I still think Naomi is kind of stuck in gatekeeper limbo but she's actually being used on TV now, so that's a step in the right direction.
I still think Naomi is kind of stuck in gatekeeper limbo but she's actually being used on TV now, so that's a step in the right direction.
I think Naomi is going to find the second wind of her career in the new tag division, assuming she is able to snag a partner. Maybe Ember can jump over to Smackdown? Those two have a ton of similarities in-ring wise and would be quite exciting to watch together.
Honestly, I think Naomi is someone they could literally build the division around. I just don't think they will ever will. A chunk of that is probably due to the fact that was around prior to the Charlotte-Sasha-Becky call ups and then you factor in who's came up since them (Asuka, Nia, Alexa, Carmella, Mandy, etc.) it feels very much like what has happened to Dolph Ziggler over the years. Someone you can always rely on to get others over, while still maintaining their own overness.
I could actually see Naomi turning heel in 2019. Will she? Hard to say, but if she does I feel it will be at least after Summerslam. Asuka turning heel might be the ticket though. But she's so fucking popular.
It's something they could look at, but that feels it's mainly for relevancy. The tricky thing could be now she's essentially tied to The Usos now but I guess that they could easily turn too. That might be a bridge too far for them, though. Who knows. With the top of the division being the way it is and new faces always around the corner, I think she's going to be on the short end of the stick more often than not. She's talented but there's easily 10-12 women I'm more interested in watching in a match within the WWE umbrella for a variety of reasons.
You have to keep in mind though she's been tied for them for several years including recently with their heel run while she was a babyface.
But I think we're on the same page. She's been around for awhile and had a few moments in the sun but the WWE, for whatever reason, never did much with it. I wish the battle royal victory mattered at Mania but no one has really ever had anything worth a damn come from winning.
To show I wasn't exaggerating:
Becky, Ronda, Charlotte, Asuka, Sasha, Ember, Toni, Io, Mandy, Bianca, Rhea, and Candice.
Will they do a lot of surprise appearances again for the Rumble? Im hoping to see Victoria make an appearance and RTC Ivory.
She can, but I also am fairly into the prospect of seeing things (no matter what they are) develop and mature and evolve over time.
I am curious how Mandy is on your list but not Naomi when nothing Mandy has done up until this feud with Naomi has been anything of worth. Her monotone, wooden promo style could use some help for sure. WITH THAT SAID, she has potential for sure. This is her test.
I've seen quite a bit from Naomi already and I'm not really sure where the next steps are for her character. That's not a knock on her but she's the avatar. Mandy is green as hell. It's clearly a matter of perspective on the mic work because she impressed me in the build to Survivor Series by being given more of an opportunity on the mic in those segments with the other women involved and she more than held her own. We see people who can work with material given to them and those who can't. She shows promise in the ring so I'd like to see what comes of it.
What we haven't seen quite a bit of though out of Naomi is depth and right now we're getting that because of the affiliation with male performers. That is key to getting women over IMHO. We've seen the big tits and the revealing outfits for years. But what has always worked nicely is pairing up women and men. Only in the WWE are women and men more segregated than blacks in the 50's. Didn't use to be that way and even today we see the interaction here and there but not as much as the Attitude Era for example.
That's why I think this feud is one of the best feuds going in the WWE. There's a realism that you can connect within the storyline that make it more than what most women get served to them by creative. This could actually be something where Vince and co. see a lot more than they ever did out of Naomi in the past. She had great promise with Team B.A.D. and she's super over with her overall skill set and presentation, especially that entrance.
Yes on what we're seeing now and how it's showing more texture to Naomi's character. One hundred percent, yes. But I don't know if it's going to be enough to really catapult Naomi moving forward. I agree that eyes could be opened, but I think it would have to do so in a tremendous way because of this next point. Honestly, I can't say that the story is being portrayed with the emphasis being on her. So again, that opens things up to where she is a gatekeeper. "Great job, Naomi. You did what we needed you to do: elevate Mandy." What you said about eyes opening for Naomi could totally play out, but I don't think this a story that's supposed to make her come out ahead more in terms of elevating her character.
To be clear, there's no doubt Naomi is more recognizable to WWE audiences compared to the back half of my list. In addition, she's athletic and very talented. That's not what I was basing my list off of. It was based on what they could be doing going forward and their ability to make more of an impact.
