Divas Division in 2013

[TJWWE]

In the past year, the WWE Diva Division has lost major and popular talents such as Kharma, Beth, Kelly, Bellas and now Eve. With a new champion in NXTS3 winner, Kaitlyn, the only heel to possibly challenge her is Tamina (More personality in a banana than her). So, with the current crop of women from both the main roster and NXT, what should they be doing with all of the women?

WWE:
AJ Lee - She's doing great with her current role. I'd have her go Crazy on Ziggler, leave him and turn back to babyface and be the face of the division.

Aksana - She was getting their with the in-ring side of things when she was in FCW but something has changed and she seems to have gotten worse. I would just release her.

Alicia Fox - Somewhat of an underrated talent in my opinion. She is very flexible and can show that she's good in the ring. I'd turn her back heel to how she was during her title reign.

Cameron/Naomi - PLEASE!!! split these 2 away from Brodus and have them as a babyface team but let Naomi have more singles matches. I'd actually release Cameron and keep Naomi.

Kaitlyn - Her first ever match was on WWE NXT TV! From then until now, she has progressed alot in the ring. Her character is the 'Girl Next Door' it's working for her, just not even to give her the title.

Tamina - My opinion on Tamina is simple. Just because she is the daughter of the Superfly, doesn't mean that she is good in-ring. She is ok but she has NO charisma at all! I'd keep her heel but not as the top heel.

Natalya - What the hell are they doing with her at the minute! Putting her with 2 of the most comedy-type characters in WWE history. Why are they doing this to her and to us? Just PLEASE!! remove her away from them 2, keep her face and have her as the secondary babyface.

Rosa Mendes - Just no. She is pure HOT with that hip shaking and she's good with the valet stuff. Keep her their and don't put her in the ring. This past week on Smackdown, she made Natalya look bad. I'd release her.

Layla - I'd turn Layla heel and have her as the top heel.

NXT:
Anya - I've not seen her wrestle yet but apprently, she's like a mix of Beth and Chyna, with the power so who knows.

Audrey Marie - She's ok in the ring. Nothing special. I'd keep her on NXT.

Charlotte - The daugher of the Nature Boy, Ric Flair. Words have been going around that she is getting really good in the ring. I'd like to see her move up to the main roster as a babyface, have Ric in her corner for a month or 2 so that she can get over and then let her go on her own.

Dani - Who? End of. Release her.

Emma - The women with the strange-hypnotic dancing. She's good but no personality. Keep her on NXT.

Paige - The Diva that needs to move to the main roster instantly!!

Sasha Banks - She has a cool swag about her. Leave her on NXT for a while so she can improve her character.

Summer Rae - She is a mixture of Kelly and Maryse, with the looks and the character. I'd have her move to the main roster as a Maryse-esque character. She is apprently good in the ring.

So, what would you do with the women?

 

[Wald]

I'd scrap the entire division. It is absolutely worthless having a division when all they get as a 2 minute match on Raw, Smackdown and PPV.

Unless they're given actually storyline and character progression and are granted a 10 minute slot on either Raw, Smackdown or both there is no point in having them there

 

[wrestlingfan]

I say just scrap the Division. At least if they scrap it and feminist orgs accuse them of discriminating against women, WWE could at least use the excuse "There isn't enough female talent".

It actually makes them look more sexist by having a Divas Division where the women are used as either bathroom breaks or sex symbols.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The girls they should focus on the most are AJ, Natalya, and Layla. Kaitlyn has improved a lot too. I still don't think she was ready to be champion yet, but she's better than a good number of the others. Few of the others are remotely talented or interesting. The first thing I would do is have AJ become Divas Champion. Then I'd have her feud with and defeat every single other diva on the roster one by one, until the only one left she has not faced is Natalya, who should have been built up this entire time on the side. I'd have the two of them in a lengthy feud to finally give the division some good quality matches and promos that it deserves.

Meanwhile, they can work with girls like Kaitlyn or Layla who are a little better than the rest of the roster. They need to be the main candidates for feuds with the winner of the AJ VS Natalyta angle once it has ended. Most of the rest suck and there's a reason fans use their matches are breaks most of the time. I do not know much about any of the ladies from the developmental area.... If any of them are talented enough to make it on the main roster, they should continue to train until they are ready and them have them come up to Raw/Smackdown to work matches/angles with someone who can actually pull off a good match, Natalya comes to mind. There is hope for the division, but they have GOT to push the right girls or else it will continue to get worse.

 

[WrestlingSabermetrics]

I hate to say it, but I think scraping the Divas Division is probably the best thing to do. Does anyone know where I can find first and second hour ratings for Raw for the past few months? I would change my opinion if the division actually contributed to boosting ratings.

