Bring in Melissa, Drop The Beautiful People?

[Uncle Sam]

This was originally going to be two threads, but I decided to condense it into one. Firstly, I was wondering how much discussion they'd generate on their own and secondly, they both relate to the improvement of the women's division.

To me, it just comes down to TNA being idiots. That statement and its similar siblings are banded about in this forum that it's almost lost all meaning. Of course, there is always some defence. And there is defence for TNA's side.

They've provided the most entertaining and popular, fully mainstream women's division ever. However, and this is where them being idiots comes in to play, they haven't capitalized on it and they've let it go stale. Kong is no longer used as a wrestler, rather a squash device. Maybe it'll be a little more acceptable if she weren't the champion and had another, more important purpose to fulfill.

And the beautiful people are, want for a better word, shit. I'm going to be embarrassingly honest here and admit I don't even know who Angelina Love and Velvet Sky are. I know obscure Japanese wrestlers and have even seen matches from the oldest of old school, but I have no knowledge on these two. I think they may have been in WWE at some point, but that's presuming I've ever watched that piece of shit they call a women's division. Defending WWE's women's division is as pointless as defending their tag or cruiserweight divisions, but that's going off the point a bit. The point I'm trying to make is that the Beautiful People must have an incredible background to stop all the hate being spread because from what I've seen is they're atrocious. Their promos were semi-interesting the first time but now they're just repetitive, and their storyline is ridiculously cliche. Then there's the meat and bones of it - the actual wrestling. Do they do anything other than punches? No, I'm seriously asking, that's not rhetorical. Horrible, and a waste of time for ODB, Gail Kim and Roxxi... Frenchname.

This links into the point that the women's roster is becoming more and more stale. They need some fresh blood. God knows that they aren't going to be able to keep interest without constantly bringing new faces in and showing off original wrestling. The men can get away with it, yet get the World X Cup. The women can't afford such a luxury, yet we're living in Groundhog Day. Cheerleader Melissa is, as we all know, the top of pretty much everyone's list when the question of "Which women should be brought into TNA?" is brought up. Yes, she's Kong's manager. That takes up probably about five minutes of here time a show. Have her as Melissa for Christ's sake. She's perfect for the women's division and compliments the core four nicely. They may have clashed before in the indies but God knows that I and 90% of TNA's viewership would see it as original and new.

Edit: Just so you know:
[youtube]VHizPmW04Rs[/youtube]

 

[Shocky]

I think in a perfect world, we would love to see more talent and less looks, but lets face it, that's not going to happen. You're talking about people wrestling around in their underwear, and unless you're incredibly special like Kong, no one is going to want to see that.

How often do you see an "Ugly" wrestler anymore. In the 80's you saw a bunch of fat guys in their underwear that could wrestle, but didn't have the look. Now, it's all about abs and looks. Sexuality sells, whether it's male or female, and people aren't going to watch if you have two unattractive people in the ring, outside of a freak showlike Khali and Big Daddy V. Unless you are incredibly unique, your look means everything.

The last time a women's division tried to not emphasize the looks, that belt ended up in the trash can of the competitors show. The WWE's womens title in the 90's was built around a bunch of unattractive women, and it failed miserably. Again, I agree with what your saying, but it's just not practical in the superficial, Paparazzi filled image laden society we live in.

 

[Uncle Sam]

You do know that I was talking about the Beautiful People as in the women's heel team, right Shocky? Because those that can wrestle are the core of the women's division - Gail Kim, ODM, Roxxi Levaux (sp?), Awesome Kong. With the exception of (maybe, because I don't find her especially attractive) Gail Kim, none of them are real lookers, particularly Kong and ODB.

Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, however, are just shit. You think that whichever one had that match with Gail Kim when Kim was meant to have an injured knee would look a bit good but no, a pretend injured Kim made them look like absolute shit. They didn't perform a single move, unless you count pulling someone's leg across the ring post a move. I don't.

On that note, I find Cheerleader Melissa quite attractive. Add to that her wrestling style is unorthodox, brutal and, most importantly, entertaining and you have someone who is absolutely flawless as far as an addition to TNA's female roster is concerned. Why is TNA so wrong, when it has the tools to be so right?

 

[Shocky]

Angelina Love and Velvet Sky

That's exactly what I'm directing the conversation too. Why women's wrestling just doesn't work because as much raw talent as other, especially Knock Outs, might have, eventually they are going to be pushed to the side so the eye candy can get out there and perform for the 13 year old boys.

