Thursday, November 28, 2024

ECW Does SmackDown Redux – September 23, 2008

Melanie
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23

The show may change but the Divas stay the same! Welcome to a very special “extreme” edition of SmackDown Redux – ECW Does SmackDown Redux that is! Last night on ECW, Divas Champion Michelle McCool tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of Maryse.

Thoughts & Reactions
For the first time in months, Divas action came to ECW last night! I don’t understand WWE’s logic, is there idea of ‘fresh’ having the same match from last week’s SmackDown but just on a different show? I can’t say I’m complaining too much because the Divas who can do no wrong, Maryse and Michelle McCool did something that Spider-Man or Pirates of the Caribbean could never do – create a perfect trilogy. It’s usually the threequels that let let a trilogy down but not this one! Once again, Michelle and Maryse delivered a great match full of intensity and fire. Would I say it was as good as their match last Friday on SmackDown? No, but let’s face it, that’s a hard one to top! Both girls really did try though and I watched this match with a smile on my face and when it ended, I loved and respected both of them that much more.

This match was more about Maryse playing the aggressor and she was fantastic. We keep saying it, but for someone who’s been wrestling for such a short time, she has not only the moves but the heel mannerisms down to a tee! Maryse has fantastic ring presence as a heel, she knows how to play the crowd and knows how to work her opponent and I have to say, she brings a lot of fire out in Michelle that we’ve never seen before. Many complain about Michelle’s lack of personality and such but if you watch this match, I thought Michelle responded incredibly well to Maryse and these two share an insane chemistry. There’s something almost charming about Michelle taking more of a backseat and jobbing for most of the match, if you’re a face champion, it’s good to look vulnerable to your opponent and then win where it counts – a title match.

To trackback, when you heard this was a non-title match didn’t you just know Maryse was going to win? It’s a good move though, as this sets up Maryse as having earned another title shot against Michelle. In fact, I can actually see Maryse going over Michelle and winning the title in the near future. At this point, I don’t care if we see Michelle vs Maryse every week as long as the calibre is the same as this and their past matches. Great stuff!

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention: the commentary for this match was fantastic. I don’t watch ECW so I never realised how good Matt Striker is, he and JR really put over the Divas and the in-ring action rather than going off on tangents like Raw. Giving focus and attention to what we’re watching really adds to the experience, I really loved the commentary and it definitely added to my viewing.

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Candice Loves Leather (And Tattoos!)

Erin
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14

Melanie has complained about the lack of development in the storyline between Candice Michelle and Beth Phoenix, and while the upcoming No Mercy match may be uninspiring, not all is lost. Candice has a new photoshoot, “Loving Leather” (please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks of Tobias on Arrested Development when I read that title), and it’s pretty damn good. I’m not a fan of the tights (they had a bit of trouble staying on in her return match), and I’m not sure what she’s doing wearing that fur thingy, but I’m impressed with her poses – none, except for maybe the first picture, are over the top. They’re simple – and if Candice keeps it up and goes for more low-key poses like this, she’ll be back to producing dynamite photoshoots like she used to.

On a side note, what do you think of her the back tattoo? This shoot contains our first good shot of it, and I’m not sure I’m liking it. It’s nothing against Candice – I’m just not a fan of star tatoos (like Rihanna’s) or lower back tattoos. What do you think? Sound off, but you know we don’t need to tell you to do that, at this point.. ;)

[poll id=”186″]

Raw Redux – September 22, 2008

Melanie
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20

This week on Raw: Kelly Kelly manages to defeat Beth Phoenix once again!

Thoughts & Reactions
Apologies for the late Redux this week, but it’s back to uni and things are about to get crazy again. Anyway, this week’s Raw saw Beth vs Kelly for about the fourth time in 2 months. They’ve had some good singles matches together previously and this week’s Raw continued the trend. Though not my favourite Beth vs Kelly encounter, the work was sufficient, the crowd seemed into it and both Divas had chemistry.

