You’re all familiar with the good, the bad, and the ugly, right? That could probably sum up Raw last night so I’m bringing the format back and it’s probably going to stay. This week on Raw we were given a backstage segment featuring Brie and Nikki Bella, as well as Eve Torres, and a tag team match that saw Eve team with Divas Champion, Kelly Kelly, to face the duo of Melina and the sexiest of the sexy, Maryse. Lets take a look at how things broke down:
The Good: The good part of the night had nothing to do with the match, or the segment, for that matter. Unfortunately, they make up the bad and ugly of this week but nonetheless… The ‘E went ahead and announced a number one contender battle royal for next week’s Raw. It will be comprised of both Raw and SmackDown girls and the winner will go on to face Kelly for the championship at SummerSlam. This is good because it lets us known right away that there will be a Diva match at the biggest party of the summer. It tells us that the Divas won’t have to sit SummerSlam out and it gives us something to look forward to. But another thing that’s really good about this whole battle royal for next week is that it will give us some direction when it comes to the championship. The girls on SmackDown are all but forgotten and I think it would benefit them more to have a number one contender than it would Raw. SmackDown girls can’t even get on the main show these days (which is good or bad, depending on how you look at it), and having one of them fight for the title could inject some life into their show.
But which Diva?
If we go the SmackDown route, I’d like to see Alicia take it. She’s sassy and feisty, and I think she would match K2 well in the ring and in terms of personality. I’d also have another Alicia and Natalya match, with Nattie challenging Alicia for her number one contender’s spot. I love their work together and perhaps that’s just a selfish little reason for me to want to see them do battle for a third time. And yes, I’d have the match on Superstars just so it could have the proper time and have a fun story to go with it.
If we go the Raw route, I’d probably go with Maryse. The shenanigans between the NXT hostess and the champ were one of the few bright spots of the night in terms of the match and I think they could have a nice, comedy feud. I’m not usually a fan of comedy but Maryse is that type of heel who also has a mean streak so she could also do well with Kelly in my humble opinion.
The Bad: The match itself was pretty bad sans the few bright spots. Unfortunately, those were few and far between. You guys can take a look for yourselves and be the judge.
Right off the bat it’s obvious that Maryse and Eve don’t have chemistry. Their timing was way off to the point where it can’t even be looked at as a mistake. Maryse doesn’t mesh well with everyone in the ring, and neither does Eve. Putting them together to start things off was probably a mistake. I personally think that having Melina and Eve, or Maryse and Kelly begin would have been better but that’s not the route the match took. Kelly and Melina didn’t fare so well this week. The finish of the match was sloppy but I loved the bump Melina took towards the end. She bounced off those ropes hard and landed even harder. It set up the finish very well, and Kelly is being booked as a strong champion. That aside, all four of these ladies are better than what they showed tonight. Hopefully next week will be smooth sailing because this week was anything but!
The Ugly: I think we can all guess what’s going to go here. The backstage segment with Eve and the Bellas was about as ugly as ugly can get. Not only was some of the acting bad (looking at you, Eve, when you held Brie back), but it made Nikki look pretty bad. Maybe it’s my Bella bias talking or the fact I loathe the regular Keith Stone commercials in general, but it’s my opinion. Now, you can make up your own.
I get that it’s a parody of the regular Keystone commercials but why do we have to use the Divas? It certainly didn’t help them in any way and it made Nikki look crazy when she asked, “How do I get if off?” I know that I’m probably over-thinking something that was innocent and seemingly harmless, but it wasn’t. The time used for that backstage skit could have been added to the tag match. Or better yet, could have been used later on in the show to give Kelly some promo time talking about how she’s looking forward to finding out who her next challenger will be next week. Keystone can be your sponsor, just run their commercials during your show. Don’t put Keith Stone in a backstage segment because he just isn’t that smooth!
That’s my two cents for this week. Whether you agree or disagree, sound off in the comments section. Until next week… Cryssi out!
