the segment, and that is part of it, but I dislike how the WWE handled things for other reasons.
First, you have a tournament going on to crown a new WWE Champion. You have had tournament matches going on since last week. So far, none of those tournament matches have gotten the main event of either Raw or Smackdown. Is the WWE trying to build a main-eventer here? I said just a few days ago that I would have these tournament matches be the main event for the Raws and Smackdowns before Survivor Series. I can understand taking a backseat to someone like The Undertaker, but taking a backseat for a diva feud that had no main-event credibility whatsoever? No. That is not something that should be happening. The WWE should be giving this tournament better focus. Charlotte and Paige could have gotten another top spot on the card under the main-event slot.
Another reason I dislike what the WWE did, they didn't really put these women in a position to succeed. It is football season. It is not unusual for the WWE to juggle things around during this time of year. A segment you might expect to close the show might open the show, since the NFL game has not started yet. There are also times where it seems they plan what segment they want to go on when halftime of the football game comes up. At around the time Raw is ending, the NFL game is in the final quarter. If it is a close game, this is the time fans will be more interested in watching that than Raw. And this week's game was close. It featured an undefeated team taking its first loss. I am thinking Raw's third hour might be bad this week. And will that be used as an excuse to not feature the divas better in the future?
It wasn't too long ago that Raw ended with The New Day laying out John Cena and a few other guys. The Tag Team Champions were standing tall to end Raw. But should you really make too much of that segment? Has the WWE continued to roll with the heel stable at that high level? No. None of them were even in the tournament currently going on. These were guys with no real direction prior to the stable being formed and will likely be right back in limbo a year from now. I see this diva segment as comparable to that. Don't make too much out of it.
Looking at the actual segment, it wasn't the greatest. First, you have Charlotte not being that great when it comes to promos. I talked about that recently. Another issue is the whole tone of this segment and feud. It is very sour. The WWE is trying too hard to be edgy. The segment also lacked energy to it. It just wasn't worthy of ending Raw, especially given other things they have going on.
I am for the divas being treated better, but you have to be sensible. You have to get your priorities in order. Moreover, simply throwing them into the main-event spot does not make everything great. The WWE cannot make the mistake of thinking the diva revolution is more important to the fans than it really is. There are still plenty of viewers that do not care too much and the WWE needs to put in work to get those fans to care. The WWE cannot get fooled by those fans on Twitter. Look at what they did with AJ Lee a few years ago and The Bellas last year. They didn't just put these women at the end of the show. They gave them rubs from main-eventers and Stephanie McMahon. They created big storylines for them. There was no main-event credibility last night. Michael Cole does not count as a main-eventer. And this storyline has been more sloppy than big.
This has been a very terrible year for the WWE diva division. AJ Lee, the first big star they created since Trish and Lita left, leaves the company. Nikki Bella, the woman that appeared to be the new centerpiece, has injury issues. Lana, the best eye-candy periphery diva in a long while, got injured. And if the WWE really had high hopes for Eva Marie, they are having a tough time getting that to work out. Is the WWE really trying to make Paige and/or Charlotte into stars? Or was that segment more about hyping the "revolution" than actually making stars? This is an era where fans care more about in-ring work and how the women are being featured than actual stars. That could lead to the WWE getting lazy when it comes to making stars. They sure have gotten sloppy.
Who wins this match? I will say Charlotte. But this feud will likely continue. After investing a little more into it, they should continue it. Problem with that is, it keeps someone like Sasha Banks from getting her time in a title feud. More fans seem eager to see her get the push than Paige. Is Paige just there to put over Charlotte? Or will she regain the title down the line?
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