The Divas will get to represent at SummerSlam in a pre-show 15 Diva battle royal that will be exclusive to the SummerSlam DVD. This was confirmed in WWE Universe’s Live Chat just moments ago.
We’ll have results from the match later tonight hopefully.
EDIT: If you ordered the PPV, the match will air on the pre-show at 7.45pm ET/12.45am UK.
EDIT #2: According to the Live Chat the battle royal has already taken place, though it hasn’t aired from where I’m watching. Most of the Divas are involved except Michelle McCool. Beth Phoenix won, after special guest referee Chavo pushed Eve & Kelly Kelly out of the ring and raised her hand in victory. After the match, all the Divas turn on Chavo before Hornswoggle comes out and hits a tadpole splash.
In order to consolidate our Eye Candy coverage, we’ve developed a brand new feature: Unwrapped! We’ll take all the new photoshoots from the week and grade (or “brand”) each based on the following criteria:
• Appearance(hair, clothes, makeup.. you get the drift)
• Poses(are they versatile or just glorified statues?)
• Uniqueness(have we seen this photoshoot a billion times before?) Grading scale: Sweet (Great)/Bland (Iffy)/Sour (Awful)
Gail Kim‘s Full Force Gail Appearance: Gail’s wearing what looks like knee-high boots and a loose-fitting striped dress. I love stripes, so the dress is right up my alley. It’s rather simple and just hangs there, but on Gail’s tiny frame, it’s enough so that she doesn’t need to spice it up with anything else. In a few of the photos, she’s made cute makeshift pigtails in her hair, and in the rest just lets it hang loose. This is the definition of a simple look–a dress that catches your eye but doesn’t overwhelm, light makeup, relaxed hair, and no jewelry. Poses: I really like the look, but the poses kind of let me down. They’re uninspired and lack that extra something to give this shoot some excitement. Show some personality, Gail! You’re not posing for a JC Penny catalog. Uniqueness: Gail keeps it simple in a way few Divas do, and I like it. But aside from that, the shoot doesn’t really “pop”. Grade: Bland. As much as I like the look, the poses drag the shoot down and make it much more dull than it should be. If she showed a bit more personality and excitement, this shoot would definitely be a sweet one.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.
Follow the cut to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots.
Peep even more pictures from Friday night’s SummerSlam Kick Off event in LA, featuring more closeup looks of Melina, Mickie Jamesand Tiffany as well as some of the other girls.
So I have decided that Mickie looks gorgeous, I’m actually taken aback that she is probably the best looking Diva of the night. Meanwhile, getting a closer look of Melina’s outfit, I’m even more horrified than last night.
Congratulations are in order for everyone’s favourite ring announcer, Lilian Garcia, who celebrates a decade as a WWE Diva today. As she’s pointed out on her Twitter page, she is the first and only ‘Decade Diva’, having begun her journey on August 23rd, 1999.
We’d like to take this moment and celebrate with Lilian on this milestone day! Who’s got cake?!
The moment however, is bittersweet, as it’s widely speculated that Lilian will finish her WWE run tomorrow night on Raw.
And what would a post like this be without reminding you of some of Lilian’s best moments? To celebrate a decade of Lilian, we have compiled our ten top moments from Lilian’s career:
10. Lilian Performs ‘iQuiero Vivir!’
In 2007, Lilian released her debut album iQuiero Vivir! and to celebrate it’s release, she belted out one heck of a performance on Monday Night Raw:
In the Saturday Supplement, the Diva Dirt team will aim to discuss a news story, a televised event or other relevant and current topics. The objective, like the average weekend newspaper, is to offer more indepth and lengthy discussion.
With TNA President, Dixie Carter set to make her first official on-screen appearance for TNA this coming Thursday, this week we are looking at what it means to be a woman in power in the wrestling industry in relation to promoting women’s wrestling.
It is assumed that any women in professional wrestling with a position of power would want to advocate their women. Surely they would want to create a strong, empowered representation of their Divas, Knockouts et al for the audience? Given hindsight, it can be argued that isn’t the case. In fact, looking at the McMahon family and the two women in prominent roles, Linda and Stephanie McMahon, what have either of these women really done for the Divas in WWE?
