Would Lita Have Succeeded Today?

Earlier in the month, I speculated on whether Mickie James would have still been able to shine in this current dark age of the WWE diva division. Staying with this theme of successful divas of the past being able to succeed in this type of environment, how about Lita? Lita debuted as a periphery diva during the first dark age, which occurred between Sable leaving and Trish starting to be pushed as the centerpiece of the division. She succeeded in that environment and the WWE continued to run with her as a periphery diva when things got golden. Would the same thing happen today?

First off, this isn't about considering whether Lita would be treated well if the WWE brought her back for one more angle. Lita is already a WWE legend. She will be in the Hall of Fame one day. If she was brought back for another storyline or feud, she would be featured well. This is about whether or not Lita would have made it if she was just starting her WWE career around this time.

You go back over a decade to Lita's debut. If people in the WWE were to say that they didn't really expect Lita to connect well with the fans when she started out, I would probably believe them. She wasn't being pushed as hard as AJ Lee was to get her connected to the fans. Lita was connecting with the fans through using her high-flying moves to get involved in matches against the guys. The WWE, however, were the ones who put her in that position to do these things and gave her the green light to do it. And they made the decision to be consistent with her and move her up the ladder after that debut with Essa Rios. Where did she start? In the periphery. Where were they consistent with her? In the periphery. I bring that up to point out that Lita is not an example of a credible jobber becoming very over, then moving up to being a periphery diva. Lita climbed that ladder of success as a periphery diva. She started at the bottom of that type of career and worked up, if you want to look at it that way.

Essa Rios was part of the light heavyweight division. Lita then transitioned to teaming with the Matt & Jeff Hardy, who were one of the top teams of the tag division. Those two divisions were strong back then. Lita went from being paired with a guy in the light heavyweight division that was being pushed well to teaming with a tag team that was being pushed even better. And Lita was allowed to continue her high-flying ways with Team Extreme. She was also allowed to continue to mix it up with the men.

Lita definitely benefited from the company being more open to male-female violence back then. Not only did you see Lita hitting moves on men, and occasionally beating them, but she took some beatings. Austin and Triple H destroying her in the main event of Raw seems to be remembered just as much as Lita beating Trish Stratus for the title in the main event of Raw. And how many finishers from men had she taken throughout her career? Fans respect seeing that. Being willing to do it is only part of the deal. The WWE has to allow you to do it. And they did.

What kind of company do you have today? I don't even need to consider too much about the diva division. Lita was a female-wrestler periphery diva. The diva division today is still not about letting female wrestlers be the centerpiece and only one female-wrestler credible jobber has ever become very successful, and her story has not gone well. This is about whether Lita would have had a successful periphery career today. So what is different with the company today as compared to 2000?

First, you have no light heavyweight division and your tag division is nowhere near what it was back then. These are the divisions where Lita's career really flourished when she started, not even so much the women's division. If Lita were to debut in this era, who would she be paired with? A midcarder? Midcarders aren't being treated too well.

Second, it is extremely rare for the WWE to have male-female violence today. Having Big Show run over AJ Lee last year was probably the first big step in the development of AJ Lee as a periphery diva, but not much bumps from the guys for AJ since then. And even less for the other divas. As I said before, it was Lita hitting these high-flying moves against the men and trading blows that really helped her to connect with the fans. If you take that away and still try to find someone to pair Lita up with today, she would most likely end up like Rosa or Natalya.

Speaking of AJ Lee, the WWE already has a periphery diva in her that they are investing a lot in. If Lita was showing interest in making it in the WWE today, would the WWE even waste time considering grooming another female wrestler in the periphery? It is true that Chyna was already there when Lita debuted, but Chyna benefited from a hotter company than you had today and from the green light to mix it up with the men, much like Lita. The company is not as hot today. They have to rely on The Rock, a star from that time, to bring them results. They have the headache of trying to figure out what to do with their guys to make stars like The Rock and Brock Lesnar. AJ Lee is the most well-pushed diva you currently have. I don't think the WWE would even bother trying to develop another female wrestler as well as her right now. Their top priority is probably finding the centerpiece that will save their diva division.

Would Lita even get to debut in this diva division? The WWE seems content with using eye-candy divas to serve the purposes female-wrestler credible jobbers once served. Just a few weeks ago, they released Buggy Nova. She was a female wrestler who had a unique look. Lita was a female wrestler who did not look like the typical diva. That could be an indicator of whether Lita would even have gotten called up in this current division.