But yeah, there’s not much more to say about the match other than it was good. I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m extremely tired of Raw and I think the product as a whole is boring. The booking frustrates me to no end and each and every week, I find myself struggling to write this Raw Redux. The matches, while good, aren’t all that exciting. They’re more filler than anything else. If WWE can’t book a substantial feud and something to get excited over – why should I devote the time to write about Raw when I’d rather skip it? The Raw Divas are treated like filler segments to pass a few minutes, like WWE are obligated to give us just the one crappy Divas segment each week and let that be that. God forbid we book something exciting, a storyline that can capture the viewer’s mind and imagination.

How many weeks ago was it that WWE announced Candice vs Beth for No Mercy? And ask yourself, what exactly has WWE done to promote this feud? How have they made this feud must see television to make us want to order the pay per view? Candice sitting watching Beth vs Kelly on the montior… riveting. This is meant to be Candice’s big comeback, the most valuable Diva in WWE’s eyes, and she’s being treated like Cherry (no offence to Cherry). This is supposed to be the big money feud of the division, with fans, critics and WWE alike creating a buzz that Candice would come back and get revenge on Beth – if this is revenge, someone must’ve changed the meaning in WWE’s dictionary. The booking is boring and I have no investment in seeing Beth vs Candice at No Mercy.

I find watching Raw and writing this Redux a chore and it shouldn’t be. As I’ve stated over and over again, I find myself looking forward much more to SmackDown than Raw every single week. Sure, SmackDown has it’s issues with booking too but the work between Michelle and Maryse has been nothing short of fantastic, the matches are passionate, intense and slotted so that they are a big part of the SmackDown product – not just a filler match to fill the Diva quota. The Divas on Raw are seen, if lucky, once a month. SmackDown has done a fantastic job in utilising all of their Divas on a weekly basis, we usually see all 6 Divas on the show each week – whereas Raw you’re lucky to have two. SmackDown’s Divas feel important to the product, Raw’s Divas are treated as filler.

So unusually for a Raw Redux, I will end it there and ask the question: Is Raw really worth it anymore? Discuss!

YouTube Classics: Torrie vs. Kelly: Bikini Contest/6-Man Tag

Erin
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1

Welcome to the YouTube Classics! With what appears to be the wrestling of Divas action to ECW, this week’s theme will be “Going to Extremes”, showing some memorable moments during ECW’s most recent tenure on the Sc-Fi channel. Today, we have Torrie Wilson vs. Kelly Kelly in a bikini contest from a 2007 edition of ECW. The bikini contest soon turns into a full-blown match, with Kelly and Torrie taking sides in a 6-man inter-gender tag team bout:

You Can’t See Kelly

Erin
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23

Little miss personality, Kelly Kelly, has a new photoshoot, titled “Crazy for Camo”. Clearly, the title of this shoot had as much effort put into it as Kelly has put into her poses. She’s never been the most vivacious or exciting Diva, but it’s plain boring to she the same faces and poses in every single photoshoot. She looks hot, of course, but attributing that to her personality would be like saying a Barbie doll has personality just because her makeup’s done well. I’m not a fan of the camo or chaps either – it’s all very Christy Hemme circa 2005, and even she looked goofy in assless chaps. Maybe the camo fits – she is blending in quite well, though not in the way she’s intended.

[poll id=”185″]

Review: TNA Knocked Out

Melanie
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17

Next month, TNA celebrates one year of it’s much celebrated Knockouts division with the release of ‘Knocked Out’, a DVD featuring all of the Knockouts including recently departed Gail Kim and Salinas. It was at Bound For Glory in October 2007 that the division was launched with a 10 woman gauntlet match to determine the first Knockout Champion and this DVD comes precisely one year from that historic event. One could argue that it’s too soon to release a Knockouts DVD but given the reception from both critics and fans alike for this division, this feels like the perfect capitalisation on a hot subject.

From key Knockouts such as ODB and the Beautiful People, the DVD even features the likes of Lauren and SoCal Val, all this interspersed with seminal matches from the division’s one year history including the complete trilogy of matches between Gail Kim and Awesome Kong as well as the Makeover Battle Royal and more. It seems the DVD’s lengthy running time is more made up of these matches than actual Knockout chapters, the likelihood is that the type of fan this DVD aims to reach are the fans who have seen these matches already; it does make for a nice little compilation nonetheless. The DVD’s introduction features comments from the likes of TNA President, Dixie Carter as well as wrestlers Christian Cage, Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett which I felt was a nice touch to add to the legitimacy of the Knockouts division – having praise heaped upon it from top tier stars. Carter’s presence on the DVD particularly stood out to me as she touches upon my thoughts, the idea of a female president of a wrestling company. Carter comes across extremely passionate, protective and supportive of this division and so she should; in a male dominated sport Carter is in a position to promote talented women over men and she speaks with conviction in her support of the Knockouts.

