Nikki Bella Breaks The Record

Nikki Bella tied the record for longest-reigning Diva's Champion on Monday. She needed one more day to break it. The WWE made things a little interesting by having her defend the title against Charlotte on Raw. It appeared Charlotte had won the title, but there were shenanigans. Without getting into the mess, Nikki retained the title. She has broken AJ Lee's record. Charlotte gets a rematch at Night of Champions.

I have already said that I would have made the same decision to have her break it. It isn't about honoring Nikki or being petty towards AJ. It is about sending a message that workers cannot get away with the kind of things AJ Lee did during her WWE run. The WWE was more loyal to her than they should have been. They deserve part of the blame for being foolish enough to think she would be as loyal to them. I see nothing wrong with sending the message that loyal workers that bring great results will be pushed the best. Nikki Bella is not the greatest example of that, but I would have still done it to send the message to keep the workers in line. You want to create an environment that gives your workers fair opportunities to succeed and earn better, but you cannot let some of them get too pushy and possibly ruin that environment.

I also have to give the WWE credit for how they handled the situation. They hyped that Nikki was near to breaking the record. They created a situation on Raw where Nikki might have failed to accomplish her goal. There were some shenanigans, which you would expect from a heel. And Nikki ends up still making history. That is how you build up to something. It might not be productive. That is to say, it might still fail to draw against a good NFL game on Monday. I believe the title match came on right against the closing minutes of that game. It might also fail to help Nikki get more over. A lot of fans are still bitter about the situation. They hyped a celebration on Smackdown. Again, another good thing to do, since they need to do more interesting things on Smackdown, but we will have to see how it plays out and how well it draws. TNA should take note of what the WWE did. You do not just hand someone a record. You use it to add to a feud or storyline. You use it to build to elaborate segments. You use it to develop stars, especially those that deserve it. How the WWE has handled Nikki Bella breaking a record is better than how TNA handled Taryn Terrell breaking a record.

As I said, some fans are unhappy about what happened. It isn't because a heel just accomplished something. It is because many say Nikki is sleeping her way to the top and Charlotte was screwed. This issue has been talked about a lot in the last few weeks. The wrestling journalists have stirred the pot.

When you analyze, you should never make too much out of one moment. That is probably good advice for a lot of things. I think some fans are making too much out of a moment. Nikki Bella retaining the title on Raw and breaking the record does not mean Charlotte will never win the title. She is the daughter of a legend that is on great terms with the WWE. Some fans also read reports that Charlotte would have won the title when she debuted, she and the other NXT divas would dominate the diva division, and whatever else. Given what the WWE has a history of doing in the diva division, and seeing as how the status quo is still alive, it would not have turned out as well as some fans think. The WWE putting the title on Charlotte does not mean she will be pushed as the new centerpiece of the division.

Is Night of Champions the night for Charlotte? I think so. Nikki Bella has her record. A few more days will be added to it until this Sunday. Why not give it to Charlotte now? The only way I can see her losing is Paige turning on her. Paige has not had a good time the last few weeks. If having her tap to Sasha does not lead to a heel turn, it was pretty much just filler matches. Sasha maintains momentum, but where is she going? If Nikki does lose the title, it will be interesting to see how the WWE pushes The Bellas moving forward.

Three Vs. Three Vs. Three For Summerslam 2015

The main diva match for Summerslam is what many probably expected. You have 3 teams of 3 divas feuding. The PPV match will be 3 vs. 3 vs. 3. It will be The Bellas & Alicia Fox (Team Bella) vs. Paige, Charlotte & Becky Lynch (PCB) vs. Naomi, Tamina & Sasha Banks (Team B.A.D.). The WWE has added the extra wrinkle of making this an elimination match. That is fine.

The WWE has really not done anything interesting in developing this feud since the last time I talked about it. I do not expect them to do anything interesting next week before the PPV. It will be more of the same. There will be some matches featuring some combination of these women. There might even be another standoff. The hype that there is a revolution going on and having these NXT divas around will be enough to keep many fans interested. As long as the WWE gives these women proper time to work, there should be no problem. The WWE will get away with still being pretty mediocre with the booking of the diva division.

When the dust settles, who will be left in the spotlight in this match? Even though this is a team match, I do not expect the WWE to use this match just to put over a team. They will use this to put over one of the divas. The title is not on the line in the match. There is no need for Nikki to come out looking too strong. I would also say there is no need to have Team Bella win at all. The WWE will likely use this match to put focus on the diva that will be taking the title off Nikki. That is not likely to be a heel. Someone from PCB will likely get the attention. The sun is likely setting on Paige. Becky Lynch seems like the diva at the bottom of the group. That leaves Charlotte. She is the one I expect to shine with this match.

The Diva Revolution Hits A Bump

The diva revolution has only been around a few weeks. Fans love the WWE debuting new divas from NXT, giving the divas time, having more than one diva match on Raw, advertising diva matches, and so on. A few issues have popped up recently.

First, Alicia Fox was injured while working with Charlotte on Raw. She suffered a concussion. Two things to talk about with that. First, these NXT divas are obviously not flawless. Botches and miscommunications will happen. There is no need to condemn anyone, yet. If serious botches continue to be an issue, then the WWE might have a good reason to hold these women back a little. I do not think it will come to that.

The other thing to talk about with this injury to Alicia Fox is whether or not she should be replaced in Team Bella. I have already seen some fans writing her off and discussing which diva should replace her. I don't think the WWE should jump to doing that. Just have her not wrestle for a while. There are plenty of women already involved in this feud. However, just for the sake of discussion, I would replace her with Emma. All the other teams have at least one NXT star. Emma could use something meaningful to do on the main roster. It isn't like this would be a huge push, anyway. Alicia Fox is essentially at the bottom of Team Bella. Emma taking her spot would not be huge, but it is still putting her in a meaningful angle.

Second issue, there was a match advertised for Smackdown this week. Nikki Bella would face Becky Lynch. Smackdown was taped already. No diva match. This is not the first time the WWE has advertised a match and not followed through, but this isn't the kind of thing you should do when you are trying to promote your diva division as something respectable. This is not even the first time since the diva revolution started that there has been a show without a diva match. I have seen some fans happy because they were afraid Becky Lynch would job to Nikki Bella. She's going to job eventually. The WWE should not go the route of making themselves look like they will make false promises. They have already done things to make people question how trustworthy they are. And after you betray someone's trust to their limit, you have to earn it all over again. The WWE isn't exactly doing that with things like this.

Last thing I want to bring up, yes, it is nice that the WWE is promoting diva matches. They are making Stephanie McMahon look like some kind of hero for the diva division. Problem is, these are pretty much filler matches. These NXT divas may be getting a chance to introduce themselves to the general audience, but what is the overall point of this feud? I never liked the 3 vs. 3 vs. 3 thing, but if they are going to do it, they have to do more to make it more interesting. What is the point of advertising these diva matches when nothing is on the line? The WWE cannot be fooled by those people complaining on Twitter. They want to see fresh talent and great wrestling. But there are a lot of other fans that weren't saying anything at all on Twitter about giving divas a chance. The WWE has to actually add more intrigue into this storyline to talk to those fans. As I have said before, you pretty much only have a juggling act going on. Sasha Banks will look good here. Charlotte will look good there. Paige will look like the leader of her group, then tap out to Sasha. Nikki Bella is holding the title and closing in on breaking AJ Lee's record. Proper focus isn't on one diva. And even if some divas look protected now, it will not last long. You see singles matches. You see tag matches. Will we see the obvious 3 vs. 3 vs. 3 match? In the end, what's the point?

What would I do? TNA used to do the Bound For Glory Series. It was a tournament where the winner got a title shot. Why doesn't the WWE do something like that for these 9 divas they are putting focus on? There are even other divas they could bring into this tournament already on the roster. Whichever diva scores the pinfall/submission gets a certain number of points. Whichever diva has the most points by Summerslam, Night of Champions, Survivor Series, or whenever, gets a title shot. Another way of doing it, whichever group gets the most points gets to "run" the diva division, however you want to interpret that. Part of the story has been The Bellas pushing their weight around and acting like they run the division. Make it seem like one of these factions can run the division for a certain amount of time. It would make all these filler matches seem more important. Even if you think my idea sounds stupid, which it might, the WWE should do more to make things more intriguing than just having these women wrestle. Make the matches worth more.

Making The Diva Feud More Complicated

The story you had in the diva division was The Bellas, who are heels, cheating to win and pushing their weight around. Paige, the face in this story, was trying to get support against them. None of the other divas wanted to do it. The direction this storyline would go in is obvious. A diva debuts from NXT to side with Paige. Simple.

The WWE has decided to make things even more messy. They have paired Alicia Fox with The Bellas. That was not necessary. They have also brought Naomi and Tamina back into the picture to wrestle The Bellas. Again, they are just messing up the story they were already developing. All these face/heel turns are not necessary.

