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Friday Night SmackDown

Women’s & Divas Champions Collide!

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According to e-mails I received from a few readers, there will be a series of champion vs champion matches taking place on SmackDown’s debut show on MyNetworkTV on October 3rd. WWE aired a promo package on Raw last night to that affect, though I didn’t see it because I don’t live in the States. If … Read more

SmackDown Redux – September 12, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: Michelle McCool and team mates, Brie Bella and Maria picked up a pin fall victory over Maryse, Natalya and Victoria in six Diva action.

Thoughts & Reactions
A few weeks ago when I said Natalya is being treated as the new Victoria, boy was I right. Despite all the hype surrounding her arrival and an initial push, Natalya has been pushed behind Maryse and Victoria behind Natalya. There was a time when during entrances, the heel Divas would come out to Natalya’s music and she’d be the centre Diva with Victoria and Maryse on either side of her – it’s evident that Maryse is now being pushed as the top Diva on SmackDown. As beautiful and talented as she may be, there is no stronger heel on among the SmackDown Divas – hell, there isn’t a stronger heel among any of the WWE Divas – than Natalya. Natalya excels at every part of the Diva package; she’s hot, has a great entrance, is comfortable on the microphone, oozes confidence and above all else – is an amazing wrestler. Natalya’s skills not only undermine most of the Divas, but most of the men too. I dare say, Natalya has been a more effective heel than Beth Phoenix in her short time in the company. It’s sad to see her being pushed aside, WWE doesn’t know what it’s missing.

After seeing Brie so impressive in the ring against Victoria, it was time to truly bring her into the ‘Diva fold’, by having her team up with Michelle and Maria. Not only did she team up with them, but scored the win for her team. Since Brie joined SmackDown, she seemed to fit like hand to glove and I am really enjoying the gimmick WWE is doing. It’s not very often the Divas get a gimmick or an actual storyline, so Brie is definitely one of the luckier Divas of the pack. Against Victoria, she had two great matches and I think it’s a definite admission to Victoria’s extraordinary in-ring ability because this week, against Maryse, Brie faltered. Both of these Divas are still learning and growing, so putting them in the ring together isn’t effective. The work between these two felt sloppy, whereas Brie seemed to work great with Victoria and performed a great monkey flip on Natalya. Perhaps Brie needs to be led in her matches?

Michelle and Natalya have great chemistry and I love seeing them in the ring together (minus that awful Great American Bash match), I liked their start to the match. Michelle seems really polished in the ring and has ring presence and to me, that’s what sets her apart and makes her the best wrestler to come out of the Diva Search. I think Erin pointed out something about how it looks odd when Michelle does the “big boot”, personally I love it. It’s such an un-Diva thing to do which is why it stands out to me, not to mention Michelle has the height to pull it off.

As for our Maria? She wanted to pull off a few complicated moves this week, but Maria has yet to work the basics. Maria really should concentrate on those first and not try to mask her lack of basic wrestling skills by pulling off flashy moves. It didn’t work for Kelly Kelly and it doesn’t work for Maria. Maria’s timing is slow, I felt like I was waiting ages for her to pull off an inside cradle on Natalya.

Here’s a thought: How about one of these days, when Brie and Nicole switch places, Nicole actually wrestles for a little bit before getting the win? I’d love to see Brie and Nicole switch mid-match, so Nicole can wrestle a bit too. Maybe they chose Brie to run the angle because she’s a better worker? We’ll see. I don’t know why Michelle’s music played at the end, it’s usually the person who got the pin fall whose music plays. Decent effort by all, I liked the match.

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Watch: SmackDown 6 Diva Tag Team Match

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Every week, we have comments with people discussing the weekly SmackDown Divas matches on YouTube before they air on television. Usually, we wait till the SmackDown Redux to discuss the matches but we’ve decided that each week, we will post the matches from the show right here every Friday for you to watch and discuss. … Read more

SmackDown Redux – September 5, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship, Maryse was on a high roll on her way to Unforgiven with a win over Maria. Following the match, Maryse and the champ herself, Michelle McCool had an almighty staredown at the top of the rampway. Next up, Brie Bella once again scored an impressive victory over Victoria… or did she?

