Saturday, November 23, 2024

Introducing SmackDown! Redux – June 13, 2008

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Welcome one and all to the debut edition of SmackDown! Redux!

This week on SmackDown!: It was the night of Cherry and Maryse, as they competed in the featured Divas contest. Meanwhile, we also saw the debut of Alicia Fox.

Thoughts & Reactions
Not a great week for SmackDown! Redux to debut, because in my honest opinion this was the weakest week for the Divas of SmackDown! in quite some time. SmackDown! has improved leaps and bounds in the months since WrestleMania and this week’s show stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to the strong booking we’ve seen of late. There was just no logic this week; they introduce the new Divas Championship last week and then this week? No sighting of Natalya, who is actually in the Championship match. No qualifying match for her opponent. No storyline advancement surrounding the title at all. Instead, we revert back to Cherry vs Maryse, a feud which should have been dropped and incorporated into the hype surrounding the Divas Championship.

These two Divas, personally for me, do very little. I see no personal investment in them, thus I wasn’t too into this match. They did put on a surprisingly good match a few weeks ago on SmackDown!, but if it’s been done already why do it again?! There’s no storyline advancement here at all, they just did the same match again using the same storylines that led to the first match!!! Cherry picks up the win, whoop-de-doo the match is over and Melanie is left feeling underwhelmed. To me, Cherry vs Maryse is like a starter not the main course, so of course I was left saying, “What? That’s it?!” when I realised this was our lot in terms of the Divas this week *sigh* Furthermore, Michael Hayes returns to creative next week, which is leaving me less optimistic about the women’s division – in his absence, we have actually seen some great matches and great feuds since WrestleMania.

Next up, we had the debut of Alica Fox aka Victoria Crawford. Now I won’t be judging her too harshly based on a 30-second segment, but she looks pretty enough and I hear she’s a decent wrestler. Let’s hope that she can add to the women’s division in the near future. And please, for the love of God use her as a face when that happens. I’m sick of the mismatch in both the divisions; the Divas who can actually wrestle always come in as heels and the ones that can’t are faces. If this girl can wrestle as well as it seems, she should be able to team up with Michelle and Cherry against the likes of Victoria, Natalya and Maryse.

All in all, it was a pretty “bleh” week on both RAW and SmackDown! this week. But anyway, I am going try and be optimistic that both will step up their game next week and since SD! has already taped next week’s show, I think it’s going to be a decent match for the Divas.

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YouTube Classics: Lita vs. Trish Stratus

Erin
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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with last week’s announcement of a new SmackDown Diva’s Championship, our theme is “Golden Girls”, matches in which the Women’s Title is at stake. Today, we have Trish Stratus vs. Lita from the December 6th, 2004 RAW. This, like Lita vs. Stephanie McMahon from earlier this week, was the main event of RAW, and included many memorable moments, not the least of which is a very painful looking bump by Lita:

Ex-Model Crawford Primed for Friday Nights

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Edit: Victoria will actually make her debut this week, as in tonight on SmackDown! Check out for her to go under the new name of Alicia Fox.

Ex-bikini model, Victoria Crawford is joining Friday Night SmackDown! as of next week. Victoria has been training in WWE’s developmental system since being signed in 2006 and will make her debut next week, as wedding planner to Vickie Guerrero and Edge whose wedding falls on July 11th.

Crawford was infamously signed along with Kelly Kelly, when John Laurinaitis saw them posing in a catalogue. However, unlike Kelly who was thrown into a role on ECW immediately, Victoria remained in the developmental system… until now. Now an experienced wrestler, I have my doubts about throwing a talented Diva into such a role. Why must they insist on bringing in useless Divas as wrestlers and the talented ones in stupid roles? Hopefully, Victoria will become part of SmackDown!’s women’s division in the coming months.

In the space of two weeks, ECW and SmackDown! have both gained new Divas. What about RAW? I have my eye on one Milena Roucka, a former contestant in the 2006 Diva Search which was won by Layla. She too, has gone onto become an experienced wrestler and a former OVW Women’s Champion.