If the WWE wants to give these other divas something to do, they could do it without adding them to the storyline involving Paige and The Bellas. Have Alicia Fox feud with Natalya. Have Naomi and Tamina feud against Natalya and Emma. Some people might say that they had to bring Naomi and Tamina back into the picture because Paige is busy with Tough Enough. No, that is not an excuse. Just have this other diva feud they could have been developing get the spotlight those few nights Paige will not be used. The Bellas do not need to be featured this much, especially when it is resulting in the storyline they were building getting more complicated than it has to be. And as far as the idea of needing to put Naomi in the mix because of the WWE Network special coming up, this isn't a major event, so I would not have had it influence the long-term storyline that matters more.

I have seen some fans speculate that the WWE is dragging things along without debuting anyone from NXT because they want to extend Nikki Bella's title reign until she beats AJ Lee's record. Once again, that is no excuse. I do not care if that is really the WWE's logic. It is stupid. The diva match for Battleground would be a simple tag match between The Bellas and Paige and her new partner. Summerslam would be Nikki defending against that new diva. Have the match end in some kind of indecisive finish. That leads to a rematch at Night of Champions. Nikki drops the title there. And she still gets the record. There is no need to drag anything out. The WWE had just enough time to work with to build a proper feud that made sense and still got Nikki Bella the record, if they care about it so much. There is still time to work things out like that, but the WWE has gotten very sloppy with the development.

This would not be the first time the WWE has gotten sloppy with the storyline development in the diva division. They did it last year with AJ Lee and Paige. It had looked like they had pulled the trigger on Paige's heel turn. But the WWE seemed to take a step back and pulled a "frenemies" thing that just didn't run smoothly. You also had the mess with The Bellas. They recently talked about it. There was supposedly going to be a 15-minute match between AJ Lee and Nikki Bella. I doubt the WWE seriously would have gone through with that. Paige and AJ Lee didn't even average 15 minutes in their PPV matches. I find it hard to believe the WWE would let Nikki Bella and AJ have that much time. As far as Brie Bella's mediocre heel turn to side with her sister again, I can cut that some slack when I think about it. They are sisters. Regardless, still a lot of sloppiness and inconsistency. It is nothing personal to one diva. It is not even personal to just the women. There is also sloppiness in the men's division. I am always bringing up the inconsistency with The Authority angle. And yet, this diva storyline they had going on seemed very simple and had the potential to still intrigue. The WWE has just made it more complicated than it needed to be and might be hurting that potential.

Looks Like Paige Needs A Friend

Through all the storyline sloppiness and questionable turns you have had in the diva division recently, the current situation has Paige waging a one-diva war against The Bellas. That will obviously lead to a debut from NXT. Most likely Charlotte. On the one hand, I don't want the WWE to drag this on. Just get to the debut. They easily could have done it this week. On the other hand, there is a lot of time until the next PPV, so I can understand dragging this out a little.

Since debuting on the main roster, Paige has not really had any competition. I am not talking in the sense of succeeding and earning a better career. That does not really define what the WWE does. I mean more in the sense of overness. She has connected well with wrestling fans since she debuted. With AJ Lee gone, she is pretty much the top diva for those type of fans. But what happens when someone like Charlotte debuts? This will test just how over Paige is. Charlotte has also become a very good in-ring performer. Her father is also a legend. Paige also comes from a wrestling family, but not one that was a part of the WWE, so I usually do not group her with someone like Natalya or Charlotte. In any case, it will be interesting to see whom wrestling fans will prefer.

There is also competition when it comes to getting time. Paige has been the only C+ player in the diva division since debuting. She is the only top-tier credible jobber. There are a lot of divas with wrestling credibility that can be featured more in the type of pushes Paige has been getting, but they are frequently overlooked. Natalya and Naomi have had short pushes here and there, but nothing consistent. Paige has only experienced short periods of not getting anything to do at all, and part of that was due to her taking time off to make a movie. There is a good chance Charlotte will be pushed as a credible jobber. And I don't think she will be a low-tier or mid-tier credible jobber. She will eventually be getting pushed like Paige. Paige has benefited from weak depth for the last year. What will happen to her when more divas debut to be given the type of pushes she is used to?

It is a shame that it takes debuting someone new to keep this division fresh when the WWE does have women on the main roster they could do better with. Last year, you could say the WWE pretty much buried the entire diva roster at Wrestlemania. They had AJ Lee go over all of them. That led to the debut of a new diva to take the title off AJ. Is the WWE doing that kind of thing again with the storyline they are running? How are they making these other divas look? None of them are willing to step up and it will take an NXT diva to once again make things fresh and save the day. They are really inefficient with the current roster.

Wrestlemania 31 Preview: Part 1

I'm going to spend the rest of the week previewing Wrestlemania. I will start with the least important matches first.

The diva match is the least important match on the card. That is not a shot at the women in the match. The WWE has just not made a great match here. Nothing is on the line. No legends are involved. It just hasn't been treated as anything too important. They have tried to tie in #GiveDivasAChance into it, but that protest has lost momentum, not gained it. I would say the faces should win. Let me take it one step further. While surveying #GiveDivasAChance last week, I saw a fan say she hoped AJ Lee got her Wrestlemania moment this year. I told her AJ already got her moment last year. She said AJ should have another one. Okay. That's nice. Not that it matters at all, but I would let Paige get the pinfall/submission for her team, if they are winning. Just a nice gesture.

The tag titles are on the line in the pre-show. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro defend against Los Matadores, New Day, and The Usos. The Champions just won it last month. No need to shoot it back to The Usos, who are the only team I think has the credibility to win it. The Prime Time Players and The Ascension should have been in this match. Not that it matters. A lot of sloppy development in the last few weeks.

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal is in its second year. Winning this isn't anything too major, but things like this can still be fun. Who wins? A lot of possibilities. Axel? Sandow? Mark Henry? Miz? These are the guys I think have a good shot to win it. I would like to see Mark Henry win it. Of course, I can also see him being the last guy eliminated. Axel or Sandow would get a big pop for winning. Let's see if this year's winner ends up with a better push after Wrestlemania than last year's winner.

The Bellas Vs. Paige/AJ At Wrestlemania

At last year's Wrestlemania, you had a battle royal for the Diva's Championship that was just tossed together in the final days before the big event. There was no great development there. Battle royals are not personal feuds. That was the first time this title was defended at the big event, but it was not the best situation.

Just a few months ago, you had two major diva feuds going on. You had Paige and AJ Lee feuding over the title and The Bellas and Stephanie McMahon involved with each other. You could complain about bad acting and stupid storyline development, but you had creative depth in the diva division and the WWE was featuring them very well.

The situation right now is in between those two periods I just talked about. The main diva feud is between AJ/Paige and The Bellas. It will be a tag match for Wrestlemania. This tag match is not worthy of Wrestlemania. This is something you would expect on a Raw. This match does not even feel like a climax in this feud. It doesn't feel like any important moment in this story. It just seems like a filler match. The development is better than what you had for Wrestlemania last year, but the WWE was actually doing a better job with the diva division a few months ago. But #GiveDivasAChance, right? That has been brought up as an element in this feud. It might as well have not been. It feels weak. The protest is essentially dead. You are just beating a dead horse at this point.

A lot of fans would rather have seen a title match. Nikki vs. Brie vs. Paige vs. AJ. You easily could have had this match a few months ago when the two feuds you had going on started to mix. The WWE did not go for it then. Building up to it now would have been great. Any chance the WWE changes plans to create some type of title match? If it does happen, it will be entirely up to the WWE. There is no real pressure from fans to change anything. The protest really is dead. 

How Did #GiveDivasAChance Work Out?

This was the first Raw after the Internet protest after last week's Raw featured a short diva match. How did the WWE respond? You saw a title match, in addition to a tag match that featured minor diva action, and a return. I will talk about the title match and the return.

I did not watch the match as it aired on Raw. I was paying attention to what fans were saying about it on Twitter. They were talking like it was something amazing. They were talking like it tore the place down.

I then went back and watched it on Youtube a few times. I watched it once without the sound on just to form my own opinion without crowd reactions distracting and swaying me. I then watched it with the sound on to see how the fans liked it. That match was solid. That is all. It was not amazing. It was not the match of the night. The WWE did give them time and they treated it like a proper title match. Without even talking about the finish, the body of the match could have been so much better. I would have liked to have seen more and better counters. Did Nikki even get a chance to go for her finisher? Paige has numerous finishers, but you only say her go for the PTO. I really do not consider myself a tough critic. But when you talk about a match in the men's division being awesome, you are usually talking about a lot of finisher tries, close calls, and great counters. Are we supposed to have lowered standards for the women? That match was not amazing. These women are capable of better.