It is almost shocking that in the time that Stephanie McMahon has been in power as head of WWE’s Creative Team, that the women’s division has been on a decline. The emphasis on sex appeal rather than brain & braun can date back to the early soap opera-esque feuds on SmackDown in 2002, including a lesbian angle with Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson. Publicly, McMahon has been acknowledged as somewhat of an advocate, including by the aforementioned Dawn Marie. In a shoot interview also featuring Torrie Wilson, Dawn said something along the lines of how Stephanie worked with the girls in order to be portrayed as having brains and not just being sold as a sex object on television.
However, looking at the television output — there has been countless situations in which under McMahon’s governing, the women of the company were perceived as just that, sex objects. The Diva Search in 2004 particularly changed the way the WWE Divas brand was run and the way that the women’s division would be considered. The after effects of which are still felt to this day. However in today’s WWE, there seems to be a bigger emphasis on wrestling due to the PG rating, yet the Divas segments continue to be an afterthought and unregarded by the writing staff which McMahon heads. It is true that the senior McMahon, Vince, is ultimately the one that signs off on most of the television but given their personal dynamic, would it not be easy for Stephanie to stand her ground if she were truly an advocate of the women in the company?
Our favourites Divas from all three brands were present on the red carpet last night in LA for the SummerSlam Kick Off Party. The Divas and WWE Superstars rubbed shoulders with D-List celebs like Mini-Me and that girl who never gets to sing from the Pussycat Dolls.
For the most part it seems the Divas had the right idea, a lot of simple evening dresses. ForGail Kim, Maria and Rosa Mendes — they played it safe in black and all looked great. Though I’m sure you can guess what my gripe would be about Maria…
Meanwhile, the Bella Twins andMichelle McCool opted for half-and-half, McCool in a pleasant pink and black dress while Brie went half white/half black and finally, Nikki sported red and black. If you look at the close up of Brie compared to Nikki, I think it explains why Nikki and not Brie was voted on 50 Sexiest Divas.
LA’s own Eve Torres and ECW GM, Tiffany sported metallic colours — one showed us the right way to do it and the other fell way off the mark *coughTIFFANYcough*
The most perplexing outfit for me was Alicia Fox‘s ethnic pattern. I kinda get the feeling she’s her own spirit and has her own quirky, personal style and that’s cool but that dress just isn’t working for me.
Pet peeve: Divas flexing on the carpet, I’m looking at you Tiffany and Michelle McCool. You’re on the red carpet not a fitness competition, stay classy, no one wants to see your underarms.
Check out all the pictures below and sound off in the comments!
From left to right: Katie Lea obviously missed the memo that this is a red carpet event. I mean, really, Katie?
Mickie James’ dress isn’t to my personal taste but I have to say, it suits her a lot; the copper tones in particular fit her skin tone and hair colour. Nice job considering her usual mismatched style.
We love Melina we really do, but I gagged when I saw this picture. That is a fashion disaster on Maria levels. Poor Melina’s grandmother, I wonder if she realises her curtains are missing?
It’s a staple of tabloid magazines: hard hitting, investigative & highly entertaining! Best & Worst Dressed lists can make or break careers in Hollywood and for a site with ‘Dirt’ in the title, it’s only fitting we take this time tested feature & apply it to our Divas! Each week we’ll bring you the best and worst looks from the week gone by, it’s pretty simple right?
Key: School-like grading scheme
Some okay looks this week and one standout look. Let’s examine:
The one and only Alicia Fox looked really pretty in a simple black dress. Sometimes it’s best not to overdo it. Nice stuff. C
Before getting a trash can put over her, Jillianlooked rather splendid in a nice teal dress with some sequins. Nothing wrong with a bit of jazz kept in moderation. C
Moving away from the Beautiful People proved to be a blessing for Madison Rayne, going for a simpler and less trashier look on Impact. I like. C
Also on Impact, keeping things simple & casual — two words that seem to go amiss with most Knockouts/Divas is Lauren. B-
My favourite look of the week however is Michelle McCool‘s ultra sleek comeback to SmackDown. Not many girls can pull off the slitted top and white pants [just ask Nikki Bella who wears the exact same outfit here] but Michelle’s slender figure and height advantage complements the outfit really well. Who knew Ms McCool was so en vogue? The top in particular is a big trend right now, most notably worn by British singer Amelle in a recent music video. A
The Roundtable is back for a bonus episode this week — a 50 Sexiest Divas special! The Diva Dirt team come together to countdown and discuss this year’s list with a special emphasis on the top ten in particular.
