State Of The WWE Women's Division: August 2017

This will be the last one of these I do. Why not post a pic of my favorite singer? The big developments this month all involve the titles. Both titles on the main roster changed hands. Even the women's title in NXT had to be given up due to injury, although I will not talk too much about NXT.

Just in general, I do not have a problem with either Sasha Banks or Natalya getting title reigns. They are solid in-ring workers that deserved to eventually get them. I just would not have had either woman win it at Summerslam. In the case of Sasha Banks, her feud with Alexa Bliss was just rushed and poorly developed. I would have given her the title after a few weeks of proper build. In the case of Natalya, this should not have been her time at all. There were women that could have made for a better, bigger feud with Naomi at the biggest WWE PPV of the summer. The WWE even did a poor job building the feud to help Natalya look better. Are these writers even here to come up with creative ideas? Or are they just game managers that just put the women out there?

Let me talk about some of these other women outside the title picture. I will start with Smackdown. Becky Lynch and Charlotte are not being utilized right. These are two inaugural titleholders. They sure do not look like it. I would be the first to say Charlotte was overpushed and does not look like she deserves to be centerpiece, but you cannot just put all that work into her and drop the ball so easily on her. At the very least, she can be used to put over other women in properly-built feuds. Becky Lynch is someone I feel has more potential to be the centerpiece, but she is also just floating around.

I have seen some fans ask why Tamina is being pushed. Is she being pushed? You don't need to be in the title picture to be pushed, but is what Tamina is getting even a push? She has that storyline with Lana. Who is even supposed to be the benefactor there? Smackdown has done a terrible job putting focus on individual women since it became its own brand again. Becky Lynch had no proper focus on her prior to winning the title. I just brought up Natalya. Their idea of giving Naomi focus is just having her steamroll Alexa Bliss, despite her injury issues. Where is the proper creative development? I don't even know what to make out of this storyline Tamina and Lana are getting. Given Smackdown's history of tossing the title around, including rumors that Eva Marie was supposed to get a title reign, either one of these two women could get a title run. And neither of them deserves it. Outside of that, what is the payoff of this angle? They turn on each other? Not too interesting.

Carmella still has the briefcase and is hovering with it. I think she will win the title. And she should. Start the women's briefcase on a good foot. The WWE already failed to do that with the Ellsworth fiasco, but the WWE can avoid other mistakes going forward. Will Carmella cashing in on Natalya be a big deal? Maybe they should wait for a new face to win the title and Carmella cashes in on her. That could be either Becky Lynch or Charlotte. Naomi should not get the title back anytime soon. One thing that would be nice is to just have Carmella take a step back from trying to cash in. Let Natalya and Naomi, and whomever else, have a proper feud between themselves. Let Carmella feud with one of the other faces right now. Not only will that be good for Carmella, but it gives another woman something meaningful to do. You look at the men that have won the briefcase over years. They were not always this plastered to the title scene from the moment they got the briefcase to when they cashed in. They had other feuds. Do that with Carmella. Right now, the story being Carmella wants to cash in is just too easy.

Let me just say something general about the way Smackdown does things. I see a lot of fans giving Smackdown praise for giving all the women things to do. There are various reasons why it is not good, like an injury here and there possibly messing things up a lot. But let me bring up another. Just because these women have something to do does not mean they have something meaningful to do. It is like going to school, finding out the teacher is absent, and the substitute gives you busy work because the regular work plan was not left. Are the students getting something to do? Yes. Are they getting something meaningful to do? No. These women on Smackdown might be getting used regularly, but a lot of these feuds and storylines are just terrible. There is a lot of underutilized women. The writers are not really creating greatness. They are just sticking women in situations and having them work. They need to do more for these women. All the multi-women matches Smackdown has gone to far too much in the past year is an example of that laziness.

Onto Raw. Outside of the title feud, what is there really to talk about? Not much. Emma is getting an angle, though. She is getting TV time and is getting focus. Yeah, she is losing, but it is not unusual for these kind of angles to end in title reigns. The WWE should keep the title on Sasha Banks and have her defend it against Emma, and eventually drop it to her. That should quiet the fans complaining about Emma not getting a chance. There was a time when I would agree with them. But looking at Emma getting time recently, even if losing, that is better than what some people are getting. The fact is, Emma is getting a chance. If she has really won fans over like the people on Twitter might make you believe, have the live audiences roar for her. Have them regularly chant for her during other women's segments. Make her the female Daniel Bryan. The WWE is actually putting her out there for it to happen. Is she going to step up and get more over? Or is she just going to rest on her Internet popularity and give the WWE a reason to not follow up with her?

Mickie James has been seeing a little more TV time in the last month, since Bayley got injured. If Bayley had not gotten injured, I do not think Mickie James would have gotten what usage she has gotten. Bayley would be tied up with Alexa Bliss. Sasha Banks is the next priority in Raw's women's division. They would have found something for her. Maybe she would be the one working against Emma. Emma has just been going between losing to Mickie James and Nia Jax on Raw recently. Dana Brooke is obviously not good enough to push as priority above Sasha Banks or Bayley. Mickie James still lacks a legitimate storyline, but she is still around.

And what about Nia Jax? As far as I am concerned, she is still on probation. If she cannot keep it safe for at least the rest of the year, she should be fired. She is not a great worker. She currently does not have a proper feud. Should it be against Mickie James? Or does the WWE want to keep some women open to continue the angle involving Emma? Regardless, she will get TV time. I just hope she keeps it safe in the ring.

Outside of how the women are being utilized, how are the fans reacting to them? I think there is a problem. Everyone knows about the bad reactions Bayley would get. Even Sasha Banks has experienced a negative reaction at times. Is that just the Brooklyn audience? I am from Brooklyn, so I know how bad they can be. The Four Horsewomen, the NXT elite, all look bad right now. The two on Smackdown are not doing anything important. One of the two on Raw is injured, and has issues connecting with the fans. The other one got the title in a poor feud, and her own overness is in question. I remember getting my head bit off when I said these women were not that over. They were treated like automatic legends in NXT, but the main roster is something else. And it is not just them. All the women can be doing better.

Is it just the smarks? Smarks love heels. But the answer cannot be to just turn Sasha Banks heel. Heels do that edgy stuff that smarks typically love, but there will still be some fans that will not care.

I will say the issue is the women's revolution. It was fine when it first started and even last year. But it is time to stop talking about it and basing so many feuds and segments off of that. It is great that you are going to treat the women better, but stop talking about it. It is abrasive. Moreover, you might start wondering why you need to promote your good deeds so much. Is it just for the sake of your own ego? When Stephanie McMahon was plugged too much into the women's revolution the year it started, it definitely looked like an ego thing. Are you exploiting the situation? The WWE is definitely exploiting it in terms of promoting it and stroylines. Is this really a draw?

It is just not entertaining. TNA could run a respectable women's division without promoting too much that it was respectable. Did they promote it now and then and even use it for the sake of angles? Yes, but they did other things, as well, and did not do as terrible a job with it as the WWE. This is the reason some women like Lana and Alexa Bliss have gotten better reactions during the women's revolution era than you might think they should have. They are actually entertaining the audience, while these female wrestlers are doing their self-righteous screaming. The WWE needs to step back and make things fun again.

Look at the NFL. Last year, they had a dip in the ratings. Of the many reasons given, including it being an election year, some people said the NFL was just not fun anymore. Too many flags. Players were penalized for having fun out there and putting emotion into what they did. What has the NFL done this year? They are being less strict with touchdown celebrations. Players will have more freedom to enjoy themselves. It remains to be seen if viewership will increase for them, but this decision should bring some fun back into the game.

And that is exactly my point. The NFL realized that they should not stifle the enjoyment. That enjoyment is contagious. If players are having fun, that energizes the audience, both the live audience and the viewers at home. How about the WWE starts realizing that? Be fun again. Stop with the feminist screaming. I believe women should be treated fairly and equally, but making that the theme of the women's division is not fun. That is why some fans are dead for what is going on, or even completely sour for what is going on. The writers need to step up and create storylines that are more enjoyable. Enough of the complaining. The WWE will not be having women in their bra and thongs running around, but that does not mean they should not occasionally do some of the fun things that women used to do in the diva era. Face it, the diva era is not completely dead. Alexa Bliss holding the title was pretty much a throwback to Trish Stratus in the diva era. The WWE does not have one woman that is connecting with fans at an A+ level. I think some of these women have potential to be that great, but they need to step up and the WWE needs to do a better job pushing them. And, needless to say, certain arrogant fans need to give things a chance. Maybe the WWE will never be able to fix the problem. Some fans are just terrible.

Previewing The Battleground 2017 Women's Match

 

There just comes a point where you get sick of complaining about the same thing. I have frequently criticized Smackdown for having too many multi-woman matches at PPVs. They fail to properly develop good personal feuds a lot of the time, especially for the big PPVs since the brand split came back. Recently, there have been a couple Smackdown PPVs in a row to feature multi-women matches.