I once saw a fan suggest right after the protest started last week that the WWE should just make a tag match and give the women 15 minutes to wrestle. If the fans loved what they were seeing, you keep on giving the women that great amount of time. If the fans do not respond well, you can say you gave it a try and go back to what you were doing. I actually like that idea. I believe in these women and think they can win the crowd over. I saw another fan respond to that topic by saying the WWE should book it in a smark city so that the fans are more likely to enjoy it. No. That is not how it works. You are just rigging it in the favor of the women. The whole point is that they have to go out there and achieve and earn it. If you put them out there in a city already likely to eat up what they do, it just isn't the same. And I don't think the WWE would be stupid enough to not realize what was going on.

If that match on Raw was the match meant to give these women a fair shot to earn better, how did it do? It didn't go for 15 minutes. And it was in New Jersey, not too far from the smark city of New York. It might not have been the ideal conditions to judge them, but how did they do? There was some reactions from the fans, but I do not feel those reactions were strong enough. Crowds are deader now than times past, but that is why it is a challenge to win them over. Twitter ate that match up better than the crowd in New Jersey. And to repeat what I said before, I do not feel those two women really put out their best work. Solid match, but they are capable of more.

AJ Lee then returned. She is from New Jersey. A lot of fans were anticipating her. And she got some CM Punk chants. They were pretty much in her backyard and she still gets those chants. You have AJ Lee, Paige, and The Bellas. These are the four women they were pushing well for much of last year. You have to wonder if the WWE really would have done anything different if the fans had not protested. Great that AJ Lee is back? Personally, I could have lived without it. The WWE has done so much for her and I do not feel she is getting the level of reaction that she should. Meanwhile, other divas are not given a chance to earn that type of career. This whole issue finally bubbled over after Emma was squashed in less than a minute last week. Where's she this week? You get AJ Lee.

The WWE has seemingly taken control of #GiveDivasAChance. They have mentioned it in promos now. AJ Lee talked about it. The Bellas bring it up on Smackdown this week. The WWE has taken control of movements and exploited them for their own goals before. Zack Ryder got over, fans protested him not being pushed, they used him as a supporting player to benefit Cena, and then tossed him aside. Daniel Bryan got a monster reaction at one time. The WWE did not want to give him the better career. CM Punk walking out and continued fan protest led to them giving him a better push. Sold some merchandise, but they get the same backlash this year, though not as strong, and use Daniel Bryan to put over Roman Reigns. Bryan now looks like he's dancing around a midcard title. #GiveDivasAChance will be used to put over whom the WWE wants to be the stars in the diva division. I wouldn't even be surprised to see merchandise for this. But when it comes to actually giving these women a fair chance to earn better and get what they earn, nothing will change. Why isn't Emma, the woman that jobbed last week, the one in AJ Lee's spot right now? Have her ditch the stupid gimmick and push her a serious character that has had enough of being mistreated. Instead, a woman that got over through being pushed harder than any female wrestler in the periphery in years is made to look like a real rebel. #GiveDivasAChance is turning into #TreatYourDivaStarsEvenBetter.

Paige Feuds With The Bellas

Paige finds herself feuding against Nikki Bella for the Diva's Championship. Unless some big development happens between now and Fast Lane, this will probably be the only preview I do for this match.

They are doing the bullying thing. I immediately got flashbacks of what they did with Mickie James against Michelle McCool. As I have pointed out numerous times, Paige is getting the type of career Mickie James had. Paige is being pushed as a credible jobber, a diva with wrestling credibility used primarily to put over the centerpiece and used for filler. I have also said that Paige has the potential to do what Mickie James did with that career and overcome it to get over. But she is not there yet. No reason for the WWE to go overboard in an attempt to bury her.

What about what this means for The Bellas? Obviously, they are meant to be the primary benefactors of this storyline. I have held off on saying Nikki is the new centerpiece. I was waiting for them to actually start booking her as they would someone like Sable or Trish. And this kind of feud going on now is that kind of treatment. This is kind of a step back. The Bellas were being pushed so strongly last year. They just seemed to have lost that momentum. Of course, this is not too different from what happened with Trish Stratus. She got some huge storylines in the main-event scene prior to being pushed as centerpiece. Pushing her as centerpiece might have seemed as a step down in some ways, but being pushed as the A+ player in the diva division is worth more than those periphery pushes. But I don't know how much this will help The Bellas. The division is inefficient and I don't think they have solidified their overness.

I also had some flashbacks to what happened just a few months ago with Paige. Because of how they were tossing the title around between Paige and AJ Lee, the feud ended up getting extended and the WWE created this angle of Alicia Fox being Paige's new best friend to make things more interesting. That angle went nowhere. The two split soon after. AJ Lee moved on to something else. Will that kind of thing happen again? Does the WWE even have the mindset to keep the ball rolling with The Bellas? The idea is that all they need is a spark to start running the diva division efficiently again. AJ Lee did not provide it. The Bellas don't seem to have provided it. These are women they have pushed to be stars that have gotten good reactions at times. Problem is, the WWE has not been able to follow through and these divas don't seem to be able to maintain their own momentum with the fans the way they should.

Who wins? I would say Nikki retains. Wrestlemania is just around the corner. Why would the WWE want Paige to hold the title heading into that? If recent history is any indicator, the WWE will just develop some kind of multi-diva match or get celebrities involved. The last singles title feud for the divas at Wrestlemania that was just between two divas and did not even include lumberjills happened in 2006. If the WWE is ready to put better focus on one diva being developed to be centerpiece, that would be one of The Bellas. They could have Nikki regain the title from Paige at Wrestlemania or drop it to Paige there just to give her a Wrestlemania moment. I am not convinced the WWE is ready to break away from the tradition of weak diva matters heading into Wrestlemania. Back to what happens at Fast Lane, if Paige has the momentum heading into the PPV, she will likely lose. If the feud seems too much on the side of The Bellas, Paige would probably win the title. Does not mean she will be pushed as a star. I will say Paige does regain some momentum and Nikki retains at Fast Lane.

What is more important than who wins? How about whether this storyline helps anyone? The bullying angle you had with Mickie and McCool was obviously meant to help a centerpiece that was failing to properly connect with the fans at the expense of a credible jobber that got over on her own. McCool could not keep a lasting connection with the fans. The only reason she got the great reactions she did get at times during that storyline was because Mickie James was there to cry for her. The Bellas are not as bad as Michelle McCool in terms of connecting with the fans. They are not A players, but they are somewhat over. Nevertheless, a diva pushed as an A+ player should get A-level results. How do you get that back for them? The bullying angle back then did not help McCool get long-term results, so I don't know why anyone should think it is a great idea to try it again. Just a lack of fresh ideas. I don't think it is helping The Bellas. I don't feel it is helping Paige too much. How about just interesting the fans in general? I don't feel the fans are that into it. It is not pushed at the level as what you had on Smackdown a few years ago. Moreover, it does not involve anyone that is very over. If it did, people would definitely be talking about it and reacting to it more. To put it simply, will this feud and storyline end up failing? There is a possibility.

I once had a conversation with a Paige fan on Twitter. I was talking about Paige getting over. He told me that Paige getting over is not something she needs to be concerned about because she's already over. I felt like bashing my head through a wall. Yeah, Paige is over. She has her fans. I like her. But she can definitely be getting better reactions from the fans and support for her could be better. Just because there are a bunch of Paige hashtags floating around Twitter does not mean she as A+ overness. You cannot just look around Twitter to determine whom is really over. The WWE probably wishes it was that easy. They can see a whole bunch of people talking about things they are doing and think those things are legitimate draws, even though other indicators would say otherwise. Paige has a lot of potential and she is being pushed in a manner from which almost no one ever gets over. She has not yet brought the results to be an A+ player, and I am not blaming her for that at all. Thing is, should she bring those results, would it be fair for the WWE to still push her as a C+ player?

Stacy Keibler: What Might Have Been?

I recently came across people saying that Stacy Keibler was originally booked to win the Women's Championship in the middle of the golden age and turned it down. I searched around to see whether that was something said by a particular figure in wrestling in an interview or dirtsheet lore that is now considered absolute fact without proper confirmation. Didn't find anything aside from more people mentioning it without referencing a source. I wasn't a consistent member if the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) back then.

If someone was to bring up the WWE strongly intending to follow through with giving Chyna the WWF Championship in 1999, I would believe that. It fits with what was going on back then and fits with how they were pushing Chyna even before that situation. During the golden age, no eye-candy divas won the title except for Trish. Even after Trish left, the only eye-candy divas to win it for years were women being pushed as centerpiece, as Trish was. Booking Stacy Keibler to win the title back then just seems out of place. Of course, she was very popular. You can debate whether she or Torrie Wilson was the most over eye-candy diva during the golden age to not be pushed as centerpiece. But would the WWE really book an eye-candy diva with limited wrestling ability to win the title during the golden age just because of overness? The first eye-candy diva to win a title without being pushed as centerpiece since 2001 was Eve Torres in 2010, and that wasn't because she was over. That kind of push was a filler push. Alicia Fox got a title run. Eve got another run where she was not being featured as centerpiece. Before you knew it, the WWE had become comfortable giving those kind of divas title reigns, even if they were not being pushed like Trish. Regardless, all those women had more wrestling credibility than Stacy Keibler back then, even though they did not have her overness.

