Underrated Diva Spotlight: Naomi

[RKOx7]

After reading JR's blog this week where he mentioned he felt some of the underrated divas in WWE history were Jacqueline Moore, Jazz, and Ivory, and taking the time out to watch a Divas tag team match in Main Event which featured Funkadactyls Naomi and Cameron vs. Tamina and Aksana, I wanted to talk about Naomi. We saw a preview single's match with her against the intelligent, beautiful, and dangerous Eve Torres (miss you :c) and then that tag team match on main event... it is safe to say that Naomi needs to break away from Brodus Clay and be her own woman.

We have yet to see any true mic skills on the grand stage and independent personality or gimmick but it is my firm belief that Naomi can take the Divas division by storm when it comes to athleticism. She has some flashy moves, that not only are appealing to the eye, but seems very much effective, like the hurricarana, and the somersault clothesline. I see Naomi as a mixed fighter between the likes of RVD and John Morrison, and while her moveset currently seems very much off pure gymnastics and dance, and she still has time to learn much more lethal arts, such as jiu-jitsu, like Eve, or finer technician type wrestling like Trish, or the luchador style like Lita, I think Naomi can take the division by storm.

And in honor of V-Day which just passed, celebrating women's history month in upcoming March, and black history month, this month. Just a shout out to Divas like Alicia Fox, Jacqueline, Jazz, and Kharma, who have impacted the wrestling world in various ways.

To make this thread a bit more interesting, I'll ask three question I hope you guys will participate in answering:

1. What gimmick would you give to Naomi, face or heel, dangerous and seductive, or cowardly, bad bitch, psycho, etc (please elaborate those were simple ideas to go off of)?

2. How would you break her away from her current storyline, and impact her into the Divas division?

3. Who would be Naomi's perfect opponent and rival? (While the obvious answer always seems to be current WWE Divas Champion, Kaitlyn, it doesn't have to be)

 

[LayCold]

Agree with what you said

1) I would make her stay as a tag team partner of Brodus Clay. Stay with her be a dancer, it will give her a unique style on the ring.

2) I think that a heel diva of the current roster should taunt her, said that she's useless until the day she totally she get pissed off and kick her ass. Then, you have her being against Tamina in a 2/3 month feud where she proves she can fight the strongest in the end

3) AJ. The two were together in NXT and could have a hell of a match together

 

[akathelaw]

1. What gimmick would you give to Naomi, face or heel, dangerous and seductive, or cowardly, bad bitch, psycho, etc (please elaborate those were simple ideas to go off of)?

My idea is inspired by what WWE did in the 80's with Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper. I had the idea to get Nicki Minaj involved with WWE because she reminds me of a modern day Lauper. She could host Raw and meet Naomi backstage and hit it off. Naomi could gain mainstream exposure as a new babyface diva with someone like her, and Minaj's personality is attention getting and seems perfect for pro wrestling.

2. How would you break her away from her current storyline, and impact her into the Divas division?

I'd have her develop a grudge with another diva while still a part of the Funkadactyls, and the grudge would become her main focus so she would have to quit the dance group, and Brodus would no longer have dancers.

3. Who would be Naomi's perfect opponent and rival? (While the obvious answer always seems to be current WWE Divas Champion, Kaitlyn, it doesn't have to be)

I would like to see AJ and Naomi feud, because AJ can put almost anyone over.

 

[Sid Schmid]

1. What gimmick would you give to Naomi, face or heel, dangerous and seductive, or cowardly, bad bitch, psycho, etc (please elaborate those were simple ideas to go off of)?

My idea is inspired by what WWE did in the 80's with Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper. I had the idea to get Nicki Minaj involved with WWE because she reminds me of a modern day Lauper. She could host Raw and meet Naomi backstage and hit it off. Naomi could gain mainstream exposure as a new babyface diva with someone like her, and Minaj's personality is attention getting and seems perfect for pro wrestling.

2. How would you break her away from her current storyline, and impact her into the Divas division?

I'd have her develop a grudge with another diva while still a part of the Funkadactyls, and the grudge would become her main focus so she would have to quit the dance group, and Brodus would no longer have dancers.

3. Who would be Naomi's perfect opponent and rival? (While the obvious answer always seems to be current WWE Divas Champion, Kaitlyn, it doesn't have to be)

I would like to see AJ and Naomi feud, because AJ can put almost anyone over.

