killeroflegends

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.

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.

This is another one of those topics which is partially based on a reader’s recent comments. The reader made the comparison between the current Raw diva division and the current Smackdown diva division. I have been inserting how I feel about that same topic in other posts I have made almost every week. What I find more interesting is how things have changed since a few months ago. There was a clear difference between Raw and Smackdown then too. That is what I want to talk about now. How has that difference changed?

Months ago, before Maryse took a hiatus from Raw for surgery, the main issue going on was over who would make history first by becoming the first diva to have held both the Diva’s Championship and Women’s Championship. At least, that was a big deal for the fans. I have already written enough about how the WWE failed in its part to make that race to history interesting. Point is, Maryse was defending her title against Mickie James and Melina was defending her title against Michelle McCool. Starting with Raw, this is the show that was all about storylines. Good wrestling action seemed to come second. How could it possibly come first? Maryse was not bringing wrestling first in her matches, but she was pushing her character. The feud revolved around the idea of whether Maryse could beat Mickie James. The Miz was inserted to tease that a bit more, as well as for other reasons. There was no linear path between Mickie entering the feud, becoming contender, and winning the title. The WWE tossed in Kelly Kelly, giving her two official title shots, before Mickie finally got her chance. That was used to add a little more dimension and story to this Raw feud, as well as prolong it so McCool can make history first and to keep Maryse a bit strong. On the other hand, over on Smackdown at this time, it was only about wrestling. There was no real storyline. Melina was Women’s Champion. McCool wanted it. She won the right to face Melina. She won the title. There was no great build to it. There was nothing more to this feud than the title. All the filler matches in between were just that, filler. They never added anything much to the feud besides an exchange of momentum, which McCool had most of going into her title win. The matches were solid. McCool is a very solid worker. In the end, neither show seemed to have the full package of both serious wrestling and an actual storyline going with the feuds.

Post-Maryse, and also after a diva trade, things changed drastically. First, even though it started in the previous era, guest hosts were running Raw now, and taking up a lot of time. From the point Mickie James won the Diva’s Championship, all title feuds on Raw have been pretty rushed and linear. A person gains a title shot and gets it. Her feud with Alicia Fox is the only one that offered more of a build to it, but even that could have been a lot better and was still just over the title. It seems like it was supposed to be about wrestling only on Raw, like it was for Smackdown for a while. Problem is, many of the women Mickie was facing are inexperienced. Not a lot of time has been devoted to many of the matches. Guest host matters have been trumping many of these matches. Having the divas wrestle in boxing gear? Football gear? I can go on. A lot of fans are not going to take that seriously. On one hand, you are trying to push just serious wrestling without great storylines, but on the other hand, you are not making it easy for the women to work and be taken seriously. After the diva trade, Melina and Mickie switched places. Melina is in the same boat Mickie was in. Nothing has changed. Short matches. A lot of comedy. Matches are either boring or sloppy for whatever reason. There are no real storylines involving the title. Meanwhile, I am liking what is going on over at Smackdown. It is still about serious wrestling. However, there are actually backstage segments happening often. These are not trivial segments. They are actually building a storyline. When Mickie James does get her official title shot, it would be after a real feud over more than just the title. They are also stressing the need for a new face diva on Smackdown, which makes that interesting as well. Michelle McCool is getting to show some character to gain heel heat. As you can see, a good storyline can serve more purposes than just to entertain, although that is an important part in a sport where the outcome is fixed, such as pro wrestling.

Why has this change occurred? Starting with Raw, the guest hosts are obviously causing some trouble. Nevertheless, it would not have been too hard for the WWE to have done an interesting storyline. They have teased Gail Kim possibly turning on a few occasions. Nothing ever comes of that. Why? Because they are waiting for Maryse. I already wrote a lot on that a few days ago, so I will not say too much more. However, you can see how things suddenly changed right after Maryse left. When she returns, I expect them to change again. Storylines will pop back up, but I doubt wrestling will be taken seriously again. On Smackdown, where it was originally just wrestling being stressed in the title scene, things may have arguably changed because of Michelle McCool. She was not as over as a face as the WWE would have liked. They cannot let her fail as a heel. Interestingly, a storyline popped up in the form of Maria’s romance with Dolph Ziggler. I did not like how it remained a backstage storyline for most of the period, but it did get a lot of people involved, including Michelle McCool, and while she was injured. That storyline was allowing her heelish character to show. That is important. The WWE wants that. Sadly, because the storyline never brought the act into the ring well enough and died before it can leave a great lasting effect, many can say that it failed. When McCool healed up, she was pretty much gone from the storyline and just wrestling again. Since Mickie James came to Smackdown, things have picked up again. The act is actually getting in the ring this time. There is more than just wrestling matches going on. Things may change after they finally get that new face, or if they decide it is not working out for Michelle McCool and want to just push her wrestling again, but I like what is going on. It almost makes up for the WWE dropping the ball on treating the “grand race to history” as a real angle.

