The Sloppiness Of The Raw Women's Division

Both the Raw and Smackdown women's divisions have their issues that are resulting in fans getting irritated and women not realizing their full potential in terms of how they are being pushed and how well they are connecting with the fans. I talked a lot about the issues with Smackdown recently. I cannot let Raw off the hook.

A couple weeks ago, Raw had a very dumb interaction for their women that I briefly mentioned. Alexa Bliss defended the title against Nia Jax in a pathetic match. But that was not even the issue. Mickie James and Dana Brooke were out there because they are also not on good terms with Alexa Bliss. They end up going after her. Nia Jax pushed them out of the way because she wanted Alexa for herself. She attacked them again. The segment ended with Mickie and Dana just getting in the ring with Nia and letting her destroy them. That was bad writing. After Nia Jax already knocked them around a few minutes earlier, why would Mickie and Dana just get in the ring to stand there like they could trust her? Why wouldn't they at least try to get revenge? They could have even just stared down both Nia and Alexa from outside the ring. Mickie and Dana just looked stupid with that kind of writing.

And the stupidity continues. This week on Raw, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax had another match that was nothing to get excited about. Once again, however, that was not the issue. Another brawl broke out. It seems all the women hate Alexa Bliss. Emma came out to get some of Alexa, who did walk out on the other two heels the week before in a tag match. Nia Jax held Alexa for Emma. Emma accidentally hit Nia Jax. A little while after that, Emma and Alexa just shrug off their issues and attack Sasha Banks. I know two enemies might put aside their differences to attack a common enemy, but Emma was just focused on going after Alexa Bliss a few moments ago, how could you just shrug that off so easily? Alexa Bliss was her immediate target, not Sasha Banks. Mickie James and Dana Brooke then come out to go after the heels. Bayley runs out after. I was watching this segment on Monday. Part of me expected Bayley to attack Mickie James and Dana Brooke? Why? Because it would match the rest of the stupidity going on here.

There are various reasons why none of these women are as over as they could be. I think two of those reasons came up in this very segment from Raw.

First, the WWE's writers are not doing a proper job building characters, relationships, and feuds. Fans just don't know what to make out of a lot of what they are seeing. Emma comes out there focused on getting Alexa Bliss. Next thing you know, they seem to be on the same side again. You also have Mickie James and Dana Brooke together. That's fine, but they could have done a much better job creating that relationship to make it easier for fans to care about it.

The second problem I saw on Raw was that things are just congested. This has been an issue I brought up for the Smackdown women. Too many feuds and PPV matches involving too many women. That problem has really taken over on Raw recently. Things started out as Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax, with Mickie James and Dana Brooke also involved in the story. That was fine. The WWE could have done something good with those four women. Next thing you know, Sasha Banks is in the story and the spotlight seems to be on her more. Emma returns and is thrown into the story. This week, Bayley runs out. Is Alicia Fox going to get involved next week? This is just not good. The WWE has added way too many women to this thing and created a mess.

Let me focus on Bayley. I would be the first one to say that the WWE has not treated her right since she debuted on the main roster. And she looked terrible in her feud with Alexa Bliss. But she lost the feud and the WWE looked like they were moving on. She has to take a backseat. Either find her another angle or rest her for a few weeks. It isn't fair to other women to have her pushed back into the picture. I said the same thing about Sasha Banks. She deserved a proper title run. But if the WWE was unwilling to do that and just continued the endless feud with her and Charlotte, that was just unfair to other women. In this case, it was unfair to Bayley. Even when Bayley won the title, Sasha Banks was out there. What face woman was sharing the spotlight with Sasha when she won he first title? This is one of the reasons Bayley has not worked out better. She has not had that individual spotlight properly on her when her push started. But it is unfair to keep sending her out there when there are other women that could use some proper attention.

Not only can you talk about congestion in terms of women in this picture, you can talk about creative congestion. Everyone dislikes Alexa Bliss. Not only does she have a title everyone would like to have, but she has done things to ruin her relationships with various women, even though the WWE is sloppy with that. You also have the fact that everyone has to keep an eye on Nia Jax because she will attack both the faces and the heels. So what is the feud that is going on right now? It is not clean at all. The WWE can try to toss together some multi-woman match for Great Balls Of Fire, but they have not set this up properly at all. What is the story? All these women want the title? All these women want revenge on Alexa Bliss? Should the focus be on Nia Jax? Things were already messy even before Bayley ran out this week. What is her story? And will it properly fit in with anything else? Then again, stories don't seem to matter here. Everyone is just going to fight each other.

How would I do things? First, Sasha Banks should be the one getting a singles feud against Alexa Bliss. She has the freshness. It could have started this month and gone to Summerslam. There was no need to have this congested mess. If the WWE wanted to toss all the women together for a #1 contender's match, they could have just done that by now and without all the sloppy half-developed angles that they have been throwing out there.

Second, Mickie James, Dana Brooke, and Emma should be doing something separate. Emma is returning from her injury, so it would be nice if she could get some proper focus on her. Mickie and Dana have that partnership that can really be featured a lot better. Dana and Emma used to be partners. The story just seems to write itself. Instead of having all these women focused on either going after Alexa Bliss or defending themselves against Nia Jax, create an interesting storyline away from that which might help the character development of these women. The story could either lead to Dana turning on Mickie James to go back to Emma or Dana finally knocking her former partner to the curb. It would be something the audience would have an easier time getting behind than the sloppiness of the last few weeks. And Mickie James vs. Emma would be a good singles match, certainly better than just Emma vs. Dana Brooke.

What about the other women, namely Nia Jax and Bayley? They can either feud with each other or just take a backseat for a while. It happens. It happened all the time in the diva era. It just becomes hard to come up with an angle for everyone on a consistent basis in the women's division. If you force yourself to do it, you end up with the sloppiness you now have. What is wrong if these two women are just supporting players in another feud? Be there as tag partners for the Alexa/Sasha feud or to put these women over to give them momentum in the feud.

The WWE needs to fix the problems. Come up with clear angles for these women and stop trying to give them all something to do. It is just not practical. It makes it harder for fans to connect with a lot of what is going on.

Emma Injured

Emma suffered an injury recently while the WWE was on their international tour. It still remains to be seen how serious it is and how long she will be out, if she will miss time at all. Just for the sake of discussion, let's talk about what happens if she does miss extended time.

This is not the first time Emma has suffered an injury. She suffered a serious one last year. The "Emmalina" angle then followed this year. That got dropped and she returned with the same character she had before her previous injury. She was getting a storyline with Dana Brooke, her former partner. It didn't look like it would be that great of a storyline, but it was still something to do.

