Evaluating The General Managers Under The Corporate Heel Storyline

A few months ago, they had this angle about evaluating Vickie Guerrero's job as Raw GM. That led to some shifting of power in terms of who was running the two shows. Brad Maddox took over on Raw, while Vickie got Smackdown. I am not going to be looking at how entertaining the two are as authority figures right now. I am going to be evaluating how the WWE is actually utilizing them.

Why even bother bringing this subject up? Because the roles seem almost pointless. You have Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Vince McMahon all being heels and calling the shots. The General Managers are both just pawns under them. It would make more sense to consider them corporate assistants to Triple H and Stephanie. Their roles are being overshadowed.

When Maddox took over on Raw, they treated him as the GM the fans deserved. It was a heel move from Vince McMahon. What should that have led to? An incompetent GM angle? Instead, it manifested itself in just another authority figure being used by the bosses above him.

When Vickie went to Smackdown, it looked like she would be bitter over the fans wanting her to lose her job on Raw. That could have led to an angle revolving around Vickie Guerrero getting a reign of terror on Smackdown. It didn't happen. Well, not with her. Triple H is getting the reign of terror.

Just taking a general evaluation in how the WWE is creatively handling the GM positions right now, it seems really useless. I don't blame the writers. The McMahons obviously want to run a big storyline about them being the top heels against Daniel Bryan. It just isn't really possible to treat Vickie Guerrero and Brad Maddox better with all this other stuff going on. It is a waste. I find it hard to consider them true GMs when they are overshadowed like this. As I said before, make them assistants to the real heels in charge. They will still have power to make matches. The only thing that would really change is the job title. Sounds trivial, but it might help with the flow of the storyline a little better. I just can't take Vickie and Brad seriously as in charge as a GM should be.

Oh Look, It's Vickie

A new Smackdown GM has been named. Teddy Long? Brad Maddox? Booker T kept his spot? None of the above. It is Vickie Guerrero.

That is not the person I would have chosen, but now that she does have the position back, I hope they do something different with her. She was getting stale as Raw GM and not really contributing anything of value for a while at one time. The fact that she draws so much heat was her only redeeming quality, but they were not even featuring her properly to let that do anything. Besides, do people really tune in just to see Vickie screaming over being booed? Let her be a true heel GM now. Don't let her be one of those GMs that pander to the fans and bosses to try to do a good job. You have Brad Maddox to do that. If you are going to make Vickie a GM again, have her get a storyline where she wants revenge against the fans that had her fired, in kayfabe. They are already teasing that direction, but run with it. Have her make life miserable for faces on Smackdown. Develop her as something the fans would really like to see fired even more than she just was on Raw. Make her more intriguing. Fans might tune in just to see what Vickie would do next and who will finally stop her reign of terror. Even though fans didn't like her during her recent run as Raw GM, she really didn't have that strong of a reign of terror, especially in the last few months.

How would I like to have seen the Smackdown GM situation handled? Very simple answer to that. Let Booker T and Teddy Long finish their feud. There was tension between the two before Booker T left. There's more than one way to get rid of one GM and name another. Having it done by authority figures above the GM is one way. That already happened recently on Raw. You can also have it settled in some kind of match. John Laurinaitis knows about that. Why not have a representative for Booker T face a representative for Teddy Long? If the WWE is not going to settle the issues between Vince McMahon and Triple H at Summerslam, a Smackdown power struggle culminating at the big summer PPV would not have been bad. Booker T can even represent himself by competing. In the end, my point is simply that it would have been nice if they mixed things up a little better with recent GM changes.

If I would not have had Vickie be a GM again so fast, where would I have put her if she still wanted to stick around? Make her a manager of a wrestler again. Vickie's career would just be going through this cycle of manager and authority figure, but what else is there for her? Who would she manage? I have seen some people mention Vickie teaming with Ryback. I like that idea. He's a heel that they are currently interested in featuring. Giving him Vickie as a manager might have made him look more interesting after he's lost so much credibility.

Vickie's Performance Evaluation

Another instance of the WWE trying to hype Raw up better these days. Not only is Bray Wyatt coming, but Vickie Guerrero is going to have a performance review on Raw tonight.

