killeroflegends

– WWE Raw Diva Mickie James is currently suffering from a hyperextended elbow, which has caused her some discomfort and numbness. Due to the injury, she’s being used sparingly, but still working because WWE heavily relies on her to help layout the matches, keep the matches going and the fans interested at shows. James is expected to be given some time off from house shows as a result. The injury occurred during the recent European tour, which is why she was taken out of matches except as referee or timekeeper. James believes she is okay enough to work, but officials are being careful as she is invaluable to the division. Trainers feel she should rest another week or two before moving back into regular action.

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Mickie James, as you can read for yourself, was injured during the European tour a few weeks ago. That would explain why she was booked in short matches, or sometimes no matches, at recent events. I will admit that I incorrectly believed that was due to the misuse of Mickie, but that still does not explain why she was being pushed aside before the tour. I will not go into that further now.

It shows the passion Mickie has that she wants to work through the injury. I can honestly say I did not see any pain or discomfort from her when she was in the ring during the past few weeks. She endured it like a true professional. It is also good to read that Mickie has some people in the WWE who appreciate her, although she still has powerful adversaries as well. In the end, I hope the injury really is not that serious, Mickie is able to rest up a bit (God knows she has earned it), and that she realizes she has the fans ready and waiting when she is better. God bless her.

Michelle McCool’s heel turn seems imminent. Someone had to turn in the McCool-Maria feud, and Maria would probably be a crappy heel. They had been teasing McCool to turn anyway, since she was acting a little arrogant against Maria and not seeing her as a threat. It seems like Maria will win the Diva’s title somewhere down the road, unless backstage powers arise again.

What does McCool’s heel turn mean for the face and heel divas of Smackdown? The faces now have Maria, Eve, and the Bellas. Exactly where in that group is an experienced veteran who actually knows what she is doing? No offense to the Bellas, but they are still very new and not that spectacular. No offense to Eve, but she has not done anything yet. As far as Maria goes, and she will be the star of the faces, what a horrible choice. She got a huge push when she posed for Playboy, did not show extraordinary skill then, and has not improved that much since.

The heel divas will include Maryse, Victoria, Natalya, and McCool, when she officially turns. The weakest link on this list is Maryse, and even she is improving better than some of the Smackdown face divas and has been booked to look better than she is. Nevertheless that push may be ending now too. That impressive booking she got at Survivor Series may have been her “gold watch” before she is slowly phased out. Three Raw divas had to be eliminated in vain? I could be wrong, however. Maybe McCool will take Maryse on as a sidekick, so Maryse can still be able to show what she can do fully, learn from McCool, and pick up a few wins. But the WWE rarely has the desire to push two face or heel divas at the same time, and when they do, it is usually done with little effort, given not enough time, and sometimes dropped without much notice. Moreover, McCool does not seem to be the type who will train her possible replacement. Mickie James may have helped the Raw inexperienced face divas, who the WWE then hopes will replace her, but McCool is too greedy for that, based on reports I have read. Maryse may also turn face, growing off a storyline where her own arrogance will not allow her to work with McCool, but then the face divas will have five members, if Eve actually will wrestle, and the heel divas will have only three, and then there is the rumor Victoria may retire soon.

McCool turning heel simple unbalances the divas in terms of quality. Looking at quantity, it is even at four each, if no other switches happen. It may also damage continuity, as Maryse has plot problems, and real backstage issues, with McCool. All of a sudden they will be on the same team, and with McCool as leader? As I continuously say with Mickie James, no diva has to be in the title picture all the time, but they should be given something meaningful to do. For some reason, I see Michelle McCool as a diva that must have that spotlight on her always. She wants the “Trish Stratus” treatment. If she has to job, it does not matter as long as she has her title. When she does lose the title, she will probably either win it back within two to four months, or be given some angle to keep attention on her. And now she has a good argument to say she should keep the title longer, as no face diva on Smackdown is really at her league. Maria will get the push, but that will be a slap in the face of the quality of women’s wrestling in the WWE. What can save Smackdown? If you ask me, bring Gail Kim to Smackdown as a face.

I just figured I would give my opinion of a diva that has lasted a long time, and has gone from Smackdown to Raw and been there since. The only time I have mentioned her is when I listed the many women Michelle McCool has screwed over as far as giving them pushes go. Jillian Hall was to get a push by going back to Smackdown and feuding for the Diva’s title, but McCool ruined. McCool had no right to do that to Jillian.

