Turning the Paige

On the Monday 21 September episode of Monday Night RAW is WAR, TV's longest running episodic action adventure soap opera (or something), Paige cut a scathing promo. Or, if you prefer, she dropped a pipebomb. Personally I don't prefer, finding the term trite and irritating when applied to anything other than the segment which originated the phrase, CM Punk's show-closing hijacking of RAW on June 27 2011.

Paige cut her promo during the in-ring celebration of new Divas champion Charlotte (let the record show she'd defeated Nikki Bella for the title at Night of Champions the previous evening). After claiming she was the one who'd made the upturn in women's wrestling in the Fed possible, calling the interaction between Charlotte and her pa Ric patronising, and reminding everyone that she'd won the Divas title on her first night on the roster Paige laid into every member of the roster. Alicia Fox was labelled a third wheel. All three members of Team BAD were written off as all flash and no substance¹. Natalya was sarcastically referred to as MIA. Charlotte was called a placeholder champ, Lynch irrelevant, and there was heavy implication that storyline Paige believes the Bellas only got to and keep their spots because of who they're romantically linked to². It was good stuff, believable, relatable and understandable. Charlotte's response was slightly disappointing because she undersold the betrayal she should have been feeling and simply lashed out angrily. But it was at least spiritied.

Paige there, working herself into a shoot.

It's not the specifics that are important here, it's what Paige's words set up. And they set up a lot. There's the obvious Paige versus Charlotte match for the title. It also created issues between Natalya and Paige and Becky Lynch and Paige, the reasons for each being pleasantly different. Natty has been positioned as the old guard whom 'The Anti-Diva' considers irrelevant/past her prime, which Natty will clearly want to prove wrong.

Meanwhile Becky was labelled "the least relevant" woman on the roster by Paige. Since Monday she's taken the initiative (or been ordered to follow up on the verbal assault) and launched a series of pun themed insults at Paige on Twitter. The pun aspect isn't doing anybody any favours but 'The Lasskicker' firing back as opposed to meekly accepting Paige's low blow or waiting until the next TV show to assert herself is absolutely the right thing for everyone involved. It creates an issue between two wrestlers that gives them a reason to have a match that doesn't involve a championship. That's rare in WWE, especially in their women's league.

In a little under a week WWE have set the decidedly non-progressively named Divas up to have an interesting, layered division. Charlotte has a rematch with Nikki to come as well as her fresh issue with Paige to resolve. Paige has matches ready with both Natalya and Becky, which could both be run through before she gets her title shot opposite 'The Nature Girl' (no way Nikki's getting the belt back for a while). Sasha Banks has also been quietly set up for a larger role with TV wins over Paige and the emphasis on her being an established rival of Charlotte from NXT.

Whether the writing team follows through on any of this is something else. History tells us they'll mishandle things and deliver an uninspired sequence of matches revolving around the Divas title. But thanks to Paige's promo and the work that's been put into the division we can dare to get our hopes up that the MSG Network special or the Hell in a Cell PPV could feature Charlotte v Nikki and Paige v Becky, instead of the standard issue lone title match.

***

¹ The only one that could possibly apply to is Naomi, although I think it would be an unfair statement. Tamina has neither flash nor substance while Sasha Banks has both.

² The irony here is that until a few weeks ago that seemed to be a largely unfair statement. Then rumours started doing the rounds about Big Match John pulling strings to extend Nikki's title reign.

WWE Night of Champions 2015 review

Following a standard issue excellent video package WWE's eighth annual Night of Champions pay-per-view kicked off with an Intercontinental title match. Defending champ The Ryback got a mixed reaction from the Houston fans. That didn't deter him from running through his "Wake up!" and "It's feeding time!" shtick. Challenger Kevin Owens got a more positive reaction and started out the match with the crowd behind him.