I saw a dirtsheet report in the past week mention that the WWE is doing a ton of multi-person matches because it is just convenient for the writers and they believe it gives everyone heat with everyone else, or something along those lines. Did you really need a dirtsheet report to know the writers were being lazy? Even then, I would not say it is that bad. Most of the PPV main events are still singles matches. Even other title matches outside the main event are mostly singles matches. It is a little annoying how they frequently toss everyone together for the sake of finding #1 contenders, but even that isn't done all the time. But this issue with the Smackdown women's division is really annoying.

Battleground will not be anything new. Five women compete to find out who faces Naomi at Summerslam. If there is any silver lining, it is that this match will lead to a singles match at a big PPV. Even then, that does not kill the bad habit. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Lana vs. Natalya vs. Tamina. I don't think there are any fresh, smooth options here.

Naomi is a face, so it might make you wonder if they would really let Becky Lynch or Charlotte win. Would a face vs. face feud really be interesting? Would they turn someone heel just for the sake of this feud? Even then, you have a heel, Carmella, looming with the briefcase. Neither Becky nor Charlotte would make for a smooth feud.

Would Natalya vs. Naomi be considered a fresh feud? Natalya is not really fresh. She does not have much attention on her, creatively. I just feel like the other women seem to have more going than her.

Normally, I would say Tamina is Tamina. But the WWE has decided to give her a storyline. This is another example of a person that has not earned something getting something. This angle involves Tamina training Lana. If there was not a women's revolution going on and the writing was better, the story to tell would be that Tamina successfully trains Lana to finally beat Naomi for the title. After that, Tamina could want a title shot. Lana refuses. And a feud happens between the two, with Tamina going face. But how likely is it that Lana wins this? And Tamina is not worthy of getting a title shot at Summerslam.

Who wins? I think it comes down to the fact that this is Summerslam, one of the biggest PPVs of the year. Charlotte has not been pushed well since coming to Smackdown, but she has the most title credibility in this match. The WWE would likely give her the push. As for the awkwardness of face vs. face, the WWE will likely have Carmella cash in on Naomi prior to Summerslam, possibly even this Sunday, and the Summerslam match becomes a triple threat. And Smackdown continues its streak of multi-woman matches.

Redoing The Money In The Bank 2017 Women's Matches

The last few days have not been very smooth for the Smackdown women's division. Money In The Bank featured two women's matches. Carmella won the briefcase, thanks to a controversial assist to James Ellsworth. Lana failed to beat Naomi for the Women's Championship. This week on Smackdown, the outcomes of these two matches seem to have been voided. Carmella was stripped of the briefcase and there will be another ladder match next week to decide who gets it. Lana gets a rematch for the Women's Championship against Naomi.

First, let me start with the controversy. The controversy isn't really that Ellsworth grabbed the briefcase. He didn't go rogue and do anything he wasn't supposed to do. The controversy is that the WWE had this happen. A moment that should have been about the women ends up being about a man that got in the way. But the WWE is acting like mere interference is the issue. As Carmella mentioned in her promo and Daniel Bryan also brought up, these matches are No DQ and interference has happened before. But that was not what made how this match went down so annoying.

The WWE has done this kind of thing in the past. There is a kayfabe controversy that the WWE tries to push over the legitimate issue. Remember when Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble? He got an assist from The Rock. The fans gave that match a nuclear reaction. They hated it. The WWE tried to sell the controversy as The Rock getting involved. No, the issue was that fans hated how the match was booked, including Roman Reigns getting that big push over Daniel Bryan, besides the growing resentment against Reigns.

Mistakes are going to happen. The women will botch in the ring. The writers will come up with dumb ideas. Vince McMahon will want something done that fans just hate. But you should try to limit these things. As I have mentioned before, the women's revolution has not gotten over as well as it should. The WWE is not helping with some of these dumb things that they do, like having Ellsworth be the most talked about individual coming out of that women's ladder match. Fans have more of a reason to get excited for this guy doing something than the women doing anything. This is not the kind of controversy the WWE should be doing.

I mentioned that promo Carmella did. I went back to look at it. Fans were talking about how great it was. It was decent, but nothing that great. It was the typical self-righteous speech a person gives about being held back and slamming those people that are supposedly ahead of the individual. Smarks eat this stuff up, so I am not surprised they like this. Just talk about working your ass off and scream for respect. You don't even need to try to be entertaining. AJ Lee, Paige, and other women have done similar promos.

How about the decision to redo two PPV matches next week? Well, Smackdown's viewership was terrible last week. It got the second lowest number since the brand split came back. And there was no good reason for it to be so low. It did not go against any major sports competition. No huge political drama that night, even though news shows did well that night. And yet, Smackdown flopped in terms of viewership. I can see why they would try to drum up some controversy to draw for them this week, and then create some big matches for next week.

But does redoing these matches hurt the value of anything? I see a lot of fans complaining about all these rematches. Why bother watching PPVs? Were the matches meaningless? Does this hurt the value of the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match? The second one is coming so soon. I can understand fans being annoyed by the situation. Some rematches are obviously going to happen, but redoing the ladder match, and on free TV, is kind of awkward. The WWE just better hope it draws.

Another thing to consider, what is the point of redoing these two matches if both end in the same way? Carmella wins the briefcase back and Naomi once again retains against Lana. Seems like a whole lot of trouble for nothing. There is a chance at least one match might end differently.

A lot of people are talking like Carmella was screwed. I don't feel that way at all. It isn't like she's lost a push. Focus is still on her. The only reason I was okay with Carmella winning the briefcase in the first place is because the WWE needs to develop a fresh heel that can go in the ring to work with the faces. Natalya is a veteran. Tamina is not that great and not fresh. Lana isn't great in the ring. Smackdown doesn't structure their women's division very well. They seem to try to push too many women and they can't do it. Raw's division is looking even more like a mess these days, but that is a different story. Carmella should just be built as a credible jobber. If attention is now on her for the cheap way she won the briefcase and she is starting to get a reaction and even smarks are feeling bad for her, she is set for a push, with or without the briefcase. I would have no problem with another woman getting the briefcase.

Getting down to it, if another woman is going to get it, it should be either Becky Lynch or Charlotte. Whether you like it or not, Charlotte has gotten the career of a star. Getting the briefcase is something you would expect the WWE to do for her. Personally, I do not think she has proven she deserves to be the centerpiece and some other woman should get a legitimate shot. I would go with Becky Lynch winning the briefcase next week. For all the talk about her being the first woman drafted to Smackdown and being the first Smackdown Women's Champion, her career has been mediocre. She lost a PPV match to Natalya. She had no proper focus heading into the match where she won the title. Her reign was short and mediocre. She won a feud with Mickie James and went nowhere from there. She has not regained the title. She has not won the briefcase. She has not done anything noteworthy. She should be the top female star of Smackdown. Some people can talk like she is, but she is not booked like it at all. Getting the briefcase can be a good start.

What about the other women's match? Lana gets another shot against Naomi. The fact that Lana is not great in the ring might not necessarily stop the WWE from giving her the title. You would think in an era that is supposed to be about women's wrestling, standards would make it unthinkable that Lana would get the title, but she could. And it just feels like Naomi has run out of steam in this title reign. They made her look untouchable when feuding with Alexa Bliss, but she has looked more human since Alexa Bliss left Smackdown and Charlotte came. I will say Naomi retains. If Carmella fails to get the briefcase back, she can get a title shot against Naomi.

Will the woman that wins the briefcase cash in that same night? Probably not. The ladder match will likely be the main event, not the women's title match.

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2017 Women's Matches

Of all the women to get a shot at the Smackdown Women's Championship at Money In The Bank, it is going to be Lana. It would be easy to write her off. She's a diva. She's not that experienced in the ring. She just debuted last week on Smackdown. There is no way the WWE will have her beat Naomi for the title.

I remember when Alexa Bliss was feuding with Becky Lynch for this same title. I remember some fans saying that it was obvious that Alexa Bliss was just there to be a successful title defense for Becky Lynch. Alexa Bliss ended up winning the title. Even I wanted to give the WWE a fair chance back then. I wasn't a fan of the self-righteous tone of the new era in women's wrestling, but I thought the WWE was more serious about it than it seems now. Smackdown was a throwback to the diva era in some ways, but it still does not seem right to give the title to eye-candy divas in the manner the WWE has been doing since the brand split returned.

How about Naomi? She steamrolled Alexa Bliss for the title. I hated that booking. She won every match and never looked weak even in brawls. It is not that I like Alexa Bliss. I just hate the booking. And I don't recall any other fans criticizing it back then or even making a topic out of it. Recently, the WWE pulled the same kind of booking on Bayley, having Alexa Bliss pretty much steamroll her. Now I see fans asking if Bayley has been buried. Some are upset about how she was booked. Some are chuckling at it. There are always people like that. It is nothing new or weird. They did it to Alexa Bliss. But back to Naomi. After making her look so good for a couple months, including ignoring her injury history, she now looks mediocre. I am not surprised. It makes the big push she got even more irritating. If they were doing this to make a star or create someone to put over someone in a big way, it would be different. It doesn't feel like either of those two things are true. Naomi looks very beatable right now.

Should Lana win the title? On the one hand, it would seem bad to have her lose so soon, like how she lost her first main-roster match at Wrestlemania last year. On the other hand, she shouldn't win the title so soon. I don't care if she is good in the ring, have her prove it to the main audience first, then worry about giving her the title. But the WWE has shown that they don't have proper standards. They dumped title reigns into the lap of Naomi, despite her issues staying healthy. Lana should lose here, but I will say that she wins.

