If I would have written this Redux last night when everything was fresh in my head and my emotions were going crazy, it would have slayed. It would have been full of one-liners, a ton of a shade, and a lot of exclamation points. Instead, I took a step back and decided to process the entire situation. What happened on Raw last night was something incredibly rare and incredibly special. It was the type of moment that we, as wrestling fans, hope for and live for. We had a basic match that resulted in a nice win for Brie Bella, and ended with a beautiful little twist that had fans drawing a line in the sand. After last night, you were basically forced to a pick a side. The Divas Champion, AJ Lee, left you with absolutely no choice. To say she threw down last night would be a gross understatement. She threw down and absolutely spit on everything that Brie, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Eva Marie, and JoJo stand for and have worked for.
Immediately after the commercial break, the cast of Total Divas took to their Twitters to defend themselves against AJ’s harsh words and accusations. Nikki and Brie had this to say, “AJ, remember you would be nothing if WWE didn’t partner you up with every top guy. Try being a Diva that makes it on your own.” They also threw in the Raw hashtag. It also didn’t stop there. “Also, bringing up my Dad, AJ will be something you will regret. By the way, how are your parents like? Oh wait, we hear you sob about it all the time. Lastly, for the jealous one, AJ try defending your title and know we all have had a tough road to get here. Don’t forget the bad things you did to be here.” Obviously, I made the necessary grammar corrections and took out the abbreviations, because I’m OCD. But, you get the point. Moving on, JoJo (who did a pretty good job with ring announcing last night) threw this at AJ. “That father comment to Nikki and Brie hit home for me, AJ. That was unnecessary. And I work hard EVERYDAY. If you were given this opportunity, you wouldn’t have turned it down. AJ of all people should know that dynamite comes in small packages. You just watch.”
The rest of the girls weren’t so quiet either. Perhaps the most athletically gifted of the Total Divas, Naomi, turned AJ’s comments into a future challenge for the championship. Tweeting directly to AJ, Naomi said that AJ was officially “…. crazy as hell,” and that she “… couldn’t wait to show her how a real athlete represents the diva’s championship.” Throwing in a personal comment, I would LOVE to see that match for the championship. Queen Cameron obviously took a different route with her retort. “AJ, you have ‘it’ all because how many of the top guys have you been with? Oh and by the way, remember this boo, only way from top is bottom!” Cameron also tweeted directly to AJ saying, “I may not be a top girl but at least I can go to bed at night knowing I have a clean conscience.” Of course, Cameron being Cameron, added her trademark “gurl bye” to the end, which made me giggle. Lastly, Eva Marie weighed in. “Lets see AJ, would you have said no to this opportunity I was given? I don’t think so. I’m super grateful and work hard everyday to be here!”
Okay, so what in the hell happened on Raw last night to evoke that kind of response and emotion from the cast of Total Divas? Lets take a look!
The rematch between Brie and Nattie was basic, to say the least. I think it definitely paled in comparison to their SummerSlam match, but it was also given a lot less time. It was nice to see Eva distract the referee, so Nikki could rush to Brie’s aid. I also love the feisty Funkadactyls jumping to Natalya’s defense. In the end, Brie got a pretty good win but the aftermath basically writes off anything that happened.
AJ’s “pipebombshell” so to speak was bitter. It was snarky. It was full of mockery. It was full of jealous. It took personal shots that were uncalled for. It gave you flashbacks to the Summer of Punk when he dropped his own pipebombs on the company.
SideNote: Thank you, Punk, for coining the term “pipebombshell.” I LOVE it.
What AJ did last night was start a war with her fellow Divas and the fans alike. Twitter blew up in response to the amazing promo delivered by the champion, not that her microphone skills were ever in doubt. To be honest, I can’t say that I was a fan of it because I’m not meant to be. I think she was downright awful and I hated her for what she said. She did her job last night, in that respect, because as a fan, we are supposed to have emotional reactions to what our favorites say and do. AJ attacked my favorites, actually hitting below the belt, and it was downright awful. I think she went way to far, and I love that I had this reaction to someone I actually truly enjoy as a performer and wrestler.
When I look at AJ, I see myself. She could be anyone that is reading this right now. To be honest, I even shop at Hot Topic every now and then. She’s natural, she’s humble, and she’s very down to Earth and appreciative. When I look at the cast of Total Divas, I see women that I want to be. I want the designer clothes, the gorgeous boyfriends, and the “ridiculous” $4000 designer shoes. EVERY WOMAN and queen should own a pair of Louboutins at least one in her lifetime.
The differences between these women are night and day, but they have so much in common. All of them have taken a difficult road to get to where they are. It doesn’t matter if some were handed their chance or if some had to work their butts off for their chance. The fact remains is that since getting to the WWE ALL OF THEM have had or are currently earning their stripes. They are all paying their dues. AJ does have to sit back and watch these girls gain fame and fortune thanks to a reality show that ended up being a huge hit. The models turned wrestlers have to deal with constant hate from fans and their peers for every little thing they do regardless of how hard they try. The Diva Dirt staff are equally passionate about what we saw last night. Some of us find AJ to be a personal inspiration and want her to be the face of the Diva’s division for a long time to come. Some of us want to see AJ hold the championship forever and be the best Diva’s Champion the WWE has ever had, even surpassing Trish Stratus. Some of us sympathize with the cast of Total Divas. We appreciate the fact that models turned wrestlers have paid their dues, taken their bumps, and come a long way to get where they are. We’ve loved the title reigns of Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres, just to name a couple. We also find a lot of flaws in AJ’s argument thanks to the fact Natalya and both Bella twins have held the championship.
When it came to last night, Natalya held her head high and showed the kind of class we expect her to show. She quoted her grandfather, the legendary Stu Hart; “Never interfere with your enemies when they are in the process of DESTROYING themselves.” She also added a little bit directed at AJ, “Champ, sometimes it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool rather than speaking up and removing all doubt.” In reply to a fan, Nattie said this: “No one talks about my family with such disrespect and gets away with it. I know what it’s like to live and breath this.”
Last night, AJ was disrespectful to her co-workers and her fans will argue that she has every right to be. We all wanted to know why she wasn’t on Total Divas to start with. What all of this is going to lead too, I really don’t know. To be honest, I don’t even care. What matters is that for the first time in a long, long time I hung on every single word that someone was speaking. I held my breath waiting for the reactions of the people who got attacked. I screamed, laughed, hollered, and enjoyed the Twitter responses from the Divas, fans, and wrestling community. I felt downright PROUD to be invested in these women, this era, and this division. Nothing anyone could say or do could take that away from me and this is what wrestling is all about. Can I sit here and point out the flaws? Yes. Do I want too? No. For once, I want to sit back and just absorb everything that is happening because this is the greatest the Diva’s division has ever been.
Oh, and Rosa Mendes made her triumphant return to Raw last night, throwing shade at our dancing queen Summer Rae. Did I forget to mention that?
Last night basically wrote itself. Nothing I could have written today would have done it justice because everything about last night was brilliant.
Until next time… Cryssi out!
By the way, Steven also weighed in with his opinion but wanted me to check Twitter for his reply. Like seriously, who does he think he is??
