Howdy everyone and Happy Tuesday! Raw was sadly a quiet night for the Divas last night as we witnessed a reasonably short match between Brie Bella and Tamina Snuka. WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella and Naomi were at ringside, as was Natalya, albeit for a different match entirely! With just five Divas on the docket, we haven’t got a lot to discuss yet what we did receive was satisfying enough.
BRIE MOOODDDDEE!
Fans of autotune will have been happy as Brie Bella’s solo theme song opened up the Divas segment from last night’s Raw. Yay? The Bellas strut to the ring and do their trademark stage poses yet they made sure they checked behind them in case of a sneak attack. Hurray for continuity! Brie even goes as far as entering the ring differently as she tries to get over the pre-match beatdown from last Monday. Nikki tried to stop her, yet we’ll have to do without a rope flip this week.
The ama-may-ay-ay-zing combination of Tamina and Naomi are out next. Naomi looks stunning in her ‘Nope’ top whilst Tamina looks like she could stun you physically! The pair speak in another pre-recorded entrance promo (so glad they are getting the chance to do these) and Naomi sets the record straight. She says that if it wasn’t for Brie, she would be Divas Champion right now. She says that it is ok though, as now she has her equaliser. Tamina says that this week, Payback comes early.
The bout starts and Brie and Tamina lock-up to kick things off as Brie is feisty from the get-go! Despite being ruffed up in the corner, the former Divas Champion repeatedly whacks Tamina in the face with forearm shots and clubbing blows. Her persistence and emotions cost her as she runs into a boot to the midsection from Tamina, who then takes Brie down with a hairgrab backbreaker.
Teamina – as Michael Cole calls her (first he forgets her name last week and now he gets it wrong) – gets in the ref’s face before hitting a double axe-handle on Brie. She sends her ‘Brie Mode’ foe into the corner with a hard Irish Whip, a move she follows up with a short, and cringe-inducing rear chinlock. Not the most entertaining of moves yet thankfully it isn’t applied for long. Brie fights out yet Tamina cracks her in the kidneys and then hits a forearm against the ropes.
Tamina hits a couple of knee drops that don’t really amount to anything yet she dishes some more effective damage out by choking Brie on the middle rope. Tameezus uses Brie’s legs to throw her in the air yet Brie lands on her feet instead of her back! She hits a really nice transitional schoolgirl yet the Pacific Islander shuts her down with a clothesline. Tamina then tries to hit a back suplex yet Brie lands on her feet yet again and she starts to shift the momentum.
Tamina stumbles as Brie hits out with a clothesline and dropkick. Brie then hits an elbow in the corner and a missile dropkick. Whilst all this is going on, Booker T says that Tamina has put “eight pounds of muscle” on apparently, muscle that isn’t helping at this present moment as she has Brie Bella charging at her knee first! Brie hits one patented knee strike yet when she tries to hit another, Tamina shoves her off. Brie charges back at Tamina yet the leather-loving Diva responds with a monumental superkick for the win!
Later in the night, Natalya made a minor appearance as she along with Tyson Kidd accompanied Cesaro to the ring for his match against Big E.
Also, as part of the Raw Backstage Fallout, we see Brie Bella give her thoughts on Daniel Bryan relinquishing the WWE Intercontinental Title.
Thoughts: I wanted some badass superkicks and a badass superkick is what I got! Shame the rest of the match was kind of a mess. I honestly don’t feel that these two had enough chemistry to pull off a good match, which is sad to say. Whilst I liked Tamina not falling to the ground easily when hit with the clothesline and dropkick, I didn’t like the other rough, messy spots like the forearm from Tamina to Brie against the ropes. That looked sloppy, as did Tamina’s shoving of Brie when she reversed the running knee.
On the plus side I am glad that Tamina won clean without interference as that really showcases how dominant she is and how pivotal a force she be whilst at Naomi’s side. Also a loss is not always a bad thing, and an example of which is in this scenario. As Brie and Nikki are babyfaces, people will want to root for both of them even more now that Brie has lost, especially in the case of Nikki.
As Raw felt like an episode of SmackDown, let’s hope SmackDown feels like an episode of Raw and moves this story along some more. This match had to happen, and I’m glad it did as it served its purpose of making Tamina look destructive, yet now I want more of a storyline element. Whether it be attacking The Bellas backstage and stealing the Divas title or mocking Daniel Bryan and his championship relinquishment, there is plenty that The Family can be doing to get under Brie and Nikki’s skin. Or they can just beat the crap of them again. That would work to get fans behind The Bellas!
What I don’t want to see is Naomi and Tamina beating a random tag team. They have both been showcased as dominant and vindictive and now I want see them prove it some more.