Let's say the WWE was legitimately serious about putting the title on Stacy Keibler. She is one of my favorites, but she never needed the title. I like that she would turn it down out of respect to other women more deserving, if the story is true. It's like what I sometimes say about AJ Lee. She does not need the title. She might even do better if they started pushing her in the periphery again. Stacy Keibler never needed a title reign to be over. She could get a great career without it.

What could have been the WWE's intentions for legitimately wanting to put the title on Stacy Keibler? I do not think they were trying to further "divafy" the golden age. That is, I don't think they were trying to make it more about eye-candy divas. Of course, you did still have Playboy pushes, the start of the Diva Search, and other "diva" things going on during the golden age. What you didn't have, as I mentioned before, was a variety of eye-candy divas winning the title. Just Trish Stratus. If the WWE's goal was truly to start integrating those eye-candy divas more into the title scene, Stacy Keibler declining a title reign would not have stopped them. They certainly wouldn't have waited until 2010 to start putting titles on eye-candy divas beyond the ones pushed as centerpiece. If the story is true, I think it would have been a booking decision just to reward Stacy's popularity. It was not like the WWE was having any issues getting Trish to work out as centerpiece.

Let's say they did get the title on her. A title reign does not determine what type of career or push a diva is getting. How they are actually being treated is what determines the type of career and push. How would they have likely handled Stacy Keibler? They were not going to give up on Trish Stratus as centerpiece. Stacy Keibler does not have the wrestling credibility to be a credible jobber. I think it would just be the kind of eye-candy filler push you get during the first dark age, but a little more respectable. I have a tough time believing they would do that. Stacy would continue to do what she was doing at that time, just holding a title for a short while. While researching to find the source of this topic, I came across some fans discussing it. Some said that the reason Stacy declined was probably because she didn't want to risk injury in the ring. What they are overlooking is that putting the title on Stacy did not mean she would be forced to wrestle a certain style or even wrestle more often. During the first dark age, you saw a few women holding the Women's Championship and not do anything major with it in terms of wrestling for the bulk of their reigns. Stacy Keibler was wrestling some matches here and there even before this time they supposedly wanted to give her the title. If she was that afraid of injury, she would not have even done that. If she was fine with that light work rate, she could continue that during a title reign. Besides, Trish vs. Lita still would have dominated the diva scene around then. And there were credible jobbers to help carry Stacy.

Would this have changed the golden age? What determines the era the diva division is in isn't simply what the WWE is doing or trying to do. If it was that easy, you might say the golden age lasted even after Trish and Lita left. I would not say that. Things still remained efficient for years and the WWE was doing the same practices they did in the golden age. Difference is, it was not bringing the same results. And as things did not work out, you could see the WWE slowly making mistakes and heading towards this dark age. The WWE diva division didn't just go from a golden age to dark age overnight. I like to call that era in between the era of failed centerpieces. In addition to looking at what the WWE is doing, you have to look at how it is working out. The golden age is looked at fondly for how respectable it was in terms of women's wrestling. There were issues, but they seem to get buried under people talking about how great Trish and Lita were and how the WWE treated women's wrestling. Giving Stacy Keibler a title run would be something out of a dark age. Would it have completely ruined the respectability? Probably not. Would fans have complained about it like you have seen just earlier this week? You didn't have Twitter back then and fans were not as rebellious. I do not think this one booking decision would have ruined the quality of the golden age. Stacy Keibler winning the title might not have helped women's wrestling, but it might have been a nice gesture and some of her fans may have liked it. And if she was flopping horribly in the ring, they could just take the title off her.

There is also the idea of Torrie Wilson being originally slated to be the first Diva's Champion. That is something I can buy as true. Smackdown did not have a centerpiece back then. If she had gotten the title, she also would have been pushed as centerpiece. Michelle McCool ended up getting that push. She never got over, despite becoming very solid in the ring. Would Torrie Wilson have been a better Smackdown centerpiece than McCool? I think so. She already had a good connection with the fans and was doing well in the ring. Injuries screwed her over. She was already the top star on Smackdown for years. She was the face there. The only thing keeping her from being centerpiece is that she was not getting a title and was not being booked like Trish was, with credible jobbers rotating around her. You want to talk about what might have been? If Torrie Wilson had remained healthy, she might have been pushed as a centerpiece, worked out, and that might have slowed the demise of the diva division. Just another example of injuries hurting divas in line for those A+ careers.

Let me create a spectrum. Since the diva division started in 1998, many eye-candy divas have won a title, whether it be the Women's Championship or Diva's Championship. Not all of them were pushed as centerpiece. Not all of them were great in the ring. Let me create a spectrum for these divas based on how they were utilized and how well they improved in the ring. On one side, you have Trish Stratus, the greatest centerpiece the diva division ever had. She certainly became great in the ring. It is probably debatable whether Michelle McCool became more solid than her. McCool is probably the second best centerpiece, just in terms of wrestling ability, not overness. On the other side, you have Debra. She was an eye-candy diva that was just a manager and held the title for a few weeks in the first dark age. She was not a wrestler at all. The Kat isn't too far away from her. In the middle, you have those eye-candy divas that became solid, but were pushed as credible jobbers. Layla fits there.

If Stacy Keibler had won the title, where would she fit in that spectrum? She obviously would not have been pushed as centerpiece and did not have the credibility to be pushed like that, but she was not as horrible as Debra or The Kat. She would still be on the "periphery diva" side of the spectrum, but would be a little bit closer towards those eye-candy divas that knew how to wrestle somewhat.

How about Torrie Wilson? If she had won the Diva's Championship, she would be on the "centerpiece" side of the spectrum. Would she lean towards the side of those centerpieces that were good in the ring? Or those that were just jokes or flopped? Hard to say. This is just speculation because her injuries ruined her. Just going by how she performed on Smackdown as the top star there, if she had continued to improve from there, I think she would lean towards the centerpieces with the more respectable wrestling ability.

Where in the world would The Bellas fall? I am talking about during Nikki's current title reign. The two have each held the Diva's Championship once prior to their current push. They had wrestling credibility, but were not pushed as centerpiece or as proper periphery divas. Back then, I would put them in the "credible jobber" area, leaning towards the side of eye-candy divas that were not great wrestlers. Now, they have improved. I do not see them getting booked as true centerpieces, yet. I would put them on the periphery side, leaning towards being good in-ring workers.

Most fans might just rank the divas. Who are the best models-turned-wrestlers to win a title in the WWE diva division? Or something like that. Trish Stratus and certain other women would obviously dominate that list, while certain other women get dumped on. I don't think that is entirely fair. Some women were just not pushed like Trish Stratus and might not have even had the wrestling credibility to get that push. The WWE just happened to book them to win a title anyway. It might be hard to visualize that spectrum. I probably should have drawn it out or diagrammed it somehow. I just hope you can picture it. If nothing else, it's a more elaborate way to rank them.

What Do You Do With The Eight?

A few days ago, I talked about how cutting down on the number of divas featured on the main shows could help the division. With the way the WWE utilizes their divas, you might think they have cut down. Regardless, they are still not efficient. Even if you do cut down to the 8 divas I recommended, what do you do next? How do you utilize them?

You are obviously not in a position to run a great women's wrestling division with the women I would feature. That is not the point. The point is to utilize these women efficiently, entertain the fans, and regain some momentum to eventually get back to a diva division that also features respectable women's wrestling. That is why I selected a range of divas. You have twins, a pair of female wrestlers with "anti-diva" gimmicks, two eye-candy divas that have no great wrestling credibility, and two eye-candy divas that do have wrestling credibility. I think that is a great mix.

Go back to the first dark age. It was obviously not as respectable as the golden age that came after, but stars were made in this era and it was entertaining. One of the reasons it worked out is because you had a lot of periphery angles. You had a lot of mixed-tag matches. Start doing that again.  You have seen some of it, but you can do more. You will not see much in terms of male-on-female violence, which I would say helped a lot of women gain respect points back in the day, but you do not need it if these women are getting good rubs and actually getting involved in storylines in the men's division more. You have seen some of that over the years with AJ Lee and The Bellas. It might be time to return there more often. The hottest thing a few years ago in the diva division was what they were doing with AJ Lee in the periphery. The actual title matters were an afterthought at times. When The Bellas started to get their big push involving Stephanie McMahon last year, it was AJ Lee getting the shorter end of the stick while in the title scene.

What do you do with the actual title scene? Don't try to force it. If you downsize the diva division the way I am saying, you are obviously not going to have enough credible wrestlers to run a great women's division. Even now, do you have that? Whether you do or you don't, the will is not there. The WWE does not have the drive to be efficient. During the first dark age, you had eye-candy periphery divas with worse wrestling credibility than The Bellas holding the Women's Championship. Right now, the Diva's Championship cannot be the crown jewel of a great women's wrestling division. How about you use it more for storyline purposes and less as a "reward" for being a great wrestler or trying to make stars? That might involve putting the title on someone like Eva Marie, or even Lana. I can hear the complaints already. You have to feature these women.