Onto the match fans probably are more interested in. The women are getting a briefcase ladder match. Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina. I will say a little about each woman.

Charlotte seems like the popular choice to win. The WWE has already shown a desire to push her hard and hand her a ton of history. Since coming to Smackdown, however, she has not looked as glorious. Alexa Bliss made history by being the first woman to hold the two Women's Championships that were recently created. I am sure Charlotte will make history again by being the first woman to have held those two titles and the NXT Women's Championship, for whatever that is worth. But I don't think it is a guarantee she makes history on Sunday.

Natalya is a veteran heel. It just seems like a heel should win the briefcase. Natalya has been featured better since the women's revolution really got rolling than she was prior to that. But when it comes to winning titles or anything major, she hasn't gotten anything in the last year.

Carmella seems like a good choice as the next fresh heel credible jobber. Charlotte can eventually win the title from whichever heel and Carmella can immediately cash in on her. That would give Charlotte a fresh singles feud and inflate her title history even more when she wins the title back from Carmella.

Becky Lynch has not really been pushed that well. She won the Smackdown Women's Championship when it was first created, despite not having any proper focus on her. After losing it to Alexa Bliss, the only thing Becky accomplished was winning a feud against Mickie James. And Becky went nowhere after that. The fact that she doesn't seem like a favorite to win this match doesn't mean she should be counted out. Winning the briefcase might revitalize her.

And Tamina is Tamina.

Of the five women, I am going with Carmella. What the WWE has a history of doing with Charlotte does not mean anything. Everyone knows Nikki Bella was someone the WWE was serious about pushing very well. She had more focus on her prior to the match to crown the first Smackdown Women's Champion than Becky Lynch. She did not win it and has never won it. Charlotte has not been buried on Smackdown, but she is not getting the same push she got on Raw. I can see Smackdown spreading out some of the accolades. Carmella winning would just help to set her up as a fresh heel to push that can go in the ring. Lana does not have any credibility, yet. And Natalya, as I said, is a veteran. The WWE needs to aim to build someone young. I just feel that person is Carmella. And needless to say, Tamina is not young. She is 39, the oldest female wrestler on the main roster. Carmella just seems like the best choice. She was the person I was going with before the WWE had Lana pop up last week and get a title shot. We will see how that influences things.

Smackdown Women's Money In The Bank

The WWE is going back to hyping history for their women. Money in the Bank, a Smackdown-exclusive PPV this year, will feature a women's ladder match for a briefcase. It will be Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina.

The "cookie cutter" response would be to say how great this is for the women. They're getting to do something only men have been allowed to do in the past. History. Historic. Amazing. Yeah. That's nice.

I am not impressed. This is once again a situation where all the Smackdown women are tossed into the same picture. There is no creative depth and the booking is lazy. I have pointed out numerous times that Smackdown has a tendency to do this ever since the brand split returned.

You want to talk about being treated as equals to the men? Do you see all the men that have nothing else to do being tossed into the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the men's briefcase? No. That's not the way it works. That has never been the way it works.

My issue is that the WWE is relying on hype and not properly developing any of these individual women to be stars. Where's the proper character development? Where are the great personal feuds?

The WWE can release every woman on the main roster and nothing of value would be lost. I honestly believe that. Just replace them with women from NXT and the indies. Tessa Blanchard can replace Charlotte. Melina can replace Mickie James. Mandy Rose can replace Alexa Bliss. The replacements might not come in all at the same time, obviously, but the WWE can just phase all these women currently there out and keep doing what they are doing. That is because they are just relying on hype to draw for them. They are relying on quantity over quality. In the case of Alexa Bliss, they are relying on sex appeal with character. Just help Mandy Rose develop a character. Or Lana can get some time being pushed as the new Alexa Bliss. There is a lot of underachieving in the women's division these days and no one is bringing A+ results. And a lot of the blame has to go on the poor way the WWE is handling these women. The WWE can just bring in these new women and start handing them whatever history is left to be had.

I have nothing against a ladder match. Women in TNA have had them all the time. And if the WWE had done a better job creating personal feuds for the Smackdown women prior to this, I would probably be all for it. But they have not, so I cannot get excited for more of the same that I have come to expect from Smackdown.

Lana made her Smackdown debut this week. She tried to get in the match. She ended up attacking Naomi. She will face Naomi in a singles match for the title. Will she win? Whatever way they go, they are putting her in the same picture with everyone else. Moving forward, there will obviously be some separation, but I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

What do you make of Lana? I would say she fits right in with the brand that is keeping the diva era alive. Of course, Alexa Bliss is bringing a diva revival over on Raw. How far will Lana go? She has been training to wrestle. She's beautiful. She has charisma and a great character. She can be another Alexa Bliss. That will appeal to many fans, but also annoy wrestling fans. I do see fans annoyed by how Alexa Bliss has been pushed on Raw. They feel the quality of the women's division there has been slipping in the last few months. The WWE switched a centerpiece that was very good and respected in the ring, Charotte, for one that just isn't, Alexa Bliss. And it shows. Smackdown isn't really as centerpiece-driven, so Lana will not have the same impact here as Alexa Bliss is having on Raw. That is, unless certain backstage officials love Lana so much that they start having everything revolve around her.

And just one aside to end the day. One thing really bothered me on Raw. Mickie James and Dana Brooke went out there to get some of Alexa Bliss. What happened after was Nia Jax just pushed them aside to get some of Alexa Bliss for herself. She then pushed them down again after when they confronted her about shoving them aside. And what does the WWE have Mickie James and Dana Brooke do? Just go and stand in the ring with Nia Jax as Alexa Bliss is walking away. And Nia Jax beat them up, again. Why would Mickie and Dana do that? It is just incredibly stupid. A woman that is not your friend and was just knocking you around is standing in the ring. What do you do? Go stand with her! What else would you do? How about just stare down Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax from ringside? How about get in the ring and at least try to fight back against Nia Jax for shoving you around? It was just incredibly stupid.

That is one of the reasons it is hard for many fans to care about Mickie James during her current run in the WWE. Her character is terrible. It was terrible on Smackdown and it might be even worse on Raw. Having her job so much is one thing. But putting her out there to be knocked around and do stupid things like what happened on Raw is not helping her. I would say it is doing even more damage than having her lose. She just looks terrible.

Previewing The Backlash 2017 Women's Match

In the past, I have brought up the point that Smackdown frequently gets the short end of the stick with their women's division as compared to Raw. They don't hype it as well and don't feature history as much and as well as Raw does. It is not unusual for them to push quantity over quality. In the past, I have brought up Charlotte's tendency to be overpushed. Last year, the WWE handed her a lot of title reigns and history in a short span. It really got annoying. When these two identities met, you have to believe something would have to give.

Let me just say that I am not a fan of either of those two things I just mentioned. The women on Smackdown should be promoted better. If the WWE wants to make this division a little more diva-like, that's one thing. But all these multi-woman matches and everything else isn't good. And no one should be pushed like Charlotte was last year. It doesn't get you popular. Even if you were popular and talented and deserved a fabulous career, the way Charlotte was being pushed last year was too much.

Back to Charlotte's tendency to be overpushed vs. Smackdown's tendency to be mediocre. So far, it looks like the latter is winning. Charlotte may have gotten a title shot in the main event a few weeks ago, but she has not won the title yet. More importantly, the first Smackdown PPV since the trades last month will not have a title match. It will not even have a singles match. It will have a six-woman tag match. The first Raw PPV since the trades featured a title match. Once again, Smackdown fails to present their women as well as Raw is.

The match for Backlash will be Naomi, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch vs. Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina (The Welcoming Committe). The whole things seems pretty stupid. You can't mistreat people for a long amount of time, then start pushing them as a threat and expect people to care. Natalya may be a former Diva's Champion, but that was many years ago and she has been treated terribly and inconsistently since. Carmella was lost in the shuffle for a while before they pretty much had to start featuring her again for Wrestlemania. And Tamina is Tamina. I mentioned that main event between Charlotte and Naomi. That was when this group was formed. Even then, this feud did not deserve the main event.

It would be easy to say the face team wins at Backlash. The heels are essentially jobbers. They have been built up to have momentum. The face team features women that have actually been pushed better.

And yet, I can imagine the WWE letting the heels win. Smackdown has done some dumb booking decisions to extend feuds that a lot of fans would have just liked to have seen end. They have to. With the depth issue, they have to extend feuds. Moreover, did the WWE put work into making a group just to kill it after a month? Because I can't imagine Charlotte going back to feud with Naomi for the title right away. They will probably put it on a heel first, then have the heel put over Charlotte. But if The Welcoming Committee loses already, that ruins their credibility. Again, Smackdown has done some terrible things when developing heels to put over faces, like how they treated Mickie James a couple months ago against Becky Lynch. They could very drop the ball again with this feud.

This match can go either way. But since it is a meaningless match, I am not going to kill myself over it. I will say faces win.