There was actually a well done study in 2007 out of Yale which I'll look for that found that "sexiness" in women in commercials and in broadcast actually took away from product sales and tv ratings because people forgot what was being sold and what news was being discussed. It was all over the media for about a week and was very fascinating. I wouldn't be shocked (actually it's probably likely) if the Divas Division started to take off if they didn't make it a beauty pageant. I think women like Kelly Kelly and Maryse leaving the company was actually a good thing (I think Vince knew this as well). I think women like Natalya and Beth Phoenix (who is unfortunately gone) are best for the division. I like A.J. as well because she's got a lot of charisma in the ring as well as the looks (which are more of a bonus than anything), so for now I'd do an A.J.-Natalya angle.

 

[Saeros]

In the past year, the WWE Diva Division has lost major and popular talents such as Kharma, Beth, Kelly, Bellas and now Eve. With a new champion in NXTS3 winner, Kaitlyn, the only heel to possibly challenge her is Tamina (More personality in a banana than her). So, with the current crop of women from both the main roster and NXT, what should they be doing with all of the women?

WWE:
AJ Lee - She's doing great with her current role. I'd have her go Crazy on Ziggler, leave him and turn back to babyface and be the face of the division.

Aksana - She was getting their with the in-ring side of things when she was in FCW but something has changed and she seems to have gotten worse. I would just release her.

Alicia Fox - Somewhat of an underrated talent in my opinion. She is very flexible and can show that she's good in the ring. I'd turn her back heel to how she was during her title reign.

Cameron/Naomi - PLEASE!!! split these 2 away from Brodus and have them as a babyface team but let Naomi have more singles matches. I'd actually release Cameron and keep Naomi.

Kaitlyn - Her first ever match was on WWE NXT TV! From then until now, she has progressed alot in the ring. Her character is the 'Girl Next Door' it's working for her, just not even to give her the title.

Tamina - My opinion on Tamina is simple. Just because she is the daughter of the Superfly, doesn't mean that she is good in-ring. She is ok but she has NO charisma at all! I'd keep her heel but not as the top heel.

Natalya - What the hell are they doing with her at the minute! Putting her with 2 of the most comedy-type characters in WWE history. Why are they doing this to her and to us? Just PLEASE!! remove her away from them 2, keep her face and have her as the secondary babyface.

Rosa Mendes - Just no. She is pure HOT with that hip shaking and she's good with the valet stuff. Keep her their and don't put her in the ring. This past week on Smackdown, she made Natalya look bad. I'd release her.

Layla - I'd turn Layla heel and have her as the top heel.

NXT:
Anya - I've not seen her wrestle yet but apprently, she's like a mix of Beth and Chyna, with the power so who knows.

Audrey Marie - She's ok in the ring. Nothing special. I'd keep her on NXT.

Charlotte - The daugher of the Nature Boy, Ric Flair. Words have been going around that she is getting really good in the ring. I'd like to see her move up to the main roster as a babyface, have Ric in her corner for a month or 2 so that she can get over and then let her go on her own.

Dani - Who? End of. Release her.

Emma - The women with the strange-hypnotic dancing. She's good but no personality. Keep her on NXT.

Paige - The Diva that needs to move to the main roster instantly!!

Sasha Banks - She has a cool swag about her. Leave her on NXT for a while so she can improve her character.

Summer Rae - She is a mixture of Kelly and Maryse, with the looks and the character. I'd have her move to the main roster as a Maryse-esque character. She is apprently good in the ring.

So, what would you do with the women?

AJ - Turning her face again would just be boring. Im enjoying her character at the moment. Shes been girlfriend with a heel, had a fling with a heel, was a face GM, started a fling with Cena, then turned and actually became stable in terms of her character and now you want her to turn so soon after she already has? Give her character some stability and become the top heel diva is a better option IMO. Give her the title at Mania i say and stay at the side of Ziggler after he cashes in at Mania and have them as champions ruling the roost for a while.

Aksana - Needs work in ring and in promos. Id either release her as you said or just keep her around as eye candy in a role similar to what Teddy Long does now. Where you get to see her once or twice a week but she doesnt do much.

Alicia Fox - They aint got a clue what to do with her, and TBH neither have i. Shes decent in ring but something about her tells me shes not going to live up to her potential.

Cameron and Naomi - Release them both, Naomi is hugely over-rated. Never been a fan of her.

Kaitlyn - Still needs lots of work but shes coming along alright. I get the feeling this divas title run is a test to see how she does.

Tamina - May not have the charisma but She has menace. Something the Divas division lacks at the moment. Kharma isnt coming back anytime soon and Beth Phoenix has left. Tamina fits in nicely as the "dominant" female.

Natalya - Painful. She is someone who deserves better and i rarely say that as i see the WWE in a different light than most people on the forum do. But this is a woman who has paid her dues to the WWE and the wrestling industry and IMO from her in ring performances and her willingness to do garbage such as flatulence angles and walk around waving like the queen wearing long dresses. Id have her turn heel, physically dismantle other divas in the ring with technical matches and announce that shes bringing wrestling back to the Divas division.