Thoughts & Reactions
Did not see it coming. What am I referring to? The match between Maryse and Maria on SmackDown last night. Given the two Divas involved, I wasn’t expecting a match of this calibre – okay it wasn’t exactly Beth Phoenix vs Melina, but honestly, I thought Maryse and Maria delivered a very good match on Friday’s show. I didn’t have high hopes for this match, neither of these two Divas is that great in the ring, despite Maryse really improving – she is still not of the calibre of Michelle or Natalya but the two girls really carried this match well. As to be expected, there was some awkwardness but I honestly think both Divas gave a valiant effort and this match really exceeded my expectations.

I liked that, first of all, we got to see these two Divas who were less experienced than our veterans go on the outside and really make it work. It’s nice to see both Maria and Maryse willing to take bumps and take risks on the outside of the ring, it added a nice feel to the match too. Some of you think that I seem to hate Maria, but I don’t, she’s usually just not very good in the ring. Who knew that she’d really pull it out of the bag in a match with Maryse of all people? Her hurricanrana, in my estimation, was exactly spot on. Great work, honestly, I’ve seen the veteran Mickie James pull off some bad hurricanranas and she’s a four time Women’s Champion. This is the first time I’ve seen Maria do it and it was perfection. It looks like Maryse watched Brie Bella’s match last week and took some tips, she tried to make her moves look more interesting by finding fun ways to execute them. As for her DDT at the end, I love the way she executes it, that hair flip thing looks hot and her DDT is executed perfectly. Again to make a contrast, half the time Lita’s DDTs looked pretty sloppy but Maryse’s was nice and neat.

I loved the staredown between Michelle and Maryse and I’m genuinely excited for their match on pay per view tomorrow night, it could be pretty good. Then again I did say that about Michelle vs Natalya at the Great American Bash and that match was a letdown.

Oh I nearly forgot to mention that backstage promo between Maryse and Maria before the match. Lol, “You seem in the hurry”, says our Maryse. “You’re not going in the ring wearing this, don’t you?” Honestly, I’m not trying to make fun of Maryse, in fact, I find her little mess-ups to be really cute. Obviously, not having English as her first language is a barrier for Maryse, but I thought these little mistakes were really endearing and made me go “aww.” As for Maria’s promo skills, I have to say you wouldn’t be able to tell she’s a face. Now that she’s ditched the ditzy character, in her promos she comes across really bratty and bitchy.

Anyhoo, we got even more Divas action this week and after their great match last week, I really doubted if Brie and Victoria could pull off a match of the same calibre. I’m sad to report that it wasn’t as good last week but it was still good. Victoria controlled the match much more this week, so we didn’t really get to see Brie’s impressive moveset but I felt the match really built up Brie as the underdog rising star and I appreciated the work from both Divas. I noticed this week, the announcers are dropping hints to the switcheroo business as though we’re slowly but surely uncovering the truth that Brie is switching places with Nicole. JR’s commentary certainly insinuated so, I just want this to be a slow burner. I don’t want the reveal to happen too soon because I think there’s a lot of life in this storyline that could carry on for a good few months. Again in this match, we had less experienced newbie taking risks by jumping off the ring apron onto Victoria on the outside.

Honestly, both the matches this week were a great watch and miles ahead of the six Diva tag on Raw. These SmackDown girls are really working it out!