As with Thursday’s Roundtable, there is an issue with the recording overlapping. So there are likely times when we overlap each other and things perhaps don’t make total sense, this isn’t us being rude and interrupting each other — it was an issue with the recorder.
To listen to the Roundtable directly on the website, just click on the play button below. You can also download the Diva Dirt Roundtable via iTunes to put on your iPod/iPhone or download the MP3 file from a third party website.
Please Note: The ‘Diva Dirt Roundtable’ is the exclusive content of Diva Dirt (diva-dirt.com), for which we hold copyright. By downloading our audio you agree not to repost or transcribe the content elsewhere including but not limited to other websites, blogs or message boards. Failure to respect copyright will result in legal action.
This week, we were promised the return of one Michelle McCool, Women’s Champion and recent victim of a knee injury. The details of her return were kept mum, so in what capacity will we see Michelle, if at all? Let’s watch and see if she turns up:
On the cards is a tag team match, teaming up Melina and her tag team partner (who we can only assume beat Eve in a coin flip) Maria. Going up against them will be Layla, Melina opponent last week, and Natalya, a Diva whom the WWE seemingly can’t decide if they want to wrestle or manage. This week, luckily, she’s on in-ring duty.
But who oh who makes the first entrance? Michelle! She makes her way (Gingerly? I couldn’t tell.) to the announcers’ table and takes a seat next to JR and Todd Grisham. We’ll see if they acknowledge her absence or just ignore the giant blonde hobbling elephant in the room. Melina and Maria then make a tandem entrance, and I wonder if Michelle visits Diva Dirt, because her first words on the duo express my sentiments exactly (“What is Maria wearing?!”). Gotta dig deeper than the obvious with these insults, Michelle.
A few more fashion-based insults pegged at Maria (Seriously, someone check Michelle’s browser history.), and Michelle shows a bit more charisma. Now, she’s not Trish Stratus or anything, but I sense some improvement. She just needs to work of her inflection and not sound dead-bored when speaking on the mic. As Layla and Natalya make their entrance, Michelle expresses some fondness towards who Todd describes as her “message girl”. Michelle refutes that claim, insisting that these past few weeks were just a vacation for her. Okay, so I guess the injury may not be as serious as once thought? You know, since they’re skirting around the issue and all..
On the same day as our 50 Sexiest Divas reveal, Pro Wrestling Illustrated has revealed the woman who ranks #1 on it’s second annual PWI Female 50. That honour goes to current reigning Divas Champion, Mickie James dethroning last year’s #1, Awesome Kong.
The Female 50 is an equivalent to the celebrated PWI 500 which concentrates solely on male wrestlers, this year topped by Triple H.
I gotta admit, I am thrown and disappointed by Mickie taking the lead. If I had my way, our user-voted ‘Sexiest Woman in Wrestling’ would take the #1 spot on the Female 50 too. There is no denying that 2009 has been the year of Melina.
For the second year in a row, women’s wrestling fans have voted three time WWE Women’s Champion, Melina– full name Melina Perez – the sexiest woman in wrestling.
Nearly 10,000 votes were cast for Diva Dirt‘s second annual 50 Sexiest Divas competition, a rival to lists such as FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women.
Perez’s votes nearly doubled that of her nearest rival, former WWE Divas Champion Maryse Ouellet who polled at #2. Ouellet rose 13 spots from the year prior.
When told of the news, Perez expressed her delight and looks forward to receiving her ‘Sexiest Woman in Wrestling’ trophy, to be presented by Diva Dirt.
See the full 50 Sexiest Divas list by clicking here.
The first two Divas to appear in this year’s edition of WWE’s flagship Smackdown vs Raw series has been revealed. Current and former Divas Champions, Mickie James and Marysewere revealed today to be in the game.
The appearance marks Maryse’s first in a WWE video game.
