The only thing I care about when it comes to wrestling at the moment, is what will happen with the Divas at WrestleMania. Logic dictates that we’ll get an ultimate letdown as with previous years, but with a renewed focus on actual wrestling and the abolishment of that dirty word starting with ‘P’, WWE has the chance this year to really put on a showcase worthy of WrestleMania.
However as the weeks past, less and less build takes place for the Divas as the rest of the roster seems to be in full gear to the biggest pay per view on the calendar. The Beth Phoenix–Melina feud seems to have run it’s course and is now clutching onto lifelines such as six person mixed tag matches to sustain the storyline and SmackDown has only just regained it’s Divas Champion.
Last night’s Raw really spoke to me; I realised WWE has no idea what to do next with Beth and Melina hence why they were tacked onto a six person match. So much for building to WrestleMania, meanwhile the intriguing Rosa Mendes angle seems to have stalwarted with no real development in the newcomer’s storyline.
But there was one tiny glimmer of hope on last night’s Raw and with a month to go till WrestleMania, the event can still be salvaged for our Divas. Last night, Vickie Guerrero became the interrim General Manager of Raw, making her the head honcho for both of WWE’s top shows. A great storyline device to allow interpromotional feuds to be set up for WrestleMania (Randy Orton-Triple H, John Cena-Edge, Undertaker-Shawn Michaels). I’m hoping that this can be used to rub off on the Divas too.
With Gail Kim not expected to debut until after WrestleMania, my predicted bout of Maryse vs Gail goes out the window. But with Guerrero bridging the gap between Raw and SmackDown, I would love to see one of the underutilised faces from Raw – and let’s face it, they’re in abundance – feud with the Divas Championship heading into the April event. And who better than Mickie James?
The most popular Diva in the WWE has found herself stiffed at the past couple of ‘Manias, her one and only match appearance took place in 2006. With Raw’s title picture revolving around Beth and Melina, it looks like she could find herself off the card again – but with Vickie now in power and SmackDown lacking a top babyface that can contend for the title, it seems perfect. Mickie’s WrestleMania cold shoulder seems almost unintentional, WWE do love Mickie and push her at least once a year although it hasn’t aligned unfortunately, in time for WrestleMania in the past couple of years. This could be a great opportunity to right that wrong, by giving Mickie a storyline with Maryse leading to WrestleMania.
There’s still time as the big event is still one month away. Maryse needs a fresh challenger (Maria is hardly competition) and Mickie needs something to do, seems like a match made in Diva heaven!
