Is Paige becoming the John Cena of the Divas division?

[BringThePain834]

I'm talking in terms of wrestling here... not popularity.

John Cena = getting the crap beat out of him and then more times than not.. Superman,hit the AA .. 1,2,3 and he wins.
Paige (since her debut on the main roster) = getting the crap beat out of her.. Supergirl, hit the Paige Turner or submission .. 1,2,3 and she wins.

On NXT Paige was a wrestler... since her debut on the main roster she's become this unstoppable, I can beat you with one move whether it be the Paige Turner or the Scorpion Cross Lock, type of wrestler.

The reason I wanted to make this thread is not to put down Paige... she was mildly entertaining in NXT.. she had some good matches... but since she's come to the main roster she has been terrible... her victory in her debut against AJ... the way she "broke" AJ's finisher and countered with her finisher, was extremely weak... there should have been a build up. But now it's gotten even worse. Every single match has now become as I stated above... beat Paige down and then all of a sudden she hits the Paige Turner or locks in her submission out of nowhere.

My opinion is that I do not believe that WWE trusts her, yet, to perform an entire match of moves... so they have the trusted divas like Tamina, Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, and Aksana work with her (carry her) through a match and then job to her. If this is the case, which it seems to be, then why put the belt on her so early? I believe that was a mistake. What was the point of giving her the title?

So what do you guys think? Is Paige (in her wrestling style) becoming the Cena of Divas?

 

[Headman]

Faces are supposed to sell for most of the match before making a come back. It's ring psychology 101. I think it becomes even more basic with divas considering there's not enough tv time allocated to them to have a back and forth match.

 

[Bone For Tuna]

They trusted her enough to have her win the title in her debut match and all the reports I've read it seems as though everyone's who's opinion matters seems to think she's the future. Personally, I haven't seen enough of her to really have a solid opinion but I'm kind of confused by yours. Maybe I'm missing something but it kind of seems like there's no winning. Would you rather her just mop the floor with her opponents and then pin them? So then it's clearly established that it's just her and AJ and all the other divas don't matter? Or, would you rather they had just debuted her with a loss or maybe a streak of losses? If her matches aren't just squashes and her opponents end up looking somewhat credible before she beats them, I would say she's doing a good job. I'll admit I haven't seen anything since her debut on the main roster and personally I didn't really like it, not just because of the botch but because I think the whole thing came off kind of corny. To answer your question as to why they put the title on her so fast, I think it was because of a few reasons. One - it's an instant rub, two - they were in the UK when it all went down and three - AJ requested time off and it was granted.

 

[TheICChampion]

If this keeps up, then yes I do think she's becoming the Cena of the Divas division. At least he didn't win the title in his first night. I think that her winning was just for shock value, to keep up with WWE's slogan of "Anything can happen." I think once AJ comes back she'll have a good feud with Paige and maybe we'll see what Paige is truly capable of. I hope, anyway. Let's be honest, though, while her submission move takes forever to set up, I do think it looks painful. At least she has that going for her. I would give it another couple of months before you start making that comparison. I don't know what Vinnie Mac is afraid of letting her showcase her skills.

 

[WarroBODFan]

As someone said above, they've given her the title very early, and they're letting her run with it which I think is great. I'm not a fan of her booking right now though. Again as someone said above, these could almost be filler matches before AJ returns and we see what could be a fantastic feud. I'm excited to see where they go with it, but yeah, I'm surprised with the current booking, she has no reason to be protected.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I like Paige but now way she should have won the Diva's Title so soon. No build up, no drama, just a impromptu match up. If they were serious about making her the top diva maybe they could have her win the title at next year's WM.

Also I found it hard to buy that she could beat Tamina at Extreme Rules. Paige is 20, a rookie against a larger veteran. I was thinking when I saw that match that yeah I like Paige and she has potential but I am not going to buy her beating Tamina just yet.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's FAR too soon to think of Paige as anything resembling John Cena.