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Think You’re the Next Diva or Knockout?

Melanie
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8

Diva fans, the time is now! Here is your chance to be the next Trish Stratus…

The original female wrestling phenomenon G.L.O.W. is back and we are looking for the next crop of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Seeking women 18+ looking to become pro wrestlers!

Reality show/competition which will revive the original G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling). NO WRESTLING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. Training will be provided for those selected. Contract and prize money on the line.

Casting: Call (818) 779-0703 or email [email protected].

Open Casting:
Wednesday 4-8 PM
14423 Hamlin St. Van Nuys, CA 91401

If you are serious about following in the footsteps of your idols, please do go for it – and keep Diva Dirt updated on your journey!

What A Tangled Web She Weaves..

Erin
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6

Victoria may not be getting wise to Brie Bella‘s act just yet, but she looks on top of things in her new photoshoot, “Red Hot”. She’s wearing her ring gear, which I’ve never been fond of – the fishnets and spiders are best left in late October. Nevertheless, she does have the poses down. Her look (minus the clothing) is fierce, and she looks every bit the Vicious Vixen. Now, if only she’d ditch the witch look and start peering underneath the ring every now and again. You know, just in case..

[poll id=”184″]

YouTube Classics: Kelly vs. Layla (w/ Lena)

Erin
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1

Welcome to the YouTube Classics! With what appears to be the wrestling of Divas action to ECW, this week’s theme will be “Going to Extremes”, showing some memorable moments during ECW’s most recent tenure on the Sc-Fi channel. Today, we have Kelly Kelly vs. Layla (w/ Lena) from a February 12th, 2008 edition of ECW. Layla was accompanied by Lena in what was a short-lived alliance between the two Divas:

ECW & SmackDown Spoilers – Sept. 23rd & 26th

Melanie
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17

Divas wrestling returns to ECW tomorrow night on Sci Fi, read the spoilers for both this week’s ECW and SmackDown below:

ECW:
– Maryse def. Michelle McCool

SmackDown:
– Brie Bella & Maria def. Natalya & Victoria

Perfect 10: Week of September 15th

Melanie
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7

The Perfect 10 returns! The premise is simple: We will rank the ten Divas or Knockouts who we think have had the best week of television, similar to WWE.com’s Power 25. Who will make the grade and who will fall short? It’s all new and exclusive only at Diva Dirt!

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 15th – SEPTEMBER 21st, 2008

10. Jacqueline (New Entry)
She is a veteran among both the Divas and Knockouts, Jacqueline makes her first ever Perfect 10 appearance at #10. Aside from having some teeth knocked out (ouch), Jackie made a splash on Impact by getting into it with Hector Guerrero. Next week, she teams up with Beer Money, Inc. in an intergender tag match against LAX and Guerrero.

Erin: It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Jacqueline, so it’s great to see her mixing it up with the guys like she did in the WWE. She’s completely believable in that “tough girl” role, so I’m sure that inter-gender tag will be one to watch.
Melanie: This is the second intergender match with one woman in as many weeks… But still, Jacqueline is still going strong after all these years!

• • • • • • • •

09. The Beautiful People (New Entry)
Another new entry this week from the TNA Knockouts, the Beautiful People, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky had a rather bad week at the hands of the Knockouts Champion, Taylor Wilde. But all the while, impressing us viewers!

Erin: I guess two heads aren’t better than one. I think in this case, Love and Sky need to get their act together – having Taylor outsmart the two of them makes them look rather weak. Maybe they need to divide and conquer?
Melanie: Sure they always lose, but they’re highly entertaining.

• • • • • • • •

08. Candice Michelle (New Entry)
After dropping off last week’s chart, Candice Michelle is back this time at #8. Candice scored an impressive win over Jillian on Raw, kicking things into gear for her big Women’s Championship match at No Mercy.