Would Lita have succeeded in this current diva division? The conditions that helped her show what she can do back then are not here today. You have no light heavyweight division, the tag division is mediocre, male-female violence is not really there anymore, and the company is simply not as hot as it was back then. The WWE already has a top star they are developing in the periphery. Their treatment of female wrestlers is getting worse, not better. It is questionable whether or not Lita would debut, let alone be pushed properly. Even though Lita debuted and succeeded in the first dark age of the diva division, this dark age is a different creature. I honestly do not believe she would have made it today. Her best shot might be the WWE deciding Alberto Del Rio needs a valet and Lita debuts right alongside a main-eventer. How likely is that? And it certainly wouldn't look like the career she did end up getting. The career she did end up getting and what she did with it does deserve to be respected. It may be a long time before any female wrestlers get those kind of opportunities again.  

Chris Jericho Returns Again

Last time, I made a comment about Jinder Mahal in lingerie. You end up getting Tensai in lingerie on Raw. I really should stop randomly mentioning Jinder Mahal. Bad things always happen.

A lot of things have happened in the WWE in the last few days. You have a Royal Rumble winner, a new WWE Champion, and some returns. I will talk about the return of Chris Jericho today. He returned at the Royal Rumble and looks like he will stick around. I'll get to the other things eventually.

The good about Jericho returning? The WWE gets some major star power heading into Wrestlemania. You always want big stars around for Wrestlemania. And you also get someone to make midcard matters more interesting. Jericho has a ton of main-event credibility, but with the main-event scene already clogged with Punk/Rock, Cena, Smackdown's title matters, Brock Lesnar, and so on, Jericho will be seeing more of the midcard than anything else for a while. Not a bad thing.  

What don't I like about Jericho's return? He is obviously back in his feud with Dolph Ziggler. I was hoping that Jericho would return down the line where Ziggler had already won the title. Jericho returning to rain on Ziggler's parade would have been a better story than Jericho coming back to feud with Ziggler while he still has the briefcase. Aside from two new sidekicks from a few months ago, not much has changed for Ziggler. At one point, I would say that the WWE is developing Ziggler's credibility well. Okay, he has the credibility. They are just dragging it on now. I couldn't have been the only one expecting him to cash in when Big Show attacked Del Rio on Raw. That could then lead to an eventual title feud at Wrestlemania between Ziggler and Jericho. There is still time to go that path. I think it would be the best choice for these two.

Depth In The Diva Division

There's this old episode of Yogi Bear where Yogi gets involved in a football game. As the guys on the team get taken out due to injury, the coach goes to the next guy on the bench. Guys keep on getting injured, the coach keeps on going down the line. Soon, no one is left. The coach is forced to send in Yogi.

That's the idea of depth that you hear about in some team sports. There is usually more than one person available to play a given position. When someone gets injured, ejected from the game, is playing badly, simply needs a break, or whatever, you have someone to take the spot. The person you start might usually be the best player and one you want to be out there. When he goes out, you want to go to your next best guy. Because of this, it isn't just replacing one body for another, but also trying to replace a good, prepared player with another who can get the job done.

Depth is obviously an issue in wrestling. When the WWE loses a top star, they have to call on someone else. This is usually not a huge problem in the men's division. You have so many men and top stars, you usually have someone you can go to when another top guy goes down, whether to injury, suspension, or what have you. When Cena got injured a few months ago, the WWE went with Ryback. When CM Punk got injured, The Shield got a PPV match. It is in the diva division that depth becomes a real issue. I have spoken about it many times, but I don't believe I have ever used this term to describe it. I think I'll start using it, so I that's why I'm talking about it now. If you are a sports fan, you might have already been familiar with depth. It might be easier to understand than me talking about centerpieces and the periphery. Let me just list a few instances where depth is worth discussing in the diva division.

First, I have to talk about Mickie James. How many times have I said that Mickie James was getting pushed mainly because she was the only convenient and qualified option around? If you look at the face options in the diva division at the time, there was not much depth. At one time, Melina, Beth Phoenix, and Jillian were the heels. You have good depth there. A lot of good options. The faces? Mickie James, Maria, and Ashley. This was when Candice Michelle, the centerpiece of the diva division, was out with an injury. Mickie James was most qualified out of all the faces to carry the division. That's how the WWE would use women with wrestling credibility. Could you imagine the situation you would have had if Mickie James suffered a serious injury around this time? Since the WWE did not have faith in pushing eye-candy divas as credible jobbers back then, they would have either have had to rush a face turn for a heel credible jobber or debut a new female wrestler from developmental. The WWE was lucky Mickie James was around.