What direction should the WWE go with this? Will she be promoted to be the regular GM? Will she be relieved of the duties she does have? This could very well turn into the kind of situation when the WWE teased having Triple H get rid of John Laurinaitis over a year ago. That ended up getting interrupted. Who would interrupt Vickie's possible termination? The Shield? If they had not lost so much relevance in recent weeks, they would be a good option. The McMahons definitely do not seem to like the job Vickie is doing, in terms of the storyline they are running, so a change in the kayfabe status quo of Raw may not be surprising. Who takes over? The McMahons try to run things themselves? That could further a storyline of tension between all three even more. That would be a good idea. It would be better than just tossing in a new GM and nothing being taken to another level.

Does Vickie deserve to be replaced? I'm not talking in terms of the storyline right now. Just in terms of quality of the show, should she not be an authority figure? I think they should move on. I know she gets a ton of heat, but I know a lot of fans who have said that Vickie makes them want to change the channel. And Vickie does not really serve a unique role in the position she is in. What do I mean by that? Go back to when John Laurinaitis was running things. He was an executive. His issues with CM Punk made perfect sense with the storyline they were running at that time. What does Vickie really bring right now? They should find someone to be the GM that could actually add something more to the show. Get someone that can help them run some unique storylines for a while. Get someone popular that the fans would want to see. Get someone controversial that will make the fans want to tune in to see what happens next. Bring back Laurinaitis so the fans can see him get beaten up again. Right now, Vickie Guerrero doesn't offer any of these things. Personally, I just find her annoying at the moment.

AJ Lee And John Cena = AJ Styles And Dixie Carter

You have another example of the WWE and TNA taking each other's ideas. AJ Lee and John Cena have this possible affair going on. This is similar to what TNA had with AJ Styles and Dixie Carter. Very similar. If you remember, that TNA storyline almost ended with it being revealed that Styles and Dixie Carter were doing a good deed by helping the woman involved in the angle. They prolonged the storyline after that, but that reveal was just sickening to me. It tried too hard to make them look like the good guys. Trying too hard to make someone look like a good guy? Is it any wonder the WWE would use this with Cena? It is branching into Cena/AJ vs. Ziggler/Vickie.

The only thing I like about this whole affair is that it is keeping Cena out of both main-event matters and the title chase. This is not the first time that has happened, so don't make the assumption that Cena is done as centerpiece. Nevertheless, it is still making things a little fresh. To think, if Cena had not gotten injured, would this still be happening?

Dolph Ziggler gets to work a feud with another top name. He still has not cashed in the briefcase. I still wonder, even after he eventually does win the title, will he have anyone fresh left to work with? He worked with CM Punk earlier this year. He feuded with Jericho. He went against Randy Orton. He is now feuding with the company's top face. The guy has the credibility to win the World's Heavyweight Championship. But after he wins, will they be able to develop good feuds?

AJ Lee vs. Vickie Guerrero. This is periphery diva vs. periphery diva. Do you consider Vickie Guerrero a true "diva"? That's not relevant now. They continue to do a ton more for AJ Lee than they have done for any female wrestler in years. She is the first female wrestler developed as a periphery diva like this since Lita. Vickie Guerrero is obviously a non-wrestler, but she is hated. She gets great heat. Working against her can definitely make AJ look good, as well as the rub from Cena.

Aside from Cena getting a break from more important things, I hate just about everything associated with this storyline. It will most likely be another attempt to get Cena looking like such a great guy. Regardless of how it turns out, AJ Lee continues to get more than she has actually earned. Keeping her as a manager/valet for some wrestler or in a romance angle would have been fine, but they are pushing her hard and harder. Lita was never pushed this hard. Keep in mind that it has only been about a year since AJ's angle with Daniel Bryan started. It was from there that the WWE developed AJ further to get over. It is true that Lita won her first Women's Championship in less than a year after debuting, but she was never pushed this hard in terms of storylines, character development, and rubs in her first year. What they are doing with AJ is very forced.

Dolph Ziggler Still Has Mason Ryan

Dolph Ziggler has been busy lately. He is still United States Champion. Sadly, he still seems to be feuding with Mason Ryan. Mason made himself known on Raw this week by running off Ziggler and Swagger.

I still do not see this push for Mason Ryan going anywhere for the big guy. He is not being pushed very uniquely or in a way that will make him stand out much. This all just seems like a waste of space. Even though I do not care about him much, it would have been better to just give this push to Zack Ryder. Have Kofi Kingston or Evan Bourne go after Ziggler's title. Why not? Ziggler has been going after the tag titles, right? If John Morrison does somehow stick around, he can be a good candidate to end Ziggler's reign. Turn Jack Swagger face and have him feud with Ziggler. In other words, I think anyone on the Raw roster would be better suited for this push.

