Monday night on Raw, we saw Becky Lynch and Divas Champion Charlotte on a heated segment on Miz TV get interrupted by Team Bella, leading to a Six-Diva Tag Team match with Paige walking out on her fellow PCB teammates, attacking Natalya in the process. Most notably, Team B.A.D. was nowhere to be found on RAW. So with Paige’s heel turn progressing, how will WWE turn up the heat on the blue brand? Let’s watch:
Our first Diva sighting is of Team Bella (Nikki Bella, Brie Bella and Alicia Fox) making their entrance to take on Team B.A.D. (Naomi, Tamina Snuka and Sasha Banks). Naomi and Sasha Banks have microphones in their hands.
Naomi starts off by saying a lot of dogs with “no bite” are claiming who did or did not start the Divas Revolution. Sasha Banks asks Tamina if she cares who started the Divas Revolution, which prompts Tamina to make one of the greatest stank-faces of all time. The former NXT Women’s Champion then asks the crowd if they care who started the Revolution. She goes to say that Paige can continue to cry, Charlotte and Becky can continue to cry, and the Bellas can continue to talk about the “stupid” reign that they had. Sasha concludes her promo by proclaiming that it won’t matter what any of them say because Team B.A.D. will end the Divas Revolution.
As Team B.A.D. enters the ring, Team Bella huddles up to talk strategy. After about thirty seconds, this match is underway.
We kick things off with Brie Bella and Sasha Banks who have a war of words which leads to a shoving contest and ends with Brie slapping “The Boss”. Sasha looks taken aback by the slap and rebounds with a takedown on Brie with some punches. She follows it up with a slap of her own and throws Brie’s face into the turnbuckle. She tries it again but Brie blocks and smashes Sasha’s face. Sasha tries going for a kick but Brie catches the leg and throws Sasha into the mat.
Mrs. American Dragon channels her husbands iconic combination side kicks to the chest and goes for the final kick to the head but Sasha ducks down and counters with a schoolboy for just a two-count. Sasha whips Brie into her team’s corner of the ring and tags in Naomi while getting some kicks in of her own. She holds Brie’s legs up as Naomi hits their leapfrog-hip press- alley oop combination move (yeah they need to name that sooner rather than later). Naomi goes for the cover but only gets one. Naomi goes for a slam but Brie slithers away kicking Naomi in the lower back. Brie nails her with a series of forearms and has a headlocks as she gets to her team’s corner and tags in Alicia Fox.
Brie and Foxy whip Naomi for a clothesline but she ducks twice, Tamina hits one of the best blind tags I’ve ever seen and comes in with a huge double clothesline on the unsuspecting members of Team Bella. Tamina goes for a Samoan Drops but Foxy fights her way out and falls back in her corner where Nikki Bella tags in.
The two powerhouses of each team lock-up and Nikki gets the better of it with a headlock. She gets pushed to the ropes and tries to shoulder tackle Tamina but has no luck. She goes for it again. No luck. Tamina looks amused. Nikki fakes going a third attempt and then forearms Tamina which actually gets her off her feet. Nikki seems pleased with herself and flexes her “guns”. Tamina looks seriously P.O.’ed and goes for a clothesline. Nikki ducks but is derailed by a shoulder tackle.
Tamina follows up with her signature Samoan Drop and goes to the corner for the are we still calling it the Superfly splash. Team Bella is on the defense as Brie and Foxy drag Nikki out of the ring and immediately pay for their sins as Naomi and Sasha hit stereo baseball slide dropkicks. Team B.A.D. is fully in control at the moment as we head to commercial.
Following the commercial break, Naomi has Nikki in a headlock as the former champ yells for her sister’s assistance. Naomi whips Nikki to the ropes and goes for the Rear View but Nikki hold on to the ropes. She guns for Nikki and gets thrown over the ropes and her feet land on the apron. Nikki goes for a forearm and Naomi headbutts her through the ropes. The other members of Team Bella try to pull her off the apron but she counters with kicks. Naomi goes for some kind of springboard move and Nikki reverses with a forearm. Nikki continues her attack with some stomps on Naomi but the referee pulls her off. Nikki argues with and the other members of Team Bella pull Naomi out of the ring.
The Fearless One throws Naomi in the ring, she goes for a cover and only gets two. She throws Naomi into her corner and only tags in Alicia Fox, who hits a double sledge of the second rope. She then places Naomi in a headlock which turns into a bow and arrow. Naomi fights out but before she can break free, Fox whips her into the ropes and goes for her patented tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Naomi counters mid-air. The two then hit each other with clothesline and we are currently at stand still in the match.
The ref starts the count as both teams rally behind the women in the ring to make the much-needed tag. Foxy tags in Nikki who sprints to punch Tamina and Sasha before Naomi can make the tag. Sasha gets back to the ring quickly and Naomi tags her in and The Legit Boss goes to town on Nikki with some strikes. Nikki winds up in the corner as Sasha hits her knees to Nikki. She goes for a second attempt but Nikki kicks her stalling The Boss. Nikki takes her down and pins her, put Sasha kicks out at one. Sasha whips Nikki into the rope and runs to strike but Nikki counters with an elbow. Nikki climbs the rope to hit her signature enziguri but Sasha stops her and hangs her up on the second rope to deliver a very sharp knee drop. She goes for the cover and as soon as the ref counts to three, Foxy dives in to make the save.