The WWE's luck soon ran out. After the WWE released Mickie James, the only credible jobber available on Smackdown was Beth Phoenix. Outside of her, you had Kelly Kelly and Tiffany, two eye-candy divas. What kind of depth is that? Your centerpiece is a heel, so it would have been smart to have more options in the face credible jobber position. To top it all off, Beth Phoenix got injured. The WWE actually pushed Kelly Kelly and Tiffany more. Tiffany then got suspended and eventually released. You are left with virtually no real depth at all. It is no surprise the WWE soon unified the titles and the divisions. It is also no surprise that the WWE would warm up to the idea of using eye-candy divas as credible jobbers. If they saw that they could keep the division going without female wrestlers being used as jobbers and filler, why not give the eye-candy divas those opportunities. That widens the depth they could possibly have now. Tamina and Natalya are the only two female-wrestler credible jobbers. However, because the WWE can use eye-candy divas like Layla as credible jobbers, that gives them added depth. It gives them more options now, even though they still have issues with the centerpiece position.

Speaking of centerpieces, how about the greatest centerpiece the diva division ever had? Trish Stratus was fortunate to be in the diva division at a time when they had a lot of female wrestlers. From the time she started to be pushed as centerpiece, Lita was the only female-wrestler periphery diva. All those other female wrestlers were credible jobbers. Trish had no less than half a dozen women with solid wrestling training and credibility revolving around her. The WWE was always bringing in fresh options for her to work against. They were running an effective women's division. Not only were they investing creatively and had a centerpiece that was working out, but they had a lot of options to go to. However, as great as some people view this time in the diva division, it was showing signs of the issues you have had in recent years. When Trish returned from her injury in 2005, the only face divas getting action in the ring were her and Ashley. The heels were Victoria, Torrie Wilson, and Candice Michelle. You have one heel credible jobber and two eye-candy periphery divas. Prior to Mickie James debuting, you did not have a face credible jobber. If Trish had gotten injured again during that time, the WWE would have been in trouble. If Victoria had gotten injured, the WWE would have been in trouble. Trish Stratus eventually did get injured again a few months later. Because that psycho storyline was so rich, the WWE could carry it on with just Mickie James for a while. They eventually debuted Beth Phoenix, who became the only face credible jobber, since Mickie had turned heel. Beth then got injured. Those are depth issues you have at the credible jobber position. The WWE had some options on Smackdown to keep things fresh and bring in if injuries really proved to be too much, but it's plain to see the "Golden Age" was starting to lose some stability even while Trish and Lita were there.

Everything I have spoken about so far has been about depth issues for the credible jobber position. A lack of depth caused the WWE to continuously go to Mickie James. There was a time when there was absolutely zero depth for female-wrestler credible jobbers on Smackdown. Even during the best years of the division, a shortage of credible jobbers was starting to arise. You also have depth issues with the centerpiece position. Michelle McCool left, so they went to Kelly Kelly. They gave up on her and went to Eve. She left, and now we see who is next on the bench. As I said before, it's not just about replacing one body with another. You want to go with someone you have confidence in. In the WWE's mind, it seems to be less about having confidence in them and more about being willing to develop that woman into a major star. You have women on the bench, you have women you can go to, but it means nothing if the WWE does not put them in there. Then again, with the luck the WWE is having with their centerpieces, they might go through the entire depth chart and they will all flop for one reason or another. What's left then? Send in Yogi Bear? How about Jinder Mahal? Whoever looks better in lingerie? My money's on Yogi.

CM Punk Vs. The Rock At The Royal Rumble

It is rare these days to have the Royal Rumble match not close the Royal Rumble PPV. If there was ever a match where you would not mind the Rumble match not closing the show, it would have to be CM Punk vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship. Ever since The Rock announced his intentions to challenge for the title at the Royal Rumble and CM Punk attacked The Rock, this match has been anticipated. This match deserves to be the main event.

Should The Rock win? Some people complain about The Rock coming back and possibly being handed a title as a part-time wrestler. Did anyone complain when Moolah and Bret Hart won titles they did not really need? Their careers were already over. Of course, those two are legends and deserve the honor. The Rock can handle himself better in the ring now than those I just mentioned could when they won their final titles in the WWE. It should be a good match. It should also get people talking if Rock wins. Who better to end CM Punk's long run? And it's not like The Rock would have to hold the title too long. He has been working shows more regularly over the last few weeks than I would have expected. He's even been on Smackdown. I say he should win.

