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RAW Redux – May 26, 2008

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This week on RAW: BFFs, Melina and Jillian came to blows in the ring, Beth Phoenix watched and commentated, an “I Quit” match was announced for One Night Stand, Mickie James appeared in a pointless segment while JBL made a “subtle” escort joke and Katie Lea shined on the mic!

Thoughts & Reactions
Erin’s psychic powers yesterday predicted that Melina and Beth will face off in an “I Quit Match” while I was leaning more towards cage match or strap match, but “I Quit” works fine for me too! Beth and Melina saw some storyline advancement going into their big battle this Sunday night and gosh, is it just me or is there an air of excitement surrounding the future of the women’s division right now? Of course, WWE has tightened up and are delivering solid women’s action but to go a step further and deliver a first with this match… I’m certainly excited! I just hope that all the WWE Divas will be in the back watching this on the monitor on tenterhooks. Because for me this match marks a revolution of some-kind and that’s something that all these Divas, no matter what show they’re on should support.

I wasn’t really happy with the Melina-Jillian match, partly because just a couple of weeks ago they were BFFs. I think this is a feud they could have explored after Melina’s done with Beth. But they rushed it and it was all over in like 2-3 minutes. I do understand that there’s no other heel Divas so that would explain why they went this route. Melina is officially a face, I have always wondered what that would be like since she’s so devilish, but the fans seem to love her – note the big pop when she came out. To be a great Diva you need to be versatile as a face and a heel, Melina seems to be going in the right direction so far. Anyway, this match was a little sloppy, see the end spot before Melina hit her submission hold. Adding soundtrack to this match was Beth Phoenix on commentary, for me it didn’t work. After hearing Melina on commentary last week, I was underwhelmed by Beth, she came across really bland and boring and “textbook” like she was reading an autocue. Anyway, I cannot wait till One Night Stand!

Mickie James has been stuck on “backstage” mode in recent weeks, I guess it makes a nice change but at the same time, she is the freakin’ Women’s Champion. I guess we’re not going to get Katie vs Mickie after all *sniffle* no advancement there. Instead, Mickie gets a backstage segment with Vince and JBL. A nice subtle reference to Ashley there, I guess it was inevitable and Creative thought enough time had passed. Notice how Ashley was again, noticeably absent… not that I’m complaining. I don’t know about you but the phrase “bodily fluids” makes me cringe, it always has. Mickie is a bad actor.

From Mickie’s robotic Razzie winning performance, we get Katie Lea who is rather playful on the mic, isn’t she? Her mannerisms are very diva-ish, not Diva-Diva-ish, but like Mariah Carey diva-ish. Finally, a high profile feud and push for the Burchills. This segment came across very well, I think working will Mr. Kennedy will help give Paul the rub, while we get to see more of Katie. I was kinda hoping Mickie would run down the ramp and attack her *sigh* maybe a mixed tag team match is in our futures, though.

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YouTube Classics: Stacy vs. Torrie in an Eggnog Match

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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, our theme will be “T&A”, matches with a decidedly T&A theme. They don’t always have to be pure cheesecake – these matches can be quite entertaining and competitive despite the fact that the Divas are doing slightly demeaning acts. :P Today, we have Stacy Keibler vs. Torrie Wilson … Read more

RAW Redux – May 19, 2008

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This week on RAW: We were treated to not one, but two feuds brewing before our very eyes! Melina continued to chase Beth Phoenix, while Katie Lea got her official introduction into the women’s division challenging Mickie James.

Thoughts & Reactions
Thank you WWE!!! Thank you the Gods above!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! What a fantastic night for the Divas… again! I’m beginning to think WWE actually likes women’s wrestling as much as we do! Last night’s RAW saw the brewing of not one, but two feuds and damn… these are two feuds I cannot wait to see culminate! I was not expecting what WWE dished out last night; I was expecting Melina to be dropped and Beth to go after Mickie and it certainly looked that way for a little while: when Melina came out to the announce table, my heart and my gut told me that we were going to get Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James. But damn, I have never in my entire life been more pleased to see Maria!!! Sure this match was short but you have to think about it in terms of development of storylines, this match developed the storyline between Beth Phoenix and Melina and it was fantastic stuff. WWE is telling a story, letting a feud unfold and that’s something they haven’t really done for the past couple of years. They just throw the Divas out in there in matches, no real bad blood or feud and say “Here’s your weekly three minute Diva match… eat it up, bitches” to us fans. But over the past few weeks, they have really stepped up their game and treated the Divas with the respect they deserve – getting a real storyline.

