Matt D Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Since Survivor Series is free, it seems like a great opportunity to take a big booking risk and make someone like Sheamus, Ziggler or Ryback the focal point of the show. What's to lose? Maybe even headline with an IC title match. Once again, this is a nice, logical, reasonable thought, but my guess is that Vince is going to think it's all the more important to put the focus completely on Cena because they'll have more eyes on the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 At the Smackdown taping, the show started off with Big Show in the ring. He got on the microphone and told the fans that Daniel Bryan would need another surgery, and asked them do to the YES chant so that they could film it and send it to Bryan as a "get well soon" type of thing.As it turns out...this wasn't why they did it. Smackdown opened with Vince's announcement of the WWE Network's "Free November" thing (and they bothered to pipe in cheers and have Eden/Vince do voice overs [with bad echo effects] to make it sound like it actually happened at the show) and then they showed the crowd doing the YES chants (with the video of Vince edited onto the titantron).Basically, WWE used Bryan and his injury to get the crowd to cheer and chant so that they could just use it to make it look like they were reacting to Vince's announcement about the Network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwebb Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 That is great. I'm sure it will be the favorite for worst promotional tactic now though in the Observer awards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 I love this company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 So SD had AJ basically burying the entire Divas division on commentary during the battle royal. Strange thing is the announcers were laughing and agreeing with her. Even when she was making fun of the babyfaces. Sounds like Vince is pissed off at the rest of the division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 I didn't see the battle royal, but to me, the division has actually, somehow, and most likely due wholly to the work of the trainers Vince and Triple H hired and put into position, become the best it has been in at least a decade. At Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell, Nikki Bella was fantastic. I wrote about this in my review elsewhere, but I don't care how much her matches are "choreographed/staged/scripted" - the fact is, if she rehearses just one good match a month and then has that match on PPV, I'm happy. Her match against Brie at Hell in a Cell was physical, structured simply and effectively, and made her look like a dominant heel. It had arguably more logic to it than the Ziggler/Cesaro match it followed and was more "personal" and engaging than the Tag Titles match that came after it. Brie has improved considerably as well, but as a scrappy babyface, I don't think she needs to do much but take bumps, sell, and have a few signature hope spots/offensive maneuvers. She's not fully there yet, but she's made a ton of progress. I'm more impressed by Nikki, but again, when you think of where both of them were a year ago, they have really come around in-ring. Alicia Fox has a great character, natural charisma, and has also made progress in-ring from where she started. Why she isn't challenging for the Divas Championship more is not clear to me. Considering Paige's age and that this is her rookie year, she's already achieved a lot and there is room for growth. Huge future for her. Not a Future Hall of Famer yet, but probably more well-rounded than Lita ever was. Emma is also a young rookie with lots of upside. The pieces haven't all fallen into place, but she's coming up to the main roster with considerably more experience and more natural athleticism than the models-turned-wrestlers that dominated the division for the past decade. AJ is the best "mic worker" of the whole bunch, but I wouldn't say she's the best wrestler. Others would disagree. She deserves to be holding the title, but those that put her "leaps and bounds" ahead of every other female talent are overrating her. Still, the fact that she didn't take her ball and go home with her husband and still works hard in the ring has only made me respect her more. Even if she leaves after her contract is up, AJ has only helped the division since returning. Elsewhere on the roster, you have a reliable hand in Natalya and another young (26), energetic talent in Naomi (Trinity on Total Divas). Not bad role players and the same could be said for Layla and Tamina, who probably won't last much longer but are serviceable, especially in non-wrestling/managerial roles. For example, having Layla take Emma or another NXT grad under her wing could be a fine angle as it plays to Layla's strength of typically being excellent in multi-person story lines like the LayCool stuff or being Low Ki/Kaval's mentor. ( I know they've done that a little with Summer Rae, but Layla would be better working with someone who actually has, y'know, personality.) With those pieces in place, plus Charlotte Flair in NXT, the WWE's Divas Division is actually one area where things actually make sense and wins/losses DO seem to count and matter. The "pecking order" is clear to regular viewers. The story lines have made sense. There are "issues" between the performers that lead to matches that lead to more matches. Can you say that about the IC Title or Tag Team Championships? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 So SD had AJ basically burying the entire Divas division on commentary during the battle royal. Strange thing is the announcers were laughing and agreeing with her. Even when she was making fun of the babyfaces. Sounds like Vince is pissed off at the rest of the division Just AJ Lee being her husband was my thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The Divas division is as shitty as it has always been. Scrap it and leave it to NXT. Fill out Raw with midgets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 The Divas division is better than it ever has been. Alicia Fox, Natalya, Paige, AJ Lee, and Emma are all good to really good workers. Heck, even Nikki Bella has shown marked signs of improvement since she started elbowing other women in the face. Still, none of that matters when they are booked to be the bathroom break night in and night out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Well yeah, it doesn't matter. It's still the same "bitches be crazy!" nonsense filler as ever. Rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJH Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I don't think any of them are good, much less really good, unless you're grading on a curve; they're as "good" as they need to be, but (or because), as you said, Bill, "divas match" = "popcorn/merch/cool-down match" (etc). Debbie Malenko was good by the time she broke her leg. But if those girls you mentioned were guys, and their mechanics and selling and acting and... were the same, there's no way anyone would be