Rosa - Just because she made Natalya "look bad" in one match doesnt mean she deserves to be released. She has her uses as eye candy. Keep her as a manager. On the mic she isnt that bad and has some charisma, more so when shes actually in front of the crowd rather than in a pre-taped segment

Layla - I feel horrible as in English and so is she...but she bores the holy fuck out of me. Her voice is hideous aswell. I dont really know what id do with her. I dont think she got over as a face, so turn her heel and put her back to her "beautiful people" gimmick or whatever that team with Mccool was.
.......
NXT
.......
Anya - Not seen, cant judge. Will not listen to speculation as ive lernt the hard way to not build my hopes up on certain wrestlers.

Audrie Marie - Decent in the ring, has had some decent matches with Paige but still needs another year or two in development.

Charlotte - Yes the reports state shes progressing well, but that is no reason to throw her onto the main roster now. Shes only been signed since may and started appearing on nxt what, 4 months ago if that? Keep her in NXT and let her progress more, then bring her up and feud with Natalya in a Hart vs Flair feud that maybe brings Flair and Bret face to face.

Dani - Ok here is where i have to point out that i think you're being totally ignorant and idiotic in your comments now. This girl got signed at the middle to the end of last year, and because you havent heard of her? Yeah...good one. By that logic John Cena should of been fired 3 months into signing a OVW development deal because everyone would of said "who"

Emma - No personality? How much have you seen of her? 2-3 matches and you judge her on that. She had no gimmick for the first few matches on NXT months ago and now shes actually got a character (which is horrible might i add) you assume she has no personality. How about waiting and seeing if she can cut a promo or see where she goes with this character in ring instead of saying she has no personality after seeing her once or twice. Again i hate to bring it up again but many thought John Cena had no personality when he debuted...

Paige - I wouldnt say move her up instantly, but she is the Diva with the most potential. Definatly the next Diva to get called up in my opinion. The Natalya storyline i mentioned could be used for her aswell (minus the hart/flair part) whereby she attacks the divas champion and others by using her good wrestling knowledge and assuming all other Divas are typical bimbos who cant wrestle until another Diva steps up against her, Maybe Natalya or a returning Beth Phoenix/Kely Kelly

Summer Rae - i havent seen much of her in ring ability but on the mic i thought she was alright as the GM of FCW early last year or in 2011 whenever it was. So i cant comment on her due to lack of knowledge

Overall the Divas division needs some work. The talent itself isnt that bad. Its not where it could be as a shitload of talent have now gone. Maryse, Kharma, Eve, Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Michelle Mccool were all good talent that excelled at certain aspects. Sadly i dont see their talent in the likes of Alicia Fox, Cameron and Naomi, Aksana, Layla, Rosa or Kaitlyn. All of them are nowhere above average on the mic and none are decent in the ring baring Layla who isnt that bad, but isnt that good either. Kaitlyn can definatly improve though and has the most potential out of those i just mentioned. AJ is there or thereabouts.

So what id do is this. do everything i could to convince her and hire Nora Greenwald (Molly Holly) as the Divas trainer. While having a male trainer is great aswell it'd be nothing but beneficial for them to learn from one of the best womans wrestlers to of ever been in the WWE in terms of actual wrestling ability.

Then id trim the fat. Get rid of some of the Divas on the current roster or send them down to NXT. Following that, id also reach out and do everything in my power to try to entice Beth Phoenix and Kharma back. I dont think Kelly Kelly or Maryse would be willing to come back.

And id keep the Divas roster small in terms of those actually wrestling. Rosa can stay non wrestling and if shes interested in wrestling then get more training. Also, Bring up Paige
The roster would look as follows
AJ
Alicia Fox
Beth Phoenix
Kaitlyn
Kharma
Layla
Natalya
Paige

The rest as i mentioned, Fire, make them just managers or send to NXT.

Keeping the Divas division small and confined to about 7-8 Divas will hopefully get the audience to actually care about them again. Instead of One diva winning and then having a challenger that gets beaten and then another diva steps up all the while taking it in turns so half the divas roster has fuck all to do for 6 months of the year until they get their month in the spotlight before either being given the title or fading back into obscurity. And give them something to do. If they're not feuding for the title, dont have them sitting on the sidelines doing nothing or walking down to the ring waving like their the queen of england. One Feud for the title between 2 or 3 divas, one feud between 2 or 3 other divas and the other 2-3 divas get involved elsewhere like AJ has done. She hasnt been part of the Divas title scene yet shes more relevant and over than any diva on the current roster.

And that'd be my plan.

 

[RobinVanDutch]

I have read somewhere that Paige isn't allowed to wrestle on the main roster yet? The reason was that she just turned 20 years old and the age limit in WWE is 21? Not sure if this is true or not.

 

[ShatteredDreamsProduction]

Aksana - Needs work in ring and in promos. Id either release her as you said or just keep her around as eye candy in a role similar to what Teddy Long does now. Where you get to see her once or twice a week but she doesnt do much.

I'm sure you just called teddy long "eye candy" somewhere in that.