It is bad luck for her. I am not going to put her in the same category as Naomi. For one thing, Emma has never been getting a serious push that got ruined because of injury issues. If she is out for a long time, she should be allowed to come back and get another angle. Just like I said with Naomi, however, the WWE should not be planning to rush any titles on her. She needs to stay healthy. First things first, I think it is more important to just get her over. I don't think most fans, beyond the smarks, have gotten to know her that well. With all the injuries, going back to NXT, and whatever other issues, she has never really gotten a chance to really get fans to know her on the main roster.

I would say that she should reinvent herself again. I know that will not be easy to do. A lot of fans who watch NXT fell in love with the heel character she developed there. Problem is, assuming she is out for a while, that character is now a couple years old. It has never gotten anywhere, although you can't blame Emma for that. I am not saying she come back as Emmalina, but this heel character just seems like it lost any freshness it had left.

Is the depth of the Raw women's division hurt? Raw still has a lot of women. You saw them all last week. Even with Emma out, they can just use Alicia Fox more, if they really need to.

Aside from roster depth, you have to think about creative depth. As I mentioned, Emma was getting a storyline going with Dana Brooke. Assuming Emma is out for a while, that storyline is now ruined and the only storyline going on right now is the one revolving around Alexa Bliss. It is always good to have multiple angles going. It gives multiple people something meaningful to do and gives fans more to talk about.

I would start a storyline with Dana Brooke, Mickie James, and Nia Jax. Dana Brooke isn't good enough to push as a serious in-ring worker. But she is there and she has character potential. Nia Jax is a heel that is arguably just under Alexa Bliss in Raw's women's division. The WWE would probably want to give her something. And Mickie James needs help with her character. She had a bad heel character on Smackdown and a poor face turn. Some people were still unsure whether she was face or heel until last week, when she teamed with the other faces. For the many fans that do not know who Mickie James is, it is time to give them a reason to care. I would have Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax. Nia wins and continues to bully Dana. Mickie James comes out for the save. And just take things from there. Should Emma return before this feud ends, she can team with Nia Jax against Mickie James and Dana Brooke. That way, multiple women get something meaningful to do.

Shaking Up The Women's Divisions

Less than a year after the brand split returned, the WWE is already going to shake up the rosters again. Rather than talk about every division, I am just going to focus on the women, a topic I have been talking about regularly since 2008. Whatever major moves happens for the men, I will talk about that tomorrow and later in the week.

It just seems like the obvious switch for the women will be Charlotte going to Smackdown and Alexa Bliss going to Raw. Both have been somewhat "written off" in the last week. They have jobbed. They have lost their momentum. If they are not being sent to the other brand, the WWE is probably setting them up to be released. I will say it is likely they are just switching brands.

As I have mentioned before, both Raw and Smackdown seem to have their own identities, although it has still been pretty sloppy on both shows. Raw has more hype and respectability to it. This is where the serious, history-making matches get most of the attention. The only women to have held the title on Raw since the brand split are the NXT elite. It has been the 4 Horsewomen. Over on Smackdown, it has been somewhat the last stand of the diva era. This division has frequently gotten the short end of the stick. As far as the title on Smackdown goes, Becky Lynch may have been the first woman to hold it, but the two other women since then cannot be considered in-ring elites. I am talking about Alexa Bliss and Naomi. Smackdown, moreover, has done a slightly better job with periphery angles. Nikki Bella and Maryse have been treated pretty well. Those two are obviously divas.

I don't remember if I ever brought it up before, but I always felt the WWE should have two different identities for the two women's division and maintain those standards. Let one show be the place for serious women's wrestling. That could be Raw. Let the other show be for the divas and more character-driven and storyline-driven drama. That could be Smackdown. If a diva wants to end up on the show for serious women's wrestling, she needs to improve her in-ring work. If a female wrestler wants to go to the other brand to improve her overness with fans wanting more than just wrestling, she needs to show some personality that might make her valuable on the other brand. Obviously, there will be one or two female wrestlers on Smackdown to act as jobbers and supporting players, like Natalya and Tamina. On the other side of that, there might be a diva on Raw for a periphery role, like Lana. Overall, however, both brands maintain their own identity. And fans of different aspects of pro wrestling could choose what they want to watch. Right now, you just have some women on Raw that are obviously not good and it gets painful seeing them work with the better wrestlers. Dana Brooke is one of those women. Over on Smackdown, you have some women that can just be great characters, but the WWE doesn't develop it properly. Alexa Bliss falls in that category.

Even though the WWE does not really uphold the system I just talked about, let me talk about the likely switch in those terms I just laid out. Can they really switch Alexa Bliss for Charlotte? Raw has been the brand for these serious women's feuds and matches since the brand split came back, and it seems Charlotte has been involved in all those matches. Alexa Bliss has improved, but she is still not someone I consider being that great in the ring. How many matches can the WWE get out of Bayley and Sasha Banks for a year? Throw Emma into the mix. She's pretty good. Outside of that, there's not a lot of women to produce the same quality matches you had for the last year on Raw. You can send Asuka there, but some might argue Smackdown can also use her.

Is there a possibility Alexa Bliss might get lost in the shuffle on Raw? Unless the WWE lowers their standards for Raw's women's division to let her be treated as a credible threat that can put on highly-rated matches with the likes of Sasha Banks, she is definitely going to be treated more poorly than she was on Smackdown, at least. Raw has never been great with periphery angles since the brand split. What can they do with her?

What about Charlotte? The WWE will have her make history by being the first woman to have held each brand's title. They did the same kind of thing with Michelle McCool. That is probably why they wanted Smackdown's title on face Naomi so bad, although I would say Becky Lynch also might have been an option. And with Alexa Bliss on Raw, they could try to sell it as a "chase" to see who will make history first. They used Mickie James to serve that purpose back in 2009. Problem is, as I mentioned, standards are different today and Alexa Bliss getting that serious push just would not be right.

Since I do not like the potential move to Raw for Alexa Bliss, which Smackdown woman would I send there? You are looking for someone with wrestling credibility that can fill Charlotte's spot. Natalya, Becky Lynch, and Mickie James are all options. Mickie James is one of those performers that could work out on either a wrestling-first brand or a storyline/character-first brand. It is just a shame the WWE has done such a terrible job with her character. Even now, is she really a face? Or still in tweener limbo? Either way, they could send her to Raw and just take her character in either the face or heel direction.

Let's say what the WWE really wanted to do, for whatever reason, was get Alexa Bliss to Raw. What would be a good Raw woman to send to Smackdown? Dana Brooke comes to mind. You are not looking to replace a great wrestler here. You are just looking to replace a heel that can show emotion and personality. That is pretty much what Dana Brooke does best. She has been involved in some botched spots and terrible situations since her debut. Going to a brand that lets her character shine and does not put much on her in terms of wrestling might be good for her.