On another note concerning Dolph Ziggler, notice how it looked like Vickie Guerrero was really forming a stable just a few weeks ago? In addition to Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes and Christian also seemed to be involved in the mix. This was back when many wrestlers were protesting against Triple H. After the angle ended, this stable soon just became an afterthought. They could have really had a great stable there. It would have involved guys from both brands. All of these guys have held titles before, including two current Champions. From all that potential, you have Christian running a stale feud with Sheamus, Cody feuding with Randy Orton, and Ziggler and Swagger messing around with Mason Ryan. I don't think the WWE will try to salvage the stable they could have had.

Raw Meets Football 2011

I want to talk about Raw's rating this week and pick up on the scraps of certain other things that happened on Raw that I did not mention before. First, Raw received a 2.72. That actually does not surprise me at all. Football is back on Mondays. NFL, the big stuff. Tom Brady, a bigger draw than CM Punk. Raw will rebound in the weeks to come, but its yearly average will be damaged. The Rock will be coming back to bail them out in a few months.

In comparison, TNA Impact received an 1.02 in the ratings last week. Football was a factor there too. TNA did not drop below that 1.0. I am not talking about quarterly ratings or hourly ratings. I am talking about the overall average for the whole show. How long can Impact go without dropping below that benchmark? Raw has already dipped below that 3.0 several times in 2011. Just for the sake of mentioning it, Smackdown has rebounded well in the ratings recently.

What did the 2.72 Raw feature? WWE knew what they were up against, so what did they pull out to try to make their show stronger? There is also the fact that a PPV is coming up. Let's start with Bret Hart. Raw was in Canada, so they brought in a Canadian legend to please the live audience and try to draw viewers that way. The fact that Raw could not average over 4 million viewers against football should not say anything about Bret Hart no longer being a draw. In terms of the quality of performance Bret brought with him, I would have changed the channel myself. Wasn't TNA the retirement home for wrestlers? If you want to have Bret cut a promo or ref a match, fine. Still trying to sell this guy like he can still go in the ring creates a pathetic illusion. He is not Shawn Michaels.

The tag title match got hyped and furthered pretty simply. Heels cut a promo, beat faces in a singles match, and that is it. Aside from the promo, nothing really stood out.

The diva match was stupid. Vickie Guerrero learning to take a few bumps and do a few moves does not mean she belongs in the ring at all. The only furthering the diva match at Night of Champions had was when Kelly Kelly escaped Beth Phoenix. Kelly Kelly looks strong on Raw. Considering she already beat Beth once, I expect the title to change hands. Big deal? No, not really. Beth winning will make the Buffalo fans happy. She is female CM Punk, isn't she? That would make Kelly Kelly a female John Cena. At the end of the day, Kelly Kelly will win it back and I doubt the WWE will push Beth Phoenix well on the periphery, so nothing will really change.

It surprised me that the WWE actually used the diva match to further the US title feud as well. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger got into it again over Vickie Guerrero. They were also involved in a tag match earlier in the night. Alex Riley was the one made to look impressive in the match. John Morrison is the 4th man involved in this, and he seems like the odd man out. I see no reason at all for him winning this Sunday. The storyline between Ziggler and Swagger is the interesting thing here. Riley is the one they seem to be putting good attention on. Morrison is just there.

Randy Orton took on Cody Rhodes. Mark Henry once again did his thing. I'll probably talk about this feud again before Sunday, so let me not say too much about that. I will say that Cody Rhodes pinning Orton is a good sign for Cody.

There is only one thing left to talk about. John Cena and Alberto Del Rio. So sad. The WWE has been breaking Del Rio to pieces in the last few weeks. He starts out beating Rey Mysterio cleanly in the main event of Raw. The week after that, he attacks John Cena after Cena earns the right to face him for the title. Nothing the following week. When he returns, he talks a few heels into going after John Cena for him. After they fail to put Cena out, Del Rio tries to take advantage of Cena again and gets the AA. This week, Del Rio is trying to send Ricardo to do his dirty work. Del Rio is acting scared of Cena and isn't even getting fresh and credible people to stand between him and Cena. Del Rio looks so weak, I doubt he will lose the title to Cena just yet. Nevertheless, pretty sad direction after he looked so strong not too long ago. He is gradually becoming an typical heel again. I knew the WWE would do that to him eventually, but I was hoping they would at least keep him more fresh for the storyline.

