Just under 24 hours removed from last night’s Diva Trade, what do the moves mean for each of the 7 Divas that have changed homes? We aim to offer our insight into what they could be getting up to:
The Bella Twins
Returning to Monday Night Raw, the Bella Twins’ brief excursion to ECW seems to be over… unfortunately. That said, given the fact they have been making trips to Raw over the past month or two anyway, it only seems fitting to make it official, right? I don’t expect the Bellas will be doing much in the way of wrestling on Raw, nor will they probably have much part in the women’s division at all — except at house shows. If they do wrestle, it will likely be as rarely as they did on ECW. So what does that leave them to do? What they’ve been doing already — backstage segments with the Guest Host for the week, maybe even a few skits here and there with Santino. It looks to me as though they were brought back to Raw for that reason, to serve as characters rather than wrestlers which I guess, is okay.
Beth Phoenix
I’m not entirely happy with this move for Beth, I truly feel not all of the avenues of the Beth Phoenix character were explored and there was more that she could have offered to Raw; feuding with Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly and possibly even Melina again. On SmackDown, while there is the possibility [technically] that she could go toe-to-toe with Michelle McCool or Natalya — both of which are salivating prospects — it just doesn’t seem likely with all three as heels. That just leaves two Divas: Maria and Mickie James. One of those feuds we’ve seen already and would be like beating a dead horse, the other of those feuds seems like an extremely mismatched affair. Nonetheless, it seems like Maria vs Beth could be the only avenue they explore in a singles situation. There is always the chance of a three-way feud with Michelle McCool and Mickie James also. Beyond those two storylines, I don’t see there being much for Beth to accomplish on SmackDown.
More after the cut:
Eve Torres
This could be seen as a promotion for Eve Torres, a Diva that has caught the attention of WWE management and will likely be a breakout star for 2010. I’m actually a little perplexed as to why they pulled the trigger on moving Eve at this moment in time. She was making a lot of headway on SmackDown and was meant to be the next contender in line for the Women’s Championship against Michelle McCool. To completely take her out of that programme and move her to Raw, where she’ll likely get lost in the shuffle doesn’t sound very fruitful to me. As I mentioned during the WWE Draft in April, once a star begins to gain traction on SmackDown, they are somehow drafted/traded to Raw. Sadly, I think Eve may get lost in the shuffle on Raw considering there seems to be a pecking order with Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim in second and third place respectively on the totempole; will Eve be able to bypass them? I think Eve will get some strong Kelly-like showings every now and then, by that I mean singles wins over Jillian or Alicia Fox on WWE Superstars but for the most part, will likely be Melina’s tag team partner.
Melina
Getting perhaps the best deal of them all is Melina. She comes into Raw, takes the Divas Title and shoots straight to the top of the roster. Not bad for a Diva who was about to relinquish her top Diva spot on SmackDown to Eve. Melina has the opportunity to work with long time friend Jillian, who is rumoured to be her first title contender for the Divas Championship. Plus there are also opportunities to work with Maryse upon her return and Alicia Fox, a Diva who she had some great bouts with over on SmackDown. If they turn Gail Kim heel, as I hope they do, that would also make for a to-die-for feud. Considering where she was supposed to be heading on SmackDown, she really has come out of this for the better. It was expected that Melina would turn heel and feud with Maria in the coming months, which looks to be scrapped now. I feel there’s much more to explore with Melina as a babyface, so this is a blessing in disguise for me.
Mickie James
Talk about a shocker! I can’t believe this one happened but it did; a little bittersweet though as Raw has been Mickie’s home for four years after all. I feel this could be a breath of fresh air for Mickie’s career, but only if we book this right. Let us not revert back to Beth-Mickie unless we have absolutely 100% exhausted all of our other options. There are two feuds that Mickie could go into right off the bat with Michelle McCool and Natalya, both of which sound promising. She could even work matches with Layla who is always improving. I think working longer matches on SmackDown and working with more experienced girls [Michelle, Beth and Nattie] could help rejuvenate Mickie as an in-ring performer. It seems the feud that they will go with is Michelle-Mickie straightaway, which like Melina-Michelle could go for a good few months. When was the last time Mickie really had a good, long programme? This could be just what she needs.
Rosa Mendes
This one kind of proves that WWE does know what they are doing… at times. It’s as though they, like the rest of us, realised Rosa wasn’t clicking as an in-ring performer and have packed her off to ECW like the Bella Twins before her. I honestly don’t know what will become of Rosa on the forgotten third brand. The Divas don’t see much wrestling over there, so it’s likely she will fall into the role of a manager/valet or perhaps, not even seen for weeks on end. As beautiful as she is, I think this is the right call. Given that the Divas don’t see much ringtime anyway, she could take long periods of time off and be sent down to FCW to train some more. Though perhaps this will be the final death-knell on Rosa’s WWE run?
So what do you think will become of each of our 7 Divas on their new brands? Share your suggestions and predictions in the comments.