They should do a lot more with Paige. During the first dark age, you had Chyna and Lita being featured very well without even looking at the months they held the Women's Championship. During this dark age, only AJ Lee has been pushed at that level. And she hasn't had that in a while. Paige has never been pushed like that. Give her some of those main-event storylines. It will really help her to get over.

How about Layla and Naomi? The Bellas, AJ Lee, and Paige are the divas I would treat as the top stars. Lana and Eva Marie are primarily eye-candy divas. Layla and Naomi are hybrid divas. You can treat them as eye-candy periphery divas, but they also have the wrestling credibility to be pushed in the ring. And I would let them do a little bit of both. Give them some angles alongside midcarders. They don't need the main-event rubs. They can also be pushed as credible jobbers.

Even if you are doing more in the periphery and not even trying to give that half-hearted attempt to maintain the wrestling aspect of the division, you might not be able to go far with only 6 divas with actual wrestling credibility. Luckily, you have NXT. You can pull women from there when needed for jobber duties. How about to be extra bodies in 12-diva tag matches? No. No more of those right now. Some women that I have not included in my 8 divas I would keep on the main roster would end up on NXT. No need to release them all. Women like Natalya and Alicia Fox would go there. It might sound insulting, but these women are pretty much credible jobbers already and are not going anywhere. If they are content with their current usage, they should be content with doing more to help the women on NXT and doing their part to help the main diva division be efficient again. How do these divas and women currently on NXT become priorities on the main roster? By either making the most of their opportunities when they are utilized on the main roster or really being amazing on NXT. Besides that, when the diva division does regain momentum and is ready to grow again, you will definitely need these women.

Will this work to get some momentum back into the division and help some women to get over? It wouldn't hurt. You are basically trying to do what you did during the first dark age. You are cutting down the main roster divas to women you are going to commit to featuring on a regular basis. You are going to feature them primarily with periphery angles. Right now, the title is not a priority. Work to entertain and get these women over. Once you have that momentum, keep it going. You will have women's matches. As you regain momentum in terms of making stars and featuring them properly, you can separate those that are good wrestlers from the eye-candy divas. You will obviously need women with wrestling credibility to put over your stars with wrestling credibility, so bring those women out from NXT. If everything works out, you have another golden age. They should try something different. After how hard they pushed AJ Lee, it is amazing to see them start pushing her mediocrely in comparison to back then. And the same is even true for The Bellas now. A lot of these title feuds are just boring. And it gets even worse when you don't give these women a lot of time and the storylines and feuds you develop are bad. Just stop trying to force it and focus on entertaining and making stars and featuring them for now. Be efficient. It will help you to be productive.

State Of The WWE Diva Division: January 2015

The diva division right now is slightly better than what you had one year ago. You can go back to what I said in January 2014 here. Basically, one of the main problems the WWE had back then was a lack of creative depth. AJ Lee had the title and you had mediocre title feuds going on. Outside of that, nothing.

What has improved? Nikki Bella is holding the title. You have a heel Diva's Champion with a sidekick. Sounds just like AJ Lee and Tamina from last year. Recently, however, the WWE has rotated minor feuds and angles for credible jobbers and some of the lower-tier periphery divas. These feuds are so minor, it is almost as bad as doing nothing at all. I once compared the diva division to ice cream. Yeah, I actually once did that. Periphery divas are supposed to be like the sprinkles, chocolate syrup, cherry, and all that other stuff you add to the ice cream to make it look more appealing and taste even better. These divas and these angles are supposed to make the diva division more interesting outside of the title feuds. Some of these angles you have seen with divas like Naomi and Natalya could have potential, but they are not developed well. Regardless, that is why I say things are slightly better. Creative depth is a little bit better.

Is Nikki Bella the new centerpiece? She is the type of diva they like to fill that position. There is a vacancy for that position. And the diva division is not dead. She very well may be the new central focus of the diva division. But I'm not ready to crown her just yet. If you want to crown her, crown her. She is feuding against Natalya, a clear credible jobber, but the feud needs to be developed better. Is that why Paige is there? Moreover, you also have the possibility of Nikki eventually dropping it to her sister and Brie being pushed as centerpiece. Or is all this just dark age shenanigans and they are really not ready to be efficient again? I'll wait a little to see what direction things go.

Paige, who is now on Total Divas, got involved in the diva match last night. She is back to being a face. Recently, I said the WWE should consider pushing Paige well with AJ Lee not around for the sake of appeasing certain fans. Is that the intent here? Or just Total Divas matters? It could just be for the sake of evening the sides. Nikki has a partner to aid her and her opponents could use a sidekick. I wouldn't be surprised to see this transition to Nikki vs. Paige. But the WWE better be careful. That girl has a mind of her own and wants to be a success. She was showing some real personality out there. Diva sidekicks are nothing unusual, but Paige was showing more character in the role she played last night than most women in that position typically show. They are usually generic. Do the attack spots, then just stand around with your diva comrade. But it is how you do things that really set you apart and make you great. And Paige was definitely not generic. She definitely has what it takes to get over on her own.

I skipped most of Raw last night. I was following what was going on online. And I was also paying attention to what Paige fans were saying on Twitter just out of interest. Some fans were marking out just seeing her standing there for the opening segment. No, you cannot do that. And the way some of them got excited later in the show, I thought Paige had just won the Diva's Championship or something. You cannot settle for mediocrity for that. These things and certain extracurricular activities, like Total Divas, do not mean much. Paige is still a credible jobber. She is still getting the kind of career Mickie James had. Mickie James also got extracurricular activities, but she was pushed to put over other women and used as filler when they were not around. Outside of that, she got the same kind of mediocrity that Paige is getting. Mickie James obviously overcame it to get over, but that didn't change anything. As a fan, you obviously like seeing Paige out there. I understand that. But you should be aware of what they are doing with her. If you are not, the day will come when they start treating Paige even worse and you will be left shocked.

Why don't I say what my Twitter username is? To be honest, I am kind of ashamed of my Twitter. I don't like the tone I use. I don't use profanity and I am not overly rude. I just feel I get annoying. Someone on there once accused me of writing essays. Yeah, well, that's kind of what I do. I would just rather be doing it on a blog than on Twitter, but I only get about 20 visits a day on my blog. And I actually did try to put up a Twitter button on here last week, but I couldn't remember how to add those things. I looked it up, but I still can't figure it out. I should totally fire my social media department.

Do you know what a filibuster is? It's when a politician gives one of those very long speeches. I have never tweeted that much at one time, but that is a good tactic. Just keep on tweeting until I get a response or I get blocked. Either way, I know someone had to have read at least some of what I was saying. Annoying? Annoying as a filibuster might be? The alternative seems to be sitting here and watching female wrestlers continue to be mistreated and wrestling journalists continue to botch analyzing what is going on. I think I would rather tweet.

Natalya Going Against The Bellas

Day before Christmas. Merry Christmas! I'll keep this short. I'll talk about this feud again next month.

Natalya is having a feud developed against The Bellas. This is a simple read. Natalya has been pushed as a credible jobber her entire career. Despite getting some periphery angles, including now with Tyson Kidd, she has not been featured as a star in the periphery to be considered a true periphery diva. Translation? Don't expect too much from this feud. Natalya was used to put over AJ Lee last year and it will be the same kind of feud this year against Nikki Bella.

You do not even need to bring Natalya up in the discussion of whether or not she will fill the void of AJ not being around. I brought that topic up a few days ago. Natalya is not someone they want to be a top star, she does not have the overness that might lead to the WWE being pressured by fans to treat her better, and she does not have the freshness that someone just debuting from NXT might have. It is not simply a question of whether she deserves to be pushed in AJ's spot. It is about whether it is likely. And it is not likely. Again, do not expect too much from this feud.

Who Benefits From An AJ Lee Exit?

It seems once again that AJ Lee is gone from the WWE. For good? Like her husband? Let's say that is the case. What is the WWE likely to do?

AJ Lee was the top female wrestler of this dark age. She was following in the line of Chyna and Lita. The way the WWE has handled the diva division since it started, this is a system meant to revolve around someone like Sable or Trish Stratus. The WWE does not necessarily need to think about filling the void that AJ Lee has left. They are already pushing The Bellas to be top stars. With AJ Lee gone, that could make it easier for the WWE to put more focus on one of The Bellas, if not both. They could start creating a new centerpiece. That might make the diva division look one-dimensional. The WWE did this before in between the golden age ending and this dark age starting. It did not work out. They pushed the wrong women to be the stars and screwed the women they should have been pushing better. If the WWE chooses to have that one-dimensional focus again, you can see the same problems again.

Charlotte could benefit from AJ Lee being gone. When she does debut, the WWE can devote that time and creative energy they would usually give to AJ Lee to Charlotte. The WWE will only feature so many divas with the kind of treatment they give to stars. With one star out, that can pave the way for Ric Flair's daughter getting a very good career as a periphery diva.