Wrestlemania 33 Preview: Part 1

I will be talking about the women's matches today. Cena/Nikki vs. Miz/Maryse will be talked about later this week. This is just about the women's-only matches.

First, the overall theme. Laziness. I have brought this up a few times over the years. Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James at Wrestlemania 22 was the last women's feud for Wrestlemania season that was personal and handled right. Everything since then has been tag matches, lumberjill matches, battle royals, and other multi-woman matches. You have had Playboy pushes and celebrity involvement. You might let some of this stuff go, but not having one heated singles feud for the women at Wrestlemania in all these years? Disgusting. This is an era where women want to be treated the same as men? Well, I see men getting heated singles feuds for Wrestlemania every year. There may be some multi-man matches, as well, but there are heated singles feuds. The women aren't getting this. No one is upset?

The laziness is most clear in Smackdown's women's match for Wrestlemania. Alexa Bliss vs. The World. Right now, it just looks like the other women will be Mickie James, Becky Lynch, Natalya, and Carmella.

There is speculation that the WWE might bring in Asuka for this match and/or women from the past. And I dislike that. What does that say about the WWE's confidence in the women they have now? They have mishandled the Smackdown women. The answer isn't to look over all of them and create hype through NXT or even more women from the past. The WWE needs to do better with the women they have now. If they bring in someone like Asuka and don't book her right, that's unfair to her. If they book her better than everyone already on the roster, that is unfair to those women already there that have been pushed poorly. Worry about fixing the issues managing the talent, then worry about debuts and returns. This is one of the reasons I said a couple months ago that Mickie James should not return. Smackdown is not as efficient as some fans make it seem. Being better than Raw isn't saying much.

Let me look at some of the women in this match. First, Carmella. She has her angle with James Ellsworth. Ideally, the story you would have is that Ellsworth helps Carmella win the title. Carmella can later reveal that she was just using Ellsworth to help her. But this just seems like a story better suited for a singles feud, and not suited for Wrestlemania. It could be a nice story, but with the way Smackdown handles things, I am not sure they would handle it right. They need to make better use of their depth.

Next, Mickie James. I wouldn't be surprised if she never wins a title in the three years she is back for. I am not saying they won't book it to happen. I am just saying I wouldn't be surprised if it never happens. I don't think it is anything personal. They might look at her and see whatever it is they saw in The Dudleys that got them booked like crap last year. They might also want to protect Trish's legacy until Charlotte breaks her record. When it comes to major World titles, the magic number for the WWE is 16 and the name is Ric Flair. When it comes to major women's titles, the magic number for the WWE is 7 and the name is Trish Stratus. Mickie James has already won more major women's titles than Trish, but the WWE will not acknowledge her TNA reigns. That is pretty unfair, since Ric Flair did not win all his World titles in the WWE. I have seen a Mickie James fan hoping she can get lucky number 7 and tie Trish's record. Instead of talking about getting to double digits, he only goes with the WWE only acknowledging the 6 title reigns. And if they want to bury the Diva's Championship reign, they will continue to say she is only a 5-time Champion.

Lastly, Alexa Bliss. She should not even be holding the title now. Naomi's injury led to her getting the title back. I have seen some Naomi fans dreaming that she returns and Wrestlemania and gets the title back. With her injury issues, she seriously needs to prove she can stay healthy. As for Alexa Bliss, she might as well retain the title. Lose the belt in a singles feud after Wrestlemania.

The Raw women's match has had better build than Smackdown's women's match, but it isn't too hard to have better build than a match where every available body is thrown in. But this feud is still pretty mediocre, and it is once again a multi-woman match.

Compare it to last year's triple threat. Fans were pretty hyped for the feud. It was Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks. Women's revolution! Death to the butterfly title! High expectations for a great match! Lita with the new title! Okay, that's nice. Now, take away all the hype. What do you really have? It was just a title feud. There was no rich story. They could have had one with Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch, but they inserted Sasha Banks and that story got diluted. And I would say the feud development was actually pretty sloppy. But when you buy into hype, you typically overlook things like that. And that is what happened last year. This feud did have issues, but fans overlooked it because of all the hype.

This year, it is Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax. This year, the same hype is not there. Without that hype it is even easier to see this feud for what it is. It is another lazy title feud. At first, it was Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley. Instead of just trying to build that feud, they just inserted distractions. Charlotte has had to deal with Dana Brooke turning on her. Bayley had to deal with Nia Jax, which eventually led to Nia getting in the match.

Should Nia Jax even be in this match? It seemed likely for a while that it would happen, but should the WWE have changed their mind? As I said, it feels like including her has just been a distraction that has taken away from the feel of the feud. The WWE has done a terrible job keeping Nia consistently in the picture. If they had done a better job, things would have been smoother and I would not be bringing this up. You also have to think about match quality. Nia Jax might be good for a few spots during the match, but she might hurt the match quality, overall. Problem is, Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley happened just a few months ago. It was not a stellar match. I am sure these three can put on a better Wrestlemania match, but the match did happen. Adding in Nia Jax does create a fresh match. Then again, what's wrong with doing Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley again? Do it once with Charlotte as Champion, then with Bayley, and then with Sasha Banks. Make it a series. In the end, having Nia Jax involved does make a fresh match.

Who wins? Bayley. She can then feud against a heel Sasha Banks. The WWE has already taken steps to fix the depth issues a heel Sasha Banks would make. Dana Brooke went face recently. Emma can also eventually return as a face. Or Asuka can debut on Raw as a face. Until all that, there is no PPV streak to keep in tact here.

Naomi Surrenders Title, Alexa Bliss Gets It Back

I can say I take no satisfaction in Naomi's injury, but then I would sound like Donald Trump. And I don't want to sound like Donald Trump.

Even before Naomi won the title at Elimination Chamber, I said she should not have. One of the reasons I felt she should not win the title yet is because she was just returning from being injured. In 2016, there were at least two occasions where Naomi needed to take time off due to an injury. Before the WWE makes the decision to put the title on her, one of the things that needed to happen was that she needed to prove she could stay healthy. They did not do that. They put the title on Naomi just a few weeks after she returned to the main roster.

And she got injured. It looks like she got injured in the very match she won the title. Last week, they just mentioned it in a segment. I don't think most fans took it seriously that she was so hurt that she would have to surrender the title. This week, however, she did have to surrender the title due to her injury. It is the rise and fall of Naomi, all within about a month.

I don't blame Naomi for this situation. Yes, she could do some work cleaning up her in-ring style a bit. But the WWE were the ones that booked her to win the title. They should have been smarter. They should have realized this is a woman that has had some injury issues in recent years. They should not have rushed the title on her like they did. The smart thing to do would have been to monitor her and make sure she could stay healthy. As I mentioned before, see if she can clean up her in-ring work. The WWE put themselves in this situation.

You can say that you cannot predict injuries, and I would agree with that. You can't tell when someone is going to get injured. However, I think you can at least determine if it is likely someone might get injured. Look at three things. First, does the person in question have a history of injuries holding him back? Second, is the person in question doing something physical where injuries frequently happen? Third, is the person in question doing what is expected of him in this physical environment in a safe manner or a manner in which injuries might be even more likely?

If the WWE was smart, they would have this kind of thought process. They know Naomi has a history of injuries taking her out, especially in the last year. They know the kind of environment pro wrestling is. Keep in mind, they are giving women more freedom to go at it in the ring in this era. And they should have been able to look at how Naomi performs and see that it was likely she would get injured again. She does a lot of high-risk spots. Her execution is not always smooth. And you also have to worry about the people you are working with not doing their end of spots properly. Alexa Bliss is not a great wrestler. I am not blaming her for Naomi's injury, but these are all the things the WWE should have thought about. And if they had done that, I don't think they would have given Naomi the title as quickly as they did.

Is this the end of Naomi? I think it would be fair to give her one more chance when she does come back from her injury 100% healthy. That doesn't mean they dump the title in her lap 5 seconds after she returns. They should learn from their mistakes. Naomi needs to stay healthy. I think it can be done. Look at Sean Lee of the Dallas Cowboys. For years, he had injury issues that left many people thinking he was a bust and would never reach his potential. He was healthy enough to be available for every game this previous season. The only game he did not play was the meaningless regular season finale. He found a way to stay healthy. I think Naomi can do it. But she needs to actually do it. There are other women deserving of title reigns on the main roster. There are women in NXT that can earn them. There are women not even under contract yet that would love to get a title reign.

The WWE wasted no time in crowning a new Smackdown Women's Championship. Alexa Bliss faced Becky Lynch. Alexa Bliss got the win by cheap heel tactics. I am not going to criticize having the title be decided by these two and having Alexa Bliss win.

I will say something about how they decided to have Alexa Bliss win. It just looked clumsy. I am not saying it was botched. I am saying it looked poor. It lacked more of an impact. They had Alexa Bliss grabbing onto the ring apron and all that. I believe Alexa Bliss can be built to be a great heel, but I do not believe that because she is a great wrestler. If she was a great wrestler, maybe the WWE could have come up with a better finish to put her over as a great wrestler. But in terms of looking like a great heel character, winning like she did doesn't make Alexa Bliss look that great. It was just a cheap, clumsy win.