complimenting their work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 The Divas division is as shitty as it has always been. Scrap it and leave it to NXT. Fill out Raw with midgets. I support this 110%. El Torito is better than everyone in the Divas division and I would like to see him do SOMETHING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I think the women I mentioned are good period. In the WWE, NXT, and indie feds, I have seen all of them put in quality work throughout their entire careers. I don't grade on any curve when it comes to the women, and I truly believe if they would let that crop of women go out and wrestle they'd have a nice women's division on their hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Yea but none of them wrestle as miniature bulls. I'm all in with Badlittlekitten's idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakla Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 When I saw AJ doing commentary at the beginning of Smackdown, I muted the TV. She is almost always awful doing commentary, with all her dialogue scripted or "fed in", which is mostly insults that 3rd graders would find lame. I think AJ is beyond stale and has more than run her course. She is an awful babyface, esp. in the last few weeks with her abandoning her tag partners and such. I don't think her mic skills are great either. She's living off the reputation of that overrated and counterproductive "pipe bomb" promo from a year ago. She's more of a big fish/small pond when it comes to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMD Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I don't think any of them are good, much less really good, unless you're grading on a curve; they're as "good" as they need to be, but (or because), as you said, Bill, "divas match" = "popcorn/merch/cool-down match" (etc). Debbie Malenko was good by the time she broke her leg. But if those girls you mentioned were guys, and their mechanics and selling and acting and... were the same, there's no way anyone would be complimenting their work. Yes x1000. If any guy in the company was as bad in the ring as the Bellas (promo or wrestling), they wouldn't be in the company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 The Great Khali can't even walk. He still is in the company & just lost to Rusev on TV a couple of days ago. I would say he's probably worse than AJ, Alicia Fox, etc. He's really the only one that comes to mind though. I have always felt like the women were graded on a curve. When people used to talk about how good Lita & Trish were I would cringe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSR Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Beat me to it Coffey. Khali can't wrestle, can't cut a promo and has been under contract for approximately eight years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 The Great Khali can't even walk. He still is in the company & just lost to Rusev on TV a couple of days ago. I would say he's probably worse than AJ, Alicia Fox, etc. He's really the only one that comes to mind though. I have always felt like the women were graded on a curve. When people used to talk about how good Lita & Trish were I would cringe. Well, I would never have said Lita was good, always thought she was a terrible worker. Trish worked hard to become passable in the ring. I give her credit for that, and she was capable of being good from time to time, but not on a consistent basis. Right now there are some bad female workers in the company, but there are also some talented workers who aren't being given much of a chance to show that, outside of NXT that is. I do really think Nikki Bella is a great example of how people refuse to give women on the WWE roster a chance. Is she a great worker, no she's not. Is she consistently a good worker, no she's not. But, she has managed to turn herself into a passable worker who is capable of putting together a decent match and maybe even a good one depending on the opponent. There's no curve involved, just the natural progression of a wrestler learning her craft. Nikki has a low ceiling, but she has risen towards that ceiling, but because of the way she's presented and the stigma that comes with being a WWE women's worker her improvement in the ring is largely ignored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Khali has a very specific value to the company though, as he's a celebrity in India which is a huge market and can stand out for publicity reasons, as well as has a certain level of credibility just due to his size when it comes to putting someone over. Thanks to Total Divas, I'd actually say the Bellas are more valuable to the company than he is right now, but it's pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMD Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 Yeah, Khali is worse than many of the divas. But as Matt D points out, he's kind of on the roster because of celebrity. Also, sometimes he's so bad he's mildly humorous. Only Diva I can think of that fits that mold is Brie on the mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I wouldn't be me if I didn't point out that Becky Lynch makes her heel debut this week on NXT tagging with Sasha Banks vs Charlotte & Bayley. Her heel persona takes a few weeks to be phased in but her and Sasha are doing a lot of silly heel Southern tag team stuff on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I do actually think that Nikki Bella has improved in the ring. However going from dreadful to passable isn't really worthy of praise. If any of the current Divas make it through one match without something embarrassing happening, it's a miracle. The Bella match on Hell in a Cell was perfectly fine. They even laid in a few good shots. Were it not for the superhuman suplex spot by Cesaro, the running knee might have been the move of the night. More matches like that could help turn the tide on the mindset that myself & others seem to hold toward the Divas division as a whole. Granted also calling it the Divas division & Divas title doesn't help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I do actually think that Nikki Bella has improved in the ring. However going from dreadful to passable isn't really worthy of praise. If any of the current Divas make it through one match without something embarrassing happening, it's a miracle. I can't agree with either of those points. Someone does deserve praise if they go from being utterly terrible in the ring to capable of putting on decent to good matches. On the second point, that's just not the case when you have workers like Natalya, Alicia Fox, Emma, Paige, AJ Lee, Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks on the rosters of WWE/NXT. If Eva Marie and Rosa Mendes make it though a match without screwing something up that is close to a miracle. However if Emma and Alicia make it through a match without screwing something up that's just par for the course for their talent level and ability in the ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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