Naomi has come a long way from her Funkadactyl beginnings.
@BGMaverick, I forgot to mention that I agree with you for keeping Bayley out of the top list. She had an interesting character to start, but she is really overrated in the ring, and she is terrible on the mic - worse than Nia Jax, maybe even Tamina bad.
Not sure where I'd put Carmella. I didn't like her run as a champ - it felt too overpushed, but I am digging her work with R-Truth - it just feels more naturally comfortable to her.
Oh yeah like I said, this is Mandy's test. But I also think it's a way for Naomi to show that they haven't wasted their time and money on her because they rarely give her anything and when they have, she's knocked it out the park. Like right now, I don't think there was a quality storyline for Mandy to show what she can bring other than this one with Naomi. Naomi can wrestle, she has the Uso connection. I don't think this works with Mandy v. Lana for example and Mandy trying to fuck with Rusev. Lana is terrible in the ring and isn't very versatile outside of the Bridgitte Nielsen Rocky 4 persona she was knocking out the park every day.
I think it's already elevated Naomi's character. Again, we never really get to see Naomi as anything other than the RVD of women doing a sweet entrance. Now we're seeing the layers, and I think the WWE want Naomi to stand out just as much as Mandy here.
Carmella as a manager type works wonders. I thought her pairing with Ellsworth was cool, I just wasn't a fan of the timing of her winning the belt. Had she cashed in sooner, like around December, it would've been better than when they pulled the trigger. Smackdown, for all it's positives, had 2 years where they fucked up royally. The mega push of Jinder in 2017 and the mega push of Carmella of 2018 really made it difficult at times to watch certain parts of the show, especially when you look at the supreme talent in comparison to those 2 I just named.
Her stuff with R-Truth....I want to like it because I like R-Truth but everytime I see Carmella I just get angry. Was her big push really due to her relationship with Cena? Same thing happened with Nikki Bella, mega push after her relationship with Cena was made public. Go back 10 years the reason they created the Divas championship was so Michelle McCool could also be a champion and people claim that was due to her relationship with Taker.....gossip in wrestling is superior to all other gossip categories lol.
Bayley can certainly go in the ring, her NXT Takeover matches have more than proven that. Her mic work leaves SO MUCH to be desired, though...
I don't know, I just feel like Bayley has been given absolute shit to work with since coming up to the main roster. Buried beyond belief in her title feud with Bliss, then floating, then her potential feud with Sasha, then floating, now what? I hope she is able to prove you wrong with the tag team scene.
And she's not Tamina bad on the mic No one is that bad. I still don't understand why Tamina has a job. She is all around usually terrible.
OK there is a lot of potential with Lacey Evans...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJpVM7Dvw7w
That moonsault at 6:55 is pretty damned impressive!
Lacey Evans has a great look, great character, she's good in the ring. And the gimmick isn't a "You're going to box yourself in with that shit". Plus I could easily see her being a top babyface.
Thanks for sharing that Lacey/Nattie match. The ladies are often as good as the guys when given time.
According to Meltzer, Rousey looks to be finishing up with WWE after Mania. This was generally the idea, going for a year and then looking to start a family, but she would still be affiliated with the company. Originally it was announced she signed a multi-year deal, but this seems to be the working impression now for everyone involved. It's possible she could still do stuff with the company but at a much reduced rate, ala Lesnar and Cena. Also possible they look to see if Ronda will work to Summerslam.
If Mania is the likely end date, makes sense why they suddenly went with Banks in the sense they could get that in before Rousey is on the way out. Have to imagine they give Lynch the rub at Mania.
If it's true then the fans are going to boo the ever living snot out of her come Mania. It's all going to be about BOO ROUSEY rather than watch this excellent match that's about to take place.
I think she was going to get relatively booed in a triple threat, and heavily booed in a match with just Becky, but I think one or both of the competitors with Ronda would be more than enough for the audience to be invested rather than just crapping on the match.
She can lose at Mania, have a blow off of some sorts at Summerslam or just keep her on ice until Smackdown comes to Fox in October. I think we are at the point where if she's scaled back it's not the end of the world.
No matter.
Baszler is going to make Rousey feel like yesterday's news soon anyway.
I just worry about Vince's perception of the women's division if he doesn't have a marketable non wrestler to promote.