Now that it once again looks like CM Punk's title reign may legitimately be coming to an end, how about looking back just a little at how he was booked. From the PPV he won the title to where we are now, how much has he been at the mercy of John Cena? Cena has main-evented 8 PPVs without CM Punk involved in the match. CM Punk was injured for one of those PPVs, so there is that possibility that Punk may have headlined that one. CM Punk and John Cena have been involved in main-event matches with each other twice at PPVs. CM Punk has gotten the top spot without Cena twice. The first came at a PPV where Cena did not compete at all. The second came at a PPV where an injury stopped Cena from likely facing Punk in the main event. The Royal Rumble and Summerslam have been the only two PPVs where attention was on other individuals in the main event. Sheamus won the Rumble and Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H headlined Summerslam. Cena has definitely dominated, despite not winning a World title or often being on the winning side of things during that time. If The Rock was not back, would CM Punk even have a chance at possibly being in the main event now?

How Do You Spend Your Sundays?

I am not going to critique John Cena's promo on Raw. Let me just say that it was not what I was expecting. The WWE was promoting that Cena was going to address the fans all night. The closing segment was either going to go to him or The Rock to further his own feud with CM Punk. I think they should have let The Rock and CM Punk close it. That isn't based on a feeling that the WWE Championship matters should be closing shows at all times. Around this time of year, you can understand wanting to hype the Rumble match. Cena's promo just didn't deserve to close the show. When the commentators were hyping it, they kept talking about this being Cena's year. You would think Cena would come out and do a serious promo about winning the Rumble and turning this year around as compared to 2012. Instead, he does a comedy promo on Sundays. It was like everyone wasn't on the same page on what should have been done. I am not going to rate it out of 10 or rip every aspect of the promo to shreds. I am just saying that it was not the type of promo I was expecting and it did not deserve to close the show. They easily could have had that huge rumble in the ring to preview the Royal Rumble match come sooner and have The Rock being laid out by The Shield end the night.

Who wins the Rumble? Despite not giving a serious promo and making it seem like a win this Sunday would mean everything to him, John Cena is probably still the favorite. Cena wins a title opportunity at Wrestlemania and The Rock wins the title from Punk. What better way for Cena to turn the year around than avenging his loss to The Rock from last year's Wrestlemania and winning the title for the first time in over a year at the same time? I would also say to keep your eye on Dolph Ziggler, but he really doesn't need it when he already has a guaranteed title opportunity with the briefcase. There is such a thing as trying too hard to make someone look great or credible. The WWE should just pull the trigger and go for it. Let him win the title. Aside from those two, no one really seems to have the major focus on them. Then again, Sheamus didn't have that major focus on him last year. He had a ton of momentum from winning matches, but not much hype was on him to win. You can imagine Randy Orton winning the match and challenging a heel that ends up with the World's Heavyweight Championship before Wrestlemania, possibly Ziggler. Ryabck would have been a very real possibility if Big Show still held the title. That would be an interesting match. In the end, Cena still seems like a good bet. One thing for sure, Jinder Mahal ain't winning anything.

Actually Using LayCool To Make Stars

Last week, I mentioned that Michelle McCool was not working out as centerpiece and that the argument can be made that a heel is supposed to make other workers look good. McCool (LayCool) never led to any faces becoming major stars. Blame the WWE more than The Bride of Undertaker. They should have handled things better. I want to suggest a way they could have handled it.

Before I go into that, let me make a comparison. Go back to that epic feud between Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon. Some might argue that Vince McMahon was Austin's greatest foe during the Attitude Era, not The Rock. That feud put Austin at the top. Some people argue that the reason it worked out so well is because people enjoyed seeing Austin beating up and humiliating the boss. It connected with the audience. They loved seeing that. Now, change two things. First, after Austin had owned Vince once or twice, depush Austin back to the midcard, killing his momentum. Second, keep bringing back Vince McMahon to make life hell for another face, then have that face own Vince once or twice, and then depush him like you did Austin. Repeat until Vince gets tired and leaves. Or dies. How effective would that have been? For one thing, Austin definitely would not have gotten the great career he did get. Second, I don't think this cycle would be effective. Vince McMahon would be the constant more than any single worker who gets a chance to stick it to him. In the end, none of these workers would really be making it and Vince McMahon would be the one persevering through it all to keep coming. Are the fans really going to love that story? They may enjoy the moments Vince gets beaten up and looks bad, but they'll probably end up seeing moments of the boss making life hell for people more than anything else. After a while, they will see no individual is ever really overcoming the boss and it would be annoying.