Dana Brooke Turns On Charlotte

Dana Brooke has been Charlotte's sidekick since last year. At first, the relationship was good. No issues between the two. Of course, Dana often proved to be a poor lackey. This led to Charlotte eventually pushing around her sidekick. On Raw this week, Dana Brooke finally snapped and attacked Charlotte.

This is a fine story for Charlotte outside of the title scene. Problem is, she is currently still in the title scene. And this is Wrestlemania season. Again, I am all for the WWE doing this, but now is not the time for it. This Wrestlemania season is just filled with mostly bad feuds, for various reasons. Raw's women's title feud was better than Smackdown's women's title feud, but it still had some issues. One of the major issues was the fact that it was another multi-woman match, killing the personal feel that Wrestlemania feuds should have. To make matters worse, the WWE decides to do this now. This is a distraction. Instead of focusing on Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, the WWE throws this into the pot. It hurts the build for the match.

I am not going to say it is pointless to turn Dana Brooke face. If the WWE is serious about Sasha Banks going heel, they desperately need to turn someone face. I can see what they are doing.

But did they need to do it now? Why not wait for the night after Wrestlemania? Have Dana Brooke accidentally cost Charlotte the match at Wrestlemania. Charlotte then chews Dana out on Raw the next night. Dana finally has enough and snaps.

As for Sasha turning heel, that could happen at Wrestlemania. Or let Bayley have a feud with Nia Jax after Wrestlemania, with Sasha Banks in the picture. Sasha then turns on Bayley when that feud concludes. There are multiple ways to go with this.

Another issue, what kind of face will Dana Brooke make? She is not good in the ring at all. The face style, especially for most of the women, involves high-energy and relying on agility. Dana looks sloppy even as a heel. The face style is not going to help her. There can be some ugly matches to come involving Dana Brooke. The WWE will probably limit her.

In terms of overness, I am not ready to say Dana Brooke will be a great face just off of watching how fans reacted to her on Raw. A lot of fans out there still love a good catfight or brawl. She's not going to be able to do that every night. Will she be able to sustain a strong connection with the fans? Or will her sloppiness hurt her?

Is Nia Jax Going Backwards?

It is not unusual for big monstrous wrestlers to squash jobbers when they first debut. They then graduate to better feuds. Some lose momentum and get tossed aside. Nia Jax is the women's division's big monster. She had been squashing jobbers for a long time. Local jobbers, even.

In recent months, it looked like she finally graduated. Recently, she had that feud going on with Sasha Banks. She was tossing Sasha around and looking monstrous. She was finally feuding with a credible opponent. But that feud never really got finished yet.

Next thing you know, Sasha Banks is back deeply involved in the picture with Charlotte and Bayley. She was there to give Bayley an assist to win the title last week. They were again involved with each other this week. Fans are already anticipating Sasha turning heel on Bayley.

But where is Nia? She once again squashed a local jobber on Raw this week. Now, it is not unheard of for an established big man to go back and squash jobbers here and there, but it is too soon for Nia Jax to be back squashing jobbers. This can hurt her development. Most squash matches are not entertaining. Yes, James Ellsworth got his big break being a local jobber, but it was his awkward look that got people talking about him and won him a contract.

This once again highlights the depth problem. Charlotte and Bayley cannot be involved with just each other every week. They need supporting players. Enter Dana Brooke. But who sides with Bayley? They could try to force Alicia Fox into the picture, but Sasha Banks already has a stronger connection with Bayley. Problem is, how they are using Sasha now just makes the feud she was having with Nia Jax irrelevant. There are not enough bodies to go around to handle what they want to do efficiently.

Even then, I think they could have done a better job keeping Nia Jax in the picture with Sasha Banks and everyone else. She will get a title feud sooner or later, but there is no need to waste her with these short squash matches until then. Fans already know she can be dominant. Don't botch the progression she is going through. Have her still target Sasha Banks. Even just a backstage segment with any of the women currently relevant would be enough. You can say that they needed to do the squash match to kill time, but I think they easily could have added that extra minute to any other match or segment. It is just poor feud development.

Previewing The Hell In A Cell 2016 Women's Matches

History will be made when the WWE has women compete inside the Hell in a Cell for the first time. It will be Sasha Banks defending Raw's Women's Championship against Charlotte.

There was some teasing since last week that this match would be the main event of the PPV. That has since turned into this match being a part of one of those "triple main-event" deals. I would say there is at least some chance this match might still be the true main event. That is to say, the match that closes the show.

Should it be? No. The WWE just cannot force this women's revolution to be a thing. They have to let it be organic. They are not giving it a chance to work out. They are treating it like it is working out. And who are they going to listen to to see if fans are approving? The same fans that were all for women being treated this much better? Want to guess whether those fans will give a thumbs up or thumbs down? There are still a lot of fans out there not liking this. There are fans that have not really gotten the chance to connect with some of these women before they have been rushed to the top. Slow down, WWE.

The Universal Championship match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens should be the main event. It has had some issues and is not even the real feud fans should be interested in for Seth Rollins. That would be Seth vs. Triple H. Nevertheless, this match is for Raw's top title. This match will be used to further the top storyline going on. This match is the match I will be talking about on Friday.

If the WWE did put the women in the top spot this Sunday, will it really be that much of an honor? Look at what they did a few weeks ago at Smackdown's last PPV. The triple threat for the WWE Championship, the match that should have closed the show, went on first. Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton was the main event. I have said that I like this feud, but it did not deserve to close the PPV. That looks like just cowardice on the part of the WWE because of the presidential debate. What is the WWE scared of this Sunday? The Dallas Cowboys vs. the Philadelphia Eagles? They should be scared of the Dallas Cowboys. Is this just going to become a theme for even PPVs now? The WWE Network era cheapens the value of PPVs already, especially with the brand split back. If the WWE did choose to put this match on last, it wouldn't be the same as if they had done it a decade ago.

Who wins? Sasha Banks. Enough tossing the title around. Charlotte has her streak of PPV wins, but that statistic doesn't matter. I just hope they keep it safe. I have seen some fans say there needs to be blood in the Hell in a Cell matches, even this one. No, there does not need to be blood. If the WWE puts this match as the main event, these women might feel even more obligated to get crazy. And things have not always gone smoothly when expectations are high with these women.

