What’s up Diva fans and welcome to this week’s WWE Main Event Redux. Last night’s show gave us a momentous and monumental moment as the Queen herself, Dame Stephanie McMahon, graced Main Event for what I believe was the first time. And no, she wasn’t addressing John Cena or Daniel Bryan, she was having beef with Nikki Bella! It was a night of storyline progression all-round as Steph continued to taunt Nikki, putting her in a Handicap match against the dysfunctional Funkadactyls Cameron and Naomi in a rematch from Monday Night Raw. Can Nikki pick up a win this time or will Naomi finally no longer resist whacking Cameron right in the face?
TO THE VIDEO!
Cameron and Naomi are out first and although professional during their entrance, they do not look on the same page when they get in the ring. In fact, I’m not even sure they’re on the same book! Cameron is flipping her hair all up in Naomi’s personal space and Miss Night turned Mrs Fatu is not happy! They turn their attentions to their opponent (and so they should) as they get ready for business. Nikki Bella is ‘fearless’ according to her titantron and now I know what her ‘Dare to Be’ slogan would be should she be desperate enough to join TNA.
The match is just about to get underway and the prophet herself, Stephanie McMahon shows up on the titantron. She is as condescending as ever, telling Nikki it was a travesty that Brie left Nikki to fend for herself against the Funkadactyls last night on Raw. She said she’s going to put everything right though by giving Nikki a new tag partner… Alicia Fox!
Womp womp.
Alicia is all smiles as she makes her entrance; it’s like she has won the lottery the way she is carrying on!
The match begins with Nikki and Naomi locking up fiercely, grappling all over the ring as they jockey for the upper hand. Nikki is thrown off by Naomi with a tie-up armdrag yet Nikki follows up her misfortune with a sweet dropkick which knocks Naomi to the outside. The busty Bella throws Naomi back into the ring yet as the ref checks on the most recent #1 Contender to the WWE Divas Championship, Cameron rips at Nikki’s hair, sending her flat on her back on the mat.
The opportunistic Machiavellian Cameron tags herself in and proceeds to get cocky with Nikki and beat her head. After a pin attempt, we see Alicia looking desperate to make the tag. She looks as desperate as Aksana does for her job back… I jest, I jest. Cameron chokes Nikki on the ropes and after getting bored of that (she seems to be easily bored does our Cameron. I bet she’s bored of being referred to as a Funkadactyl), Cameron locks in a double chickenwing! Interesting choice. Who said this girl doesn’t give a damn about wrestling and getting better?
I begin to pray that Cameron will transition her submission into a tiger suplex but well, she’s not at that level yet! Nikki fights out as she is clearly the stronger Diva and Alicia is reaching out for the tag. Nikki is close to making the tag and all of a sudden, the bipolar banshee Alicia pulls her hand back and then decks Alicia with a kick to the face.
Cameron picks up the pieces and the win and starts jumping up and down like she just won Gold at the Olympics. The only thing Gold (and a low quality gold at that) is that hairdo Cameron! Naomi looks totally unimpressed as she struts off and Alicia taunts Nikki, who is looking as glum as she would be if she visited a wedding fayre. One day you’ll get revenge on Stephanie Nikki and one day, you’ll get that wedding!
Thoughts: Although this week’s segment was way too short in terms of the match, it did exactly what it needed to push two feuds and promote another two characters and keep them in the spotlight.
Although on the losing end of the match, Nikki Bella was at the forefront of the segment and Stephanie’s teasing of her is only going to get Brie even angrier (let’s hope whilst she’s been off TV, she’s been learning to act angry though!) Although losing, any publicity is good publicity and Nikki is in front of the fans and they can feel sorry for the bullied and victimised Diva. Being hot as hell doesn’t hurt in getting the fans behind you either!
The decision to through Alicia Fox in there was also a welcome one as it’s great to see that although out of the WWE Divas Championship picture, she is being spotlighted on TV in some form or another. Apparently, creative a really big fan of Alicia’s character and how well she has been performing, so it’s nice to see that she is still getting appearances to perfect it and keep improving it. It’s cool seeing her in different situations too. Her hot and cold antics towards Nikki were hilarious and she is by far one of the premier characters in the WWE right now.
This segment also moved the impending Funkadactyl split forward. Although this is happening at a slower pace than I expected, there is nothing wrong with a slow burn and in a way, the slower pace is more realistic of real-life in my opinion. Even though Cameron is really getting under Naomi’s skin, Naomi has been a close colleague and friend with Cameron for a long time and like in real life, from her point of view, it would be horrible to burn bridges so quickly and cut ties with someone who had had a major impact on your personal and professional life for such a long time. I’m really liking this. I can’t wait until Naomi eventually snaps though.
All in all, although the match was short, the segment did some many things right so I can definitely forgive WWE. The way the story was meant to pan out though, there really was no way the match could have been longer unless Nikki had been beaten down for longer, yet as Cameron isn’t exactly Alundra Blayze, it’s probably best things were kept short and simple. Let’s hope all of these feuds, stories and characters continue to get showcased next week!
And with that, stay tuned, Jack will be back!