It's no different then the WWE women's title. It started off somewhat respectable because they actually had women with the capability of having a good match hold the title. Now you're stuck with Candice Michelle being shoved down our throat and people trying to tell us that the pretty girl is really an athlete. People aren't stupid, yet wrestling fans are treated as if we're stupid.

I enjoy the Knock outs more then the Divas, but I'm thinking they are eventually, like everything else in TNA, will follow suit to the WWE and it will be crap as well.

 

[Slim Pickns]

Sam, I think you are overlooking the fact that the Beautiful People draw ratings due to their looks and the fact that they draw heat, even if it is just by attacking the fan favorites. It seems that the casual fans will watch them because they are good looking and the hardcore TNA fans will watch them because they play good heels (good enough anyway), and probably because they are hot. Its a nice variety for TNA's womens division. Kong is the dominant champ, Kim, ODB, and Roxxi are the crowd favorites, and the Beautiful People are the cowardly cocky heels. Its just an added bonus that most guys would love to have sex with them. Thats a great dimension to have, a heel team who guys boo, then when the ladies are exiting the ring, the same guys booing are thinking "damn they look good".

The ratings information that we have access to (whats posted online) shows that the women's division is drawing in more fans than the mens most of the time. The only reason I can see that is because non fans are watching at certain points while channel surfing. What do you think will catch their eye? Gail Kim vs ODB or Kim and ODB vs two very hot women in underwear?

 

[Uncle Sam]

I've got to disagree with you there, Shocky. Although the women's division is the only division other than the heavyweight division that the E and TNA actually share - the tag division and cruiserweight divisions don't even exist - I'm going to say that TNA won't go down that road. Although Sky and Love aren't a good sign, they have that big bodyguard... thing who I'm sure can actually wrestle, and their opposition can actually wrestle too, not to mention that Kong is champ, no matter how inappropriate her current position is. Hmm, sounds dirty.

My point is, the women like Karen Angle - who's a fantastic character, IMO, and is a highlight of Kurt's TNA career - and Christy Hemme, despite billed as TNA Knockouts, are put to the side, supposedly as respect to those that can wrestle. Hemme wrestles from time to time and Karen has "signed a TNA contract", but it's nothing serious.

I honestly think that TNA's women's division will draw more as a wrestling attraction than as very disappointing softcore porn. It certainly did when it was that bit more wrestling orientated. I want to go back to those days, those days of beautiful innocence when we all knew that TNA had finally done something right. I want to watch women wrestle, because it's something different, something new (to many of us) and something just downright entertaining. Wrestling is the future of this division, but these little distractions just detract from what was not more than a month or so ago my favourite thing about TNA.

And a I reiterate, Cheerleader Melissa is hot.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Ah, Slim made the point which I just countered. Sort of.

Sam, I think you are overlooking the fact that the Beautiful People draw ratings due to their looks and the fact that they draw heat, even if it is just by attacking the fan favorites.

Jake takes this position as well. I disagree with him too. Yes, the Beautiful People will draw channel flickers, but I bet you that they will never bring in consistent ratings as the headliners of the Knockout division, if they ever get that far. People who stop flicking channels at the sight of boobies aren't the sort of people who will watch week after week. However, people who see something new and refreshing in an old product (remember, there's a lot of old wrestling fans out there) will.

It seems that the casual fans will watch them because they are good looking and the hardcore TNA fans will watch them because they play good heels (good enough anyway), and probably because they are hot. Its a nice variety for TNA's womens division.

Your definitions seem skewed. If by casual fan you mean someone who tunes in once a month then maybe, maybe you're right. However, there are more regular viewers than those. Definitely more potential regular viewers at least. If they want cheap titillation then why not watch WWE? TNA offers something new. Offering the same thing as your competition gives you, at the very best, a deadlock.

Kong is the dominant champ, Kim, ODB, and Roxxi are the crowd favorites, and the Beautiful People are the cowardly cocky heels. Its just an added bonus that most guys would love to have sex with them. Thats a great dimension to have, a heel team who guys boo, then when the ladies are exiting the ring, the same guys booing are thinking "damn they look good".

But they can't wrestle for shit and degrade the product. I'd fuck a lot of people I see on TV, but I don't tune into it week after week. Jake does.