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SmackDown Spoilers – September 5, 2008

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Highlight below for this week’s SmackDown spoilers, the show was taped last night along with Raw: • Maryse and Maria had a backstage altercation over who would get a Divas Championship title shot. • In what I’m assuming is a No. 1 Contender’s match, Maryse defeated Maria. After the match, Michelle came out and stared … Read more

SmackDown Redux – August 29, 2008

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This week: Maryse put herself forward as the top heel on SmackDown, as she and Natalya defeated Michelle McCool and Maria. The match ended in a big brawl between the Divas Champ and the French hottie. Meanwhile, Brie Bella made her debut beating Victoria… but there’s more to this story than just that.

Thoughts & Reactions
Okay, this week’s SmackDown Redux may read more like a rant so brace yourselves. As much as I’ve grown to love Maryse, how the hell did we go from Maria vs Maryse and Michelle vs Natalya to Maryse hijacking the Divas Championship title shot from Natalya?! I thought the tag team feud was about furthering Michelle/Natalya and Maryse’s supposed feud with Maria. Instead, we now have set up Maryse as the new title contender for Michelle McCool – and in the process, Maryse is now the top heel on SmackDown? This week’s episode really felt as though they were phasing out Natalya, who has been the biggest heel among the SmackDown Divas and pushing Maryse and this pisses me off. WWE has built up Natalya so strongly and in the course of two hours, they switch their game plan and now this division apparently hinges on Maryse who is a weaker wrestler and a weaker character than the thrid-generation Diva.

This week it seemed as though Natalya was being made to look like the new Victoria, in which case, what does that say about Victoria? Natalya was only on SmackDown to make up the odds for her team and to be the “hired muscle”, make no mistake, this match was all about putting over Maryse. I just don’t get it and after this match, I was left very frustrated and pissed off. Maryse has unfinished business with Maria and now she’s going after Michelle too?! Oh sure, let’s just give her two feuds. I don’t know what Natalya has done to piss off management or creative but after last night’s SmackDown, it seems that the third-generation Diva is on the outs. And I am not happy. The new direction seems to be Maryse as the new top heel. No offence to her, because I do like her work, she has improved so much and I’ve become a fan – but she is no Natalya. Maryse is fine as a secondary heel (sort of like the Melina to Beth Phoenix earlier this year), but I think it’s far too soon to break Maryse out as the top heel especially when you have someone as over and as capable as Natalya. NOT HAPPY.

As for the match, the work was good and I enjoyed both the match and the very impressive scuffle after the match. Michelle really went after Maryse after the match, did you see? I thought she was throwing some real stiff shots, it looked really real and looked so good on screen, so kudos to both Divas. To touch upon the segment that preceded the match, well let’s just say, Maryse spluttered her lines. Understandable for someone who’s first language is not English but if that’s the case, WWE shouldn’t be putting her in a position to cut promos.

As for the Brie-Victoria match, I already talked briefly about this yesterday but it doesn’t hurt to talk some more! Again, Brie was very impressive in her debut match. As I wrote yesterday, it seems that these inexperienced workers tend to try and pull off flashy moves (see Kelly Kelly) to compensate for their lack of knowledge. But Brie didn’t exactly go that route, her moves were pretty basic, she just found a new, innovative spin on them and that made her a lot of fun to watch. Like Melina, she is fun to watch in the ring and I thoroughly enjoyed her first effort. One match in and she is already a far superior worker to some of the girls who’ve been in the WWE and have been wrestling way longer than her such as Maria. I remind you, Brie has only been wrestling for one year down in FCW. We got a brief appearance from Brie’s sister Nicole after Brie went under the ring. You can spot the difference like so: During the match, Brie wore a belt. After “returning” from under the ring, no belt. Two very good matches, however the booking for the second was far better than the first.

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SmackDown Spoilers – August 29, 2008

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This week’s SmackDown spoilers are below, highlight to read: – WWE Divas champ Michelle McCool got into it with Maryse backstage. – Maryse & Nattie Neidhart defeated Michelle McCool & Maria when Maryse DDT’d Maria for the pin. The heels then laid out McCool. – Brie Bella debuted, defeating Victoria with a rollup.