Looking it over, Raw was not too horrible. There is an actual storyline going on in the midcard, they are bringing in legends, and young talent is still getting developed. It cannot stand against football, obviously. You need major excitement and suspense for that. But if Raw can keep up this minimal amount of attention, including the angle between CM Punk and Triple H, there is no way the show can be coming up with 2.72 every week. 3.2 will still bring the average down, but it is better than anything under a 3.0.

Thoughts On Jeff Hardy And Diva Matters On Raw

Wow. First TNA PPV of the year I did not order, and I'm not sure whether I regret it or not. The fans were screwed out of a real main event, but the circumstances are so controversial, it was definitely something I wouldn't have mind seeing as it happened.

Sting vs. Jeff Hardy. Whether this was some kind of work or not, it definitely felt real. Jeff comes out looking like he is not at 100%. Sting comes out ready to entertain the fans. Eric Bischoff comes out to change the match. Of course, he sold it as making it No DQ to screw Sting. When he held the mix away, he spoke privately to the men involved. He was changing the match. Sting was definitely not happy about it. Jeff Hardy seemed somewhat defiant about it all. Quick and awkward finish. Poor main event.

Fans gave the "Bullshit" chant. Sting said that he agreed. Got to give him credit for that. After a disaster like that, you can't pretend like it was awesome. You want to go out there and give an entertaining performance the fans want to see. A guy like Sting knows that. That wasn't entertaining.

As for Jeff? I find the whole thing both hilarious and sad. If this is all real, Jeff needs to get himself together for the good of himself, his family, his fanbase, and the good of TNA itself. At the same time, this has a Charlie Sheen air to it. So many people are getting a laugh out of that guy's antics. And Jeff was such a moron out there.

As for TNA, if they are using this just to get people talking, just another low for them. And how about how they handled the situation? The commentators played it off as a respectable thing for Sting to win like that. Let them. That's their job. Sting showed more respectability to the business, as I said before.

I didn't even plan on talking about anything WWE related here. But that diva angle was worth mentioning. Snooki got a better reaction than Trish Stratus. Vickie got a better reaction than Trish. The commentators and everyone else were hyping Trish as a legend and quite possibly the greatest diva of all time. Jim Ross got a better reaction than her. Del Rio had more fans behind him in his match against Cena than Trish. Maybe Trish should go back to being a blond? In any case, Trish, John Morrison, and Snooki (NOT KELLY KELLY) will face LayCool and Ziggler at Wrestlemania. Trish gets another Wrestlemania match. McCool gets the rub from working with Trish AND a major celebrity. You know, there's one person Trish did get a better reaction than tonight. Michelle McCool still continues to fail. And what are all these rubs and attention going to do for her? Will she walk out with the same level of reaction Trish garnered tonight?

Let me talk about the match specifically. I got a little bit of my old diva blog still in my veins. It was a comedy match. What would you expect from a match with Vickie Guerrero? They played with Vickie's shoes. Yes, shoes. Trish spanked her with it. As far as comedy matches go, Vickie was the star here. She made this match work. She puts the heart into her work and has being annoying and taking humiliation down. That helps to make her a great heel. Trish, honestly, was just there. Vickie won thanks to LayCool. Vickie is now officially on Raw. There you have diva movement in between the Drafts, although not what I had expected, as I said before.

To wrap it up, the WWE should really rethink what they are doing with their diva division. The most over person, in terms of who can get a great reaction, is a manager. She doesn't wrestle. It's Vickie Guerrero. Their current major centerpiece is getting pushed for more than she is worth and is failing. This is Michelle McCool. The woman they hype to be the greatest diva of all time, the woman they have treated other real wrestlers like jobbers for, got rid of women who might have stepped out of her shadow, and truly is a product of the WWE, came back to a Raw she was hyped to be a part of and did not get the reaction of a legend at all. Should I find this more pathetic than the Jeff Hardy thing?

Dolph And Vickie To Raw

When one of the last things I said on my old diva blog was that there would be some kind of diva movement between last year's WWE Draft and this year's, my rationale being things would get stale in the two divisions, I did not expect Vickie Guerrero moving to Raw to be one of them.

