Jan 26 2009
Royal Rumble Women’s Title Match Thoughts
Yes, I was wrong in saying that Rosa Mendez would get involved in the match. I guess I should never use the word “obviously” again. They certainly could have done a better job in promoting the Beth/Rosa angle there, but letting the match be clean was a good choice. At least I was correct in predicting Randy Orton as the Royal Rumble match winner. How much further this Orton/Stephanie thing will go will be known on Raw. But save that for another day, onto Melina vs. Beth.
It was a short, but good match. I feel like I am saying that too much for women’s matches in the WWE. It was a pretty even match. Maybe a few too many submissions here and there. I am a fan of submissions, but I know these two have more in their arsenal. I may have honestly called it the match of the night if it was given more time to have them do more. Melina once again made use of her infamous flexibility in the match. Beth Phoenix once again lost to an infamous roll up. I did not really like the exact finish of the match, not only because it was once again a roll up, but because of how similar it was to a previous Beth Phoenix match. Think about it. Melina defeats Beth Phoenix for the WWE Women’s Championship.
What does this mean for the future? I am not sure why they dropped an awesome chance to further Beth/Rosa, I know I said that before, but it is true. Maybe they decided to swerve the fans who were complaining about it being too similar to certain past diva storylines. One thing is for sure, Melina may be Women’s Champion, but Beth Phoenix is still the top heel on Raw. Jillian and Layla are jobbers, if you consider the latter even a wrestler. Candice has not officially turned heel yet, and she did work a recent house show as face. They can still turn her heel to feud with Melina. Before that, it seems more likely that Beth Phoenix will still be facing Melina. Unless Rosa Mendez is fired or something, that angle will still be going on. The title scene and Rosa/Beth may or may not diverge, depending how long the WWE wants Melina to hold the title, but I have a feeling the two will cross paths, if not run on the same road until one runs out of gas.
