At SummerSlam, 14,079 fans at Staples Center chanted in unison, "YES! YES! YES!" and it wasn't for Daniel Bryan, but rather for his wife, Brie Bella.
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| The YES! chants were just as loud for Brie Bella as it was for Daniel Bryan. |
Minutes later, Nikki Bella turned on her twin sister Brie, and those who had tickets to the next night's Raw scrambled to make their "Why Nikki? Why?" posters. Stephanie pinned Brie and the Bella Twins were no longer. This had the makings of the best Divas feud since Trish Stratus vs Lita.
The WWE did what the hot trending topic on Twitter last week suggested, #GiveDivasAChance. But following the trend of questionable storytelling, they giveth and taketh away.
Much like our society runs in 2015, the booking in the WWE is minute to minute. There are very few long term plans and even when there are, they're never executed properly.
Brie Bella vs Nikki Bella should've been booked and hyped as the biggest Divas match in history at WrestleMania. Instead, it was rushed, the feud poorly executed, and left for dead during a Hell in the Cell pay-per-view where nobody can even remember the match taking place.
From the could've/would've/should've department, the carbon copy of this feud between siblings took place in late 1997 leading into 1998 with Kane and the Undertaker. At the Bad Blood pay-per-view in October of 1997, Kane caused the Undertaker to lose the Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels. Undertaker, being the righteous family man that he is, refused to fight Kane. Everybody wanted to see it, but Undertaker continuously said no. It wasn't until the first week of March in 1998 until Undertaker finally agreed to fight Kane at WrestleMania.
They should've booked Brie as the Undertaker, refusing to ever lay a finger on Nikki because she was family, echoing the famous Undertaker line, "I will never fight my own flesh and blood."
Brie slowly would then struggle to get her head on straight because she was so hurt by being betrayed by her best friend. She'd lose matches, try to move on from what happened, but she wouldn't be able to because she was so emotionally distraught. Instead, they tried to further the feud with pre-taped videos of how Brie stole Nikki's prom date, probably right around the time of Undertaker and Kane's first match.
Nikki should've been pushed as the female Seth Rollins—the Chyna of The Authority. She could've added a great dynamic to that faction as well as her character. The fearless Bella could've continued to taunt Brie, all while serving The Authority. Nikki would be a main event level heel, as a Diva.
A few months down the road with Bryan back in the fold and Brie Bella ringside, Nikki causes Bryan to lose a match, maybe even cause him to lose the Royal Rumble perhaps. That would serve as the breaking point for Brie, as Bryan is now part of her family and Nikki, a thing of the past. This pushes her over the edge and she finally agrees to fight her sister.
And nobody had to lock the other in a casket and set it on fire to get a match.
Of course, this was all a fantasy and maybe none of this happened because of Total Divas, since there would be a conflict between storyline vs reality show. Yet there were episodes of the E! reality series where in their video room diaries, they broke kayfabe and said the two were at odds in the WWE world.
Now we are left with the Bellas vs AJ and Paige at WrestleMania, which on paper, isn't too shabby. But like every Divas match on the big stage, it will be either dropped at the last second or forgotten the second the bell rings for the next contest.
The WWE does show signs that they do give Divas a chance, it is just never executed properly, a problem it has with the roster as a whole and not limited to the Divas.
Naomi and Cameron, the Funkadactyls, was a natural feud waiting to take place. Yet that clash barely happened and nobody recalls that one either.
They brought in The Miz to tease Naomi with the Hollywood career, and that entire angle faded into oblivion. How great would it have been to see Naomi flip the script on The Usos and join up with The Miz?
AJ was the hottest Diva in her lead up to being General Manager. When she was named by Vince McMahon to take control of Raw during the 1,000th episode, the fans bought in and loved it. Then, I went to the bathroom and her reign as General Manager was over.
In terms of technical wrestling, the WWE has never been in better shape. But all the talented Divas in NXT and even those on the main roster will most likely fall into the trap of many talented male wrestlers who never made it.
Total Divas has done a great job of elevating the status of Divas as personalities in the reality television world, but in the world of professional wrestling, fans who now care because of Total Divas find reasons to only care about them as Total Divas, not WWE Divas.
When Stephanie and Brie were building their feud, two of their segments were in the main event slot of Raw. Ratings were on par so the opportunity is there for strong Divas storylines and an appetite for good Divas wrestling. Look no further than the great Fatal 4-way at NXT TakeOver: Rival.
We were teased by the thought of having an epic Divas showdown. But all we got for a potential sister vs sister match at WrestleMania is a bad Brie Bella theme song.
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