As for the divas division.
Kaitlyn is actually a promising Diva I think. And with a bit of help and the right storyline could go a long way

AJ needs to be brought back into wrestling instead of just managing. Maybe give her a shot at the title at WM when dolph is challenging the same night.

Rosa Mendez, from what I can work out on twitter. Is training hard in the gym. Trying to get stronger so she can do more moves and become a better wrestler. Think she senses epico and primo may not be in WWE much longer.

Aksana really hasn't got much going for her at the moment. Ever since her and Cesaro split. She has sort of just drifted along in little pointless segments.

Alicia Fox has actually got quite a bit of talent in the ring for today's Diva standards. WWE needs to make up their mind whether she is heel or face though.

Natalya really upsets me with how she has been treated. Worked hard to get to WWE. Has an awesome lineage wrestling wise. And is left to be a comedy filler. She is so much better than that. And is a really good technical wrestler.

Now I haven't seen much of Paige. But I hear she is gonna be the next big thing Diva wise. I think the only reason WWE haven't called her up yet is because of her age. She is what? 19. With her being English. And the anti diva. I can see some form of alliance between her and wade Barrett. Like a golden couple who go around righting the wrongs of today's WWE.

As for the other divas. Just build a solid secondary around them. People like taming who can be a dominant heel. The funkettes could be a nice little face tag team to take on some heel divas.

The NXT Divas have some talent between them as we'll. I like the idea of bringing in Molly holly as a trainer for the divas. Maybe even get Lita and Trish to come back and train some up as well.
And throw some decent story lines their way. Bring back the women's title. Give them more telly exposure than being filler. Or instead of putting Vicky Guerrero in a main event match. Actually put divas who can wrestle there instead.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Why would anybody scrap Divas Division? Its a feast to my eyes to see beutifull women in skimpy outfit fighting in ring. I would rather watch that then some "Monster wrestler" to squash some jobbers anytime.

Division is weak long time ago. Every talent that they tried to build is either released or quited due to personal issues. My thought is they dont really care too much and if they would care they would keep Beth Phoenix, Kharma, Melina or even Maryse and Michelle Mccool and most recently Eve. All they tried to build over the course of years either released or left and no wonder that the Divas Division is at such poor shape. Raquel Diaz(daughter od Eddie and Vickie Guerrero) had potential and she personally requested to be released. If they would put some effort in Divas and build them right maybe it would be better, like this they are at the state where everybody whos ever been champion of division left. Not much future in that...

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I'm so beyond done caring about the Divas division. It has nothing to do with sexism or 2-minute squash matches. Ok, maybe it has a little to do with the later of those two, but honestly...I'm just sick of investing into a girl that's not going to be around in 6 months.

I was really excited when Kharma showed up. Obviously what happened with her was a tragedy and they can't control that, but it was still a big disappointment. And then, despite all the criticism, Kelly Kelly was finally starting to come along. She was drawing a great reaction from the fans, and was actually looking like a pro wrestler in some of her later matches. And just when I finally got into her, she left to go...do whatever the hell she's doing. A fwe months prior, the exact same thing happened with the Bella Twins.

My most recent loss was Eve, obviously. She was my favorite Diva before her departure. A great in-ring athlete, and one of the few girls not afraid to speak. She had a great personality about her, and drew heat rather well. And once again, at the very peak of her performance, she left. Just like Kelly, just like the Twins, and just like pretty much every Diva I've gotten into the last few years. And so this time I just don't care. Kaitlyn is alright, with a good look and an intensity about her. I like her use of the spear. But she's not great in the ring, and she still hasn't come into her own as a charismatic face. There's certainly time for her to progress, but do I dare start to invest in her? I just don't care anymore...

 

[Saeros]

I'm sure you just called teddy long "eye candy" somewhere in that.

Teddy sure is easy on the eye with his flabby bald head and manly moustache...

In all seriousness i can see why you read it like that but i meant in a role similar to what teddy long does now, as a personal aid or assistant to someone.

Paige is 20 years old, she's 21 this year sometime. Now i dont know if the WWE's policy has changed but lets not forget Rene Dupree made his debut when he was 19 back in 2003.

My thought is they dont really care too much and if they would care they would keep Beth Phoenix, Kharma, Melina or even Maryse and Michelle Mccool and most recently Eve. All they tried to build over the course of years either released or left and no wonder that the Divas Division is at such poor shape. Raquel Diaz(daughter od Eddie and Vickie Guerrero) had potential and she personally requested to be released.

Melina was nothing special and apparently caused trouble backstage. No matter how good someone is, if you bitch and moan backstage you go nowhere.

Maryse was never there long term. Be honest none of the models that come in are. Thats the problem WWE has. Even Trish Stratus. They use WWE to launch their own careers and get their name out there. Thats all.

Kharma (apparently) ballooned extremely and was very out of shape, and the WWE released her in the hope she could get back in shape and sort herself back out. Sad really but it does happen a fair bit when women lose their children.

