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This piece of news has no impact on any storylines or actual wrestling, but it is still worth mentioning. ECW’s ring announcer, Lauren Mayhew, is done with the WWE already. She came just last month. Gone so soon? Ironically, her stint in the WWE lasted longer than many diva angles that could have really been interesting. How about Gail Kim’s possible heel turn a few months ago? I can go into a long rant about the WWE hiring a woman to go out on television every week, getting some fans to become invested in her, and just let things slip away like that. I never cared about her myself, but I see that a few others are upset about this. I get more upset when the WWE lets good storylines and feuds slip away, but that is another issue. She was meant to replace Lilian Garcia. It went nowhere.

Some are talking about Rosa Mendes becoming ring announcer on ECW. The WWE has invested too much into her character to just try to use her as a regular ring announcer. She can work as a special ring announcer, such as in matches where she will play a role either in the action or a storyline revolving around the match. She has been used this way before. Nothing wrong with that. But for her to be a regular ring announcer, I do not see how they can still have her dress the way she does and act the way she sometimes does. I do not know if her voice has that tone to it to make her a great choice. To put it simply, I think she should stick to ECW storylines. If she keeps improving in the ring, she will have to be pushed as a wrestler again soon anyway.

It may be time for the WWE to find another “Lilian Garcia” for ECW, and later possibly Raw? No tears for Lauren either. She has her own things going on.

Raw is saved! All the Raw divas saw time tonight, as well as a few from Smackdown.

Natalya was out for DX vs. Hart Dynasty. She did nothing beyond bounce up and down and look frustrated after the inevitable loss.

Teddy Long got a backstage segment with Vickie Guerrero and Escobar. She once again was pushing the fact that she has power. Long wanted to smash some potatoes in her face, but Escobar saved her. How long will this Teddy/Vickie angle last this time? Will it end up the same way it did last time?

The rest of the Raw divas who were not in the match tonight were in a backstage segment with Santino. Gail Kim and Alicia Fox started out. Santino came in with a sexist promo. They pied him. The Bellas pied him. Eve pied him. Vickie tried to pie him, but he ended up slapping it back into her face. Good to see they are still treating Vickie as well as around the time she left the last time. As for the other women, all their characters are left as generic once again. None really had anything that stuck out for me. Then again, that was not their job. Their job was to be generic. It was Santino’s job to be funny. Pie in the face is also funny. However, and I have said it before, good charisma is not about the action, but how it is acted. In terms of that, nothing special from any of the divas involved in this segment, except Vickie. She seemed fiendish. She’s still got it.

And there was a match tonight. I know Thanksgiving is this week in the United States, but “Mayflower Melee”? Pilgrims vs. Indians? Stupid. The two sides even came out to music that is supposed to represent the two types of people. Special titantrons too. The heels, Michelle McCool, Jillian, and Layla, were not too happy about it. That is what was expected of them anyway. McCool gave a short promo against it. Smarks are going to love her for that, right? The faces were Melina, Mickie James, and Kelly Kelly. The Gobbledy Gooker was timekeeper, but that is the best thing of this match. I will get back to the giant turkey in a moment. If it needs to be said, the faces were dressed as American Indians. The heels were Pilgrims. The match saw only Jillian and Melina officially involved. McCool and Layla did nothing much beyond try to cheap shot Melina once, have it backfire, and then just leave Jillian alone. Solidarity between McCool and Layla right there. Mickie and Kelly got to do even less. Raw is famous for putting divas in costume matches and creating tag matches where most of the divas do nothing at all. Tonight was the first time they went there in a while, but they went there indeed. Without saying much about the exact match quality, it was a better exchange between Melina and Jillian than they have put forth in the last month. Melina gets the pin. Melina, Mickie James, and Kelly Kelly defeat Jillian, Michelle McCool, and Layla.

