As 2014 draws to a close, Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by.
Note: This isn’t a ranking of 2014’s best moments. These are moments that were personal highlights for each writer.
Chris’s Pick: AJ Lee, Paige, Stephanie McMahon, Brie and Nikki Bella Face Off
For months we enjoyed incredible matches, segments, and storylines during what many ended up dubbing the “Summer of Divas”. If there is anything that encompasses what the entire summer was about, and the overall feel of the entire year- it is one segment. If there was a “Summer of Divas”, this was the grand finale. But, this grand finale also hinted at something that could set 2015 on fire.
The segment would start out with Stephanie McMahon walking to the ring after a night full of vignettes entitled “Growing up Bella” (but I never told anyone!). Stephanie says as one of the most powerful female leaders in the world, it is her duty to recognize Nikki Bella for having the courage to tell her story to the world and stand up to her sister, Brie. Nikki’s entrance music would hit again (Because this was a pre “Brie Mode” era, kids.) and Brie would arrive to confront her sister. The two would get into a heated verbal confrontation regarding Nikki’s reaction actions towards Brie, and in a single moment everything would change.
For two months we had seen two different, dynamic Diva storylines. One involving AJ Lee & Paige, and the other involving Brie & Nikki Bella, along with Stephanie McMahon. When AJ Lee’s music would hit as she performed her trademark skip to the ring, I realized everything was about to become one. Lee would remind Stephanie of how the concept of a number one contender works, and that she wanted a rematch against Paige. Stephanie would ponder AJ’s request for a moment before the music of the Divas Champion, Paige would hit. Paige would face off with AJ as Nikki would continue to torment Brie, even calling on her to once again quit. Brie would finally have enough of her sister’s weeks of verbal abuse, shoving Nikki which caused her to collide with Paige. But the real story was about to commence.
Seeing her opportunity, AJ Lee would pick up the Divas Championship and skip around the ring with it – that is until she met a pretty powerful road block, Stephanie. The Principal Owner of the WWE would have a stare down with arguably the most popular Diva in the WWE. Although this was not the first tease of a confrontation between the two, this was one that caught everyone’s attention. As these two intensely stared into each other’s eyes I couldn’t help but wonder if we would one day see these two face off in the ring. I consider this to be one of the last great Diva segments of a fantastic year. It made care about the feud between The Bella Twins in a time before Jerry Springer segments and personal assistant stipulations, Paige proved that she could hold her own on the microphone with the other top Divas, and we saw two dominant females have a face off that left Diva fan with a giant “What if?”. Diva fans have been begging for an AJ and Stephanie feud for a very long time, and with 2015 on the horizon, could this have been a precursor to what is to come? Will 2015 finally be the year that we see Stephanie McMahon face off against AJ Lee? Only time will tell.
What did you think of this moment?
