Are They Building Up Paige Wrong Way?

[HBK89Bill]

Hear me out on this, is Paige being built the wrong way? They gave her the clean win over AJ Lee the night after Mania. At Mania, AJ had defeated every viable competitor in the Divas Division in a single match. The most over Diva in the last decade and the woman who defeated the entire Division in one night drops the title clean to Paige in her debut match on the main roster.

How is Paige taking on competitors one at a time going to get her over with the audience despite the fact that she beat the one Diva that beat them all in one night. Paige did what no other Diva could do for AJ's entire reign. Shouldn't the other Divas be really upset that some kid took their spot? Isn't the story about the other Divas having to prove themselves and take Paige down? Why does Paige have to prove herself when she did that on day one?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Hear me out on this, is Paige being built the wrong way? They gave her the clean win over AJ Lee the night after Mania. At Mania, AJ had defeated every viable competitor in the Divas Division in a single match. The most over Diva in the last decade and the woman who defeated the entire Division in one night drops the title clean to Paige in her debut match on the main roster.

How is Paige taking on competitors one at a time going to get her over with the audience despite the fact that she beat the one Diva that beat them all in one night. Paige did what no other Diva could do for AJ's entire reign. Shouldn't the other Divas be really upset that some kid took their spot? Isn't the story about the other Divas having to prove themselves and take Paige down? Why does Paige have to prove herself when she did that on day one?

The reason AJ dropped the title to Paige was because she'd requested some time off from WWE a while back. The assumption is that AJ asked for and was given the time so she could complete her planned move to Chicago as she and CM Punk are engaged. Since AJ has beaten all comers, they figured it was an opportunity to bring Paige up from NXT, they're obviously impressed with her work down there and figured that this would be a way to leave a lasting impression and make a strong impact from the start. Once AJ returns from getting her personal affairs in order, I'm almost certain she'll return to have a fully developed feud with Paige.

As far as whether or not any of the other Divas are upset that Paige is now the champ, I don't think management gives a shit and, quite frankly, nor should they. Let's be honest, up until recent months, all the vast majority of women in WWE have had to do is show up, look hot in skimpy outfits, collect big paychecks and travel the world. I'm sorry if that's politically incorrect, but it also happens to be completely true. Also, to be even more honest, how many people would be genuinely interested if Tamina, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Layla, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Natalya, etc. won the title? Nobody would care because those Divas either have no personality, can't wrestle, have been around so long that there's no sense of excitement or some combination of any or all of the above.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

How is Paige taking on competitors one at a time going to get her over with the audience despite the fact that she beat the one Diva that beat them all in one night.

She's not taking on competitors one at a time to "get over", she's defending her title. She isn't "proving herself", she's just wrestling. As the Divas champion. I'm not sure what you're talking about. Should she just retire now since she beat AJ, and AJ already beat all the other Divas??

Paige did what no other Diva could do for AJ's entire reign. Shouldn't the other Divas be really upset that some kid took their spot? Isn't the story about the other Divas having to prove themselves and take Paige down? Why does Paige have to prove herself when she did that on day one?

Again, she's not "proving herself", she's taking on all comers. Should the other Divas "be upset"? You mean storyline-wise I'm assuming, and yeah, it would be cool for Natalya to turn heel in a jealous rage that the new girl came in and got the belt so soon.

But I think they're just biding time until AJ comes back and they're going to feud for a while. In the meantime, they're just feeding her the other Divas that AJ had beaten dozens of time when SHE was chamption.

 

[Nate DaMac]

The reason AJ dropped the title to Paige was because she'd requested some time off from WWE a while back. The assumption is that AJ asked for and was given the time so she could complete her planned move to Chicago as she and CM Punk are engaged. Since AJ has beaten all comers, they figured it was an opportunity to bring Paige up from NXT, they're obviously impressed with her work down there and figured that this would be a way to leave a lasting impression and make a strong impact from the start. Once AJ returns from getting her personal affairs in order, I'm almost certain she'll return to have a fully developed feud with Paige.