The ratings information that we have access to (whats posted online) shows that the women's division is drawing in more fans than the mens most of the time. The only reason I can see that is because non fans are watching at certain points while channel surfing. What do you think will catch their eye? Gail Kim vs ODB or Kim and ODB vs two very hot women in underwear?

I'll say again though, it's pointless hunting channel surfers. That's not going to lead to long term success. Wrestling is what regular fans want, and these are the fans that will gladly watch if you're doing something right but will gladly walk away if they see something stupid. Like I did when Kaz beat Sabin.

 

[Slim Pickns]

I see where you are coming from, but I still disagree. I know catering to channel surfers seems stupid, but I fail to see how a TNA fan will shut the TV off just because Love and Sky come out. The fact is that they pull in casual viewers and don't loose any that are already watching. If Impact can bump up their second half rating by putting hot women on with the "real" wrestlers than why not. Anything to make the ratings go up, which in turn means more money.

I know it sounds unfair to use the ratings stats posted online for my argument, but it does actually show a trend. The highest rated segments are the women's matches, particularly Love and Sky's. This shows you that channel surfers are stopping to watch, then tuning out when they are off screen while regular viewers continue to watch. It may be a skewd stat, but it makes TNA look a little better. I hear your arguments for TNA to go back to the way it was, but the fact is they have been hovering around a 1.0 since coming to Spike TV/wherever it plays in your country and nothing (not even Kurt Angle) has showed signs of changing that. The only thing that comes close are these two beauties.

 

[jjis]

Sam, women's wrestling isn't a big draw in America. It's only been big her if there's a celebrity involved(Cyndi Lauper with Richter) or with hot women, Sable/Trish in WWE. It doesn't matter if Sky/Love are shit in the ring, having great ring skills has never meant you'll be a big star. They're their for eye candy and it works so far.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I wasn't aware women's wrestling was big anywhere to be honest. The point still remains, that by putting out hot women to wrestle, you're competing with dozens of products in the mainstream which are better than you and will draw your target fans away from you. The reason the women's division draws is because of the whole "Holy shit, women can actually wrestle? And they can actually be as entertaining as the men!? HOLY SHIT!" dynamic.

People see hot women, well, fuck that, hot women are on 70 other channels at the same time. On twenty of those channels, they've got less or no clothes on. Why would they want to watch TNA's comparitively family-friendly alternative? They wouldn't. But women wrestling, decently, some of whom are hot - Kim and, er, Melissa, for example - that's something different. That's something nobody else has. That's something that nobody else has on a major channel, in the mainstream. And that's what will set TNA apart, that being the key to success. You never get great success by copying, you get it by trying something new. TNA has tried their MMA style match, that was a success, and it's gone. TNA has tried their wrestling-orientated women's division, and it was an unquestionable success - it draws the highest ratings and still does. Why are they trying to dilute it with shit like Sky and Love?

 

[Slim Pickns]

Don't look at it as a dilution but rather another dimension. Yes, people could just watch porn, but for some reason hot athletic women wrestling has always been a ratings grabber (see Attitude Era). TNA has the women's roster to pull off two solid women's matches a week and still cater to the channel surfers by having room for Love and Sky. I don't see why having them on is a bad thing. You seem to think they are watering down the matches, but I see it as TNA offering everything WWE's divas have, plus great wrestling.

Its the same as what you pointed out with superheavyweights. Khali is about as mobile as a tree, but he still has a spot on the roster due to the fact that he is a spectacle, people want to see him. The WWE can still have an hour and a half of solid programming on Smackdown and still showcase Khali. Thats what TNA has with the Beautiful People.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Don't look at it as a dilution but rather another dimension. Yes, people could just watch porn, but for some reason hot athletic women wrestling has always been a ratings grabber (see Attitude Era).

See Attitude Era? Sable did a grind and that was about it. It was the least prominent part of the attitude era by far, so ratings grabber? I don't think so. And if you want hot athletic women wrestling, there are dozens of decent ones there waiting in the indies to gladly do a fantastic job of it (see Cheerleader Melissa). Hell, most people just use "regular" women's matches to go take a pee, as evidence by WM24.

TNA has the women's roster to pull off two solid women's matches a week and still cater to the channel surfers by having room for Love and Sky. I don't see why having them on is a bad thing. You seem to think they are watering down the matches, but I see it as TNA offering everything WWE's divas have, plus great wrestling.