Would they think about replacing one female wrestler smarks adore with another female wrestlers smarks adore? Paige is currently a credible jobber. There is no other female wrestler on the roster that I think deserves to be pushed as a star as much as Paige. I think she has more potential than AJ Lee. She has started to connect well with the fans. I wouldn't say A+ overness, but this isn't exactly a situation of a diva becoming that over and earning the better career. This is a situation of one A player leaving and the WWE choosing to push another in her place. I think it would be wise of them to do it. Fans are more vocal and rebellious these days than they were a decade ago. A lot of casual fans have gone and the hardcore regulars are easily irritated. AJ Lee was someone these type of fans could cheer for. If the only divas you have being pushed well on a consistent basis are The Bellas, these fans are not going to like it. Pushing Paige in the position AJ Lee had would be good for her, the fans, and the overall quality of the diva division.

Take that all into consideration. The Bellas are locked. They are two women the WWE wants to be top stars. If the WWE chooses to fill the void AJ has left, Charlotte and Paige are the top candidates. Charlotte is someone I can picture being pushed well. Paige is someone I think more fans would rather see more of. To appease those type of fans, it would be best to develop Paige with the kind of "anti-diva" character that AJ had. But I don't think the WWE will do that. They are still as stubborn as ever. They are more likely to just run with The Bellas and continue to rotate all the other lesser periphery divas and credible jobbers around in minor angles and feuds.

Let me bring up one last thing. I was watching football over the weekend and one of the commentators said something I liked. Paraphrasing it, he said that you can't go broke if you make a profit. First time I had heard that saying. I like it. To put it another way, any gain is better than no gain. He said that after a quarterback turned down an easy pass for a small gain and instead tried for a bigger play down the field, which ended up not working and putting them in a bad position for the next play.

For almost a decade now, the WWE has had issues making stars. Not only have some of the men and women they have pushed to be top stars flopped, but you have some men and women that actually did succeed in getting over that the WWE did not want to push better and continued to go in the direction they would rather work out. Mickie James got over while being pushed as a credible jobber and continued to be pushed as a credible jobber. Zack Ryder got over out of nowhere and the WWE didn't want to take him anywhere. Daniel Bryan became insanely over and the WWE had their arm twisted to force them to start pushing him better prior to his injury. You now have Roman Reigns possibly following in the footsteps of John Cena. The WWE has not learned.

You can't go broke if you make a profit. If the WWE had chosen to go in the direction of what was working out at times in the last decade, the company would not have lost momentum like it has. Maybe some of these individuals did not have what it takes to be an A+ player, like Zack Ryder, but gaining a popular midcard star is still a gain. They could have made stars with these workers. They could have made more money off these workers. They might have turned these workers into legitimate draws. Instead, their desire to go in the direction of what they want to work over what actually is working has led the overall quality of the product to collapse. With so much damage having been done, no one worker can truly undo it all. The WWE did this to themselves. It was their choice. It is always their choice. And they keep on making the bad choice more often than the right choice. All those small gains can add up to something big. Trying to make big gains and failing can lead to something terrible.

Grading On A Curve

Getting sick of the whole grading thing? Well, you probably shouldn't bother reading this. Grading on a curve is a technique to help the grades of students that may not have done too well. One common method is setting a new standard. If the highest grade on a test was only a 70, you give everyone 30 extra points. Those students that got only a 70 now end up with a 100 and some that might have completely failed at least now pass.

How does that relate to pro wrestling? It relates to assessing how well the workers are connecting with the fans. Especially when it comes to the divas, I don't feel any of these women really have a major, consistent connection with various types of fans. Smarks obviously feel very strongly about some of these women. But the wrestling world does not revolve just around their desires. Moreover, it doesn't seem like one diva is really running away with their hearts. At certain times, it seems like AJ is the most loved and Paige has too many haters. At other times, the reverse seems to be true. And don't forget The Bellas. A lot of work has been put into them. Brie Bella was getting some good reactions when working with Stephanie McMahon. Heel Nikki Bella got a face reaction when giving a face promo recently. And yet, none of these women seem to be connecting as well as Trish and Lita did.

Is it really fair to grade these current divas in relation to Trish and Lita? I don't mean because Trish and Lita are so great and no one can ever be as good as them. Trish Stratus and Lita are not untouchable. Thing is, Trish and Lita just had certain things around them to help them succeed that are not here these days for the current divas. Trish and Lita had women with solid wrestling credibility being used as credible jobbers around them when the golden age started. Standards have declined. Eye-candy divas are now used as credible jobbers. Some of them do show potential, but the same respectability is not there. Trish and Lita sometimes get all the credit from some fans for the diva division looking respectable back then. Trish and Lita also benefited from a great periphery. The midcard was great, the tag division was great, the main-event scene was great, and that all opened up opportunities for women to be used in interesting manners during the dark age that Trish and Lita debuted. And even after things got golden, there were still good things going on in the periphery because things were working out in the men's division. These days, the periphery is a mess. The men's division is not being run efficiently, so it is not shocking that would trickle down to the divas. Finally, the WWE had not experienced failure with their diva division back then. Sable left, but the system had not really failed. In recent years, that same system that worked a decade ago is no longer working. It all really started when Mickie James, a credible jobber, got over and the WWE decided to keep going in the direction of what they wanted to work out, instead of giving Mickie James the career she should have gotten and opening up the playing field for female wrestlers. The WWE choosing to go in the direction of what they want to work instead of giving the fans what they want? Sound familiar? And when it leads to failure, it is going to have an impact on how the management of the company handles things. They do not handle failure well. If Trish and Lita debuted at a time when the WWE was determined to go in a given direction, even if it led to failure, and they were on the wrong side of that status quo, how far would they have gotten? These days, more women seem to be on the wrong side than the right side.

Women today do not have the same solid foundation, do not benefit from a hot men's division, and have to work within a system that has not worked right since 2006. Is it fair to expect them to bring in an A connection with the fans in the same way that two women did that did benefit from a solid foundation, did benefit from a hot men's division, and did not have to be mistreated in a damaged system? I don't think so. What do you do? Grade them on a curve.

I have said before that I have a tough time saying that AJ Lee really has an A connection with the fans. Nevertheless, you might argue that she is among the most over divas on the roster. I have said before that she has a B+ connection with the audience. Grading her just in relation to her peers, you can say she is an A player. Bump up a few more divas. I would say Paige is an A/A-. The Bellas are an A-. Most of the other divas after that would fall in the B-tier.

No A+? A is as high as it goes. The way I look at it, for a wrestler to have an A+ connection with the fans, they either have to be extremely over or be bringing A-tier results from a mediocre or worse career. How can someone getting poor treatment possibly maintain that strong of a connection with fans on a consistent basis? If they can, they deserve the extra credit. I don't think any of the divas in that division right now are that extremely over and none of the credible jobbers or mistreated periphery divas are overcoming it to be considered A+ players.

This all isn't really about lowering your standards because you feel bad for the divas today. To hold them up to Trish and Lita's level just isn't fair. If Trish and Lita had to make it in this current diva division, they would probably not have gone as far as they did go. Instead of having this attitude that the majority of your workers suck and you are going to treat them badly because you don't believe in them, assess them in relation to their peers. Determine whom your most over workers on the roster really are. You might not have a Rock or Austin, but if you find someone that is the best you have got right now, develop them to be a star. They just might end up like a Rock or Austin. First things first, you have to know what you have.

Nikki, AJ, Brie

A lot of title changes happened in November. That includes Nikki Bella winning the Diva's Championship from AJ Lee. Brie Bella had a hand in her sister winning. There are a few things to talk about with these recent developments in the diva division.

First of all, what is going on with this storyline? Nikki Bella was the obvious heel. Brie Bella, a face, was forced to do what her sister wanted her to do. AJ Lee, a face that leans more to being a tweener with her character, held the title that Nikki Bella wanted. I pointed out before that this storyline was not being developed well even before the title change occurred. You have Brie Bella kissing AJ Lee to help her sister win at Survivor Series. Brie Bella hasn't really been acting like a frustrated face being forced to work with a heel recently. Moreover, Nikki gave a promo on Smackdown that led to her getting a face reaction. That promo was edited on the actual airing. What does the WWE really want to happen?

This is not the first time this year that a Diva's title feud had bad storyline development. I am not even talking about the string of feuds Paige had during her first title reign that were not developed properly. AJ Lee vs. Paige was not developed well. It looked like it was progressing to the logical end, heel Paige vs. face AJ. Paige had turned on AJ. Instead of running things from there, they regressed and just had the two play with each other for no good storyline reason. Bella vs. Bella was getting better focus at that time. They then paired Paige with Alicia Fox. That was nothing to make too much of. All it led to was a filler match at Survivor Series. It really only served the purpose of extending the feud between Paige and AJ so Paige could get her rematch. It wasn't that great. That is two elaborate feuds in a row to have questionable development.