As far as whether or not any of the other Divas are upset that Paige is now the champ, I don't think management gives a shit and, quite frankly, nor should they. Let's be honest, up until recent months, all the vast majority of women in WWE have had to do is show up, look hot in skimpy outfits, collect big paychecks and travel the world. I'm sorry if that's politically incorrect, but it also happens to be completely true. Also, to be even more honest, how many people would be genuinely interested if Tamina, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Layla, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Natalya, etc. won the title? Nobody would care because those Divas either have no personality, can't wrestle, have been around so long that there's no sense of excitement or some combination of any or all of the above.

Wow, Jack-Hammer, way to completely miss the point. He was suggesting that they were booking her poorly, he said nothing about the backstage environment.

I disagree with the OP. I mean, Paige didn't win clean, AJ was totally protected in her loss of the title.It does make sense that the rest of the Divas would think she's a fluke champion based on the way she won. Now she has to prove herself by running through the roster until AJ comes back and then she can get her clean win over AJ.

I don't think Paige is as good as everyone seems to, but that's for another time. The booking is solid.

 

[A11oftheLights]

As far as whether or not any of the other Divas are upset that Paige is now the champ, I don't think management gives a shit and, quite frankly, nor should they. Let's be honest, up until recent months, all the vast majority of women in WWE have had to do is show up, look hot in skimpy outfits, collect big paychecks and travel the world. I'm sorry if that's politically incorrect, but it also happens to be completely true. Also, to be even more honest, how many people would be genuinely interested if Tamina, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Layla, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Natalya, etc. won the title? Nobody would care because those Divas either have no personality, can't wrestle, have been around so long that there's no sense of excitement or some combination of any or all of the above.

I think your missing the point

In regards to the OP i agree that Paige doesn't need to prove herself when she already proved that she's better than all the other diva's, however i think Michael Cole made some mention of it being that the other divas thought paige's win was a fluke. not too sure on that though

 

[Sean Valjean]

I don't know if you've been paying attention to Paige's matches, but the commentators have repeatedly stated that the other Divas ARE upset with Paige. She did in one night, on her first attempt, what the rest of them failed repeatedly at for a year. The story has basically been Paige proving that she's not a flash in the pan by defeating everyone that challenges her, which is supposed to mean something because the other girls are "experienced" while she's brand new.

The story is simple and works well enough, but her biggest problem has been her competition. Her matches haven't exactly been stellar and while much of that has to do with her opponents, Paige herself still seems to be finding her confidence in terms of competing on the main roster. She's obviously capable, though, and will only get better with time. She really needs to get away from the Aksanas of the division and work with someone like Natalya to really bring out the best in her.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

For someone to come out of nowhere and be put as the focal point of a division, the WWE did a very good job with Paige. She come out and interrupted the then-dominating AJ to a good pop, taking her down. She's been consistently featured on television wrestling and winning her matches to prove why she deserves to be Diva's champion. It's great booking but there is one thing wrong with this situation, and I've already mentioned it...

... AJ dominated the division: she steam-rolled everybody and there were literally no challengers left. All these girls they have been vanquished by AJ and when she was about to proclaim herself as the unbeatable champion, Paige walks in and takes the title with one move. If Paige beat AJ so easily and since she hasn't appeared to come after her title, why should I be invested in Paige when I know that she's going to do the exact same thing AJ did when she was champion? It's not Paige who has been built up wrong here, its the rest of the division that needs to be built up.

During the Extreme Rules cycle, Tamina was Paige's challenger because she won a Battle Royale to earn her chance... but what did they do to build up Tamina? She had a match with Natalya, which she won, but that wasn't even on the main shows (as was the Battle Royale). Paige has been wrestling week in, week out and taking down her opponents. Where is the challenge? WWE built up Kane to be a monster so he'd be seen with a good chance at taking down Bryan, so why couldn't they do the same with Tamina?

 

[baufan2025]

I like Paige, but it feels like her submission finisher takes forever to lock on. What makes it worse is she doesn't have a big stun move that leads up to it so it's just like the other girl is standing there waiting for her to apply it.

