Two Divas matches tonight on PPV — way to spoil us WWE *cough* Tonight’s Night of Champions will see the Divas Championship on the line for Raw when Maryse defends against Mickie James. Meanwhile, for SmackDown the Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool defends against former champion Melina.
Our Diva Dirt writers weigh in:
Divas Championship: Maryse (c) vs Mickie James
Erin: This feud has been slow cooking for the past few weeks, which gives me the inclination that either they don’t give two shits about it, or they’re letting it build gradually (verrrryyy gradually). I have a feeling that they don’t know what else to do with Maryse as champ – everyone’s been complaining that she’s doing the same schtick over and over again, and the only thing to do to remedy that is to change things up. Let Mickie have the title, and either let Maryse chase or get into a non-title feud and develop her heel persona a bit more. It’s clear that Maryse as Divas Champ isn’t going anywhere (it feels like she’s been champ foreverrrr), so the best thing to do is move on. If not, the division’s gonna be going nowhere fast.
Melanie: It’s time for a title change, Maryse has held the title for 7 months now. An unprecedented reign in the women’s division and also bear in mind, that it’s her first ever major championship. Her title reign has been exhausted and I just feel like it’s time for fresh blood. I definitely see Mickie taking the belt tonight. Maryse, I’m sure will get a rematch in the near future or even a triple threat feud involving Beth, with both heels gunning for Mickie. Either way, there’s more possibilites with Mickie as champ and it’s a nice change too. I expect this match will get more time on the card than the SmackDown match, because it’s the more fresh match.
Steven: A few weeks ago, I stated in our roundtable that I didn’t think Mickie was coming out of Night of Champions with gold (or silver) and I stand by that statement. By having Mickie lose, it would be the perfect opportunity to extend this feud and shape it into a decent rivalry a la Melina and Michelle. I say Maryse retains and Mickie wins at the next PPV.
Tiffany: This may be wishful thinking on my part, but I’m holding out to see Maryse pick up the win. I’m not entirely sure just how possible it may be, but I’m keeping hope alive. Sure, Maryse got the last laugh going into the event, but this feud has been so back-and-forth that it’s hard to tell. Maryse has had a lengthy reign so far, but I’m not entirely ready to see her let it go just yet. And, I’m not entirely convinced that WWE is either. We’ve seen Mickie in the title picture, but where exactly have we gone from there? So…I’d like to see Maryse prevail this weekend, as unlikely as that may seem. I think, by retaining, she has a lot more going for her.
Women’s Championship predictions after the cut:
Women’s Championship: Melina vs Michelle McCool (c)
Erin: This feud’s only just heating up again, and they’ve barely even built up the title match this time around (if at all.. I haven’t gotten the chance to watch SmackDown yet), which makes me think that they’re just shoving this match on the card so they can honor the “all titles are on the line” stipulation of the event. Due to the lack of push and overall excitement for the match, I don’t see a title switch taking place – it just doesn’t seem like the right time. Let Michelle and Melina battle a bit more before making a switch, if there even will be a switch. If you couldn’t tell, I’m going with Michelle on this one.
Melanie: Far too soon for a title switch, I think it’s an obvious outcome in favour of Michelle. Since we know the outcome, I can only hope that these two Divas put on another great show as they did at The Bash and attempt to steal the spotlight from Maryse & Mickie, whose match I believe WWE will put more effort into. I expect this will be a 3 minute affair while the Raw match will get a little longer, but I hope Melina & Michelle use the 3 minutes to the best of their advantage by getting really physical straightaway. I believe one commenter recommended having Melina attacking Michelle straight at the bell, which would draw a reaction from the crowd — could be a good move.
Steven: WWE hasn’t really put much effort into booking this rematch. In fact, it seemed to be tacked on as an afterthought. This half-assed booking leads me to believe that Michelle will retain and enter a new feud soon. The question is, with who? Hmmm, might be prime time to call up a new Diva.
Tiffany: I don’t think WWE will pull a “Victory Road” on us and have Melina regain the title this soon, so I’ll have to give this one to Michelle. There just hasn’t been enough build-up. Melina has been rather fiery these past couple weeks, and I’d like to see their rivalry escalate. It’s just not going to happen for Melina at Night of Champions.
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