'The Big Guy' spent the first minute or so of the match knocking Owens down to the mat. Then he gorilla pressed him to the outside and encouraged the fans to cheer him. They did. Owens shrugged off the gorilla press and began targeting Ryback's arm. Ryback absorbed various armbars and takedowns, a Russian leg sweep with his arm pinned behind his back, and a senton onto his arm before finally managing to floor KO with a clothesline. Owens escaped a power bomb but got caught with a spinebuster. The champ went to follow up with a meat hook clothesline but Owens struck him with a super kick instead.

That earned Owens a two count. He tried to put the champ away with a pop-up power bomb but The Ryback ducked out of the way and got his meat hook clothesline. Owens was hoisted up for the Shellshock but was spared the move when Ry' realised his elbow was too hurty to fall backwards. Owens took this opportunity to drop down to the mat and shove Ryback arm first into a ring post.

When that only got Owens a two count he hit an arm takedown and locked in an armbar. Ryback sold that for a moment before powering up to his feet and deciding he was, in fact, strong enough to hit Shellshock after all. But it wasn't to be: Owens raked Ryback's eyes before he could be dropped and slipped out of the move again, schoolboying the champ for a three count and the gold.

Owens as champ is a good thing. The reaction he got here, and the reactions he's been receiving on TV lately, showed that people were ready for the change. It's a nice change of pace and a call back to when the IC strap was used as a signified that wrestlers were destined for big things in WWE. Ryback's reign was fine but he'd had it long enough. I think he'll work better as a babyface chasing a rematch anyway. Owens deserves a meaningful run and I think he'll get it.

An ad aired for Brock Lesnar's Go to Hell tour. Next month he'll wrestle Big Show in MSG, appear on Steve Austin's podcast, and then face Undertaker at Hell in a Cell inside the cage. The highlight of this should be Lesnar's appearance on Austin's podcast. If there's any chance of Austin v Lesnar happening this should make it clear. The match with 'Taker could be fun but we've seen it before, at No Mercy 2002 (Lesnar won), and I imagine we'll get another offbeat finish even though the obvious thing to do is have 'The Beast' win decisively.

Match two was Rusev versus Dolph Ziggler. Before the match 'The Bulgarian Brute' told Rich Brennan he wasn't in the mood to chat, he was in the mood for crushing "the puny American" Ziggler. Grade A lad banter from Rusev, that. They also took the opportunity to establish that Summer Rae, Rusev's girlfriend, was wearing earrings 'The Show Off' had given to her on RAW. Because it's a soap opera feud and needs soap opera trappings.

The match was fine, mostly because both lads rarely have a bad match, although there was very little crowd heat between the start and the finish. To keep the ridiculous soap antics of the feud strong the finish saw Summer get involved, hopping onto the apron, taking a bump and being ordered to the back by the referee. She responded by taking offer her shoe and throwing it into the ring where it hit Rusev in the face. Ziggler snuck in a Zig Zag and won. Rusev left alone. Summer screeched in the aisle. Michael Cole delivered what he probably thought was a zinger about the sequence giving new meaning to the word "heel". Let's never speak of any of this again.

Heat magnets New Day entered first (in some absolutely fabulous new gear) for the tag team title match. They cut an anti-Dudleys, pro-table promo in an attempt to turn the crowd against them. It mostly worked, but they're never going to be completely successful because they're just too entertaining.

The match was fun. Big E and Bubba had some stiff big boy exchanges, Kofi was excellent as a cocky heel, and Xavier was cracking riling up the crowd (highlights included smack-talking Bubba, loudly screaming  "New Day!", and playing the Rocky theme on his trombone). Devon was also there. Bubba was isolated for a while before he made a hot tag. Within two minutes of that they'd hit a 3D. Woods broke the count up in front of the ref to cause a DQ, giving the Duds a win but ensuring New Day retained the belts.

After the match New Day beat down Bubba and Devon then set up a table. They didn't get to use it though. The Dudleys recovered and put Woods through it. Presumably this was done to give the crowd something to cheer after such an unsatisfying ending and to create cause for a tables match between the two teams either at the MSG Network special or at Hell in a Cell.

