Tonight at TLC, Natalya will take on Divas Champion AJ Lee with the title on the line. Will AJ’s near-record reign come to an end tonight? The Diva Dirt team weighs in:
Bobby: To start, I’m very excited for this match because I can’t wait to see Natalya finally get another pay per view shot at the title. She and AJ’s last bout on Main Event was one of my favorite showings in some time and I hope they can continue to not only deliver that level, but exceed it. The only problem I have with Natalya winning is that I’m not sure what she could do afterwards considering the face side is so stacked and the heel is not so much. She’d probably get a month long feud to rematch AJ, but then who? Summer Rae and Eva Marie are still new to the main roster division, but to their benefit, they haven’t been continuously weighed down with countless losses like Rosa Mendes or Aksana so they could be possibilities down the road (although personally I think Summer is ready now if she isn’t bogged down by comedy routines and could adapt to her NXT persona). Alicia Fox is a wildcard in that I’d find her believable in the top spot even though she has sort of fallen down the totem pole a bit so there could always be that if WWE wanted to go for it. Then you have Tamina as basically the only other viable challenger although I prefer her in a secondary role to AJ more than a top spot for now. Of course, I’d always love to see Kaitlyn turn heel, or maybe even Natalya herself turn heel as I think both could shine more in that role. Anyways! I’m going to say AJ Lee retains here only because I just don’t know where they can go with Natalya as champion unless someone turns or debuts and WWE never seems to want to go that route, especially this late in the year. I do think Nattie will be the one to dethrone AJ, but something just tells me it will be next month when they start fresh for the new year and can plan ahead.
Chris: Aah, the match I’ve been wanting to see on PPV for a long time. Natalya has had AJ Lee and Tamina’s number over the past couple of weeks, but I think AJ Lee will be able to best the battle tested veteran from Calgary and be that much closer to becoming the longest reigning Divas Champion ever.
Eleri: I’m going with Natalya. The Divas division needs a shake up once again and, personally, I think AJ’s run has become dry. Natalya would be fresh and a welcome change, and she deserves it. So yeah. Natalya for me.
Erin: Unless they have some brilliant storyline in the works, I don’t think the WWE has any plans to have AJ drop the title before she hits that milestone. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if she held it all the way to WrestleMania. As much as I think Natalya deserves the title, they haven’t built her up nearly enough to head up the division. To me, this just looks like another stop on the road for AJ. AJ Lee retains.
Jack: This may be an unpopular decision but I am incredibly bored of AJ Lee’s title run. Most of it is to do with the lackluster build for every feud AJ been in and WWE’s insistence on ruining the cast of Total Divas by having them all be faces gunning for the title. Another is because WWE haven’t done anything drastic or fresh with AJ Lee’s character in ages and I’m desperate to see her do something psychotic. Maybe dropping the belt could lead to a new ruthless AJ? However, I also can’t just blame WWE. AJ’s in-ring work was been so bland recently and I’ve not been impressed if I’m totally honest. I also keep asking myself, if WWE were to keep the belt on AJ, what would be next? In terms of Total Diva challengers, we’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt, accidentally shrunk the t-shirt in the laundry and then we’ve thrown it in the bin. Natalya as champion is a long time coming and would be a refreshing change of pace. Natalya for the win!
Katelyn: I keep doing for WWE to do the obvious thing and provide Total Divas with a storyline that revolves around the Divas Championship. They still haven’t done it yet though, and every time I pick against AJ Lee I look foolish. So even though she is treading water as champion (and is now apparently in HOT water with management), I’m still going with AJ Lee. I think she’s going to break the record for longest reigning Divas Champion ever and drop it after that.
Steven: It seems that every time there is a Divas Championship match, I always predict a title change and it NEVER happens. Like ever… You would think I would have learned my lesson by now, right? Wrong. I’m putting my money on Natalya winning the title from AJ Lee tonight at TLC. Honestly it has been a long time coming and with the season finale of Total Divas tonight as well, it would be a great time for a cast member to win and give E! some good material for season two.
BREAKDOWN: 4 for AJ, 3 for Natalya.
Who do you agree with? Who is just dead wrong?
Note: We’re keeping a record of our Pay-Per-View predictions. Check out Team Diva Dirt’s PPV Prediction Scoreboard after the match to see who’s in the lead!