Beyond the fact that Jillian was mistreated, which is nothing new for WWE divas, I do not have that much else to say about her that is good. She has a gimmick, unlike most divas who have had it taken away by the WWE and are left generic, but a gimmick is not everything. Her “bad singer” gimmick only serves to gain cheap heat. Screech and the fans will hate you. Is that really an intricate concept, or even one that requires much talent from Jillian? No. I would not be surprised if the WWE loses viewers when Jillian comes out. It does not showcase any great mic skills, since she is just screeching out an already established song, sometimes altering it slightly. It shows very little wit.

As far as ring skills go, I think it serves to say right out that big boobs are not aerodynamic. She went for a 450 splash once, and it looked very sloppy. Not graceful at all. It looked like it may have actually hurt the diva she ended up hitting it on, Melina, but it may have been just good selling from Melina. A few weeks later, Jillian actually tries it again. Once again, it did not look good. She even got messages from fans asking her if she was ok after the spot. Of course she was, but that should be a signal that you are not doing a move well, if fans are scared you may have injured yourself when you execute it normally. She has also used a full-nelson facebuster as a finisher, and again her execution was sloppy. She tries for cartwheels, sometimes into a standing opponent in the corner, sometimes into a leg drop on an opponent on the mat, and again, not very good. Every time I have seen her do it, she does it too slowly. What I really dislike about her, and why I judge her on a higher scale, is because she was hired as a credible wrestler and is still this sloppy. I expect better from these women than the “eye-candy” divas. But Jillian seems to think bigger breasts can help her. While that may be true, sadly, in the WWE, it is not everything. It is possible to be a beauty, have your big breasts, and still be an amazing wrestler, or at least better than I see Jillian. Trish Stratus is an example of this.

Nevertheless, even though I do not think highly of Jillian, she has been with the company for years, stuck with that stupid gimmick, and has jobbed regularly to divas even worse than her, such as a rusty Candice or an improving Kelly Kelly. That would have been reason enough to give her the push on Smackdown, but no go. Do I think she would do better on TNA? Not unless she improves her sloppiness like Gail Kim did. For now, she should stick with her jobber spot on Raw until something comes her way, and I can only hope she tries to improve in the ring more.

I do not believe I have said much, if anything, about Katie Lea Burchill. I had high hopes when she debuted, since I was sick of having Beth Phoenix shoved down my throat. She came on Raw with an incest angle. Not really something I would have wanted to see, but the brother-sister pairing was refreshing. An actual intergender team was formed that may last a while. Katie and Paul did indeed start out on Raw wrestling male wrestlers in 2 on 1 matches. The matches could have been booked better to show what Katie could give, as well as take, but it was a good concept. Sadly, they ended it. As the WWE became more kid-friendly, the incest angle was forgotten as well, but I will not miss that.

As far as talent and potential, I like her. She has decent mic skills, as she often acts as the voice for her brother. She also has a nice, arrogant character that is perfect for a heel. Her ring work is pretty good too, although she did show some clumsiness early on. She seems to have shaken off all that. She is very technically sound. I do not like her finisher that much, but that is a small matter. She has a good aggressive attitude. I would have loved if she won the Women’s title from Mickie, but it went back to a woman who started out sloppy and still continues in that tradition after all this time.

Where is Katie Lea now? Her talent is being wasted. She was not a part of the Survivor Series Divas match. She was on Raw, so she can job, and play along with Jillian’s little concert. They are ruining her aggressive character by making her look like part of a comedy act. Some of the little fans may love that. Comedy is becoming too overrated in the WWE now. All the divas are becoming slowly generically the same. Victoria is the perfect example of this. Was she not awesome once? Now she is dressing up like a fat sumo wrestler, a banana, and a turkey. Why? For the comedy factor. Then when she gets in the ring, they have to treat her like a credible threat? She always gets beat, so how is she still that credible? And then she oversells some of the other divas’ offense now, and not in a good way, but sloppily. Katie Lea is being treated just like that, but her ring work has not started to suffer yet. All the heel divas on Raw seem to be the same in that they must be targets of comedy in segments and promos, and then serious threats in the ring. Beth has Santino, Jillian has her gimmick, and now Katie Lea is slowly being brought into the act. Does the WWE want the fans to think that the heel divas are fun too? They can do that without making them all follow the same path. Leave Victoria and Katie Lea as serious, threatening divas, although I believe Victoria is responsible for much of her own foolish segments and is trying to make a statement, but it is failing (I may talk about that another day). They are making Katie Lea easily replaceable by making her so generic.