What happens after Sunday? Sasha Banks can move on to Emmalina. Nia Jax is also an option, but I would go with Emmalina. The WWE has already murdered Nia's momentum. What about Charlotte? That will be interesting to see. Did they put all that work into her for the last year just to ditch her? That would be some TNA nonsense right there. They could put her in a storyline with Lana. There was some drama there between them a little while ago. It would obviously not be a serious wrestling feud, but not everything needs to go through the ring. Charlotte needs to do a better job with her character. Some storyline variety might help her.

Even though it is not yet official, Dana Brooke vs. Baylay might find itself somewhere on Sunday's card. These two have been feuding for the last few weeks. Why not put it somewhere on Sunday? It might be a kickoff match.

This feud has shown some of the things that are still wrong with this era. Go back to Raw last week. Dana Brooke got a clean win over Bayley. You can talk about Dana botching the finish and she was supposed to put her foot on the ropes all you want. Dana Brooke should not be pinning Bayley at all. Dana Brooke is not a good wrestler. That is not one of her assets. Bayley is one of the top female wrestling talents from NXT. Charlotte and Sasha pinning her is one thing. Dana Brooke? No. There are certain things that should be earned. Making history and headlining PPVs are things you would expect to fall into that category. Dana beating someone like Bayley is something that should be earned. She needs to improve her in-ring work. This would not be the first time she has messed something up. Just handing Dana a win over someone like Bayley does no one any favors. Wrestling fans are still not going to buy into Dana's in-ring work. Bayley doesn't look good. And people that want a better women's division are going to groan at this.

There are some exceptions to this idea that someone that isn't good in the ring should not be beating a woman that is good in the ring. If the female wrestler in question is a heel and the other woman is a face, you might let it go. If the heel does a great job in getting fans to want to see her get her comeuppance, they would love it if she gets owned even from someone that isn't someone you would expect to own her. Let it be some old person. Let it be some non-wrestler. Let it even be a diva. It leads to a good moment. That is not what you have here. Bayley is a face and Dana Brooke is a heel that needs to improve herself. Booking can't do it for her.

Look at TNA having Maria feud with Gail Kim. That was a feud I did not really love too much, from the standpoint of what wrestling fans would want to see. At a time when the WWE is hyping treating women's wrestling better, TNA pushes a diva against a respected female wrestler. Maria even won the KO title. It was all obviously to eventually put over Gail Kim, but you can see how these kind of feuds can hurt the respectability of the division, if you even care about looking respectable.

There are other ways to make someone look good in a feud without having them beat the person they are feuding against. Have Dana Brooke just attack Bayley. They have done things like this in recent weeks for this feud. There was no need to book Dana to get a win over Bayley.

This week on Raw featured another segment between the two. It was arm wrestling this time. Dana took advantage of Bayley's injury to get a win, then got owned the second time. A little brawl ensued. Bayley won that battle. That was a fine way to prolong the feud without having just another wrestling match.

There was a problem, however. Fans were not too respectful for the segment. Was it once again a case of antsy Lesnar fans waiting to see him? This same thing happened before in Minnesota. Some fans still just do not like what is going on in this era. Was the idea to have an arm wrestling match really such a terrible idea? I don't think so, as a writer. Bayley has a shoulder injury. Dana Brooke likes to show off her muscles. The segment just seemed obvious. The WWE doesn't have the depth to keep having multiple women's matches every Raw. Proper feud development involves some non-wrestling segments. How is someone like Dana Brooke supposed to build her character? She isn't great at wrestling.

Nevertheless, there are some fans that roll their eyes at this kind of thing. There was nothing sexist about what the WWE did. This wasn't some kind of skin match. They do this kind of thing even with the men. Mark Henry has been involved in a lot of arm wrestling segments. And yet, all they care about for these women are wrestling matches. The WWE just cannot sustain what some fans want to see. Give the WWE a break. They cannot get by with just pleasing wrestling fans. They got to put work into these women to build them into more than just wrestlers and to create segments and storylines that can entertain more than just wrestling fans. But can they do it with divas still in this new women's division? Can female wrestlers and divas coexist? It would help if some fans eased up a little.

As for who wins this likely match, Bayley. Dana Brooke has already gotten enough wins over Bayley to last her the rest of the year.  

Sasha Banks Returns In A Big, Disappointing Way

Last week, a tweet from Sasha Banks stirred speculation that she might be retiring. The WWE spent much of the night promoting Sasha's big announcement. She got her segment in the final hour before the main event. She sold it like it might be the end. Dana Brooke came out to heel it up. Sasha Banks attacked her and announced that she was not retiring. She was just officially back.

This whole thing just seemed to fail in multiple ways. There were even dirtsheet reports of talent being unhappy about it. I think it was a pointless angle. Beyond that, Sasha just said something that is terrible for her character to say. There is a lot to get into.

First, why did they even bother? Sasha Banks was only gone for what ended up being two weeks. Just have her return by attacking Charlotte, which she has done before to a lot of buzz from wrestling fans. Or have her return to save Bayley from an attack from Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Or have her return while Charlotte and Bayley are having an in-ring promo. There was no need to tease that her injury issues might lead to her retiring.

Why did they do it? The WWE is either very stupid or they are trying to fool someone. It was Labor Day last Monday. There was a college football game on between two good teams, and the game ended up being somewhat competitive. How would the WWE compete against that? Hyping something and building up to it is an efficient way to draw. Problem is, Sasha Banks isn't that over and isn't that well-known with the wider audience. Why would they care to tune it? If the WWE thought Sasha Banks could draw big in this situation, they overestimated her and made a big mistake. Or were they just doing it to sell that they want Sasha Banks to be a top star for them? They haven't exactly put in the work to properly get her over beyond wrestling fans.

A few months ago, I talked about how the women's division lacked star power. Someone commented that I underestimated Sasha Banks. He brought up the great ratings Raw had gotten one night, which was when Sasha Banks returned from an injury and attacked Charlotte. There were a number of reasons why you should not have made too much out of those numbers. To start with, it was the night after a PPV, which usually get good numbers. Beyond that, the WWE did not hype Sasha Banks returning. And she wasn't exactly out there for long. Even if Twitter buzz led to some fans tuning in, Sasha Banks was probably done doing anything interesting by the time they tuned in.

If Sasha Banks has the power to draw for the WWE, they gave her the opportunity to prove it last week. The seeds were planted before Raw even started. The WWE hyped it throughout the night. It led all the way to the third hour. How did Raw do last week? 3.06 million viewers. And viewership dropped each hour as the show went on. The hour involving Sasha Banks was the worst of the night, getting about 2.8 million viewers. The WWE obviously did not deliver with the intrigue of Triple H returning and screwing Seth Rollins. Why did he do it? Have to wait and find out. But they ran with this Sasha Banks angle, which could have drawn interest, if Sasha was as much of a draw as some people think.