SmackDown Redux – August 22, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: Natalya and Maria faced off in the opener of this week’s show. Maria got the win via DQ after being attacked by Natalyta and Maryse before Michelle McCool made the save.

Thoughts & Reactions
Upon reading this week’s spoilers, I felt an initial surprise – the result was something new and different. But in execution, I felt this week’s SmackDown was the same old, same old and not very good. This week, the real question was what could the experienced favourite Natalya pull out of the inexperienced and somewhat annoying Maria? Well the answer was, a little. While I’m never really impressed with Maria, this week was an improvement on the past few weeks proving what an uber-Diva Natalya is.

The third generation Diva continues to exert her unique prowess in the ring, bringing in-ring psychology into the mix while trying to stumble from one move to the next, carrying the Playboy covergirl. I liked the whole deal with Natalya going after Maria’s knee. This was a surprisingly long match – I’m used to quickies from the Divas, but the length really helped Natalya and Maria get their story across.

If Maryse is interfering, why would her entrance music play? I didn’t really like the end, I felt this could be a good match if they had a clean win. Instead we have the involvement of Maryse and Michelle and the end, as usual over the past month on SmackDown, felt unresolved. No storyline continuations, just matches with undefined endings. I mean where is this all going? Are we just going to have a random combination of matches every week? Can they not just announce a Maria vs Maryse match for next week or something? Can they not just give Natalya her rematch already? Why do we need to go around in circles every freakin’ week? The booking leaves a lot to be desired.

Overall, the match was okay but the end I wasn’t keen on.

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SmackDown Redux – August 15, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: Natalya and Maryse were victorious over Maria and Michelle McCool, with Natalya scoring the win once again.

Thoughts & Reactions

After last week’s Olympic fiasco, I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s SmackDown match and it really did accomplish a few things… some intentionally and some not. 1) Natalya is still the most dominant Diva on SmackDown and is still being booked strongly as Michelle’s challenger for the Divas Championship. 2) Maryse really came into her own this week, showing all the signs of a truly believable heel. 3) Michelle really displayed her in-ring skills this week, proving just why she is the Divas Champ. As for Maria, well I guess we have yet to solve that problem.

While Maria may be the weak link, the other three Divas really showed a lot of progression and I found myself enjoying this match thoroughly. Seriously, I never ever thought I’d ever like Maryse, but she has grown on me so much and she continues to prove what a fantastic asset she is to SmackDown. I never thought I’d say that, Maryse is slowly becoming a “one to watch” among the WWE Divas, she’s developed at an exponential rate and this week was so much fun to watch with her little heel-ish poses. Maryse is coming into her own, sure she has a long way to go but I am really impressed with our Frenchie so far!

Natalya, ever the trouper, carried this match despite Maria’s slowness and has really been booked strongly over the past couple of weeks. Last week, she rolled up Maria and this week Michelle, proving to us that WWE isn’t done with the Michelle-Natalya programme, but can they please hurry up and give us a rematch or some sort of singles development? I think they’ve been booking all this tag matches of late as a vehicle to get both Maria and Michelle on screen because God forbid we have two Diva segments. While Maria and Maryse seem to be developing a feud, I am still awaiting some sort of development from the Great American Bash – sure Natalya’s won a couple of matches, but there has been no storyline development between Michelle and Natalya.

Meanwhile, I was so impressed with Michelle last night. Michelle has her detractors, but I urge them to watch last night’s match – I know that they will try and fault her anyway, but Michelle really delivered the goods on SmackDown and was a lot of fun in the ring. From the moment she was tagged in, the whole pace of the match sped up and her and Natalya seemed to work really well together. Michelle was just on fire! A lot of great fast paced action between these two and even Maryse a lil bit. Despite a slow start (thanks to Maria) this was a decent match and I appreciated the work of Maryse, Michelle and Natalya.

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Woman on the Verge?