On a side note, I also like her “brother”, Paul Burchill. He was very impressive on Smackdown, working with William Regal, and continued to be just as good on Raw. However, he is being treated as a jobber as well, and even worse than Katie. At least Katie is used because the WWE frequently lumps all the divas into tag matches, so an extra heel diva to job is always needed. But where is Paul Burchill? It has been months since he had a match. I would not be surprised if they released him soon. Once he goes, what great reason will they have to keep his “sister”, Katie Lea?

Melina Perez did indeed return to Raw last night, picking up the first of many wins that will come with her return push. She looked good and ready to go. Any guess on who she will feud with? Considering that the WWE has downplayed both Jillian and Katie Lea as jobbers, that only leaves Beth Phoenix, who just happens to be Women’s Champion. Melina is getting a shot at the title. The WWE may throw a speed bump in the way, such as a number 1 contenders match, but it is obvious who is going to win. I am not saying they should not push Melina. I just wish there was more creativity involved. Give them promo time, make it an actual feud, make it be more than just the title at stake, and just make it interesting. They failed to get Beth Phoenix over for a year because they were only pushing her as a strict power wrestler. She did not have the charisma to get her over by herself, nor was she actually that great in the ring. If the WWE really want to capitalize on Melina’s return, give the divas some promo time to hype it.

One of my predictions came to be. Beth Phoenix was the last diva left in the ring. Why is she getting this monster push? She wins at Summerslam, No Mercy, and now Survivor Series. She probably would have won at Cyber Sunday too if she had a match, or if it was possible for the WWE to ignore the votes of the fans and just book her as the winner of the costume contest. They were building Beth up as unstoppable earlier this year, which was for Candice until she got hurt again, and they seem to be doing it again, possibly either to have her drop the title to Kelly Kelly, Melina, or Gail Kim. Point is, Beth Phoenix sure did not need this win just to make her look strong. They even played with her being face in this match, since Maryse was an obvious heel. Are they that desperate to get Beth over? Women’s Champ, angle with Santino, on the border of face/heel (tweener), and booking her like she is really unbeatable. Too bad her ring skills are messy and not exciting enough to get her over with the mass majority of fans. Sorry Beth fans, but there is a reason it took over a year for Beth to get a good pop, and that came only after she got a comedy angle going with Santino.  

As far as good match quality and furthering a plot, they seemed to combine the two, and it did not make for a very sound match. Victoria was there simply to lose. The Maryse/McCool/Maria feud got new heat, and Maryse was booked to look good in this match, taking out three members of Team Raw, and slapping Beth around. I do not think Maryse, of all people, deserved to look strong, but it may be due to her after what McCool reportedly put her through. I would have rather seen the divas that actually got hired because of their skill get a pin, like Natalya, if not Victoria. McCool and Mickie got into a nice sequence of mat wrestling and counters, and seeing these two go at it one on one may not be too bad. As for the other divas, most seemed to be using the same offensive style all match, flippity-flips. I appreciate when Mickie James does it, but she knows not to do it all match, and she didn’t go for the Mickie-canranna tonight, which is good. The other divas seemed to monopolize the move and variations of it anyway.  

On the subject of Mickie, tonight was bittersweet for her. She got to hit the Diva’s Champion with her finisher and eliminate her from the match. That is something. But then she immediately gets eliminated, due to a small distraction, by a roll up from Maryse. They toss Mickie a bone and then toss Maryse an even bigger one at Mickie’s expense. That is not good. That kind of booking makes Maryse look super-strong, so they better not let it go to waste. Mickie’s elimination better not be in vain. As far as who won the match, Beth Phoenix may have been soul survivor, but that counts as a win for her team. Based on how I am seeing other wrestling fans take it, that means Team Raw was victorious, so Mickie was on the winning side. Getting to the point, and going by the fact that Team Raw won, Mickie is still undefeated at Survivor Series. She has been on the winning side of every match she has been in on this pay-per-view. 3-0!

As I noted a few days ago when the match was first announced, this diva match seeing Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown can go many ways. But the main reason I have still been mulling it over is that Mickie’s Survivor Series undefeated streak can either continue or end tonight. For all the Mickie fans out there, such as myself, having streaks like that are just something extra to be proud about of Mickie. It is also a sign that the WWE cares. There is a reason RVD maintained an undefeated streak at Wrestlemania and One Night Stand, defeating Randy Orton in his last official match with the company before leaving at One Night Stand 2007. Although he did make a surprise return months later to squash Santino. Why did he return? Because WWE did treat him well and toss him that last bone when most thought he would lose to Orton. Back to Mickie, will the WWE toss her the bone?