Onto some talent reportedly being upset with the angle. The WWE ran with a fake retirement due to injury angle. That can hit home for some wrestlers. They watched the careers of some of their friends and legends they respect come to an end due to injury. There were even some workers there that night that could directly relate to injuries ruining their careers. I wasn't personally offended, but I can understand if some people really were offended. Just to make it clear, workers are reportedly upset with the WWE running the angle, not with Sasha Banks.

I have seen some fans say the WWE just did the same thing they did with Mark Henry years ago. Not exactly. Mark Henry has had his injury issues, but the WWE never led people to believe back then that he was being forced to retire due to injury when he did his memorable segment. It was just a guy that was in the WWE for a long time deciding to hang it up. With the Sasha Banks segment, the WWE was running with Sasha Banks having injury issues.

Just comparing the two segments, Mark Henry's was obviously better. But just back to the idea of Sasha Banks failing to draw a big audience with her angle, Mark Henry was a guy that has been in the business for decades, including during the Attitude Era, and has accomplished things outside of wrestling. Putting a person like that in this kind of situation is more likely to draw and make an impact than what the WWE did with Sasha Banks. Sasha has only been wrestling for 6 years now. She has not made a name for herself outside wrestling. Being related to a celebrity is not enough. Making a name for yourself in NXT is not enough. NXT does not get the wide audience the main roster gets.

Back to the idea of people being upset about the segment. It wouldn't be the first time the WWE exploited a sensitive subject, especially with the women, and had it flop. You just have to be sensitive these days. When Kevin Owens recently won the Universal Championship, someone from ESPN got trashed by fans for saying something on Twitter many viewed as insensitive in response to the son of Kevin Owens celebrating his dad's win. His son has autism. Made me think back to a comment I had made about his son having a new toy to play with when Owens won the new title. Should I feel bad for saying it? Should I apologize? I don't think I said anything offensive. That is still his son. He is 8. Kids that age play with title belts. I know teenagers and adults that play with title belts. But as far as the WWE goes, they take advantage of these kind of things to try to drum up controversy and draw for them. I would say it is worse for them to do this kind of thing.

As far as insensitive comments go, Sasha Banks said something in that segment last week that rubbed me the wrong way. She body-shamed Dana Brooke. I don't take offense to it personally. Even as a fan of Mickie James, what she said does not offend me because of bringing back any memories to what the WWE did to Mickie in her final months in the WWE.

The issue I have is that Sasha Banks should not be saying that. Not only is she a face, she is a woman that a lot of fans look at as some kind of hero. She is viewed as a hero to women's wrestling. She is viewed as a hero to women in general. And she slams a woman for how she looks? She just looks like a raging hypocrite. I have given Sasha Banks a fair shot in her first year on the main roster, but she has just not won me over at all. I don't know if that was a scripted comment coming from the WWE or if Sasha just did it on the fly to taunt Dana. Either way, it is garbage.

The rest of Sasha's promo before that wasn't exactly anything fresh. I am not saying anything about her execution. I am talking about the actual message. It was more feminist hype. The WWE just needs to cut it down. Enough of it. It is not entertaining. Even though some fans like hearing it, it is abrasive for a lot of other fans. It is one of the reasons this whole revolution has not been as widely successful as it could have been. You can treat these women better without making a theme out of it. That is what I would like to see.

Overall, I would love it if more of these women did stand up for themselves more backstage. If Sasha was told by the writers to make that body-shaming comment towards Dana, she should have put her foot down and refused. Not only are you making Dana look bad, you are making yourself look like a hypocrite. I sat there about 7 years ago and watched my favorite female wrestler allow herself to be humiliated by the WWE for the sake of exploiting her to get some woman over that can't do it for herself. How about you put your damn foot down and don't let that happen? You can talk about being in the WWE being a dream job and wanting to look like a team player all you want, but there are just some terrible decisions that don't make you look good, don't make the WWE look good, and don't succeed in accomplishing anything good. Why do it? Why allow it? This is the era of female empowerment? Okay, so when are these women going to put there foot down and stop these terrible segments from happening?

With Sasha Banks back, that throws a bit of a wrench in the feud that was developing between Bayley and Charlotte. The easy answer is to have a triple-threat match. Some fans have suggested one of the faces just feud with Dana Brooke for a while. Is that a feud anyone wants to see? Dana is not great in the ring, the result of the feud would be predictable, and they have already had Dana face both Baylay and Sasha in singles matches. It would just be pure filler. Reports suggest the WWE is not even sure how they want to handle things for the first Raw-exclusive PPV of the new era. They still have some time to put something together.

Previewing Sasha Banks Vs. Charlotte At Summerslam 2016

How did the WWE further the women's feud on Raw this week? They dug up Alicia Fox from wherever they buried her and had Charlotte go over her. I have been saying that the WWE has a little bit of an emergency situation with their depth in the women's division right now. Using Alicia Fox again is a step in the right direction, but not much. It's like having a bunch of poor quarterbacks behind your starter. Having all those bodies there means nothing if they aren't helping you win games when the starter goes down. The Dallas Cowboys learned that last season. Depth isn't just about quantity. It is also about quality. Alicia Fox isn't terrible, but she has no credibility, despite having held the butterfly title once, and most fans don't care too much about her. Can you imagine Sasha Banks getting injured and the WWE pushing Alicia Fox as the top face? I can't see them doing it. They would probably immediately go to Bayley or bring back someone like Melina. But just in terms of the match they booked, the WWE at least put two people together that haven't gone at it in a while.

What happened after the match is what really matters. Sasha Banks, who was on commentary during the match, made her way down to the ring to confront Charlotte. Dana Brooke went after Sasha. Charlotte got the upper hand and locked Sasha in her submission for a good while. That is a better way to build some heat in the feud prior to Summerslam beyond just having Charlotte go over a jobber.

Who wins this Sunday? Going by the momentum rule, Sasha Banks will win. The odds are against her. Or did they have Charlotte weaken her on Raw just to give Sasha a bit of an excuse for losing?

It pretty much comes down to what they have planned after Summerslam. Is Nia Jax going to be moved in as the top contender? Then it makes sense for Sasha to retain to face her. Is Bayley popping up? Then the WWE might want to give the title back to Charlotte and let the feud between Sasha and Charlotte continue a little longer to have their rematch, then move on to heel Charlotte vs. face Bayley. I will say Sasha retains and moves on to Nia Jax. Nia can't continue just beating local jobbers forever. The WWE should start going in some direction with her. Probably help sell more of those generic-looking shirts they made for her.