After the match, Lawler and the turkey got in the ring. Lawler wanted to interview Melina, so Mickie and Kelly leave. As Melina is saying how glad she is about things, the Gobbledy Gooker attacks her. Guess who? Maryse is back. She spent some time stripping out of the outfit. That actually got a good response from some of the fans. The hot blonde gets cheered just for stripping. She dumped the outfit on Melina. She was doing her infamous hand gesture through it all. I think this sends a clear message. She wants her title back. No surprise there. Giving Melina the momentum from last night and tonight were good to not make her look second-class for when Maryse returns and starts taking momentum at Melina’s expense, like tonight. I am actually glad Maryse is back. The second she returned the way she did, you could tell that real creativity was there for the women on Raw again. An actual feud is finally here. How will the wrestling be? We will see when Maryse gets in the ring. It actually hurts a bit that I was right. I threw around the idea here and there that the WWE put treating the Diva’s Championship scene with a bit more respect and creativity off until Maryse could return. How does she return? With a surprise attack on Melina to start a feud strong. It was an actual segment in a real feud. Emotion was there. It was what was really missing from the Raw divas since Maryse left. I do not blame the women themselves, but the WWE’s lack of faith. I wish Maryse the best of luck. I do not want to watch Raw every week just to be bored by the divas.

It is worth noting how this match was positioned between the two title matches. It was obviously meant as a cooling point. What’s new?

The match itself was not too bad. Since it was positioned where it was, I figured it would be rushed badly. For the first few minutes, it was. Layla, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Jillian, and Eve were all eliminated pretty quickly. Layla, Gail Kim, and Jillian never got to pin anyone. Just jobbers. Eve and Kelly Kelly got to pin the heel jobbers, which is a good sign for them. McCool pinned Gail Kim, which is the only elimination the Women’s Champion got. Beth Phoenix dominated for the heels. She eliminated both Eve and Kelly Kelly in quick succession. That is giving her a ton of momentum. Mickie James came in and managed to eliminate Beth, who then attacked her after. This makes Mickie the wounded face. However, Mickie James dominated for the faces, in terms of eliminations. She still managed to eliminate Alicia Fox. That left it two against one. Did I forget to mention Melina? She’s coming. McCool got to dominate Mickie. That heightened the moment when Mickie would tag out. Melina came out and cleaned up on McCool. After a brief exchange, Melina hits her finisher to eliminate McCool and win the match for Team Mickie. That was a good thing to do for Melina. McCool has mowed over her many times on Smackdown, Melina got pinned at Bragging Rights, and she has had bad luck on Raw for a while in her matches. The Diva’s Champion pins the Women’s Champion, and that gives her momentum for the coming return of Maryse. For Mickie James, she got to look very strong as well. She did not need to pin McCool tonight. That may have rushed the feud too fast. McCool looked strong in her interaction with Mickie, but could not beat her. Neither could Mickie beat McCool. What will happen when there is no Melina to tag in? What will happen when there is no Beth Phoenix or Alicia Fox to go through? As for the exact quality of the match, I enjoyed it overall. There may be a spot here or there you want to criticize, but considering Shawn Michaels almost slipped off the top rope in his match tonight, I see nothing in the diva match worth even mentioning. Team Mickie defeats Team McCool with Melina and Mickie James surviving.

Also worth noting, they did not tease any other angles in this match, such as friction between the members of either team. If Beth is going to turn face, they have not really started that exact storyline yet. Moreover, Mickie James remains undefeated at Survivor Series. She defeated Lita in a title match in 2006. She won the match for her team in 2007. She was on the winning team in 2008, despite elimination. And she is one of the survivors this year. After the humiliation they have put her through recently, I am glad she won here.

For the third Survivor Series in a row, there will be a huge tag match. Just like last year, it will be an elimination match. Team Mickie (Mickie James, Eve, Kelly Kelly, Melina, and Gail Kim) take on Team McCool (Michelle McCool, Jillian, Beth Phoenix, Layla, and Alicia Fox).

First, why this match? Some people may feel it should be Melina leading the faces against McCool. Three reasons why that is not the best option. One, you just had Team Melina vs. Team McCool at Bragging Rights. Two, you have a “Raw vs. Raw” team match in terms of Kofi and Orton (both from Raw) both being team captains, and you have a “Raw vs. Smackdown” team match in terms of Miz (Raw) captaining one team against Morrison (Smackdown) and his team. Raw gets its own elimination match. There is some Raw vs. Smackdown going on. Where is Smackdown vs. Smackdown? That is Team McCool vs. Team Mickie. Lastly, this match is personally between Mickie and McCool. That is why it had to be those two captaining the teams.