To be fair, it is not true in terms of storyline definitely yet. Dolph Ziggler is now on Raw. Vickie appeared on Raw to introduce him and push that she would be his manager. The Raw GM revealed that Vickie would earn a contract if she beats Trish Stratus next week. Yep, WWE is pulling out all the legends they've got to draw fans for Wrestlemanie hype.

Dolph Ziggler is a former World Champion. That is pathetic. I am not saying the guy does not deserve to one day be a credible World Champion, but that is not what happened. He never won the title from Edge in a match, gets it handed to him, then loses right back to Edge. In terms of titles, he has that credibility now of having held a major World title in the WWE, on paper anyway. In terms of actual build, this guy really went nowhere. I have a feeling Raw will not do much more for him either. Instead of building a great Wrestlemania feud for John Morrison, they feed him to Ziggler tonight. I honestly believe Ziggler should have stayed on Smackdown. He would do better there.

Trish Stratus competes again? And against quite possibly the most over heel female in the WWE? Yes, Vickie cannot wrestle, but she is over, a heel, and a female. Back to Trish. Diva of the Decade? I remember that. She had not even been in the WWE for more than 5 years, had not even had more than 5 Women's Championships, yet the WWE knew they were going to build her to be better than everyone else. They did. That award was just one piece of the hype. And Josh made an interesting statement when he said Trish held the Diva's Championship more times than anyone else. Trish never held the butterfly title. Botch or phasing out the idea that the two titles are really separate? Back to my days of writing my diva blog, and this I cannot remember whether I actually said on there, I just had the feeling that the two titles would become interchangeable when it came to talking about how many titles reigns a certain diva had, especially when the Women's Championship would be retired. The WWE does not usually separate how many times Triple H was WWE Champion from how many times he was World's Heavyweight Champion. Just lump them together to get 13. But this thing with Trish, as I said before, she never even held the title. You can argue that the two titles now share the same lineage, but if you really think about it, one is retired and the other is alive. That is what happened at Night of Champions last year. In any case, it is a good thing the WWE released a certain someone last year. Had they not, she would have had the same number of female title reigns as Trish by now. Maybe? Maybe even break that record? As far as I am concerned, this just lends more fuel to my belief that the woman in question was let go to protect Trish's legacy. Not blaming Trish. But thank you, WWE. Who would I ever know who to like if you didn't overhype them for me to know?

That leaves Vickie Guerrero. I would love to say that Ziggler does not need her at all. That is probably true. Vickie, however, does make it slightly easier for Dolph to be used correctly in some ways on Raw. Vickie is a woman the WWE loves using. If she is still latched onto Dolph, that may make it easier for him to be showcased and not become lost in the shuffle as some. Whether she gets the contract next week or not, they may turn it into an angle where Vickie does eventually become an official member of Raw. When that happens, a woman would have officially moved in between Drafts, just like I predicted. Still, not who I had in mind.

Guest Host Power Lessens?...Maybe?...Almost?

I am sure many were ready to thank Edge, in terms of kayfabe anyway. He gave a little promo about celebrities having power on Raw. He said that was over now. He introduced the new Raw Gm, Vickie Guerrero. That is right, Vickie was in power tonight. However, it did not last.

Even while they were hyping the new GM, they were also hyping that there was still a guest host that night and there would be one for next week. I probably should have seen that as the hint that some swerve was coming. I still believe that the WWE could try having both a regular GM and having celebrities appear regularly to hype their own projects and get involved in a limited amount of segments. No need to give them power to make matches or have them wrestle so much. If they want to take RKOs, fine. I would just rather see someone who may show up the following week to get payback get it instead. Besides, a permanent GM on Raw means a permanent authority figure to get involved in lasting storylines. A lot of storylines and superstars can benefit from that.

The night ended with Randy Orton scaring Vickie into quitting. What was accomplished? Orton looks more like a hero, as if this guy needed help getting pops. Edge continues in his promise to bring controversy back. Better job tonight than he has last few weeks. Edge solidifies himself more as a heel by once again siding with Vickie. This just shines of his old heel character.

Was something else accomplished? Could this be the scattering of the seeds? Is this the first part in finding a new permanent GM? I already said that guest hosts and a GM can both exist on Raw. May they even be laying the foundation for the end of the guest hosts entirely? It depends a lot if the WWE will continue to push Edge's dislike for the guest hosts. Will they just treat it as no one else being willing to take the job after Vickie left? That would be kind of cheap. I think it would be so easy to just bring someone else in as GM right next week. I would like to see it.