Maria Styles It Up

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One minute I read the comments in the RAW Redux post, where you guys wish Maria would cover the frig up; the next minute, I’m looking at her new shoot in WWE.com, where she’s wearing more clothes than usual. What are the chances? Maria’s new “Stylish” photoshoot is a break from the norm for the Diva and for the most part, she looks rather good. Although there seems to be something up with her face, it seems porcelain almost. Those folks at WWE.com need to hire a new airbrusher. View the photos below and make up your mind in our poll:

[poll=64]

Kelly’s Ouch Moment = Work

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Damn girl, that’s a major work. Kelly Kelly‘s big spot on Tuesday night’s ECW was scripted and planned before hand, which impresses me even more so because it’s just so on-point and such cringe-tastic television. How can you plan such a thing?! Scary awesome precisiion. Kudos to all those involved in making this one of the creepiest spots I’ve seen in a long time and it’s good to know that it isn’t simply down to Kelly’s inexperience as a wrestler.

RAW Redux – June 09, 2008

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This week on RAW: Beth Phoenix had a rough night, being worked over by both Mickie James and Melina. Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and Jillian and Maria managed to make random appearances too.

Thoughts & Reactions
It was a well rounded night for the women’s division on RAW, this week. Not too much went down but just enough to pass us into next week. There was storyline development in the Beth-Melina feud, with Melina coming out to an amazing pop when she attacked Beth. Prior to this, we had a decent match between Mickie and Beth, I have to say I don’t enjoy their singles matches and this was simply more of the same. This was an anti-climax compared to Beth vs Melina at One Night Stand, I guess some Divas work better with some and not others. The match as a whole, was fine, there wasn’t too much sloppy ring-work but like I say, it lacked the flare and intensity of the Beth/Melina match and I think we have seen this match far too many times also. However, what the fuck was up with Mickie beating Beth cleanly?! How does this help anything?! I think this was the wrong match to do and especially the end was weak. So Melina can’t beat her in an aggressive “I Quit” match and Mickie gets an upset with a fucking Thesz press?

The highlight of the night was Melina coming out and attacking Beth, which got one of the best crowd reactions I’ve heard for a Diva in a long while. The way that the fans have taken to Melina’s character and this feud has really astounded me, it really has been great television. I really loved the spot Melina used, with the hair drag smash from the top rope – it really seemed to do a number on Beth and in my eyes, it was a more believable spot than some of the stuff Beth has to job to from Mickie’s arsenal, afterall Beth is the Glamazon. However, after the spot I do feel Beth should have sold it for longer, she seemed to get up almost immediately – she should have been taken out for a few moments, to show the effects of Melina’s attack, that here is a Diva that is on the verge of taking out Beth Phoenix.

As for the other Divas, Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and what I like about this is that Katie isn’t just a manager, she’s just as involved as the guys. I really think this is Burchill’s big break and from here he could go onto the Intercontinental Championship or something, this is also good news for Katie as it keeps her relevant and on television. We had random spots from Maria and Jillian, as part of the Million Dollar Mania. I don’t think it requires too much analysis, it was what it was.

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Diva Dirt’s Opinion Poll!

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We want to know about your Diva habits, please take a moment to fill out our opinion poll (it’s really short). Where it says ‘Other (Please comment and suggest’, please use this post to add your comments!

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED

YouTube Classics: Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James

Erin
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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with last week’s announcement of a new SmackDown Diva’s Championship, our theme is “Golden Girls”, matches in which the Women’s Title is at stake. Today, we have Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James from the Wrestlemania 22. Tension was high for this one, as Mickie had developed an unhealthy obsession with the Women’s Champion. Things were interesting, to say the least:


Part 1:

Part 2:

SmackDown! Redux? You Decide!

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RAW Redux has become a staple of Diva Dirt over the past couple of months and with SmackDown! now catching up to the red brand, would you like to see a SmackDown! Redux every Friday? Vote below and let us know what you think!

[poll=57]

Hello, I Love You, Won’t You Tell Me Your Name?