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Look who is now included in the SmackDown title sequence! If the above image is any indication, looks like Alicia Fox is a woman on the verge… of fame, that is! Hopefully, this is a sign that we’ll be seeing more of Alicia in the future and hopefully in the women’s division! With Eve wrestling … Read more

SmackDown Redux – August 01, 2008

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Late again! Sorry, I’ll stay for detention =( But this week, I have an excuse (kinda) – it was my birthday! Don’t ask how old I am though, but here’s a hint: the dinosaurs were still around when I was born.

Last week on SmackDown: Maria made her auspicious debut to SmackDown, with a victory over Victoria. Only, it wasn’t so auspicious…

Just how the hell do you solve a problem like Maria?! It seems in one night, Maria nearly undid all the good we’d been seeing on SmackDown since post-WrestleMania. In that time, we saw the arrival of Natalya, the in-ring improvements of Maryse, Cherry, Kelly Kelly and Layla and we crowned a new Divas Champion in Michelle McCool. Wrestling wise, SmackDown has really worked hard to give Raw a run for it’s money; but last week, I couldn’t help but cringe as I somehow powered through the match pitting Maria against the veteran, Victoria. For weeks now, Maria has been hyped up for her big debut – but it’s obvious what she hasn’t been doing in her time away and that’s brushing up on her in-ring skills.

Two months ago in our Diva Draft, I wrote how I felt Maria moving to SmackDown was a wise choice and then it happened. Since then, I’ve continued that Maria would be an asset to the division – adding some star power while being able to hone her skills, well judging by last week’s performance – she has a long, long way to go. Is Maria the new Ashley? This whole match was so slow, with Maria needing at least five seconds between every spot, needless to say it didn’t look like a seamless, professional wrestling match. Maria was carried all the way through the match by Victoria, only to win with a crappy, weak clothesline from the middle rope. But before the end, we had a dull match that plodded along seemingly with no end in sight; come the final bell, I was truly exhausted. Perhaps not seeing Maria on my screen for so long, I had become disillusioned as to how bad she really is? But to me, she seemed even worse than some of her matches on Raw and hot damn, SmackDown has three days to edit!

Rome wasn’t built in a day and Kelly Kelly didn’t become passable in a day either, maybe Maria will develop the way of Kelly with more in-ring time at her disposal. One thing can be said for the Diva though, is wow… what an effin’ huge reaction she got! The crowd was totally bonkers for Maria, it just doesn’t make sense!

Match Rating: PASS / FAIL
Comments: Not even the Vicious Vixen could solve this problem!

Two weeks after winning the Divas Championship, Michelle McCool was unceremoniously bumped to make room for Maria. I totally didn’t see this happening, I was assuming they’d somehow fit in two Divas segments to get Michelle on the show… but they didn’t. Not cool if you ask me. For the second week in a row, no Natalya either. The two cornerstones of the SmackDown women’s division were sorely missed last week; but the question is: How will WWE work Maria and Michelle around each other? No doubt, they’re intent on pushing Maria but they surely couldn’t at the expense of the Divas Champ? Could they?

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SmackDown Redux – July 25, 2008

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I apologise for the belated SmackDown Redux, but this weekend just happened to be the most sweltering hot weekend we’ve had in the UK this year, needless to say I didn’t really feel like parking up at the computer much!

Last week on SmackDown: Michelle McCool made her first appearance as Divas Champion, defeating Maryse. Meanwhile, Maria is coming next week!

Thoughts & Reactions
So after all the hype and anticipation, we crowned the new Divas Champion – except, it was pretty much an afterthought on SmackDown. It seemed like business as usual for the women’s division, Michelle makes quick work of her opponent and that’s your lot. I was expecting way more fanfare than we received, I thought a crowning ceremony of some sort would be a nice touch but nope. In my brain I had concocted the whole scenario, Michelle has a crowning ceremony only to be interrupted by Natalya – setting up a rematch between the two. Instead, no sign of Natalya. An unspectacular start to Michelle’s run as Divas Champion.

