The Total Diva

On the March 18 episode of NXT vignettes started airing for Dana Brooke. In these we were introduced to the woman born Ashley Sebera, a bodybuilder signed by WWE in June 2013. The videos presented her as a confident, bordering on arrogant, fitness fanatic keen to point out that she's worked hard to attain what she views as the perfect body. In other words, she was very clearly meant to be taken as a heel.

Dana Brooke there, looking like a
90's Scott Steiner valet.

The vignettes worked well. It was clear what we were meant to think of Brooke and what her character was all about. We also got to see her demonstrating her fitness background credentials, a good thing considering that is likely to be her defining attribute for the foreseeable future. The only thing that could really be considered negative the introduction was that Brooke's light blonde hair and black-pink colour scheme made her appear very similar to the more established Natalya. Not that looking like Natty is a bad thing, but it would have been better for Brooke to receive a completely fresh start. Long term the look will be changed, unless she gets promoted to the main roster as a massive Natalya mark who wants to become her idol. Which, actually, could be a pretty enjoyable story.

Not that a call-up is going to happen anytime soon. Brooke's first televised match against Leva 'Blue Pants' Bates is probably most kindly described as uninspiring. Aside from stomps and rope chokes Brooke didn't actually do much, although she did pull out a nice Samoan driver to close the match.

It's important to note that while Brooke didn't produce the greatest debut match ever she also avoided embarrassing herself. Things were kept basic there were no major botches. She's easily as good as Trish Stratus was after her first televised match, a comparison worth making because both women entered WWE with no prior wrestling experience from fitness backgrounds.

Stratus went on to become one of WWE's best female wrestlers ever. It would be idiotic to say that Brooke is on that same path after one match, but it's worth noting that it took Stratus to get comfortable and find her form in the ring. Also worth noting is that Brooke will benefit from a better training system than Stratus had access to. The Performance Centre and entire NXT setup is intended for people just like her. It's already taken the entirely green Charlotte and turned her into one of the best prospects the Divas division has had in a decade. There's no reason the same can't be done with 'The Total Diva'.

Time is on Dana Brooke's side. The quality of NXT has become so high that it's easy to forget that one of the objectives of the show is to give less experienced performers a platform to learn and one of the things that needs to be learned is how to wrestle for cameras. The influx of a bunch of great talent at once and a logical approach to booking have helped NXT become wrestling-heavy show. That's great, but we have to bear in mind that it's not the show's sole focus.

Brooke's background and look mean management are going to be keen to add her to the main roster sooner than the majority of her peers. As such she needs to gain experience working in TV setting, and that's what NXT is for. If expectations are kept realistic I think Brooke could end up being NXT's next major success story.

New Year's Revolution 2005 review

All those old wrestling shows. So little time. Let’s jump into the hypothetical time machine and take a trip back to watch an old show with fresh, modern eyes…

This time we’re going back to the very start of 2005 and the first of WWE’s three New Year’s Revolution events. None of them were much good. The most notable thing about them is that the first two hosted Elimination Chamber matches, which would ultimately lead to WWE foolishly deciding that the first quarter of the year should always feature that gimmick. Oh, and the 2006 show featured Edge winning his first WWE championship. But we’re stuck a year earlier than that, with Eric Bischoff still very much in charge of his own RAW roster, Kane and Lita bafflingly being in a relationship, Randy Orton playing the plucky young babyface, and Muhammad Hassan and Eugene being things wrestling fans had to deal with.

All set? Let’s begin…

Opening video

This was an odd one by WWE standards. It saw Eric Bischoff stood in the ring with the Elimination Chamber cage set up around him talking about how vicious the match is. Perhaps to illustrate his point (but perhaps for some other, undisclosed reason) he would occasionally smack the cage with a steel pipe. This was interspersed with shots from previous Chamber bouts, supposed construction of the Chamber itself, and the double finish triple threat match that resulted in the vacating of the World Heavyweight championship and the Chamber match headlining this card.

World tag team championship: William Regal and Eugene (c) v Christian and Tyson Tomko

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler welcomed us into the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico for what I believe is the only WWE pay-per-view to not be held in the United States or Canada since SummerSlam 1992. But that possibly inaccurate fact paled in comparison to Ross and Lawler being stationed next to the entranceway, something I’d completely forgotten about. This was one of those moves Vince made in the 2000s that was either designed to freshen up the product (y’know because wrestling fans are all about where the commentary desk is put in an arena) or annoy JR. It definitely achieved the latter, whether that was the intent or not. Ross was always quick to say that he hated being away from the ring.

I think an explanation of Eugene is probably necessary because it’s possible some (lucky) people reading this won’t be familiar with the character. He was originally introduced as Eric Bischoff’s nephew suffering with serious learning disabilities. He was played by the mentally able Nick Dinsmore, a man who’d toiled away in the company’s developmental system for years and presumably agreed to play the character because he was (understandably) desperate for his chance to become a Superstar™.

On the surface introducing a character with learning disabilities was a progressive move for a wrestling company. The initial introduction was good and Dinsmore’s portrayal was believable and sympathetic enough for Eugene to catch on and become surprisingly popular (the lack of fresh stars and the product’s general sense of staleness may have been additional contributing factors). But WWE, being WWE, had to get it wrong eventually. Eugene got mixed up with lead heel faction Evolution, which led to him being exposed as the out of his depth mid-card character he was always going to be.

After that he was shunted into a tag team with William Regal. It was not only a more appropriate placing on the card but also a more appropriate role in general. Regal made an excellent straight man for Eugene’s exuberant antics. They became one of the few decent teams WWE had throughout the entire decade.

That’s the point we’re at now. In the future WWE would make the bewildering decision to turn Eugene heel (having a mentally challenged character that audiences are encouraged to boo is never going to be a good move) and the decidedly less bewildering decision to drop him further down the card when his popularity inevitably waned. Ultimately he would be released, make a very brief return (as Eugene) in 2013, and then be hired as a trainer in 2013 (a role he was coincidentally fired from this week). But that’s all in the future. At NYR 2005 Eugene was still employed and very, very popular for some reason I’ve never been able to work out.

The match started with Eugene emulating Hogan’s posing and JYD's headbutts. He also cocked his leg to emulate urinating on a downed Christian. The crowd went mad for that. Eugene was isolated for a few minutes but managed to tag in Regal (to absolute silence) after Hulking up. Then it was Regal’s turn to get isolated, which made more sense as Eugene was the more popular of the pair.

The crowd exploded when Eugene finally tagged back in. He did a fiery clean-up on the heels before (legitimately) hurting his knee due to overexcitement. The match ended shortly afterwards, Eugene getting the pin via Owen Hart SummerSlam '97 rollup. The match clearly ended a little before it was meant to because of the injury. Eugene was helped to the back by medical personnel.

Poolside with the Divas

Christy Hemme wandered around the pool. She stopped to hand a towel to some random dude and got leered at in return. She seemed to enjoy it. Because the PG rating hadn’t been introduced at this point ‘King’ was in full-on ‘King’ mode, commenting that he loved Christy taking the twins out.

It was the first of many such videos.

Edge, Christian and Tyson Tomko chat backstage

Edge and Christian, while both heels, were not aligned with one another at this point. Which was a nice touch. It makes things seem more believable when heels have problems with other heels based on previous feuds. Edge told Christian he had an idea that would see Christian win the WHC. They walked off, presumably to discuss Edge’s plan in more detail away from the camera crew.

Women's championship: Lita (c) v Trish Stratus

The match was preceded by a video getting everyone up to speed. Lita had gotten pregnant by Kane and lost the baby after Kane fell on her in the ring. Trish made fun of her for this, first laughing about her getting fat due to pregnancy and then about her losing the baby. Which really goes beyond heel heat into the realms of Trish’s character just being awful. Her villainous side was not served well by the writing team.

This pregnancy stuff demonstrates a few things. First of all, it’s not just Vince Russo who writes pregnancy and miscarriage angles for this company. Secondly, WWE was quite happy to use something that would only ever be a tragedy in real life to fuel what was meant to be escapist TV programming. Lita v Trish was the first of two matches on the show that came from this dreadful angle. That we no longer get storylines like is a reason to be in the favour of the PG rating.

This was Trish's sixth women's title win.

The match was pretty quick. Trish was thrown out of the ring and Lita tweaked her knee performing a Thesz Press off the apron. Trish worked the knee for a few minutes in the ring and then pinned Lita after a Chick Kick. It wasn’t as obvious whether or not the injury here was real, but it seemed it. Whatever the case, the match was not up to the standards of the pairs’ reputations. It was basic and lasted less than four minutes.

Chris Jericho gets ready

That’s it. A shot of Chris Jericho preparing for the main event. JR mentioned him being the first ever undisputed champion in an attempt to make it seem like Jericho had a chance at heading into WrestleMania Season as the champ. He didn’t and everyone knew it.

Poolside with the Divas again

Maria got undressed and sat on a sunbed. Jerry said he didn’t know what he was doing while this was filmed but he was pleased the cameras were there to catch it.

Edge, Christian, Tyson Tomko and Eric Bischoff chat backstage

Edge told Bisch that he wanted a World title match but didn’t want it with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee. The future ‘Rated R Superstar’ had convinced himself Michaels would screw him out of the gold (because they were feuding at this point). He suggested putting Christian in the Chamber match in his place, with the winner defending the title against Edge on RAW. Bischoff said no to the proposed changes and, perhaps channelling the 2014 model Batista, told E&C to deal with it.

Edge stormed out of the office and ran into Michaels in the corridor. Michaels said he planned to call the match fairly but that he'd have to react if physically provoked. He did say he'd like to count Edge’s shoulders down though. Which didn’t exactly sound unbiased.

Intercontinental championship: Shelton Benjamin (c) v Maven

Maven had pinned Benjamin in a six man tag match to earn the title shot. Back then a champion being pinned in a non-title match was still enough of a reason for a title match to happen. RAW would be a much easier watch these days if basics like that were still the case.

Proof that WWE could have gimmicked Maven up.

The match lasted a little over six minutes but most of that was house show-level stalling from Maven. He hugged the ropes to escape Benjamin’s formidable amateur background then left the ring to stand on a chair and cut a promo on the crowd. Why didn’t he get counted out? Because he told the referee not to count and the referee obliged. And people think HBK’s a biased official!

Maven basically spent about three minutes telling the crowd to be quiet so he could concentrate. He also pretended he couldn’t speak Spanish then revealed that he could (or at least knew a token phrase). Then he faked a walk out, dashed back into the ring, and got rolled up and pinned with an immediate schoolboy by the champion.

Maven said the loss didn't count and demanded an immediate rematch. So that led to…

Intercontinental championship: Shelton Benjamin (c) v Maven... the long-awaited rematch

Shelton returned, hit a T-Bone suplex and pinned Maven again. The entire sequence seemed designed to kill time in the most unsatisfying fashion possible.

Poolside with the Divas yet again

A woman (who on closer inspection turned out to be Candice Michelle) rubbed lotion into Christy Hemme's back. Jerry didn’t say anything particularly noteworthy, possibly because he’d left the announce desk by this point.

Chris Benoit gets ready

Chris Benoit did some press-ups. JR said he wanted to regain the title and referenced WrestleMania XX. That was it.

Todd Grisham interviews Daivari and Muhammad Hassan

After a recap of JR being choked (like a government mule?) by Hassan and Daviri, Todd Grisham asked an instantly forgettable generic question of the heels. Hassan said it was typical of the American media (which I think meant WWE’s production team) to cut out Lawler calling him an idiot and only show the aftermath. Grish asked if he was nervous for his PPV debut. Hassan said he wasn't and then chatted about Puerto Rico's populace being second class citizens. He also crammed in a line about his own personal revolution. Because that's the name of the show!

For those who don’t remember, Muhammad Hassan was in many ways the other side of the Eugene coin. He was just as much a product of exploitation but he was a vicious heel rather than a (supposedly) endearing babyface. In this case the aspect of reality being exploited was the West’s cultural clash with the Middle East. Hassan would cut promos about being held back because of his ethnicity and make veiled comments about whatever North American city he was in being prejudiced against him. Because he was a heel he wasn’t allowed to touch on these issues without making it clear that he himself was prejudiced against the West, because that’s the way WWE operates.

It was a far more unpleasant character than Eugene, for obvious reasons. Hassan would eventually disappear from TV later in the year after UPN (the channel which aired SmackDown) pressured WWE into not using him after a controversial segment in which Hassan summoned men in ski masks to choke The Undertaker with piano wire before carrying him out of the arena (taped days before the London bombings). Daivari disappeared too, but would return later in the year to manage Kurt Angle.

Muhammad Hassan v Jerry 'The King' Lawler

JR left commentary to accompany Lawler to ringside. That left us with no commentary, which was a peculiar production decision. Especially when Todd Grisham had been shown backstage and Jonathan Coachman would commentate on the show from the next match onwards. Perhaps it was an experiment by WWE to see they could cut costs and operate without announcers.

It was a basic match with the obvious heavy influence from Memphis. For example, fair early on Lawler “had the match won” with a rollup but the ref was busy reapplying a turnbuckle pad. There was also the obligatory pulling down of the strap to signify that ‘King’ meant business.

Hassan put on the camel clutch twice but Jerry wouldn't quit. The crowd changed boring after the second application. Hassan's response was a sleeper. Jerry made a comeback and hit a drop kick and his punch from the second rope but Hassan, not being a jobber from the 1970s, kicked out. Lawler DDTed him but Daiviri put his man’s foot on the ropes to break the count. Jerry chased Daivari around ringside and then, with a little help from scary ol’ Jim Ross, into the ring. But he didn’t get his hands on him. Instead Hassan caught him with the Flatliner for the three count.

Todd Grisham interviews Batista

Batista told Grisham that he was a wrecking machine and his chances in the chamber were “great.” Then Orton appeared and asked if Batista would try to win the title or be 'The Game's' stooge. Batista said he'd take his chance to become WHC.

Fun at the commentary desk

Coach strolled out and joined JR on commentary. He didn’t reveal why he hadn’t done this twenty minutes earlier. Instead he told Ross that he and ‘King’ sucked and that everyone in Puerto Rico loved him. Because Coach was a heel who said stuff like that at this point.

Snitky v Kane

This started with a recap. Snitsky had hit Kane with a chair. Kane had fallen on Lita. Lita had had a miscarriage. Kane had sworn revenge on Snitsky. Snitsky had launched his wildly popular “It wasn’t my fault!” catchphrase in reference to said miscarriage and put Kane out of action. Kane had returned, still angry with Snitsky. Eric Bischoff booked the pair in this match.

This pretty much sums up the entire Snitsky-Kane-Lita saga.

The most exciting thing about the match was Snitsky's music starting with his catchphrase. There were lots of punches and lots of kicks. There was also a fairly unnecessary exposed concrete spot. Kane won with a Tombstone, which is pretty solid evidence that WWE were keen to get the feud and Snitsky over: ‘The Big Red Machine’ only ever busted out that move to put away major threats.

Snitters never got over, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He had a job until December 2008. Which is astonishing when you stop and think about it. He was truly, truly abysmal.

Poolside with the Divas IV: Citizens on Patrol

Stacey Keibler got off a sunbed and into the pool. Maria's footage was replayed. So was Christy’s. "I'm the breast - I mean best - at putting on tanning lotion,” said J-Lawl as we got another look at Candice rubbing her hands all over Christy.

Simon Dean appeared, drinking from a pineapple. JR instantly called him a party pooper. Seconds later Dean proved him right when he pushed a random lad into the pool. The girls were joined in the pool by Rosey, The Hurricane, Rob Conway and Val Venis for a “chicken fight” (the girls were put on the guys’ shoulders and tried to shove one another into the water). This “fun” ended when Christy pulled off Maria's top then pushed her into the pool. Coach said Maria was the winner. Lawler said we were all winners.

Recap video explaining why the World Heavyweight championship was vacated

Reigning champion Triple H defended the title in a triple threat match against Benoit and Edge. That ended when Edge reversed the Crippler Crossface into a pinning predicament but then tapped out just as the final count was made on Benoit’s shoulders. This prompted a return from Vince McMahon a week or two later (there have been so many Vince sabbaticals that I have no idea which one this was), who declared that GM Eric Bischoff would have to decide the title’s fate. Which presumably would have been a part the GM role anyway, but whatever.

Even though the finish made it fairly clear that either Benoit or Edge were the rightful champion Bisch decided the fairest thing to do would be to crown a new champion inside the Elimination Chamber, essentially muddying the waters by adding three names that definitely had no claim to being the World champ.

At the time this all happened I remember thinking that it was just an overly elaborate way of increasing the number of world title reigns for Triple H. Nine years later I still feel the same way.

Inside Evolution’s dressing room

H3 demanded to know why Batista said he'd go for the title. Big Dave clarified, saying he was an Evolution guy and that he had Triple H's back but that he'd go for the gold if Trips was eliminated before he got in. Flair and Triple H did not appreciate the final comment.

Eric Bischoff in-ring promo

Bisch strutted out to tell everyone the Chamber was one of his greatest creations and to remind that a new champion would be crowned. He finished by welcoming the crowd. That this promo happened at all was weird. That it happened before the main event and ended with Bischoff welcoming the crowd was even weirder.

World Heavyweight championship Elimination Chamber: Triple H v Chris Benoit v Randy Orton v Chris Jericho v Batista v Edge

The introductions took an age but the crowd were hot for everyone, which helped a lot. In terms of talent and name value I expected it to be one of the best Chamber matches ever.

Jericho and Benoit started things off with a compelling bit of technical wrestling. Tripper was the second man to enter. He immediately worked over both guys, throwing them out onto the steel. Benoit took the opportunity to blade.

Jericho back dropped Trips onto the steel and suplexed him back into the ring, then got back into it with Benoit as the next countdown rang out. Edge entered, spearing Jericho and DDTing Triple H for a two count. Out on the steel he blocked a pedigree and catapulted 'The Game' into the chains.

Batista's face...

Orton came in fifth and launched into his plucky babyface routine on Triple H. I feel compelled to point out that Orton was only twenty-four at this point. The crowd chanted for an RKO and got one when Orty came up against Jericho. A second attempt on Benoit was turned into a Crippler Crossface, which also met with the crowd’s approval. Triple H taunted Orton while he was in the hold so Benoit released it and put Trips in the Sharpshooter. Orton then recovered and floored Benoit with an RKO.

Edge went for a spear on Orton but Orton moved and Edge ran through Michaels. Moments later he got Orton with the move, but Michaels was still down and unable to make the count. Edge got in his face so Michaels super kicked him. Jericho took the opportunity to give Edge a Lionsault, which was enough to get him the pin and give us our first elimination. Aside from the closing moments this was the only sequence Michaels was involved in.

Benoit suplexed Trips after a Pedigree on Jericho, then followed up with a diving headbutt. The Canadians locked in dual submissions on ‘The Game’ as the final countdown kicked in and – ahem – ‘The Animal’ was unleashed. Batista leapt over the top rope into the ring to save his stablemate. He blasted through both Canadians and Orton then came face to face with Triple H. The other three men recovered and attacked before anything could happen. The tease was well received. It was one of many WWE employed on the path to convincing themselves Triple H v Batista was the direction to take for WrestleMania.

Benoit was eliminated next, falling to a spinebuster from Batista. Jericho fell to a Batista bomb soon after. That left just the two Evolution boys with their former teammate. It was a logical final three considering the history, but the crowd had seemed more invested in Jericho and Benoit.

H3 and 'The Animal' ganged up on Orton. ‘The Legend Killer’ kicked out of a Batista power slam, a Triple H spinebuster and a barrage of punches before firing up for a comeback. He floored Batista with an RKO and Triple H, thinking quickly, opted not to make the save. That was another sign: ‘The Cerebral Assassin’ didn’t want to be left alone with the powerhouse.

Orty and Trips had an energetic tussle. Triple H ate an RKO but Michaels was distracted by Flair trying to get into the cage, letting Batista, who still hadn’t exited, wallop Orton with a clothesline. Tripper hauled up Orton, giving him the highest wedgie in WWE main event history in the process, and smashed him with the match-winning Pedigree.

Evolution celebrated as the commentary gang talked up the bout and Triple H's tenth world title win.

Final thoughts

Further evidence this was all about title reigns.

I remembered this show for the main event but I wasn’t aware until rewatching it how little else there was on offer. It could have been far better than it was. Obviously Snitsky v Kane and Hassan v Lawler weren’t going to amount to much and the opener was about as good as it could get (injury aside) but the Intercontinental and women’s title matches could have been far better. The former was nothing but stalling. In total they had about eight minutes of ring time available. That was enough to have had a solid match. The women’s match might have been hampered by an injury. But if it wasn’t that was another let-down. Given four more minutes they could have had a very enjoyable bout.

The main event was worthwhile though. It actually provides a logical reason for why Batista and Orton got to the top in the first place: both pulled their weight here at a time when they were the junior members of the main event crew. I wouldn’t say it’s the best Chamber match ever, but that’s at least partly because Chambers matches don’t stick with me as much as Hell in a Cell and other big gimmick matches too. It was very good and worth checking out, and saved New Year’s Revolution from being the dreadful misfire it could have been.

That said, it could have worked just as well had Triple H’s title reign not been interrupted. There was no need for that beyond him hitting double figures.

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.