This week on SmackDown: On the big premiere on MyNetwork TV, the Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix upstaged SmackDown’s own, Michelle McCool in a battle of the champions. Meanwhile, the rest of the WWE Divas observed from ringside as lumberjacks.
Thoughts & Reactions
As expected, the Glamazon picked up a victory over the Divas Champion. I’m in two minds about this: On one hand, it’s far more believable to have Beth go over Michelle but on the other hand, what good does it do in the long run for Michelle? SmackDown is her brand, after all and not Beth’s. I think SmackDown’s creative team did a good job in solving that problem and thus, I have no issue with Beth going over. As I wrote, it was to be expected and I think it was the right finish. Yes, SmackDown is Michelle’s show and while Beth gets to go back to Raw, Michelle must carry on in front of the MyNet audience having lost on the first night – I think the writing was strong enough in that we had an interference from Michelle’s rival, Maryse to blame for her loss. Nice set up to continue this feud and introduce it to the MyNet audience.
As for the match itself, I wasn’t sold one bit. I was really looking forward to this match, but I just felt the work was awkward and these two didn’t have any real chemistry. I love both Divas, but Michelle in particular let me down on SmackDown. I just felt she was awkward in the ring, wholly unexciting and frankly, I expected more from her. She seemed to veer towards kicks, arm locks… blah blah. None of the exciting, fast paced action we’re used to seeing from the Divas Champion. Honestly, I felt the match was sloppy. The finish was pretty strong however, not exactly making up for the poor match, but it was a good finish. The Glam Slam looked pretty sick and was an effective end to the match.
Let us not forgot the Divas on the outside of the ring! Oh the poor, unexpecting MyNet audience! I don’t know why the WWE Divas insist on looking like hookers, honestly, when they came out it looked like a hooker parade. I just wish these girls would dress decently, because it’s all their own doing honestly. It was almost as though the Divas who are less ‘slutty’ tried to slut it up to hang in there with the ‘models’, Jesus, Natalya looked like she couldn’t even walk in those stupid heels. Did they get the wrong memo? They dressed as if they were hitting up a night club (or a street corner), not dressed to act as lumberjacks for a women’s wrestling match. I think Layla is the only one who looked decent. As for the lumberjack brawl lol, all I really recall is loads of bad weaves flashing across the screen. Oh and I’m pretty certain I saw someone’s shoe come off! And apparently Lena‘s a heel… Who cares?
A lot of people brought up the fact that this match did nothing to put over Candice vs Beth and was more about Maryse vs Michelle. Actually, I’m all for it. This is SmackDown not Raw, I liked that the focus was on SmackDown’s Divas feud and building up that for the coming weeks. Sure, Candice and Beth have a Women’s Championship match at No Mercy, but it’s not their show and if Raw’s shitty creative team cannot fundamentally provide some decent booking for this ‘feud’, why should SmackDown’s writers put it over? I felt the glances from Candice to Beth after the match were sufficient. I’m excited to see where Maryse vs Michelle goes next, Maryse really is proving to be a big ole thorn in Michelle’s side and there’s so many ways they can go with this!
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: Nice win for Beth.
Michelle McCool: Though Michelle lost, they did multi-task and build up her feud with Maryse.
Lumberjacks: I don’t really see the effectiveness of the lumberjacks in hindsight, except for embarassing themselves by looking awful. I liked Maryse’s role though.
Fashion Focus
The Good: I thought Candice’s dress was flattering on her, Layla looked good, Maria looked decent if ‘safe’.
The Bad: Jillian and Natalya looked equally awful. What was up with Brie’s outfit? I know she was trying to go for the latina look but no. Victoria.
The In-Between: Everyone else.
