Saturday 20 August 2011

Week in Review for Women's Wrestling #9

Wow, what a week. We had the divas on the second biggest PPV of the year with an actual feud brewing, some more hopes for storyline continuation and of course the Knockouts would be doing something after all. I had a feeling this week was going to be a good one.

SummerSlam - Kelly Kelly* vs Beth Phoenix (Divas' Championship):
Yikes. Does every challenger at SummerSlam feel the need to walk out in the ugliest costume imaginable? Beth looked like she was ready to go moonlighting as a stripper with a nurse theme. Hopefully she's still going to be wrestling in her traditional Glamasuits. Aside from that, I enjoyed this match. It got a great amount of time, nearly seven minutes which I think was perfect for the start of a feud. Kelly was great getting the crowd involved early on and continues to show she's willing to go the extra mile to make her matches interesting with her spots. Beth seemed a little shaky in places, maybe she hit her head or maybe it's just because she hasn't really wrestled on live TV that much recently. I mean she's done five Raws and one PPV since her return while Kelly's more used to working live. The sloppiness tightened up and Beth did some good moves as well. I wouldn't exactly call it a MOTY candidate but it was memorable and the ending was nice and decisive. That was the best way to book it. People were pissed that Beth lost but understand that this is only the beginning of the feud. We can't skip to the end with only two weeks of build up. Plus Night of Champions is in Beth's hometown, so that will make their match there extra special. One gripe I had is that Eve and Natalya did nothing at all. Why have them at ringside if they're not doing anything? 7/10

Raw - Eve & Kelly Kelly vs The Bella Twins:
I really like that they didn't just give us Eve & Kelly vs Beth & Nattie straight away since, like the title match, this is something that should get built up a bit as well. I'd like to have Eve vs Natalya on Raw and then have the tag match next week. Anyway I feel this was the best match these four have had by a mile. Kelly once again remembered to mix up her moves and I thought that headscissors was a nice change and I never thought I'd see her doing something as unflashy as a flapjack. The match got a very good amount of time, certainly what the divas were getting back in 2007/2008 and the Bellas were very impressive with their double teams. I'm a little annoyed that Kelly didn't sell the leg injury at all but the work was still quite good. I like that Eve got a chance to shine this week and her moonsault looked perfect. I never thought I'd say this but I think Raw takes the spot for best match of the week. Beth and Nattie though...sometimes they look good in dresses but they should wear more street gear if they want to be taken seriously as badasses. 8/10

NXT - Maxine Debuts:
I didn't think that the AJ/Hornswoggle stuff deserved any mention in my writings until this week. Max had one of the better debuts for a diva, and she definitely got more fanfare than AJ herself. Her promo was great and I'm happy she's being used in a manager role since her character is her strength. Her new hair looks good and  much better than that nasty fringe she had down in FCW.

Impact - Mickie James vs ODB:
It was good to get a fresh match on Impact and anything that gets ODB screentime is fine by me. I actually like this new thing her and Jackie have got with trying to stop themselves bending the rules. I don't know where this story is going but it's keeping me interested. The match was good enough and I was a little afraid that Mickie wouldn't really be able to handle ODB but they meshed together well enough and I think I want to see ODB in the title picture at some point in the future. I had hoped she and Jackie would go after the Tag belts but we'll learn more in the next few weeks. It's good that Mickie's rematch is announced and we know what to expect. The finish was pretty good. 6/10

Winter & Angelina:
Winter's voice seems different for some reason. I wish she'd speak more like she did when she was in WWE since her voice sounded sexier then. I actually love this twisted character she's playing and I am looking forward to the rematch as well as whatever new storyline we get for Winter (Velvet maybe?). The blood was a little too much though.

Smackdown - Natalya & Alicia Fox vs AJ & Kelly Kelly:
Wow, I'm impressed with how much time these girls got this week. Nearly eight minutes. That's an eternity for the divas. The opening interaction between AJ and Natalya was very technical and I think I'm going to enjoy it whenever they wrestle each other on Smackdown. I guess we won't be getting that AJ/Alicia match I've been hoping for anytime soon but their interaction here was good. I'm happy that Kelly has been appearing on Smackdown regularly since it shows WWE has faith in her, having her work three matches on TV in one week. This goes back to the older days when Lita, Trish and Ivory would have three shows to appear on and work matches to build themselves up in the title picture. I didn't notice Kelly shouting "come on, AJ" so many times when I first watched but on the second watch it stuck out. I think it was about 30 times. The part with Kelly in the ring could have been better but it was satisfactory. I'm curious about Alicia turning face. She was such a good heel but she was quite good with her face gimmick on ECW so maybe we'll see good things from her. 6/10

Aksana Watch:
I'm happy my Aksana is on Smackdown regularly and I enjoyed this week's segment. It's funny to see how WWE are pushing the boundaries of PG TV with all these sexual inuendos ("would you like to watch me with twenty men?") though I'm not sure where I see this going. I don't think we need another WWE wedding, not with Aksana's current track record. Unlike Maxine, Aksana is someone who could be put in the women's division.

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