I absolutely loved the gutsy play by Melina, attacking Beth and then Beth laying her out. The pop Melina got as she ran through the ring and up the ramp left no doubt in my mind that the fans can and will accept Melina as a face! This was really well done and I think it will lead to a physical, brutal match-up (maybe a strap match?) at One Night Stand – a major step-up from a fucking pudding match last year. This segment was really well done and set up this feud nicely. I was expecting them to drop Melina and just revert back to Beth-Mickie but they really followed through and rather than just elevate two Divas to the top of the division (Beth and Mickie), they are actually elevating three, Melina included. Fantastic!

Given her big win at Judgment Day, I expected maybe a second match-up (Mickie vs Jillian?) or some appearance by Mickie because it would be ridiculous for her to not appear after her win the night before. But what we got was even better! I’ve been waiting anxiously to see Katie Lea become part of the women’s division and I think she just has! Say it with me – YAY!!!! This segment, again, was really well done and set up Katie as a heel nicely. The bitchy retorts… I lol’d! It’s hard to believe but WWE is actually using logic with the women’s division *enter chorus of gasps here* With Melina turning to the light (becoming a face), they’ve introduced Katie into the division to counteract that heel void left by her. Again, I cannot wait to see this feud and this match develop, I think this could be the feud of the summer. I hope they let it simmer and be a slow burner, because this is a match I want to see at SummerSlam.

RAW was quite the event this week for our Divas, I cannot wait to see where these two story arcs go next! I’m about 75% certain Beth and Melina will face off at One Night Stand, and hopefully we’ll have some continunation of the Katie-Mickie feud too. Again, this should be a slow burner, hopefully something like Katie taunting Mickie or coming out and scouting her during a match. Fabulous!

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RAW Redux – May 12, 2008

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This week on RAW: The Divas were packed to the rafters as we saw memorable segments including Lilian Garcia singing “Respect”, Mickie James possibly making a lurve connection with John Cena and Beth Phoenix beating the crap out of Melina!

Thoughts & Reactions
Now that is how you do it! See, WWE’s writing team are capable of creating great storylines for the Divas… so why don’t they do it more often?! Last night’s RAW was very much eclectic and very memorable for the Divas as more girls than ever before were utilised in the two hour broadcast making for a really fun show with Divas at every turn! Lilian Garcia and Mickie James kicked things off in the opening segment, which actually made me sit through the beginning because usually I record/download it and skip through to the parts I want to watch. I was forwarding through the opening segment till Mickie popped up! This was pretty cool to have a Diva involved in ongoing storylines (in this case, William Regal’s storyline) and not just the Superstars coming out and doing the opening promo bit. Lilian then belted out an amazing rendition of “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, which I loved every second of!

Could WWE be angling towards a romance between Mickie and John Cena? I don’t know how I feel about that, I’m 50-50 but I’m leaning more towards “bad idea.” The backstage segment between these two was pretty fun to watch too although I didn’t really sense much chemistry between them; the chemistry between Cena and Maria back in the day was electric however. The tag team match itself was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t really a match per se, I look at it as more of a segment to advance storylines and it did a great job. Beth sold incredibly well, the intensity in her eyes as she glared at Melina. Great stuff!

And to cap off the evening, we have an intense backstage brawl between Beth and Melina which was the highlight of the entire show, for me. Sure, Beth is the strong, dominant Glamazon but they did a great job of building Melina up and not making her look weak, by having her strike the first blow. This showed Melina wasn’t afraid of Beth and sets up this feud nicely. I can’t wait for the triple threat match at Judgment Day! Though one thing I don’t understand is why Jillian ran away to get the referees, did she forget that she’s a wrestler too? Jillian and Melina could easily have teamed up to take out Beth.

A very mixed bag of action, kudos to WWE for utilising all of the Divas in a useful way that contributes something to the show rather than useless segments. And extra kudos for keeping Ashley off the show entirely. I really loved all the different Diva action last night, the variety of matches, backstage segments etc. I wrote last week in my SmackDown! thoughts, that RAW usually just throws the girls out there for a match and rarely varies it up by having in-ring segments, backstage segments etc. They really did a great job with that this week.

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RAW Redux – May 05, 2008

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On this week’s RAW, we saw a Women’s Championship Lumberjack Match, the return of Trish Stratus and Katie Lea and Paul Burchill continued their handicap stint.

