Reports circulating on various websites are that WWE head honcho, Vince McMahon was behind the Diva Trade of Monday night, feeling that the women’s division needed a shake up. According to one website, McMahon had become frustrated with the division (much like the fans) and had determined that it had become stale.
Other websites report that Vince’s decision for the shake up is due to the matches put on by the Divas. Reportedly, McMahon hasn’t been happy with the performances turned in by some in recent months — calling into question several flubs that granted, are apparent in Diva matches (particularly on Raw).
Whatever the story may be, it looks as though for the first time in God knows how long, the Chairman has finally shown some semblance of interest in the women’s division. If the second argument is true, some of Vince’s decisions may make sense. Raw, where most of the botches during matches occur, now seems to be moving in the direction of Jillian vs Melina. Both Divas can work a good match and are consistent performers which should lead to a ‘steady hand’ on Raw over the course of their expected programme together.
Meanwhile the gripe I have with this whole situation, is that just as with most things, Vince is overlooking the actual problems and passing the buck onto the women themselves. The reasons given for Mickie James and Beth Phoenix moving, to some extent are that their characters had run their course on Raw and were beginning to get stale — isn’t that what you hire writers for? To continue writing them in a manner that, I don’t know, makes them intriguing as characters?
As the title suggests, this Trade screams ‘band aid covering a bullet hole’. The real issue here is the writing, or lackthereof, that goes into the women’s division. The Divas are thrown out there week-to-week with no clear sense of direction. The only way that the division can grow and not be stagnant, which is Vince’s frustration, is if you actually put the time and effort into giving the same creative writing as they pour into the men. You can barely call them ‘feuds’ because they are just a series of matches leading to a pay-off match. Little effort is put into scripting promos, scripting week-to-week continuous drama leading to that pay per view match or that championship match or that grudge match.
Trading the Divas is all well and good, but it won’t solve the issues in the long term. It’s a short term solution but not a long term one and eventually, we’ll just hit that road block once again. One Diva in the company told us about the way the writers showed no effort in actually booking a consistent storylined feud in her last programme. She and her opponent were thrown into random matches and then put into matches against each other, but there was no real story to it as hard as they fought for one. And that’s where the problems are. Even if the work is great, if there’s no story — you’ll still have a stagnant division, Vince. If the work is shit and there’s no story, you’re doubly out of luck Vince.
These issues will arise again, I can almost guarantee it.