What should they have done? Why did they not have Mickie James be the one to screw Becky Lynch? Whether they did that or the way they ended up doing it, the face, Becky, gets protected by not taking a clean loss. And it would have looked even better. It would have looked even more like Becky got screwed. Becky Lynch and Mickie James are supposed to be feuding. Mickie James is supposed to be this thorn in the side of Becky Lynch. Not having Mickie James screw Becky Lynch is a missed opportunity that I would say in unforgivable. It would also do something for Alexa Bliss. If you want her to look like a boss heel, give her a competent sidekick that could actually help her. I will give the WWE credit for letting Mickie James get a win over Becky Lynch last week without Alexa Bliss. Mickie James is a veteran female wrestler. It is good to let her get a win through her own heel tactics. But Alexa Bliss is not what Mickie James is. She can use the sidekick rub.

As I said before, I did not think the WWE should bring back Mickie James, I did not think they should bring her back the way they did, I did not think they should have her play the heel character they want her to play, and I do not think they are handling this feud with Becky Lynch right. But if this is the way they are going to do it, they are still not getting the most out of Mickie James. I would rather Mickie James not be a sidekick, but they can get a lot out of her to help give rubs to Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. If they built Mickie James up properly, Becky Lynch would look even better by going over her. If they built the relationship between Mickie James and Alexa Bliss better, Alexa's character would look even more amazing. Mickie James is being underutilized.

The last thing to bring up is the depth issue. Smackdown is now right back where they were before Naomi returned last month. Your faces are Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella. Your heels are Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya, and Carmella. Terrible unbalance. To make matters worse, it seems Maryse is getting a feud against Nikki Bella. I will talk about that more later on. Just with the women that have been wrestling on a more regular basis than Maryse, they might just have to rush a face turn to balance things out. But will it work properly? It really is for the sake of depth, not trying to make anyone into a star.

Aside from a face turn, there is the possibility of bringing someone like Asuka or Tamina in. They will at least help at house shows. Asuka obviously still has business in NXT. Tamina could show up on Smackdown to help the depth issue. Tamina has been a face. She has been a heel. She has been pushed. She has been depushed. She has been injured. She has just been there. She has never been really over. She is also the oldest active in-ring performer in the women's division. Yes, even a little older than Mickie James. If they do bring her in, it should only be to help the depth. Don't try too hard to give her a separate angle and push. Smackdown has tried to give all their women a role and Naomi's injury has shown how it can backfire. It has an impact in what Naomi was doing and what other women were doing. It really stings the division.

Let me end it by just saying that giving someone a chance does not mean handing them success. When #GiveDivasAChance happened, people weren't asking for the divas to be given a chance. What they really meant was #TreatDivasBetter. And that is what the WWE did. They never looked back. And I have seen similar things for women like Paige or Naomi. Their fans are asking for them to be given a chance. What they really mean is give them a push and a title. Some things should just be earned. Staying healthy is one of the things you have to do to earn something. The WWE did not give Naomi a chance. They just pushed her too quickly and gave her the title too quickly. When you are giving someone or something a chance, the possibility of failure has to be there. It is only fair. I just hope the WWE learns from their mistakes.

Looking Back At The Elimination Chamber 2017 Women's Matches

The women's matches at this past Sunday's Smackdown PPV all ended in ways I did not expect. I am going to say what I do not like about these booking decisions.

First, Natalya vs. Nikki Bella ended in a double countout. This was the longest of the feuds going on for the Smackdown women and it just needed to end. All they have been doing for a lot of these past weeks is talking and brawling. They're brawling in the ring, outside the ring, outside the building, backstage, and I don't know where else. And there is really nowhere else for the promos to go. This isn't a great feud. It is being booked this way because of the poor depth.

Nikki Bella should have just won and moved on. Even if she had won, these two women might have still interacted after Elimination Chamber, but the feud with have reached its climax and they could really start moving on to something new. As it stands, this feud doesn't feel like it is over yet.

Becky Lynch defeated Mickie James. Mickie James should have won that match. She just looks terrible. She has only been back a few weeks, so it won't be hard to look back at what she has done in terms of momentum. She came back by screwing Becky Lynch. The week after that, she had that promo segment, which ended with Mickie and Alexa Bliss once again laying out Becky. Since then, it has been all downhill. She lost at the Royal Rumble. She lost on the Smackdown after that. The Smackdown after that was the contract segment, which ended with the faces standing tall. She had absolutely no momentum heading into Elimination Chamber. And she lost. That is terrible booking.

And this booking does not help Becky Lynch as much as it could. Go back to when Mickie James returned to TNA in 2010. I don't think TNA handled her right, but what they did with her was done better than what the WWE just did with Becky Lynch. Mickie James had a feud with Tara, the sidekick of Madison Rayne, the TNA KO Champion at the time. The feud lasted months and Tara, the heel, actually got a PPV win over Mickie. It culminated with Mickie James defeating Tara in a steel cage match on Impact, which was one of the best moments of her TNA run. I have compared how the WWE is using Becky Lynch now to how TNA used Mickie James back then before. TNA actually made it look like Mickie James had to overcome something back then. They actually developed the feud. This feud with Becky Lynch and Mickie James is the same kind of thing. Becky Lynch is feuding with the sidekick of the heel Champion that is in her way. But with Mickie James not looking like she had any real momentum at all, Becky Lynch does not look as amazing as she could have with a win over her.

They are just doing a terrible job with Mickie James. I said that the WWE should not bring her back. Okay, they brought her back. I said that the WWE should not make her a heel and have her be La Luchadora. Okay, they made her a heel and had her be La Luchadora. I said the WWE should not have her be this bitter, arrogant character. Okay, they had her be this bitter, arrogant character. And I said that the WWE should have Mickie James win at Elimination Chamber. And they didn't do that. They have just dug a deep hole. Going back to my first point, I did not want them to bring her back because I knew this sour, inefficient environment would not be good for her. And the WWE is proving me right.

The booking in the last few weeks has not helped anyone as much as it could have. Mickie James does not look good. The feud does not look as great as it could have been. And Becky Lynch has not been put over as best as she could have been. Yes, the feud can still go on, but it would just look pointless at this point. Becky Lynch already has her revenge and that's that. I heard some rumors say that the reason Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James might be a short feud is that Nikki Bella and whatever she is involved with is getting a Wrestlemania spot. And yet, Nikki Bella's feud with Natalya was the one that did not get closure at Elimination Chamber. I doubt it will be Nikki vs. Natalya at Wrestlemania. With the WWE running at least 3 women's angles on Smackdown, the Nikki excuse does not have merit. The WWE could have booked Becky/Mickie to end at the first Smackdown PPV after Wrestlemania, while Nikki Bella still has her storyline.

And Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to win Smackdown's Women's Championship. Once again, I would say this is a feud that didn't help either woman as best as it could have.

Let me start with Alexa Bliss. Everything I just said about Mickie James lacking momentum in the last few weeks applies to her partner in crime, and it might even be worse for Alexa. Alexa was the one being pinned in all those tag matches. She just had no momentum heading into the match. Alexa Bliss is obviously not a great wrestler, but the WWE could have put a lot more work in her to make her look like a great heel. They had just paired her with Mickie James less than a month ago, now the duo looks absolutely pathetic. How is that building a strong heel duo, which can then really put over some faces down the road?

As for Naomi winning the title, I felt that Naomi should one day get a good push. Now is just not when I would have done it. She just came back from her second injury in a year that required her to miss time. The WWE should wait and see if she can stay healthy for a few months. Moreover, the build to that title win should be better. Instead, she comes back on Smackdown, pins Alexa Bliss at the Royal Rumble, pins Alexa Bliss on Smackdown, wins a brawl a week after that, and then wins the title. I've talked about women losing momentum before, but it seems the WWE just rushed Naomi to look credible. She never looked weak. It was just a 3-week steamroll. Yes, there are a lot of Naomi fans out there that are happy, but you always have to think about that wider audience. The WWE didn't really have any time to gauge how her push was really going. They just gave her the title. I don't care if she is from Florida and Wrestlemania is in Florida this year, this whole situation could have been handled better.

All of the Smackdown Women's Champions so far have been mediocre. I am not talking about talent. I am talking about how they have been built and the quality of their title reigns. Becky Lynch had no proper build whatsoever prior to winning the title. Her reign lasted a few months, featuring her missing out on a title defense due to a medical issue. Many did not think she would lose the title to Alexa Bliss. That happened. Alexa Bliss had just been on the main roster a few months and never really had any other storyline prior to that feud with Becky Lynch. And she's also not a great wrestler. Just when it looked like her title run might lead to her being featured as a great heel character, Naomi returns from her injury. And I just talked about the rushed job she got. The WWE needs to start developing these women better prior to their title wins and let them have title reigns that are better than this. They are not developing any of these women properly. It is as terrible as the cruiserweight division.