Compare that to LayCool. Vince is obviously a much better heel than them, but what about the storyline and the actual way they were used? That's my point. LayCool were bullies who made life miserable for many divas. They frequently got owned here and there, but not one diva who did get a moment over them ever got developed after to become a major star. LayCool remained on top. This is exactly the same situation you would have had if the WWE had handled Austin-McMahon like I just said. After a while, the audience will just get the idea that the bullies are never really going away and no one who is getting these moments over them can ever really end them. Remember how that LayCool angle ended? McCool was leaving. Layla beat McCool. The group collapsed on itself. It didn't put over any face that went on to become successful off that momentum. The WWE did not even move on to developing Layla as centerpiece. They tried with Kelly Kelly.

What should the WWE have done? As I have said before, I'm sometimes a bit of a pushover. I would give the WWE a chance to see if it works, but when they see the experiment is not working, they should have used LayCool to put over someone they could eventually develop as a major star of the diva division. Do something along the lines of what you had between Austin and Vince. I would have developed Natalya consistently after she beat them for the Diva's Championship. Remember when she put McCool and Layla through a table? That was a big moment. If they had been consistent with Natalya after that, that could have been an iconic moment in Natalya's success story. I'm not saying she would have ended up as big as Austin, but it would have been better strategy than overpushing two annoying heels in an annoying fashion. The WWE could have also tried this kind of thing with Kelly Kelly, but I think Natalya would have been the better choice. That's not my bias towards female wrestlers getting better, fairer opportunities talking. I think it would be more believable if a female wrestler had crushed the two bullies.

I already said what I thought of the LayCool angle from the standpoint of an analyst. It was not productive and not handled smartly. Speaking as a fan, that angle was one of the most draining things I have ever seen in the 15 years I have been watching pro wrestling regularly. I found it annoying, lame, and stupid. In a word, it was draining. I don't even find Vickie Guerrero as bad as LayCool. I am a fan of great heels. When I started watching, my favorites happened to be heels at the time. Unlike so many others, I didn't like Austin during his feud with McMahon. I did not find LayCool to be great heels. They tried to be great heels, and the WWE certainly did more than they should have in pushing them, but it was just a painful overload from them. I'm not saying that I would have liked them if the fans started booing them regularly. I'm not that kind of fan. I am saying that they were not the type of heels that I am entertained by. They were not the kind of heels that make me want to see them get owned, as I was discussing before. They were the kind of heels that make me not want to be a WWE fan anymore. I sometimes hear people saying that Cena annoys them so much that they want to stop watching. Cena isn't even a heel, but that's the best way to put how I found LayCool.

Is The Shield Angle Stale?

TNA is actually doing a better job with their big stable angle currently going on than the WWE is doing with their answer to it. The Shield has actually not even been around as long as Aces & Eights. How could they have possibly gotten staler than something TNA has been doing for months longer?

I'm glad the WWE is not trying to shove the injustice excuse down throats. No one is really buying it. But the WWE is making a mistake I was hoping they would avoid. They are dragging this on without revealing what these guys are really about. It has already been established that they are attacking random people and helping CM Punk when he needs it. But what's next? They are just going to feud with Ryback and another two guys? They moved on from Ryback and Kane and Daniel Bryan. Orton and Sheamus next? The storyline development isn't there.

What made the Nexus angle so much better? Aside from the fact that having a lot more guys made them more of a threat, the actual storyline was made into the most important thing going. It overshadowed even title matters. I might normally complain about something like that, but it was done well. Right now, The Shield only gets involved in one segment each show they are involved. They are not always involved in the main-event segment. The storyline is just barely connected to CM Punk, who has his own matters with The Rock, and is focused mainly on upper-midcarders and main-eventers not involved in the World title scene. It doesn't have the hype and focus that Nexus had. Things would probably be different if Cena was involved.

I said that TNA is doing a better job with their current stable angle. How are they doing it? By playing with who the members of Aces & Eights are, for one thing. Mike Knox is no big deal, but revealing Taz as a member was unexpected. Should the WWE add more members to The Shield? I don't think that will help much. The intrigue here should be lying in who the leader is, assuming it is not one of the members of The Shield. Could you imagine how much of a letdown it would be if it is revealed that CM Punk was really the leader the whole time? That is the obvious choice that they have been teasing for so long. It would be even more dull if it was just The Shield working for themselves. They have to add more to it than that.