Thoughts & Reactions
The Women’s Championship match, when I first read about it, I thought for sure they’d made the wrong decision; they should’ve kept this match for Judgment Day. The match itself was not good. Plodding along with kicks and punches, it really wasn’t fun to watch and that is a problem I have with matches with these two Divas, their Armageddon match last year bored me to tears. It wasn’t until Melina was injected into the picture on New Year’s Eve in a triple threat match, that this feud got a little more exciting. That was a fun match. Live from London, Mickie and Beth really pulled it out of the bag, it could’ve been a really bad match a few weeks ago when Mickie won the title but it wasn’t, thankfully. I think everyone got into it because of the London crowd and the big fight feel; but this match it felt dull. Not to mention, some incredibly sloppy ring-work from Mickie James, a few of the spots in this match were really awkward to watch. I didn’t expect that from Mickie, but last night, she wasn’t on her game. All these repetetive descriptions of Beth Phoenix by the announcers is getting really boring; how many times can we hear that she’s the most dominant Diva to ever enter the WWE, she’s this, she’s that. Jim Ross, you’ve been doing the same shtick for over six months, get some new material.

As I said earlier, I felt they should have kept this match until Judgment Day but I can see why they haven’t. Even though the match was pretty dull, the ending was very well done and it brings Melina into the fold and I can’t knock that. I predict a triple threat match at Judgment Day, so hopefully that match will be better than this one – Melina is a lot of fun to watch in the ring. But there are a few possible routes WWE could go here: Could Melina turn face? After all, she cost Beth her match, I could see Beth trying to retaliate and “bully” Melina, effectively making Melina a face. This is something I would love to see and it would also balance out the women’s division in terms of good in-ring workers. Either way, I’m glad they’ve bought Melina into the fold, why waste a talent like her?

Trish Stratus’ return was a fun little cameo, as I’ve written in another post, she’s stepped back onto RAW in a 50-second segment and shown more character and personality than any of the current crop of Divas could ever hope to display.

I’m glad they’ve continued having Katie and Burchill team up, despite the horrible commentary from Mike Adamle. I mean seriously?! “She’s definitely not a pretty face!” Excuse you?! I think he meant “She’s not just a pretty face”, but that kind of shocked me. I hope Katie can join the women’s division soon or at least play a bigger role than just directing traffic for Burchill, even though she’s in the match too.

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Lilian’s Canadian Faux Pas

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RAW ring announcer, Lilian Garcia made quite the faux pas in front a very vocal Canadian crowd, last night. Lilian addressed the arena, the Air Canada Centre as the “Air America Centre” leading to a chorus of boos from the fans in attendance! Ouch. Lilian did make it up, with what I assume would have … Read more

Shocker: Trish Returns to RAW

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With last night’s RAW being held at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Trish Stratus made a surprise appearance on the show and conducted a little interview with WWE.com afterwards! Eek! Trish!

Only a short segment, but the crowd was going crazy for Trish! No doubt, the 7-time Women’s Champion still has it! Check out her WWE.com interview after the cut:

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Ashley Backstage On RAW?

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With all the heat that’s being directed towards the 2005 Diva Search Winner Ashley Massaro, people expect her not to make an appearance on tonight’s scheduled Monday Night RAW. According to Ryan Clark at Wrestlezone.com, Ashley is indeed backstage at tonight’s show in Toronto, and should be making an appearance. Personally, I think it’s a … Read more

RAW Redux – April 29, 2008

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RAW Redux is set to become a regular feature here at Diva Dirt, so on with the thoughts on last night’s show:

Thoughts & Reactions
I was bittersweet with this week’s RAW. On one hand, you had a 12-Diva rematch and on the other hand, you had Katie Lea‘s in-ring debut. I think it was a huge risk – and a bad choice – to have a rematch of the Divas match from Backlash. Going into that match, we were all very uncertain and uneasy because it could’ve gone the totally wrong way, thankfully WWE pulled it out of the bag and put on a pleasantly surprising and good match up. But then to do the very same match the next night, when the first one was so touch and go, I just knew last night’s match wouldn’t be very good and in truth, it wasn’t. It wasn’t a very good match, didn’t achieve the things that the first match did on the pay per view – and actually, has hindered storylines not developed them. What possible reason is there for Team Mickie to win other than because the heels won the night before? This storyline is meant to be centered around Beth Phoenix and Mickie James, having Beth win at Backlash had her come off strong and sent the message out there that she was coming after Mickie and the title. The very next night, Mickie gets one over – it doesn’t leave much room for the storyline to go anywhere. We’ll have to see what they do (if anything at all) next week to develop the obvious rematch at Judgment Day.

