Melina Is The #1 Contender...And Now She's A Heel?!?!

[Mitch Henessey]

Tonight on Raw Melina won a triple threat match to become the #1 contender for Natalya's Divas Championship. Natalya tried to congratulate Melina after the match, but she received a slap in the face instead.

Melina is one of the more known wrestlers in the women's division, and she has played the heel role before. I was kind of surprised by the heel turn here, because I thought WWE would go the "let's see who's the better woman" friendly competition route as far this feud goes. I think Melina can be more entertaining as a heel, because she can have a nasty attitude at times. I don't think Melina will take the title off of Natalya. Natalya is having a nice reign as Divas Champion so far, and I don't think she should lose the strap just yet.

I'm interested to see how this feud will go. Melina hasn't done much since her return. She's back in the title picture now, and it'll be interesting to see if Melina will become Natalya's new rival.

What do you think about Melina's heel turn? Are you excited for this feud?

 

[triple_b2k]

she's a much better heel than face. the raw diva division needs a strong female heel. I don't understand why she cries so much as a face. it gets annoying. maybe she'll be the strong 'bitch' female again. looking forward to this feud!!!

 

[RockFan89]

It wasn't much of a heel turn. She should have beat Natalya down or something. A little slap shouldn't marked the beginning of a major turn.

But anyways, I'm glad she is a heel because she was clearly better as such.

I don't know if anyone agrees with me with this, but I also think she becomes a lot hotter when she's a heel (I don't know why, but that's just my opinion).

 

[SueXiong]

No, I don't like her heel.

They could at least make Nikki go heel. (It be better)

Melina heel isn't interesting and they could've have used Maxine from FCW/former NXT 3 diva as a Heel on raw or Aksana.

 

[richunclescrooge]

I hink she'll do fine as a heel, but i think the turn really sucked. Why would she come out as a face and play to the crowd just to slap natalya and ignore them at the end. They should have had a friendly competition build with Natalya always coming out on, which pisses off Melina enough to turn heel. Its always the same story with WWE, not enough build, but at least the matches between them shouldn't be bad.

 

[JDX]

Meh. At least they are evening out the face/heel ratio in the entire division. But instead of a minute dialogue to set up a totally random heel turn, the E decides for a WTFuck moment that they're going to have to waste time on next week... or not even explain. It is weird Melina and Jomo both turned for no reason (Jomo back in 09 on SD)?

 

[wwefan101x]

Melina and Natalya's feud should be a good one but Melina will eventually get the title and feud with someone else. I gotta admit that her heel turn sucked, seriously what kind of a heel turn was that? Well at least we have another good heel now. And just wondering... don't LayCool still have a rematch for their titles? Or did that already happen? So you have Melina as #1 Contender, Natalya as Champ and LayCool who might need a rematch and Beth who's after LayCool...

 

[The Calgary Kid]

I totally called this. Remember a few weeks ago when the two had the random (and very rare) face vs. face match? Natalya won, Melina looked bitter and they kept a spotlight on her as she walked away during LayCool's post-match beatdown of Natalya. The seeds were planted, but they did jack shit in the following weeks to build anything. IMO, they should have at least had Melina win a few matches with a slightly more aggressive streak. That said, I'm looking forward to the feud as they are both two of the most talented members of the division and I'm sure the match quality will be much better than, say Eve vs. Alicia or the like.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I totally called this. Remember a few weeks ago when the two had the random (and very rare) face vs. face match? Natalya won, Melina looked bitter and they kept a spotlight on her as she walked away during LayCool's post-match beatdown of Natalya. The seeds were planted, but they did jack shit in the following weeks to build anything. IMO, they should have at least had Melina win a few matches with a slightly more aggressive streak. That said, I'm looking forward to the feud as they are both two of the most talented members of the division and I'm sure the match quality will be much better than, say Eve vs. Alicia or the like.

Yep, I noticed it as well and mentioned something about it in my review of Raw that week. Melina didn't stick around to help Natalya out after she was beaten down by LayCool. They didn't make a big deal out of it, the commentators didn't say anything, but there was just that brief shot of Melina walking along near the ramp area while Natalya was getting hers.

Melina works better as a heel and this is something that can bring some spice back to her. Both she and Natalya are good inside the ring and this has the potential to be a good feud.

 

[LSN80]

What do you think about Melina's heel turn?

Very poorly executed. If the best they can pull off for a "heel turn" is a slap to the face, then it further shows the investment, or lack thereof, that they have in the Divas division. You could argue they hinted at this two weeks ago on Raw when LayCool was beating Natalya down, and Melina bailed, but that was the only sign. A good heel turn needs to be properly executed and foreshadowed over time, and Melina's was too abrupt to make any impact other then selling shock. That being said, Melina has always been better as a heel and can talk so this should be a good move for her as the Raw women's division is short on credible female heels.

Are you excited for this feud?

I want to be because both are good workers, and I appreciate women's wrestling when its solid. Last nights table match at TLC was a step in the right direction in terms of developing the Divas division as they actually put on a good, fairly long match. I suppose this creates an issue for Natalya and Melina to build some momentum for the women's division, but are we going to get a solid 12 minute PPV match the way we did last night, or will Natalya dispose of her the way she has Alicia Fox and Melina herself within 3 minutes? As well, it's hard to get excited over this feud as it's apparent Melina is likely just a stepping stone for Natalya on her way to an inevitable feud with Beth Phoenix. I do like Melina as a heel and this can be a good match if given time and here's hoping its given that.