Erin: She’s not afraid of Beth, clearly, so hopefully there’s more interaction between the two leading up to No Mercy. Sadly, beating Jillian isn’t that big of a deal these days, which is nothing against Candice – a win’s a win.
Melanie: The build up to the No Mercy match hasn’t been great so far, I’m hoping it picks up because SmackDown has had a hot Divas Championship feud and that title doesn’t have the prestige of this one.

• • • • • • • •

07. Layla (Last Week: #9)
Moving two spots to this week’s #7 is the gorgeous Layla. Layla’s promo skills were on fine form as she so dubiously dumped Jamie Noble in favour of the King of the Ring, William Regal.

Erin: I’m excited to see where this goes – heel managers interest me, so hopefully she’ll find a way to weasel her way into the action. If she’s not wrestling, at least have her be more instrumental as Regal’s arm candy.
Melanie: Layla is the only Diva in WWE being booked interestingly, if you ask me.

• • • • • • • •

06. Taylor Wilde (Last Week: #10)
#10 can usually be a precarious position but not for the Knockouts Champion, Taylor Wilde as she jumps four spots from last week’s 10 to this week’s #6. The youngest Women’s Champion in TNA and WWE history scored a win over Angelina Love at No Surrender and then pinned her partner, Velvet Sky in tag team action on Impact too!

Erin: She’s showing her talent and babyface resiliency in defeating the two of them, but hasn’t that been done sooo many times? I want to root for her, but it’s a little too generic for me. Taylor can keep winning (like she obviously is), but unless she’s given more of a character boost, she’s not going to be holding my interest as the Knockout Champ.
Melanie: I feel Taylor is TNA’s answer to Michelle and not just because they look similar and wear similar attire. Taylor keeps getting win after win like Michelle used to, without showing much personality. Michelle has come into her own in recent months and I hope Taylor will too, but her title reign is lackluster and the fans aren’t really into her.

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Diva Search Axed

Melanie
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24

Fittingly, tonight is the Emmy Awards – which honours television shows – which as you know, seem to get cancelled after two episodes these days. But after four years, WWE has finally cancelled it’s own reality show-in-a-show, the Diva Search. And about effin’ time.

The Diva Search has provided some fun moments (well the first one anyway), some controversial Divas and some annoying Divas. Ashley Massaro, we will never forget you (for all the wrong reasons). But one could argue that the Search has given us an impressive crop of talent who’ve gone onto shine in the WWE including former Women’s Champion, Candice Michelle, first ever Divas Champion, Michelle McCool. Maria is easily one of the most popular Divas in WWE right now, while Maryse and Layla have grown into their own and are personal favourites of Diva Dirt. RIP Diva Search.

SmackDown Redux – September 19, 2008

Melanie
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20

This week on SmackDown: Michelle McCool toppled Maryse once more in a Divas Championship rematch. Brie Bella and Maria ran into Natalya and Victoria. And even Eve Torres teased she wanted in on the action!

Thoughts & Reactions
Last night’s Friday Night SmackDown proved exactly what I’ve been saying about the SmackDown women’s division for so long now… it’s superior. For months I’ve touted that SmackDown provides the best Divas entertainment of the week, fun matches, likable Divas, great chemistry and last night’s show, to me, was a seminal episode. For those who don’t know what seminal means:

highly original and influencing the development of future events: a seminal artist; seminal ideas.

That’s exactly what I felt about last night’s Divas action on SmackDown. The Divas Championship match between Michelle McCool and Maryse was a seminal moment in SmackDown’s Diva history. That match tore it down! I really enjoyed their work at Unforgiven and when I first read the spoilers, I thought “How are they gonna top that?” but they did in a huge way. I loved the Unforgiven match and I loved this match, I want to say it was better than Unforgiven and in many ways it was, but both matches were very different and focussed on different things. I guess if it came down to it, I would say last night’s match was better but the two matches were very different: Unforgiven was more about telling a story, having in-ring psychology whereas this match was more fast paced and action packed. It depends on what you like to see in the ring in deciding which you preferred. The SmackDown match was incredibly action packed, so much fun to watch and the work was incredible. I’m sure they edited some stuff, but in all you can’t fake great ring presence and you can’t fake comfortability in the ring – these two are no Victoria or Mickie James – but they exuded ring presence and comfortability, which cannot be edited into a show.