Smackdown's entire women's division just looks weak. No one really stands out that much. A lot of people like to talk about Nikki Bella having backstage influence, but she has not won the title yet on Smackdown and can't even get a decisive win against Natalya at Elimination Chamber. Natalya is getting a storyline, but she never goes far and has not held a title in about 7 years. Becky Lynch, the inaugural Smackdown Women's Champion, had no proper hype prior to winning it and the title reign was not that amazing. Mickie James, a legitimate A+ player a decade ago, in terms of how well she was able to connect with the fans from just being pushed as a credible jobber, is as big a loser in the last few weeks as my Brooklyn Nets. Alexa Bliss looked like she could be a great heel character, but she immediately dropped the title last Sunday. Naomi just got a rushed push, and there is nothing to suggest that this will be a long-term thing for her. Meanwhile, when you look at Raw, Charlotte is a long-term thing. Even Sasha Banks has managed to look somewhat more relevant than the Smackdown women. Even when she loses, there is a story there about her being a fighter. There is her potential heel turn. When these Smackdown women lose, for the most part, it is just a loss. There might be all these storyline floating around, but the actual women don't look strong over time. It is just a juggling act of momentum. Oh, and Carmella has Ellsworth. That is all that needs to be said.

Previewing The 2017 Elimination Chamber Women's Matches

Smackdown has a PPV this Sunday, Elimination Chamber. I believe this is the first time a brand PPV will feature 3 women's matches. The Royal Rumble a few weeks ago had 3 (between the kickoff and the main show), but the Royal Rumble isn't a brand-specific PPV. Many might say that this is huge for the women, but look at it a little more realistically. This is just practical booking. The Elimination Chamber match will feature six guys. Even though that match will kill a lot of time, there are still a lot of spots on the card to fill. Also keep in mind that match isn't the only multi-man match on the card. The situation just calls for multiple women's matches.

Nikki Bella and Natalya have been feuding for a few months now. They tried to make it more interesting by treating it like Nikki was attacked by some mystery individual a few months ago at Survivor Series. The feud hasn't really gone anywhere that interesting since then. They are just talking and brawling. Very few matches. Blame it on the terrible depth. The promos are pretty sour. A lot of talking about John Cena. I wonder if the WWE ever considers this might hurt his image. I don't think it is doing anything too great for either woman involved. Thankfully, this feud will likely end at Elimination Chamber.

Nikki Bella should be beating Natalya. This is a feud for the face to just shut up the heel after all these months. A Natalya win would just be pointless, unless they continue this feud, which they shouldn't. I'll go with Nikki.

The feud between Mickie James and Becky Lynch has been going on for only a few weeks. I have said on multiple occasions that I dislike how the WWE has handled Mickie's character. I will give them credit for certain things, like giving her quality promo time. But in terms of her actual character, this is not the best way to handle Mickie James. She should be a face, or even an entertaining heel. This bitter, arrogant character is not best for her. I see some fans not even understanding what she's doing with her promos. Maybe I'll go into that another day. She is still showing her charisma, but this is just not a great situation.

What about Becky Lynch? These past few weeks, they have been treating her like all she's good for is chasing titles and seeking revenge against sidekicks screwing her out of titles. Does that sound familiar? It should. That is the same thing I criticized TNA for doing to Mickie James when she returned in 2010. I believe Becky Lynch has the potential to be even more over than she is. But she's not going to do it with the way the WWE has been featuring her. Let her personality shine more outside of these serious feuds.

Who wins this match? Becky Lynch has not won a singles match at a PPV since coming to the main roster. When it finally does happen, it would be nice for it to come in a more meaningful situation than this. As for Mickie James, she has not won at all since coming to Smackdown. All her losses have been in tag matches where she was not pinned, but it is still pretty bad for her to not win at all. Is she going to follow the path of The Dudleyz? I will say Mickie James wins here.

The title feud between Alexa Bliss and Naomi is the youngest feud of these three. Naomi came back from her injury and just immediately got this push. She has been pinning Alexa Bliss to gain momentum. I think that makes the outcome of this match obvious. Naomi has all the momentum, so it is just likely Alexa Bliss retains. Naomi should eventually get a title reign, if she can stay healthy, but I don't think it happens this Sunday.

Should Mickie James Be La Luchadora?

It is no secret that Mickie James is coming back to the WWE and will likely end up on Smackdown. In recent weeks, the WWE has run a "La Luchadora" angle. Who is the masked woman? It was Becky Lynch at first. Last week, another woman in the outfit and mask screwed Becky Lynch. There is now speculation that Mickie James will be revealed as the woman. I think that is a dumb move for a variety of reasons.

First, it was obviously not Mickie James last week. Fans have already pointed out that it was a woman with tanner skin than Mickie James has. It would be kind of insulting to fans' intelligence to still sell Mickie James as the woman all the time. The WWE might have been more likely to pull this kind of thing years ago, but this is an era where they pay attention to what fans are saying on social media and acknowledge certain things. They have acknowledged that Ariya Daivari is related to the Daivari that was in the WWE a decade ago. Of course, they're not ruining Bray Wyatt's character by pointing out every day that he was Husky Harris. But it would be really stupid of the WWE to sell Mickie James as the woman that cost Becky Lynch the title last week.

Second, it is just a stupid way to have Mickie James return in general. People know who she is and she is one of the most respected women in women's wrestling. People know that she has re-signed. They know she was in NXT just a couple months ago. Why this dumb angle to bring her in? Just have her go out there and say that she proved herself against Asuka that she can still hang with the best women's wrestling has to offer. Don't even have her say anything at all. Just have her show up and save Becky Lynch from a beating. The whole "La Luchadora" gimmick is just dumb for her to have. Treat her with a little more respect.

Another thing to consider, this whole angle would mean Mickie James would be coming back as a heel. Becky Lynch, a face, was screwed by the masked woman last week. I would say bringing Mickie James back as a heel is another reason this whole direction would be stupid. And I have two reasons why.

First, Mickie James is one of the most popular women the WWE ever had, especially after Lita and Trish retired. She had what it took to get over with wrestling fans and the general audience. Even before the smark revolution of recent years, she was over. It is true that smarks tend to prefer heels over faces, and it is also true that Mickie James has played entertaining heel characters in the WWE and TNA, but why would you bring her back to the main roster and expect her to get booed? She left the WWE in 2010 as a popular face. What has she done since then to get fans to want to boo her? People say Vince McMahon was out of touch for thinking fans would love Batista when he returned a few years ago. I think the WWE might be out of touch again if they think Mickie James would automatically be a hated heel.

Second reason I find a potential heel debut for Mickie James dumb, it is just not practical. Look at Smackdown's women's roster. Natalya, Carmella, and Alexa Bliss are heels. Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch are the only faces. You might think that's not so bad. The faces are only outnumbered by one. Bring in Mickie James as a heel, the faces are outnumbered by two. With Naomi having injury issues, you have to wonder how reliable she might be as an in-ring performer for a while. It is the second time in a year she has had to take time off due to injuries. Speaking of injury issues, Nikki Bella came back from a serious injury just a few months ago. When Eva Marie comes back, she will obviously be a heel. Why would the WWE want to put themselves in this position where the heels outnumber the faces and some of the faces have had injury issues in the last year? As it stands now, the face depth is terrible. With both Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella getting featured in storylines, there is no free face to be a sidekick/jobber. I am not saying Mickie James deserves to be a sidekick/jobber, but they need to improve that face depth.

I am not saying Mickie James should never turn heel. If a face run should ever go stale, then turn her heel. If the heel depth was weak, then you could turn her heel. But right now, there is no reason to want her to be a heel. It is the face depth that is weak. And Mickie James is the type of performer wrestling fans would anticipate seeing. She's not someone the fans will sour on fast, like Batista during Daniel Bryan's rise.

What I am hoping the WWE will do is reveal that the masked woman was someone else, like Deonna Purrazzo. While Becky Lynch is being beaten down by Alexa Bliss and her partner in crime, Mickie James would return to make the save. That sets up a tag-team feud for a little while. It would just avoid a lot of problems that debuting Mickie James as the heel under the mask would create.

Previewing Smackdown's Wild Card Finals

Some fans have said that tonight's Smackdown is like a PPV. I am all for Smackdown having special episodes, but here is another weird name to go with. In any case, I will be looking at the announced title matches. I will not talk about John Cena returning.

The tag titles are on the line. With Zack Ryder injured, the WWE has decided to go with three teams challenging The Wyatts. The Usos, American Alpha, and Rhyno & Heath Slater are getting the shot. What will decide who wins is whether or not the WWE is ready to go anywhere with the storyline between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. They might just carry this story all the way to Wrestlemania. I doubt Orton turns on Bray Wyatt tonight. I also doubt they do anything to split Luke Harper from Bray Wyatt, which is another point you can expect this storyline to reach. Until they get to all that, the tag titles are likely not going anywhere. The Wyatts retain.

Alexa Bliss defends the Smackdown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch. Common sense might say that Alexa Bliss retains. She just won the title not too long ago. Becky Lynch seems to have the momentum heading into this match. But you can never tell these days with how the WWE treats title reigns. Everything is about history, whether that means long title reigns or juggling titles around to inflate the number of reigns. If they want this special episode of Smackdown to have a title change, I feel like this is the one that changes hands. But I will say Alexa Bliss retains.

