If anything was really going to go wrong with The Corre, I had a feeling it would come from the WWE's booking of them. They were looking very good last time I talked about them. Three out of four members had gold. They were actually looking strong against Kane and Big Show, two big guys in terms of both size and credibility. What happened?
Last week, heading into Wrestlemania, Corre seemed to lose all its momentum. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It seemed like they would have won at Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania weekend, Corre "destroys" Kozlov, who was in the tag match. Faces suddenly are in trouble. This wasn't a good sign for Corre. Kofi Kingston replaces Kozlov. I have nothing against Kofi Kingston. If he was even there for a crucial or entertaining reason, I would even be more glad that he did make it in. But what happened? The 8-man tag comes off looking like some kind of diva match. To be fair, I am talking about in terms of time. Corre loses. Faces don't look too amazing. Match not that entertaining or worthy of a Wrestlemania. The fans go home happy in that the faces win. Is that still all it takes to make everyone happy?
Next night, Corre crashes The Rock and Cena's intimate moment in the ring. I enjoyed seeing them come out. I was hoping something exciting was going to happen. The Corre gets knocked around to help the two faces look good. Pathetic.
On Smackdown, a little bit of retribution. It was a Wrestlemania rematch, with more time to work. Corre still loses.
Is there some kind of rule that someone has to have a losing streak going to look pathetic at any given time? Sheamus had his turn, and it ended with a U.S. title run. Now it is time for Corre to "pay their dues" for a while? Fine. All hope is not lost yet anyway. Let's see how the feuds break up now over the tag titles and IC title. I may talk too much about these guys, but this concept has potential. It raised interest last year with total rookies. It didn't take the return of The Rock or Austin to make it work. If the WWE did not realize at least some of this themselves, why would they do another version of what is basically still Nexus on Smackdown? I am going to wait and have hope. Then again, that didn't work out back when I used to talk about the divas every day.
Speaking of divas, there seems to be some issues revolving concerning Melina, John Morrison, and Trish Stratus. Morrison and Melina have an obvious relationship. Trish and Morrison tagged together at Wrestlemania and have been on the same side against Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero. Trish said in an interview that she feels snubbed by how Morrison was treating at time when they worked together. All the details from all sides are not completely out, but it seems Melina is unhappy about Trish Stratus getting featured at Wrestlemania, while herself and the other divas get nothing. After just saying the other day that I find the recent booking of the diva division, especially on Raw, annoying, I would be a hypocrite if I did not take the side that reports are claiming Melina represents. Who gets the diva spotlight at Wrestlemania this year? Snooki? Trish Stratus gets the hype leading up to the event? None of the other divas get a match or are featured properly at the PPV or in the weeks prior to build it. Last year? Vickie Guerrero? In a large diva tag match? Divas either stand around or play dead on the outside while Vickie Guerrero gets her moment. Year before that? This is my favorite one. 25 divas in one ring. Who wins? Santino Marella! If these were isolated incidents sprinkled between Wrestlemanias that are regularly good for the women that carry the division week after week, I would not complain. But it has been at least three years in a row now. Is some beauty pageant winner on Tough Enough right now going to get her Wrestlemania moment next year? Is that what the division is going to be about?
But it is different? It's Trish! So that makes it okay to treat the women working there regularly like crap? Especially the ones who were hired for actual wrestling ability, which Trish was not? The woman who is arguably the most over on the current roster didn't get screwed over. Vickie was used! She may not be getting cheered, but her reaction is real and loud. What is Trish actually doing for the WWE? Entertaining? Giving meaningful rubs to future stars? My absolute favorite wrestlers were never either The Rock or Steve Austin, but they are bringing it for the WWE. Ratings went up majorly the week after The Rock first returned. Ratings spiked again when they advertised Austin. When they advertised Snooki's appearance and Trish taking on Vickie, ratings fell back down. Admittedly, Austin is a tough act to follow. You can see the numbers
here. What about live reactions? You could tell the crowd is usually high for Rock and Austin when they actually show up. Last Monday was the first time in weeks Trish actually got a good reaction, but I already mentioned that that Atlanta crowd was hot. Let me honestly speak for myself. I may not have ever been a die-hard fan of any of these three, but when either The Rock or Austin's theme hits, it gets me pumped. I know something is going to happen. With Trish, nope. Just seeing those two guys walk down the aisle and into the ring, I see the enthusiasm and character that they are about. With Trish, I don't. These men on the mic? Great. Awesome. No adjective comes to mind to give them justice. With Trish? Yes, she has not gotten the mic or time to speak that much, but I would rather watch Vickie talk anyway. I enjoy the heat she gets. And when the words stop? Austin stunners and pours beer everywhere. The Rock layeths the smacketh down. Trish has attacked LayCool and all that, but it was nowhere near as exciting as watching Austin or The Rock do their things.
