And it's the final week before the Royal Rumble and we have a truly astonishing development - the Divas' Champion finally returns to TV, in a fresh match at that. We also have the in-ring debut of another Diva and a new number 1 contender being crowned in TNA. Alas, still no Diva match announced for the Royal Rumble and there likely won't be one added at the last minute either.
Raw - Eve & Zack Ryder Drama:
While I'm always pissed when there's no proper match, I'm still really happy with where Eve is right now. Of course I'd love for her to be wrestling but when you get two minute matches and no proper storylines then this is clearly a step-up. Her acting wasn't the best but this is pro wrestling so who cares? At least she didn't corpse when Zack was being wheeled out (unlike Paul London when a certain chairman's limo blew up). The fact that she got to speak properly with John Cena was great. She's been involved heavily in this angle and it really does give the fans a sense of who she is. I doubt her blaming Cena is signs of her turning heel and I hope she stays face because she still has more to offer in that role. Kelly on the other hand is someone I could see becoming a good heel. N/A
NXT - BateMax & Johnny Curtis Drama:
Our shows are wrestling-lite but some heavy segments in there too. From the looks of things, Bateman and Maxine are still heels but so is Johnny Curtis. This storyline is getting a little messy and they should fix it by turning Johnny face properly. How they'll do it I have no idea but they had him interacting with Kaitlyn so maybe she'll come into play. I'm expecting some form of mixed tag match next week but right now all I want is for NXT to give the girls plenty of time to wrestle like they used to. All in all it was a passable night. N/A
Impact - Velvet Sky vs Tara vs Mickie James (#1 Contender's Match):
It's certainly a refreshing idea to have all the participants as faces which makes sense considering you have a heel champion. I was expecting Mickie to play the heel role in this match and she kind of did, anchoring it together. While the moves and spots were fine, I didn't really enjoy this match as much as I was looking forward to it. It seemed very slow overall and I don't wonder why considering the last time Mickie was in a triple threat was in 2008 and I can't remember Velvet or Tara being in one recently either. Even the best wrestlers will have trouble if they stray into an area they're not used to. I like Tara's new gear and I especially liked the end spot with the Spider's Web onto Velvet. The post match interviews were nice as well and I feel this feud will be a lot more exciting than Mickie/Gail. I don't want Tara to become champion again but two good high profile matches with some good storyline behind them should make for some nice TV in the coming weeks. Not much of a match but the start of a promising new storyline. While TNA have made the belt a hot potato again recently, Gail's reign has been quite good so far and she's adjusting to her new heel role. 6/10
ODB & Eric Young vs Angelina Love & Winter:
I loved the backstage segment. It's a nice change of pace in an intergender situation for the women to be the heels and everyone probably got a chuckle out of Angelina's failed groin attack. The match on the other hand...the antics were fun last week but this week I actually fast forwarded until ODB got tagged in. Seriously Eric it's not a PG audience just go ahead and chin the bitch (sorry, I was watching Dog Soldiers earlier). ODB's work in the match was fine so I'm expecting more follow-on to this little story since it gets the girls TV time and hopefully we can see a competitive intergender match soon. 5/10
Superstars - Beth Phoenix vs Brie Bella:
When I heard about this match I was a little puzzled since both of them were heels. Actually watching it however put my fears to rest. Neither Diva came out of this match looking faceish. Beth was the strong dominant Glamazon and the Bellas were bitchy conniving opportunists. It's a relief to have the champ back on TV though I'm hoping they haven't dropped the feud with Alicia Fox or the DoD pairing. We will need to see next week to get a full view of the situation. The match was passable as it was heel vs heel and Brie isn't exactly a singles genius - she works better in tag team competition, isolating body parts and having chemistry with Nikki. Here she mixed up her moveset a little, adding that nice effective neckbreaker and it was interesting to see her play the bigger heel role and control the match. Certainly a year or so ago this would have been a squash but Brie got a bit of a rub here. And this is another big strong win for Beth who I still suspect will appear in the Royal Rumble match. They have drawn attention to women entering in the promos so it's something to hope for. All in all a fairly decent match. 5.5/10
FCW - Audrey Marie* vs Raquel Diaz (Divas' Championship Match):
I actually loved this match. True there were those awkward moments you only get with inexperienced workers in there but it was still really enjoyable and Raquel was looking much more polished than her last match where she won the crown. Now that she is champion and queen she will no doubt be featured regularly in matches and help her improve in the ring. She's a great heel right now and she's slowly gaining the wrestling ability too. Audrey as well improves in every match I see her in, especially with that nice headscissors. Raquel's selling was a bit off but once again, experience has to be gained. She had a good run with the title so now let's see what happens in the next few weeks. I want me a Sofia Cortez singles match. Oh and the Gory Bomb looked amazing this time around. 6.5/10
Smackdown - Aksana vs Natalya:
Well I've been hoping Aksana would become a part of the women's division and we've been teased for a while but here I think it's official. But this was just a complete waste of time. As much as I love Aksana there was no need for her to pin Nattie like that. Give Nattie the win to make her feud with Tamina less one-sided. While she did put Aksana in the Sharpshooter and lose thanks to a distraction, it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth with each bad step WWE takes with her. She should not be losing so much like this. I'm surprised the feud with Tamina isn't over considering it's been completely one-sided with Natalya being the designated villain. I might be reaching here but perhaps they'll get a blow-off match at the Royal Rumble where Beth will appear and help Nattie get the win. It'd be a good way to kind of re-introduce the DoD after Beth's absence but knowing WWE that likely won't happen. 1/10
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