It is expected that the Divas Championship will make it’s video game debut, along with the Women’s Championship. Thus one can expect that this year will have the biggest Divas roster yet.
Your favourite TNA Knockout and mine, Jenna Morasca has reportedly signed up to take part in the 20th anniversary of the show that made her famous, Survivor.
The 20th season of the CBS reality show begins filming this month through next and will begin in February 2010. The season is not to be confused with [as some have already done] the upcoming 19th season which premieres in next month and is set in Samoa.
Obviously that means Morasca will be away from TNA television for a while, so y’all can breathe easy for now.
This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: 50 Sexiest Divas 2009 is here! All summer long, you have been voting for your favourite Divas in a hopes of getting them featured on the list and now the results are here. Over the course of five days, we will be revealing the list as voted by you!
What is it? 50 Sexiest Divas is an alternative to similar lists voted for by readers of FHM, Maxim and Ask Men. Our list however, is dedicated entirely to celebrating the sexiest women in wrestling. The countdown is voted solely by the fans making it even more prestigious to those women featured!
We can reveal that nearly 10,000 votes were cast for this year’s 50 Sexiest, so a big thank you to everyone! I truly believe that this is a great ‘social experiment’ almost, that shows that the fans’ definition of sexy doesn’t always correlate to the industry standard. Congrats to all the girls who have made the top 50, this is 100% fan voted and as such, I believe more prestigious as it comes from each and every one of you!
THE RESULTS: #10-1
RANK
NAME
& DESCRIPTION
LAST
YEAR
ALISSA FLASH
Making the single biggest jump on this year’s list is Alissa Flash aka Cheerleader Melissa aka Raisha Saeed. Alissa jumps 34 spots from last year and is the only Knockout on the top 10!
44
LITA
Representing the Diva legends, four time Women’s Champion, Lita drops four places from last year. However staying in the top 10 shows what a hold our past Divas have on the audience.
5
MICHELLE MCCOOL
It’s been a whirlwind year for Michelle, first ever Divas Champ and now the Women’s Champ. So it’s only fitting she breaks into the top 10, moving up four spots from last year.
12
EVE TORRES
Eve Torres’ star continues to rise and now the rookie Diva’s success rubs off on 50 Sexiest. She jumps 18 spots to land herself a top ten spot at #7.
25
TORRIE WILSON
It’s another Diva legend in the top ten! Last year’s #2, Torrie Wilson falls four spots to sit just outside the top 5 this year. Torrie enjoyed success on “I’m a Celebrity” on NBC in June.
2
GAIL KIM
This time last year, she was a Knockout. Now she’s a Diva and that helps her jump four spots to this year’s top 5.
9
TRISH STRATUS
Three years since she left, Trish Stratus continues to guarantee Stratusfaction. The legend falls one spot from last year, but still lands herself a plum spot.
3
MICKIE JAMES
Four time Women’s Champion and current Divas Champion, Mickie James breaks the mould of sexy by rising four spots to this year’s #3.
7
MARYSE
The Sexiest of the Sexy just falls short of proving her nickname to be true. But she has reason to be pleased, jumping 13 spots to take this year’s #2 spot.
15
MELINA
Proving to be the quintessential Diva for the modern day, Melina retains her crown! There’s no denying that she is a perfect mix of athleticism and sex appeal. Doubling the votes of her nearest rival, Melina is still your sexiest woman in wrestling!
Recent tensions among the Beautiful People lead to a contest between Madison Rayne and the former Knockouts Champion Angelina Love. As Madison Rayne makes her solemn way to the ring, she is attacked from behind by Angelina Love. Madison’s head resonates against the steel steps and the ring apron. Angelina continues the beat down before rolling Madison into the ring and pinning her. Velvet Sky prances down to the ring and proceeds to place the brown paper bag over Madison’s head. Victoria and Christy Hemme come out in time to make the save. I guess it’s back to square one for Madison Rayne.
Backstage, Lauren officially announces the inception of new TNA Knockout tag titles, and Victoria concurs that TNA is making history. She also boldly mentions that “WWE would never think of this in a million years.” Awesome! Even more hilarious, Victoria takes a trip down memory lane, eluding to that infamous bikini contest when she went all psycho bitch on Christy’s ass. Apparently, all has been forgiven. Aw, I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy just watching this. Taylor expresses her excitement as Sarita says something en Español. I’m pretty sure it was something inspirational. Three years of Spanish class has done me no justice, but it sure sounds lovely.