I mentioned giving rubs. Do I really need to mention who The Rock is putting over greatly just by talking about him? John Cena. The Rock will not take away the heat Cena does get, but he will definitely help Cena look even more like one of the greatest of all time, no matter who wins that Wrestlemania match next year. Cena has already proven that he can stand firm against The Rock in a war of words. The Miz and Alex Riley have also slightly benefited from being involved in this mix. Aside from actually putting over Tough Enough on Raw, the WWE is also using Austin to give rubs to Miz and his sidekick. He's giving CM Punk some attention on Twitter. He buried the diva division, but I was just saying how the WWE is doing that themselves to feature Trish Stratus. Which divas are Trish Stratus actually putting over? Her interactions with LayCool did not seem as strong to me as what was going on with the men I just mentioned. Are LayCool even there to get a rub from Trish? Vickie seems to be doing more for Trish than Trish is doing for any of these divas. Trish doesn't have the toughness of an Austin or Rock, so her getting attacked by McCool won't do much but create a standard diva moment. The fact that hype for both McCool and the current Trish was so mediocre does not help.
Then there was Morrison. So many questions and directions to go here. First of all, it is already obvious that the WWE failed to treat Trish in a way that would actually give LayCool a proper rub, so what really would she have done for John Morrison? Help John Morrison look like he's on Trish's level? Ummm...what do I even say to that? John Morrison is very capable. His matches from a few months ago prove that he can do things that very few WWE superstars, if any, have ever done. He can awe. The character he had back in ECW proves that he can be entertaining in that respect as well. He simply needs the WWE hyping him and pushing him properly. Any rub from Trish Stratus would be meaningless if he jobs to Sheamus and Alex Riley for the rest of the year. Trust me, the WWE would have found some reason to do that to him. Honestly, it seems more likely that Morrison would have done more for Trish than Trish could have done for Morrison, especially when you realize that Trish is the one the WWE consistently pushes as the greatest diva, even though she's retired, and Morrison has been built up to be knocked down on numerous occasions already. Won't change, whether this mess happened or not.
Was Morrison wrong to do what he did? Obviously, I don't know exactly what Trish wanted to do. I don't know exactly how much of a role Melina played. How would people view Morrison if he showed more loyalty to Trish/WWE than Melina? I'm not going to answer that one. Just think about it. Was he wrong to "snub" her? How many times can you play nice and still put up with the same old thing? Let me repeat what I already said. Three Wrestlemanias in a row, people who do not deserve the payoff for the hard work of the women who are carrying the division and trying to get the job done get the spotlight at Wrestlemania. Week after week, Gail Kim, Melina, Natalya, and other women get nothing, while Vickie, Trish, and LayCool get the most of the diva attention on Raw. Doesn't this all seem familiar to when they kicked Mickie James to the curb in 2008 so they could try pushing Candince Michelle and BunnyMania for Wrestlemania? Yeah, now it is even more clear how the WWE viewed Mickie. And who is listening? What is changing? I asked whether these women don't want better for themselves. What does loyalty to this crap get you? A job in TNA? Morrison may have been showing more loyalty to Melina than the whole diva division, according to reports, but this is a start. Morrison the pushover seemed to have stood against something here. Do you think it is easy to snub a woman with heavy WWE backing like Trish Stratus? Batista can get away with humiliating Mickie James because the WWE was more loyal to him than he obviously was to them or they themselves were to Mickie. I am siding with Morrison on this one.
Time for the monthly rant about where Corre and/or Nexus is going. The most interesting storyline in the WWE last year continues to exist, but exist in mediocrity at best.