Even more important than who ends up with the title, who is the centerpiece? Is the WWE even going to have one true centerpiece in their women's division anymore? Last year at this time, Nikki Bella, an eye-candy diva, was Diva's Champion and looking like the centerpiece. What is the status quo of this new era in the women's era? I would say it is way too early to tell. Charlotte just lost the title a few weeks ago. Sasha Banks just won it. Which of these two women is the centerpiece, if any of the two? What happens when Nikki Bella returns? What is going on with Smackdown's women? How will the WWE react to injury issues piling up? Injury issues were a factor in the decline of the previous era in the women's division. How long of a leash does this era have? Giving these female wrestlers an opportunity does not mean you let them do whatever they want and outcomes don't matter. I know wrestling fans want to hand every respectable female wrestler to come out of NXT a gold medal, but I wouldn't be so quick to say everything is so marvelous. Some of these women need to clean up their in-ring work a little. Some of them can work on developing their characters more. There is still more work for both the WWE and these workers to do. And all it may take is a few big injuries to ruin this era.

Previewing Battleground 2016 Women's Matches

It is one of those occasions where a PPV will have two women's matches. Despite that, the Women's Championship will not be on the line for the second PPV in a row.

First, Natalya faces Becky Lynch. It is a decent secondary feud. Could be a lot better. The WWE has tried to make it like the story here is that all of Becky's friends turn on her. Not much to buy into here. Just seems like a lame story.

To make this feud mean more, I wouldn't have minded them making this some kind of gimmick match. No DQ? Falls Count Anywhere? Natalya has been brutalizing Becky for a while now. You want to sell this as a heated feud? Add something more to the match. Right now, this just feels like a match you would get on a Raw or Smackdown. And I don't think it will continue all the way to Summerslam. If it does, it will likely be on the pre-show. 

Who wins? It just seems obvious Becky Lynch should win. She is the fresher talent of the two. It is obvious by now Natalya is not going anywhere. She has dominated the feud against Becky. It just seems like Becky is winning this Sunday.

Onto the tag match. Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks and a partner of her choice. Let me start by talking about the WWE's decision not to have the title defended at Battleground. I am not a believer that a title has to be defended every PPV. I wouldn't even throw a fit if the WWE gave the Champion a rare night off to give the spotlight to two other women that have something else great going on. But this is the second PPV in a row that Charlotte is in a tag match and the title is not being defended. I am sure the WWE won't make too much of a habit out of this, but this new era for the women's division hasn't been working out as well as many fans would hope.

How about the decision to make Sasha get a partner to face Charlotte and Dana? That angle had some potential. They could have legitimately have sold it as no one wanting to team with Sasha, either because they don't want to cross Charlotte and Dana or women on the roster have not fully grown to trust Sasha after being a heel as long as she was. Problem is, the WWE had Becky Lynch team with Sasha on Raw this week to face Charlotte and Dana. Becky obviously won't be teaming with her on Sunday, but it kind of kills the potential of this angle by showing other women are willing to face Charlotte and Dana and tag with Sasha.

The only thing this angle still has going for it is the mystery element. Who will the partner be? Looking around, the top three options I see fans bringing up are Paige, Nikki Bella, and Bayley. The WWE going with Paige is not likely. There is no real impact there.

How about Nikki Bella? I have said before that she has not officially retired and could be coming back. She is not the partner Sasha Banks would pick if she had the power to pick her own partner, but the WWE might pick Nikki to get her back in the picture. And if she is back in the picture, it won't be as a jobber.

Bayley seems like the likely option. NXT will be represented in the draft on Smackdown tonight. Bayley and Sasha have a history. Wrestling fans would love to see her. But they are dreading one thing. What if Bayley debuts and gets lost in the shuffle soon after? With the brand split, it might be less likely that happens. Nevertheless, I do see some fans saying they would rather it be Paige so Bayley can debut at a better time and in a better way. If Bayley does debut and gets this match, what are the chances she gets added to the title feud between Charlotte and Sasha Banks? That would be unfair to Sasha. I thought it was unfair to insert Sasha Banks into the storyline that was there between Charlotte and Becky Lynch, and you might get the same kind of situation again where Sasha gets the short end of the stick. I would just like the WWE to see a feud for one of these new women to a proper finish before inserting another new woman.

The WWE could have avoided a lot of this dread if they just kept the feud between Sasha and Charlotte simple. Put the title on the line in a singles match at Battleground. Charlotte retains through cheating. Sasha wins the title at Summerslam. Bayley can debut a little later. Let one of the divas debut from NXT tonight, like Alexa Bliss. Some fans have brought up Nia Jax. Bayley is still the favorite to debut, but it would be nice if she wasn't inserted into the feud involving Sasha and Charlotte just yet. Sasha has enough face partners on the main roster already to tag with her against Charlotte and Dana. There was no great need to treat this like she needs to find someone special. Because you are left wondering what will happen to that person she does find. If she gets lost in the shuffle, that is something to complain about. If she ruins Sasha's push, that is something to complain about. Let's see how that plays out.

As for the winner of the match, it would be a shame to have a debut or return and have Charlotte and Dana win. The only way I can picture the heels winning is if it is someone like Paige that gets picked. I will say Bayley debuts and the face team wins.

State Of The WWE Women's Division: July 2016

This is my first time doing a general overview of the WWE women's division since they made "diva" a bad word. Have things really changed that much? First, I am going to run through the main players in the women's division right now. After that, I'll look at the two feuds going on.

Let me start with Summer Rae. She is a diva. And she is a diva that has been getting in the ring probably too much. Most of her singles matches this year have been losses, so wrestling fans aren't going to complain about her burying anyone. This is a new era and I don't think seeing someone like Summer Rae get so many matches is what many wrestling fans were hoping for. Not only are some of these matches the WWE is booking not as great as some fans might hope, it just gets stale seeing Summer Rae always in this position. She needs a periphery angle. That's where she can do her best work and be more useful.

One step above of Summer Rae would be Dana Brooke. She is another eye-candy worker. But she is a little more relevant than Summer Rae by being the sidekick to Charlotte. Michelle McCool had Layla and Charlotte has Dana Brooke. Again, this is a worker wrestling fans probably did not expect to get as much in-ring time as she has when this new era started. She is not the greatest in the ring. She is charismatic. That's probably her best strength. She should be a sidekick. It is a good role for her. But the WWE needs to get some better in-ring workers to help make these filler matches a little more appealing for wrestling fans.

Switching to some eye-candy divas that aren't getting in the ring, let me start with Maryse. Miz is back from filming another movie, so his wife gets to be relevant again. Maryse hasn't been used in a big way, but she has gotten involved here and there in segments. That's good. I would say they are using her about as well as they could an eye-candy diva in this era aligned with a midcarder.