One more thing, what is with the face Divas acting like heels? Cherry getting in the ring breaking up the count and Michelle kicking Melina? I don’t get the logic behind that.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the aspect of Katie Lea and Paul Burchill teaming up. It had shades of Essa Rios and Lita, which was a great gimmick while it lasted. Now, I know this is just rehashing that old gimmick but if it gets Katie in the ring and gets her and Burchill over, I’m all for it. I’ve really liked what I’ve seen of Katie thus far, I hope it’s not too soon before she gets involved in the women’s division! Hopefully this gimmick will continue for a little while longer, with Katie and Burchill teaming up in 2-on-1 matches. Katie is the star of this duo if you ask me, Burchill’s head is up on the chopping block – Katie can easily be integrated into the women’s division, hopefully WWE has enough sense to mix her into the fold.

All in all, it was a really blase week for the Divas on RAW. Hopefully SmackDown! kicks it up a gear this Friday night!

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RAW Redux – April 22, 2008

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We’re ripping a page out of PWInsider’s book today, with our very own look at last night’s edition of RAW. However, we won’t be looking at the whole show, rather the Divas segment! So we welcome you to RAW Redux!

Thoughts & Reactions
Wow, I was really impressed at how WWE utilised what was essentially a filler segment and made it meaningful! It’s been a long, long time since the Divas have been involved in a promo (the last time I can remember was the days of Trish and Lita), and this was one of the best things they’ve done on RAW since then. Sure it wasn’t a match, but this segment achieved much more than just throwing all the girls in the ring for a tag match or worse – a battle royal. It told a story, better than just a match could, WWE has really been down in the dumps with Diva booking on RAW over the past year with illogical decisions. Wherever this one is going (a 12 Diva tag match at Backlash?), it started out strong. Having Maria and co. come out to congratulate Mickie was a nice touch, adding to the prestige of the Women’s Championship (finally!) and of course, led onto the heel Divas hitting the ring. I loved the two rival Diva gangs, the entrance of Team Phoenix had me popping, anyway!

Golly gosh… Beth Phoenix has gotten her voice back! For a while there, we worried whether she had become a mute. Beth oozed charisma and confidence on the microphone, if you ask me, had WWE let her cut more promos when she was Champion maybe her reign would have been more enjoyable? I wasn’t checking for Beth to get a rematch with Mickie at Backlash, as I’ve found their previous matches boring but by adding a story to it, actually I may be a little more inclined to see another Beth-Mickie match somewhere down the line. Beth showed more personality and charisma than she did in her entire title run. The problem was, with Beth being this wrecking machine with no story to it, not letting her cut promos etc. it made her dull. Please keep it up, WWE!

Of the “supporting cast”, they did a pretty good job by establishing Michelle McCool in this segment also. Michelle has been growing on me of late and it’s only now that I see her as a true top level Diva, although it’s not hard when your face counterparts (Mickie excluded) are Ashley and Kelly Kelly. Michelle in my eyes, is second only to Mickie James at the moment on the face side. RAW isn’t Michelle’s brand, but Creative sort of gave us a little bit extra for our money – having Michelle, SmackDown!’s top Diva, come off strong in this segment also. They didn’t need to do that, but by doing so they’re acknowledging that “Hey, SmackDown! is growing a pretty impressive women’s division too” and opening up the doors, not restricting the women’s division simply to RAW.

What I don’t agree with and what I find laughable, is having the face Divas clear house of the likes of Beth Phoenix, Melina, Victoria, Jillian and Natalya – all of whom could pummel most of their asses in a heartbeat. It wasn’t realistic, but obviously WWE is going for the big face pop here.

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Complete Heat & RAW Spoilers – HUGE NEWS!

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Highlight below for explosive, gargantuan spoilers from tonight’s RAW that will have you going “OMFG!”

Heat
Melina & Jillian def. Maria & Ashley

RAW
Mickie def. Beth Phoenix to become the new Women’s Champion! They do “big fight” introductions. Afterwards, Mickie cries with joy and Ashley and Maria come to congratulate her.

Our thoughts after the cut:

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Trish Talks TNA

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The almighty Trish Stratus paid a compliment to TNA’s ever-growing women’s division when she appeared on wrestling radio show, Live Audio Wrestling. The seven time Women’s Champion loves the Knockout division – branding it “amazing” and that she loves the fact all the girls really do work. Trish also talks of returning to Monday Night … Read more

Turning a Car Crash into a 25-Car Pile Up

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Well, I think it’s suffice to say that the BunnyMania match just got worse. As was just announced on RAW, Ashley will be taking Candice‘s place in the match, as Candice had clavicle surgery earlier today. Question: Why not stick a competent wrestler in the match? (*cough* Mickie) I know Ashley posed for Playboy and … Read more

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