Seeing how well Maryse and Michelle used their surroundings (the ring, the ring ropes), it made me feel as though I was watching a match between two veterans. Both of these Divas worked so hard and the work was fantastic. There were several great spots in this match and I was honestly blown away, just when I thought they’d let down, they got even better. The match was given a great length, had many different spots and felt like ‘must see television’. I love that Michelle is using the ‘Wings of Love’ again, it’s a great move and a nice fitting end to this match. Would I have Maryse and Michelle continue to feud? No. Michelle has two victories over Maryse now, I think it’s time to move on. I honestly think these two are 2-for-2 in their singles matches and I wouldn’t want them to ruin the great work they’ve had together by having loads more singles matches together. If and when Part 3 takes place, I would want it to mean something like Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong. I felt really proud watching this match, as though my allegiance to the SmackDown women’s division was rewarded.

Later in the evening, we got Eve Torres teasing that she too, could be making her in-ring debut in a segment with Vickie Guerrero and the Big Show. How do I feel about this? The more the merrier! If she is decent in the ring, why not? I’m excited to see her wrestle if and when she makes her in-ring debut.

The backstage segment between the four other Divas was another display of fine work, this time not of in-ring ability, but promo ability. Seems as though newbie, Brie Bella is just as good at cutting promos as she is in the ring. As for Maria, I think after posing for Playboy, she needs to drop the ditzy gimmick and it seemed she tried to go back to that on SmackDown. It doesn’t really work, if you ask me. She needs to find a new niche. Natalya and Victoria were entertaining as ever and I love that this segment actually promoted a match for next week. Will Nicole finally be revealed?

If you ask me, this week’s Divas action was fantastic and perhaps I am being biased, but it proved to me just why I look forward more to Friday nights than Monday nights.

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Owning Up: McSlutHoBag & Frenchie Who Can’t Wrestle

Erin
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66

We here at Diva Dirt have long been accused of favoring certain Divas and shamelessly bashing others – look around in any post and you’ll witness the outrage. We have defended our opinions countless times with logic and reasoning, but the time has come to face the ugly truth – we are biased. Yes, it’s true. We specifically target your favorite Diva, pointing out faults that don’t exist and ignoring their countless glorious attributes. Whoever she is, you can bet your ass that we’re reading your mind and are determined to make her a martyr for our enjoyment. If you like Candice, we say she botches. You like Maria? She dresses like a tranny clown. What about Mickie? She’s a slut who takes nasty photos. Kelly Kelly? Her moves are too ~flashy~. Yes, yes.. No one is safe from our reign of terror. Well, that is, except for Melina and Torrie. You know, because they’re our favorites. They could fart and we’d dub it the greatest fart ever unleashed on the world. Why is that? Because we bash, we discriminate. We’re biased. You caught us red handed!

With that out of the way, we’re ushering in a new feature to Diva Dirt – Owning Up. We’ll be giving you, the readers, what you want. We’ll be taking your comments and applying them to our own viewpoints, using the same techniques many of you use to judge what we do and what the Divas do. It’s unmitigated bashing! At least now you can bitch with some basis.. WARNING: Markyness ahead. We will see what we want to see and interpret things the way we see fit. If it’s not true, so what? We bash all the time, remember? This shouldn’t be any different..

Now, on to this week’s SmackDown match between Michelle McCool and Maryse. Actually, I prefer to amend Michelle’s surname to a more apt title – “McSlutHoBag” – because, you know, she sleeps with The Undertaker, and there’s no way in hell she’d be where she is today if she wasn’t screwing one of the WWE’s legends. Maryse is French, so obviously she can’t speak well. I can’t understand her! She sounds soooo stupid with that French accent – how can anyone take her seriously? Ugh.. I know, women should be seen and not heard. Never a truer statement in this case..