Who should win this match? Keep in mind that Mickie James has never lost a match at this event. She beat Lita in 2006. She led her team to victory in 2007. She was on the winning team in 2008. Also keep in mind that McCool has been on a huge roll. She has not lost a match in a while. She won at Bragging Rights. Will the heels win two pay-per-views in a row?

The heels, namely McCool, definitely have the momentum heading into the match. Mickie James may have won her match against Layla recently, but McCool still got the last word in. Mickie James cried at being humiliated, and that gives McCool the momentum. Had Mickie James just shrugged off McCool’s promo, that would leave Mickie looking strong heading into this match. She would have beaten Layla and brushed McCool aside easily. That begs the question, why waste time having the promo at all then? Just to show that McCool is an ineffective heel? That is the opposite of what the WWE wants for McCool. I know I am running away from the real focus of the pay-per-view match, but I will get back there. I saw that at least one fan criticized Mickie’s crying because she should be stronger than that after everything she has been through in the WWE. Really? Is it still real to you, dammit? If the WWE wants you to show a certain emotion, that is your job. If they want you to look weak, that is what you have to do. I hear a lot of people saying what Mickie’s character should be. They look at everything the WWE has had her do and try to make conclusions from that. Not a bad way to do things, but the WWE gives and takes. They may treat you well for a long time, but then have you be humiliated just like that. Mickie James was supposed to show emotion after that promo to make McCool look strong, not keep her own character as solid as stone. Honestly, it hurts to see Mickie James having to do that to make heels look strong, but I understand it. Is it fair to her character? As I pointed out before, it seems to be killing her image in the eyes of some. But keep in mind, there is a difference between how a pro wrestler should react, based on how her character has been developed so far, and how that person willreact, based on what the WWE expects from her. The WWE’s concern was building McCool’s heel status, and at the expense of Mickie James. Do not forget that Mickie James also cried after losing multiple times to Beth Phoenix in 2008. Again, not real. It was a storyline. People who want to say that Mickie James should know not to cry for losing, they should know that it was just a storyline. The WWE wanted her to look weak for the sake of making Beth look strong. Mickie James can show emotion, so she makes for a good target to go out there and do this kind of thing. Back to the topic, and sticking strictly to the storyline, Mickie’s tears once again hand the momentum to her foes. As usual, the side that has the momentum going into a big match usually ends up losing. That rule, however, has been broken before for the benefit of Michelle McCool, who mowed over Melina to win the title earlier this year. It has also been broken for the detriment of Mickie James, who has went into big matches looking weak and has still lost.

What would it mean for Mickie James to win? She gets a measure of revenge against Michelle McCool. She gets some big momentum in her coming title feud. After the humiliating promo, and expecting Mickie James to make herself look weaker by crying for the benefit of McCool, I feel they owe it to her to keep her undefeated streak at Survivor Series alive.

What would it mean for Michelle McCool to win? She basically shut out Mickie James. She humiliated Mickie James, talked big against her, and then wins the match. What reason would Mickie James have to come back from that? There are no other faces on Smackdown to provide her with a shoulder to lean on. Things would easily fall flat. McCool would remain undefeated for the longest while, outside of house shows of course. There would be no faces with momentum to challenge her. Is that when they push Beth Phoenix to turn her face by going after the title? Totally unfair to Mickie James.

I expect the match quality to be fine. There are not many matches on the card, so this match should be given some time. Aside from the big story of Mickie vs. McCool, it would be interesting to see if Beth Phoenix shows signs of turning face, Gail Kim shows signs of going heel, and see if any old rivalries get heated up. I am predicting the faces to win. McCool has been looking too strong. Mickie James has been humiliated a lot in the past few weeks. Poking fun at her for her weight and expecting her to cry for the sake of the feud and making McCool look strong as a heel are tools in themselves to bury her. But if she loses after all that in a pay-per-view she was undefeated in, she may as well be planning to retire from the WWE.

It just doesn’t feel like Smackdown without Beth Phoenix squashing jobbers, does it? Nevertheless, the show did go on to add a little more to the story between the two main divas involved in this Sunday’s match.

