Aksana Released

They released my precious Jinder Mahal! Who am I going to mention for no reason whatsoever now? Meh, I'll live.

I have been on a little marathon about the diva division in the last few days. WWE had some releases, which I am not too shocked they ended up doing, and a diva was released. Let me talk about her today.

Aksana was released. When the releases started, I had a feeling she might get released. They broke up her weak partnership with Alicia Fox. They had her lose to her. It's not like she's on Total Divas, which might have saved her. She just seemed like the likely candidate on the diva roster to go.

I'll probably end up saying a lot of the same things I said about Eva Marie a few days ago. Aksana was an eye-candy periphery diva. She has had better angles in the periphery during her time in the WWE than Eva Marie has had, but they really just started misusing her in the last year or so of her career. She is sexy. She should be in romance angles or used as a valet. She should not have been pushed so much in the ring. The WWE was being inefficient with her. As I have said many times before, they have become really inefficient with their handling of eye-candy divas. They should be putting these women in a position to do what they do best and succeed. Instead of doing that, they are putting these women in a position to knock each other's eyes out. Aksana gets blamed by many for the kind of in-ring performer she is, but I think blame should be put on the WWE for not putting her in the right position.

I don't want to make it sound like I am always on the side of these women. If the WWE does put them in a position to succeed and utilizes them efficiently, it is still ultimately the job of that performer to get over with those fans. If she fails, then she deserves the blame. If the WWE stick with her, and possibly push her even harder, then the WWE deserve blame, as well. Michelle McCool is an example of that. I could say that the WWE tried too hard to hype her up without getting her over, but she had opportunities in the periphery to get herself over before being pushed as the centerpiece on Smackdown. And the WWE pushed her hard for years. They gave her a gimmick. They gave her a sidekick. They handed her more hype. And she failed to connect with the fans properly. She deserves blame for that, while the WWE deserves blame for trying that hard with her. There were other women to push.

I am not going to cry about Aksana being let go, but they could have done better with her. Had they put her in a real position to succeed, it would have been up to her to do it. If she couldn't, I would definitely agree she should be released. Do I think she could have succeeded if used right? Yes, I think she has a sexy character that could have gotten her over. She just wasn't used right.

I was watching the San Antonio Spurs crush the Miami Heat last night. One thing that the commentators brought up during the game, and a theme that defines what the Spurs is about, is unselfishness. LeBron James, the greatest player today, could not carry his team to victory. The Spurs were playing with great teamwork. Gregg Popovich, the head coach for the Spurs, might be tough on his team, but that is because he wants them to succeed. And none of them really take his toughness personally and were still team players. Great leadership. Great players. Great team. I think they'll win the whole series.

Why do I even bring that up? Because I am looking at how the WWE is running that diva division and I don't see something I respect. They are not putting these women in a position to succeed. They are not even trying to succeed. They just want what they want to work out to work out. There is selfishness in this picture. It isn't coming from the divas. It is coming from the people calling the shots. And it creates an environment that is bad for the workers. They are creating a breeding ground for arrogance, not greatness. The players are not the only ones held accountable for the success of a sports team. The coaches have to be held accountable. I have said this before, if Vince McMahon was the coach of a team, he would have been fired years ago.

Askana & Kaitlyn: Two New Credible Jobbers?

Askana and Kaitlyn were both a part of that NXT season that featured new divas. Kaitlyn won that season. Askana has had a few storylines alongside the guys. In this current dark age of the diva division, however, they find themselves being used as credible jobbers.

With Beth Phoenix gone, you had to wonder who they would push to fill her spot as heel credible jobber. Eve is the centerpiece, and also a heel. Natalya is a heel credible jobber, but she is not fresh at all. When you get right down to it, it seems Askana is the heel they are teaming with Eve in tag matches. She doesn't have much credibility at all. I don't really want to consider her a credible jobber, but they may actually use her in that role. She definitely doesn't have anything going on for her in the periphery. Askana really reminds me of one of those eye-candy periphery divas you would have a decade ago, like Stacy Keibler. You never had to invest too much creative interest into women like that. Their beauty and sexy/cute characters got the job done by themselves. In this current diva division, with issues in developing a centerpiece and a shortage of real credible jobbers, Askana can't have the same kind of career that someone like Stacy Keibler had. If the WWE had been more consistent in teaming her up with the guys, like Cesaro, or keeping her involved in GM storylines, I would say Askana was a periphery diva, without any doubt. Right now, she is not getting the development and seems to be getting used more as a credible jobber.