Raquel Diaz will be back sometime according to reports. Apparently she was just burned out with the constant training over the past 2 years and needs a rest. But thats if you trust WZ and other sites like it.

 

[The Butcher]

I'm with those that call for it to be scrapped. It was bad for a long time, and now it's just superfluous. The matches don't serve anyone well, the ladies have nothing to work with storyline-wise, and the one Diva that's over, AJ, is more a valet than a wrestler anyway.

WWE needs to scorch the Earth and start over. AJ Lee is the only certified keeper in the bunch, for my money. Aksana, Rosa, Cameron and Layla are great for filling out the months on the Divas calendar, but none of them garners any kind of a reaction above the waist. Tamina, Alicia, Naomi, and especially Natalya are athletic and would be fine contenders in a real women's division, but are poorly utilized.

I'd hate to once again be accused of having an opinion on a talent before they can show off all of their amazing skills, but I've never thought much of Kaitlyn. She's got a pretty face, but her build is stumpy and boxy. Her in-ring skills are passable, but that's about it. Whatever charisma she has must not translate through the television. If she gets over to remotely the degree that Eve or Kelly were then I'll be impressed.

The NXT girls should be held where they're at while WWE fixes the Divas mess, otherwise they'll just be the latest in the revolving door of interchangeable faces and one-word names.

 

[TJ Matics]

I have never had the extreme displeasure of reading the opinion of so many sheep. The majority of you are hardly agreeing with one another, your just echoing the same exact thing someone else just said instead of forming your own opinions.

I'm 100% sure Naomi, AJ, Layla, and Paige could out wrestle the majority of you trolls acting like Einsteins behind your desktops.

Anywho, the division needs two things, effort and direction. In case you creative geniuses haven't noticed, the E has been putting a lot more effort into the division. The problem is, there's still no direction. In 2013 the E needs to continue to put in more effort, longer matches and storylines, but there also needs to be a general direction for the division as well.

There's no good reason why AJ can't be the crazy girlfriend as well as a wrestler. I say have her and Kaitlyn start up a feud for the title. Maybe Kaitlyn brings up that her and Dolph aren't exactly strangers, and wala magic ! They feud leading to AJ winning of course. Kaitlyn is okay, and I was happy she won the title, but AJ's obviously the "it" diva right now with her amount of exposure and crowd reaction. Having her hold the title for a while could only lead to good things for her and the division.

Now for the main roster :
Obviously AJ as Champion
Layla
Kaitlyn
For dear heavens let Naomi wrestle, maybe a feud can break out between her and Cameron, gasp ! That means there could be two feuds in the division at once !
A.Fox
Naomi
Paige

 

[info62]

Melina was nothing special and apparently caused trouble backstage. No matter how good someone is, if you bitch and moan backstage you go nowhere.

I'd rather watch Melina than 90% of the current roster, males included. She actually had personality and charisma and that was so refreshing for the women's division.

As for the current division, I haven't been paying much attention since Beth left but first they need to stop treating Natalya like garbage. It's getting to the point where I'm hoping she just leaves like Victoria did when was getting on TV once every 3 months or so.

I am not a fan of AJ Lee's character, it is a watered down, yet overexposed version of Mickie James imo. For me to stop fast forwarding her segments/matches would require a complete character overhaul but I seem to be in the minority here, so whatever. I think she is talented but I cannot sit through the gimmick they gave her. I will say at least they are putting some effort in her character.

I don't want them to get rid of the women's division. I wish they would start hiring women with charisma. The stereotype that all women wrestlers kill the crowd is there because they aren't even looking for women with personality/mic skills/charisma. At least that is the impression I get. If in 2013 they start hiring women who have even the smallest idea on how to make people care about them, I will be happy.

 

[akathelaw]

I think the Divas division is a huge mess at the moment and putting the title on Kaitlyn makes it worse. Every divas Championship match that Kaitlyn will wrestle will be bad, she's too green. What's worse, she gets a wimpy reaction from the crowd, her ring gear looks like ODB's leftovers, and her mic skills are nonexistent.

AJ's the strongest diva, she should be holding the title. Let Tamina job to Kaitlyn in a forgettable Rumble match, then build to a Kaitlyn vs. AJ title match at Elimination Chamber. With the title back on AJ, start to overhaul the Divas division around her. I'd start bringing in new Divas immediately because the few they have aren't very good.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

I'm with the few who have said to scrap the division. There's nothing captivating about it right now. It's not even a shadow of what it was when you had Lita, Trish, Chyna, and others putting on good matches.

As I stated in the Royal Rumble Diva's match thread the major issue with women's wrestling these days is the girls let their success go to their head and they're out the door as soon as they can go... As if another example was needed: Eve Torres just left to do her bit on the Gracie Breakdown. How selfish.

WWE spent a lot of time developing her character, especially during the Big Johnny segments. She got over a little bit, became a bit of a household name and then bailed.