Watch the fatal four-way match & more after the cut:
Raw Divas, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly got the Superstars treatment this week and delivered a very decent bout, considering this show is overlooked by most. Watch below:
With no stupid skits to contend with, WWE Superstars usually consists of 3-4 matches filling up 42 minutes. That generally works out to 8-10 minutes per segment and thus the Divas get a little more time on this show. And that was definitely the case for Beth and Kelly, they got some more time in the ring than they would on Raw and used it decently. Look, I’m not going to rave about the match — it was decent but it was pretty much a standard Beth-Kelly match and nothing groundbreaking than what we’ve seen before.
I know my colleague, Erin uses the term ‘spot monkey’ to describe Kelly, however I have tried to reserve judgement over the past few months and waited for a match like this. And by that I mean, usually we see Kelly in tag matches or multi-woman matches where her style is suited because of the length of the matches [usually 3 minutes] or because of the amount of girls trying to get in their spots. But in a singles match, especially with a little more time than she would usually get, I am now in total agreement with the suggestion that Kelly is a spot monkey. In a lengthier match, you expect the stars to try and pace themselves and lead into big spots and a big finish, but there was none of that here. It was one spot after another and I am unconvinced that Kelly even knows the basic mat skills that make up a wrestler’s DNA.
Sure her spots may look good on television, the hurricanranas and backflips and all — but that doesn’t translate to being a good wrestler. Let us not become jaded by the exciting moves that she does. I was hoping that she would be able to show that she does have the basic skills and can hang in there with Beth Phoenix without resorting to all her usual spots.
Instead of going through the match move-by-move, I think I’ll do a ‘count the spots’ instead: kick into a backflip [which she messed up for the first time, I think]; a leap over Beth using the corner; going from the backslide into another backflip; hurricanrana into rollup, crossbody to the outside; hold up did she just attempt Melina‘s Last Call?; a tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana; another crossbody and a handspring elbow. That’s 10 spots in one match. There is sometimes too much of a good thing but obviously Kelly didn’t get that memo. If you’re going to use those types of moves, it’s best kept in moderation so it can add some ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ the match; having a match filled with those spots doesn’t make them special anymore.
It seems that the basic moves that Kelly attempted in this match including the forearms, a few kicks to Beth’s legs, a drop toe hold and a dropkick, were utterly unconvincing. If you go back and watch it, those forearm shots looked really weak, that dropkick was equally weak and thus I believe it’s a fair assessment of Kelly to suggest that she is a spot monkey.
The end sees Beth capitalise for victory with the Glam Slam, nicely executed by Phoenix and sold by Kelly. I’m glad to see that Beth is picking up wins here and there and being built slowly back up to the stature she was once at. It’s a good idea to keep her strong in the background, while Mickie James and Gail Kim battle over the Divas Championship. She seems like the likely contender for whoever is the champion when that ends.
Decent match this week, the equivalent of a ‘popcorn movie’ I’d say. High explosions, not much substance but enjoyable if you check your brain out.
I feel like this Redux should also come with a disclaimer, before the jaded marks attack me for ~bashing Kelly~
TNA confirmed that it will be launching a Knockouts Tag Team Championship last night on Impact. The titles will be determined in a tournament which begins next week.
While it’s great to see more opportunities for the girls in TNA, the writers and the management need to get their affairs in order before they do anything new in the division. The Knockouts division has been all over the place in the past month — several title changes, feuds starting and stopping and now the launch of a Knockouts tag team division? It seems like a band-aid covering a bullet hole.
Nonetheless, Steven will have a more indepth look at the upcoming tag division & tag team women’s wrestling this weekend.
What do you think? Now we know it’s happening — yay or nay?
Diva Dirt favourite, Awesome Kong has been teasing a ‘big announcement’ for some time now, well last night she spilled the beans. Good news: She’s not leaving TNA nor is she not pregnant [her words, not mine!] But Kong’s big announcement includes all of you.