Sorry but what world do you live in? Nicky Minaj?

Anyway onto the topic, Naomi has shown glimpses of promise but I think the WWE should hold fire until they have rebuilt the division some what. I imagine she could have a decent feud with someone like Paige who is also an athletic Diva in the making

 

[EastCoastFan]

My thought would be for someone like Tamina to pick a fight with the Funkadactyls, claiming that they're "just dancers" and not a real athlete like her. Tamina faces Cameron the following week and mauls her, then taunts Naomi that she's next.

The next week, Tamina faces Naomi, but Tamina treats her lightly and Naomi scores a surprise upset. They square off again the following week but this time Tamina takes her seriously. It's a longer, more back-and-forth match and Naomi wins a second time, unveiling her finisher to win - but it has to be a good match that truly showcases how good Naomi is, not just having her go over.

 

[LayCold]

My thought would be for someone like Tamina to pick a fight with the Funkadactyls, claiming that they're "just dancers" and not a real athlete like her. Tamina faces Cameron the following week and mauls her, then taunts Naomi that she's next.

The next week, Tamina faces Naomi, but Tamina treats her lightly and Naomi scores a surprise upset. They square off again the following week but this time Tamina takes her seriously. It's a longer, more back-and-forth match and Naomi wins a second time, unveiling her finisher to win - but it has to be a good match that truly showcases how good Naomi is, not just having her go over.

But after, there is nothing to do between them. You need to make it longer, create the tension between them. I think it would be better if in the second match, Tamina wins. Have Naomi being the underdog, the one who does everything to be better than Tamina. Having the face being invincible is bad for everybody

 

[zones.]

truthfully, id love to see Naomi take off in one way or another. i think the divas division needs a new recognizable face. and while i dont really think the WWE could have a black dancer as that face (no racial, bro. im black lol.) i do think it might possibly work. i only say that because as far as women go, i think most women would wanna see a woman who actually looks somewhat like them as to relate. and i dont know many black women personally who give half a damn about wrestling.


BUT as far as the subject goes, id have Naomi as a face. and id have her as one of the more ruthless and aggressive 'in your face' divas like the more successful women have been. even though they all had different looks, angles, and backgrounds, they all shared that brashness be they face or heal. i wouldnt really pull her out on her own that quickly though. i think she could get her start just as her and Cameron are starting to do now. which is stepping in to help Brodus as Lita did with Team Xtreme. with that being said doe, i WOULD like to see her show Lita esq heart and hit some males wrestlers who are over with a missle dropkick or cross body.

id love to see her feud with Tamina too, i think those two would put on a great show together, and nothing along the lines of "good for a woman". if Tamina was still with the Usos, it could be a great work between BroSai and the Usos as well which i think would also be good tv.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

1. What gimmick would you give to Naomi, face or heel, dangerous and seductive, or cowardly, bad bitch, psycho, etc (please elaborate those were simple ideas to go off of)?
Maybe it is because I haven't seen anything else from her but I'd keep her as a face Funkadactyle. I think Brodus should turn heel & it is a simple way to keep the best parts of the Funkasaurus gimmick around (the girls dancing & the funky song). Maybe she could be more in the future but I think it would be the easiest way to get her over & see if she is capable of more since that gimmick is already over with the crowd & just coming out to the song she get's a small pop.

2. How would you break her away from her current storyline, and impact her into the Divas division? Have Brodus "Fire" Cameron & Naomi as his back-up dancers, turning him heel & keeping Cameron & Naomi together. That way they officially break away from Brodus for good, the girls stay together to perform the same dance numbers & I could even see a slight Bella-esque thing with Cameron at ring side pulling some switch-a-roo's or something to help her out once in awhile (even thought that it's a very babyface move.)


3. Who would be Naomi's perfect opponent and rival? (While the obvious answer always seems to be current WWE Divas Champion, Kaitlyn, it doesn't have to be)
Well I think Kaitlyn is just awful as a performer so I don't think she is the obvious answer at all. I could see an Alicia Fox feud or maybe a fued with Cameron if she becomes an in-ring competitor as well. If Sara Del Ray ever debut's she could have a good match with any Diva just about.

 

[TJ Matics]

I say have Naomi or Cameron turn heel. I don't know much about Cameron, but I'm pretty sure Naomi is good enough to carry her either way.

I agree with the whole, call them out as nothing more than dancers idea, but I'd go about it differently...

Maybe show both of them asking Vickie for more to do, but she just dismisses them as dancers. But they keep insisting over and over again, untill she finally gets annoyed and grants them their match... against eachother ! Whomever looses asks for a rematch, only to loose again which leads to tension between them when they're out with Brodus. Whomever won the two matches gets a #1 contenders match for the Divas Championship, which the other will interfere in, officially starting the feud !

I really can see this going both ways. I guess It'd make more sense to make Cameron heel and Naomi a face, but I'd honestly prefer to see Naomi heel.

 

[thomasgj]

1. I think she could work well as heel or face, but for now, I would keep her as a soft-spoken, easy to get behind kinda face.

2. I don't think they need to separate her from Brodus to have her wrestle. If they do though, I want to see Cameron turn on her, and have a side-feud between the two. Cameron would be gold as a heel, she has awesome mic skills. Or, have them turn on Brodus and have another heel-diva duo, or even Brodus turning heel and firing them, and have a face duo. Something along the lines of that.

3.Naomi vs AJ would be amazing! If AJ takes the title from Kaitlyn (and remains heel) I'd love to see a program between the two. Her and Natalya could definitely have some astounding matches, but it would require a heel turn from one of them (most likely Nattie, hopefully she'll turn on Khali or something).

 

[GameOver]

Cameron reminds me a little of Jacqueline from the attitude era, she seems like she could play the hellfire schytzo if they wanted her too and they did sow some seeds for both girls to get a bit more aggressive and stand up for themselves when Tamina and what's her face put the moves on Brodus.

Naomi on the other hand i don't see a heel turn would work, she's too babyface for me and the match she had with Eve was woefull she needs to actually get some training or some ring time b4 they hope to get anything out of her.

What about having Cameron turn on Brodus and Naomi and go with another male star and be abit like the DX split where in this case both Naomi and Cameron would be fighting for control of the Funkadactly name or something along those lines. But as others said and did I really how can they do anything yet Naomi clearly isn't ready for in ring and Cameron hasn't had a match yet has she? tho she is clearly the better talker.

 

[EastCoastFan]

But after, there is nothing to do between them. You need to make it longer, create the tension between them. I think it would be better if in the second match, Tamina wins. Have Naomi being the underdog, the one who does everything to be better than Tamina. Having the face being invincible is bad for everybody

I'm not trying to Naomi invincible - I'm trying to show she's not just a dancer. After the second match with Tamina, the two move on.

But I see what you mean. Alas, when it comes to the Divas, unless there's a title involved, the faces virtually always win.

I'm also trying to avoid a situation like they had in 2004 when WWE had the hair-brained idea of grooming Stacy Keibler to become Women's Champion. To try and give her credbility, they had her pin Molly Holly three weeks in a row on Raw. Not only did fans not buy Stacy as a wrestler, but Molly (who had already spent all of 2004 as WWE's resident Jobber Diva, even when she was Women's Champion in January and February) had no credibility left afterwards.

 

[#hamler]

Naomi doesn't really have to have a character or gimmick. She knows how to perform; she knows how to wrestle which is more than I can say for the current WWE Diva's Champion and the rest of the division. It wouldn't take much to break her away from Brodus Clay while she can very well remain a face character. Have Cameron turn on Brodus or something, then have Naomi stick up for him. Without much to choose from, Cameron is without a doubt Naomi's perfect rival. Based from what I've seen from both girls (although more so Naomi), they can get shit done as performers and can help rejuvenate this god awful division. I would like nothing better from the division than see these two girls go at it. Naomi is probably one of the more underrated persons on the roster; superstar or diva.

 

[GeTiTT]

From day1 when i seen Naomi wrestle on NXT i thought she was fantastic! Her style is so different from anything we have seen! I was bummed she didn't win NXT but am really liking her funcadactyl character. Now that she is actually getting to perform in the ring is awesome. I don't see any reason why they would break her apart from Brodus and Cameron however. They are a fun entertaining group. Naomi can still compete in the divas division and be partnered in the group. I think a great divas division makes some mix of the male stars. Remember how involved triple h and Kurt angle were when Steph was women's champ. Hardys with lita. Eddie with chyna. Etc

Naomi has a potential bright future. Can't wait to see her mix it up with tamina and Natalya