To put it simply, Smackdown is treating their women better than on Raw. Raw had the edge in terms of creativity for a while, but they lost that when Maryse took off. Smackdown is having storylines and wrestling matches that are solid. They even have the title many people consider the “real” title. Yes, the butterfly title is still seen as a joke. Melina gets to be the third diva to make that infamous piece of history, but is she missing Smackdown now?

Layla and Michelle McCool have made good on their promise to make life on Smackdown miserable for Mickie James, the sole face diva of the brand. In a backstage segment, Layla distracted Mickie James while McCool entered Mickie’s dressing room. Good to see that McCool has officially found a new Alicia Fox.

Mickie took on Natalya Neidhart for the first time tonight in a singles match. A short match, but not a very bad one. This may be one of those times where youtube is not your friend. A version of the match I saw on there edited out a brief portion of the match that was actually shown in the televised version. The finish of the match is what is important here. Layla and McCool come out with one of Mickie’s other wrestling outfits, which McCool must have gotten after sneaking into Mickie’s dressing room. They start destroying it, distracting Mickie. Natalya knocks Mickie down and locks in the Hart family’s favorite submission. Mickie taps out for the first time in her WWE run. I wish they would have saved that moment for a more meaningful purpose than to put over the fact that Layla and McCool are making Mickie’s life miserable. I do not feel it gave Natalya a good enough rub. In any case, attention immediately shifts away from Natalya and onto the two other heels, still destroying her outfit. The purpose of this match was to only further the build for the Survivor Series match and push the need for another face to help Mickie out. Still, the result of this match still remains what it is. Layla and Michelle McCool defeat Mickie James. Oh, I mean Natalya defeats Mickie James. The win will not do that much for her at this moment.

Beth Phoenix continued to do her thing with random jobbers. If only life was so easy that you can do whatever you want every week with a rag doll. Lisa Taylor looked like she was going to try to put on some kind of fight in the start, but nothing. Beth gets to look untouchable. She is allowed to bring out any move she is capable of doing. And she gets to showcase her strength. The WWE is really trying to get her popular. Giving her a huge push and making her look untouchable did not work in 2007. Giving her storylines and pairing her with one of the most charismatic men on Raw, Santino Marella, failed in 2008 and into 2009. They are now just having her run through jobbers. I want to say that this should work. If it fails, I do not know what else the WWE can pull in a PG environment to get her over. Maybe they should just start treating her like Chyna? Beth Phoenix defeats Lisa Taylor.

A few weeks ago, tucked in between all the other rumors circulating around the diva trade and Mickie taking further steps in her desire to be a country singer, rumors popped up about Mickie James retiring. This is another one of those rumors which I did not really even want to waste my time with. About one year ago, there was a rumor that tried to use a poem that Mickie wrote to imply that she was unhappy about her career and wanted to retire. I did not even want to entertain that notion, but after seeing that some people were falling for the report, I had to shoot down that report by analyzing the meaning of the poem myself. One year later, Mickie never did retire, did she? The only reason that I am bringing up these newer rumors is that a reader brought them up herself, while also tossing in the added idea that they may be building Beth Phoenix up to be top face after Mickie does retire.

First, looking at any retirement rumors, it can be easy to see how they got started. You have almost every report on Mickie’s move to Smackdown saying that it was a punishment. They say she is frustrated. If she was frustrated, and if the WWE did not plan to do anything about it, Mickie James could very well have wanted to leave. This is not junior high. No one can force Mickie James to stay in the WWE. I will not get into a long rant about money and contracts; peace of mind is worth more and no WWE contract lasts for an eternity. ROH and TNA are on the rise. Mickie James has been in both. How hard would it be for her to return, especially after the success she has had in the WWE? The WWE realizes this, and they have to know that they cannot afford to lose her right now. Even if Mickie was not planning to “retire” like Victoria did, but actually stop wrestling, she is a talented woman with goals and who went back to school to get her college degree. And in this economy, her degree in business is worth a lot more than my degree in English. The fact that she is pursuing her interests in music further add fire to the rumors that she is planning to retire. Jim Ross said it himself months ago, just because she is exploring that area, it does not mean she wants to stop wrestling anytime soon. But these rumors like to mix fact and fiction together and put out more fiction. It seems to be just a coincidence that fresh news about her music plans popped up at the same time as the rumors concerning her trade. Jim Ross first revealed the former information months ago, before Mickie supposedly had any reason to be frustrated, as reported by our trusted wrestling news sites.