The Eulogy

I am done with my blog devoted only to the women of pro wrestling. I am now going to switch to just focusing on wrestling in general. I am going to enjoy being able to talk more about TNA. But right now, I want to do two things. First, explain exactly what the last straw was. Second, give a eulogy.

The diva match featured McCool/Layla vs. Eve/Maryse. On a normal night, I would be talking about how interesting it is to have the two Raw enemies going at it. But I was looking for absolutely nothing crappy. I was sick of it for so long. First, most of the action of this match was just too basic. If it was a short match, I may have been able to overlook that out of fairness. But this match just dragged on too long for me. Almost all the matches with the guys were better than this. The only exception was Hornswoggle/Ziggler, which was not given time to be anything but a joke anyway. The diva match was given time to be something, it failed. As I was trying to concentrate on the action, I kept getting annoyed by the infernal screaming. I am not talking about the fans. I am talking about whichever of those women would not shut up. I do not mind battle cries or anything like that, since it does sometimes put emotion into the match, but this thing was just too continuous, not even done to further selling, which would have been another good reason, and just did nothing. Things like this make me lose interest. I thought that would be the final kicker. I was wrong.

Smackdown won Kelly Kelly. If people they really plan to push get drafted on Raw, this means Kelly Kelly may get a real push on Smackdown? They want to push her as being so important? If a Raw diva had to go with hype on them, I would have rather it have been a woman who knows how to wrestle solidly, consistently, and with the experience and credibility. If not that, I would have rather it been one of the eye-candy divas they have already been pushing. I talked about Kelly Kelly being sent to Smackdown, true, but in the supplemental draft. I did not view her as a potential big deal. I do not think she should be in the same class as Edge, Big Show, and Morrison as people who get their moves hyped on the Raw special. I know she is popular, but the changes for the women may end up not shaking up anything at all. And if the only shake up is Kelly Kelly potentially becoming Women's Champion, I am glad I am quitting this now.

When Mickie James was released last week, I said that I would not write an eulogy. I am not. I am not going to write a eulogy for Mickie James. She is not done. She still has a lot of life left in her to live. Whether she chooses to follow music or get back in the ring just one more time, that is her choice. However, speaking for myself, please do return to the ring. Do not let it end like that. You deserve better. The WWE quit Mickie James. That does not mean Mickie James must quit wrestling. She watched the WWF as a child, not TNA. I understand that. It was her dream to work to get into the WWE. She did it. It is a shame the WWE treated her like they did for so long. Her spirit is not beaten yet. The WWE could not do that.

But I am going to write a eulogy for something else. Time to say goodbye to my hope and desire to see the WWE use their women better.

For those few who have followed my blogs from today.com to blogdog.com to here, you know most of this story already. I have been watching pro wrestling devotedly since 1998. For years, when it came to the women, I could appreciate them for making me drool and putting on a good match at times, whether because they are putting it on as solidly as some of the men can or rolling around in their undies. I did not always care about great wrestling from them. Some of my "favorites" have been Sunny, Chyna, Lita and Stephanie McMahon. Only two in that group was treated as tough wrestlers. I think you know who. Fact is, my interest was only casual. I never watched any wrestling show just for a female wrestler or eagerness to see a female match or segment. If it happened, it happened. Whatever happened, happened. I will admit it, looks really were the main factor for me. There are very few WWE divas that I have ever found unattractive. No one could simply really grab my interest to make me really invest in them or wanting to see better from the divas. As you can tell, that changed.

I was not a Mickie James fan before her WWE debut in 2005. I was not a fan after she debuted in 2005. I was not her fan in 2006. I did not hate her. I just never had an interest to really care for any of these women before, so I did not make too much of her. Wrestlemania 2006. I watched it. I was eager to see matches involving Ric Flair, Mick Foley, and Randy Orton. These guys are three of my all-time favorites. In all honesty, none of their matches stole the show for me that night. Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus was the match I enjoyed the most that night. I was not a huge Trish fan, as if to say she made me so interested in the match. Same goes for Mickie. I respected both, and I was liking the psycho angle and Mickie's character, but I still was not ready to invest.

