Let's Turn This Mother Out...

Most folks in the internet wrestling community could care less about women's wrestling. I'm not one of those people. I believe the  diva division can be what it one was a few year back: hot and entertaining. But the folks in charge need to make some changes for the division to improve. Here are a few of my ideas that, were I in charge of WWE, I would constitute.

1. Change the name of the title.  The title should be "WWE Women's Champion". Lose the diva title. It has a negative connotation to it. They are the female superstars of the company. As such they should have a title that defines who they are. Diva is not it.

2.Change the design of the title belt. The male championship title belts all have gold on them. But the Diva's tile belt doesn't. It is a pink and silver butterfly design concoction. Yes, it's pretty. But it should have gold on it likes its male counterparts. If you are the champ, your belt should have gold on it.

3. The women need to be back with the men. The greatest years in wrestling, in my opinion, were when the women were at ringside and got involved in the men's matches. Think about the stables that were around when women's wrestling was on the verge of moving to the next level. You had Lita with the Hardy's, Trish with T n' A, Jacqueline with APA, Ivory with ROTC, Molly Holly with the Holly cousins, and last but not least, Steph McMahon with anybody (you could add Chyna with DX to this mix, but she mainly wrestled men). When the women got involved, the crowds went wild. And they still had their own matches. We could easily see six or seven ladies in one show, be it in the ring, doing backstage skits, or at ringside. That rarely happens today. Put these ladies back with the men. I realize that they gave the Attitude Era women their own division to let them shine on their own, without the men. And those women worked hard to have their own story lines away from the men. But I think these divas today could benefit from being with the men.

4. They need to work on character development. Here's a breakdown of the Attitude Era characters: Steph was the "billion dollar princess". Trish was the mean pretty slutty girl. Lita was the punk chick. Jacqueline was the tough girl. Molly Holly was the sweet girl. Ivory was whoever she chose to be at that moment. The only standout diva with a true character with this current corp is AJ, who is known as the crazy chick. Kaitlyn calls herself the Hybrid Diva, but what does that really mean? We never know if Alicia Fox is a heel or face. Rosa is a latina beauty who dances. Naomi and Cameron are black beauties who dance. Aksana is a foreign chick. Layla is a hot British chick. Tamina is a tough Samoan. See where I'm going with this? Everything you know about them is based on what they look look and sound like. They also need to work on their outfits. They are indistinguishable at times. The outfit should match the character and the personality.

5. I miss the days of a good old-fashioned cat fight. Those are seriously lacking these days. Bring back the cat fights!

6. Let those who can wrestle, wrestle. Let those who can't, be managers or valets. Some women have been with WWE for years, and still can't wrestle a lick. Then you have the wrestlers who kick but in the ring, but aren't showcased because they look different and don't have a large fan following.

7. Stop putting the title on undeserving women. Why is Kaitlyn (who has the makings of a great wrestler) the champ instead of Natalya? Why were Layla and Eve champs over Natalya (who is the consummate professional)?

8. Stop hiring models to wrestle. Hire wrestlers to wrestle. Trish was the exception to this rule: she was a fitness model who was a wrestling fan. Hire people who love wrestling and who know what they are doing in the ring. They are less prone to hurt themselves and others.

That's all I have for now. I know I'm leaving a few things off, but it is rather late and time for bed. So WWE, if you read this, just remember it's Rainee's P.O.V...

The State of Women's Wrestling...

I admit, I am a pro wrestling fan. It is a business like no other on this earth (it is fake, but the injuries are real). It has drama, violence, romance, comedy, revenge, and the list goes on. There are two major pro-wrestling companies that air shows on tv. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is owned by Vince McMahon and his family. They are the biggest wrestling company around. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) is owned by Panda Energy International. Admittedly, I'm not as into TNA as I am WWE.

There is only one reason I started watching wrestling: Stephanie McMahon. Somewhere around 2000-2001, when Smackdown aired on UPN, there was a promo about Steph turning against her father, Vince McMahon, by marrying this wrestler, HHH. I watched one episode: it was amazing. I was hooked. Here was this young, smart, beautiful, evil woman running her fathers' company. And she did it while looking hot and fierce, with that gorgeous man (HHH) on her arm. So I tuned in for the next few years, just to see Stephanie McMahon and her shenanigans.

 
 Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley

There were other wrestlers that made me tune in also: Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, HHH, Lita, Hardy Boyz, Trish Stratus, Chris Jericho, and a few others. Those were good wrestling days.

As entertaining as the male wrestlers are, I love to see the ladies wrestle even more. Let's be honest here, everyone loves to see women mix it up. But when you have hot, fit women do it, it takes wrestling to a whole other level. Especially when they know what they are doing in the ring. But these days, it seems like no one cares about women wrestling. The ladies matches are often referred to as a "bathroom break".  The matches generally last less than five minutes. I know being a wrestler isn't easy, but some of the women on the WWE roster and the TNA roster have no business being in a ring. Some need to take on the role of  valet or manager and cheat for their men. Let the real female wrestlers be in the ring. So let's talk about how to fix the WWE's Diva division.

Here are a few terms you may need to know about wrestling:
Face: a good guy/girl
Heel: a bad guy/girl
Diva Search: WWE contest to find women to put on their roster
Diva: the name WWE has for its female division
Knockouts: the name TNA has for its female division.

A few years back, starting around 2000 (also known as the Attitude Era), WWE brought in some serious female wrestlers. They already had a few, like Chyna, Jacqueline, Tori, and Ivory. Then they brought in Trish Stratus, Lita, Molly Holly, and later Jazz and Victoria. I'm sure I'm leaving a few out, but these women stick out in my mind because they were pure wrestlers. These women could go in the ring, even better than some of their male counterparts.

My two favorite wrestlers of all time are Trish and Lita. They had a rivalry that lasted for years (the likes of which we may never see again in ladies wrestling). They put on the best matches. Lita was a high flyer. She always had the arenas attention when she was in the ring. She had great comedic timing as a heel. Trish was a killer when it came to doing promos, the girl had mad mic skills. While Trish was good when she was a face, she shined when she was a heel. They were both incredible actresses. While I loved their rivalry with one another, I absolutely wholeheartedly loved them even more when they were involved with their men. Lita and Matt Hardy were so sweet when they got together. Lita and Edge were just pure wicked fun. Trish being Vince's mistress was entertaining, while her relationship with Chris Jericho was pure gold (it made me wish they were a couple in real life!).




Trish Stratus


Lita and Trish



Lita

Anyhow, my point is, these women were wrestlers. Those divas participated in street fights, hardcore matches, and even a steel cage match. I don't see any of WWE's current roster of divas (excepting Nattie and Tamina) participating in those matches today. Due to the Diva Search a few years back, the WWE hired women who had no previous wrestling experience, at all. The company hired models who they trained to wrestle, and not wrestle well at that. These girls were constantly getting hurt (they were thin, like lingerie model thin, they didn't have the padding to fight off the injuries) and messing up in the ring. A few improved, but none have been as great as the Attitude Era Divas. Granted, Trish started out as a fitness model, but later she learned to wrestle. And she had been a wrestling fan. Many consider her to be the quintessential Diva.

These days, the Divas seem to lack the toughness and personality that their predecessors had. They even wear ring gear that resembles each other. It could just be a sign of the times. Maybe it's because the Divas have their own division and don't participate with the men so much anymore (some of Lita's and Trish's biggest story lines involved men). Maybe its the PG rating WWE now has, instead of the TV-MA rating they had during the Attitude Era. Maybe the company doesn't want the ladies to outshine the men and they limit their actions in the ring (that's the rumor going around). But something needs to be done about it. So that's one of the reasons I have this blog: to talk about the Diva division.

So yay! I made it through my first posting, technically my second. Wish me luck (I just may need it to see this through)!

Thanks for tuning in to Rainee's P.O.V.

Here we go again...

Another new blog. Let's be honest here. I suck at blogging. But I continue to do it. This is the fourth or fifth blog I've had. But somehow, maybe because I'm just not all that smart, I end up deleting blogs when I get a new email address and try to switch everything over to the new address. Seriously, it's no great loss. They were just a few observations on life. But this blog will be different. It will have everything from family drama (anonymous of course) to entertainment. So I'm going to get started and get blogging. Maybe this will be the blog that sticks!