The rumors also mention nagging injuries causing Mickie to want to retire. I heard one about a shoulder problem. Mickie herself has admitted to her bad knees, but constant shoulder problems is news to me. A lot of wrestlers perform through constant injuries and pain. Shawn Michaels is an example of this. A diva’s career may not last as long as a man’s, but Mickie has been doing this for a decade and still seems able to go. Will injuries stop her? Of course. She is not Supergirl. Even Superman himself, John Cena, has been stopped by injuries. And you cannot say that Mickie James having to work through pain will immediately cause her to retire. She has worked through those bad knees, she sprained her ankle before Wrestlemania this year and still competed at the big event and never missed a Raw match around that time, she has taken a lot of hard bumps here and there over the years, and if there is anything else I am missing, it all amounts to the fact that of course Mickie James has to be hurting at times. Whether this shoulder thing is true or not, there are a lot of things that are true that can be seen as reason enough for her to want to retire. But that is not Mickie James. She continues to push herself and is doing fine. As long as her heart is still in it, she will try.

Moving on to the reader’s idea that they may be building Beth up to be the face to take Mickie’s place, I obviously doubt that is the case. If I do not believe Mickie is retiring anytime soon, I do not need to go to the next level of Beth taking her place after she retires. For the sake of analysis, however, I still want to talk about it. There is one obvious mistake in the idea that Beth can just take over as top face after Mickie leaves. Who will be the other faces? Maria? Still enjoying her life as a celebrity. The WWE needs to turn someone face to support Mickie now. If they turn someone face just so there can be a face on Smackdown after Mickie retires, they are still short on faces badly. For that reason, I am still seeing it as possibly turning Beth face just so you can have some tag matches more easily on Smackdown. One face diva cannot do everything.

I am not denying that they are building Beth up. They are having her squash women who are even smaller than the typical WWE diva. They are sending her marching with the orders to dominate and look interesting doing it. Get over. Get the fans to like you. Make it easier to become a face. Is it hard to imagine Mickie James outnumbered by the other heels, knowing there are no other faces present on Smackdown, just for Beth to make the save? That may arguably get a good reaction for Beth. Saving Trish Stratus from heel Mickie James in 2006 is all Beth’s face character was based on when she debuted. It was not based on a fun or great character. She was not actually interacting with the fans. It would have been interesting to see how popular Beth remained once Trish was taken away from the scene. It is obvious that her heel character failed to get over for years. I am not talking about you internet fans who honestly loved Braden Walker. I know Beth has her rabid fans crying about how great she is, just like all the divas have. But true overness and popularity is based on the general fans in those arenas every week. I still love how one wrestler came out a few months ago, I will not say who, and got pretty much no response until they announced that this wrestler was from the place the event was being held. There was a pop then. I digress. No surprise. My point in my digression is that there still may not be a lasting positive response for Beth’s face turn. Whether it works or not, the WWE will probably have to continue it. They would have already come so far. There are not many other options. Smackdown needs another credible face diva.

Beth may not be turning face to take the place of a retiring Mickie James, but there is still the idea that she may turn face and push Mickie out as top face of Smackdown. The WWE has loved pushing Beth in the past. They have also loved depushing Mickie James. If Mickie does not retire, where will she be with Beth as top face? My bet is useless backstage segments with Mike Knox. Looking at it in a cynical light, I am pretty much saying that they may not even be building Beth up to take Mickie’s place as top face should she retire, but just take her place while she is still around. No retirement rumor necessary. Of course, I would not mind if Mickie was taken out of the title hunt (after she silences McCool’s title reign), but how will they honestly treat her after? That has always been the problem. That has always been where the WWE dropped the ball with Mickie James. She has still never had a meaningful angle outside of the title picture that saw a real finish. I have complained about that enough.