For most of 2007, I still just went through diva matters casually. Summerslam of that year. The match that I was really interested in was Orton vs. Cena for the title. There was a diva battle royal. The action was not interesting at all. Two things did interest me. One was the deafening silence Beth Phoenix got when she won. The other was the noticeable boos when Mickie James was eliminated. I do not know if I had never noticed Mickie's regular pops before or what, but I noticed that. What the hell happened? She was not being pushed very well at the time. She was not even in the final three of the match, as if to say the story of the match was building up anticipation for her. Smark crowd being smarky? I was still surpised. I did not immediately jump on her bandwagon just because I got the idea she was popular. I have heard pops for pushed superstars before and never made them one of my favorites. Austin, Jericho, The Rock, and many others. I knew why they were popular, I could respect that, I could respect them, but they just never did it for me all the time. Point is, I actually started to consider this woman, Mickie James. I paid more attention. She was sexy, which had seemed to be my top criteria for liking divas, but there really was something special about this woman. I liked her charisma. I liked her energy in the ring. I liked that she was actually a credible wrestler who can still have that kind of spirit. She was refreshing. She got me to care.

After that, Mickie James had become my favorite diva. I came to the dance late, but I liked what she was as a wrestler. I watched her get pushed, depushed, pushed, and depushed. I read a whole bunch of rumors. I saw what the WWE was doing with her. I smartened up and decided to really look at this more critically. I realized why things were going on. It was often clear that dirtsheets really were full of crap that the fans buy. I saw mistakes the WWE was making in how they treated their women, not just Mickie. It did not seem like they were really interested in giving the fans what they wanted at all. That is when I started writing a blog about it.

Less than two years later, my interest is dead. For a long time, things I have been seeing have just been getting more frustrating. Eye-candy divas were being treated too well. Maybe the old me may not have minded. The old me may have complained about the lack of skin and too much stupid crap. But it just killed my spirit. In the time since Mickie James became my favorite diva for what she could do in the ring and everything else during kayfabe, which is where I look to decide who my favorites are, I also learned more about her as a person. She really did have a good heart in her. Her spirit was not just an act for kayfabe. She was serious about putting on a show for the fans, but very nice to the fans and would not have her spirit broken easily, despite how the WWE treated her and the division. She really was enthusiastic about doing her job. She was loyal to the WWE.

The WWE was not loyal to her. I will not even mention how they released her while she was promoting THEIR Draft. What really showed her character for me was her infection a few months ago. She was willing to risk a lot for the sake of going out there for the WWE and the fans. She had two surgeries in one week. Two weeks of recovery. She got the stitches out. A few days later, she heads to the airport already. Her first stop out of Virginia is Arizona, not Tennessee. She wanted to be at Wrestlemania. That is loyalty. I had my doubts about her coming back so fast. I know many Mickie fans did. She proved me wrong. She did not do much in the ring, but she did something. She got physical before, at, and after Wrestlemania. No problems. THAT is a reason to respect Mickie James, not how many title reigns she got handed.

And they released her. People want to say she missed a bus more than once? Please! They made it sound like she did it just out of arrogance. Not the Mickie James I know. If she did miss a bus more than once, keeping people waiting, I want to know why she was late all those times. This may end up having as much credibility as CM Punk's loss to Taker at Hell in a Cell last year being due to a dress code issue. Seriously, stupid reasons that make the WWE look childish. And then people want to say Mickie had an attitude problem. Funny. Very. I know very well that Mickie James has friends in the WWE. So Mickie did nothing but make friends with people who could not help her and enemies with officials and those with influence? Sounds like a retarded version of Robin Hood. Either there are a lot of details missing in that story or the story is garbage and false. That is the thing, rumor makers often leave a lot of connecting dots missing, making a lot of things awkward if you really think about it. Why was Mickie released? I am not sure. I have ideas. I sure as hell am skeptical about some of the crap out there.

I tried to be fair. My interest in the divas being treated right did not have to rest on Mickie James. But being hopeful when crap never changes gets old. I gave WWE a few more days to see how they can pick things up, knowing they lost their most over diva and a great worker. I gave Extreme Rules the benefit of the doubt. Raw was the end. It is over.

Thank you, Mickie James, for making me interested in the women of wrestling for something more than just sex appeal. Thank you, WWE, for ruining it. I am going to still enjoy writing about diva matters. Yes. I am going to enjoy ripping it to shreds. No more need to be hopeful and nice.