I'm not going to sugarcoat this, but let's face it - this feud is getting stale. No, scratch that. It's been stale for months now. WWE is just beating a dead horse at this point. I'm down to the point where I can't fathom how even the most hardcore of AJ and Paige fans are still egging this on.
I can't believe that I'm revisiting this topic again after my last rant on this matter, but what the heck, I'm game to discuss this topic again.
First of all, let's review the matches at hand. I already discussed up to WWE Battleground in my last article on this matter. Thank you to the respective uploaders from DailyMotion for having these matches up in their entirety online.
Pay-Per-View Match History
Forgive me as I'm going to sound redundant as I review some of the same ground from my original article. |
WWE Battleground -- Divas Championship Match - AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige |
AJ and Paige left a lot to be desired in terms of match quality. I wouldn't say it's the fault of either Diva in terms of ring ability, I just think it's one of those occasions like with Gail Kim and Mickie James where they are talented athletes but have ZERO chemistry in the ring together. It just doesn't click. AJ and Paige seemed to be still "feeling" each other out in terms of how they match up with each other here.
Their match at Battleground didn't allow neither AJ nor Paige cut loose in the initial build up to this feud. They were playing off each other as "frienemies" with Paige becoming the aggressor now while AJ has reverted back to her "crazy" gimmick in an attempt to show some degree of unpredictably that she has a chance against the Anti-Diva.
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WWE Summerslam -- Divas Championship Match - AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige |
Like I said before, there is NO clear distinction on who is face or heel in this feud. At Battleground, it was a match between two struggling faces/tweeners. Now going into Summerslam, it seems like a tweener (who wants to be heel SOO bad) against the obviously heel Paige. I understand we are in an age of wrestling where being the bad guy is perceived "cool" but heel vs. heel feuds tend to be completely boring in my eyes.
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WWE Night of Champions -- Divas Championship Triple Threat Match - Paige (c) vs. Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee |
After all of the whining from the AJ and Paige marks about Nikki didn't "deserve" to be involved in this feud, this turned out to be the BEST match in this feud to date. You can't even knock Nikki at ALL in this match. She took more bumps and had more of a solid offense than AJ and proved her worth here in this match. AJ and Paige benefited with the third wheel in the mix and put on an all-round great performance from start to finish.
What I Feel Like WWE is Doing Wrong With This Feud
The Mock Lesbian Romance/Sexual Undertones
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| First, we had this... |
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| Then there was THIS... |
This feud has gone from the point of healthy competition to constantly wondering when and where these two Divas are going to cave into this bloody obvious sexual tension between them. The competitive aspect of this WRESTLING feud is almost completely non-existent if you remove the Divas Championship out of the equation here.
So much about being PG, huh, WWE? Just keep in mind that not everyone invested in your product are interested in smut...
The Matches
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| Most Diva fans had an O-face off this moment, which was sadly the best match in this 4 month feud... |
I'm not necessarily saying the matches in this feud were god-awful, but I have come to expect MUCH more from these two Divas, especially Paige, in terms of their ring work.
Multiple Title Exchanges
Nikki Bella confirmed this news earlier today. I can't speak for anyone else but I'm sick and fed up of the title merely being traded back and forth between AJ and Paige as if none of the other Divas exist. Trading the Divas title back and forth like a hot potato isn't doing the title nor the Divas division as a whole any favors.
Sure, WWE gave fans their dream match, but the sad fact of the matter is this. Fans want to throw comparisons of this feud to Trish Stratus and Lita's feud when it's on COMPLETELY different terms. The Trish/Lita feud was allowed to mature over time and not forced down our throats all at once. Trish was a model-turned-wrestler while Lita was a wrestler from day one, which forced the skeptics/casual and hardcore fans to buttheads over who they liked more. As it stands, the only way that WWE could recreate that dynamic is to have AJ or Paige feud with one of the Total Divas as there is no way to recreate that drama between Paige and AJ.
There's a way to keep a rivalry going without constantly keeping those two individuals in the main event circle. If you want an example in current mainstream wrestling, look no farther than Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell's feud on TNA/Impact Wrestling. Keep note that the bulk of that feud didn't involve the championship at ALL.
Burying The Rest of the Divas Division at the Cost of Keeping AJ & Paige Over
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| Look at how AJ is rolling her eyes in disgust here while Paige stands mocking Nikki... |
Every time WWE adds another Diva (unless it's Stephanie McMahon) into the mix of this feud it's second fiddle to AJ and Paige. I can understand burying lower tier Divas, such as Eva Marie, Cameron, and the returning Rosa Mendes but Natalya, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Alicia Fox, Naomi, Summer Rae, Layla, and even Emma have been losing left and right to them. When they aren't losing to AJ and Paige, they are portrayed as background material or reduced to meaningless filler in comparison to those two Divas.
The thing that really pissed me off was when the Bella Twins got another storyline going and the AJ/Paige fans were wishing nothing but misfortune upon that until the fact that WWE dragged Paige and AJ Lee into the mix to shut up the critics. We can ALL agree that the Bella Twins' feud sucked for the most part but shit like this is inexcusable. If you care about women's wrestling (or wrestling PERIOD) then why the FUCK do you wish any ill-will on the other women in that promotion (or ANY promotion for that matter)? You as a fan should want to see any and ALL women in this sport do well. That makes your idols and fan favorites look good and the wrestling product (especially the division itself) look good as a whole. One diamond in a sea of shit doesn't say anything about your worth as a champion in my eyes. Take a moment to think about that before you put your favorite Diva upon a pedestal and look down upon the rest of the Divas Division.
Instead of trying to build off each other to make the Divas Division better as a whole, the other Divas are used as merely plot devices to keep this AJ/Paige feud going in motion.
Perfect example of this was on Monday Night RAW (10/6/14) this week, where AJ Lee teamed up with a returning Emma (who hasn't been seen on RAW for months now) against Alicia Fox and Paige. AJ bails on Emma mid-match and leaves, forcing Emma to job to Paige and Alicia Fox. Really? You would think that the babyfaces would work together to get the job done to send Paige and Alicia Fox home with their tails between their legs. Nope. You can point some of the blame at WWE Creative for this, but I'm positive that AJ is at a position where she can call her own shots of how her own creative direction is handled.
While it's cool that Alicia Fox is involved in this feud after her brief push during the summer of AJ Lee's absence, it brings up a bit of a plot hole. Why is Paige able to co-exist with the mentally unstable Alicia when WWE's resident "crazy chick" hasn't been able to see eye-to-eye with her at all? It would've made more sense to pair Fox with AJ to go against Paige. Giving Paige hired help just diminishes her individual threat level as a challenger to AJ's title even more. One would think that AJ would revert to the cowardly heel tactic as that's what she reigned supreme with for the bulk of the past year with Tamina Snuka at her side.
(Sighs) Don't even get me started on how many times Naomi and Natalya have been thrown underneath the bus to propel this feud...
How I Feel Like WWE can Remedy/Fix This Feud To Make it Great
Deliver the Payoff & Move On
A "payoff" in wrestling is the end of a storyline/feud that brings everything to a close in that narrative with a powerful climax. I see wrestling fans constantly complain about TNA/Impact Wrestling taking forever to deliver the payoff to the point of nobody cares when they do. I can humbly say that this is no different here for WWE. As this feud drags on, week-in and week-out, I'm constantly asking myself "who is STILL caring about this feud?"
It should not be up for debate whether or not Divas are on Total Divas should not be a deciding factor for winning the gold. There are other deserving women on the WWE roster that could serve as the focal points of the division other than AJ Lee and Paige.
At this rate, WWE are transforming Paige and AJ Lee into the redundant Randy Orton and ever-constant/unchanging John Cena of the Divas division, exchanging title wins much to the disgust of the fans.
Allow Paige to develop her OWN identity - not as AJ's CLONE
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| This is the Paige we fell in love with on NXT... |
I don't care how many times I hear it but AJ Lee is NOT original - she's the female equivalent of CM Punk: a snarky tweener. If that's all what it takes to get over and win today's Diva fans' affections, then I truly fear the future of women's wrestling in WWE.
What I want is for WWE to bring back the "Anti-Diva" Paige full on - not just for one week, not just for short bursts sporadically. If you want to have a good endgame for this feud, have Paige decisively beat the shit out of AJ like Brock Lesnar did to John Cena at Summerslam. As a result, this knocks AJ down to the bottom of the food chain and gives her something new to work towards as she has to climb up the ladder again and find something new to topple Paige (along with other opponents along the way) with as the "cray cray" game has met it's match.
Paige is still young and has room (and more importantly, TIME) to grow as a wrestler and an on-screen personality. There's no need to milk everything dry out of this feud here and now.
Attach AJ Lee & Paige to two other high-profile/up and coming Superstars to elevate their rivalry & status
My top two candidates would be pair Paige up with Seth Rollins and pair AJ Lee up with Dean Ambrose since WWE is obviously trying to make him into the new CM Punk. Both AJ and Ambrose are portrayed as "crazy" so it works. Paige could added as eye-candy to Seth Rollins as it seems like Authority may have him splinter off onto his own. Their pair-up options aren't limited to those two Superstars as WWE has PLENTY of mid-carders who could use a little push with a popular Diva in their corner. Look at the wonders of having Lana in his corner has done to Rusev's career!
If you want to continue the Trish/Lita comparisons, think of the build to Backlash 2005 where Trish Stratus and Lita accompanied Viscera and Kane to their Singles match to add a layer of depth to that mid-card feud.
If you want to continue the Trish/Lita comparisons, think of the build to Backlash 2005 where Trish Stratus and Lita accompanied Viscera and Kane to their Singles match to add a layer of depth to that mid-card feud.
Closing Words
From my constant jokes and wisecracks on social media, I'm sure you guys are positive that I absolutely despise AJ Lee. I don't hate her - I hate how WWE portrays her with these lackluster feuds and storylines and how she comes across as cheap imitation of CM Punk in a WWE environment that is hungry for his presence in a CM Punk-less WWE. I adore Paige, but I hate how WWE continues to paint a picture that seems like they want to paint her into AJ Lee's mirror image.
Diversity is a splendid thing and WWE shouldn't be afraid of change. Now is the time to experiment and do something things different with the WWE Divas Division. Look at NXT, they try something different all the time and get mixed results. At least they have the courage to try with their Women's Division.
There's no doubt in my mind that the AJ Lee/Paige rivalry could be as legendary as the Trish Stratus/Lita rivalry someday, but WWE needs to step back and take careful consideration on how they approach this feud instead of haphazardly shoving it down fans' throats all at once.
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