A year ago, the return of Chris Jericho was very disappointing. A lot of hype, then nothing came of it. You can make the argument that that was the whole point. It eventually led to this storyline that Jericho could not win the big one. Okay, let that one go, but I'm starting to get that same vibe from this stable storyline. It had potential, yet part of me believed that it was not going to work out well. It's turning into a mediocre Nexus. Even TNA is doing better. This is down there with Jericho's return last year. Thank God The Rock is back to help the WWE create hype. How they are handle The Shield isn't helping much.

Raw's 20th Anniversary

I was so busy talking about the divas this week, I did not get much of a chance to talk about this week's Raw. This week's Raw was hyped as their 20th Anniversary show. They had a milestone show just less than a year ago, so it was understandable if this show wasn't as packed as that one.

That being said, I still found this week's episode to be disappointing. I wasn't expecting much in terms of returns of big legends. It was great seeing Flair again. Mick Foley was there. The Rock was there to further his feud with CM Punk. I was expecting more in terms of big segments. Miz and Flair had a segment. Rock was in the main-event segment. The Shield did their usual thing, which is starting to get stale, but that is a topic for another day. Kaitlyn won the title, but I cannot consider that a big deal for someone who is not yet an established star. She did have her hometown on her side. There was a cage match between Cena and Ziggler, but I wasn't feeling hyped up for that. It was between being an average Raw and the kind of Raw you would expect for a milestone show.

This milestone Raw brought a 3.19. Last year's milestone Raw, which was the highest-rated Raw that year, got a 3.86. If it was not for that episode of Raw, last year's average rating would have been a lot worse than it was. What could the WWE possibly put together to avoid further slipping this year? The year has started solidly, staying above a 3.0 so far, but what happens when The Rock leaves and Wrestlemania season ends? Those 3-hour Raws will hurt again. And if the product becomes even more stale, you can expect even worse numbers than last year. What will end up bringing the best ratings for Raw this year? What will bring those results near a 3.86? It doesn't look like it will be their 20th Anniversary show.

Changing directions. A while ago, I remember hearing that Rikishi said on Twitter that he was glad to see Tamina getting time on Smackdown and getting the win. Yeah? And where's Tamina now? I mean no disrespect to either Rikishi or Tamina. Now that Eve is gone and the title is on a face, Tamina will most likely get pushed to put over Kaitlyn eventually, whether the WWE decides to develop Kaitlyn as centerpiece or treats her as interim centerpiece. It just goes to show that you cannot say what kind of career a diva is getting just off one match, one month, or even one push. Yes, Tamina got a televised win recently. But it was not connected to anything at all. Why should I make too big of a deal out of it? If Rikishi can get excited for Tamina getting treatment like that, that's fine. I don't think that's a fair opportunity at all and it will not lead to improvement in the diva division.

Tainted Success

You are probably aware of the recent controversy with  Lance Armstrong. The other week, I read about some major names in baseball being left out of induction in the MLB Hall of Fame. In both situations with Armstrong and the baseball stars, you have individuals who accomplished great things having their legacies tainted by the same thing, drugs. They cheated. They took shortcuts. The result is a tainted legacy for many of these individuals.

Let's start with the obvious question. Should wrestlers who took drugs be left out of the WWE Hall of Fame? Of course not. Wrestling is not a competitive sport like cycling or baseball. These wrestlers go out there to perform to give the fans a show. That is what it is all about. There are definitely some guys who took steroids currently in the Hall of Fame. Keep them there. More than likely, they still earned their legacies.

Now onto what I really want to talk about. Taking performance-enhancing drugs is viewed as taking a shortcut in many fields. Is that the only shortcut to success in the world? Of course not. In pro wrestling, can you consider it a shortcut for those wrestlers given great careers that they did not actually earn? The idea the WWE sells is that they push what the fans want to see and you have to get over to get the great career. That's the way it should work. That is the way it sometimes works. Some wrestlers start out with mediocre careers for years, they prove themselves through the midcard, and they get the better career eventually. That is like what happened with Eddie Guerrero. However, you also have some guys who seemed to have a great career the moment they debuted, then got over after already being pushed well. That's Brock Lesnar. He was getting a big push right from the time he debuted. What kind of overness did he have to warrant that kind of push? The WWE rigs the playing field for certain individuals. They use people to put over these individuals, never giving these people those same opportunities and treatment. Does that count as a shortcut? Does that taint the success of these guys who got these great careers and earned the overness after the fact?