Lana is a different story. When Rusev and Lana first came on the main roster, Lana really stood out. Rusev was the brute that destroyed people and Lana was his charismatic, sexy mouthpiece. She had a strong character that got over, even as a heel. Rusev has grown since then. He now speaks for himself. He is his own guy. Lana is still in the picture, but she is really an afterthought. If she wasn't a sexy woman, she would probably be phased out and eventually released like certain other sidekicks over the years. But the WWE can use her for Total Divas, photoshoots, and other things like that. She has been learning how to wrestle. The WWE could develop an in-ring feud for her. Don't treat her like Summer Rae, but do more to let her character really stand out again. There have been some beautiful women in the history of the WWE that may have hurt their overness by getting in the ring and not being good enough to keep wrestling fans on their side. I don't think it would hurt Lana to get in the ring a little more often. If not that, find a better way to incorporate her into Rusev's angles.

Switching to the actual wrestlers, let me start with Paige. Paige is more relevant for angles associated with Total Divas than she is for actual wrestling angles. She is a credible jobber. No shocker with how she is being pushed. I have said before that she deserves better. Push her in that spot AJ Lee had. Push her as the top female wrestler in the periphery. I think she has what it takes more than any other female wrestler on the roster right now.

Natalya is also a credible jobber. She had her recent heel turn and feud with Becky Lynch. Eventually, she might be the one serving the purpose Summer Rae now serves. After the brand split, just keep Natalya on the show with the title to be a heel credible jobber there. Let Summer Rae go to the other show and get periphery angles there.

Becky Lynch is pretty much the face version of Natalya. She is a face credible jobber. I would say she is another one being underutilized. Getting a feud is better than nothing, but there was a great story between her and Charlotte that has gotten ruined. The WWE may never be able to regain the momentum that was there, even if they wanted to try in the future.

Sasha Banks is the face credible jobber currently being used as jobber to the centerpiece. Most wrestling fans want to see her win the title. The WWE might as well do it. Don't play with fire. Just give her a title reign, go through the motions with her for a few months, and then drop it back to Charlotte, or whomever they want the centerpiece to be by then. By that time, Bayley will probably be debuting and wrestling fans will be calling for her to get a title push. Sasha Banks can then get phased out easily. I have seen the WWE do this many times in the last almost two decades. No one ever catches on. Fans will just say that Sasha Banks had her push and Bayley deserves her opportunity. They won't stop to realize that, while all these women are being rotated around, the WWE is attempting to treat one woman as a constant.

And that constant appears to be Charlotte. She is the centerpiece of the new era. She just is not a great centerpiece. Some fans point out that she is getting heel heat. Okay, but is most of that reaction she is getting based on her being a great heel? Or is it mainly fans not liking her or her act? Is Roman Reigns a great heel because he gets booed? Problem is, he's a face. If the WWE turned him heel and fans still hated him or his act, he would get booed. It wouldn't be heat because he's a great heel. It would be heat because fans just don't like what they see. That's the kind of thing I am wondering with Charlotte. Even if she does get genuinely over as a heel, what happens when they turn her face? Do fans buy her? A centerpiece should have the versatility to connect with fans as a face or a heel. If fans boo a heel because he does a great job playing the heel role, that's good. If fans cheer a heel because he is so entertaining or a wrestler they will respect no matter what, that is also good. But if they turn that heel face and fans don't care or hate him, that's a problem. While Charlotte may be working as a heel, there are women on the roster that can be great as a heel or a face. One of them should be the centerpiece.

Let me go to the feud between Charlotte and Sasha Banks. It really isn't that amazing of a feud. Since Sasha Banks is involved and has a chance to get the title, many fans are buying into this as something more amazing than it really is. I can see Charlotte retaining at Battleground and Sasha winning the title at the next encounter, probably at Summerslam.

Becky Lynch vs. Natalya is another feud that really isn't that spectacular. But it is getting heated and fans are buying into it. Natalya is dominating the feud so much, the outcome seems obvious. While creative depth is always good, I hope the WWE doesn't make every secondary women's feud just a heel beating up a face until the face wins. More of a story would be nice.

Let me close by going back to the issue of certain women that aren't that great in the ring getting put in matches too much recently. That is a depth issue. The WWE has had to deal with some injuries to some women in the last few months. This is just reminiscent of issues they had in the diva era. A lack of depth led to the WWE pushing women they probably would not have wanted to push. You can say the WWE could have just rushed the debut of someone from development. They didn't. They made do with what they had. How about recent months? Has the WWE been in a situation where they should have rushed a debut? I am not talking about Bayley or Asuka. I mean someone that would be an obvious low-tier or mid-tier credible jobber. It would make for some fresher matches and likely better matches. Fact is, they didn't. That's not something they do. They make do with what they have. It will be interesting to see what they do with the brand split and should issues arise in the two women's divisions after the split occurs. If the roster gets thin again, how will the WWE react?

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2016 Women's Match

 

The women's match for this year's Money in the Bank PPV is probably not much to talk about, but I'll still talk about. It will be Natalya and Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte and Dana Brooke.

 Why is this match probably not much to talk about? It's just a tag match. Nothing is on the line. You had a tag match at Fastlane earlier this year. Difference is, you also had a separate match for the Diva's Championship, as well. The creative depth right now is terrible. That will obviously change when the brand split happens. It is not impossible for tag feuds to be exciting for the women, but this just isn't one of those exciting feuds.

Who wins? It is a tag match. Nothing is on the line. Obviously, this is a situation for the faces to win. Thing is, what happens after? Does either Natalya or Becky Lynch get the push against Charlotte? Natalya was just there, so it would probably be Becky Lynch getting the push now. It would be kind of a waste for the face team to win and neither of them to get the title feud after. But there are fans eager to see Sasha Banks get the push. I see fans questioning whether Paige should be getting a title shot. If the WWE does want to push either of those two women against Charlotte next, the heels should win this Sunday to help give Charlotte the momentum and clear the way for that fresh challenger. I will say the faces win this Sunday and Becky Lynch gets the push next.

What would fans have rather seen for Money in the Bank for the women? How about a Money in the Bank ladder match? Personally, I would not have wanted to see it. Other promotions have had ladder matches with women, but this is the WWE. The diva division may be dead, supposedly, but the WWE would still hold their women back to some degree. More over, you have a lot of injury issues for the women recently. Sasha Banks might just be crazy enough to try some crazy spot that would take her out for at least another few weeks. Maybe next year. Improve the depth in the division and hope the best workers can stay healthy.

Dana Brooke: The Next Layla?

