Apr 28 2009
Raw Diva Notes 4/27/09
First of all, I refuse to put up a picture of the real star of the night, Santina Marella. I am not going to humor this crap that much anymore. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may already know what the majority of my rant will be about here. I suggest you just turn away now. That is how the WWE is making me feel about Raw. I suggest reading up on the swine flu issue. I find it more compelling and interesting myself.
In terms of who got time tonight, all the divas pretty much were used. They were all lumped into a 8-diva tag, even Santina Marella. I may very well be a hypocrite for complaining. I complained months ago about the WWE always using the same four divas week after week, while other divas got no time at all. Now all the divas are getting time, so I should be happy? No. Before I complained about that, I remember specifically complaining about huge tag matches not being a great choice either. The WWE switched from one extreme back to the other. Getting into specifics, Santina Marella, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, and Brie took on Maryse, Beth Phoenix, Jillian and Rosa. As usual with these huge tag matches, who actually saw action? That is the question. For the faces, only Santina and Brie actually got to be legally involved in the match. For the heels, Beth and Jillian were the two involved. If you are going to have Rosa in a match yet again, how about having her finally wrestle a full performance? All she did was lift the ring apron to reveal the missing Bella Twin and Hornswoggle. I do not want to go into him. Beth and Maryse then got to be a part of the comedy act with Hornswoggle’s fire extinguisher. Santina rolls up Jillian in the confusion. No one got to hit any real exciting offense. Jillian missed her somersault leg drop, Beth with some punches and other offense I can even do, and it all ends with a roll up. I will not list the women Santino Marella has pinned, but counting his male and female characters, and counting a house show report I came across on a forum, the number is roughly 6. That does not even count Wrestlemania a few weeks ago. Too much attention on him. After, Hornswoggle and Santina got to extend the comedy, with help from Mickie James. She got to lift up Santina’s skirt as Hornswoggle freaked out. Does this make Mickie James seem like still a strong wrestler? No. Does it bring her into the comedy act? Yes. What is the WWE doing to her? Santina, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, and Brie defeat Maryse, Beth Phoenix, Jillian, and Rosa.
I am not done ranting yet. I do not want to suffocate it all in one place. What is up with Kelly Kelly? She works at house shows, but she has never been a part of the televised action in months now. Despite that, she is always an extra body in huge matches. If her improvement has slowed, which is something that should have been obvious months ago, have her be used in a limited way. She could not have gotten worse tremendously.
The WWE put a short rest to huge tag matches last week, with Melina’s farewell victory over Beth. I said it was a good match, and I am sticking to that, but tossing that out there to compensate for weeks of tag matches and comedy intergender matches in the past, and now again in the present, cannot do for the Raw divas. These type of matches should be used scarcely as a little change of routine, while matches that are given time, include women who wrestle, and have some hype and purpose for all involved, the one thing Melina vs. Beth from last week lacked a bit, should be the norm. The WWE has it backwards. Or is this just the new age we are heading in to? I would enjoy the Age of Orton, but this time for the women is severely lacking. In my eyes, it started after the WWE lost confidence in Candice Michelle in 2008. From that point, huge tag matches became a norm to replace solid, personal feuds, the same women were used time and time again, women ready to go were ignored or used horribly, everything has been in a cluster without focus, and Santino Marella rose to power amidst all this. Melina was lucky to escape to Smackdown. What happens now?
One of the first articles I wrote on this blog talked about how the WWE can bury Mickie James smartly by giving her short matches, putting her in huge tag matches, and just slyly push the focus away from her like that. Why do I bring this up now? I do not exactly see the WWE allowing Mickie James to really shine recently. They kept her off the European tour last week, and she got to do nothing this week. If any Mickie fans out there are reading this, does it have you questioning your faith in her? What happens after that popularity is dwindled away with all the crap I just talked about? An issue for another day.
Vickie Guerrero is still on Raw as GM. She had a few interactions with Big Show. It would seem that Big Show attacked Cena last night by his own will, but obviously with the storyline reasoning of impressing Vickie, or probably because he hates Cena that much more than Edge. Speaking of Edge, looks like he will be sticking solely to Smackdown. How will this marriage last over the distance? Vickie wants to keep her relationship with Big Show as professional. Something has to give.
Mickie James said herself that the day she lost that fire coming out to entertain the fans, that would be the day she retires. It is not out of the question that the treatment she is getting, and watching the crap that is getting attention instead (Santina), may make her lose that fire faster. If the WWE could push a long line of women out of the WWE with this kind of treatment, Mickie would have to have a strong heart to last through it. Thankfully, she does for now.
As far as being released, which I always view as different from retiring/quitting, the WWE would have to be foolish to do that when they know the TNA Knockouts division needs a great face. No one should forget that Mickie James had a brief but good run in TNA before the WWE. It is not totally out of the question for TNA, or any of the minor promotions even, to welcome Mickie James if the WWE dropped her. That is why the WWE may be burying her as well. Ruin her a little before possibly releasing her. Still, I do not see it happening.
And for months now, people have been using the term “the most popular diva” to still describe Mickie. Stepping out of being a big fan of her myself, that distinction she earned, not given to her by the WWE, may not be hers for long if Maryse keeps getting pushed for being sexy more than wrestling skill and Kelly Kelly can get away with just standing around in matches, not mixing it up or actually risking looking bad as well as good. They’re safe. If the fan support leaves Mickie, the fire will definitely start fading. She deserves better in life.