Let me sum it up fast. Will Mickie James retire? Not anytime soon. Will Beth take her place after she retires? My answer to the first question kills this question. Are they building Beth up to be a face? Seems like it. Is Beth taking Mickie’s place out of the question if Mickie’s not retiring? Not if that is what the WWE wants. And that is all.

I have discussed here and there how some of the traded divas have done on their new shows, as well as how the credibility of some of the rumors surrounding their moves has held up. What about Mickie James? She lost the Diva’s Championship and was traded to Smackdown. There was more controversy and rumors flying around about her move than any other diva’s a few weeks ago. Smackdown was supposed to be a punishment for her? Really?

Since coming to Smackdown, it is true that Mickie James has had only one official match, not counting house shows. But she has also gotten things in these past few weeks that she rarely saw on Raw all year. She is getting meaningful backstage segments. She is not talking about the weather with Cody Rhodes. She is actually getting to interact with the other divas to build a storyline for her coming feud with Michelle McCool. It will not be a typical “you have title, me want title” feud. Moreover, these segments she is getting are actually letting her show a bit more character. I like that she is not being used only to wrestle every single week on Smackdown. I still cannot wait until she does get more matches, but I hope she does not lose the chance to still have segment time.

How was sending her to Smackdown a punishment? Some can argue how it is, but I am looking at things in another way. The WWE took both Eve and Melina off Smackdown. They knew Maria would not be around for a while. That leaves Mickie James as the sole face of Smackdown. That is a huge responsibility. Even if they are turning Beth Phoenix into a face, that turn will not happen overnight, and neither have they even gone very far in that path yet. And even if she does turn face, there is no guarantee how well Beth will last like that. Mickie James would still remain vital to the women’s division on Smackdown. I have also already explained how Smackdown is offering her more backstage segments to develop actual storylines for her and let her show some kind of character. I still wish the WWE did not leave most of their divas generic, but it is still good to have Mickie go out there and do the talking for herself. The reasoning the WWE had for sending Mickie to Smackdown, if you believe the rumors, may be seen as a punishment. The farewell loss they gave her on Raw may be seen as a punishment, but I can write a longer rant than this to show that treating Mickie James badly is nothing knew for the WWE. In the end, the actual act of having Mickie on Smackdown is no punishment. I cannot imagine why she would be crying for having escaped guest-host mania on Raw, and the other problems there.

Switching gears, I want to talk about Kofi Kingston. During one of my usual complaining sessions about Mickie’s last title reign lacking meaningful feuds and all that, I said the WWE were doing the same thing with Kofi Kingston. I am not going to retract my statement, but after Kofi did his solid job with what he had to do, the WWE actually rewarded him. After he lost the United States Championship to The Miz, and correct me if I am wrong, I do not recall him getting an official rematch on Raw. However, he did find his way into a Bragging Rights match. He pinned Chris Jericho the next night. He has entered a feud with Randy Orton. And here is the kicker, he has actually gotten some meaningful segments. He is actually showing character. Ironic how they had to kill his Jamaican gimmick to finally let him show some attitude the fans will like, but he is actually being used very well now. No title needed. Draw the connections back to Mickie James. She never got her rematch for the title she lost. She is still in a position where she has to be pushed and treated well (only face diva on Smackdown). And she is getting the time to show character. I am not saying these two are being treated the same exact way for the same exact reasons, but it is something to think about. Their recent title reigns did not do for them what their treatment post-reign is doing for them.

So where does the credibility of the rumors surrounding Mickie’s move to Smackdown lie? If it was meant to be a punishment, the WWE failed. Mickie escaped the show with guest host crap. She will not run the chance of having to face Rosa as often. She is getting segment time. Even if Mickie did not “shape up”, as some rumors put it, she would still have had to be pushed as the sole face for a little while longer. Maria would still be gone. It would still not be possible to properly turn Beth face so fast. The WWE put Mickie in a position of great responsibility. They had to have had faith in her to do that. I do not think all this amounts to an environment of punishment. As far as the other rumors concerning why she was traded, I have already talked about that weeks ago. My only point here is to say I honestly believe the WWE did a bad job of punishing Mickie James, if that really was their intention. You do not do it by putting her in a tough position, such as being the sole face of a brand. They put her in a spot where it would be easier to put focus on her, and they have been putting the focus on her. That is a punishment?