WWE divas could have five feet long breats for all I care, because they nothing to their product. Why does TNA think their product is different? I mean, at least they have decent wrestlers kicking 'em in, but decent wrestlers kicking in decent wrestlers would be far better.

Its the same as what you pointed out with superheavyweights. Khali is about as mobile as a tree, but he still has a spot on the roster due to the fact that he is a spectacle, people want to see him. The WWE can still have an hour and a half of solid programming on Smackdown and still showcase Khali. Thats what TNA has with the Beautiful People.

They could just cut Sky and and Love out the roster and make a roster of beautiful people which is more of a spectacle, because they can wrestle. Just give me a phone, a few grand, Echelon's inbox and goddamn it, TNA, I will make your women's division even better.

 

[psykohurricane]

And the beautiful people are, want for a better word, shit. I'm going to be embarrassingly honest here and admit I don't even know who Angelina Love and Velvet Sky are. I know obscure Japanese wrestlers and have even seen matches from the oldest of old school, but I have no knowledge on these two. I think they may have been in WWE at some point, but that's presuming I've ever watched that piece of shit they call a women's division. Defending WWE's women's division is as pointless as defending their tag or cruiserweight divisions, but that's going off the point a bit. The point I'm trying to make is that the Beautiful People must have an incredible background to stop all the hate being spread because from what I've seen is they're atrocious. Their promos were semi-interesting the first time but now they're just repetitive, and their storyline is ridiculously cliche. Then there's the meat and bones of it - the actual wrestling. Do they do anything other than punches? No, I'm seriously asking, that's not rhetorical. Horrible, and a waste of time for ODB, Gail Kim and Roxxi... Frenchname.

So since you don't know who Velvet Sky and Angelina love are, am going to give you a little background informations on them.

Angelina Love started in in 2000 and was trained by Rob '' El fuergo'' Etcheverria. She mostly wrestle under the name Angel Williams and at the beginning of her career she wrestle mostly in canada. Then in 2004 she sign a development contract with WWE and got sent to Deep South Wrestling for some more training and was one of there main star. She was supposed to be called up a couple of times but everytime she would be on the verge of being called up, the storyline was cancelled and she would get stuck in development hell for until 2007 when she was finally release. The WWE never really release the reason why she got release but the rumor was that she wasn'T beautiful enough to be on the main roster. after being release she wrestle for a couple of month in mexico under the name Canadian Angel before being contacted by TNA.

here a link of Angelina love in Deep South Wrestling
[youtube]VsiCashdkQg[/youtube]

Velvet sky is mostly known as Talia madison in the independant circuit. She trained to be a wrestler Jason Knight's "House of Pain Pro Wrestling Dojo and started her wrestling career in 2004. She won numerous title during here career including the WXW championship and WEW championship. She did appear a couple of time on WWE tv but nothing really happened.

Here a link of Velvet Sky before she was in TNA
[youtube]LCHbUL3KFLI[/youtube]

So now that i gave you some background information, let me tell you that i don't necessarily think that drop to beautiful people and bringing in Cheerleader Melissa just for the sake of change is a good idea. Sure the woman's division is becoming stale and Awesome Kong is mostly look at as a monster instead of a champion. But the fact is that for now Melissa is doing a great job as her manager and i don'T you need to have her in both roles right now especially if they decide to make Raisha seed wrestle again. HAs for the Beautiful People, i think they deserve the push that they are getting right now, let face it, Angelina love as been in this buisness almost as long as Melissa and even if see doesn't have the same experiences as melissa, she's still a good wrestler that never really got a break. Has for Velvet sky, she might not have has much experience as the other 2 but she wrestle all over that U.S for a couple of years and wrestle again and with some of the best independant wrestlers in the U.S. so the break that she getting right now is also well deserve. So let's face it, Everytime these 2 get in the ring, the ratings does go up and it'S not just people channel surfing that get those ratings is people that are actually fans of these 2, so i say let them have there moment right now because i think that there segment are some of the best segment on impact right now.

 

[DeadmanInc.]

So that video was the first time I've seen Cheerleader Melissa in action and I must say, my jaw dropped. Why the hell is TNA wasting that talent? TNA has Kong as champion and they can't find a way to take the belt off of her because she doesn't really have a good opponent. Melissa and Kong could have an awesome match. She was amazing against the guys, she could handle Kong.