Erin
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Lena Yada continues to prove that even if you do fuck-all on TV, you can still hold a presence on WWE.com. So, is she the new Maryse? Maybe, but I do like her unique look – she brings a little flavor to the WWE Divas. I’m not loving this shoot, but it’s not bad by any means – just average. Stand out a bit, Lena, before the WWE forgets you’re on the roster! (Excuse my quoting of The Doors songs all over this post. I couldn’t help myself.)

[poll=56]

ECW: Things That Make You Scream “Ouch”

Melanie
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Holy frig. Did I cringe or what when I saw the end of the Kelly Kelly vs Victoria match on ECW this week? Oh and then the replays are just even worse. It was the bump heard around the world, when Kelly fell smack flat from the apron onto the mat outside the ring. It has to be seen to be believed:

As for the match, it was pretty sloppy and boring for the most part. I just couldn’t get into it, but I really like how Mike Adamle and The Tazz put over the new Divas Championship and really added something to the match. From all accounts, it doesn’t seem like this is a qualifier match for the Divas Championship so we still are yet to find out who Natalya‘s opponent will be. After reading the SmackDown! spoilers, I don’t think we’re going to find out this week either. Also, there was a backstage segment with new WWE Diva, Tiffany (Diva Search contestant, Taryn) check out that out by clicking here. Is it just me or does she look exactly like Kelly?

YES! More Diva Search Rejects!

Erin
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For those of you watching ECW last night and wondered who Teddy Long’s lovely assistant was, wonder no longer! Apparently, she is Taryn Terrell, a castoff of 2007’s Diva Search who has been in developmental ever since.

I have fuzzy memories of this past Diva Search (partially because I tend to mentally block out things that upset me), but I can recall not liking this chick. She seemed generic and rather unspectacular. But hey, maybe some time in developmental did her some good. But seriously WWE, maybe you should start harvesting crops in trained indy girls with years of experience instead of these half-assed human weeds. I though you were done with this “hiring Diva Search rejects” crap. Curious about her? I can feel your interest piquing! Well, click here to visit her MySpace page.

I also did some scrounging (AKA searching on Youtube) and found a video that probably shows the extent of her abilities. Keep in mind, I’m not selling her short – I just have safely low expectations. Check out Taryn and fellow contestant Lyndy (who?) doing.. um.. well, I honestly don’t know:

TNA iMPACT Spoilers for 6/19

Erin
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Next week’s iMPACT spoilers are up, courtesy of PWInsider.com. Highlight below to read:

• Jim Cornette is in the ring when TNA Tag Team champions LAX come out. They challenge James Storm and Robert Roode to a Fan’s Revenge Lumberacks with straps match at the Victory Road PPV. LAX sign the contract but the heels don’t come out. Jackie Moore comes out and says she doesn’t know where they are. She gets into it with Salinas and Cornette makes a match for later.

• Shantelle Taylor made her TNA debut as this week’s contender in the Awesome Kong Challenge. She put up a fight but eventually lost.

• Jackie Moore defeated Salinas, then whipped her with a belt after the match.

Natalya is a “Love”ly Gladiator

Erin
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Is it just me, or does Natalya look like an American Gladiator in these photos? I think it’s the silvery shininess and elbow pads. The photoshoot is called “Tough Love”, and showcases some versatility from Natalya. And yay – the scenery, for once, isn’t out of place or random! It actually adds to the photos instead of taking away (Melina bending over a turnstile, anyone?) from them. Your thoughts? (Click the thumbnails below to view the full photos.)

[poll=55]

Hey Mickie! *clap *clap* *clap*

Erin
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Mickie James is her usual peppy self in her new WWE.com photoshoot “Bright Smile”. I’ve never been a fan of the color combination on those tights, but I think she works it quite well, all things considered. Come to think of it, I can’t really think of a version of Mickie’s tights that I’ve been too fond of – too many pinstripes and denim. What about you guys? (Click the thumbnails below to view the full photos.)

[poll=54]

Perfect 10: May 26th – June 7th

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Welcome to a super, SUPER late edition of The Perfect 10! I was having difficulty uploading this for the past few days, but better late than never, huh?