Well, just look at the Women's Division in 2017. Other than the Elimination Chamber and MITB matches, nothing much of note happened. We may get more of that if Rousey leaves.
I highly doubt that. Just the fact they will likely continue to have their own PPV each year and the big move to Fox will be enough to keep them honest.
Let's hope so. And I just realized the Women's Chamber match was 2018
I'd still say - though the gap is narrowing - that the women's stories are still more compelling than the men's, regardless of the brand.
So Ronda has basically came out and said this:
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/20...tart-a-650202/
She's shooting down the rumor 200%. She's actually pretty hot about it, stating that people need to not worry about what she does with her vagina lol.
That's easily a case of verbiage mattering. She should of course shoot down the rumor of leaving or quitting. That doesn't rule out the possibility of stepping away.
Right. But if you pay attention to the comments, nobody is acting like she's just going on hiatus. Some think she'll be like Lesnar, maybe wrestle at Summerslam or some other big big show like Mania......To me it sounds like the typical shit dirtshitters do, they heard 2 words and run with it. She probably did an interview where she said after WM she'd like to maybe focus on a family, but every woman her age in wrestling seems to say that. I've heard Sasha Banks talk about it and she's like 25.
It's reporting that falls short on both levels, to some extent. Meltzer's verbiage was somewhat abstract in terms of finality, because he easily corrected himself by saying it wasn't about being done with WWE for good. Obviously her quote in ESPN is more meaningful because of what she actually said. I felt like Shelburne (who is a very good reporting, primarily for the NBA) or the editing dropped the ball to some extent because it felt like more of a footnote in the article that a WWE source essentially said she can still be involved while she's evaluating or in the process of being pregnant and having a family.
As a former reporter, it feels like both went to a degree for headline-making comments (more on Meltzer's side than ESPN). That's generally the misguided approach to editors in general but it's still annoying to me.
Last edited by BGMaverick; January 25th, 2019 at 4:53 PM.
I could watch Rhea vs Kacy all day. Kacy is ridiculously athletic, and Rhea makes Kacy look like an absolute superstar. Excited to watch both of these ladies!
Why did they call up Nikki Cross?
Why do they still employ Alicia Fox?
What on Earth did they see in Dana Brooke?
Remember when there were rumors they wanted to do Charlotte v Dana at 'Mania?
Speaking of Dana, did she get a breast reduction recently? I don't know if it was the gear she was wearing in the Rumble, but she looked a bit smaller. Good for her if she did. It should help improve her mobility.
Nikki is pretty fantastic, assuming they don't kill her character right away. She bumps like a champ and has a super interesting aura about her.
Alicia. Oh lord, Alicia. She's funny and can sell the hell out of some finishers... but she's ridiculously sloppy for being an active wrestler since 2006. I've said it before, but I think she should manage one of the other women or maybe some guy on 205 and she can have a valet feud with Maria or something. Like, she's not awful in the ring, but compared to everyone else on the roster she just hasn't kept up.
Dana is an odd one to me. I want to like her. She's athletic but also kind of boring. I can't tell if her mic work is purposefully cringe worthy (like I think Natalya does) or if she is really just not good at that. Mostly I think she was brought up to the roster way too soon. She should have cooked down in NXT for another year or so.
I don't know if she took the implants out but she's definitely lost the extra weight she put on after she left NXT and it's showing in the ring. Dana looked to have a ton of potential in NXT. She seemed to get what wrestling was and could just fly around the ring. Then she was called up and not only had the boob job but seemed larger, far slower and less nimble.
Whatever she's done she's really reminding me of the woman I saw in NXT who had all that potential so good for her. I think she could still make something of herself in an Alexa Bliss kind of way. She might not ever be a ring general but she can get good enough to be passable and combine that with her above average facial expressions and ability to be in the moment and work the crowd.
Alicia's got plenty of personality and seems like she'd do well in a manager role. She's good at interacting with others and showing character, etc., and seems to shine far more at that than in the ring. Specific examples where I thought she did well in that regard are in this past MMC and in the 205 romance angle with Noam Dar awhile back.
Not sure about Dana. She's athletic but other than some nice flippy moves, it doesn't seem to have translated into much wrestling ability and her mic/character work's never really seemed all that strong either.