First, Vickie Guerrero had an interesting backstage segment with Teddy Long and Vince McMahon. Escobar was standing around too. I had a feeling he would not go too far. But it does seem the WWE has plans for Vickie. As Vickie is on her way up, Escobar has to be along for the ride. Vince named Vickie a consultant for Smackdown. That will not make Teddy Long too happy. How long before things turn back to what last year was like? Will Vickie run Smackdown again?

Moving on to the action, Mickie James once again faced Layla. She got a measure of payback for the humiliation from last week. The match was very short. It had to be so they can fit in the McCool promo after, and I will be ranting on that shortly. I do not want to overlook this match. Raw also featured a short match this week. It was a title match too. Speaking honestly, I enjoyed the short Smackdown match more than Raw’s title match. Mickie got to perform to show her anger towards Layla. Layla still managed to get the better of Mickie for a moment. Mickie pulled off a counter of her own and followed it up with a roll up to win. Short. However, it was a lot smoother than Raw’s match. Give Layla credit for being better than certain women Mickie has had to work with on Raw. Give Mickie credit for still knowing how to work even the small matches well. I am still glad she escaped Raw, despite what I am now going to talk about. Mickie James defeats Layla.

Layla lost to a roll up, so she still had her senses to grab the mic and direct Mickie’s attention to the screen. Michelle McCool did a farm promo, comparing Mickie James to a pig. Wow. I am going to approach this segment from two directions, and neither will be from the viewpoint of a blind Mickie James fan.

In terms of treating your most over face diva right, this segment was horrible. The WWE was pandering directly to those internet fans who bash Mickie James for her weight. I understand very well that some humiliation and controversy can be used to propel a wrestler’s career, but humiliating Mickie James for her weight is going a bit too far. This is something personal and beyond kayfabe (character world). In my opinion, it should stay there. When was the last time a face diva was humiliated like this? Face Lita, during her pregnancy angle with Kane, got humiliated. Thing is, that bit of humiliation was part of a huge push, which involved Lita going on to win the Women’s Championship in the main event of Raw, not to mention having her wedding with Kane take a very elaborate main event segment on Raw as well. It really helped build on her greatness. And most importantly, the pregnancy was not real. It was all a storyline. Making fun of Mickie’s weight? That is not a storyline. I fail to see how that will propel Mickie into the main event. It may only add more fuel to those internet fans who want to make fun of Mickie James. There will be a sign in the crowd calling Mickie a pig sooner or later. I can go on a tangent about how this treats women with similar body types to Mickie James, and what it says about beauty overall, but I am not going to. Why did the WWE do it? Most importantly, to get McCool heat. I said before that they do not want her to fail as a heel. What better way to get her heat than have her pick on the most over diva? Is that one of the reasons Mickie was sent to Smackdown? To be used as a tool to get McCool over? She arguably had a similar purpose on Raw with Maryse. In the end, was this all done to try to bury Mickie James? Are they trying to make her look unattractive? They say the WWE likes to humiliate talent who are on their way out. I will say no more.

I am now actually going to step out of everything I just said. Controversy is good. It gets people talking. People have definitely been talking about this thing, no matter the side they choose. I even fell for the trap of just ranting about it. Looking at the actual promo McCool gave, teenagers in high school could have done a better job of really humiliating someone. What made the segment work? Mickie’s emotion. She sold it to make it look like it hurt. She is the one that sent the message that mocking her weight does hurt. She showed weakness to try to make that segment work. You have to give her credit for going through that segment and having the ability to show the emotion to get people talking.