If I was the WWE I would scrap the entire division and focus more on making women valets again. That doesn't mean don't keep them training with Sara Del Ray. You can still put on the occasional divas match... but there's no reason for there to be titles involved when there's hardly any talent worth showcasing for the belt. And you can always bring it back once you have enough women that can actually work solid matches.

 

[gk11973]

I Recall just before Beth Phoenix left, they finally had a televised match between her and Natalya. It was quite good, and the audience was into the match. This is the type of thing the Diva's division needs to be based around. There is female talent, both on the current roster, in NXT and in in the indies. But until the female athletes are allowed to develop personalities, cut promos, and have real meaningful exciting feuds, they majority of the fans will continue to see them as filler. This is not the fault of the women, it is the fault of the WWE. They put next to nothing into the womens division, so how can they expect to get anything out of it? They have trained the audience not to care so they don't. Even the announcers tend to veer off on other topics when there is Diva match on TV. I Give JBL a lot of credit as he really seems to try to get them over, but the when Cole and Lawler are off on some tangent, he is fighting a losing battle. Lots of people have mentioned how many of the Women leave during their time at the top, and that is true, but perhaps its because even whey they are given the top slot, they are disappointed in how the E handles things. So maybe they leave because they are frustrated. Just a thought.... I really hope that can focus on what they want the division to be, hopefully a wrestling one, and work hard towards that. If one of the women got as much air time and promo time as Cena, think of how over she could be... but they never give anyone the chance.

 

[d_henderson1810]

My solution would be to take the most popular and charimastic diva in WWE, and build the division around her.

Who I am talking about is-AJ Lee!

Look, AJ has personality, the crowds, and those on the internet, love her, and she has all the tools to carry the division.

WWE never seem to have AJ wrestle, so I can't really determine her ringwork, but, from what I have seen, it is pretty good. Besides, people like Kelly Kelly were given the ball, so AJ could, and do a better job of it.

But, you say, what about her crazy chick persona? Glad you asked. AJ reminds a bit of someone else who played a crazy chick, was charimastic, popular with the crowd, and changed her character to become a believable Divas champion. AJ reminds me a lot of Mickie James.

James played Trish's "crazy" stalker, but when Trish retired, Mickie was given the belt, and carried the division with credibility. AJ might the most over diva since Mickie James, or before her in Trish or Lita.

AJ should dump the crazy chick gimmick (and dump Ziggler at the same time), have regular matches, climb the ladder, and then win the WWE Divas Title, and hold it for months, while fighting off challengers. I think she would still be popular, she could still cut promos, putting her a cut above most divas, and make people care about the Divas division again. The WWE is sitting on gold with AJ, but her time in backstage promos, and going from one relationship to the next may need to end, for the sake of keeping the Divas relevant.

Now, many of you will say that she is doing great things with Dolph Ziggler. But, AJ has played this character many times before, and she needs to do something new. Besides, if Ziggler is the future champion you all predict him to be, then he needs to stand on his own two feet, and show that he can cut promos on his own, and not have a mouthpiece. While he has that crutch, he will never grow. Let's see if Ziggler can cut a decent promo regularly, and see if he is worth all the hype (since you all hated on John Morrison and Shelton Benjamin, who are just as talented as Ziggler wrestling-wise, for their lack of stickwork).

Breaking them up would show us if AJ can be the new drving force in the Divas Division, and if Dolph Ziggler is a maestro on the mike, and deserving of the over-the-top hype he gets! But you people don't want this to happen, because you would love to see the Divas' Division die, and you don't want Dolph to have to cut promos, in case he is exposed as having average stickwork.

But, don't worry, it won't happen anyway. WWE don't think outside the box, but instead will just keep doing what they are doing. Vince doesn't care about divas (at least, not about their wrestling), so he let it die, and AJ and Dolph will continue to be together, placing them in the little box that WWE want to put them in.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I hate to say it, but I think scraping the Divas Division is probably the best thing to do. Does anyone know where I can find first and second hour ratings for Raw for the past few months? I would change my opinion if the division actually contributed to boosting ratings.

There was actually a well done study in 2007 out of Yale which I'll look for that found that "sexiness" in women in commercials and in broadcast actually took away from product sales and tv ratings because people forgot what was being sold and what news was being discussed. It was all over the media for about a week and was very fascinating. I wouldn't be shocked (actually it's probably likely) if the Divas Division started to take off if they didn't make it a beauty pageant. I think women like Kelly Kelly and Maryse leaving the company was actually a good thing (I think Vince knew this as well). I think women like Natalya and Beth Phoenix (who is unfortunately gone) are best for the division. I like A.J. as well because she's got a lot of charisma in the ring as well as the looks (which are more of a bonus than anything), so for now I'd do an A.J.-Natalya angle.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On your point on sexiness, I actually found Trish Stratus tremendously sexy (yes, I wanted some Stratusfaction), but when she wrestled in the ring, her looks didn't distract me from noticing that she is also the most talented Diva to ever lace a WWE boot.

Also, some guys found Lita sexy, but Lita's Litacarana and Litasault were sights to behold.

