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 1ST – SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2008
10. Layla (New Entry)
A brand new entry kicks off this week’s Perfect 10. Layla returned to Raw after a three week absence and boy did she look fine! Jamie Noble finally won over the 2006 Diva Search winner on Raw after weeks of Layla playing hot and cold. Layla likes what she sees and we like what we saw!
Erin: She may not be wrestling, but it’s still pretty interesting to see Layla involved in a storyline. This is a bit different from the norm, and the female has control of the relationship (I don’t consider Beth to be in sole control of hers, BTW), so there’s really no telling where this could go. Hopefully she can interject herself in some Diva matches soon, but for now, this is fine – the Women’s division is pretty crowded as it is.
Melanie: Nice to see Layla back on Raw after her time away to deal with her mother’s passing. Anyhoo, it was cool that they didn’t drop this storyline completely and we had Layla continuing her storyline with Jamie Noble.
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09. Victoria (New Entry)
Former Women’s Champion, Victoria may be on a two week losing streak but she’s a winner in our books. Victoria has plotted out two impressive matches with Brie Bella in as many weeks. Plus, anyone who adds their own commentary to their match, especially someone as naturally funny as Victoria, wins cool points with us.
Erin: I did call her a jobber a few days ago, but to be honest, she does it better than anyone else. She puts over her opponent so selflessly it’s ridiculous. I’d love for her to actually get a few wins once in a while, but she more than serves her purpose – to put over the younger wrestlers. She can carry them if need be, and with how vocal she is in the ring, it’s almost as if she’s doing 90% of the work sometimes.
Melanie: Victoria made the list because she works like no other Diva. Even though she’s on a losing streak, she is fantastic at what she does and has done a great, great job with Brie Bella recently.
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08. Michelle McCool (Last Week: #9)
Sure, Michelle didn’t have a match this week but she certainly made an impact on Maryse. The two blondes of SmackDown will collide for the Divas Championship at Unforgiven. Michelle showed her opponent that she was up for the challenge.
Erin: She didn’t do much of anything this week, so there’s not much to say. However, I’m really glad she’ll finally get the chance to defend her title. We’ll see what she’s made of, I guess..
Melanie: Michelle may not have wrestled on SmackDown, but we did get her put over her match for Unforgiven.
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07. Mickie James (New Entry)
Mickie James is a new entry at #7 this week, after her team picked up the victory on Raw. However, of the three Divas on the team, Mickie polls first… where will her partners come?
Erin: I hope she won’t be pushed to the backburner with Candice’s return, but that seems to be the case. This match showed that she can be an entertaining worker and fire up the crowd, but she’s still pretty bland as a face. Heel turn, perhaps? There are a billion and a half heels on Raw, I know, but a girl can dream, right?
Melanie: Mickie gave a great performance on Raw, one of her most enthusiastic matches in quite some time.
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06. Awesome Kong (Last Week: #6)
Kong continues to reign at #6 for the second straight week after one hell of a brawl on Impact. The monster left more than a few marks on ODB and someone better check on Roxxi, after she suffered an Awesome Bomb on a steel chair.
Erin: That’s what she’s best at – decimating. If she continues to do that week in and week out (and at this rate, she probably will), she’ll be on this list for a longgggg time. ODB might knock her down a few pegs, but I don’t see her losing her “monster” reputation for a long time, if ever.
Melanie: Kong is always a delight to watch and even if she doesn’t have a match, she always manages to make an impact.
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05. Candice Michelle (New Entry)
Candice Michelle made her comeback after a near year away, with a victory over her rival Beth Phoenix. Candice’s comeback caused furore on the Internet after it was revealed that she botched the finish of the match. However, a win is a win and Candice is our highest new entry this week.
Erin: It wasn’t the prettiest work, but it did the job. Candice is back and right into a feud with the Women’s Champion, and not just that – she one-upped her as well! You can’t get much better placement than that. Here’s hoping she’ll show better ring prowess this Monday – you can’t convincingly beat Beth without being on your A game.
Melanie: Candice made her comeback with a win to get her started and that’s why she’s our highest new entry. Like her or not, it was a good start for Candice in storyline terms.
More after the cut:
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04. ODB (Last Week: #7)
ODB moves up three spaces to this week’s #4 after a “Knockout” blow to Raisha Saeed gave her a victory this week on Impact. ODB didn’t stop there though, as she wasn’t happy until she had de-masked Saeed. Despite the victory, she soon felt the wrath of Kong…
Erin: A win’s a win, and ODB continues to show her merit, even if she can’t completely get the best of Awesome Kong. It looks like she will pretty soon, though. This push proves that she could be TNA’s second-toughest Knockout, and being behind Kong is nothing the sneeze at.
Melanie: ODB is really becoming the top face of the Knockouts division and her work in this match was great and I think her storyline with Kong is extremely watchable, I can’t wait to see this match.
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03. Kelly Kelly (Last Week: #4)
Kelly Kelly moves up one spot to this week’s #3 after winning her second straight match in a row. Kelly seems to be on a roll after her and her teammates picked up a six Diva tag victory.
Erin: She certainly wasn’t the focus of the match, but she keeps showing that she’s a more capable wrestler than I may give her credit for. If she continues down this path and gets progressively better, she may surprise everyone in being pushed to the forefront of Raw’s Women’s Division. That may happen sooner than later, I’m guessing..
Melanie: This is Kelly’s second victory in as many weeks and that affords her the opportunity to move up one spot and rightfully so.
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02. Brie (and Nicole) Bella (Last Week: #3)
Moving up one spot also is Brie (and Nicole) Bella! Brie scored another pinfall victory over Victoria on SmackDown. She’s quickly becoming must watch television in the process!
Erin: She’s managed to beat Victoria twice (even though it’s the two of them), and this unique Divas feud certainly has my attention. To be honest, whenever they can craft a decent Divas feud that’s not over a Title, I’m sold. I can’t wait to see what they do once Nicole is revealed to the world. Victoria may lose her mind. (Psh.. I wish!)
Melanie: Using the same logic as Kelly, Brie scored another win and deserves to move up. I really love that we have a secondary feud on SmackDown too.
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01. Maryse (Last Week: #1)
Holding onto her #1 spot is our French hottie, Maryse! For the second week in a row, Maryse pinned Maria and this week she got something extra special – a Divas Championship title shot! Maryse meets Michelle at Unforgiven and has a definite advantage going into that match, hot off her winning streak.
Erin: Oh, Maryse.. I would’ve never envisioned this in a million years – you in a Title match and me not complaining! We’ll see if she wins the Title right off or continues in a longer feud with Michelle. Either way, it’s certainly promising for a girl that was no where near being on my radar a year ago. She keeps improving, and I can only see her getting better.
Melanie: Maryse is on a roll. Two wins, a title shot tonight at Unforgiven… is there anyone else who deserves to be #1? I think not! Interesting that SmackDown seems to have a stranglehold on the top two spots, in my eyes this is a fair assessment of which brand is producing the superior Divas action on a weekly basis.
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Extra Analysis
Goodbye: Falling off the chart this week are Beth Phoenix (#10), Christy Hemme (#8), Natalya (#5) and the Beautiful People (#2).
New Entries: The highest new entry is Candice Michelle at #5. Mickie James (#7), Victoria (#9) and Layla (#10) are also new on the list.
So Close, Yet So Far: We only have 10 places on the Perfect 10 unfortunately. TNA Knockouts, Raisha Saeed and the Beautiful People came close to charting this week. From WWE, Maria and Beth Phoenix just missed out also.