I don't think it should taint their legacies. They still earned their success. Those guys who are used to put them over, they still usually get other opportunities to still show what they can do and connect well with the fans.

The diva division is a different creature. Women who are used to put over whom the WWE is developing to be a success usually don't get opportunities after that are better or just as good. Most of what they get after is mediocre. Trish Stratus will definitely be in the Hall of Fame, but how many of the credible jobbers used to put her over will? Maybe more for what they did outside of the WWE? They definitely don't deserve it for the mediocrity they received in the WWE. They definitely never earned the overness while in the WWE, with the exception of Mickie James. Should this kind of diva division taint the success of Trish Stratus? There is no denying that she succeeded, but she was the kind of diva the WWE likes to push as the centerpiece and she was never getting the kind of treatment of a credible jobber prior to the WWE pushing her well to get over with the fans when she was just eye-candy periphery. And you look at the current diva division. It is basically the same agenda. The WWE is attempting to have an eye-candy centerpiece, women with wrestling credibility are used as credible jobbers, and the only female wrestler supported to be a success is in the periphery. The only real change from then to now is eye-candy divas being less effective as periphery divas and used more as credible jobbers. Same diva division, but look at the quality and the failure to create stars. This is what Trish paved the way for? I think this current division should be seen as more of a slap in the face of Trish's legacy than the fact that the WWE developed her to be a success. She did succeed. For that reason, she will deserve her spot in the Hall of Fame.

What about Michelle McCool? Aside from Trish Stratus, her run as centerpiece lasted longer than any other woman pushed in this manner since the diva division started. But does she deserve to be viewed in the same way as Trish? McCool never got over. Some people can argue that McCool was a heel for most of her centerpiece run and heels are meant to make other people look good. Yeah? And how many faces actually became big successes off Michelle McCool? And even after a face got one over on the annoying LayCool, the centerpiece still got pushed hard consistently after. The WWE were not pushing a division that could deliver. The wrestling critics can look at how they were pushing McCool at this time and say they were pushing her very well. Yeah, that's true, but that's not the point. You don't push someone well for the sake of pushing someone well. You push them like that in hopes that they can connect well for the fans. McCool was a solid worker, but does that mean she should be inducted into the Hall of Fame? If a woman being a solid wrestler was a rarity in the world, then she should be. It isn't. Michelle McCool's career deserves to be inducted more than she does. She never did with it what a centerpiece is supposed to. And I wouldn't be surprised if she is inducted one day. The WWE cannot keep overpushing people the fans don't really care for. And they wonder why their ratings suck and they have to rely on stars from a decade ago to save them? Anyone pushed hard to be a success throughout their career who never earns the overness at all deserves to be in a Hall of Failure. It is not solely to insult them, but to remind the WWE of their own mistakes.

Mickie James and tainted success. What can anyone possibly say about that? Her ex wants people to believe that Mickie James slept her way to the top of a filler push back in 2008 and started to get over with the fans after that. He overlooks the fact that Mickie started to get over during her debut push and was maintaining the overness while she was not even being pushed prior to Candice's injury in 2007. That sure looks like an attempt to taint one's success. He's not the only one. Dirtsheets have said much to make Mickie look like she screwed herself out of the WWE, but they fail to see that she was never being pushed as Trish Stratus or Michelle McCool. She was being pushed as one of those women used to put over who the WWE wants to succeed. Should that be a chief reason why the success of a woman pushed as centerpiece should be tainted? Even when a credible jobber does do the impossible and get over with this kind of career, the WWE still pushes who they want to be a success and they screw the credible jobber. The playing field is rigged hard in favor of the centerpiece. Not only is there no real competition for the best worker to get the best spot, but a centerpiece who is not succeeding will still be pushed hard until she gets the overness to be a success. Or flops. Or quits. It never ends well these days. Mickie James took a career in which no woman had ever reached that height of success and she did it. Instead of being seen as a legitimate success, she has this legacy of tainted success.

Just to go back to the original thing I was talking about, how do I feel about the controversy with Lance Armstrong and the baseball players? I wouldn't have taken away Armstrong's titles and all that. I would induct those baseball players. You can say I'm a bit of a pushover. I'm more sour about people who are handed success than people who take shortcuts to succeed. If someone succeeds, I don't like denying them of their success. Let it be known their success was tainted, but don't take it away.