The Divas championship match was not the scorcher we'd get from an NXT women's title match. It was heavy on delay tactics from Nikki towards the start and had a far slower pace. The champion targeted the challenger's leg and kept her on the mat to work it over. It was a logical story that played on Charlotte's figure eight leg lock finish, the idea being that ikki would do such an effective job that Charlotte wouldn't be able to apply her trademark hold effectively. It succeeded in engaging the crowd and kept them invested in Charlotte. It also played to the pair's respective strengths. 'The Nature Girl' is very convincing when it comes to selling and Nikki works best with a slower, more deliberate pace where she's free to interact with the audience without needing to do try anything overly athletic. 

Charlotte would eventually fire up and give Nikki some chops (accompanied by unenthusiastic wooos from the crowd). Nikki fought back, clambered onto the second rope and launched herself at the challenger. Charlotte caught her with a spear and locked in a figure eight leg lock, despite Nikki having effectively worked over her leg for the entire match. Nikki only managed to hold on for about ten seconds before she tapped out.

Compared to what we've seen from Charlotte in NXT this wasn't that great. Compared to the average Divas title match over the last few years it was. Charlotte and Nikki told a story, played to their strengths and provided the clean finish that was needed. I don't think we could have asked for more. Nikki's reign hasn't been bad and I enjoy her work but I'm pleased we've got a new champion. Charlotte defending against her fellow fresh additions is what the division needs now.

After a brief Kevin Owens promo (he said he's a prize fighter who now has a prize), a check-in with the pre-show panel (they said nothing of interest), a commentary team check-in (they blathered about the following match) and a shot of PCB and Flair backstage (Charlotte botched her pa's limousine-ridin' catchphrase then left to celebrate her win) the Wyatts v Shield rivalry was introduced. Of note during the entrances Michael Cole called Dean Ambrose a dude, Roman Reigns got a babyface reaction, and a guy who looked a bit like New Jack slipped into the ring to stand with Reigns and Ambrose before the third man was introduced. Security quickly removed him and Ambrose and Wyatt, being stone cold pros, played the incident up.

The actual third man was Chris Jericho. Because apparently he has to get himself involved with every hot act or feud he can in an effort to convince people, and himself, that he's still relevant and capable of hanging with younger fellas. He isn't and can't. Despite the involvement of 'Y2J' the match was good. Highlights included; Reigns deadlifting Harper into a sit out power bomb; a Harper suicide dive to Reigns followed by a senton on the floor from Bray; Ambrose turning a Sister Abigail into a(n unsuccessful) schoolboy; Strowman being booked to stay on his feet after two Superman punches; a crazy-good spear from Reigns to Strowman; and Jericho being caught in mid-air as he tried the Codebreaker on Strowman and being muscled up for a backbreaker. The finish saw Jericho, who'd tagged himself in as Reigns seemed poised to polish things off, pass out in Strowman's bear hug.

The match was surprisingly short at thirteen and wasn't a patch on the Shield v Wyatts matches of 2014. But equalling them was an unreasonably high expectation for this match. It was the fun outing it needed to be and it had the right result: Reigns and Ambrose should not be able to beat the Wyatts with anyone other than Seth Rollins (and that match will happen again someday). It also seemed to contribute to the long term plan of having Reigns accepted by the majority of fans by getting him a good opening reaction and sticking him in a good match. Following the finish the Shield boys looked disappointed and checked on Jericho. He heelishly barged passed them and wandered up the aisle, setting up Jericho v Reigns and-or Ambrose. Because, as already stated, Jericho has to get involved with every act that could conceivably be considered hot.

Backstage Triple H and Stephanie McMahon told Seth Rollins they believed in him. He said he was the man, pumped himself up and headed off down a corridor. Sheamus wandered up and hinted at a Money in the Bank cash-in. Trips and Stepher looked concerned. If they were that concerned they wouldn't have booked their boy in back-to-back title defences, but there you go.