The thing about Paige is that she got rave reviews, and rightly so, for her work in NXT. People who didn't have access to NXT at the time, like myself for instance, heard about all the praise and managed to catch some stuff on YouTube including some interviews and matches here and there. She built up a reputation and it's carried over to the main roster. NXT ultimately did its job with Paige as a lot of people became familiar with her long before she arrived on the main roster.

Personally, I've got no problem with Paige winning the Divas Championship on her very first night on the main roster. It's not the usual thing to do, it's certainly not traditional, and I can understand if that rubs people the wrong way. In this day and age, however, sometimes you have to resort to jacking tradition's jaw a little bit if you want to make a strong impression. AJ Lee had asked for some time off, I've no idea exactly when but I'm guessing it was at least a month or so before Paige debuted. As a result, WWE saw a unique opportunity that doesn't come along very often: an opportunity to bring in a very fresh, brand new face to the roster that's already over because she has the goods, which gave them the means of generating a memorable debut. Paige also has a unique look with her pale skin, she's not all spray tanned like every 95% of every other Diva on the roster, and her hair's blacker than the hair in the devil's butt crack. She stands out among the crowd and it certainly doesn't hurt that she's a damn good wrestler. AJ Lee was gonna drop the title to somebody and, in all honesty, is there really anyone on the roster that most fans would be excited about?

If it'd been one of The Bella Twins, you'd have complaints of "Nikki's only the champ because she's John Cena's personal fluffer" or "Brie Bella only won it because she's Daniel Bryan's fiancé."

Cameron and Naomi aren't ready for the title. Naomi needs more in-ring experience, but she's crazy athletic. If she can get that in-ring time and her timing down, she could be a female Kofi Kingston.

Aksana and Rosa Mendes are a combined 300 pounds of dead weight that should've been let go by now.

Natalya is great inside the ring and the only time I was genuinely excited about her was when she & Beth Phoenix formed the "Divas of Doom", but Vince screwed that up before it really even got off the ground. I think she has the capability of being a good heel, but she's beyond bland as a babyface.

If Eva Marie had taken the title from AJ Lee, the place may have rioted. While much of the drama on Total Divas might be scripted, Summer Rae was speaking the gospel truth when she said that Eva Marie sucks. She really does, the girl's awful; she makes Rosa Mendes look like Shawn Michaels.

Speaking of Summer Rae, she's pretty over and she's also pretty decent in the ring. However, she needs a good deal more experience. She's got the good looks and attitude to be a good heel, but she's not ready.

Prior to the past few weeks, everyone had long since written Alicia Fox off and with good reason. Alicia Fox has always been pretty good in the ring, she's worked hard with the very limited stuff she's been given, but she's actually shown some fire and personality the past few weeks. MAYBE she could have a run in the future if she keeps going in this direction, but nobody would've given a damn had she taken the title from AJ.

I also wouldn't think of Paige as John Cena in the sense that she's already lost a match. On top of that, she lost it clean to Alicia Fox. Cena's jobbed clean in...what? Twice in the past 2 years?

 

[flyinbukta]

Also I found it hard to buy that she could beat Tamina at Extreme Rules. Paige is 20, a rookie against a larger veteran. I was thinking when I saw that match that yeah I like Paige and she has potential but I am not going to buy her beating Tamina just yet.

Paige might only be 20, but she's been wrestling for 3 more years than Tamina. Just so you know.

However, in just the WWE terms, I kind of understand what you mean, but they needed someone who seemed like a legit challenge for her first defence, and no-one else in the Divas division would've provided that. So they went with Tamina.