Anyways, I disagree with your point about the Beautiful People. They may not be that great in the ring, but they certainly play their characters well. They're the cowardly and cocky heels of the Knockout division so they don't need to be that great in the ring. It's believable when they win using underhanded tactics. This is much different from WWE's divas where someone like Maria or Candice can get clean wins over the much better wrestlers and the fans are supposed to accept it. Candice has really improved but I don't think she deserved to beat Melina.

The Beautiful People great at drawing heat because their gimmick is so realistic. Who hasn't met a snobby hot girl before? IMO, they don't suck at wrestling, they just aren't as good as the 4 core Knockouts. Wrestling is not just about actual wrestling ability, it's also about entertainment. The Beautiful People are great at playing their character and they aren't as awful in the ring as some of WWE's Divas.

 

[Slim Pickns]

See Attitude Era? Sable did a grind and that was about it. It was the least prominent part of the attitude era by far, so ratings grabber? I don't think so. And if you want hot athletic women wrestling, there are dozens of decent ones there waiting in the indies to gladly do a fantastic job of it (see Cheerleader Melissa). Hell, most people just use "regular" women's matches to go take a pee, as evidence by WM24.

So are you saying that the women during the attitude era got no crowd reaction and didn't effect the ratings at all? You must be blind if you think there were not fat old men in the crowd and watching at home just to see The Kat vs Debra in an evening gown match.

WWE divas could have five feet long breats for all I care, because they nothing to their product. Why does TNA think their product is different? I mean, at least they have decent wrestlers kicking 'em in, but decent wrestlers kicking in decent wrestlers would be far better.

This is your opinion, again the ratings prove most do not agree. TNA has always been about technical wrestling and look where it has gotten them.

They could just cut Sky and and Love out the roster and make a roster of beautiful people which is more of a spectacle, because they can wrestle. Just give me a phone, a few grand, Echelon's inbox and goddamn it, TNA, I will make your women's division even better.

Sure, they could just cut the only two people who have shown to be on when the ratings are at their highests. I'm not doubting the talent of Melissa or anyone else you or Ech could show me, but I still think its assine that you have a huge problem with TNA showcasing two women who have been getting audiences' attentions.

 

[Uncle Sam]

So are you saying that the women during the attitude era got no crowd reaction and didn't effect the ratings at all? You must be blind if you think there were not fat old men in the crowd and watching at home just to see The Kat vs Debra in an evening gown match.

They got reactions, alright. What Will would call "CM Punk" reactions. They got reactions because they were there, but they were very low down on the list of things people wanted to see. Right down there with Spike Dudley or whatever.

This is your opinion, again the ratings prove most do not agree. TNA has always been about technical wrestling and look where it has gotten them.

Where it is today. In six years they've made it to be the number two promotion. The reason they've stayed there is because of schizophrenic booking and the management never keeping anything constant. If someone likes something, odds are it'll be gone or different in a months time.

Sure, they could just cut the only two people who have shown to be on when the ratings are at their highests.

Women as a whole have drawn the highest ratings, yet TNA still sees fit to put it on the shelf and let it go stagnant. My problem isn't with the Beaituful People as such, although it kind of is, it's that TNA hasjust repeated the same crap over and over. There's two settings to TNA's women's division - ODB/Kim vs. Kong and what we have now. There's literally not been anything different and it's coming up to a year in existence.

I'm not doubting the talent of Melissa or anyone else you or Ech could show me, but I still think its assine that you have a huge problem with TNA showcasing two women who have been getting audiences' attentions.

It's questionable they've been getting the audience's attentions at all. As far as I know, that's just Kim/ODM/Roxxi getting the reaction. I'll need a proper breakdown of the ratings to properly judge. Fact of the matter is, there are tons of women out there who can wrestle, who have the looks, and who have unique gimmicks. Melissa is one of these people. I don't have a problem with the Beautiful People that much - although I feel the "they paid their dues" argument to be irrelevant - I just want TNA to expand their women's division and show off where they're most different to their rivals.

 

[Father:_Polley]

The thing about the Beautiful People gimmick, is that Angelina Love was thought to be not attractive for WWE and Talia Madison was told that she would be best served with implants. Ok, they are the 'sex sells' portion of the knockouts, but there is only so many fans that want to watch women grapple...the rest want the potential to see a bit of skin.

The difference is though...compared to the eye candy on WWE, Beautiful People can actually wrestle. they're not the best on the roster by any means, but at least they can make a match look reputable.