 

[WarroBODFan]

It's got us talking about the Divas division again, much moreso than we usually do. That's a success in itself. I believe WWE putting all their eggs in one basket by making Paige champion from Day One is a great thing, and the right thing to do to usher in a new era, so to speak. I don't think anyone can doubt she's one of the most talented female wrestlers to come through in a long time. It's believable to see her as champion this early as she's already on a higher level compared to the majority of the Divas. The only other Divas I can think of who may deserve a title run in the future are Naomi, AJ when she returns, Tamina, and Emma when they finally decide to break her away from momentum drainer Santino. The rest are purely perceived as the Total Divas, which is pretty much correct. While the Bellas have increased tenfold since they first became part of the WWE (not saying much I know), they're now in their 30s and I'm not sure we'll see either them as a champion again. I may be wrong, but we'll see.

I'm guessing we'll see Paige squashing Divas for the foreseeable future until an AJ return, and I anticipate and hope for a big feud between the two. I'm sorry if that makes the rest of the Divas expendable and irrelevant, but that's pretty much how it is already. But yeah, I'm not sure what is expected from the WWE if AJ requested the time off.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

The win was supposed to be a fluke. She only hit one move out of nowhere and surprised AJ to pick up the victory. That doesn't make her the "best in the world". She still needs to establish herself, and that match against Tamina has worked well to that point.

And hey, the only Divas I could see caring about being the Divas champion are Natalya and Tamina (and AJ of course). All others are plastic women who don't care about wrestling or aren't good enough to even stop in the ring. The Bellas, Eva Marie etc are happy to be on tv through Total Divas, Summer Rae kinda the same, Emma just stepped through NXT too. Sure, some Divas might not have liked, might have been jealous, but the company eventually has to build on someone who looks amazing, can go in the ring and is young. That's Paige, and that's the right move. Now if they could only add more meaning to the matches/feuds, and maybe throw in an Extreme Rules stipulation to make things more interesting.

EDIT: To another poster, who claimed that Paige's win over AJ wasn't clean.
It was clean. The ref counted the normal 1-2-3, with the pinning situation being clean, no ropes or anything. There was no interference, no screw-ups, no blindside attacks. It was a CLEAN victory. But I think what he meant to say is that it was a fluke, which is indeed the point. As I mentioned above, it was clean but she got lucky to win.

 

[ShawnBronald]

I think they've built her up (so far) just about right. I had no problem with her debut match against AJ. While the finish wasn't necessarily botched, it could have gone a bit smoother. Other than that, I like what they've done with her so far. WWE has gone the route of 'win-major-title-upon-debut' in the past and it usually works well. Because of the Network and the fans already knowing who Paige was, it was better than a no-name just suddenly showing up to win the belt. As the OP pointed out, it was odd to see a rookie walk in and take the title from someone that not only had held the title over 300 days, but also had just defeated every Diva on the roster the night before. That being said, because of the way the match was set up, it works. Also, we all know AJ will return (possibly before Pay Back.... as the name would imply?) to begin a program with Paige. It's great they can both go in the ring, which will provide watchable and entertaining Divas matches for a change, but my favorite part is the built-in storyline: The Scorpion Cross-Lock vs The Black Widow! That about writes itself.

On a side-note, would anyone like to see Paige wear face-paint to the ring? She's gorgeous as-is, don't get me wrong, but since she's so pale and uses the Scorpion Cross-Lock submission, she could be the female version of Sting. No... I'm (sort of) serious! Not only that, but she already wears a lot of black. It could be an interesting marketing strategy. Also, not many female wrestlers have ever worn face-paint to the ring. WWE won't do it, and I understand it, but it's something I've thought about. But I digress.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I'm on the fence on this one - in one hand I think that Paige isn't being able to create a personality of her own, but in other hand, until AJ Lee comes back, there isn't any need to rush things in - so a slow build is really the best option, mostly because aside AJ Lee nobody has a "personality" really.