Eve Quits

Kaitlyn won the Diva's Championship, but that is really small news compared to what else has happened. Eve quit.

Eve was the centerpiece of the diva division. The WWE has lost another centerpiece of the diva division. If anything can possibly go wrong in the diva division, it looks like it will. Michelle McCool left in 2011. Kelly Kelly was let go last year. 2013 has just started and another attempt to recreate a centerpiece fails. I think Eve would have eventually worked out, at least better than Michelle McCool. Developing a centerpiece is like making an investment. You put something in and hope to get a good return. The WWE invests time, creative energy, and other workers to help the centerpiece look good. The centerpiece still has to work too, but the WWE usually ends up doing a lot of work for whom they want to be a top star, hence why it is usually easy to tell the difference between those pushed to be stars and those used to put over stars or act as filler when the stars are not around. You are going to get some filler now, but I'll get to that in a moment. Fact is, the WWE once again fails to get a good return on this centerpiece investment.

Is Kaitlyn the new centerpiece? She came to the WWE as a fitness model. Developing her as centerpiece would not exactly be the same as developing a woman who came to the company as a female wrestler as centerpiece, so you would still have the same diva division you have had for over a decade now. Female wrestlers would still not be featured properly. That's another issue. Even though Kaitlyn might still fit the basic profile of the kind of diva the WWE develops as centerpiece, I'm not convinced they want to push her in that position. I don't think she has the look they would want. I'm not saying Kaitlyn is ugly. I'm just saying I don't think this is who they would like to push in that way. There is also the fact that she is not great in the ring, but the story of a woman lacking wrestling experience being developed to be the best in the division is what the diva division is all about, in regards to the centerpiece position. Although Kaitlyn now holds the title, this may be a filler push.

Is Layla going to be centerpiece? Askana? Someone from developmental? If they don't have anyone they are willing to push as centerpiece under contract, you are going to be seeing a lot of filler. When the WWE gave up on Kelly Kelly as centerpiece, they had Eve to develop. Although Layla won the title, they were not pushing her well during that title run, which made it clear to see that she was not the centerpiece and would get lost in the shuffle like she has now found herself. You look back at Eve's run with the title, they featured her better than they did with Layla before her. Will they go to Layla as centerpiece now? She is the best option left. It wouldn't be shocking for the WWE to do this. Keep in mind that Eve had held the title twice before her recent run, but the first run came between the WWE giving up on Maryse as Raw centerpiece and moving onto Michelle McCool (LayCool) as overall centerpiece, then the second title win came when McCool was still in that position. Eve did not get featured well during those two reigns. It would not be out of the question for them to start pushing an eye-candy credible jobber as the centerpiece. It's not like they have a lot of other options. And yet, I don't think they will do it. I don't think there is anyone on the roster that they can really count on and are willing to give it to. The result? Filler. This is even the kind of division you are more likely to see AJ win the title in.

Needless to say, the WWE needs to start debuting more divas. They lost Beth Phoenix, a credible jobber, last year. They lose Eve, a woman being developed as centerpiece, just this week. You have a bunch of women already on the roster being wasted, but some of them are not exactly good enough in the ring to be a proper credible jobber or centerpiece. Of the three female wrestlers, only AJ is pushed well, and as a periphery diva. Tamina and Natalya are wasted. The WWE should debut someone with good wrestling ability, regardless of whether it is a female wrestler or eye-candy diva who became solid in FCW/NXT.

Let me end it with a comment on Mickie James. Mickie James was never the centerpiece. If you have never read my blog before, you are going to say I'm crazy. The WWE loved her! Always pushing her! She had to have screwed herself out of that great career! Take a second look at the situations in which she was being pushed. She was only getting legitimate pushes when being used to put over the centerpiece or act as interim centerpiece when the centerpiece was not around. That's not how you push someone you want to be over. In the roughly 6 years since Trish left, the WWE has gone through 5 centerpieces, and not one of them worked out as well as Trish. For years, the best thing they had was Mickie James, a credible jobber. She had the overness and earned it on her own. She is still active today. She has proven to be a loyal worker. She has not suffered an injury that has ruined her career. She is still solid in the ring. If the WWE had kept Mickie James and given her the career she had earned, you most likely would have had her still working out as the centerpiece today, instead of awaiting the WWE choosing their 6th centerpiece since Trish left. The division never would have collapsed like it did. I can't say whether or not the WWE regrets releasing Mickie James. It doesn't look like they have learned their lesson.