I looked at this thing from two ways, but it all boils down to what the WWE will do next. As I said, humiliation for even faces is nothing new. I do feel it has been a while since a face diva has been humiliated quite like Mickie has, but that is something I do not need to go into again. In most cases, when a face gets humiliated by a heel, that heel always gets it back in the end. Vince McMahon literally treated Trish Stratus like a dog a few years ago. Trish was at ringside shortly after when Vince got his head crammed into Rikishi’s backside. Moreover, Trish went on to become a great main-eventer through her interactions with The Rock and Vince. Humiliation was a small evil in the larger ocean of her success. Will Mickie get a creative revenge on McCool? Will she get all angry and brawl with her this Sunday? Will she win the title back? Sounds good to you? Not to me. That is all so simplistic. Mickie has enough reason to want to fight McCool just for the past few weeks of interactions. If she wins the Women’s Championship back at some pay-per-view down the road, or a midcard match on Smackdown, so what? She would have gotten it sooner or later without tonight’s promo humiliating her. If the point of this promo was to take the storyline to a higher level, Mickie James needs to get back at McCool. Eye for an eye. Once you build up a heel to be great, the fans would want to see that heel get humiliated. Heel Triple H has been humiliated before. Not only will McCool getting humiliated be entertaining for the audience, it would help Mickie’s character really shine. I have been comparing Mickie and Kofi Kingston a lot recently. On the Raw after Orton lost his title, he attacked Kofi. Did Kofi just get all mad, brawl with Orton later that night, and then toss his name into the title hunt? No. He messed up Orton’s car that same night. The heel gets it. I honestly believe Kofi Kingston arrived with that segment. If McCool wanted to make Mickie’s life hell, Mickie needs to turn the tables beyond just showing aggression against McCool in the confines of matches and eventually winning the title. If that is all that ends up happening, McCool’s promo on Mickie ends up just humiliating Mickie for the sake of humiliation. It basically ends up a tool to bury Mickie. And I doubt it will even succeed alone in making McCool that great of a heel. However, if all this does eventually lead to Mickie James in the main event, getting an entertaining revenge on McCool, or anything beyond the basic title push, it was a necessary evil to get to that point. If all it should accomplish is strengthen fan support and sympathy for Mickie James, what did the WWE really accomplish? She was already very over. Congratulations, WWE, all you accomplished was pandering to the internet. They’re not going to buy your overpriced pay-per-views anyway.

I know my main focus here is the women of wrestling, but let me swerve a bit over to shed a few tears for Jack Swagger. The guy has been growing on me for a while. He is still in the midst of a push, but it just seems that the WWE does not have a good creative vision for him. What’s new in midcard hell?

They had Swagger give the bold claim a few months ago that he would remain undefeated for the rest of the year. There was a lot of potential there. What happens? He gets pinned by Evan Bourne just last week. There are no excuses of a DQ finish or losing a tag match. He got pinned in a singles match just like that. The undefeated angle just did not factor in at all. Wasted words from Swagger. Moreover, the man who would have eventually ended Swagger’s undefeated streak, had it even gotten really out of the starting gate, would have easily gained a ton of momentum for a good push. Bourne’s win was treated as a fluke. Bourne even went on to lose this week. This is not the first time that Bourne and Swagger just traded wins like this on Raw. Bourne is still just pretty much a jobber right now. Swagger is still getting pushed, but the creativity that appeared to be there is wasted.

Swagger also appeared to have his eye on Eve for a few weeks. I did not feel that this relationship would propel Swagger up the card very well, like an undefeated angle might have, but I still am not happy if it just ends with no finish. Did it even get out of the starting gate? You can decide for yourself. My point is that creativity just fell through the cracks again. I am getting tired of it. The WWE seriously needs to think before they leap. Do not start an angle just to drop it without a word shortly after. The wrestlers and the WWE itself are not the only ones investing in this. The fans are getting hooked and interested in it. That is great. Why drop the ball so easily and frequently. It happens a lot with divas, but Swagger has been getting the short end of the stick recently too.

There is one thing still going for Swagger. He still has a bit of that tension with The Miz. Although both are heels, they have had altercations since a few months ago, while Kofi Kingston still had the United States Championship. Now Miz has the title, but Swagger is still teased as a contender here and there. What will happen between them at Survivor Series? I would love to see them be the final two survivors, or at least have Swagger outlast Miz. That would make for an interesting discussion between the two the next night on Raw. And since Maryse is returning, and if she does slide back into an angle with Miz, the feud between Swagger and Miz becomes even more interesting. Two options. One, bring Eve back into the picture with Swagger. Couple-against-couple feud. Second option, forget Eve. Have Maryse be the love interest that both Swagger and Miz want. All three are heels anyway. There would be no confusion about whether Eve will turn heel to join Swagger or Swagger turn face. A heel romance triangle. Personally, I think the latter option can be a lot more fun and cause more talk. You can get the fans talking about which man Maryse should choose. The WWE wants to push Maryse, so why not this idea? Problem is, this idea leaves Eve with still seemingly nothing to do. Maryse, on the other hand, would have both this romance angle and the title feud with Melina. Is that fair? You sometimes may have to sacrifice fairness for the sake of entertainment. Eve would just have to hang in there. After Maryse regains the title and Melina gets her rematch(es), Eve would surely deserve some kind of feud against Maryse.