 

[Serious Jones]

Melina was getting better pops than Natalya (or any other diva) most of the time, so I have to question the decision. Rumors are circulating that Melina wasn't entirely on board with the turn either, so I have to question the decision even more. Melina is excellent as both a heel and a face, but it's much easier to get heel heat than face pops, so I don't think turning her heel was the wisest move, especially with all the diva heels being overshadowed by LayCool.

However, Melina is one of the most entertaining divas, so anything to keep her relevant and not a background, 6-diva tag participant diva is a step in the right direction. She'll play the role well, and put over Natalya and the other face divas in a believable fashion (her selling ability is impeccable). The feud between Natalya and Melina should be good enough, as both can work, but I still don't feel the casual audience is sold on Natalya. Melina will have no problem getting heat, though.

While I don't agree with creative's call to turn her heel, it's not the end of Melina. If anything, it's a return to relevance, which is much needed if Melina wants to avoid the future endeavors.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

So pumped for this. Heel Melina back in the day was awesome. At the time she was my favorite Diva and as long as the WWE allows her to be a complete bitch again, I'm sure I'll love it.

Melina was over as a face but like other's have said, it was getting stale. Much like Mickie James towards the end of her WWE career, and I'm glad the WWE decided to freshen Melina up with the turn.

Now the actually "turn" itself wasn't anything special, but I do remember a few reports the last 2 weeks saying the WWE were looking to "gradually" turn Melina heel, so maybe this is just the first step?

They could have her come out next week, apologize to Natayla and say that her emotions got the best of her, then have her attack Natayla again, but this time make it more physical? Who know's what they will do, I just hope the WWE has faith in Melina once again and allows her mic/promo time, because that is what got her over as heel in the first place. Remember during the MNM period, it was Melina's mic skills that got MNM as over as they were, so I have faith in Melina's ability to get the crowd to hate her once more.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I don't know if Melina's return has done much for the division. She was cheered when she came back, now she has rarely been used. I thought they would team her with Morrison so he would have someone in his corner. At least it gives Natalya a fresh face to feud with since the Laycool feud is over.

Hopefully down the road we can see the ultimate match between the real grapplers of the division: Natalya and Beth Phoenix. Not a huge fan of Melina, but maybe a heel turn will do something for her. Alicia Fox and Maryse have been beaten before so I guess there isn't any other legit heel Natalya can feud with.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I think Melina has always been very innovative and entertaining. Yes, her turn should've been more impactful but maybe they are gonna lead upto a more full blown beatdown of Natalya next week.

Also I think Natalya vs Beth Phoenix for WM is on the cards. Good it shall be and its great to see the Women's division getting itself together.

 

[RKOx7]

I hope this heel turn turns up her aggressiveness 10x. I agree it wasn't as well executed as I would have liked, but I feel like we didn't really get a full heel turn just yet. I mean we all know she is becoming a heel, or maybe has already become a heel, but as far as the television show goes... just like the announcer said, she is just getting one up on her opponent. They've already shaken hands 2 weeks ago and now Melina has slapped Natalya. She could have done more if she wanted to, but I think we will see a rather full blown heel turn in the near future.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I'm saying it. Point blank. If what Melina did last night to Natalya was what constitutes a 'heel turn,' then I officially give up.

In the kayfabe sense, professional wrestling is supposed to be about a high level of athletic competition. Take the business and entertainment side out of it for a moment - the object for a wrestler is to win matches and eventually win titles. Period. Occassionally, an altercation gets heated and feuds ensue, often due to the antics of a dastardly bad guy or girl.

All Melina did was smack Natalya. How does that make her a heel? It wasn't a sneak attack in the back, it wasn't an anti-face, anti-crowd promo, it wasn't a pattern of behavior. For my money, it was a competitive former champion sending a message to the current champion. "We're not friends until this match is over."

Now if this keeps up, and if Melina takes it a step further, THEN she's a heel. I just hope this isn't WWE taking the lazy way out of a heel turn.

 

[GeTiTT]

i like the idea of melina turning heel i agree that she was so much more entertaining as a heel..however i kind of wish they would of given this spot to gail kim. i was watching videos of gail from when she first debuted in wwe when she was heel and she put on some great matches and she has more in her then her luchador style wrestling she is a great mat-based wrestler. and put up good matches with trish lita molly victoria..i would like to see gail in the spotlight again and i think a heel turn is the only way..i love melina but we've seen this time and time again. we need something new

 

[Spear]

First of all I must congratulate the WWE for making a good move and keeping any member of Laycool away from a title match. Honestly, that was getting old. Not only that, but Melina and Natalya had a good match for Divas a few weeks back on RAW. I thought Laycool was going to jump them both, so I was surprised when the match ended cleanly. Something else I should add is that Melina's heel turn won't work. She's seriously the only diva other than Beth Phoenix with an audible reaction from the crowd, so she's simply too over as a face.