Kong is holding an ‘Awesome Kongtest’ in which the winners will be her VIP guests at October’s Bound for Glory pay per view! Needless to say, we wish we could enter but I don’t think it’d be fair! Click here for all the deets at Kong’s new website!
• • • • •
As we first revealed on our Twitter page last night, TNA President Dixie Carter will make her Impact debut next week. With the Knockouts tag tournament also beginning, next week’s show should be must watch!
This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: 50 Sexiest Divas 2009 is here! All summer long, you have been voting for your favourite Divas in a hopes of getting them featured on the list and now the results are here. Over the course of five days, we will be revealing the list as voted by you!
What is it? 50 Sexiest Divas is an alternative to similar lists voted for by readers of FHM, Maxim and Ask Men. Our list however, is dedicated entirely to celebrating the sexiest women in wrestling. The countdown is voted solely by the fans making it even more prestigious to those women featured!
THE RESULTS: #20 – 11
RANK
NAME
& DESCRIPTION
LAST
YEAR
ANGELINA LOVE
Two time Knockouts Champion falls three places from last year. This year, she emerged as the leader of the Beautiful People but that wasn’t enough to stop her from falling!
17
SARA DEL REY
SHIMMER has had a strong showing on 50 Sexiest and that continues with former SHIMMER Champ, Sara Del Rey making her debut on the list at #19. The highest debut of a SHIMMER talent this year.
—
BETH PHOENIX
The Glamazon is a non-mover this year, at #18. Since losing the Women’s Championship in January, she’s been pushed aside but that hasn’t affected her ranking.
18
ASHLEY MASSARO
Former Diva, Ashley Massaro drops one spot from last year’s list to this year’s #17.
16
JILLIAN
She knows you want her… because Jillian jumps several spots to this year’s #16, up from last year’s #21.
21
LAYLA
It’s not great news for the Diva voted Most Stylish last year. Layla drops out of the top 10 and has to make do with #15 this year.
10
TARA
It’s been a career changing year for the artist formerly known asVictoria, but it hasn’t affected her too much. Tara drops one spot from last year.
13
CANDICE
It’s 7 spots down for Candice Michelle, who was released earlier this year. Admist rumours of weight gain contributing to her release, it seems fans have decided she’s not as sexy as she was last year.
6
KELLY KELLY
Also dropping out of the top 10 is Kelly Kelly. The youngster of the pack falls 4 spots this year.
8
MARIA
And continuing the trend of Divas no longer top 10 material is Maria. She takes the sharpest fall of all, considering she was #4 last year. Top 5 to outside the top 10.
This week on the Roundtable: The Roundtable returns after a snafu last week. This week we’re discussing Mickie James‘ spot in the WWE — has she become a complacent member of the roster? Plus was it too little too late to put the strap on ODB? Plus the Roundtable Quiz, Diva Dirt Mailbag and more.
A note regarding the recording, no Roundtable taping it seems is safe from error. This week with our new recording software, we had an issue with the recording overlapping. So there are likely times when we overlap each other and things perhaps don’t make total sense, this isn’t us being rude and interrupting each other — it was an issue with the recorder.
PS: There will be a bonus episode of the Roundtable on Saturday, which will be a 50 Sexiest Divas special!
To listen to the Roundtable directly on the website, just click on the play button below. You can also download the Diva Dirt Roundtable via iTunes to put on your iPod/iPhone or download the MP3 file from a third party website.
Please Note: The ‘Diva Dirt Roundtable’ is the exclusive content of Diva Dirt (diva-dirt.com), for which we hold copyright. By downloading our audio you agree not to repost or transcribe the content elsewhere including but not limited to other websites, blogs or message boards. Failure to respect copyright will result in legal action.
In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, Good ol’ JR, Jim Ross has taken to his blog again in support of our beloved Divas. This time he talks about the possibilities of a Diva main event. Check out his thoughts below:
Could a women’s bout headline a wrestling PPV? Interesting question. In today’s marketplace and as the females are currently positioned my answer would reluctantly be no. However, there is no reason that two, highly skilled, in ring technicians who the fans have made the vital, vested interest in AND who have a strong, clearly defined personal issue can’t contribute MUCH more than they currently do. Does that mean I think that, if crafted properly, women can close a TV program in compelling fashion? Absolutely.