As for Melissa, I think it'll happen shortly whenever the pair split up. In the meantime, thr promise of Shantelle Taylor appearing shortly, and Melissa coming along afterwards will only help boost the women's division...in both talent and looks. She is rather hot as well as impressive in the ring

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I think that many people underestimate The Beautiful People, mainly because of the name. As Polley said, they are not the best wrestlers on the roster, but they can wrestle. Also, they have the best entrance in all of wrestling. It has style, it has sex appeal, and it overlflows with the sheer cockiness of their gimmick. You can just feel the hate and arousal every time they enter the ring. Plus not every female on the TNA roster has to be the top wrestler. If they were, then people would then try to dissect why one good female was booked to go over another one.

Cheerleader Melissa looked very impressive in her debut match. I also dug the footabe that I saw here of her. She looked as hardcore as anybody in her matches with men and would probably match up pretty well in a women's hardcore match with Kong, ODB, or Gail Kim. But then there lies the problem. While there are probably men on the TNA roster that she could go toe to toe with, the Spike rule on male on female violence will prevent this. Plus Kong uses some similar moves to some of her moveset. But she would still be a nice addition.

All in all, I like what TNA is doing with the knockouts. They are creating secondary stories in the division without making the ladies dependent on the men to further them such as you see in WWE with Mickie James. Plus, they are keeping Kong looking strong during this whole period while they push the Beautiful People versus ODB and Kim angle. Besides, if nothing else, somebody has to be talent enhancement, right?

 

[Uncle Sam]

Cheerleader Melissa looked very impressive in her debut match. I also dug the footabe that I saw here of her. She looked as hardcore as anybody in her matches with men and would probably match up pretty well in a women's hardcore match with Kong, ODB, or Gail Kim. But then there lies the problem. While there are probably men on the TNA roster that she could go toe to toe with, the Spike rule on male on female violence will prevent this. Plus Kong uses some similar moves to some of her moveset. But she would still be a nice addition.

Alright then, let's talk Melissa. Firstly, the whole male/female violence thing isn't a problem - I'd rather see her manhandling other women anyway, the way that Kong does. As for being similar to Kong - not really. If Edge and Vader are similar then those two are. The fact is that Melissa is a very unique talent. This is backed up by the fact that several of you have admitted how your jaw dropped the floor when you watched that short tribute video - and I've seen her do even better than she exhibited in that video. Getting rid of Raisha Saeed isn't a problem - Melissa would/will be far more popular and useful than her anyway. I just hope TNA sees sense.

 

[Father:_Polley]

Alright then, let's talk Melissa. Firstly, the whole male/female violence thing isn't a problem - I'd rather see her manhandling other women anyway, the way that Kong does. As for being similar to Kong - not really. If Edge and Vader are similar then those two are. The fact is that Melissa is a very unique talent. This is backed up by the fact that several of you have admitted how your jaw dropped the floor when you watched that short tribute video - and I've seen her do even better than she exhibited in that video. Getting rid of Raisha Saeed isn't a problem - Melissa would/will be far more popular and useful than her anyway. I just hope TNA sees sense.

I agree. Melissa's a lithe hot young lady...Kong is the sort of woman you need to be into that sort of thing to find attractive. One's small and gets by on ability and leverage, the other's a monster and uses power and technique to dominate.
I think it'd be outstanding for fans to get chance to see her on the big stage, but given the smarky audience, they cant play the 'who is this girl' and have Raisha at same time. wouldn't work. needs to be one character or other and i dont know how they can do that for a while

 

[Bernkastel]

the beautiful people are basically a parody of the Divas. The way they act, look, behave, and carry themselves in a match is supposed to mirror that of the WWE divas. If you think about it, the idea behind the Beautiful People is really ingenious, as people have hated the womens division in WWE for years, the Beautiful are able to capture and harness that internal hatred and use it as fuel. The Divas are mostly terrible all around, and yet the WWE continues to shove the majority of them down our throats like their the best women's wrestlers in the world. Love and Sky use their sex appeal to draw fans in, but it's their sour and cold hearted personalities that they portray is what causes the fans to hate them. Though Love and Sky aren't the best wrestlers on the roster, they act like they are, and they belittle everyone else around them.