Despite being the obvious choice for show-closer (see my preview for why) Cena v Rollins took the semi-main event slot. As predicted they tore the house down (not literally) with the match of the night. Rollins hit Cena with a Blockbuster, a tree of woe double stomp, a sling blade, a tope, and a superplex floated into a falcon arrow, amongst other moves. Cena hit Rollins with his belly-to-back suplex, the Five Knuckle Shuffle, a sunset bomb, a tornado DDT, and the STF. They also reversed a number of one another's usual moves, Rollins kicking Cena in the head on a FKS attempt, landing on his feet off an AA, and turning another AA into a sunset flip, Cena turning a buckle bomb a hurricanrana and weaselling out of a Pedigree at least once.

Cena would win the match with an inverted suplex, his Dangerous Top Leg Drop and an AA, giving him his fifth United States title. It's interesting to note that even though the match was packed with big moments there was only one finishing move (the STF is a hold so doesn't count here) and it brought things to a close. This seemed like a concerted effort to rein in the number of finishers in main events matches in an effort to make them mean more.  

After the match 'The Future' grabbed the WWE strap and tried to leave. Cena cut him off and AAed him in the aisle before throwing him back into the ring. The match that followed was heavy on ringside action and big bumps from Rollins, both designed to hide the physical limitations of 56-year-old Steve 'Sting' Borden. For the most part it worked.

Sting dominated Rollins until he headed to the announce area. Rollins shoved 'The Icon' off the English announce table through the Spanish announce table and Sting (kayfabe) cracked his head on a monitor. In the ring Sting took a sling blade, a falcon arrow, and a buckle bomb. The big man from WCW kicked out of them all. Instead of doing the sensible thing and hitting Sting with a Pedigree, Rollins went to the apron and went for a springboard something or other. Sting recovered and shoved him off the ropes into the crowd barricade below.

Rollins pretty much no-sold that and was back in the ring almost immediately. He was met by an amped up Sting. The champ took some right hands and a pair of Stinger splashes. Then Sting pulled out the big guns and tossed Rollins out of the ring to give him a cross body block from the top rope.

In the ring Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop. Rollins saved himself with a foot on the ropes. Sting got the Stinger splash again then followed up with a mounted ten punch in the corner. Rollins countered that into a buckle bomb. After that Sting collapsed while running the ropes and the referee called the ringside doctor in to check on him. After a bit of a breather he was cleared to continue (a storyline sequence designed to protect Sting). Rollins immediately went for a Pedigree. Sting turned it into a Scorpion Death Lock. Rollins escaped and tried the Pedigree again. Sting again reversed it onto the Death Lock but Rollins reversed that into a small package to get a three count and retain the world title just shy of the fifteen minute mark.

After a few minutes of celebrating from Rollins, Sheamus rushed the ring and Brogue kicked the world champ. Before he could officially cash-in Kane made the return that literally nobody's been waiting for. He continued the Rollins abuse with a choke slam. Shaymo returned to the ring but he was choke slammed too. 'The Big Red Machine' then ended the show by Tombstoning Rollins, leaving us with the question: whose side is he on?

Night of Champions was a good show. There were no outright bad bouts. The opener, Nikki versus Charlotte, and Cena versus Rollins were all very enjoyable. The main event was far from a classic but it was fun if you like a brawl with clever use of big bumps. The booking of Rollins was disappointing. He's supposed to be an undeserving, cowardly champion but he retained the world title clean and held his own with Big Match John, a feat that not just anyone in WWE can manage. They should have gone all the way with him overcoming the odds and had Sheamus take his briefcase title shot only to lose. Three title matches in one night would have really helped Rollins' character.

***

Results summary:

Kevin Owens defeated Ryback to win the Intercontinental championship
Dolph Ziggler defeated Rusev
The Dudley Boyz defeated New Day by DQ
Charlotte defeated Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
The Wyatt Family defeated Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho
John Cena defeated Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins defeated Sting to retain the WWE championship

WWE Night of Champions 2015 preview

Do you like title defences? If so you'll love Night of Champions. It's the WWE B level pay-per-view where every championship is defended in a match, which somehow sets it apart from all those other WWE pay-per-views where all titles are defended. Plus there are bonus matches that don't even involve titles at all! WWE is truly spoiling us.

With every title being defended double champion Seth Rollins will make two appearances at this event. He'll defend the WWE championship against Sting and the United States championship against John Cena. The US title match is expected to go on last. Considering the respective ability of Sting and Cena I think that's the right call. 'Big Match John' is clearly more capable of delivering a satisfying main while having Rollins face 'The Icon' first will ensure he's fresher, all the better to carry the ageing former WCW headliner to something passable.

I'm fully expecting Cena to regain the US belt. Keeping Rollins a double champ doesn't seem feasible long term and it's tough to envisage Sting wandering out on RAW with the world gold. It's by no means impossible, there's ample time for Rollins to drop the belt to someone and give them a short reign before he regains it and drops it to Reigns. That someone could easily be Sting. Rollins versus Reigns is the obvious big match for WWE to be building to but there's time for them to surprise us before they get there, basically.

There's a way for all three guys to come out of this show looking good. If Sting v Rollins took the semi-main spot then Rollins could cheat to win a fifteen minute match and sell exhaustion as his US defence kicks off. This would keep heat on 'The Future' for cheating in another title defence, protect Sting by not having him lose clean, and make Cena look strong for giving the heel his comeuppance, with Rollins being protected in his second match because he's wrestled back to back defences. Instead of this I suspect Rollins and 'The Stinger' will open the show and that WWE will go with the same story suggested above, though it won't work anywhere near as well with Rollins having a few hours to recuperate between bouts. 

The other gents' single strap will be defended by Ryback against Kevin Owens. It's a match that has the potential to be hossy excellence. It's quality will ultimately be determined by whether or not Ryback's on form. As a character he's always gold, face or heel, but his ring work can vary. Owens will definitely carry his end of things. Expect his usual big match arsenal of fishermanbusters and double jump moonsaults. I'll be surprised if 'The Big Guy' doesn't get to kick out of at least one of Owens' power bomb variants too.

I'm torn on a winner for this match. Ryback is still very much one of the company's projects, a lad they're determined to get over. It's the reason he got the IC strap in the first place. But Owens very clearly has top line potential himself and is a better worker with (seemingly) a more passionate following than big Ry'.

I'm leaning towards an Owens win. I've been predicting Ryback wins since he won the belt on the basis of it not feeling like time for a change. Now it's beginning to. If WWE are serious about wanting their championships to mean more (and the booking of the US title since WrestleMania indicates that they do) then Owens would be a good man to put it on. Of course, successfully defending against Owens could really help to legitimise Ryback's title reign. So there's that.

Over in the tag division New Day will defend the titles against the Dudley Boyz. Given the New Day's table-themed protest against the Dudleys immediately after their return and the lack of gimmick matches on this show it's surprising that this isn't a tables match. I suppose that could change before the event or even on the night. If it does I expect Bubba and Devon will leave as ten time (WWE) doubles champs. If it doesn't then I could see New Day winning in order to set up a rematch for the MSG special or Hell in a Cell in October.

The match will be great. Because New Day. In fact it'll be great because of the Dudleys too. They've been great since their return to the company last month. Bubba has proven he was entirely wasted as Bully Ray in TNA. Not that that's news to anyone.

The evening's other tag match will be a six man. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, the two man Shield, will once again pair up to tangle with the Wyatt Family. It's the stables rivalry that will never end, which, in a way, is part of why it's so special. The guys involved can always slip into a programme based on their allegiances to these groups. It's the sort of thing that works so well in wrestling.

The Wyatts will be represented by Bray, Luke Harper and new boy Braun Strowman. A mystery partner has been teased for Ambrose and Reigns. The list of potential partners seems pretty short. Randy Orton was attacked by Bray and co on the 7 September RAW and was shown talking to Reigns and Ambrose later in the evening so he'd be a logical choice. Erick Rowan had reunited with Luke Harper before he suffered an injury in June but it's possible he could return to oppose them citing jealousy over Braun Strowman bring brought in. That sounds an underwhelming and slightly silly reason for a face turn but WWE have offered far less in the past. Personally I'd like to see Cesaro as the mystery partner. It wouldn't make much sense but he's not booked and he can wrestle his socks off (possibly literally).

I suspect we'll get 'The Viper' as the third man though. Although he's boring a lot of the time he'd be perfectly watchable here. Sharing the ring with five other men would limit his screen time and allow him to hit his key spots without doing much else. That's pretty much ideal for him.

The current incarnation of the feud (which started back at Money in the Bank in June) is tied at one win each. 'The Eater of Worlds' defeated Reigns at Battleground. Reigns and Ambrose picked up a tag win over Wyatt and Harper at SummerSlam. Assuming this is the final match in the series I'm predicting a Reigns, Ambrose and mystery partner victory here. Reigns needs to be kept strong for the WWE title win he's getting sooner or later. That said I'd love to see the Wyatt Family win after interference from a returning Rowan or, better yet, a debuting Sister Abigail.

Also announced for the show are Dolph Ziggler v Rusev and Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons v The Cosmic Wasteland. I've got little to say regarding Ziggler, Rusev, Lana and Summer Rae. The story seems to be deliberately emulating a trashy soap plot. This is fine and something wrestling can parody very well. Sadly nobody involved is going as crazy with their material as they need to to make it work. I'll hope Lana swerve turns on 'The Show Off' to reunite with Rusev.

The six man match will be on the pre-show. I don't usually cover those but I love this Cosmic Wasteland thing so much that I just wanted an excuse to mention it. Stardust has been a highlight of WWE since his issue with Stephen Amell became A Thing and casting The Ascension as his henchmen was a stroke genius. They look good together, it gives a previously aimless team something to do, and it helps 'The Prince of Dark Matter' seem that bit more of a threat. No logical analysing here, I want them to win.

Finally there's Nikki Bella's Divas title match with Charlotte. This match originally took place on the September 14 episode of RAW with the story on that night being that Charlotte wanted to win not just to become the Divas champion but to stop Nikki becoming the longest reigning champ in history. We got a Dusty finish. Charlotte was announced as the victor and new champ, Ric Flair nigh on teleported down to ringside to get in some celebrating with his daughter, then it was revealed that Charlotte had pinned Brie. The match was restarted and Nikki got in a pin to retain her title and shatter a record.

The reasoning behind this sequence was beyond reproach. Nikki cheating to win in the manner she did is a long established character trait. Stealing the title from Charlotte's grasp is the perfect way to get heat on a heel. The trouble is that so much leading up to the match had been haphazard. Nikki had flitted back and forth between face and heel. The Divas Revolution story, while entertaining and definitely movement in the right direction, had not produced that many truly memorable or meaningful matches.

The good news is that the NOC rematch has been announced with stipulations that favour a fair fight. Nikki can lose by DQ, ruling out any heelish shenanigans. Things are set up for a Charlotte victory and Sasha Banks has been surreptitiously readied as her first challenger with clean TV wins over former champion Paige and a subtle restructuring of BAD to make it clear that 'The Boss' is... well, the boss. Nikki is unlikely to regain the title after losing it to Charlotte but she can float around near the top of the division as a perennial challenger, her longest reign ever giving her something to crow about and helping portray her as a legitimate contender.

If Charlotte doesn't win at Night of Champions WWE will have to go back to square one with their Divas division. I don't think they want to. I'm confident enough people backstage understand that Sunday needs to be Charlotte's night.

***

Predictions summary:

John Cena to defeat Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins to defeat Sting to retain the WWE championship
Kevin Owens to defeat Ryback for the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte to defeat Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and their mystery partner to defeat The Wyatt Family
New Day to defeat the Dudley Boyz to retain the tag team championship
Rusev to defeat Dolph Ziggler
The Cosmic Wasteland to defeat Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons

Booking an Icon

Since Sting started working for WWE last year the company's booking of him has been frustratingly hit and miss. He spent his first appearance trying hard to be mysterious and enigmatic while doing nothing more than interfering in a tag match. That was bad. He spent his first match holding his own with Triple H, one of the biggest stars in company history, and being granted access to all manner of shortcuts to disguise the fact that he is long past his prime. That was good.

Unfortunately nobody on the writing team has figured out what works and what doesn't with regard to 'The Stinger'. They're still experimenting, despite having found some good uses for him and owning the rights to the footage of Sting at his latter-half-of-the-nineties peak. The last two weeks have given us both good and bad things from him.

The August 24 episode of RAW saw Sting return from a lengthy, self-imposed hiatus (we didn't even get to see him chilling in the rafters - for shame!) to rile Seth Rollins by stealing a statue. Y'see, Rollins had earned a statue by defeating John Cena at SummerSlam the night before, a match in which both Rollins' WWE championship and Cena's United States championship had been up for grabs. The Authority had promised him a statue if he won (for some reason) and it was meant to be revealed on RAW before being moved to WWE HQ to join statues of Andre the Giant and Bruno Sammartino.

One of the most WCW segments that's ever gone down on RAW.

This being pro wrestling, the statue was brought down to the ring for the main event segment and the drape was pulled off to reveal... Sting. How he'd managed to not only steal a very heavy life size statue but smuggle himself onto its podium was, understandably, not addressed. The segment played out with Triple H awarding Sting's bizarre and illegal behaviour with a WWE title shot at Night of Champions. A decision which was also odd, for the record, because 'The Icon' had wrestled for the company only once and that was a loss. The September 7 RAW saw Sting holding the statue hostage before ending the night by throwing it into what's best described as a garbage truck.

This is the sort of behaviour WWE loves to book for its lead babyfaces and it's a problem. Both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns have had their momentum hampered by this sort of "loveable scamp" booking over the last year, Ambrose in his hotdog cart exploits and Reigns with his pre-'Mania RAW tug-o'-war with Brock Lesnar (amongst others, for both). In 2015 it's not funny and not relatable. There have been worse booking decisions from WWE this year but that doesn't negate the fact that Sting posing as a statue is silly. And silly is not an adjective that should be applied to someone getting ready for a WWE pay-per-view main event.

This man is 56.

But, like I said, there's been good stuff too. Specifically the wedge Sting has driven between Triple H and Seth Rollins. On the August 31 RAW Sting played 'The Game' and Rollins off against one another by putting the former over as a great wrestler whom he respects and stating that Rollins isn't quite as good. The best part of this was the subtlety of it and the way it played on the established character traits of the heels. Tripper, usually quick to talk Rollins up and boost his confidence, was never going to disagree with Sting on this point. His pride simply wouldn't allow it. Rollins, meanwhile, was clearly going to disagree with Sting because he's already gone on record stating that he's the greatest WWE champion ever (the reason he felt entitled to a statue in the first place). Sting, through nothing more than a well-placed comment, got allies to disagree with one another.

WWE would usually hammer its audience over the head with this sort of foreshadowing. Giving it space to breathe made it all the better and will make the inevitable pay off, in the form of a Triple H versus Seth Rollins match, all the sweeter.

This is how WWE should book their lead babyfaces. Outsmarting heels by pretending to be a statue doesn't make anyone look clever, it just makes those being outsmarted look like idiots. Having Sting drop subtle remarks about one man being a better wrestler than another though? That's good. That understandably drives a wedge between people and shows that the guy doing the remarking is intelligent enough to mentally outmanoeuvre his foes. More of that, please. Less of the statue malarkey. 

Revolutionising the Divas Division

The July 13 RAW saw the main roster debuts of Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Hardly breaking news at this point I know, it's taken me a while to get a post together on the call-ups. Not doing a post simply wasn't an option: the significance of the three women being promoted from developmental simultaneously cannot be understated.