The similarities between JR’s statement and our opinions from last week’s Roundtable are striking, and shows that the poor image that WWE has portrayed for the Divas not only affects the fans, but others in the company as well.
It’s so good to see someone within WWE showing some faith in the Divas (even if it’s always JR). I doubt that WWE will take heed in JR’s words of wisdom, but maybe this constant praise could open up some doors within the company for the Divas. Then again, knowing WWE… maybe not.
WWE CEO, Donna Goldman tells the New York Post that WWE is posting higher viewing figures amongst women since the switch to PG. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson writes:
The article claimed that college-aged female viewers were up 34%, 25-34 year old viewers were up 13.7% and they are up 23% with women over 50 years old.
“When we were a little more edgy, we lost a lot of women,” Donna Goldsmith, the WWE’s chief operating officer, told the Post. “They weren’t as comfortable watching with their kids. But now that we are more family-friendly, it’s a perfect reason for them to come back.”
While the article claims that it could be due to ‘lust’ over hot Superstars [which is kinda true], there’s also implications for our Divas. With more women watching, they are able to cater more merchandise to females — including a possible Divas clothing line, which Johnson notes has been in the works for several years and samples were even created of what it could look like.
Erin and I just recently were discussing merchandising for the Divas, or lack thereof. There is a big opportunity to cater to young girls or even older ones with tank tops and such, in a similar fashion to the way Miley Cyrus for example has her own clothing line in one of those American stores. Let’s just hope Maria isn’t ask to design.
By comparison to TNA, who has had an ODB t-shirt and most recently a Kong one too, WWE seems to be dropping the ball. Sure Trish [and maybe a few others] have had their own stuff — even going as far as DVDs, but there’s a brand recognition that could be exploited by using the ‘WWE Divas’ name instead of individual girls.
Well, it’s no secret that the TNA Knockouts aren’t the biggest fans of the WWE Divas, but I had no idea it was this bad. Watch below as TNA Knockouts Daffney and Velvet Skytell us exactly what they think of the Divas:
Meow! The Knockouts can get get pretty catty when they want to, huh? To be honest, I can’t say I blame them. While Divas like Eve Torres and Michelle McCool have raised the bar for Diva Search girls, the competition itself was a slap to the face to girls who busted their asses on the indies.
The biggest shocker however, are the comments made by Ms. Velvet Sky. News flash, Vel-Vel: You were in the Diva Search [proof]! I can understand Daffney’s frustration, being a veteran and all, but Velvet made herself look like a hypocrite. Maybe she should be a little more careful before she starts throwing stones in that glass house of her’s. I think the question on everyone’s mind after watching this is: How does Christy Hemme feel about this?
We’ve already mentioned that the Divas were supposed to be on the SummerSlam card for this Sunday. Now we know which matches were going to be booked. There was, if you’ll believe it, actually meant to be two Divas matches on the card and both were scrapped.
SmackDown’s Melinavs Michelle McCool was originally booked but was bumped following Night of Champions. It should be noted, this was prior to McCool’s injury at a house show on July 31st. Though as with all things WWE, they could have gone back and added it again but obviously Michelle has a bad knee right now.
The second match was scheduled to be Mickie James vsGail Kim, however they opted not to put that on either and decided to give it away on Raw. And we all know what happened there…
But don’t worry, you’ll still be able to get your Divas fix this Sunday, as the ladies of WWE will be making regular guest spots on WWE.com’s Live Chat. Yeah, I don’t give a shit about that either.
It is assumed that any women in professional wrestling with a position of power would want to advocate their women. Surely they would want to create a strong, empowered representation of their Divas, Knockouts et al for the audience? Given hindsight, it can be argued that isn’t the case. In fact, looking at the McMahon family and the two women in prominent roles, Linda and 
For the second year in a row, women’s wrestling fans have voted three time WWE Women’s Champion, 
Your favourite TNA Knockout and mine, 
CANDICE
MARIA
WWE CEO, Donna Goldman tells the New York Post that WWE is posting higher viewing figures amongst women since the switch to PG. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson writes: