#GiveDivasACreativeDirection, Not Just a Chance
It hasn’t been long since the massive social media outcry where fans demanded that WWE gave Divas a chance. Since that movement, the Divas have indeed been given more screen time on Raw and Smackdown, including longer matches. What most fans will quickly notice however, is that these longer matches have done nothing to actually fill the gap that the division has had for many years. This gap can only be filled by one thing: good storytelling.
Be honest, how many times have you been watching Raw or Smackdown and thought to yourself, “Wow…I genuinely have no interest in the Divas feud right now.” Probably quite a few, right? Now it’s no surprise to anyone when I say that NXT has far more compelling women’s matches than the main roster, but why is that? Is it because the matches on NXT are longer and the women are more talented? That’s part of it, but it’s not the entire reason. There are plenty of women on the main roster that are extremely talented athletes, and the ones that aren’t are trying to improve (i.e. Eva Marie). On top of that, the matches on the main roster have indeed been getting longer, so what’s the problem? Why isn’t everything magically better? Because when the current format of storytelling is still being used, and the matches get increased, it gives the viewers more time to realize that they’re not being given anything to invest this time into. That’s what NXT truly does better. They make you care about their characters.
Let’s take an example from the “biggest storyline from the Divas division in 2014”: Brie Bella vs Nikki Bella. This storyline started off with Nikki turning on Brie at SummerSlam and going on to explain that the reason she did this was because Brie was a terrible sister throughout their childhood and has done nothing to changed. So despite the fact that in this storyline we were meant to cheer for the “terrible sister,” at least there was reasoning for action. It may not have all made complete sense, but Nikki had a reason to do what she was doing. This culminated when Brie lost a match to Nikki at Hell in a Cell which forced her to be Nikki’s personal servant for 30 days. When the 30 days were over, we all expected Brie to exact her revenge on Nikki for humiliating her over the past month, but this did not happen. Instead, Brie simply forgave and forgot (though she claimed she would never truly forget) and the Bella Twins once again joined forces to terrorize the Divas division. Now drop the bricks for a second. Maybe she had a good reason to do this. Maybe it’ll all make sense in her next promo…no? No next promo? We’re just gonna move on?…Okay you can get the bricks again.
This was simply an example from the “biggest” storyline. Let’s not forget about the countless other decisions that the female characters have made for no good reason. Natalya forgiving her husband for every scumbag thing he’s ever done, the Funkadactyles breaking up because Cameron wanted a title shot, and of course the infamous “frenemies” angle between Paige and AJ Lee. Not all hope is lost though. The division has one shining light of compelling storytelling right now and it’s Naomi. Her reasoning for turning heel is perfect and makes sense. The only hurdle that WWE Creative has is to believably make Nikki and Brie the babyfaces going into the title match at Extreme Rules. It could be as simple as sympathy after Naomi beats the hell out of Nikki Bella, possibly targeting her knee, which she’s had problems with in the past, and taking the title from her by brute force and cold blood (A la Ziggler vs Del Rio at Payback 2013).
No matter how they decide to do it, they need to do something. The Divas division can not simply be a bunch of high school girls that don’t like each other and are all mentally unstable and unlikable. If you truly want to give Divas a chance, you need to treat them like the guys, and give them a personality.
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