In both those two feuds I just talked about, you had the WWE featuring some lesbian elements. Or at least teasing it in some situations. How PG is that? Besides that, it just seems like the WWE is throwing certain things into these storylines that are just not called for. Cheap tricks. It is a dark age, so it is not shocking that they would do these things. They are never going to have another golden age if they keep relying on these things, however. Is that how they have to keep fans interested? Is that how they have to try to get stars over? Lesbian elements, psycho gimmicks, finisher theft, and dressing up as your opponent. Sound familiar? Those were all things you saw in the feud Mickie James had with Trish Stratus. You can say those things helped to get Mickie James over, but how do you explain her staying over when left as a generic face diva? It comes down to the worth of the performer vs. how the performer is being pushed. Paige has been involved in the kind of storyline Mickie James had. Paige has not become as over as Mickie James. I think Paige has potential to do it, but the WWE is really in a better position to make sure no credible jobber ever does what Mickie James did again. Besides, Paige really needs to find her own groove she is comfortable with. She did that one promo a few months ago that made her look like a boss, but the WWE did not follow up with her. Never make too much out of one thing when analyzing what is going on.

While the rivalry between Trish Stratus and Lita was the greatest in the history of the diva division, the greatest diva storyline just might be the one between Trish Stratus and Mickie James. Unlike some storylines that are really extensions of things going on in the men's division, this was a diva storyline. The main players and main supporting players on the roster were all divas. It is like how fans credit Trish vs. Lita on Raw as the first diva main event on Raw, even though Stephanie McMahon vs. Lita happened years before that. The latter also featured The Rock, Triple H, and other guys indirectly involved, so that is why some fans disregard that. The reason Mickie/Trish was so good isn't just because of the players. It was developed well. The storyline made sense and was developed well. The lesbian elements fit into the storyline. The psycho gimmick fit. Finisher theft fit. Dressing up as the other person fit. It fit the character Mickie James was playing. And when Trish turned the tables on Mickie, it made sense for Trish to do some of that. The feud didn't even end properly and it was still that great. Injuries could have screwed it up, but it didn't. Lack of depth could have been an issue, but it wasn't. The WWE should look at that feud and remember how to tell a story. Instead, they seem to be looking at it and just taking some of the small elements out of it. It isn't that easy. If the progression of the storyline is not good, fans are not going to connect well, not know what to connect with, and might even connect the wrong way. Moreover, not all these women currently being pushed have the kind of charisma Mickie James had. The WWE didn't develop Mickie James to get over, so I hope they don't think they can just hand all these storyline and character elements to some other diva and expect the same results. Their execution is lacking.

Eve Torres was the last centerpiece of the diva division. She left. Kaitlyn got a title run. She was a credible jobber. She dropped it to AJ Lee, the top periphery diva in this dark age. AJ Lee and Paige traded it a few times. Paige is a credible jobber. Now, Nikki Bella is the Diva's Champion. Is this the WWE's first attempt at a centerpiece since Eve left? Nikki Bella is the kind of diva they like to push like that. There is also Brie Bella, but they are not really developing her outside of her sister's shadow right now. They could next month, after this feud with AJ ends. Even though depth is still bad, they have credible jobbers on the main roster already that they could revolve around Nikki. It doesn't mean that the dark age ends just like that, but they can go back to trying to step out of it.

Is Nikki Bella a good choice as centerpiece? She has improved over the years. Both Bellas have. To me, this second dark age started when they gave Brie Bella her first title reign. Michelle McCool was still centerpiece at that time. Kelly Kelly was in that spot after she left. Brie Bella was pretty much just a credible jobber. And she wasn't even doing anything with the title for a while. Moreover, she wasn't that great as a performer. That was a clear sign of collapse to me. Nikki Bella got a short reign a while after that. Now, things are different. They are better. Will they flop like all the other centerpiece attempts since Trish left? I doubt they will leave the company any time soon. Injuries are not a big issue with them. I doubt they will regress in their in-ring abilities. All that leaves is how over they will become. I could say that it all rests on their shoulders to get over, but it doesn't. As I pointed out before, the WWE is making some mistakes in how they are pushing these women. Those mistakes might screw them over more than the issue of their own skill and potential. Regardless of which Bella gets pushed as that A+ player, if either do, there will still be issues in this diva division.

Speaking of issues, where does all this leave AJ Lee? She is a top-tier periphery diva. She is an A player. She is in the position Lita had. The WWE can just put her back in the men's division alongside some top star. I won't brainstorm ideas of what to do with her. Of course, there is drama between the WWE and AJ Lee's husband, CM Punk. How much of a strain is that putting on things? Will she leave the company? There will always be speculation on that. I won't talk about whether or not this would be a huge loss for the diva division until she actually does leave. Should that not happen, and should a Bella get pushed as centerpiece, just don't be surprised to see AJ back to getting angles alongside the men.

State Of The WWE Diva Division: October 2014

This is still a diva division. There are a lot of model-type performers around the roster. I read a while ago that the WWE signed two new ones, Zahra Schreiber and Gionna Daddio. Zahra has a bunch of tattoos on her. It will be interesting to see what they do with her, if she ever gets on the main roster. I cannot remember the last time I have read that the WWE signed a female wrestler to a developmental contract. Aside from that, you still have Total Divas going on. And there is still a diva atmosphere in this women's division.

What is the current landscape in the diva division? It is still not efficient and not respectable. This is still a dark age. And they still have not really done a great job utilizing all the women they have even in periphery roles, as they did during the first dark age. They are doing a better job by having The Bellas feud while AJ Lee and Paige finish their feud, but they could do better. Obviously, there is still no centerpiece. Staleness is also hanging over the division. It is also an issue in the men's division. How can they fix that? Either push fresh women or come up with better ways to prolong some of these feuds.

Total Divas is not only still around, it is growing. Paige and Alicia Fox are joining in. It is an extracurricular activity for them. Remember when a lot of wrestling fans were excited about Paige having some kind of "anti-diva" character and possibly bringing a little bit of something different to the diva division? It looks more like she is being assimilated. You can say that getting on this show will get her more exposure and help her get over. Keep in mind that only a fraction of the WWE's general viewership that tunes in for Raw on a regular basis actually watches Total Divas. Moreover, being on Total Divas does not mean you will be pushed well on the main shows. Natalya is on Total Divas. She is still a credible jobber. Eva Marie is on Total Divas. She is a periphery diva that is not getting used right at all. Whatever overness you see in The Bellas, it has come mainly from how they have been pushed this year, not so much from Total Divas. For Paige fans, a lot of them might be happy with her getting this. I would rather she be pushed right in the actual division. Extracurricular activities are not what count the most.

Speaking of Paige, her feud with AJ Lee continues. I am not going to do any analysis of that storyline. I have done that enough and the WWE has not really done anything since then worth talking about. Who wins at Hell in a Cell? They have already traded the title enough between these two this year. Unless there are some backstage shenanigans, AJ Lee retains and that should be the end of that feud.

Why don't I say that AJ Lee is the centerpiece? I have probably brought this up before, but it is worth bringing up again. There are a few reasons. First, the WWE has been developing women like Sable, Trish Stratus, and Candice Michelle as the centerpiece since 1998. They are very rigid when it comes to trying to maintain the status quo. Just look at the men's division. John Cena, a centerpiece that gets a questionable reaction from the fans, continues to be pushed as the top guy. Second, if they want AJ Lee as the centerpiece, why are they not going the next step and actually rebuilding the division around her. Start hiring more female wrestlers. Start developing those better feuds. Not only is a centerpiece pushed a certain way, other women are pushed a certain way around the centerpiece. I do not see them doing that with AJ Lee. Her first title reign did not feature great feud development. They were just running through the division. Her second and third title reigns were just shot to her quickly the night she returned from her hiatus and a few weeks after dropping it back to Paige, respectively. The storyline was not developed properly and that feud was getting overshadowed for a while by The Bellas. Another thing to keep in mind, the woman pushed to be the centerpiece is hyped to the best in the division. Hype is the most important ingredient in a centerpiece, while creative interest is the main ingredient for periphery divas. And AJ Lee has still been getting mostly a lot of creative interest. Her matches and feuds recently seem to be more about telling stories than actually developing a credible jobber to be overcome by a centerpiece like you have seen in years past. And the last reason I am not ready to say AJ Lee is the woman they want as centerpiece, they have so many eye-candy divas floating around on the main roster, in NXT, and are still hiring more. And they are developing these women to be wrestlers. The majority of them are not pushed well in the periphery, they don't make the best credible jobbers, and it is likely that one of them might be the next centerpiece.

