The WWE Women’s Championship is on the line tonight as Michelle McCool defends against Mickie James at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Who will the AT&T Arena with the gold? The Diva Dirt team weigh in:
Erin: For all the “Piggie James” taunts, Mickie’s had the upper hand for a few weeks now, and that makes me think that she’s facing disappointment in this match. Michelle hasn’t done much as of late but make high school-level threats and jokes, and her character overall is looking pretty weak at this point. A win over Mickie could help restore that integrity a bit and keep this feud from going down a path that is too predictable–the good girl overcomes the taunts of the bitchy girls and gets the last laugh. I say Michelle will get the win–perhaps with some help from Layla–and walk out with her championship secure.
Melanie: I don’t see Mickie picking up the win, to be honest. This one is all Michelle. Mickie isn’t exactly a favourite among WWE management right now so I don’t think they’re going to be rewarding her with a title reign. Hopefully this match will open eyes within management and make them favour her again and perhaps she’ll take the belt in the next go around. But right now, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Michelle takes the win.
Steven: The fan boy in me is screaming: “Mickie FTW!!!”, but the my more logical side sees Michelle coming out with the win this Sunday. To be honest, this feud has only just begun and there’s plenty that can be done between these two. I feel that if Mickie gets the win, this rivalry might come to a premature end. With enough time and effort put into it, this feud could be the new Michelle vs Melina.
Tiffany: Michelle will pick up the win against Mickie James tonight and retain the Women’s Title. Or, at least she should. It’s hard to believe that Michelle has already held the Women’s Championship for several months now. In my opinion, it’s still not long enough. Mickie is still relatively fresh off of her last reign, and I don’t care to see her with the strap this soon. Michelle has failed to garner enough heat in the past weeks to substantiate her as a non-champion. Even with the title, she needs as much prestige as she can get.
Join us for the TLC live blog at 7.45pm ET/11.45pm UK.
So the WWE Divas return to pay per view tonight for the second time in a month, but this time rivalries are put aside for brand pride. Melina, Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim will represent Raw as they go into battle against SmackDown’s Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Which trio of Divas will win and more important, which brand will earn Bragging Rights?
Erin: Well, Michelle and Beth are a bit at odds, but I guess that’s to be expected with heel teams. I still think it’s a bit lame that the teams are heel vs. face–it takes away from the “band together” mentality of the PPV, with people with differing ideals working together for the sake of their brand. Eh, whatever.. I see the WWE going for a feel-good moment with their only Divas match and having the babyfaces (Team Raw) pick up the victory. Obviously they haven’t put much effort into building up this match, so I won’t expect effort to be put into the outcome either.
Melanie: Team SmackDown is an incredibly strong team. So by WWE’s mentality of course that would mean that Team Raw get the win. Even with an incredible team, I mean come on — you have three super tough Divas here, I think this will likely just be about the babyfaces. The fact that we have babyfaces vs heels [as well as Raw vs SmackDown] suggests something to me, usually in these multi-tag matches, it’s the babyfaces that pick up the win to ~cheers~ [or lackthereof in reality] from the crowd. I hope we play up some tension between Beth Phoenix and Michelle McCool though, at least set up some storyline between the Divas going forward. Perhaps we could have a miscommunication leading to Raw taking the win. I’m expecting they may also have Melina pin Michelle here as a final blow-off also to their feud. No one is expecting Miz to beat Morrison, so it’ll likely be: Morrison takes a point for SmackDown, Divas take a point for Raw and then the final 14-man tag match for the decider, if we’re thinking about it strategically also. Anyway, I expect Team Raw to get the win here.
Steven: On paper, Team SmackDown seems to have a huge advantage going into Bragging Rights. The blue brand has three powerhouse divas, who are all accomplished in their own right. However, Team Raw has something that McCool and co. are lacking: unity. We all know in the WWE Universe all the babyfaces are BFFs, so Team Raw will be able to coexist without conflict. On the other hand, Beth has made it clear she wants gold and Natalya hasn’t always seen eye to eye with the champ. I doubt these three will be able to work as a cohesive unit come Sunday. That said, I’m putting my money on Team Raw at Bragging Rights. I’m sure infighting will be Team Smackdown’s downfall this Sunday.
Join us for the Bragging Rights live blog at 7.45pm ET/11.45pm UK.