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Watch: SmackDown, September 19th 2008

Melanie
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27

Every week, we have comments with people discussing the weekly SmackDown Divas matches on YouTube before they air on television. Usually, we wait till the SmackDown Redux to discuss the matches but we’ve decided that each week, we will post the matches from the show right here every Friday for you to watch and discuss.

As usual, we will be waiting till Saturday to post our SmackDown Redux to share our own thoughts, but you are free to use the comments to talk about this week’s SmackDown ahead of then!


MICHELLE MCCOOL VS MARYSE – DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BRIE, MARIA, NATALYA & VICTORIA BACKSTAGE

Awesome Kong Tops PWI Female 50

Melanie
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The unstoppable former TNA Knockouts Champion, Awesome Kong has been revealed as the Diva/Knockout to top the first ever PWI Female 50. As we reported last week, Pro Wrestling Insider, a prestigious wrestling magazine chose to launch the ‘Female 50’ as a companion to the popular ‘PWI 500’ which is dedicated to male wrestlers.

Following Kong is the current WWE Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix. First ever Divas Champion, Michelle McCool debuts at #9 and current Knockout Champion, Taylor Wilde is in at #13.

Check out the full list below courtesy of PWPIx.net:

It should be noted that PWI has opted to exclude Mexican and Japanese women’s wrestlers from the rankings – sans Sarah Stock. Regarding this. PWI wrote: “That isn’t intended to be a slight against international competitors. More so than with the male counterparts, women’s wrestling varies tremendously between the North American style, the Japanese joshi puroresu styles and the Mexican lucha libre style. With few notable exceptions (such as Sumie Sakai and Gail Kim), a wrestler who excels in one style may fare much more poorly in a different style. Besides, we wanted to shine the spotlight primarily on the U.S. and Canadians competitors first. If reader response to this special section is strong, perhaps we will consider ranking more women, including international competitors, in the future.”

On how they ranked the wrestlers, PWI wrote: “To determine this list and compile the rankings, we examined a variety of criteria. While placing special emphasis on a wrestler’s accomplishments over the past calender year, we also took note of each women’s career accomplishments as well. For example, a veteran like Malia Hosaka may not have wrestled as many matches or as many high-profile bouts as Cherry over the past 12 months, but based on her accomplishments throughout her 20-plus year career, we felt she deserved inclusion.”

PWI also went over possible controversy in regards to ranking the likes of Maria and Velvet Sky ahead of more “scientifically skilled technicians” such as Lexie Fyfe and Cindy Rogers. Prominence and marketability factored into the rankings as it’s not only based on technical ability and accomplishments. PWI wrote: “We evaluated each woman on championships held, quality of opposition faced, overall athletic ability, prominence, and marketability. To some critics, those last two criteria may be controversial. After all, some may argue that wrestlers like Maria Kanellis and Velvet Sky have no business being ranked ahead of more scientifically skilled technicians like Cindy Rogers and Lexie Fyfe. We would argue that marketability and prominence are an important aspect of pro wrestling, and that the success of these Divas and Knockouts have had on such a major stage has to be taken into consideration.”

PWI Female 50
1. Awesome Kong
2. Beth Phoenix
3. Gail Kim
4. Mickie James
5. MsChif
6. Sarah Del Ray
7. Roxxi Laveaux
8. Melina
9. Michelle McCool
10. Candice Michelle

Rest after the cut:

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Why So Unfamiliar, Tiffany?

Erin
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11

Another day, another seldom-known Diva with a new photoshoot. This time, Tiffany has a new one – “All Dressed”. We’ve only covered her once in our Eye Candy features and, judging by your comments, it wasn’t the warmest welcome. Frankly, I don’t see this one getting rave reviews either. But let’s face it – even if she looked spectacular, most people would be too busy asking “Who?” to notice.. But hey, if you cross your eyes when looking at the above picture, she sorta looks like Katie Lea in a blonde wig. That’s something, right? Right??

[poll id=”183″]

Jackie Gayda Gives Birth

Erin
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6

One couple may be divorcing while another builds a family! According to PWInsider, former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout Jackie Gayda, along with husband Charlie Haas, welcomed a daughter into the world yesterday:

Charlie Haas & his wife, former WWE Diva Jackie Gayda Haas, are the new proud parents of a new baby girl: Taylor Suzanne Haas (weighing 7lbs 1oz) — born yesterday afternoon.