AJ Styles is back in the ring after his injury and making up for lost time. He knocked off James Ellsworth last week. Tonight, he faces Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. Baron Corbin? Where did he come from? I am all for other people on the card getting title pushes, and it looked like they were building Corbin up for a push, but the build up for this match just feels awkward. A lot of people praise Smackdown's writing and booking, but this show is still far from perfect. On the other hand, I don't mind little things like this now and then to shake things up. I just hope that is what they are doing. Don't make this kind of booking the norm. This is not how you build proper feuds. In just the few weeks since moving on from Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles has had to deal with James Ellsworth, Dolph Ziggler, and now Baron Corbin. Is it all filler? Or are they building something here? Oh, and as for who wins, AJ Styles.

State Of The WWE Women's Division: December 2016

The band split is back, so I have two divisions to talk about. Aside from that, I will talk about the overall direction of the WWE when it comes to the women.

Let me start with Raw. The title shot back to Sasha Banks last week. Beyond that, Ric Flair came back. It just felt like the WWE went back a year. We are back to Ric Flair being involved in the women's division because his daughter is getting a big push. Everyone is expecting Ric Flair to turn on Sasha Banks and help Charlotte regain the title. Enough of Ric Flair. Start better utilizing the full-time talent already on Raw.

How about the WWE just juggling Raw's Women's Championship around? I find it disgusting. There are other women that have just been hovering around in limbo for the last few months. Bayley has not gotten a proper push. Nia Jax is just there. I see people making jokes about the debut of Emmalina. Is she going to show up with a dancing gimmick, like Brodus Clay? The debut is supposed to be coming next week, but you can never tell with this company. And forcing so much "history" between Sasha Banks and Charlotte is also disgusting. Save some for the rest of these women. People are going to look back and say that this feud did so much for women's wrestling. This feud was forced.

I have seen other fans talk about it and there is a point that I like that I have seen them bring up. This feud has had no real development to it. It is just these two women swapping the title and talking about history. The addition of Ric Flair only adds another supporting player in the same story. The creative interest here needs work. Too much hype. These women can wrestle, but there are a lot of fans that are not going to be interested based on wrestling alone. And there are also some fans that are annoyed by all the hype and this feud still going on. The WWE just cannot keep it fresh in a proper way.

Outside of the female wrestlers, you have Lana in the periphery. She has that angle with Enzo. Some fans are entertained by these segments they have been having. Some are annoyed. It is kind of like the angle with Ziggler, Summer Rae, Rusev, and Lana last year. Most fans hated it, but it had potential. At least Rusev and Lana are getting a storyline.

Over to Smackdown. Alexa Bliss won Smackdown's Women's Championship at TLC. That is not what I would have done. I have said Smackdown's women's division looks like the diva era's last stand. I am not too shocked that they would allow a diva to hold a title. Over on Raw, it has just been a show between Sasha Banks and Charlotte, two women with solid wrestling credibility. Alexa Bliss is not at their level. She has an interesting character and an appealing look, but I don't think she is at the level of Trish Stratus at her prime. Nevertheless, I do not see any heavy complaining from wrestling fans about her getting the title.

What about Becky Lynch? She just lost her title to her first real challenger for the title. Is this just so she can eventually win it back? I don't think so. That kind of booking is just annoying and it is bad enough that Raw is doing it. Alexa Bliss is just not a credible challenger. The WWE should have had Becky Lynch run through this feud and lose the title to a stronger heel. The fact that the WWE instead went with this title change may suggest that they have something else planned than just using Alexa Bliss to put over Becky Lynch. But the WWE should make an effort to still give Becky Lynch a proper push. She doesn't need the title to be featured well. She made history by being the first woman to hold that title. She wasn't getting that fantastic of a career prior to the big win. She wasn't even pushed well in the weeks leading up to Backlash where she won the title. She didn't really have a great overness to deserve the moment as a reward. The only way they can justify this booking decision is giving her that big career now. If not, it is just a wasted booking decision. Push her well until you have a good reason not to. I do not see that good reason.

Some people say Alexa Bliss won the title just to lose it to Nikki Bella down the road. Nikki won her match against Carmella. I would not be against Nikki getting a title reign. The WWE put a lot of work into her for a few years. She came back from a serious injury. She is more over than some people might like to admit. She is also more solid in the ring than some people might like to admit. The WWE has done well in featuring her well without the title these last few months. A title reign next year would not be horrible.

Over in Smackdown's periphery, Maryse is still with Miz. But she has not been utilized as well as Lana has recently. Is that a good thing or bad thing? As I said, some fans just dislike these periphery angles. But they can be done well. Whether or not the WWE comes up with something better for Maryse, she just remains some eye-candy to look at.

In general, both divisions lack a strong identity. What does the WWE want to be when it comes to women's wrestling? If they want to be about serious women's wrestling, giving Smackdown's Women's Championship to a Alexa Bliss so soon is not a move that makes sense. And if their goal is to push women's wrestling, why put so much focus on just Charlotte and Sasha Banks on Raw? They are not the only women that know how to wrestle on Raw.

And I didn't once bring up the word "centerpiece" when going through the two women's divisions. What does the WWE want in terms of a central focus, if there even will be one? I could say it is Charlotte on Raw, but then the WWE continues with this endless feud between her and Sasha Banks. Can you picture a world in 2017 where these two are not feuding? Over on Smackdown, it is even worse. By giving Becky Lynch the Smackdown's Women's Championship first, you would think she would be the centerpiece. But her development prior to the title win was poor, her title reign has not been that amazing, and now there is a chance she will be pushed out of the title scene. Is Nikki Bella the centerpiece? If so, why not just have her be the first Smackdown's Women's Champion? Or is the WWE going for the younger option, Alexa Bliss, to be the centerpiece of this diva-friendly women's division?

As I have said before, you have to wait a while to get a feel of what the women's divisions will look like in this new era. So far, it seems like even the WWE does not know what they want to be. You have Becky Lynch get poor development heading into Backlash and still winning the title. You have Bayley looking like she will finally get a title feud, then get ditched so Charlotte/Sasha can continue. The WWE has to be more decisive. That does not mean being stubborn. If you see someone is not really working out in getting over, don't force it. But they just look like they can't commit to things properly right now. And that is a huge problem.

A lot of fans are talking about women the WWE can sign, including Mickie James. I am a Mickie James fan, but I would not bring her back. Not right now. The WWE needs to look at the roster they have right in front of them and decide what they want to be and how they are going to go about becoming what they want to be. The WWE is just looking for easy answers to cause buzz for them, without actually improving how they manage their talent. No Ric Flair. No Mickie James. No Trish Stratus for just a guest appearance. Their primary concern should be what they have now. Even with the brand split, it is possible to be more efficient with the rosters they have. Without improving there, it is very likely that whatever other women they bring in will not be handled properly, and that will hurt their overness. Mickie James is only 37. She still has a few good years left. Let the WWE spend a couple months to a year getting their act together, then bring her in.

Previewing The TLC 2016 Women's Matches

Another brand PPV? So soon? Yes, Smackdown has TLC this Sunday. There are two women's matches scheduled for the PPV.

First, you have Nikki Bella vs. Carmella. This has been an endless feud, but I do like that it is No DQ. If you are going to have this feud get as intense as it has, even if there is no good kayfabe reason for it, you might as well end it in a match like this.

Who wins? It should be Nikki Bella. Again, the WWE has put a lot of work into her to make her into a star these last few years. It would be unlike them to just dismantle her and use her to put over Carmella. That is not even how Carmella would get over. Work on building her character. Wins and losses don't matter for her. But in regards to feuds and storylines, Nikki Bella should just win this and the WWE should end the feud.

Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss have already had one official title match. Becky Lynch won, but there was some controversy. Seeing as how close to Survivor Series this Smackdown PPV is, it is no shocker that the WWE would have this feud boil over a few more weeks.

This is TLC. Some fans are unhappy that this match doesn't have some extreme element to it. On the one hand, does this feud really call for it? I just raise the question. Personally, I don't think it is an excuse. The WWE very well could make this a tables match. It's not like this would be the first time a women's match at TLC got in on the TLC fun. There was a women's tag team tables match back in 2010, during the declining years of the diva era. This is supposed to be a new era where women's wrestling is treated better. Why is all the "history" happening on Raw? Why is it that none of the Smackdown women have main-evented a show for their brand? People give Smackdown's booking and writing a lot of praise, but this is one area where they need to step up. I am not saying they should over-promote the women's revolution, but they could book these women better.

Who wins? It should be Becky Lynch. This would be her first PPV singles match win. Alexa Bliss has a lot of potential, but I don't think she's at that point where she deserves a title win. She deserves to be featured, just not necessarily get the title. Maybe the WWE not being too trusting of Alexa Bliss's wrestling ability is one of the reasons this match has not gotten a stipulation. In any case, Becky Lynch should not lose the title to Alexa Bliss here.

Survivor Series 2016 Preview: Part 2

I will talk about the women's match today. Aside from the actual match, I have to bring up the personal feuds on both brands with these women. It will obviously spill over to some degree this Sunday.

Let me start with Smackdown. Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Carmella, and Naomi will be teaming up. Three faces and two heels. Aside from that, Nikki Bella and Carmella are coming off a feud that seemed to be more heated than it really needed to be at times. Carmella would be assaulting Nikki before matches even had a chance to start. And there was never any strong personal reason for that. Becky Lynch has been feuding with Alexa Bliss over the Smackdown Women's Championship. Becky may have retained it, but this feud is not over. But these will be two feuds that might spill over to the women's match at Survivor Series.