The fact that it is an elimination match makes it even harder to say Mickie won, should Team Raw win with, for example, Beth as the last survivor. But will Team Raw even win? The Smackdown divas involved in the match have been looking very weak since the match was announced. The WWE usually likes to have the side that has the last laugh before a pay-per-view end up losing. Although some wrestlers break this rule, such as Goldberg. Beth Phoenix also broke this rule when she won her second title. Mickie was looking weak going into Summerslam, having lost to Santino in her hometown, and Beth was looking strong, having been undefeated since returning from an absence. Take note that just because the WWE booked her to look good, does not mean Beth actually is good or deserving of her push. Mickie, who was made to look bad, which is nothing new to the WWE, was being buried and that may continue tonight. Michelle McCool may be getting a big win to even out her loss to Beth a few weeks ago. But since there has been no build for the Smackdown divas at all, I do not believe a win for them will go anywhere, as far as the plot goes. I can see Michelle McCool possibly turn on Maria, but they already had their title match, and it seems that even if that happened, it would lead to Maria losing for Team Smackdown. Moreover, for Mickie, is the WWE still trying to push her aside, or are they ready to give her one last facade of a push before Melina and Gail Kim get there? Mickie is still the top face diva of Raw, so that may work in her favor should it come down to a Smackdown heel vs. a Raw face. Then again, the WWE has been giving Kelly Kelly a super-push recently. What can be bigger than her as the soul survivor? She has not been pinned recently either, so they may not want to ruin her streak she is creating.

There is one item that makes me believe that Mickie may stand a chance at being a survivor. She did give Beth that stare. I am not saying that it was part of a plot, it could have been just good ring psychology on the part of Mickie to show the tension in the match, as I pointed out a few days ago. If it is part of the plot, what better way to take that tension to a new level than have Beth and Mickie the last two left on Team Raw? I am sure they will have a nice tender moment as they hug. Yeah right. It will add another dimension to things for sure, though.

They made this match an elimination match, when it could have easily been a 10-diva tag, just like last year. That better mean that this match will have some extra meaning to it. This better not be just a cheap way to make Beth Phoenix look like the “Queen of the Divas”, or Michelle McCool for that matter. The former is not worthy of the push she gets, and the latter already has enough power backstage that she does not need more for her ego. It would be great if this match was used to further some storyline, and not be just a match tossed in at the last second because of a lack of creativity on what to do with the divas. Whether it be a Mickie/Beth or McCool/Maria storyline, just give the divas something interesting again. And hopefully the match quality will, of course, be good. Last year, and this is not blind Beth hate, Beth Phoenix, captain of her team, was only legally involved in the match for less than a minute. She tagged in, did one simple move, and tagged out. Amazing, isn’t she? Beyond hoping that tonight is good in terms of storylines, match quality, and for all of the divas overall, I hope tonight is good for Mickie James.

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To all the Maryse fans out there, wondering why Maryse was quickly pushed aside so Maria can get a push? The answer is simple. She is not injured. She is not being given time off to develop more skills. The reason Maryse is getting depushed is the same reason Natalya lost her push to Maryse. Michelle McCool had a backstage altercation with Maryse. Does anyone still believe that backstage powers do not exist? McCool sure is not afraid to take advantage of it as well. But something just seems suspicious to me. Natalya is top contender, may have been gaining some support to win it very soon, but an issue with McCool comes up, and Natalya is quickly the sidekick for Maryse. Maryse is not an exceptionally great wrestler, but was trying well, learning to wrestle solid matches, and only needed to work on her ring attitude and psychology a bit more. It seemed like she may have come close to getting the title, but an issue with McCool comes up, and Maryse is pushed aside for Maria. How long until Maria gains support to win the title? The title match she did get was a short joke that did not have the “title match” feel. Nevertheless, should she still be treated as a top contender, the current champion may have an altercation with her too. McCool has ruined the chances of Natalya, Maryse, and Jillian Hall of winning her title. Why was Victoria overlooked to take the push instead of Maria? She is a heel, a better performer, and is supposedly retiring soon, so one last push will not be horrible. Did McCool not want that either? She probably thought they would push Victoria to win the title.