I started talking about Jack Swagger, ended up talking about Eve and Maryse. My overall point is simply that the WWE has a great lack of creativity right now. When it does appear that something may be in the works, they drop it without a word of death. I still will not be crying too much for Jack Swagger. Unlike most divas, the WWE still pushes him pretty well. How about having a diva enjoy Swagger’s push while he is getting it?

The top face diva of the WWE works Raw? The top face diva of the WWE right now is Melina? For weeks, I have been pointing out how horrible Melina was being treated in the same seat Mickie James had for a few months, being the face Diva’s Champion in a division strangled by comedy and guest hosts as the WWE awaits Maryse. It seems some rumors finally want to get around as to why that may be. According to rumors, the WWE has “lost a lot of faith” in their top face diva. For the sake of analysis, I will talk about this rumor, but I just want to first say that this was a rumor I could have seen coming a mile away. Melina is treated worse on Raw than even Mickie James has been, so of course it will only be a matter of time before rumor sites start reporting on it and writing their clever bits about it. 

The report is not even that clever. Where is the juicy meat that will cause the controversy, cause more hits on the site, and cause a chain of further reports to make even more out of it? Lost a lot of faith? Why? How about the multiple sloppy spots that have been popping up? How about the lackluster performances? How about her reaction possibly not being as great as the WWE might have hoped? I am not putting any blame on Melina alone. As I always say, you work with someone in that ring. If they go shaky for even a second, you both may end up looking bad. If you were the one executing the move at the time, you may even end up looking worse. If these rumor writers want to report on the WWE losing faith in Melina, they can do a lot more than that plain statement they made. Any idiot can see that Melina is not being treated grandly and is not getting much time. And if you look back at some of the early matches since her return to Raw, you may see why yourself. The rumor sites talk about “backstage sources” giving them this information. Could they really not get better information than the generic line I have read? Did it really take “backstage sources” to tell them what most people on a message board can infer themselves? I think you can see what I think of this rumor. Will the juicier stuff be coming in the next few days? Is Melina crying again? Frustration? Maybe she needs to put on more weight?

Aside from trying to mock the rumor sites, what I just wrote should serve to also give some ideas as to why the WWE would lose faith in Melina, assuming the rumor is true. Switching gears, I want to talk about this in terms of the WWE being at fault. If rumors are true, the WWE was not very understanding during the reign of Mickie James. I have spoken much about the bad luck she had in those infamous moments in certain matches, so I will not go there again. Now Melina came to Raw and ran into the same bad luck in even less time. How is the WWE to blame? First, you are not giving your women enough time to work correctly. Same old song. When you feel rushed, accidents are more likely to happen. For a wrestler, if you try to take your time to put on a full match in a short amount of time, you then run the risk of not making it entertaining enough. Second, the WWE needs to make sure they are treating experienced women correctly. They did a good move by moving Rosa off ECW, but they have now stacked Raw with more face models. They cannot push themselves as far as the typical experienced wrestler. They can still pull off impressive spots, but something may always be missing. Many of these newer divas, face or heel, deserve a lot more wrestling experience before they can put on the performance the WWE may want. Funny thing, until the women have that, short matches make sense. Third, the WWE is to blame because they have been rushing Melina along, just like they did Mickie James. I do not mean in terms of wrestling a short match, but in terms of building feuds. That may kill a diva’s drive to work. Lastly, the WWE may not have intended to treat Melina that great to begin with. She may have been just a filler until Maryse returns. To put it all simply, all the WWE did was shuffle a few divas around. The overall structure of Raw did not change, and that is the problem.

I said this for rumors about Mickie’s trade to Smackdown, but it does apply somewhat to Melina now. Melina is showing just how horrible the diva division on Raw is. Where to now, WWE? Assuming rumors are true, you dropped Mickie James from Raw due to her needing to “shape up” in and out of the ring. Melina, the savior, takes her spot and fails in your eyes as well. Newsflash, Maryse may fail just as well. Michelle McCool was not getting over as a face and is reaching deep into that bag of tricks to try to make people care about her as a heel. Who is your new top face diva? Gail Kim? Kelly Kelly? Do the world a favor and bring back everyone’s favorite diva, Santina Marella. She would be the crown jewel in what the Raw diva division has become recently.

Paul Burchill did indeed lose to The Hurricane. He must now leave ECW, along with Katie Lea. That is no punishment. How much more could Paul Burchill do as a midcarder on ECW? I will not even say how wasted Katie Lea is on such a show.

I already entertained the possibility of the two going over to Smackdown. According to spoilers for this week’s Smackdown, it does not seem like they are making an appearance there. They can still debut there, but what about going to Raw? I did not talk about that option. It is an option. Can Raw use another heel like Paul Burchill? They could use someone new to push. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger is becoming as common as Chavo Guerrero getting humiliated every time you see him on Raw. Chris Masters is doing nothing but playing with his boobs. I would say Burchill may find some room there. But at whose expense? Escobar seems to be on his way back down, so that may open back up space on Smackdown for Burchill, but I do not want to go in this direction too far. My focus is divas.

Why should Katie Lea go to Raw? Smackdown is dangerously short on faces. Raw, however, is short on heels. Jillian and Alicia Fox. When Maryse soon returns, you have three. You have six faces. Heels are still greatly outnumbered. Katie can help to add some credible ability to the heels. Should Maryse fail, Katie Lea can then step up to get a push. Smackdown, moreover, has a lot of strong talent. Raw does not. Raw also seems to be the home for divas with gimmicks, the few women that have gimmicks anyway. Jillian is bad singer. Maryse is a French sex goddess. Melina, although somewhat generic and toned down, is the paparazzi princess. Katie Lea may fit right in with the comedy act Raw has become.

If I had a say, I would like Katie Lea to be on Smackdown. You need for faces there is a lot greater than the need for more heels on Raw. Problem is, how do you turn her face? What happens to Paul Burchill? Unless he is going to Smackdown as a pirate, I do not think fans will be cheering for him easily. Raw would still not be a bad choice for these two heels. In the end, just be glad they are off ECW.

The lovely Bellas did their typical lovely segments tonight with the lovely guest host, Piper. Aside from that, the divas who will be involved in the huge tag match coming up all saw time as lumberjills for the title match tonight. I was not really surprised. Melina vs. Alicia was not meant to be an end in itself. You may not understand that, but this match was easily going to be fodder for something else. If it was not involvement of the divas involved in the Survivor Series match, I was also expecting Maryse to show up to plant the seeds of her coming title feud. Also, some Mick Foley wannabe was ring announcer. Before the match, besides announcing the two combatants, he was the one who said it would be a Lumberjill match. Alicia Fox also got a second to speak. That one second is more than Melina has gotten since coming to Raw to say a word.

Moving on to the match that was two weeks in the making, it lasted about two minutes. Also, since there were lumberjills around the ring, some time had to be devoted to tossing the two women involved in the match out to the floor. Focusing just on the action in the ring, it was not too horrible. However, it did seem rushed. There was not enough time given to telling a story in the ring. In my opinion, much of it just seemed boring. Melina did pull off a counter in the end to get her Last Call finisher. It would have been a great finish to a great match, if the build to that moment was better. Melina defeats Alicia Fox to retain the Diva’s Championship.

After the match, there was a typical brawl with all the divas. That just kills the feel this TITLE match should have had. It makes it even more clear that it was just fodder for the coming pay-per-view match. If there was any respectability left, it was killed off when the idiot ring announcer got in the ring and started partying with the face divas, who won the brawl. Yes, I do not care enough about this guy to even look up his name. The important thing to keep in mind is that the face divas have some momentum here. What will happen on Smackdown?