So, you can have both, and one doesn't need to detract from the other.

 

[BLeonard]

First off, it's too easy to simply say "Bring Diva X back," so one rule I'm making here is I'm only working with what I have in WWE and NXT.

Second, one important thing to remember is, the division isn't gonna get any better if you're only giving them 2 minutes every week or so. What I would propose is replacing the "Superstars" online show with an all-divas show. It's not like they have to worry about ratings and it would give the women a chance to become better workers, by working longer matches. Nothing that happens currently on Superstars is ever mentioned on RAW, SD, etc anyway, so I don't see any issue in just making it a show for the women to actually work. Having them work 5-10 minute matches on house shows probably wouldn't hurt, either. Regardless, the first thing to improving the divas division is to give it more time than the one-off matches that last 2-3 minutes.

Another thing that really bothers me about the divas is the fact that a good amount of them don't even have last names. Why do they not refer to Natalya as "Natalya Neidhart"? They mention that she's Neidhart's daughter... Why not use her last name? They finally started doing it for Tamina Snuka, after a long time of just calling her Tamina. It's a small complaint, but I think it's a valid one.

As for the actual workers, here's what I would do:

AJ - I like the role she is in, but should wrestle more. A feud with Kaitlyn should be a natural. I see no reason why she can't wrestle on top of being with Ziggler.

Aksana - Either send her back to NXT to work on her wrestling or release her. Unfortunately, with her accent, it's sometimes tough to understand what she's saying. If you're not good on the mic, you better be good in the ring. Aksana is neither.

Alicia Fox - Decide what you wanna do with her and do it. No more face/heel turns weekly. Personally, I'd keep her as a face.

Kaitlyn - As the Champion, she needs to be on the shows in some way, shape or form. While I personally think that there should be at least one Divas match on both RAW and Smackdown, I realize that probably isn't gonna happen, which is another reason to make Superstars an all-Divas show. If she's not wrestling, she (or whoever the Champ is at the time) can be at ringside commentating, or as a special referee. Make the champion visible, since the champion is your #1 representative.

Tamina - She's my "Monster" heel. I'd have her squash the other Divas on a weekly basis in pursuit of Kaitlyn. No reason why multiple women can't be chasing the belt at the same time.

Natalya - I have no idea why they have her with Hornswoggle and Khali, nor do I have any idea why they have had her do all of the stuff that she has been doing in the past year. I kill two birds with one stone here and align her with a guy that's been a face in NXT recently, Michael McGillicutty. Have McGillicutty drop the name, use Joe Hennig and put the Neidhart back on Natalya. You'd be pairing 2 3rd generation wrestlers together that both are very good at technical wrestling. You could even throw in a 3rd 3G wrestler, Ted DiBiase and improve your Tag division by teaming Hennig and DiBiase. Moving Natalya back to Tyson Kidd when he's off the injured list is an option as well. By then, maybe Natalya is ready to turn heel with a returning Kidd.

Rosa - Fine where she is with Epico and Primo. They're not on TV much, so send her back to NXT on non-TV days to work on her in-ring skills. If Epico and Primo are released, I could see her with the Prime Time Players... I would have thought she'd go well with Del Rio, but with Ricardo, three's a crowd and I just don't see Rosa as a face.

Layla - Based on interactions w/Kaitlyn, they might turn her heel. I think I would too. again, no harm in multiple people chasing the title. Plus, this would keep the matches with Kaitlyn fresh, facing multiple challenges as opposed to the same opponent every week. It also opens the door for triple threat and fatal four way type matches.

Cameron - I turn her heel w/ Brodus Clay. Clay's probably peaked in what he's doing and turning him heel seems to be a popular thought. Why not turn him by having him and Cameron turn on Naomi?

Naomi - Separate from Clay (as explained above) and go solo, possibly hooking her up with someone that would feud with Clay. The person that I'd team her up with would be Mark Henry, returning as a face. Kofi Kingston would be interesting, too. This opens up the door for mixed tag matches and to have her have matches on her own, too.

On to the NXT Divas:

Anya, Audrey Marie, Charlotte, Dani and Summer Rae are all still pretty new and I don't know a lot about them. Above, my plan would have 5 heels and 4 faces, which I think is plenty, if used correctly. No need to rush any of these girls up. Let them train.


Emma, Paige and Sasha Banks have all worked on the independent scene and would likley be the three that I center my NXT Divas division around. While Paige (Britani Knight) and Emma (Tenille Tayla) are probably good enough to be on the main roster, I don't want it to become to cluttered up there... That's how people get lost in the shuffle. Leaving them in NXT to continue to hone their craft, so that they can hit the main Roster with a bang, as opposed to a fizzle.

I would suggest, however, pairing Paige up with a fellow Brit, William Regal, in a "Mentor" sort of role. Having Regal with her, especially early on, could really catapault her to the top of the Divas division.