Jackie hasn’t been active in wrestling for some time, but it’s still great news. Congrats to the happy family! And I must say, it’s nice to see a relatively normal-named baby, what with celebrities and their preoccupation with multi-syllable and pretentious names..

TNA’s First Couple Headed For Splitsville

Melanie
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12

Rumour has it that Karen Angle has filed for divorce from her husband, Kurt. That is according to radio DJ, Bubba the Love Sponge. This wouldn’t be the first time Karen and Kurt have teased divorce, will they actually proceed this time?

Now that they’re seperating, I’m taking bets on how long it’ll take TNA to decide they no longer need Karen’s services. We all know the only reason she got to cash a pay cheque every month is because of her baby daddy! I’m thinking post-Bound For Glory, any other takers?

Lena’s Back in Black

Erin
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10

It seems like the only time we see Lena is every few weeks on WWE.com, and this is one of those rare sightings. Her new photoshoot, “Lady in Black”, isn’t particularly remarkable, but she looks quite gorgeous in her simplistic dress. She’s not even wearing shoes! Talk about minimalist dressing..

[poll id =”182″]

YouTube Classics: Lita’s Last Match

Erin
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13

Welcome to the YouTube Classics! The recent rash of TNA departures (Gail Kim, Salinas..) this week’s theme will be “Dearly Departed”, reflecting on some memorable last moments. Today, we have Lita‘s last match from Survivor Series 2006. Compared to rival Trish Stratus, Lita’s WWE farewell was far from pleasant. Lita took on Mickie James, but the real story was after the match, which served to give Lita a less-than-loving sendoff:

Part 1

Part 2

Jillian Will Steal Your Soul

Erin
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13

Jillian is back to her regular schedule of jobbing, so it’s natural she’d be reimbursed with a WWE.com photoshoot, right? Well, that logic doesn’t exactly stick, but nevertheless, she has a new shoot – “Soul Music” – in which she’s wearing a particularly fitting t-shirt. “Fitting” in both the sense that she looks like she’s about to be smothered by her cleavage and in the sense that it reads “Music Is My Soul”. It’s cute, but if that’s true – with how well the girl sings – I’m afraid she’s probably sold soul her soul to the devil in exchange for some shoddy plastic surgery.

[poll id=”181″]

Divas Reveal ‘Magic Secrets’

Melanie
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1

In extra anticipation of SmackDown’s move to MyNetworkTV next month, the network is creating some synergy between WWE and one of it’s new shows Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed. The series is a reboot of the classic 90’s series that aired on FOX (or Sky 1 if you live in the UK) and featured the Masked Magician and was hosted by that dude from the X-Files.

The show was picked up and rebooted by MyNet, who will be airing a special featuring the WWE Divas – I’m assuming as the magician’s assistants – on October 2nd. Stay tuned for more details!

SmackDown Spoilers – September 19, 2008

Melanie
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8

SmackDown spoilers for Friday night are below:

– Michelle def. Maryse in a Divas Championship rematch from Unforgiven.

– Backstage, Maria and Brie Bella are talking. Natalya and Victoria interrupt and vow to expose Brie’s secret next week on SmackDown in their tag team match against each other.

Raw Redux – September 15, 2008

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This week on Raw: Candice Michelle scored a victory over Jillian, then got a cheap shot on Beth Phoenix. Beth then got laid out by Batista. Layla provided the most entertaining promo on Raw. Oh and Kelly Kelly was seen with her ‘special’ friend (and by special we mean retarded), Mike Adamle.

Thoughts & Reactions
Karma’s a bitch! The theme of this week’s Raw Redux was set to be the same as last week’s: shitty booking. Well just moments before I began writing this column, I read that Raw did a dismal 2.6 rating last night and I’d like to be the first to offer my own “hawhaw”. It just goes to show that WWE is making it’s fans tune out with crap, non-sensical booking. A freakin’ toddler could poke holes through some of the nonsense that WWE had our Divas doing last night. First of all, if Beth Phoenix hates Candice so much – if they have such an intense feud – why would Beth simply walk out behind Candice? Why wouldn’t she try and clock Candice from behind with the title or something? And if Candice was so jonesing for a fight with Beth, why would she take a cheap shot and dropkick her as she is getting into the ring? Wasn’t the point that Candice wants to go face-to-face with Beth? Isn’t taking cheap shots heel-like? No Mercy is two weeks away and WWE hasn’t done a damn thing in selling this Women’s Championship match to me. In fact, it seemed WWE went in a completely different angle last night with Beth when they have a title match to promote!