Now, I may sound like I’m dissing – well I kinda am, but I’m also not: I really enjoyed the Divas match on SmackDown and felt these two worked really well together. Maryse, who was by all accounts, useless for the better part of two years has impressed many of us a lot in the past few months. She had a really good week, a gorgeous photoshoot coinciding with a good match-up even though she ultimately lost. What a difference a few months can make! Up until April, Maryse was catching checks for nothing and now, she’s actually proven to be quite the asset for the SmackDown roster. Michelle too, was great, it really shows her evolution as a wrestler as she’s now able to carry less experienced Divas through a match as opposed to being the one being led.

Back to the match, some good work and some sloppiness. Taking the action to the outside always gets some kudos points from me, it’s something we don’t really see with the Divas but have done quite a fair bit on SmackDown this year. Maryse throwing Michelle into the ring apron showed some aggressiveness on her part and that’s always a good thing. Things got a little sloppier for the finish however, was there supposed to be something spectacular about Michelle’s backflip – was she meant to elbow Maryse or something? It looked a little odd that both Divas were just standing there and then the roll into the heel hook felt uncomfortable.

Match Rating: PASS / FAIL
Comments: Ultimately, a fine match that we can overlook the sloppy spots.

Also on the broadcast, we found out that Maria is finally coming to SmackDown next week. I’ve read reports that WWE wants to make Maria’s debut a big deal and I think they’re going the right way about it. I like that they kept her debut until after the Divas Championship match at the Bash. How will they introduce Maria? It’ll be interesting! A few possible scenarios could be having her get involved with Victoria, like I have hoped for on the site for the past few weeks! Or they could even have Vickie introduce Maria as an opponent to punish Alicia Fox, that way we gain two wrestlers! I’m not sure how Maria will fit into SmackDown, because both Raw and SmackDown right now are really about Divas who can wrestle on a regular basis and put on good matches – that’s something we haven’t seen Maria do. Maria hasn’t really ever been in a regular wrestling role, so I think it will be a shellshock when she’s on the show with all the girls. Sure she’s a big name, but I take Maryse as an example – in three months she’s become a wrestler. It’ll be hard for WWE to push Maria as a wrestler but I hope they can do it. Maria adds some name value to the SmackDown women’s division and could definitely share the top Diva role with Michelle.

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SmackDown Spoilers For July 25th

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PWInsider.com has this Friday’s SmackDown spoilers from tonight’s tapings. Highlight the space below to read: • Backstage, Edge is talking to Alicia Fox. He tells her he’ll speak to her back at the hotel because Vickie might show up at any moment. Bam Neely is seen eavesdropping. • WWE Divas Champ Michelle McCool defeated Maryse. … Read more

SmackDown Redux – July 18, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: The Divas celebrated Vickie Guerrero‘s wedding by attempting to catch her bouquet. Michelle McCool attacked Natalya, Cherry caught the bouquet and was then beaten by both Natalya and Vickie herself.

Thoughts & Reactions
On paper, I was kinda looking forward to the Divas action on this week’s SmackDown. On screen, I was bitterly disappointed by how things played out. When I read the spoilers that Michelle attacked Natalya during Vickie’s bouquet throwing, I thought this could be a fun way of selling their match this Sunday at the Great American Bash – instead the spot felt uneasy to watch and rather lame. As all the Divas stood together on the outside of the ring, did Michelle not notice that Natalya was standing next to her the entire time until the camera was on her? It looked really stupid when Michelle was happy-go-lucky, waving to the crowd one minute and then the next, she turns and sees Natalya who has evidently been standing next to her through the length of the segment. This just came across as unrealistic and silly, not the way I would have these Divas leave things before their big night at the Bash.

