TNA SLAMMIVERSARY
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| The original champion failed to reclaim the gold. |
There wasn't anything too special about this match. For all the credit TNA is given for having a better women's division than WWE, it lasted no longer than your typical pay-per-view Divas match. Fortunately, Angelina and Gail can work a brief encounter well enough that it warrants the respectable position on a big card that TNA allows it. There was some brawling outside the ring early on (where Angelina Love took a beautifully nasty spill over the steel steps) followed by a few rough bumps back in the ring that show how much more physical these women can get than many of WWE's Divas. Whether that is to be attributed to ability or to not being told by management to tone it down in the ring before they show up the men, I cannot tell you, but it makes a noticeable difference.
After a few screwy happenings, referee Stiffler's favoritism ended up costing Kim the match and rewarding the win to the retaining Champion, Angelina Love. As I said, this was a physical contest and a breath of fresh air for anyone who may only be watching the Divas matches on Raw and Smackdown, but it will take more than this to keep any women's division prominent. Love and Kim are great at what they do, but even the best of the best can only do so much with constantly re-hashed storylines. If TNA ever wants to restore the Knockouts division to its former glory, they are going to need more women - lots more.
WWE RAW
On Raw, Summer Rae teamed with Adam Rose (and I still can't figure out if they're trying to get her over as a heel, babyface, or neither) to take on Fandango and Layla. The match was mercifully quick. As we know, the WWE history books aren't exactly brimming with classic mixed tag team matches, and this one only needed a brief moment to serve its purpose. After Summer and Layla brawled a little, the former chased the latter around the ring and to the backstage area, leaving Adam Rose to roll up Fandango for the quick win.
I'll be honest and say that I am not particularly invested in the Summer Rae/Layla rivalry, but I am increasingly impressed by Summer's handling of her persona. Last week on NXT I saw her whip her hair in Charlotte's face. In her face!
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| Another submission at the hands of Paige and the PTO. |
Champion Paige was in action against her apparent next challenger, Cameron. It is obvious by now that WWE is hell-bent on repeating the revolving door of challengers that plagued AJ Lee's title reign and the fact that the Divas go on quietly before the main event for a three-minute match every week and aren't getting any character development is a recipe for disaster. WWE must enjoy the taste though, because it's a recipe they've perfected.
The match was short and the only highlight was getting to see Paige lock on the PTO. It was uninspired and felt very deflated. Which was perfect for the people who needed to pee before they watched John Cena beat Kane. Again. Still, I don't blame Paige and Cameron. Even the best architect can't build a castle with turds.
WWE MAIN EVENT
What came off as random and sloppily put-together on Raw began to flesh out on Main Event when Paige took on Cameron's partner, Naomi. WWE gets a lot of negative feedback, and deservedly so, for their representation of the Divas on Raw and Smackdown, but they tend to be more willing to allow the women to do their thing on the C-shows (AJ Lee and Natalya had an amazing match for the Divas Championship earlier this year on Main Event). It wasn't the longest or the best Divas match, but Naomi and Paige each played to their strengths on Tuesday and it was obvious that they're two of the most skilled female grapplers in WWE.
Following Naomi's somewhat surprising win over Paige, Cameron celebrated like she just won the new car on The Price is Right and attacked Paige as Naomi went to shake the Champion's hand. Paige proceded to beat the high hell out of Cameron while Naomi stood by and watched, patiently waiting to shake Paige's hand when she was done stomping a Paige-hole. Dissention is in the air for the Funkadactyls, and none too soon. Let's hope this tidbit of character progression isn't forgotten in a couple weeks, but not hold our breath.
WWE NXT
Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss opened NXT this week with a one-on-one match. They didn't get a lot of time in the ring, but they managed to show off a few nice mat skills before the drama between Charlotte and Summer Rae at ringside started to steal the show. Sasha Banks got distracted by her fellow BFFs and got rolled up for a pinfall by Alexa Bliss. A three-way shove-fest ensued between the BFFs following the match and the Full Sail University crowd chanted for a triple threat, which I think would be a fantastic idea for an NXT Women's Title match at the next NXT special event.
WWE SUPERSTARS
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| Nikki Bella is terribly underrated. |
The WWE Divas often get ragged on for not being very athletic, and often this is an understandable sentiment when it comes from the casual Raw and Smackdown audience that never gets to see these smaller shows. But Nikki and Alicia worked their brief match time on Superstars to near perfection. Everything went down without a hiccup and those Bellas have improved more than any other WWE wrestlers in recent years.
TNA IMPACT
No match for the Knockouts on Impact, but Taryn Terrell made her return and was instantly thrust into the spotlight with Gail Kim and the Beautiful People. The segment itself was a little unimaginative but it got the point across. I think Terrell has surprised everyone with her in-ring ability and I'm interested to see where this goes, but they're going to need some more help. Personally, I would love to see TNA bring in some more women from the independent scene.
WWE SMACKDOWN
Not much of a Diva presence on Smackdown this week aside from more drama between Layla and Summer Rae, who seems to be everywhere lately. Layla walked up right as Summer was laying a kiss on Fandango and became quite upset. This situation could be leading to a potential Money in the Bank pre-show match, but hopefully it comes to a close after this month because it's really run its course.
SHIMMER
Tickets went on sale this week for the taping of SHIMMER Volumes 67, 68, 69 and 70 the weekend of October 18 and 19. This will be a celebration of SHIMMER's 9th anniversary and these ladies never fail to impress. You can get tickets at the official website HERE.
That's it for the women this week. Check back here next Saturday to see how this week's storylines play out and for coverage of all the in-ring femme fatales.
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