 

[OYDK]

Paige has been on the main roster for like 2 months. John Cena has been in the WWE for 10 years and in the main event for about 8 of those 10 years with relatively the same wrestling style. To call Paige the "next John Cena" at THIS point in time is crazy. Her booking so far is that she is a young girl who can go in the ring, but is not as "experienced" as the regular WWE Divas while John Cena is booked as friggin Superman who can overcome all odds... Very different concepts. Also, there is no way Paige is going to be booked like this for her entire career. Eventually she will take on the same role that Trish Stratus and Lita did and I highly doubt anybody would compare them to John Cena.

If you read Paige's interview (on the main page I believe), you'll see Paige talk about introducing herself to the main roster slowly and not showing the fans everything that she can do at one time, which is very smart. In a year time you'll see Paige carrying the majority of matches and we'll see if the other Divas can keep up with her... I doubt it.

I say this a lot but, give the new ones some time before you make bold assumptions.

 

[MWRedskins]

the next Cena, no. Cena (while he isnt a scrub in the ring) isnt a great in ring wrestler. Cena's mic work comes and goes. when he's serious, he's usually great, but when he jokes, you want his mic shut off. As for Paige, it's too soon to judge her mic work, especially when WWE isnt giving her a chance to speak. As for in-ring work, she's one of the best in ring diva's i have seen in a long time. her matches are entertaining as she has a good move set and she can sell. as for her winning the title too soon, agree it was soon, but my guess is the reason she won it so soon was due to AJ leaving. if AJ stayed, i bet Paige would've won her debut by DQ and would've set up a nice feud.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Didn't she just lose to Alicia Fox... in England of all places?

I think it's way way wayyy too early to start assuming the most interesting thing to come out of the Diva's Division lately is some Superman/Wonder Woman thing going. I do believe being near-unbeatable is a good start. She's not there yet.

 

[ADLegend21]

It's been said before, but the Face has to sell. I've been clocking a lot of the divas matches since She got the belt and the first several of them were 3 minutes, bell to bell. Not a lot of time for either of them to get much offense without it looking like a squash match. Her match against Tamina was the longest at 6 minutes so they got a bit more time to put more moves and spots in the match. The matches have been getting more violent with great bumps taken by both Divas. The divas in general need more time on all the shows but Paige is nowhere near being John Cena, well with the exception of being The Champ.

 

[pipebomber]

this is ridiculous. Im so tired of this instant gratification generation. She hasn't even been on the main roster for a month and you are already comparing her to Cena. She hasn't been around long enough to compare her to ANYBODY.

I get annoyed with how many people want to nitpick on debuting superstars before giving them a chance to get over.

First Rousev was racist cause his first fued was against black people, while other people thought that he needed a championship the after his first 2 weeks. Give people a couple month before you start judging their character, you don't know how the evolution of their character will go.

 

[Headman]

the next Cena, no. Cena (while he isnt a scrub in the ring) isnt a great in ring wrestler. Cena's mic work comes and goes. when he's serious, he's usually great, but when he jokes, you want his mic shut off. As for Paige, it's too soon to judge her mic work, especially when WWE isnt giving her a chance to speak. As for in-ring work, she's one of the best in ring diva's i have seen in a long time. her matches are entertaining as she has a good move set and she can sell. as for her winning the title too soon, agree it was soon, but my guess is the reason she won it so soon was due to AJ leaving. if AJ stayed, i bet Paige would've won her debut by DQ and would've set up a nice feud.

First, apples to apples Paige couldn't lace John Cena's boots. She gets a pass for her age, but she's very overrated as a worker. Cena gets a lot of crap for his ring work but mostly from people who don't know what they're talking about. Cena got a good match out of Khali. Who else can you say that about? Paige would be lucky to one day be compared to a female John Cena. Right now a more accurate female comparison to Cena would be Trish Stratus. And I don't mean any disrespect to Paige. She's still better than the majority of divas on the active roster, but she would have been middle of the pack while Trish, Lita and Mickey James and even Melina were on the roster. I think people have a favorable opinion of her because she isn't as awful as the rest.