Paige and her NXT allies, the unofficially dubbed Powerbuff Girls.

Moving a number of women from NXT's women's division is a sign that WWE management recognise change is needed in the way women are presented by the company. Having them be three of the four best wrestlers (the fourth, to clarify, is Bayley) is a sign that this isn't just a case restocking a depleted division but a drive to improve quality. Had the former been what the company desired they simply could have gone with utilising existing bit part players Alicia Fox, Cameron, Summer Rae and Rosa Mendes. That wrestlers who have been receiving critical praise were chosen to join the division tells us that creating a competitive, layered and compelling division is the goal.

As does, of course, the manner in which the three were promoted. They were introduced by Stephanie McMahon. Having a McMahon hype you up before your first appearance is a big deal, because they're the owners of the company and if they're going out of their way to talk you up it sends the message that you're worth attention¹. Te same goes for interacting with a champion in your first segment. Basically everything about the way the women were introduced was designed to let anyone unfamiliar with them know they're a big deal and reassure people who've enjoyed their work in NXT that they'll get the same kind of opportunities on RAW and SmackDown.

Naomi versus Banks could be great. Just saying...

Since the call-up the company has stuck to its guns on the revamped Divas scene. Charlotte, Banks and Brie Bella wrestled an eleven and a half minute three-way at Battleground. The following evening's RAW saw Charlotte defeat Brie in a nine minute match and Naomi and Banks topple Lynch and Paige in a little under fifteen minutes. The July 23 SmackDown saw a thirteen minute tag match, and the Monday 27 RAW a fourteen minute singles match between Paige and Banks. The newcomers haven't been booked to steamroll their more established counterparts but they have been made to look competitive, an intelligent approach that considers the long-term future of the division.

I'm not claiming the matches have all been classics. They haven't. The only one that can accurately be said to be n above average affair was the Banks versus Paige match, and that was at least partly due to Banks being the reigning NXT women's champion and 'The Anti-Diva's' history in the developmental league (and with that title) making for an interesting background to the meeting. But they have been longer than the average Divas match of the last few years, and they've been wrestled like the people involved have something to prove, presumably because they do.

The decision to form three factions is what I like most about the restructuring of the division. It keeps things simple and gives each Divas match a reason for happening. Going by the numbers there are now twenty-seven singles matches, eighteen tag combos, three six women tags, and the obviously climactic three-way trios collision that can be cycled through. That's easily enough to keep the division feeling fresh and exciting for months. If things are paced properly and the story is told right WWE could do something special with Nikki Bella edging closer and closer to becoming the longest reigning Divas champion ever².

Can Nikki Bella become the longest reigning Divas champion ever?
A strong maybe from me.

Whether Nikki achieves this feat or not, and personally I think she will because she seems liked within the company and the people that run the company are vindictive enough to want to take the chance to take an accolade away from AJ, she'll lose the title at some point. When she does it will be to a member of a rival faction, because these are the women who will form the focal point of the division for the foreseeable future. When that happens it opens up longer term stories of rivalries between people who are currently allies. Charlotte winning the title could set up a friendly series with Paige, for example, while Banks and Naomi seem destined to clash over "leadership" of their BAD stable.

It's taken WWE far too long to get back around to presenting its women wrestlers as athletes who have the same athleticism and competitive drive as their male counterparts but at least they got to it eventually. It was at least worth the wait as the situation they've created by going with three promotions at once has given us the most promising Diva line-up in years and dozens of potential storylines, matches and feuds. If they can meet half of the potential they'll be doing okay.

***

¹ we will at this point overlook the fact that Steph, while great on the mic, is nowhere near the level of her dad, the one and only Vinnie Mac.

² As things stand right now she will surpass AJ Lee's current 295 day record on September 15. That's the Tuesday before Night of Champions. It seems reasonably safe to assume that if Nikki leaves August's SummerSlam with the butterfly belt she'll make it NOC as champ, breaking Lee's record.