Naomi slides in the ring to take out Alicia but gets hit with a monster-sized big boot. Tamina slides in to hit her Superkick and eliminates Foxy. Brie comes in to throw Tamina out of the ring and Sasha makes her pay by throwing her out as well. With her back turned to Nikki, she gets nailed by the forearm Nikki has made a weapon over the past year. Nikki sets Sasha up for the Rack Attack but before she can hit it, Tamina rushes in to Superkick Nikki. Nikki counters by throwing Tamina out the ring. But behind Nikki is Sasha who hits the Bank Statement to get the submission victory for Team B.A.D.
Our next helping of Divas was when JoJo interviewed Becky Lynch and the new Divas Champion Charlotte:
Before she starts the questions, JoJo shows the clip of the events that happened on RAW earlier this week. JoJo asks them about the issues with Paige getting worse, if PCB can get back in sync. Charlotte answers saying that PCB was on top of the division and all of a sudden Paige goes on “spoiled brat campaign”. Becky chimes in and says she’s confused and annoyed by Paige and she needs to decide what she wants to do and then we are joined by the topic of conversation, Paige.
Paige looks amused and asks Becky to go on with her advice. Becky and Paige get to arguing and Charlotte steps in. The Champion tells Paige she is either with PCB or against them. Paige asks her if that was an ultimatum and Charlotte responds by saying they had no other choice. The C and B portions of PCB leave and as Paige leaves we see she is confronted by Natalya who looks like has had it up to here with The Diva of Tomorrow. She tells Paige that if she ever disrespects her the way she did on RAW she will sorry she ever met her to end this segment.
Thoughts: As much as the tag team matches have felt like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz, I really enjoyed this match. In fact, these Divas made history. I am pretty sure this is the first ever heel vs. heel Six Diva Tag Team match in WWE history. I liked that Team B.A.D. got to have some mic time before the match when they could have easily gotten a jobber entrance, or worse, a backstage pre-tape. It makes up for their absence on RAW. This has a old school feel from the NWA in the 80’s. I liked a lot of the small things they did in this match. The breaking up of pins, the pulling people out of the ring, and the number of tags really helped this match. This match more so than so many others in recent memory didn’t: it emphasized on teamwork. It took each member of Team B.A.D. to win that match. Tamina’s assist was a very good setup for the finish. Also, the finish of Brie trying so hard to get in the ring to save Nikki but ultimately getting pulled out of the ring was a nice touch. This match, moreso than the SummerSlam match was truly about the teams than individual. My only wonder is: how does this push the story forward? Will Team B.A.D. continue to beat the other teams to prove their relevancy? Will Team Bella start showing cracks as well? Will we get a side feud heading into Hell in a Cell?
Regarding the PCB/Natalya segment, I liked it a lot. As you will see, I am a huge, HUGE Natalya fan. And can we all admit her addition into this storyline has been a MAJOR breath of fresh air. Everything she is involved with feels so new. New matches, promos and material to work with. Charlotte and Becky did a good job responding to Paige’s actions from RAW but I kinda want Charlotte to display more aggression/anger it can come across sometimes as she makes no reaction. Paige fits a heel so much better than face. And with no disrespect intended, after watching Total Divas and Tough Enough, Paige is totally comfortable playing this role since it is a lot like herself. I love her passive-aggressive demeanor, especially with Becky. Speaking of Becky, I don’t know if it is intentional or not but she always finds a way to crack me up when she’s on the mic. She is funny without becoming a joke of a character.
Lastly, I have baited breath, but I like this direction of Nattie as the measuring stick of the Divas Division. She is the top workhorse and has the universal respect from the fans. The same way NXT made Charlotte “the one to beat” I hope they will do with Nattie. This way, Nattie can have great matches and put over many women in the process. I may be dreaming, but I’d love Nattie to have a final run with the title (it’s only been five years). Okay, maybe I’m dreaming, but a series of matches with Charlotte would be fine with me as well. Getting bak on topic, Natalya having these confrontations with Paige looks like they are setting up a match between these two (perhaps at Hell in a Cell alongside Nikki’s rematch) and working with Nattie, the veteran will help Paige get more heat so the inevitable match with Charlotte has more fan investment. In sum, SmackDown provided decent entertainment with that tag match and did push the storyline with PCB and Nattie forward.
Before I end my first article, I’d like to thank Erin for giving me this opportunity to write for Diva Dirt. I have been a loyal reader and listener since 2009. (I can give you one liners from Diva Soup to The Untitled Allison Danger Show to The Roundtables to the iconic Chyna/Nicole segments on Diva Dirt Weekly) And I have always wanted to give back to the site that has given me so much entertainment throughout the years. Hopefully, you guys will love my sense of humor as I start using a gazillion references and my unique point of view. Thank you for reading my first Redux!
Until next time!