 

[Meth Head]

Whatever your complaints are, in the end it all comes down to lazy booking, and that's all there is to it. They saw her work in NXT, called her up to the main roster, threw the Divas belt on her, then had her win every match after that to prove the first victory was not a fluke. The problem is that it's been the same match every week. Paige gets beat up for five minutes --> she hits a finisher out of nowhere --> Victory. The same formula, every damn time. The average viewer would not view her any differently than when she first won the title.

And yet if they had they let her work a solid 8-minute, back-and-forth match with, say, Natalya in the week immediately following her title victory that match alone would have given her more credibility as a competitor than her five "roll-up" victories ever did.

This tactic they've been using on promising Superstars or Divas the past few years where they put a major title belt on them without much build-up for that wrestler has only helped the majority of them peak too early. As much as we would like to see Paige go on to have a good long career, she is in that danger zone where Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, etc. used to be.

 

[Headman]

Whatever your complaints are, in the end it all comes down to lazy booking, and that's all there is to it. They saw her work in NXT, called her up to the main roster, threw the Divas belt on her, then had her win every match after that to prove the first victory was not a fluke. The problem is that it's been the same match every week. Paige gets beat up for five minutes --> she hits a finisher out of nowhere --> Victory. The same formula, every damn time. The average viewer would not view her any differently than when she first won the title.

And yet if they had they let her work a solid 8-minute, back-and-forth match with, say, Natalya in the week immediately following her title victory that match alone would have given her more credibility as a competitor than her five "roll-up" victories ever did.

This tactic they've been using on promising Superstars or Divas the past few years where they put a major title belt on them without much build-up for that wrestler has only helped the majority of them peak too early. As much as we would like to see Paige go on to have a good long career, she is in that danger zone where Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, etc. used to be.

Oh it's absolutely lazy booking. The WWE uses the diva matches as a chance to talk about Total Divas. The matches serve no other purpose. If it weren't for Total Divas they'd probably leave the divas off the card completely and it would be hard to argue against doing that. The majority of people aren't interested in the diva matches. The writers aren't interested in writing for the divas. Why continue? It's just like the late 80's when the WWF fazed out women's wrestling before bringing it back years later. People who appreciate women's wrestling for whatever reason are hanging their hopes on Paige, but the interest just isn't there. And when Total Divas runs it's course I wouldn't shed a tear if they pulled the plug on the entire division.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I think it is simple.

A.J. Lee beat all the other Divas in the Vickie Guerrero Battle Royal the previous night, so that shows that she is stronger than the rest of the Divas.

But Paige beat her in an upset, when A.J. was cocky, and not expecting it. A.J. wanted time off (don't know why, maybe Punk is putting silly ideas in her head). They needed a champion, and A.J. needs a program when she gets back.

It makes sense. A new diva beats A.J. for her title, then plows through the other divas, to build her up as a true challenge to A.J. If Paige lost all the time, no one would care when A.J. came back.

Let's face it, if done properly, Paige v A.J. could rival Kaitlyn v A.J. matches, so Paige needs to be considered a credible threat to A.J., and not just a fluke, so that they can have a few matches. I see Paige v A.J. going three PPVs at least.

 

[Messiah]

A.J. Lee beat all the other Divas in the Vickie Guerrero Battle Royal the previous night, so that shows that she is stronger than the rest of the Divas.

No it shows WWE booked AJ to win that match. It doesn't show she's stronger than anyone. It's not a UFC fight, it's a pro wrestling match. Just by looking at AJ, she looks like the weakest diva on the roster.

 

[capnwillie]

Paige has done something I once thought impossible and that is making Divas matches look good. I'm fine with her getting beaten up for the duration of her matches because they've been pretty good matches, really. Alicia Fox looked good for a change against Paige and Paige sells better than a lot of wrestlers. I have no doubt they will eventually book Paige to look more dominant, but I think her current match style is more about showing good sportsmanship after winning the title in her debut, a bit of dues paying if you will.