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.
Team PCB (Paige, Charlotte & Becky Lynch)
Three very different women brought together for a short amount of time, but somehow still tied together in our minds.
Why are Becky, Charlotte and Paige grouped together despite each having standout years on their own, you ask? Well, despite the obvious (that we wanted to save space and highlight more women on the list), there is a lot to compare and contrast with these three Divas when reviewing their years.
Charlotte started the year much like how she’s ending it: as champion. When clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, she was over 200 days into her NXT Women’s Championship reign. She wasn’t destined to surpass Paige’s reign length, but she still managed to end hers with a bang, dropping the title in a spectacular Fatal Four-Way match at NXT TakeOver: Rival. Come summer, she was on the main roster, and there was no doubt that of the three NXT Divas making the leap, she was getting the big push.
At Night of Champions, just two months after joining the main roster, Charlotte won the Divas Title, putting an end to Nikki Bella’s record-length reign in feel-good fashion. After fending off Nikki in a rematch, Charlotte turned her attention to her Team PCB sister Paige, who rebelled upon seeing Charlotte grab up the glory. As it turned out, their alliance couldn’t survive good old fashioned jealousy, and soon Charlotte was defending the title against her former friend. Paige never got the job done, though, falling to Charlotte at Survivor Series and TLC. Between those two Pay-Per-Views, many changes took place: Charlotte went from a hard-working champion defending her family’s honor to the “Dirtiest Diva in the Game”. Though the process of the babyface/heel switcheroos left a lot to be desire, Charlotte emerged a more interesting, well-rounded Diva, embracing her Flair heritage. She no longer was “propped up” by her father’s legacy: she was using it to enhance her character and drive the division forward into 2016 with fresh feuds.
Becky also started the year much like how she’s ending it: with an alliance that will have to crumble if she has a prayer of succeeding. Though Becky didn’t have as big a year as Charlotte, she still made her mark, first by taking part in the aforementioned TakeOver: Rival match and then by breaking away from a partnership with Sasha Banks (remember Team B.A.E.?) to challenge her for the Women’s Title at TakeOver: Unstoppable. Though she lost that match, her performance (and new steampunk look, complete with technicolor red hair) put her on everyone’s radar. There’s little doubt that it played a significant role in her main roster promotion, as made the jump after being in NXT for only a year. Clearly, someone saw something they liked in the Lass Kicker.
With the success of Charlotte and the star power of Paige, Becky may have been pushed to the background a bit during their partnership, but she wouldn’t stay there: when PCB imploded and Charlotte won the Divas Title, Becky prepared to step into the spotlight. She got her cue when Charlotte turned heel, a gradual process that started when she inexplicably cheated to beat Becky one-on-one. Their relationship has only gotten more strained since, and it stands to reason that it won’t survive the first month of 2016. The good news is, when Becky finally puts her foot down, it will likely result in her first Divas Title shot. Lynch is no Bexximist, though, so we’re willing to bet that she’ll see her “loss” as her gain.
Finally, we have the head of the “house”, Paige. Her 2015 wasn’t nearly as momentous as her 2014, what with her explosive main roster debut and two title wins, but it did serve to cement her as one of the few Divas that will have a constant presence on WWE programming. There’s no bench warming for this woman.
Paige, as you might have guessed, also started the year much like how she’s ending it: as a babyface chasing an underhanded Divas Champion. Brie and Nikki Bella with various teammates, but none stuck around long. She did, however, make her WrestleMania debut with a big win, teaming with the soon-to-depart AJ Lee to defeat the Bellas. With AJ out of the picture, it was Paige’s turn to step up as the top babyface Diva.
Part of that role, though, required her to take part in WWE projects that took her away from the ring. She took a month-long break to film the WWE Studios movie Santa’s Little Helper in the spring, but when she returned, it was to jump right back into the Divas Title picture. She never managed to win the belt from Nikki Bella in several attempts, but soon enough, she got some backup in the form of Becky Lynch and Charlotte. As Charlotte rose up the ranks, though, Paige couldn’t hide her bitterness, dropping a “pipe bomb” promo of her own the night after Charlotte’s Divas Title win at Night of Champions. The old, Anti-Diva Paige was back!
Sure, she didn’t stick around long, but when she was here, she certainly spit fire, making headlines by invoking the memory of Charlotte’s late brother Reid Flair when signing the contract for their Survivor Series match. Though she succeeded in getting under Charlotte’s skin, it backfired on her, and soon Charlotte was playing dirty herself, leaving Paige to return to a more sympathetic role. The good thing is, Paige can pull off either persona, so her rapid personality shifts weren’t as glaring as they’d be in other Divas’ hands. Given her history, though, we’re willing to bet 2016 will bring even more inner turmoil for Paige.
So, there you have it: three women with very different journeys that, in their own ways, brought them back to where they started. Despite how that sounds, none regressed; they grew as performers, together and apart, and have bright futures ahead of them as individuals. PCB is dead; long live, Paige, Charlotte and Becky!
Come back at the top of every hour to see who else has been crowned 2015’s WOTY.