How about that decision to not make Becky Lynch, the Women's Champion of Smackdown, team captain? I still see some fans annoyed by it. Again, I am not going to shake my head at this decision. Becky Lynch was out for a while due to a medical issue. When she came back, she was immediately still tied up in that feud with Alexa Bliss. She was not really free to handle the angle of being team captain. Why not spread some of the attention around?

Over to Raw. Charlotte will be teaming with Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, and Alicia Fox. Once again, three faces and two heels. Charlotte being the captain here is understandable. She wrapped up Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell and the WWE got around to pushing her for this Survivor Series match right away. Even though both Sasha Banks and Bayley will be gunning for Raw's Women's Championship, a title feud has not been as active on Raw as you have had with Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss on Smackdown in recent weeks. Nia Jax had lost a ton of momentum prior to this push. Alicia Fox was even further down the ladder than her. She was last relevant when being used to put over Nia Jax. But these two are really just extra bodies.

Who wins? There is obviously a ton of personal feuds on both teams that can influence the story of this match. There will be a lot of talk from the commentators about how all these women can coexist. But I think Raw's team will win this one. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bayley as one of the survivors, if not the sole survivor.

Becky Lynch Vs. Alexa Bliss: Take Two

Becky Lynch was supposed to defend Smackdown's Women's Championship against Alexa Bliss a few weeks ago. A health issue spoiled things. The match will happen on Smackdown this week. And it will probably mean more now than it would have a few weeks ago. The WWE is currently on their European tour. It will be somewhat of a homecoming for Becky Lynch.

This is obviously the first real title defense for Becky Lynch since becoming the inaugural titleholder. Retaining just seems likely. There are two situations where I can imagine her losing to Alexa Bliss. One is if there is still some lingering health issue and Becky Lynch will need to eventually take some time off after Survivor Series. She'll work through it, then take a break. First step would be dropping the title.

The other situation is if the WWE wants to transition to Nikki Bella getting a title push. A heel holding the title would just make sense in this situation. Nikki would feud with Alexa Bliss, after Alexa finishes with Becky. Nikki Bella has not seen her last title win, unless another serious injury happens or something like that to ruin her career. I just do not think now is the time for Nikki Bella to be in the title picture again. What was the point of giving Becky Lynch the title in the first place if you are not going to build her to be one of the stars in Smackdown's women's division. Becky Lynch does not need a title to be pushed as a star, but doing more with the title should help her. She has not been pushed that consistently well for her first year on the main roster. And her health issue just ruined these last few weeks where you would expect things to pick up for her.

I still say Becky retaining is the likely result, but should Alexa Bliss still eventually win a title? She is not as undeserving as Dana Brooke, but I would say she still has a way to go. If she does win the title, she would be the first "diva" to win the title since the diva era ended. She is there primarily for her looks, not for her wrestling ability. She does have some fans. She has some people that want to see her win the title. With this new era, you would hope the WWE maintains some standards that would appeal to wrestling fans. Don't pander to them too much, but don't irritate them. If Alexa Bliss wants a title win, work to improve even more in the ring. Her looks and charisma may be enough to warrant her being featured well, but save the title reigns for women with more wrestling credibility.

Survivor Series In The New Brand Split Era

November means Survivor Series. Survivor Series means those multi-person elimination tag matches. With the brand split back, there can once again be some warfare between Raw and Smackdown.

I have seen some fans groan at Raw vs. Smackdown so soon. What do you expect? It pretty much writes itself. Survivor Series is traditionally the PPV for these big tag matches. It is always better when there is some theme to these big matches. If I was in charge, this would be the PPV where I would have ended the brand split. Have Stephanie's Raw team face Shane's Smackdown team. The winning McMahon wins control of both shows and this problematic brand split ends. Of course, the brand split looks like it will be a long-term situation.

I also see some fans uninterested because nothing is on the line in these Smackdown vs. Raw matches. I saw someone bring up a good point. Why not have the winning brand of each of these matches be able to draft someone from the losing brand? Champions will be off limits, but that is still a way to make these matches more interesting and possibly shake up the rosters a little bit. These matches are always more fun when something is on the line and there very well could easily be something on the line here. The WWE should consider making these matches be about more than just bragging rights.

One last thing I want to bring up that I have seen fans criticize. Charlotte will lead Raw's women's team. Nikki Bella will lead Smackdown's women team. Why not Becky Lynch, Smackdown's Women's Champion? Is it a sign she will lose her title to Alexa Bliss? Did her recent health issue spoil plans for her? Regardless of all that, I do not have a problem with Nikki Bella getting some attention like this. The WWE put a lot of work into her. Even if reality shows were not an issue, you cannot expect them to just ditch her. She is more over than some smarks want to admit. Besides, you don't want to just feature one woman as a star in the division. You should want to have some depth. Creative depth is always a good thing to try to have. While Becky Lynch is busy with Alexa Bliss, Nikki Bella has something important to do.

No Women's Championship Match At No Mercy 2016

Becky Lynch was supposed to defend the Smackdown Women's Championship at No Mercy against Alexa Bliss. Because of a medical issue, Becky could not compete. The WWE instead went with the filler match of Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi. Naomi won.

Let me start with this booking decision. Okay, Becky Lynch cannot compete. Okay, you will still go with a second women's match. Okay, it is going to be Naomi taking Becky's place against Alexa Bliss. Here is where the "okays" stop. Alexa Bliss lost? That is not okay. The WWE did this same thing at the previous Smackdown PPV. It was supposed to be Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt. Randy Orton had a medical issue and did not have the match. They went with Kane vs. Bray Wyatt. Wyatt lost. That guy loses needlessly at times. Alexa Bliss, the #1 contender, losing to Naomi is not good for maintaining her momentum. You can talk about not wanting to be predictable, but there are some booking decisions you just have to do to help someone look good for a feud. I have already pointed out that this feud between Becky and Alexa seems a bit off. Alexa is not credible enough to really deserve this push. And this booking decision is not helping her. Does it even do anything for Naomi? Is she going to be treated as a serious contender now or soon? More than likely, Alexa Bliss will get her win back against Naomi on Smackdown.

Onto the issue of another medical issue popping up in the women's division. A few weeks ago, it was Sasha Banks needing to take time off and dropping the Raw Women's Championship back to Charlotte. She has since taken the title back, but it has been sloppy booking. Becky Lynch will defend the title in a few weeks against Alexa Bliss during the European tour, but the WWE definitely could have considered stripping her of the title. That would be the second inaugural titleholder to have that happen in the last few weeks. It happened to Finn Balor after he won the Universal Championship. You can say that her medical issue is obviously not as serious as Balor's injury, but the division is still being held up when the person holding the title cannot compete in scheduled title matches, especially PPV title matches. If you are a Becky Lynch fan, you are glad they aren't taking the title away from her so soon. As an analyst, however, this is a problematic situation and the WWE did not handle it in a way that was best for the division. Short-term, it looks ugly. Long-term, things will hopefully work out.

If there were two issues that could legitimately make the WWE reconsider some of the things they are doing with this women's revolution, those two issues would be how well it is connecting with the fans and injury issues. It has gotten mixed reviews from the fans. In terms of injuries or other medical issues, this is just another thing to add to the list. Count how many medical issues there have been with the women in the last year. Nikki Bella had a serious injury that could have ended her career. She's back now. Sasha Banks has had multiple injury issues, including the title mess I just brought up. Paige has been out with an injury for a while. Natalya had some teeth knocked out, although that wasn't too serious. And now this Becky Lynch issue. And there are more things I am not even mentioning.

One of the reasons the diva era started to fail was because of injuries. Centerpieces got injured. Credible jobbers got injured. The depth in the division was hurt. The WWE started to make stupid decisions. And injuries are starting to become an issue again. I would not say these are isolated incidents. You also have injuries piling up again in the men's division. Seth Rollins, the man that was involved in that injury to Finn Balor, has his own injury issues. And with the WWE shooting themselves in the foot by allowing certain workers to take time off now and then for outside projects and movies, their depth will be challenged again, both in the women's and men's divisions.

This is one of the reasons I felt the WWE should not make a second Women's Championship for Smackdown. All it takes is an injury here and there to key players and things become a mess. The WWE ends up pushing people they might not want to push. Women that are getting pushed have their pushes ruined or botched. And the WWE could just lose interest as things continue to look sloppy. And there is an added pressure now that wasn't there during the diva era. It is that pressure to feature women's wrestling. The WWE has a poor periphery right now. You can extend the careers of some of these women if you gave them angles alongside the men or just storylines with themselves that did not lean so much on being physical. Moreover, these periphery angles might help these women show more character and help them get over beyond wrestling fans and smarks. It might also save the WWE from stale feuds and matches. Face it, the women's rosters are too limited to just continue to push all these women as in-ring performers. They cannot debut women fast enough to keep things fresh. The answer isn't to bring in local jobbers. These are obvious filler matches that the majority of viewers will not appreciate. The WWE needs to slow down, both for the health of these women and for the quality of the division.