Obviously, we’ve adopted a new format; I’m still providing audio commentary, but now we have visuals to go along with the countdown. In the future, I’ll incorporate more actual video, but for now, enjoy the lovely photos of our Divas and Knockouts! Just play the embedded video below to see this week’s list:

» Full list in text format after the cut:

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Torrie Still Alive and Making a Bold Stand

Melanie
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Last week, we reported that Torrie Wilson would be going under the surgeon’s knife and finally, we have news! Torrie updated her MySpace to tell us that she is doing well and even posted these bold pictures of herself… without any make-up. And if you ask me, she looks great without it. Read Torrie’s blog and see the pictures below:

Well guy’s I made it back from surgery alive!!!! I have to say that there for a minute I was pretty nervous about the whole deal! My surgeon, who was absolutely amazing scared me a bit right befor going under the knife…let’s just say that as I was stepping onto the little surgery table and starting to feel like I had about 10 shots of Petron’ tequila, my sweet little Dr. says to me “So Torrie are you ready to go?!” I looked at him with tears in my eyes ( I was crying all morning because I was so scared!) and said “I guess as ready as I will ever be, just please promise me that I won’t wake up paralyzed because of a mistake.” Ok so what words do you think came out of his mouth after that? …this is what he said….”Honey being paralyzed is the least of your worries with a surgery like this! You have a lot of major organs just on the other side of where I am working and if I just happen to accidently puncture any of them you could bleed to death easily!” so of course I asked him…”well what if that happens? I mean what can you do to help me?” He replied with ” Well, honey I will just have to cut you open all the way across your stomach and work hard to fix the problem and stop the bleeding….but you will end up with a pretty large scar across your stomach!”

Ok so call me crazy but I was inches away from taking off for the parking lot just at that moment! Instead I prefered to pray the hardest I have ever prayed that everything goes fine and dandy! The surgery did take a little longer than usual so of course when I woke up at 8pm the first thing I did after looking at the clock was feel for a cut across my tummy…and luckily everything went great. Needless to say, I am so very thankful that I got such a wonderful Dr. that went above and beyond. I am slowly starting to walk better and feel like my old self again…And just so you guy’s can see how absolutely horrible I can look, I decided to show you a couple pics of me after surgery in the hospital without of stitch of makeup on….now that’s love if you can get past that sight!

Anyway, I just wanted to fill ya’all in on how the back surgery went and let you know I made it…..leaving for Mexico on Thursday!…I will show you pics from that as well. (and hopefully I will look a tad better in those!)

Love you all! -Torrie

YouTube Classics: Lita vs. Stephanie McMahon

Erin
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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with last week’s announcement of a new SmackDown Diva’s Championship, our theme is “Golden Girls”, matches in which the Women’s Title is at stake. Today, we have Lita vs. Stephanie McMahon from the August 21st, 2000 edition of RAW. This match was RAW’s first ever all-female main event and featured “cameos” from referee The Rock, Triple H, and Kurt Angle:

Diva Dirt’s Next Top Model: Week 1

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Previously on Top Model: You voted in your droves and selected the 10 Divas you’d like to see compete in Cycle 1, in our casting call. The 10 Divas with the most votes have now moved onto week one of the competition. Each week, a Diva must get cut until there is just one left standing to be crowned Diva Dirt’s Next Top Model.

And now: It’s time to vote once again, which Diva do you think has the most top model potential? Which Diva could grace the covers of the likes of Elle, Vogue and other fashion bibles? Which Diva could stomp the runway like a pro? Vote for your favourite right now. Remember, your votes will decide who stays and who goes. Tune in to The Diva Dirt Sheet on Thursday to find out which two Divas are in the bottom two and who will be sent home.

[poll=53]

GLOW: The Next Generation

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Din’t ya know? Spin-offs and remakes are so in right now… just ask the cast of the new 90210, American Gladiators, Knight Rider and so forth. Well it seems wrestling can get in on the gimmick too. Defunct women’s wrestling company GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) will be relaunching for a new generation! One of the company’s founders just so happens to be Sylvester Stallone’s mom Jackie, whom British readers may know from Celebrity Big Brother.

GLOW helped launch the career of former WWE Diva and Women’s Champion, Ivory who wrestled as Tina Ferrari. For more info click here.