Finally, the one woman employed by WWE that nobody has talked about.... The one that could actually be the best female worker of them all... Sara Del Rey.

Currently a trainer at NXT, Del Rey is an asset that WWE already has, but for whatever reason, isn't using. No, she's not a supermodel, but she's not ugly, either. Maybe she doesn't want to wrestle full-time, but I doubt she'd object to working some house shows and/or dark matches to help the rest of the talent improve. Hell, if her looks are still an issue, throw a mask on her.

But again, first and foremost, giving them more time to work is probably going to help them much more than any amount of booking would.

-Bill

 

[CMZombie]

If they are really, genuinely, serious about revamping the Diva's division, you give them their own show.

Make it an hour, 2-3 matches and some storyline segments and have them occasionally cross over to Smackdown and Raw. The "diva's suck" purists are happy because they are no longer on their shows and you give the ladies some real chance to shine.

If the WWE network ever actually happens I think they will do this. I also think it could be a lot more successful than people realise.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

I agree with the sentiments made in this thread about how the division is. Its the worst I've seen in... my entire existence as a wrestling fan. How many of the Diva's recently left the WWE in a short period of time and how many of them were actually pretty good when they were walking out the door? Girls like Beth Phoenix who could wrestle and those like Kelly and Eve who became passable as professional wrestlers whereby I could consider their time in WWE as "honing their craft" left the company, leaving us with a handful of girls which only one or two of them mean anything these days. It such a shame because these girls were either at the peak of their game or not being utilised in the proper capacity to mean anything. It's appalling to see but considering the E's mentality about women's wrestling, I'm not surprised.

Although, the WWE is currently in the "rebuilding" stage of the company's life-cycle where they are continuously and consistently introducing more new talents to the helm, with the majority of them becoming quite successful. We've got Cesaro, Sandow, Ryback, Shield and if we go a couple more years: Barrett & Sheamus. Considering that the E have signed Sara Del Rey as their official Diva's trainer and the talent pool in NXT being pretty good from what I've seen, we could be witnessing these new talents being injected into the division soon and a new "era" of Diva's to "revive" the division (as some purists would believe).

Well... either that or the division is getting scrapped, utilising whatever they have left as managers/valets/VIP's in the wrestling world used to get storylines/male wrestlers over. I'd be happy with either option but as long as the E uses their girls properly, like how they've handled AJ for the past... however long she has been relevant.

 

[flawd101]

AJ Lee - The only current diva with a chance at the hall of fame if she keeps it up. datass!

Layla - i've always liked layla. she my manager in the video game. i have no idea what to do with her.

Alicia Fox - I've always liked her.she's hot and relatively good in ring. good for a squash match in a diva fued.

Cameron/Naomi - they have done nothing for me to notice them. heel turn in a brodus clay fued could be interesting.

Kaitlyn - i love her relationship with AJ. such a great slow build. i cant wait to see it erupt. maybe a WM match for the title?

Tamina - kinda needed without beth phoenix. can cause a dq. has a real finisher. beating her and fox is how you become a contender.

Natalya - i always wanted someone to turn heel by punching her in the face. the guy would get crazy heat for hitting a diva. she is the only diva with the skill to make this work. the whole khali thing? at least shes on tv.

Rosa Mendes - haven't seen any in-ring talent. she looks good outside of the ring. i wouldn't cut her but with the lack of a latino heel. i would like to see her start some backstage drama. hunico, sin cara, epico, primo, 619, ricardo matches post WM29. it could bring some fun to the mid card for a month. besides ADR, none of them are doing anything.

Aksana - I liked when cesaro dumped her. since then, useless. The NXT seems to be building a decent divas division. i think she could really do well there.

Paige - She really stands out on NXT. she is completely over. I think she should fued there for the next year. or until she has a big wwe debut maybe vs AJ. one of the reasons ive started watching NXT again. she will be a big deal whenever WWE leaves the PG era. the wwe diva division is weak, don't let that blow the potential they stumbled into.

 

[Fated_Sin]

What I want to see is them let the divas get pissed about being called divas. Bring back the Women's Championship belt and give them the ability to get a little more extreme. I kept wanting to see Kaitlyn get so mad at Eve robbing her that she pulls her out of the ring and powerbombs her through the announce table in a fury when they were fueding.(which sadly never came to pass...ah the wasted potential...) but ya get my point do some high flying and heavy impact stuff like the women wrestlers of the past. I want Attitude Era match quality before all those stupid gimmick matches...

 

[Spencer Maneca]

I feel that another WWE Diva Search would be just what the WWE needs in order to revamp the Divas division, and especially now more than ever since so many Divas have left the company within the past two years. I just hope if they do have another Diva Search, it will be televised like the 2004, 2005, and 2006 Diva Searches were, and not a webcast like the 2007 Diva Search was. I’m personally hoping for another Diva Search, but I have been since 2011, so I’m not going to get my hopes up. However, that casting call that the WWE issued a couple of months ago has me thinking maybe, just maybe, there will be another Diva Search this year.