Which Diva will wake up tomorrow on the better end of tonight’s One Night Stand? Beth Phoenix or Melina? Diva Dirt bloggers, Erin and Melanie look at tonight’s pay per view in our new monthly prediction posts! Each month, we will look at the featured Divas contest and break it down: What we would like to see happen, what we think will happen and the aftermath of the match in the future. This month, we look at the “I Quit” match between Beth and Melina:
What We Want To See Happen
Erin: Personally, I’d love for Melina to win. That’s probably obvious, as I’m a big Melina fan, but I also think that she needs to win this match to solidify her toughness – she’s played “jobber” for a few months now – and Beth is clearly fine in that department. If she were to lose this match, it could possibly demote her back to the “lower tier” status and prevent her from posing a serious threat as a contnder to the title, and I really believe she deserves better than that. If she wins, it doesn’t necessarily squash Beth – she can win in a crafty way that doesn’t make Beth weak. In my mind, it’s simple – the best feud opportunity right now could be Mickie, Melina, and Beth feuding over the title. If Melina is defeated easily by Beth tonight, that opportunity could be squashed, along with Melina. To keep her in the game and up on Mickie and Beth’s competitive level, I feel that she needs that big win tonight. Especially, if she’s turning face or tweener or whatever, it’s essential to not make her look weak now that she’s making a significant character change. Those two paired together could be enough to make her forgettable to many fans, I’d say. It’s been done before, and it can happen again – I just hope it won’t.
Melanie: To be honest, I’m not really too fussed about the outcome here. What I really want to see happen is that this be a fun, exciting and meaningful match-up. I think this could go either way: It could either be just another filler Diva match between two big match-ups or it could really be the defining Diva match of the year. It could really mean something for the future of the women’s division. For that to happen, it will need time – more than five minutes, which is the going rate for the Divas these days. This match shouldn’t just be part of the undercard, it should really have depth to it. I have no doubt that both these Divas will work incredibly hard, but if WWE doesn’t meet them half way by giving them time to execute this match properly it could turn out really bad. I think many fans are sceptical of that. I’d like a really physical match-up, with both Divas being made to look strong. I’d love for Melina to come across as not backing down, despite taking a pummelling from Beth. I do think Beth should win here, since there’s no way she can quit without ruining her character. But I want a good match more than anything else.
What We Think Will Happen
Erin: If I were a betting woman, I’d bet on Beth to win. It’s simple, with the “I Quit” match and all, that Beth could dominate and win. The WWE looks to be pushing her for the title, and I can see them extending her dominant streak and possibly (but hopefully not) use Melina as her speedbump on the road to Title Town. Melina could make a valiant effort and thus prevent herself from being tossed aside, but I feel that Beth has the best chance of winning. Perhaps Melina will reluctantly utter “I Quit”, but manage to not look weak. I’d be happy with that. I just don’t see Beth willingly giving up unless it’s under extreme circumstances. That actually sounds pretty cool, but this is the WWE we’re talking about, and they usually go the obvious route, so that’s the route I’m taking with my prediciton.
Melanie: As said above, I fully think should Beth should and expect Beth to win. There’s no way you could have her quit without damaging her Glamazon character. In all reality, with top matches on the card I don’t think this match will get a lot of time, which is a huge shame and I hope WWE will prove me wrong. They’ve put on some great Diva matches on pay per view lately and I really hope they’ll follow through. This feud has been really intriguing and it’ll be interesting to see if it ends tonight or not. My gut tells me, it will end here with Beth facing Mickie at Night of Champions.
Aftermath
Erin:I think if Beth wins, she moves on and faces Mickie in a Title feud. It seems logical that Melina may factor in, but I think it would most likely be Beth & Mickie as the focus. However, if Melina manages to win, this feud could turn into a real triple threat, with the heel (Beth), the face (Mickie) and the tweener (Melina), fighting each other all at once. Personally, I’d prefer the second option, as there’s more creative opportunities and variations with a triple threat feud, rather than the standard 1-one-1 Title feud fare we’ve seen over and over. Bottom line, the next Women’s Title feud is determined by who wins this match.
Melanie: Given the next pay per view is Night of Champions, the winner will no doubt face Mickie at that event. My gut tells me it will be Beth vs Mickie, even though we’ve seen it one to many times. Hopefully they pull off something in this match or tomorrow night on RAW to keep that momentum going, having Melina in the picture is the only way that this feud is interesting. Beth vs Mickie on it’s own is bland. I really liked an idea I read online today, Mickie gets involved in this match – throwing in the towel for Melina, who’s passed out from the punishment. Then we have a scenario where Melina’s pissed with Mickie, pissed with Beth and the feud develops. Like Erin said, having Melina as a tweener rather than a full-on face (for now anyway) would be good.
In any event, we’ll see how One Night Stand plays out tonight on pay per view. Be sure to check it out! We will have our monthly “Systematic Breakdown” live tomorrow on Diva Dirt!