Elsewhere, poor Cherry got to job twice in two minutes – three whole minutes less than the 5 minutes I first predicted in this week’s Diva Dirt Sheet. When I initially read the spoilers, it said something of the lines of “Natalya absolutely killed Cherry”, getting my hopes up for a competetive match in which Natalya really showed some of her great ring presence. Instead, Natalya’s beat down of Cherry consisted of a hair pull and hitting her with a bouquet of flowers before locking in the Sharpshooter. In all, the whole segment lasted less than 3 minutes and that was it – our fill of the Divas for the week. I was lenient on SmackDown last week for it’s shortened use of the Divas, but at least that match and it’s aftermath helped sell the Bash this Sunday. Honestly, I didn’t feel as though this was a segment to write home about and it certainly didn’t help push the first ever Divas Championship match!

Possibly the saving grace of this segment was the other Vicki – Victoria, a welcome return to SmackDown for the Vicious Vixen who displayed her large personality as always. I’m not ashamed to admit that I laughed at Victoria waving her arms around, gotta love this girl! And on another plus note, the Divas did look rather elegant in their gowns though I am not a fan of wrestling in dresses.

Despite being a hellish heel, Vickie Guerrero (as WWE has pointed out on SmackDown) has shown some streaks of brilliance with introducing the Divas Championship and towards the Divas, she’s always been very friendly as “mothersome.” This was a cool aspect to Vickie’s character because the rest of the time she’s a bitch we love to hate, Vickie really makes it seem like she loves and more importantly, respects the Divas on SmackDown and is “friends” with them, even though they may not be friends with each other. I don’t know about you, but I like this quality because it gives SmackDown’s women’s division some importance, some meaning because they can tie it into the GM. Of course, that was somewhat tainted on SmackDown when Vickie virtually pinned Cherry in a matter of seconds, but the interaction beforehand was pretty cool.

Fast forward to the final segment of SmackDown and gosh darnit, what many have speculated would happen, has happened. Edge made his move on wedding planner, Alicia Fox, though I have to say the video footage was really stiff and badly acted. Nonetheless, this gives Alicia some prominence and I cannot wait to see her folded into the mix as it were, in future weeks – hopefully she’ll be joining the women’s division very soon! Let’s not forget, Alicia’s not the only new Diva – I fully expect Maria to make her SmackDown debut next week, I’m glad they have held her off until after the Bash because it puts the spotlight on Michelle vs Natalya.

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SmackDown Redux – July 11, 2008

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SmackDown Redux has moved to Fridays! I have always intended to have Redux on Fridays but realised WWE.com doesn’t post it’s digitals after the show airs in America meaning I couldn’t post till Saturday. Anyhoo, I’ve decided to make my own screen shots! The new, improved Redux will mean you Americans can watch the matches before they air in the States too… good times, right?

This week on SmackDown: The road to the Great American Bash is officially underway! Divas Championship contenders, Michelle McCool and Natalya teamed up with Cherry and Maryse respectively in a Divas tag match.

Thoughts & Reactions
It’s been a week for tag team matches on both Raw and SmackDown, but I’m pleased to report my experience was more favourable for Friday night’s tag team match. Even though I enjoyed this match I do have one epic complaint – this match was shorter than a freakin’ commercial! Just as we were getting into it, the match was over. Nonetheless, great work from all Divas involved, though background talent – Maryse and Cherry were both impressive in the ring. Maryse particularly showed some ring presence and agility in the ring with her cartwheel type thing.

All in all, this match really left me wanting more, it could have lasted a little while longer because the work was pretty darn good. Who’d have thought I’d be excited to see Maryse and Cherry in the ring? I felt the finish of the match was a little sloppy compared to the rest of the short match; Cherry tapped out far too quickly, it didn’t really sell the Sharpshooter. There was some awkwardness with Natalya jumping out of the ring and then jumping back in and attacking Michelle, but in all, I felt this was done really well and set up their Bash match nicely. Taking the action to the outside was a nice touch, it added some physicality and intensity, showing how much Natalya wanted the title – and how much she hates Michelle. Nice work from all the Divas, I wish it was longer!