Let the WWE Universe get to know her, see what she's all about inside the ring and when the "money" rivalry starts, the crowd will definitely give them more than the "regular" diva treatment.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I am absolutely not a fan of title wins at the very first match, let alone if it's the highest title one can ever hope to achieve in one's particular field. It seriously damages a performer's potential to grow and at the same time it damages the title he/she wins, because it just got won by a nobody. It's a lose-lose situation, really.
Now, given that it is the Diva's title, there's not much title value to damage, but still I think this is doing Paige a disservice in the long run.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Paige is being built up just fine. The fact that they gave her the Divas Championship on her debut is also fine, it shows the confidence that they have in her. She did fantastic on NXT as the Womens Champion on the developmental brand, so it's not like she didn't earn her spot. Unlike most of the divas she can do good promos. Then there is the matter of her in-ring abilities. She is the best. Period. The only ones who come close to her are Emma and Natalya. AJ had to lose to someone and Paige made more sense than anyone, it sets up for a great feud when AJ returns. Should Paige be made to look more dominant? Perhaps, as she dethroned AJ in her debut after AJ had beaten the entire roster in a nearly year long reign. However, Paige is also very young. At the younge age of 21 she was given the biggest prize she can possibly earn. WWE clearly trust her with the push, so give it a chance. If they go an underdog route, it may be due to her age, which does make some sense even after her having dethroned AJ. I have no problems with Paige's push as long as the right girls get title shots against her.

 

[kadroan]

No. She hasn't been given any meaningful storylines. She just been running through the Divas division in such a short time.

I'm hoping they don't drag out her reign just having her beat everybody in random matches until AJ comes back. Hopefully somebody feuds with her that actually wants the Divas Championship or somebody she could swap the title with over pay per views, to make her matches less predictable

 

[whoopin' ass]

My only issue is that in true wwe fashion, her title win was a fluke win. They didn't have a back and forth battle, she grabbed one move after getting beat up for the entire match and won. Not saying she should have gone over easily as all you did in that case was swap an unbeatable heel for an unbeatable face but I think there should have been more back and forth to show she is a legit threat to AJ. After all, she interrupted the champ and you only do that if you are challenging them on the spot or are warning them that you are coming for the title. The win didn't make her come across as strong and she didn't need some fluke underdog win. But at least she is doing better than poor Emma - was probably better off in NXT than in some lame love story with Santino.

 

[free40susbird]

Here's an idea. Alberto Del Rio joins The Authority, and his first order of business is to welcome the new Diva in town...and try to lure her into being both the Divas Champion and his "personal." Paige turns him down cold, stating that another man has her heart. And that man...

Is his former sidekick Ricardo Rodriguez, who has been training for an in-ring career for some time.

Cue the rest of the Authority, with Stephie Pie lambasting Paige for turning down ADR's "generous offer," then threatening to strip Paige of her title if she doesn't reconsider. Paige's reaction? Slapping Stephie Pie so hard she hits the ground.

And then, a new member of The Authority emerges...Natalya, who grabs Paige and hold her still while ADR attempts to "initiate" Paige into The Authority by forcibly kissing her.

Cue The Shield, Tamina, and The Big Show to even the odds. Leaving ADR alone in the ring with a fallen Paige.

And OUT COMES RICARDO!!!

After laying ADR out with a chair, he climbs to the top rope and executes a perfect corkscrew moonsault - The Psychotica Drop - onto the rest of the Authority. Then, back in the ring, he hits the Psychotica Drop onto ADR, sending The Authority running for cover.

This would lead to Paige going back into Anti-Diva mode as, like newlyweds Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, she and Ricardo are established as a power couple - and as, like Daniel, Brie, and The Shield, they would now be in The Authority's crosshairs.

Who's up?

 

[whoopin' ass]

You know what, I am starting to have some concern. I caught a Raw rerun and saw her match with Alicia Fox and it was a repeat of hervmatch against AJ - gets her ass kicked for most of the match but them pulls out the win. But why are they still doing that after 6 weeks? Your champ should never look thst weak. And before anyone says anything about her still being new to the roster, yeah she is but she is also the champ which means she is supposed to be better than the rest since they couldn't win the title. They need to let her be more aggressive. Think of any Undertaker/HBK match - on paper HBK should lose every time and lose easily as Taker is just so much bigger than him. Yet in every match you thought Shawn might win because he could get some offence in against Taker. They are not doing it here. Pulling out a winning move at the end doesn't make Paige look strong, it makes her look lucky. They need to stop with these kinds of matches and let her actually get some offence in otherwise she will start to look like a fluke.