On this week’s RAW, we saw a Women’s Championship Lumberjack Match, the return of Trish Stratus and Katie Lea and Paul Burchill continued their handicap stint.
Thoughts & Reactions
The Women’s Championship match, when I first read about it, I thought for sure they’d made the wrong decision; they should’ve kept this match for Judgment Day. The match itself was not good. Plodding along with kicks and punches, it really wasn’t fun to watch and that is a problem I have with matches with these two Divas, their Armageddon match last year bored me to tears. It wasn’t until Melina was injected into the picture on New Year’s Eve in a triple threat match, that this feud got a little more exciting. That was a fun match. Live from London, Mickie and Beth really pulled it out of the bag, it could’ve been a really bad match a few weeks ago when Mickie won the title but it wasn’t, thankfully. I think everyone got into it because of the London crowd and the big fight feel; but this match it felt dull. Not to mention, some incredibly sloppy ring-work from Mickie James, a few of the spots in this match were really awkward to watch. I didn’t expect that from Mickie, but last night, she wasn’t on her game. All these repetetive descriptions of Beth Phoenix by the announcers is getting really boring; how many times can we hear that she’s the most dominant Diva to ever enter the WWE, she’s this, she’s that. Jim Ross, you’ve been doing the same shtick for over six months, get some new material.
As I said earlier, I felt they should have kept this match until Judgment Day but I can see why they haven’t. Even though the match was pretty dull, the ending was very well done and it brings Melina into the fold and I can’t knock that. I predict a triple threat match at Judgment Day, so hopefully that match will be better than this one – Melina is a lot of fun to watch in the ring. But there are a few possible routes WWE could go here: Could Melina turn face? After all, she cost Beth her match, I could see Beth trying to retaliate and “bully” Melina, effectively making Melina a face. This is something I would love to see and it would also balance out the women’s division in terms of good in-ring workers. Either way, I’m glad they’ve bought Melina into the fold, why waste a talent like her?
Trish Stratus’ return was a fun little cameo, as I’ve written in another post, she’s stepped back onto RAW in a 50-second segment and shown more character and personality than any of the current crop of Divas could ever hope to display.
I’m glad they’ve continued having Katie and Burchill team up, despite the horrible commentary from Mike Adamle. I mean seriously?! “She’s definitely not a pretty face!” Excuse you?! I think he meant “She’s not just a pretty face”, but that kind of shocked me. I hope Katie can join the women’s division soon or at least play a bigger role than just directing traffic for Burchill, even though she’s in the match too.
Individual Assessments
In this portion we will look at each of the Divas individually and the role they played, adding more thoughts yadda yadda:
Ashley: Ashley appeared on RAW as if nothing ever happened, which is exactly what I expected from WWE. Once more on this scandal comes to light, it shall be interesting to see if WWE continues to support her or not. And did anyone else lol at when the face lumberjacks were beating on Beth Phoenix on the outside and Ashley got knocked on her ass?!
Beth Phoenix: Beth did the best she could with what she was given and what she was given was Mickie James not on top form. I hope they go somewhere with the Beth-Melina angle.
Cherry: Nothing to say here.
Jillian: Jillian could’ve provided some comedy to this dull match, what a shame.
Katie Lea: Katie again, impressed, I think I’m just getting antsy to see her go for the Women’s title now.
Kelly Kelly: Not much to say.
Layla: Not much to say.
Maria: Seriously, there isn’t much to say about the lumberjacks which shows how ineffective they were.
Melina: I hope Melina’s actions on RAW are the start of her going for the Women’s Championship again.
Michelle: See Maria.
Mickie: Mickie delivered the slop on RAW, it wasn’t her finest hour.
Natalya: Nothing to report.
Victoria: The point of the lumberjacks was…?
Fashion Focus
The Good: wow, I can’t believe I’m writing this but Kelly looked really fantastic, I’m loving the shorts. It looked summery whereas all the other Divas are still in jeans etc. We like the summery look! Katie Lea also looked hot in red.
The Bad: Maria, by far. Just horrible. Ashley, as per usual. Cherry, lose the polka dots. Mickie needs new attire. Victoria also, far too much denim.
The In-Between: Melina and Michelle both looked okay, but not great.