Switching gears one last time, how about Melina? She took Mickie’s spot as top face on Raw. The top face diva of the WWE works Raw? Really? The top diva gets 4-minute tag matches? 2-minute title matches? Gets overshadowed by a midget in green? In almost every match Melina has had on Raw since returning, there has been either sloppy spots or the match was just boring overall, in my eyes at least. If this keeps up, Melina’s reign will be a lot worse than Mickie’s. And has Melina said two words since coming to Raw? Has she ever touched the mic? Has she had backstage segments where she opened her mouth? Her feud with Jillian, if you can call it that, resulted in nothing but Jillian losing three times and Jillian teaming with Chavo regularly now. As I said during Mickie’s reign, the WWE is just tossing matches to the Diva’s Champion until Maryse returns. Melina’s presence on Raw did not change that. If anything, it only refreshened some match possibilities until Maryse does return. To end, I am pretty much saying Melina has been doing poorly on Raw, while Mickie James has been doing better on Smackdown. What’s that? Blame the WWE for not treating Melina better? Blame Jillian for not doing her part in the matches very well? I sang that same song when Mickie James had the title. All people wanted to do was say Mickie James deserved to be punished, was boring, and heap the criticism on. I do not hate Melina. I see what is going on clearly. You still have to admit, things have not gotten better for the divas on Raw that much, beyond Rosa getting off.

It may not take long for the WWE to change their focus again and treat Mickie James badly on Smackdown. Until then, I like how she is being treated. I have always said that Mickie should get a meaningful storyline outside of the title scene. This is not that, but it comes close. She is not wrestling every week. She is getting time to talk. She, along with the other divas involved, is getting the chance to actually show more character. There is no way I can call all this a harsh punishment. Things are turning out well so far.

Beth Phoenix once again got a match against a jobber, Brittany Carter. Brittany was just as weak-looking as last week’s victim. Striker once again tried to add a small story to the match to make it seem like Brittany had a chance. She didn’t. How long will these matches continue? They may help turn Beth face. As I have said many times before, the average pro wrestling fan only appreciates 100% offense. What does Beth Phoenix get to do in these matches? 100% offense. They are keeping Beth looking very strong. And since she is not facing faces the people care about, she should be getting the better end of the deal in terms of getting over. If it needs to be said, Beth Phoenix defeats Brittany Carter.

The main news comes off of a backstage segment with Mickie James, Michelle McCool, and Layla. There will be a tag match at Survivor Series. Team McCool vs. Team Mickie. Large tag matches do not interest me usually. This one, however, still has some time to actually be developed and does seem to have an actual story to it so far. Focusing on the segment itself, Layla and McCool surrounded Mickie and mocked her. They said she had to beg for this match. They said no one likes her backstage because she cried when she had to be traded to Raw. They said they will make her life hell. First, of course none of the divas like her backstage. With Maria gone, Mickie is the only face right now. Those heels are not going to like her. And it seems the writers want to play with the rumors of Mickie crying about going to Smackdown. I would not make too much of that. It would not be the first time the WWE has played with the internet fans. The Miz’s whole feud with Cena focused on that. The romance angle between Mickie and Cena, which reports tried to claim was real, led to segments where they teased that Mickie was sleeping her way to the top. It does not seem like the two really were romantically involved in reality, so of course the promos of her sleeping her way to the top were just made up as well. And in terms of continuity, the present storyline misses the fact that Mickie was already featured in a segment where she was glad to be on Smackdown, just like the romance angle of last year missed the fact that Mickie was already Women’s Champion before the angle even started, so “sleeping her way to the top” did nothing for her at all. Why did I even spend time with this minor issue? Because I know some people are going to think that it is automatically real. Whether it is or not, it was obviously an easy tool the writers saw to make Mickie James look bullied in the segment. If Mickie did cry about going to Smackdown, she had her reasons for it, just like Melina did. But you have to keep in mind that it is an act in the end. Do not automatically buy in to the rumor sites. Going back to the segment, all this arrogance from the two heels served the purpose of trying to break Mickie down. It did not work. She handed it back to both of them, promising to be Women’s Champion again. It is interesting to note that she is still outnumbered out there. If McCool and Layla are going to make things hard for her, she may need help. For some reason, picturing Maria run out to make the save does not seem too credible. Will Beth Phoenix, who is being built up for something, finally turn face? Mickie has been sole face on Smackdown for a month now. It does not make things easy for her or the division.