It also makes me wonder why Mickie James is continuously pushed aside for less popular, and even less talented women. It cannot be that McCool’s reach extends to Raw, although it may be a possibility that McCool did not want Mickie on Smackdown, since rumors were heavy earlier this year that Mickie was going there, and the WWE even hinted it themselves. Even after Mickie won the title, there were reports that they wanted Smackdown to have something to make it stand out, and the Women’s title may have been it. Next thing you know, they make a Diva Championship instead, and we all know who the first holder of the belt is. How eager was McCool to keep Mickie, whether with belt or not, off Smackdown and make a title of which she can say she was the first champion? But back to the original question, what is Mickie doing wrong? As I have pointed out before, Mickie tries to act with respect to the other divas. She is wonderful to the fans. She works hard. She willingly jobs and, from what I have read and seen, she does not complain. On the contrary, she seems to do her best to make her opponents look good, but they have to treat her with some respect. She is, however, not as glamorous as the other divas. That hurts her, and it should not. I believe one of the keys to her popularity is that she is not overly-glamorous, but seems more fun, like your best friend. If that is not the reason, who is the bully on Raw keeping her down? Smackdown has one. Maybe Jim Ross was talking more honestly than I gave him credit for.

http://www.wrestlezone.com/article.php?articleid=229291886

Again, with any “Wrestlezone Exclusive”, you have to take it as you will. These guys take news from other sites and just smack it on their own. When something is “exclusive” to them, it is sometimes wrong, like the “Kane’s mask in the bag” incident. This rumor says that John Cena has broken up with Mickie James. There is no source or reasoning given. I am even still doubtful they were really dating. They might have been just friends and decided to go along with the romance angle. The internet took care of the rest. Rumors stated that Matt Hardy and Katie Lea were dating, but Matt set that straight himself. Sometimes, friends are just friends. Besides all that, John Cena said in a chat session months ago that if he could relive one thing, it would be his time with Mickie James, and he said that after the character romance was over. Was he speaking in character with that answer, or in real life? Some news sites took it as meaning real life, so that would imply it ended months ago. Now some are saying it is over now. Believe what you will. I for one wish Mickie nothing but happiness in her life, so if she was dating John Cena, I hope she is not hurt if they did break up, if they are still together, I hope they are happy, and no matter what the case may be, it is really none of my business. Mickie has a right to her privacy and happiness. The article also notes that Mickie used to date Joey Mercury and Kenny Dykstra. Joey cheated on her and Kenny was a jerk to her fans and aggressive. I hope very much Mickie will find some sunshine in her life.

The last thing I want to mention is from Torrie Wilson’s shoot interview. For those who do not know, a “shoot” is when the person speaks honestly, not in character.

A really touching part of the interview for me was when Torrie talked about how Mickie James showed her respect as a veteran. When talking about the multitude of battle royals WWE books the Divas in, she talks about how when the Divas are planning out the match and figuring out who’s going out first, Mickie always stands up for Torrie and says: “Torrie’s been here longer than any of you combined, she’s not going out first.”

It is said Mickie James is nice to her fans, but according to Torrie Wilson, Mickie is also nice and respectful to those she works with. That does not mean she takes crap or unfair treatment, or that she should, but it means she really does believe in hard work. Torrie Wilson was never the greatest female wrestler, but she stuck around the business and did her job to entertain in and out of the ring, until injury finally ended it all. Some of the newer divas, as Torrie mentions elsewhere in the same interview, treat divas who have even been there a long time rudely, just because they are “eye-candy” divas. That does not mean Torrie did not have to work hard, maybe even harder, to last as long as she did. It would have been easy for Mickie James, who has literally sweat and bled in her path to the WWE, to say that her hard work entitles her to more respect and better treatment from the fans and officials, which a certain other diva who debuted just a short while before Mickie is famous for doing. Does Mickie act like that? No. She gives respect to Torrie Wilson, because she recognizes that Torrie’s commitment to wrestling deserves respect. Torrie could have easily quit at anytime and found a safer job as a model or actress, but she went out there for the fans and gave them a show. In my opinion, that is something worthy of respect. It is something I see in Mickie James as well. Treat others as you would have them treat you. And people still want to say Mickie should not be a role model? I sincerely hope Mickie gets the respect she deserves for her hard work and commitment, not just from the fans and other wrestlers, but from the officials who want to treat her as a second-class diva. For all of Mickie’s wonderful qualities, I will repeat what I said earlier, and say that I hope very much that Mickie will find some sunshine in her life.

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Take it for what you will. I honestly do not believe this is a clear sign that Trish will return. This seems just to be a stab to make herself still look tough and only hint at not being afraid to take on either Beth or Natalya. If Trish does return, even if only for the classic “1 last match” against either of the two women, or perhaps both in a tag match, I just have a feeling it will not end there. Besides, why exactly would Trish come back? She had a storybook end to her career, defeating her longtime rival in her own hometown. I believe this interview was just meant to hype her show. No wrestling comeback is needed to do that. Nice to see, and of course hear from, Trish, but should this turn into an actual wrestling return, then I will say what I think about Trish coming out of retirement. Until then, I believe this was all just hype and empty words. Trish is not returning to wrestle.