I have seen some fans talk like either AJ Lee or Paige will be beating Trish's record for most women's title reigns in the WWE. AJ Lee has won 3 in about 2 years. Paige has won 2 in less than a year and is very young. Let me bring up Ivory. She won 3 title reigns in about 2 years during the first dark age. Her WWE career lasted a few more years, but she never won 4. That would have tied her with Moolah. One more after that would have broken that record. Trish ended up doing it. I wouldn't be so quick to say that either AJ or Paige will get it done. Paige is a credible jobber. They will likely phase her down, just like Ivory. And AJ? If the WWE does eventually start pushing another woman as centerpiece, AJ will be back in the periphery. Or back in Chicago. Who knows how that will work out?

I said earlier that there is still a "diva atmosphere" in the division. What did I mean by that? The feud between The Bellas is a great example of what I mean. A few weeks ago, it seemed like Brie and Nikki would be feuding over the "Bella" name. That just seemed so stupid. Now, you have a "slave" stipulation in the match. Oh, that's so much better! No, not really. There have been these kind of storylines before. Remember when Shawn Michaels and JBL had this kind of storyline? A face is forced to do what a heel wants. Nothing wrong with that kind of storyline, but the whole drama between Brie and Nikki has gotten kind of stupid. In terms of feud development, it is better than a lot of other things going on. In terms of the actual tone of this storyline, it is tacky and not connecting well with certain fans. Of course, Brie Bella using her husbands "Yes" chant is helping her to get over. Who wins this match? You can imagine all the fun segments you can have with Brie Bella getting revenge on her sister. For the sake of developing this storyline further, however, I think it would make sense for the heel to win.

You have AJ retaining and Nikki Bella winning the services of her sister. Can you imagine what would come next? Nikki gets into the title hunt and tries to force her sister to help her win. Will Brie help Nikki? I may be thinking too far ahead for a feud that may not happen, but I would not have Brie screw her sister in that title match. Aside from screwing her own sister, why would Brie want to help someone like AJ. With the kind of character AJ has, AJ is a loner. AJ and Brie are not friends. I doubt AJ will be coming to Brie's defense. It would go against her character. Shawn Michaels and John Cena have been in this position before where a heel was forcing them to do something they did not want to do. With the kind of character AJ has, would Brie really be conflicted in costing her the title? Again, screwing her sister would be the only reason to help AJ. But if Nikki wins the title, that can set up the title feud between Nikki and Brie.

Last thing I want to bring up, would it be possible to run a great women's division with The Bellas and AJ Lee as the top stars? Sure, why not? You can build a centerpiece with any one of these three women. You can rotate them around center stage and have a three-centerpiece diva division. You don't have to go the traditional route of one The Bellas being the centerpiece and AJ being top star in the periphery. And yet, is the WWE running a great women's division with these three? No. You need more female wrestlers to help this division look respectable and make it easier to be efficient. You need to actually utilize these other women better. You have too much dead weight in this diva division that is only relevant on Total Divas. And even with The Bellas and AJ, you need to develop feuds and storylines for them better. That is how you run a great women's division.

The Bellas Trump Paige/AJ

For weeks now, some fans have been complaining that the drama involving The Bellas and Stephanie McMahon was getting more time and better attention than the title feud between AJ Lee and Paige. Other fans would say that it was good that there were two diva feuds going on. What do you say now? On Raw last night, they pretty much inserted The Bellas into the title picture. The drama between Nikki and Brie is now overshadowing AJ and Paige even more.

I sometimes like to compare things going on now in the diva division to situations from the past. The situation you have now reminded me of that time Victoria and Gail Kim were feuding over the Women's Championship. Gail Kim was finally getting pushed again. She had picked up some wins against Victoria. All of a sudden, Lita and Trish are in the match. Trish Stratus walks out with the title. This isn't as bad as The Great Khali winning a match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus, but they pretty much overshadowed the original feud. You also have what was supposed to be Layla vs. Kaitlyn from a few years ago being won by Eve, but that was more understandable. Eve was involved in the story from the start and it really was her push.

In both those past situations in the diva division, you had a centerpiece trumping everything else. Neither Nikki nor Brie are being pushed as the centerpiece, yet, but recent developments make me believe even more that they may be preparing to go in that direction. They have not had a diva on Total Divas win the title yet. It really should just be a matter of time. But would a Bella holding the title be just for the benefit of creating material for Total Divas? Or will one of them actually fill that centerpiece void? I have said that Total Divas is like an elaborate PG-version of Playboy. From the time the golden age started, you never had Playboy divas win the title when they were getting their Playboy push. Candice won the title to be pushed as centerpiece, after already having done Playboy. Point is, some fans might say a title reign for The Bellas would just be for the sake of Total Divas, but it could be to start pushing a new centerpiece. Or it could be dark age shenanigans.

I didn't get to say much about the storyline between AJ and Paige and what they have been doing in recent weeks. It looks like whatever storyline they were having is going to be diluted now with The Bellas inserted. Let me still talk about that storyline. I really did not like it. It was turning even more into the type of storyline Mickie James and Trish Stratus had, just with poorer development. Paige did not debut as a big fan of AJ Lee. Paige debuted to show some respect to AJ. Those weeks AJ was gone, Paige never really showed any huge love for AJ. All of a sudden, Paige is skipping like AJ. I can chalk that up to playing mind games. Recently, you have had some lesbian undertones. How far can you get in PG? It is the kind of development you would have seen in Trish/Mickie, with Trish trying to play mind games with Mickie. And you have already had the two trade the title a few times. Whether AJ is leaving or not, it would only make sense for Paige to win the feud. Now with The Bellas involved, the story is different. To put it simply, the story they were pushing between Paige and AJ just did not have the same flow to it that the storyline between Mickie James and Trish Stratus had and just seemed like something they were tossing together.

Let me focus more on the characters these two women are portraying. I am not talking just about gimmick, but how they are portraying the gimmick. AJ Lee is a psycho. And she is creepy. That is one of the main reasons I am not as drawn to her as I was to Mickie James. Mickie James had this fun spirit to her. Even after they took the gimmick away, she still had that charisma. AJ isn't that fun psycho. She is a creepy psycho. I am not drawn to the things she is doing.

Paige is copying AJ. All it has really amounted to is her skipping. Aside from that, ever since she has turned heel, I have noticed she seems to try too hard to be sexy in some of her matches. She seems to be looking for approval. There really is no storyline reason for it. I liked her better when she was a face. Some reports say she was not engaging the crowd. If you pay attention to what she was doing, she actually was trying. Aside from her look, she is obviously not pushed as an anti-diva, but I don't think she needs to try the eye-candy diva route to get over. I would not be surprised if people backstage are telling her how to act. She just does not seem natural in what she was doing, although I think she does a good job skipping. But what will that do for her in getting her over? I don't think it will. The fans are not connecting with Paige. She is just imitating AJ Lee. And she is really not getting to show a character I think can really get her over. She needs to find her own groove and do it naturally.

Put it all together, that's why I don't like the storyline you had going on between AJ and Paige. The actual storyline didn't seem thought out properly, AJ's creepy character is not interesting me, and Paige's character just does not seem natural. Is it good that it is getting phased down? Will it be better with The Bellas inserted? Will The Great Khali walk out of Night of Champions with the Diva's Championship? Right now, I can't say. Let's see how things develop.

Bella Vs. Bella II

Stephanie McMahon won at Summerslam. And it was thanks to interference from Nikki Bella, who turned heel and turned on her sister. This feud is obviously not over.

This is not the first time The Bellas have feuded against each other. During their first run in the company, they had a little feud against each other. Very minor. Didn't last long. They soon got back together. This one, however, has a more serious tone to it and is getting more of the spotlight. If they are serious about one day featuring Brie Bella as the centerpiece of the diva division, not only is separating her from her sister not a shocking move, but a storyline like this is just the kind of thing you would expect. You had Sable stand up to her husband. You had Trish stand up to Vince and Stephanie. You now have Brie Bella standing up to Stephanie and her own sister. This was the kind of thing I was waiting for with Summer Rae, back when I felt she was the likely option for the new centerpiece. Standing up against Fandango was not major enough. What they are doing with Brie Bella is major.

Could this all be for the purpose of creating drama for Total Divas? Big storyline to create some drama, then dump The Bellas after. You saw this kind of thing with Cameron and Naomi. They had a storyline about their split. Now both are lost in the shuffle. Not shocking at all. But I don't expect that here. The Bellas are being pushed like A players. I doubt this huge investment in them is just for the sake of a short-time angle for Total Divas. The WWE has a lack of stars in their diva division. They are making stars. And these stars are getting to work with the bosses in a close manner. When it comes time to pushing a new centerpiece, it is not hard to imagine that Brie Bella will be at the top of the list.

Why am I not talking about Nikki possibly being the centerpiece? She does have the bigger boobs. Speaking of boobs, she is in a relationship with John Cena. Aside from all that, I can't think of any reason why she should be pushed above her sister. Brie has almost always been featured more prominently than her sister, especially this year. Neither Bella is amazing in the ring, but I would say Brie is the better of the two. And she has Daniel Bryan at her side. She can learn from him. You have seen a little bit of that. Brie just seems like the better choice and the likely choice of the two.