This week on RAW: Beth Phoenix had a rough night, being worked over by both Mickie James and Melina. Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and Jillian and Maria managed to make random appearances too.
Thoughts & Reactions
It was a well rounded night for the women’s division on RAW, this week. Not too much went down but just enough to pass us into next week. There was storyline development in the Beth-Melina feud, with Melina coming out to an amazing pop when she attacked Beth. Prior to this, we had a decent match between Mickie and Beth, I have to say I don’t enjoy their singles matches and this was simply more of the same. This was an anti-climax compared to Beth vs Melina at One Night Stand, I guess some Divas work better with some and not others. The match as a whole, was fine, there wasn’t too much sloppy ring-work but like I say, it lacked the flare and intensity of the Beth/Melina match and I think we have seen this match far too many times also. However, what the fuck was up with Mickie beating Beth cleanly?! How does this help anything?! I think this was the wrong match to do and especially the end was weak. So Melina can’t beat her in an aggressive “I Quit” match and Mickie gets an upset with a fucking Thesz press?
The highlight of the night was Melina coming out and attacking Beth, which got one of the best crowd reactions I’ve heard for a Diva in a long while. The way that the fans have taken to Melina’s character and this feud has really astounded me, it really has been great television. I really loved the spot Melina used, with the hair drag smash from the top rope – it really seemed to do a number on Beth and in my eyes, it was a more believable spot than some of the stuff Beth has to job to from Mickie’s arsenal, afterall Beth is the Glamazon. However, after the spot I do feel Beth should have sold it for longer, she seemed to get up almost immediately – she should have been taken out for a few moments, to show the effects of Melina’s attack, that here is a Diva that is on the verge of taking out Beth Phoenix.
As for the other Divas, Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and what I like about this is that Katie isn’t just a manager, she’s just as involved as the guys. I really think this is Burchill’s big break and from here he could go onto the Intercontinental Championship or something, this is also good news for Katie as it keeps her relevant and on television. We had random spots from Maria and Jillian, as part of the Million Dollar Mania. I don’t think it requires too much analysis, it was what it was.
Individual Assessments
In this portion we will look at each of the Divas individually and the role they played, adding more thoughts yadda yadda:
Beth Phoenix: Beth lacked the flare and intensity we’ve seen in her in recent weeks with the Melina feud. But once Melina hit the ring, it was all on the up.
Jillian: Not much to say.
Katie Lea: Katie had a good week again, the Twisted Sister and her brother are showing signs of a big push on RAW.
Maria: Jackie Gayda is watching you with narrowed eyes.
Melina: Melina again injected some much needed stimulation into the women’s match on RAW. A lot of fun, great spot and good development of storyline.
Mickie James: There’s something about Mickie… She seems to water down things. The match with Beth was forgettable, Mickie is just not as interesting as she once was.
Fashion Focus
The Good: Maria looked pretty good. And we got a good look at Lilian this week, she too looked good.
The Bad: Mickie.
The In-Between: Beth, Melina and Jillian.
Photos
Below, are digitals of the Divas match from RAW. Copyright to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
Video
Watch Beth vs. Mickie via YouTube below:
