Diva Search

You may have noticed Brie and Nikki Bella are back in WWE. They've returned to the company that made them famous for two reasons. The first is that established female performers are needed to save its flimsy Divas league. The second is that whatever projects they were banking on for their post-WWE life didn't work out as planned.

If rumours are to be believed the Bellas aren't the only women WWE have contacted for a return. They are the first to agree to terms on new contracts. Other women who have apparently been contacted are Maryse, Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix and Kharma. That Brie and Nikki are back shows that WWE are aware of the problem they have and indicates that they want to do something about it.

The thing is that the company should have tried harder to re-sign them in the first place. The company books the Divas as an afterthought but it clearly cares enough about them to want to have something resembling a worthwhile division around. If they felt otherwise they'd simply retire the concept of female wrestlers and have all the women under contract work as valets or in other on-air roles.

Don't let Cena and Bryan see this, guys

Kharma left the company under difficult circumstances without ever wrestling a televised match. Beth Phoenix decided to retire. Maryse and Kelly Kelly both wanted to pursue careers outside of wrestling. I'm unsure how K2's getting on with that but I know Maryse has launched her own jewellery line.

With a bit of leniency when it came to negotiating WWE probably could have retained the services of Maryse and Kelly. Both women wanted to able to do non-WWE stuff in their spare time without getting authorisation from management. WWE dislike this because they feel they should profit from anything contracted talent do. Seems unfair to me, considering WWE is a multi-million dollar company.

A more reasonable second reason for making talent get authorisation is to ensure they're not doing anything to wreck the WWE brand name. That I can understand. It doesn't mean the company's entitled to a share of the profits though.

The cases of Phoenix and Kharma are different. I think both needed to be away from wrestling for a bit. 'The Glamazon' has been wrestling for a long time and says she wants to do other things with her life. I believe she means that but I think if WWE had offered her substantially more money they could have convinced her to stay for a year or two more.

The only lady I don't think WWE could have kept around (nor do I think they should have tried) is the former Awesome Kong. She needed to go away for a bit.

It's still unknown whether any other ladies will follow the Bellas back to WWE. As Phoenix has had a taste of being off the road I think she'll be a difficult acquisition. Kharma may be easier. She's had some time away and is still capable of leaving her mark on the WWE Divas scene. I'm sure that's something she'd like to do. It's why she signed in the first place.

Kelly Kelly and Maryse returns are entirely dependent on WWE's negotiating skills. As I mentioned above I think the promotion would be well advised to be a little flexible with regards to outside projects and name ownership. They'll still be making money from the merch sales the ladies attract.

The situation WWE currently find themselves in is entirely of their own making. They should either be more willing to grant a little freedom to employees or they should have called up some new Divas a year ago while they still had the established names available.

The promotion is doing the smartest thing it can in these circumstances. Trying to bring back former stars is a good move. It could give the division a boost and give champion Kaitlyn some credible challengers. It will only be deemed a success if the returning starlets help to establish a new batch of women. The likes of Paige, Sunmer Rae and Sasha Banks should all be called up to share screen time with the more famous women. Scripting meaningful feuds and giving the newcomers wins is the best way to ensure this situation doesn't arise again.

So Long and Thanks for All the Botches

Kelly Kelly, the woman WWE tried so hard to turn into the new Trish Stratus (an attractive young blonde who can also wrestle) has been future endeavoured. For those in the know this shouldn't come as a huge surprise.
 
Barbie 'Kelly Kelly' Blank has been working for WWE since 2006. Since debuting on the doomed WWECW she has been on the road constantly. Officially Kelly has left WWE because she announced she would be selling a calendar via her personal website and hadn't received the necessary approval from WWE management to do so. While that was a genuine issue it's believed the true reason for Double K's departure is more a combination of weariness and career offers outside of the sports entertainment organisation.

A shot of Kelly Kelly in Serious Babyface Mode

 
Kelly requested and was granted time off earlier in the year. It was believed that after resting up for a few months she would be willing to get back on the road full time as a WWE Diva. She reportedly asked for a part time deal that would give her more time at home and the ability to pursue interests away from the company. She still would have been available for much of the year but would essentially have had holiday entitlements (you know, like a normal person). WWE management didn't want to grant these requests and so Kelly is gone.
 
Something similar has reportedly happened with Chris Jericho's recent contract negotiations. 'Y2J' apparently wanted to work a set number of dates per year and retain control of when they fall, in order to keep touring with Fozzy. In exchange for granting these requests WWE would have ensured one of their biggest names stays on the roster for a set amount of time per year. Jericho was apparently also willing to make trips to WWE developmental as part of the deal. That his offer was turned down is bizarre: WWE would have gained much from it and had as much access to Jericho for bookings as they will anyway.
 
Back to Kelly. As noted above she wishes to pursue career opportunities outside of WWE. The company's policy is to retain complete control of what media appearances and projects their contracted talent undertake. Their reason for doing this is that they don't want talent doing anything that could place the promotion in a compromising situation (such as launching a risqué calendar). Unofficially they also don't want talent benefiting from the exposure they gain through being a WWE Superstar without the company also getting something out of it.
 
I can understand these policies but I can also understand why it would dissuade someone from re-signing. If more money and new experiences can be gained elsewhere, with fewer bumps involved, then obviously the talent are going to opt to try something new. They could find themselves with a great new career and if things don't pan out then they know they can always go back to WWE, an attitude which is the promotion's own fault because they've done such a bad job of creating bankable stars over the last several years.
 
While she wasn't the greatest female wrestler to ever step foot in a ring I do think Kelly's absence will affect the company. Even with her limits she was accepted as one of the beleaguered Divas' league's top babyfaces. With her gone the division loses yet another of its stars and the booking options become even tighter. That WWE has not bothered preparing anyone else for her spot only makes the situation worse. She was good for media appearances too. The promotion will need to start training Eve and perhaps Kaitlyn to fill that void.
 
If WWE want to stop this sort of thing happening again they need to make some changes. Either they should change their policy with regards to established stars taking non-WWE work or offer greater incentives for talent to stay put, such as giving talent a holiday allowance. Whatever the specifics are the general answer is clear: WWE needs to become more flexible when negotiating with their big names.
 
Being a WWE superstar is not an easy gig. If WWE don't start understanding that instead of treating their employees like they owe the company a favour then things are only going to get worse.

Woman's Hour

WWE’s obsession with hiring models for its Divas division, as opposed to women with a passion for wrestling, is finally beginning to prove ill-considered. By loading up on women who were persuaded to join the group because it could offer them fame and fortune WWE gleefully failed to think about what would happen when that fame and fortune was achieved. The likes of Kelly Kelly and the Bellas have done their best to make it as wrestlers and are now “taking time away from WWE” to pursue other ventures.

“Taking time away” can be taken as a euphemism for “leaving until they’ve exhausted all other options.”  At that point the girls will put a call in to WWE safe in the knowledge that they can get their old jobs back.

This wouldn’t have been the case years ago. WWE has always had a spot on its roster for attractive women. It’s part of the nature of the modern wrestling business. But a decade ago these women would have been limited to roles at ringside. Only women who could actually wrestle would have been booked in proper matches.

Things have changed. During John Laurinaitis’s time as Head of Talent the company hired more and more models and less and less women with actual wrestling experience. Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria (now Tara in TNA), and Mickie James all left the group for various reasons. It’s unfair to blame that solely on Johnny Ace. However, it was his job was to either entice these performers to stay or find replacements for them. He did neither and so must be considered at least partially to blame for the current state of WWE’s female league.

There’s still hope for the Divas yet. The recent rumours of WWE signing Sara Del Ray are promising, and will be a step in the right direction if it turns out to be true. ‘Death Ray’ is one of the most accomplished grapplers in the world with years of experience and solid matches on her resume.

That Kharma has been released may be disheartening for both her fans and people hopeful of a Divas resurgence but it’s important to remember that while she may be gone there is still every chance she will return to the company at some point. I’m of the opinion that this could be a similar situation to the one Daniel Bryan went through after the Nexus formation angle and that she will be rehired by the company whenever she is ready to return to the ring full time.

Kharma would be ideal for a WWE Divas show

The forthcoming WWE Network will provide an excellent opportunity to rebuild a worthwhile women’s division. A one hour weekly show is exactly what the Divas need. Create some interesting characters, put them into logical storylines that fans want to follow, book matches that last longer than two minutes and you’d have a Divas show with every chance of success.

I’m not condoning shuffling the Divas off into a corner to be forgotten about. The top names in the division could and should still appear routinely on RAW and SmackDown. Think of the Divas show as a chance to give some of the younger names a chance to get noticed (both by fans and officials), with the women appearing on the bigger shows helping to draw in an audience.

Sort of like NXT, but for female performers only.

Character-wise WWE is already in a deceptively strong position. It may have lost the Bellas and Kelly Kelly (for now) but they still have some well-rounded female roles on our screens. Eve Torres is a shining example. She may not make an ideal regular wrestler for a Divas show but she would be perfect as a heel authority figure. Her work earlier in the year as John Laurinaitis’s Executive Assistant proves that.

AJ would be a perfect candidate to construct the show around, at least during its early stages (read more on this here). She has been involved in a top programme that has seen her rub shoulders with the WWE champion (CM Punk), an accomplished, well-respected veteran (Kane), and arguably the most over man in the company (Daniel Bryan) over the last few months.

She is a star. On top of that she is passionate about being a wrestler. Her first show as RAW GM left me feeling that the WWE writing team are unsure how to best use her in the role. Maybe it could be made a short term arrangement with her resuming active competition in a few months.

AJ is currently the RAW GM but she'd be better used as a babyface wrestler

They may have had their pushes decreased lately but both Beth Phoenix and Natalya have had solid character work done in the past. Natalya could be pushed as a babyface looking to proudly continue the Hart legacy while ‘The Glamazon’ can simply be pushed as a strong, dominant ass-kicker. While I think the focus of the show should be restoring some honour to the Divas title after six months or so a tag team championship could be introduced. The Divas of Destruction would be an excellent choice for inaugural champs.

As mentioned above Kharma has finished with WWE for now. Assuming she does return it would take very little effort to establish her as an unstoppable monster. She could be fed (not literally) a jobber each week for a few months before gradually being pitted against bigger names, gradually moving her towards a proper programme for the Divas championship. Think Ryback with ovaries.

The development system is currently home to women who would benefit greatly from a programme such as this. Raquel Diaz (daughter of Eddie Guerrero) springs immediately to mind. Her Exfoliating Ugliness Tour is an interesting gimmick that warrants more screen-time. She is unlikely to get that on NXT but she would get it on a Divas-only show.

Meanwhile the likes of Tamina, Kaitlyn, Alicia Fox and Layla would all benefit from not playing second fiddle to their male counterparts. All have had rough personas sketched out for them, a new show could help flesh them out a bit. Perhaps if this show had been around a few months ago Layla wouldn’t have flopped as Divas champion.

To create a worthwhile show WWE would need to bring in some more talent. Del Ray would be a good start. She could have excellent outings against the Phoenixes, Natalyas and Kharmas of the roster. Both Angelina Love and Velvet Sky have just finished up with TNA and Sarita is rumoured to want to leave too. They would all fit in nicely on a WWE Divas broadcast. The Beautiful People could have an excellent tag team feud with Phoenix and Natalya.

The Beautiful People could help to establish a Divas tag division by feuding with the Divas of Destruction

WWE also has the option of asking Trish Stratus and Lita to be involved. Lita has commentary experience working alongside Jonathan Coachman on Sunday Night Heat. She wasn’t the best in the role but she would be an interesting choice for a female-only in-ring product. Trish could be tried in the role too. Both women are busy but a show such as this would likely follow the NXT format of being taped at a regular venue once a month. I’m sure they could fit that in.

I’m sure both women could be persuaded to make occasional appearances in matches. A bout involving either of them (Trish in particular) could attract a ratings spike if promoted in the right way.

There are plenty of women plying their trade on the independent scene. WWE could easily afford to bring in three or four of the best to flesh out the lower portions of the roster, with an eye to rewarding those who do well with a push once the show is firmly established. The promotion could even hold some women-only try-outs to scout for new talent. Their bank account affords them plenty of options.

A Divas show could create programming with a different sort of appeal for the WWE Network and help WWE create some new, bankable female stars for the future. It wouldn’t be quick or cheap, but it would be worth it. The company can afford it and will soon have an entire channel’s worth of time to dedicate to the venture.

GlamaKong

Nikki Bella is the WWE Divas champion.

That’s not a sentence likely to fill any wrestling fan with joy. Nikki and her sister Brie are good looking young ladies and have improved greatly in the ring over the last several years but they’re nowhere near as good as TNA’s Knockouts or the women that comprise the SHIMMER roster (generally considered to be the best female only promotion outside of Japan). WWE simply isn’t seen as company that takes women’s wrestling seriously and Nikki’s victory is a perfect example of why.

But it should be pointed out that there’s a plan in place.   

Beth Phoenix, the woman Nikki toppled for the gold, is said to be injured. This isn’t true. Phoenix is as healthy as any active wrestler can hope to be. The reason that WWE are claiming she’s injured, with ‘The Glamazon’ helping the story along on Twitter, is that they wanted to take the title off of her because they are about to embark on their highest profile women’s feud in years.

Kia Stevens, formerly known as Amazing Kong and now billed as Kharma, is about to make her full time return to WWE. She is regarded as one of the best female wrestlers in the world and was considered a big signing for WWE back at the start of 2011. The most notable work in her career so far came during her stint in TNA, where she worked incredibly enjoyable matches with many of that company’s top names, including a stellar series with Gail Kim. She has wrestled extensively in Japan and across the US indies too, including the aforementioned SHIMMER.

WWE quite rightly believes that a programme between Kharma and Phoenix could be their hottest Divas feud in years. The decision to relieve ‘The Glamazon’ of the belt was made so that the company can bring Kharma back to television and immediately start building her up as the most dominant woman in the division without rushing into her clash with ‘The Glamazon’.

Presumably this will start with her crushing Nikki Bella and then ploughing through every other female performer on the roster. Once she’s established as a powerful force in WWE (and replays of her hitting the move formally known as the Implant Buster on Dolph Ziggler during this year’s Royal Rumble should help there) expect Phoenix to be brought back to begin chasing her for the title.

Can Kharma help revive the WWE Divas division?

I think if the two women are given substantial time and leeway to put on the best matches possible on pay-per-view and their feud is booked logically on RAW and SmackDown they could help to reinvigorate WWE’s knackered Divas scene and make the butterfly belt mean something. Phoenix has been WWE’s best female worker over the last year and a rivalry with Kharma should finally give her something to do beyond beat up expendable models each week.

If WWE handle this correctly they could set themselves on the path to having a competitive and enjoyable women’s division again. Natalya could be brought in after a couple of months to add a fresh dynamic to matches and perhaps enjoy a surprise title reign. Tamina Snuka keeps getting better and would be an interesting opponent for Kharma, Phoenix or Natalya. Meanwhile Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox can keep improving and work as outmatched babyfaces against the division’s top string of stars.

It will all start with Kharma obliterating Nikki Bella, and possibly Brie too. Rumours have been going around that the Bellas are leaving WWE very soon so I’d expect that to happen sooner rather than later, possibly as early as this evening’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. It will likely be WWE’s way of writing the twins off of TV. I will take an admittedly sadistic pleasure in watching them get squashed and I imagine others will too. I hope in six months’ time we can look back on Kharma’s return and see it as a turning point for WWE’s female performers and the starting point of a resurgence of their division.

Girl Power

I’ll usually be among the first to criticise WWE’s approach to the booking of its Divas division but I have to admit that in the last couple of months they have displayed signs of actually booking the women under contract properly.

Last year’s push of Kelly Kelly was a decent start. It may have fallen flat because she has no discernible personality and can’t wrestle but at least the promotion was willing to give a female performer a chance to stand out again. I think they were hoping Double K would leap out of the pack as the next Trish Stratus. That that hasn’t happened doesn’t mean the company should give up their search and in their defence they haven’t.

The biggest positive about the Divas division (and I’m using the term “division” fairly loosely) right now is that Beth Phoenix is the champion. Phoenix can talk when she has to and is a fantastic wrestler. She’s also a good size for a champion in that she can realistically work with anyone. If you’re too big or too small it limits the options of the booking team when it comes to opponents (male examples would be Rey Mysterio and Big Show).

With ‘The Glamazon’ at the helm I feel the Divas have a shot at earning back some of the TV time they’ve lost over the years.

Tamina Snuka’s brief push last month was also a positive. It may not have lasted long but Jimmy’s daughter was permitted to look competitive against a woman who had been positioned as the top star for months. Phoenix made Snuka look like her equal before she beat her, which is exactly the right way to elevate a talent when they have to lose a match. Tamina also deserves credit for improving her wrestling skills so much over the last year or so. She’s gone from a valet who looked incredibly wooden and uncomfortable to someone who can work a long match (by WWE women’s standards) and feels confident enough to do a splash from the top rope.

Two of the best female performers currently in WWE

The recent elevation of Eve Torres may seem like one of the more soap opera aspects of wrestling (because it is) but it’s also WWE making the most of a character development that has seemingly come about as a side effect of a bigger story. That too deserves praise. If Eve is handled right she could be successfully elevated to a feud with Phoenix. That would require ‘The Glamazon’ to turn face or play tweener, but she’s shown she’s capable of doing both.

With Kelly Kelly having announced her dissatisfaction with Eve’s recent heelish ways a feud between those two could be written into storylines with ease. It may not produce the greatest matches in the world but it would provide the division with a mid-card feud while Beth Phoenix continues ploughing through challengers. She could possibly get involved herself for a three-way feud. That would be something different for the Divas.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that if WWE spent enough time planning things out now Eve Torres could be the company’s lead heel Diva in six months’ time.

The rest of the Divas all have something to offer. Alicia Fox has shown that she can wrestle competent short matches when provided with the right opponent. The Bella twins have well defined characters and work well as a tag team (because it hides their weaknesses and allows them to pull the “heels that look alike switching places” trick). Kaitlyn is one of the best options WWE currently has for elevating someone to the top for a run with Beth Phoenix, but for some reason they seem reluctant to make that move. For now she seems to be stuck on NXT. That show has also given us Maxine, a decent talker who wrestles well enough to warrant a raised profile within the company. If built up properly she could work as a heel champion sometime in the not too distant future.

Speaking of the future I believe that if Daniel Bryan loses his World Heavyweight championship at WrestleMania we could see a storyline develop in which he blames on-screen girlfriend AJ for the loss, eventually leading to him slapping the LeBell lock on her. If that happens it will likely lead to her ending up as the on-screen girlfriend of a face like Big Show or Sheamus, but it could be used as an opportunity to boost the Divas division: give AJ a couple of months off to sell the devastation of the hold before making a courageous comeback to the ring to chase the Divas championship. The timing could be worked out so she captures the belt at SummerSlam.

The final women to mention are Natalya, Kharma and Layla. Kharma and Layla are still on compassionate leave and the injured list respectively, but when they return they will be capable of making a big difference to the female roster. If WWE makes use of the talented women they currently have access to then they could have a decent division up and running by the time both ladies are back on television.

Alongside Phoenix, Natty Neidhart is the best female worker WWE has under contract. That she’s been saddled with the tedious gimmick of “breaking wind” in “amusing” backstage segments is a perfect example of WWE getting things wrong. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed though: just stop filming that arrant nonsense and give her matches instead. Simple. If given time to breathe as a performer Natalya can be one of the best female workers in the history of the promotion.

They are getting things right with the women, which is a good sign. Talk of a Divas TV show of some description airing on the WWE Network is also a good sign that the women will get more attention from the writing team. The company just needs to keep pressing on with the good work and continue giving the women things to do.