Every hour until the clock strikes midnight (Eastern time) and we usher in 2016, Diva Dirt will highlight – in no particular order – the women who made an impact in 2015.
Summer Rae
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade… and drink it out of a giant, plastic cocktail glass.
At least, that’s what Summer Rae did this year. After her storyline with Rusev, Lana and Dolph Ziggler went up in smoke, Summer simply moved on, aligning herself with new main roster call-up, Prince Pretty Tyler Breeze. She leaves behind a 2015 full of excitement – the good kind and the bad kind.
Summer started the year losing her SLAYers partner Layla, who was sidelined with an injury. It would still be a successful spring for Summer, though, as she became the first woman to star in a WWE Studios movie with the release of The Marine 4 in April. With that came a short-lived alliance with The Miz. Apparently, two movie star egos don’t make for a happy couple.
Love seemed to finally come Summer’s way in June, when she spotted an opportunity after Lana split from Rusev, citing his control freak personality and blatant lack of respect for her. Summer apparently had no issues with those character flaws, because she hopped right in the spot Lana left vacant. She wasn’t afraid to go all-in, either, straight up Single White Female-ing Lana in an effort to seduce Rusev.
This soon exploded into a full-on feud between the Divas, but unfortunately, it never amounted to more than insults and catfights, as Lana’s sudden injury took her off television and dashed any hopes the two had of competing in the ring together. With Lana gone, Summer again took her place, performing double duty in the Rusev/Dolph feud. Her loyalty to Rusev was soon put into question, so she made a bid at locking him down for good, proposing to him in the middle of the ring. Rusev agreed to marry her – as soon as she managed him to championship gold.
Summer would never get the chance to make good on that, as a real life engagement – that between Lana and Rusev – made headlines and forced the WWE to scrap the feud altogether, returning Lana to Rusev’s side on television. This left Summer once more without a partner, so, ever resourceful, she looked to the newest WWE Superstar, Tyler Breeze.
The two would align during his main roster debut, and gelled quickly, their shared affinity for bright colors, furry accessories, ringside refreshments and selfies giving them a better shot at longevity than any of Summer’s alliances thus far. Unfortunately, after recent (like, very recent) developments, it looks like Summer’s on her own once more.
Perhaps, if Summer makes a New Year’s resolution to develop more long-term relationships, her 2016 will be more consistent than her 2015. Let’s hope so, because this Diva sure deserves it.
This concludes our tribute to the 2015 Women of the Year. Here’s to an even better 2016!