For the second week in a row we got a “coming soon” promo for Maria, I really like that they’re building this up rather than throwing her straight into the mix. I think Maria’s move to SmackDown is a big deal and I think pushing her arrival sets her up as a top name, which I think she will be in SmackDown’s women’s division. I wrote last week that I had hoped they’d keep the “coming soon” promos coming for a little while to build up anticipation and thankfully, WWE is doing so. Perhaps having her debut after the Great American Bash would be a wise move because I would hate for her to detract away from the Divas Championship match-up. I am hoping that Michelle-Natalya will continue to feud after the Bash with a rematch, so while they’re tying up their storyline I would love to see Maria feud with Victoria. Hopefully we’ll see that happen, Victoria deserves some screen time and I think she could do a great job putting over Maria.

A fine night for the SmackDown Divas if a little short!

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SmackDown Spoilers – July 11, 2008

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This week’s SmackDown spoilers are below, simply highlight the text to read! Maryse & Natalya def. Cherry & Michelle McCool, Natalya picks up the win with a Sharpshooter on Cherry. After the match, Michelle tends to Cherry outside the ring when Natalya attacks her and hits her with a suplex on the floor.

SmackDown Redux – July 04, 2008

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This week on SmackDown: The Divas once again battled it out in a “Golden Dreams Match” to determine Natalya’s opponent for the Divas Championship, which was ultimately won by Michelle McCool. Meanwhile, Vickie Guerrero gave an showstopping performance with Edge.

Thoughts & Reactions
In a July the Fourth episode of SmackDown, the metaphorical fireworks were let off! Finally we got some development in the Divas Championship saga after the title was jilted from the Night of Champions card, Michelle McCool won a second “Golden Dreams Match” to face Natalya for the title in future. And in all honesty, were you actually expecting anyone other than Michelle to win this one? So now what we have all assumed over the past few weeks will become a reality – Michelle vs Natalya for the gold, I can’t wait! But as for last night’s deciding match, I felt this was very well put together and much better than the first “Golden Dreams” which was won by Natalya last month. This match seemed to be more choreographed with all the individuals involved given some time to shine, I guess the fact there were fewer Divas in this match helped. The match was far more memorable and worked really well on the whole.

It’s interesting to note that Michelle, while she won the match, was more or less being thrown out of the ring for the majority of the match. The real in-ring work was done by the likes of Maryse and Kelly Kelly, Michelle seemed to take more of a backseat – which was kinda cool. I guess because we all pretty much knew Michelle would win, they created a twist by having her not as dominant and letting the other Divas do the spots where they climb the pole and stuff. More interesting was all the face-on-face action, I believe Michelle knocked her best friend, Cherry off the ring apron and later was seen with Kelly on the outside. Again, this creates a cool feeling and shows how much these Divas want that title!

My favourite spot of the match, somewhat harkens back to Kelly Kelly’s insane bump a few weeks back – when Victoria hit the ring apron mouth first. It looked pretty real and was an “ouch moment” in itself. I couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction afterwards with the “Oh my God.” Victoria’s BFF, Natalya was on commentary for this bout sporting her hot new auburn hair colour. Natalya seemed a little on edge however, a little nervous but seemed to carry herself sufficiently enough. I think there is a danger of Natalya sounding too personable on commentary and also in her blogs at WWE Fan Nation, as she is meant to be a heel. I personally don’t mind it, I think she comes across a genuinely nice person through her blogs but there is a character to uphold.

We don’t usually cover Vickie in the Redux, but this week I felt as though Vickie gave a pretty powerful performance on SmackDown. Not that i’m calling for her to win an Oscar or anything, but her backstage segments with Edge she really came across believable and there was an intensity in her acting. However the final scene with her screaming the building down? Not so much.

PS, Maria will be coming soon to SmackDown. I think I said everything there is to say in an earlier post, but anyway I think they should run these commercials for a week or so longer and then have her debut.

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