Kaitlyn seems to be still in the title picture. I mentioned before that a storyline like you have going on right now would usually involve the face getting payback against the heel by taking the title. Problem is, Kaitlyn really isn't a great wrestler. I don't even want to waste time arguing whether she is better than Askana. Eve is definitely better in the ring than both. And yet, without considering promoting a female wrestler from developmental, you don't really have any good options to take the title off of Eve. In terms of the storyline that is going on, Kaitlyn would be the obvious choice. I don't want to say that they will give her the title. I don't want to believe that their standards are dropping that far. No offense to Kaitlyn, but I don't think she's even at the level Layla is currently at.

It would not be unusual for eye-candy periphery divas to sometimes be used to put over a centerpiece or credible jobber, who would then be used to eventually put over a centerpiece. Stacy Keibler was used in that role a few times. Maria was used like that just a few years ago. The main difference between that time in the diva division and now, as I already mentioned, is you had a lot of real credible jobbers back then. With a shortage of real female wrestlers and the WWE relying more on women who came in as eye-candy models to be jobbers to the centerpiece and act as interim centerpiece, women like Askana and Kaitlyn can legitimately be used as credible jobbers. Another way of trying to put what is currently going on, women like those two are still eye-candy periphery divas, but not as effective as a diva like Stacy Kiebler was a decade ago. They definitely do not have the overness. When you combine how ineffective they are with all the other problems in the diva division, they are being called upon more often to fill the duties of true credible jobbers. If the WWE had more female wrestlers or eye-candy divas with solid wrestling ability to be credible jobbers, these eye-candy divas who are not at that level in the ring yet would be getting featured a lot differently. They would be pushed more as periphery divas. It might also help if PG went away.

Antonio & Askana: Smackdown's Midcard Couple

Why am I talking about these two? To bring up another example of how the WWE could do better with their midcard? Not this time. Because I really love Antonio Cesaro? No, not really. Because I would rather see Askana with Jinder Mahal? They would make a cute couple, but that isn't it.

Askana has a periphery role with her relationship with Antonio Cesaro. She is not the centerpiece of the division, always getting the better treatment around the Diva's Championship in comparison to the other women. And she is definitely not a credible jobber. She is not being used to put over other women if feuds. She is a periphery diva, and yet, they are not pushing her hard. Why is that worth mentioning? Because it shows that a woman in a periphery role may still not be getting the major focus to be a major star. Askana can be use in romance angles like this until the end of her career. When you look back to think about how the WWE used her, she would be classified as a periphery diva. Her becoming a very over diva, however, will rest mostly on what she does in this position. If they give Antonio Cesaro a better push right now, Askana would be along for the ride. That will help her.

Thinking about this couple made me think about Victoria and Stevie Richards. After Victoria lost her first Women's Championship, she still got featured now and then through her angle with Stevie Richards. Was Stevie Richards being pushed hard during this time? Midcarder, at best. You can say the same thing for Antonio Cesaro. Even though Victoria did turn face during her relationship with Stevie, she never got the storyline focus and rubs as someone like Lita got multiple times in her career. And after the relationship with Stevie did end, Victoria got lost in the shuffle even easier.

Point is, Askana and Antonio have potential to be mutually beneficial to each other. You can even compare them to Maria and Santino. Giving Maria chances to showcase character is one of the things that helped her get over. Making Santino a comedy character helped things. If they give Antonio and Askana more segment time and storyline development, Askana could get over well, and without the major attention AJ has gotten. Considering Askana probably won't be elevated to being the centerpiece or used as a credible jobber anytime soon, they might as well do more with her. Might as well make more diva stars during this dark age the division is currently in.

In an unrelated note. I came across the dirtsheet explanation for why Kharma was released. Weight issues and being difficult to work with. History is repeating itself. Same kind of crap they said with Mickie James. It really needs to stop. It was obvious even before she officially debuted that she was going to have limited options. When you get down to it, it was either periphery or release. They would not let her be centerpiece and using her as a jobber her entire career would be a waste and senseless, especially after you debut her by having her destroy your eye-candy divas. Just leave the matter alone.