Hi, My Name Is Moose

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TNA’s creative team have outdone themselves. New TNA Knockout, Mickie Knuckles made her in-ring debut at last night’s Slammiversary pay per view under the new ring name of Moose. Yes, as in the animal with antlers. Moose was on the losing end of last night’s battle, when she was put away by ODB. As silly as it sounds, I think it could work if they play it out as though the Beautiful People gave her that name.

It has also emerged that Moose… err, Mickie has also been featured on The Jerry Springer Show. Seriously. Moose (God, I love writing that) appeared as the disgruntled lover of an army soldier who didn’t tell her that he was going away to Iraq. After said solider left, Mickie got it on with his best friend. Nice. Check out the clips by clicking here.

We will have a full review of last night’s Knockout action from Slammiversary, as soon as I can learn to tolerate the god damned heat long enough to sit at the computer and watch it.

Candice’s Second Coming Scheduled

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Candice Michelle could be making her second comeback of the year, in the next month, that is the word going round. Last week in his blog, Jim Ross mentioned that Candice would be seeing her doctor in two weeks and now according to the latest reports, Candice should be back on RAW within the next 4 weeks.

Candice was originally injured in October 2007, during a match with Beth Phoenix on RAW. She was then brought back in March of this year and primed for a spot on the WrestleMania card, only to be re-injured a week later.

To be really honest, I had totally forgotten that Candice was away. RAW has progressed at light speed in the months since WrestleMania and I really feel as though the new foursome of Beth, Katie Lea, Melina and Mickie James are the future of the women’s division. That said, Candice is one of the success stories of 2007; competent in the ring and she has her followers, I do think there is a little extra room for her on RAW. Hopefully, she will take a lesser role upon her return and work her way up to the top again. Candice could be complementary to Mickie and Melina on the face side of things, while Beth, Katie and Jillian act as heels.

What do you think? Is there space on RAW (and in your hearts) for Candice upon her return?

ECW & SD! Spoilers for Week of June 16th

Melanie
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ECW and SmackDown! taped two weeks worth of television this weekend, last night they filmed their shows for next week, ECW will air on June 17th and SmackDown! will air on June 20th. These will be the final broadcasts before the WWE Draft on June 23rd.

For this week’s spoilers click here.

ECW:

Layla came out and did a dance, she then got on the microphone and said she hopes she gets moved to another brand where she gets more respect.

SmackDown!:

Michelle def. Layla, with Natalya watching on. This is likely a Divas Championship qualifier.

Knockout Karen’s Sexy Censored Tee!

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This is the saucy (and pretty darn cool) Karen Angle t-shirt that was put up on sale by TNA only to be pulled from the website hours later, as has been reported this week. I love the “pin-up” concept, this is a really cool tee and I’m surprised that TNA came up with this! It reminds me of Trish’s animated shirt from a few years ago, that itself was a spoof of the post-World War “Women at Work” posters. I wonder why the shirt was pulled from sale? Could Karen’s baby daddy, Kurt have something to do with it? Me thinks so. Check out the full picture at the thumbnail below:

What do you think? Would you buy one? And is TNA justified in pulling this from their online store?

[poll=51]

Tomboy Michelle Embraces Femininity

Melanie
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It’s a rare sight to see SmackDown!’s Michelle McCool looking so glamourous, but the Diva strutted her stuff on the red carpet of the Hero Awards 2008 earlier this week. And just in case any of those Hollywood bizarro celebs tried to take advantage – she had a 7ft, 450lb bodyguard to keep her safe… The Big Show!

Michelle looks completely different to what I’m used to seeing of her, so she gets some points for that but I’m not completely sold on the dress or her hair-do. Check out the pictures below:

Divas and the City – Coming to a Screen Near You!

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Okay, so maybe the Divas aren’t making their own version of the Sex and the City movie, but our own Melanie has just debuted her very own column at PWInsider.com! Essentially, this is just a shameless plug, but the column is definitely worth reading – it’s got all the Diva-Dirt goodness you’ve come to expect from the London-based half of our team. :)

CHECK OUT “DIVAS AND THE CITY”!

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