The fans love to hate the Beautiful People, because they know that the Beautiful people aren't the best on the roster, even though they act accordingly, (Its the same reason why people love to hate the likes of MVP, Kennedy, and HHH) the fans tune in every week in hopes of seeing the Beautiful people get knocked off their high horses. I don't think people really care that the Beautiful people aren't the best women' wrestlers on the roster, it's been proven that in ring wrestling ability alone doesn't drive ratings, its the entertainment aspect that matters. Love and Sky are both great heels, people love to hate the Beautiful People, and the fact that the Beautiful People use their sex appeal to further agitate the audience just adds more fuel to the fire. The Beautiful People also great at elevating their opponents, as I highly doubt that ODB, Roxxi Laveaux, and Gail Kim would be getting the same face reactions without the Beautiful People present. The hate that the audience feels for the Beautiful people causes them to generate louder and more enthusiastic cheers for their face opponents.

As for Melissa, TNA doesn't really need her at this point. I would say, it would be better for TNA to keep her as Raisha Saeed. If TNA really wants to mix things up, while getting use out Melissa's abilities, they should just turn Saeed face (or turn Kong face and keep Saeed heel) and turn her against Kong. Its already been established by TNA that Kong and Saeed were past allies that trained together in Japan, I think a Saeed/ Kong storyline would carry more potential and more emotion with it than a random Cheerleader Melissa vs Awesome Kong feud thrown together.

Plus anyone that has seen any of Melissa's feuds from APW, SHIMMER, or CHICKFIGHT knows that the woman couldn't cut a promo for shit. At least as Saeed, Melissa's past identity may be a secret to those that don't watch the indy circuit, but now she has the ability to practice perfecting her mic skills and promo skills, which she would need to make a Saeed/ Kong feud look credible

 

[Father:_Polley]

They do make a good counter to Kim, ODB and Roxxi and sell them to the crowd as faces, and let's face it, that's a good heel's job, make the crowd hate them and they do it very well.
Also, it's a clear shot at WWE, portraying the Divas as self-obsessed, shallow and arrogant women (hmmm, it's a good portrayal actually), getting by on looks and thinking they can wrestle.

Saeed being turned on/turning on Kong is about the only way they can work the programme in my mind. But with Shantelle Taylor meant to be debuting soon, too many new wrestlers would saturate the Division so it won't occur for a while

 

[FOTH 3:16]

You see there is a problem with you people who think we should drop The Beautiful People.These two women are good wrestlers and smokin' hot.They are a good draw because people want to see them get beat and some horny men just wanna see them.Plus they can actually wrestle.Now please explain to me why we would drop The Beautiful People.

 

[flipside20]

adding melissa into the storyline would be perfect if done NOW!! Kong is being over used as a.........well lets say bulldozer, but if melissa, aka, raisha saeed were to disrobe and challenge kong, it would make for awesome wrestling............ awesome wrestling coming from women for that matter.

it could be the perfect setup, kong has beaten them all........ no one left to face, then wham, blindsided from no where, raisha becomes melissa and wants that belt from kong
This could even work as a long feud and it would make for good television

as for the beautiful people.....they should just be fed to roxxi and ODB on a regular basis to have the usual ass beating they deserve.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Alright then, let's talk Melissa. Firstly, the whole male/female violence thing isn't a problem - I'd rather see her manhandling other women anyway, the way that Kong does. As for being similar to Kong - not really. If Edge and Vader are similar then those two are. The fact is that Melissa is a very unique talent. This is backed up by the fact that several of you have admitted how your jaw dropped the floor when you watched that short tribute video - and I've seen her do even better than she exhibited in that video. Getting rid of Raisha Saeed isn't a problem - Melissa would/will be far more popular and useful than her anyway. I just hope TNA sees sense.

Well if you read what I wrote, oh brother oh brother of mine, you would see that I stated that Melissa and Kong use a similar moveset, NOT that they were similar. You seem to be more focused on the physical than they view that it would make Melissa look less original as a power wrestler. Now if they unmasked Raisha as Melissa rather than just bringing in Melissa, it would make a little sense as it can be played off as the two trained together.

I agree that Melissa would make a better heel character alongside Kong and eventually a great opponent when one turns face than Saeed. The problem right now is that TNA has stocked itself with so many knockouts that their division is almost as big as the men's roster. It actually might be a good idea, given that there are alot of Knockout tag matches, to make a Knockouts tag title or a secondary Knockouts title. Hopefully, the Knockouts division will shape up nicely and not become a clusterfuck, as they would need a second show in order to showcase them all.