Let’s start with Candice vs Jillian. Candice’s second match back on Raw and I know a lot of people were looking to see how she’d fare, I have to say it was a vast improvement over her return match. The work was much better and there was only one really visible botch to me. That said, I didn’t enjoy this match for a number of reasons. First of all, we all knew Jillian didn’t stand a chance against Candice but to actually have her control most of the match, it’s almost as though WWE was doing some damage control, having Jillian do most of the work so Candice didn’t mess up. What does it say for Candice if WWE is doing this? She has a huge title match in two weeks, WWE cannot hold her hand through her matches and I certainly don’t see any other Divas getting this favourable treatment. Candice got in some spots but it really was Jillian working over Candice for most of the match and we all know Jillian is the biggest jobber there is going, she barely got in a lick of offense against Mickie or Melina earlier this year. WWE definitely tried to protect Candice, contrary to what some of you reading this will try to insinuate, I am not trying to personally slight Candice. I’m just stating it the way I see it, WWE is holding Candice’s hand and one has to wonder how long they can continue to do so. This match was longer than the average Raw Divas match, which would’ve been good if it didn’t feel like the match was stuck on slow-motion. I could’ve aged a year between the time it took to go from one move to the next, Candice was slow. Whether that’s her being cautious coming off an injury, I will leave for you to speculate. Unusually for Raw, the crowd was pretty quiet for most of this match save for Jillian riling them up with her ‘singing’.

Later in the night, we had Beth getting verbally buried by both JBL and Batista, pretty much a slap in the face of the women’s division and I found it really rude and disrespectful to Beth. Sure she’s a heel, sure it’s meant to be ‘entertainment’, but if it had been one of the ‘models’ out there, I highly doubt JBL would insinuate that she was a man as he did to Beth last night with “Mr and Mr Phoenix.” That left a bad taste in my mouth, because it’s a cheap form of entertainment and really is a complete disregard for the huge push WWE has given Beth since becoming the Glamazon. Let’s just undo all that in one night…

Oh Layla, why you sparkle so? A promo from a Diva. An actual Diva promo. And Layla nailed it! Short as it was, Layla oozed confidence and personality and I loved the way she delivered her lines and I honestly think this was the best promo delivered on Raw last night. Yeah, way better than the likes of former World Champions Batista, Randy Orton and JBL. What does that say to you WWE? I really love this storyline and it was my favourite part of Raw. Plus we saw Katie Lea make her Raw return and Paul Burchill has returned from Neverland! I would love to see Layla, Regal, Katie and Paul form some sort of British faction. Layla and Katie could even team up and wrestle in the women’s division, it’d be fabulous! I do hope they name rename Layla, “Queen Layla” soon since Regal is the King of the Ring.

Kelly Kelly continues to appear in useless segments for the second week in a row because WWE can’t find anything better for her to do, but just wanna put her on TV because she’s hot. Bout sums it up. At least she didn’t wrestle because I’d have to call her moves ‘flashy’ and you know that’d expose my blind hate for her… Honestly though, poor Kelly. Bearing the brunt of WWE’s bad booking. Hopefully we’ll see her back next week. Mickie James was on the bench this week too and I think it’s much needed actually, she needs some time away.

Continue

Pictures From Wrestler’s Rescue

Melanie
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Image credit: WrestlingFigs.com

Doing a little recon online, I came across these pictures of some of our past Divas at the Wrestler’s Rescue event on Sunday! On hand were founder, Dawn Marie, the legendary Torrie Wilson, Sunny and Terri Runnels. Torrie looks phenomenal and no that’s not me just being biased! Dawn looks incredibly beautiful too in her dress. It looks as though the event was a big success and everyone had a lot of fun! Check out all the pictures below:

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