Michelle McCool was not a great worker. Great workers get the job done. They don't just get pushed like they are getting the job done. They don't just have the talent and attributes to get the job done. They actually go out there and get it done through their own abilities. McCool never got over at the level she should have. But the WWE pushed her like she was great. She was solid in the ring, but one of her biggest issues was a lack of charisma.

One of the things the WWE did to help her was give her a sidekick. There was a span where Vickie Guerrero was involved with Michelle McCool, but McCool's real memorable sidekick was Layla. Layla was charismatic. Did it really help McCool or the duo to get over? Not really. But it was a tool the WWE used to help McCool get over.

Just a few years after McCool retired, there is another woman in a similar position. Charlotte is pushed as the centerpiece. She is very athletic. But her main issue is her lack of charisma. She is not as over as she should be. The WWE has already handed her history, much like they did with Michelle McCool several times. They used Ric Flair to give her a rub. You can say that is comparable to Vickie Guerrero giving McCool a rub. Use a non-wrestler that is getting a better reaction from the fans to help the woman you want to push as a star. Ric Flair is now out of the picture. But someone else just entered the picture.

Dana Brooke has aligned with Charlotte. With Emma injured, you had to wonder what the WWE would do with her. Dana's best attribute, in my opinion, is her charisma. It certainly isn't her wrestling ability. Layla was not a great wrestler when she started in the WWE. She improved. Maybe Dana will continue to improve. Regardless, Charlotte has a charismatic diva to help her look more interesting. In this way, Dana Brooke looks like the new Layla.

This kind of thing didn't really work for Layla and Michelle McCool. Will it work here? The WWE pushed LayCool with an overbearing gimmick and stifled a lot of the other things that could have been going on in the division. LayCool was all there really was to talk about for a while. Charlotte doesn't have a big gimmick, especially now with her father gone. There are also other minor periphery pushes going on, like Lana with Rusev and Maryse with Miz, but nothing too huge. Fans will talk about Charlotte, but how over will she actually become? A lot of people are talking about Roman Reigns. Most of it isn't always positive. Same thing here with Charlotte. Fans talking about Charlotte does not mean she is actually over.

Just to make it clear, Dana is there for the benefit of Charlotte. Charlotte isn't there to give Dana a big rub. The WWE wasn't trying to get Layla over back when she was with Michelle McCool. If they were, they would have done a better job pushing her the final years of her career after McCool retired. As long as Charlotte doesn't do anything to seriously screw herself, she will continue to be pushed at a high level until she leaves the WWE. Dana Brooke will eventually be phased out.

A lot of what has been going on recently seems very diva-like. I see some fans unhappy about short matches. Dana Brooke definitely is not someone with respectable wrestling ability. Sasha Banks has injury issues. Ric Flair was arguably taking too much of the attention for a while. Fans that were so eager for a revolution are not seeing a lot of the things they were hoping for. It is still a dark age. The WWE is definitely not efficient. Is a woman that is obviously not an eye-candy diva being pushed as a centerpiece a sign of things changing? Or is this just dark age shenanigans? I had some hope that the WWE might be doing something different. But they are showing signs of still sticking to their old ways. They had to go beyond this feminist-inspired division they were having for a while. The goal is to entertain, not get too self-righteous. At the same time, the WWE has to do a better job than they are. They are failing to create stars and create an entertaining women's division. Worse than that, they might risk another Twitter uproar if they keep going in the direction they are going.

Dana Brooke Joins Emma On The Main Roster

Emma worked with Dana Brooke back in NXT. It is no shocker that Dana would debut a few weeks after Emma returned to the main roster. Dana helped Emma with Becky Lynch on Raw this week.

First, let me talk about that feud between Emma and Becky Lynch. The WWE started it a few weeks ago. It lost some momentum. It looked so terrible for a while, it looked like the WWE wasn't even serious about this. Debuting Dana Brooke at least rejuvenates it back to a respectable level. Becky and a friend can now feud with Emma and Dana. That would likely be Sasha Banks.

Another debut? Is the WWE going to have a debut or return in the women's division every month? Maryse returned last month. Emma came back from NXT a little while before that. I have already made it clear multiple times how I feel about this. They are just crowding their women's division. Releasing Cameron, a woman that wasn't even relevant on the main roster for a long time, did not really create a situation where they needed to debut someone new. The WWE just needs to slow it down and do a better job with what they have on the main roster right now.

Let me look at Dana Brooke. She is like a more diva-like Beth Phoenix. That might not be a great thing as far as match quality goes. But even the divas that are going to be a part of this new women's division deserve a chance. I think the WWE has enough eye-candy divas on the main roster already, but Dana Brooke might have potential as a character.

How about the duo of Emma and Dana Brooke? They obviously had the chance to develop some chemistry in NXT. Despite whatever criticisms I have brought up, I do think this duo has potential. I just do not have confidence in how the WWE will utilize them. How likely is it that they will just be used to put over some faces, then lose all their momentum? And I think a lot of wrestling fans might be unhappy if they win a feud against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks and those two faces are the ones that lose their momentum. The WWE just cannot keep the ball rolling with everyone. Who deserves to be treated as the priority in this situation? And what is the WWE likely to do in this situation?

Should there be tag titles in the women's division? I do not think so. Even with Emma and Dana Brooke, there are not a lot of teams in the division to make this practical. Look at what happened less than a year ago. You had 3 vs. 3 vs. 3. That is when talk about tag titles for the women really had some merit. What happened? Nikki Bella suffered a serious injury. Brie Bella retired. Alicia Fox is irrelevant right now. That's one team down. Paige turned on Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Charlotte turned on Becky Lynch. That's another team down. Sasha Banks separated from Naomi and Tamina. Naomi and Tamina have injury issues. Even if the didn't, the WWE isn't serious about pushing them. That's the other team down. That's why I do not like getting attached to teams in the women's division. Most of them don't last long. And if the WWE is going to handle things like this, it just isn't practical to have tag titles. And also keep in mind that some of these women have diva-level wrestling ability. Some fans may just get upset if these women won titles.

It is more important to entertain than it is to hand women accolades. The WWE has to be able to create entertaining situations without titles. Most intelligent people in the world know wrestling is scripted and won't get too aggravated over titles in a scripted show. But if the show is entertaining, that is what will draw them in. The WWE needs to do it with interesting gimmicks and storylines.

I think Emma and Dana have potential to be good on the main roster. The WWE just needs to stick with them. They are not likely to be pushed as LayCool. No centerpiece in this duo. But they shouldn't end up like Layla and Summer Rae. And they can do it without tag titles or any other titles. If they catch momentum and the WWE is able to create an entertaining situation with putting the Women's Championship on one of them, that is when they should get the title. Knowing how the WWE operates, however, that is not likely to work out well.