Although it is clear that this was a horrible way to treat a title match and the divas, let me dig further into why. How does this title match compare to Melina’s match with Jillian? It lasted twice as long? Aside from that, it was pretty much the same thing going on. No lumberjills in Melina/Jillian? You had Chavo and Hornswoggle causing confusion. Those two pretty much ended up taking a great deal of the attention from the match. In tonight’s match, the idiot ring announcer helped to do that too. Compare the quality of the matches. Melina/Jillian was not too bad (the rematch, not the “match” Melina won the title in), but it was not given much time and just seemed boring. It too involved Melina making one counter followed by a finisher. At least that match had more emotion in it. Who can forget Jillian overreacting after one simple move does not put Melina away in the first 2 seconds of the match? A good title match is supposed to have a certain feel to it. The women on Raw are not getting the time or the nod to show that. They are still being overshadowed by comedy. I see that some people were actually expecting something great from Melina/Alicia tonight. Do these people watch the same WWE I do? Are these people going to honestly say that this match was great? I like to think my standards are both liberal and high, but there is no way I can overrate a match like what I saw from Melina and Alicia. Not bad, but not great either. Had this match had more time, Alicia Fox may have been able to look like a heelish threat. The few words she said before the match helped, but the match should have spoken louder than her words. This title match and Melina end up failing to give Alicia a really good rub. As for Melina, just another mark in her return diary. Rushed, boring, and overshadowed title match.

I do not believe I said this last week, but last week’s Kelly Kelly vs. Alicia Fox was the best diva match I saw on Raw since the trade. Kelly Kelly vs. Gail Kim from Superstars is still the one I liked the best from Raw divas, but I just want to stick to Raw matches. Kelly vs. Alicia was not rushed too badly. Although they had other women at ringside, they did not influence the action. The action was actually going both ways. There were no serious botches. There was time for selling and emotion. There were actual moves being used, not just tossing women out of the ring. This title match between Alicia and Melina did not overshadow last weeks match for me. I find it all sad. Melina and Jillian have been putting on a series of matches. There was a battle royal a few weeks ago, but my hopes were not too high for that anyway. Point is, your Diva’s Champion is not even the one putting on the best matches or taking the focus for the Raw divas well enough. Am I overrating Kelly vs. Alicia? I am not saying it is the greatest match since Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio, but I am just comparing it to the other diva matches Raw has been putting out. Sad, isn’t it? Look back over the matches yourself. Is there really a match that was better?

If you have been following some house show reports while the WWE has still been touring in Europe, you may have noticed Katie Lea Burchill tagging up with Mickie James. If you have been following what is going on over at ECW, you know Paul Burchill will be having a match where his very ECW existence will be at stake. Put the two together and make a few assumptions. Katie Lea was playing a face role for a few house show matches, arguably because they wanted her to shine for a certain few audiences. Should Paul Purchill lose and end up on Smackdown, would his sister go with him?

You can see a problem right there. Paul Burchill is a heel. Katie Lea is still officially a heel. Should she end up on Smackdown, you will have even more heels ganging up on Mickie. The Smackdown diva battle royals at house shows, which usually feature ECW divas as well, have a lot more heels than faces. All the ECW divas who actually wrestle on WWE events are heels. If the WWE actually plans to take Katie Lea’s face turn to Smackdown, it will probably have to be built up, as Beth Phoenix’s appears to be. Meanwhile, Mickie James is still left as sole face, but now with more heels/tweeners. A remedy for this situation is to just have Katie Lea debut on Smackdown as a face randomly. Two problems. One, I hate that kind of thing. Two, what do they do with Paul Burchill? Whether Katie Lea will go over as a face is also a problem, but I doubt that is a real concern of the WWE. Katie Lea may just take a jobber role. If you have Beth Phoenix and Mickie James as faces, who is the jobber in that team? Beth rarely jobs to anything beyond a roll up, some kind of distraction or other shady finish, or after pretty much dominating the match anyway. Mickie James constantly gets used as a face jobber, but it seems the WWE may finally keep her push somewhat respectable for a while. Even being used as a jobber would be better than what Katie Lea is doing now on ECW.

In the end, take my speculation with a grain of salt. Earlier this year, I remember people getting excited because Candice Michelle worked as a heel in a house show match against Melina. Candice never officially turned heel following that match. She never even got a push again. There are other reasons why the WWE wanted Katie Lea to work as a face. Take into account where the events were. Take into account that the lack of faces for Mickie to work with is a real problem. You could not have her team with Natalya or Layla, two of her enemies on Smackdown. Rosa Mendes does not deserve it. Katie Lea may have feuded with Mickie James in 2008, and still officially be a heel, but she is a more distanced enemy when compared to the other choices. Time will tell what actually comes of it all, if anything. On the other hand, someone may just be losing their mask very soon.