After AJ Lee cut her version of a “Pipebomb” promo last year on Raw, it seemed like the WWE would finally spend more time developing in-depth plotlines for its Divas division.
After all, the elements were there for an intriguing Divas division: a fresh batch of competitors, a champion who was miffed at not gaining exposure, and a highly successful reality television show documenting every move along the way.
AJ Lee has been champion for nearly a year. Is it time for another Diva to take the title?
Instead, it seems as if the division has been on autopilot in recent months. AJ Lee has held the championship longer than any Diva in the history of the company, but her run has seemed stale recently. This is taking nothing away from Lee as a champion though. I think she is great and is certainly a worth champion.
It is instead creative’s fault for not doing anything worthwhile with her as champion. They have instead chosen to simply plug in a new challenger each month without building any sort of rivalry, with the challenger usually gaining a title shot by winning a random number-one contender’s match instead of actually engaging in a feud with Lee.
– A new episode of WWE’s “30 Years of WrestleMania” podcast, which features Renee Young interviewing Howard Finkel, has been added online. The official preview for the show reads as follows:
WWE: Ep. 8 – Howard Finkel Get the lowdown on WrestleMania from the only person to have appeared at every single edition, WWE Hall of Fame announcer Howard Finkel. “The Fink,” as he’s affectionately known, details what it was like to be in WWE when The Grandest Stage of Them All was just getting off the ground, as well as reflects on this year’s WWE Hall of Fame inductees and offers his predictions for WrestleMania 30.
You can download the podcast right now at PodcastOne.com.
– The following is a preview clip for this Sunday’s edition of Total Divas:
– Chris Jericho recently revealed his guests for his two “Talk Is Jericho” podcasts this week. On Wednesday’s edition of the show, Jericho will talk to WWE Superstar The Miz. On his Friday show this week, Jericho will be interviewing comedian and television personality Howie Mandel. Jericho tweeted the following:
– Sunday’s 3/24 episode of Total Divas on E! drew averaged 1.28 million viewers. That is up from the previous week’s season premiere, which did 1.07 million viewers.
The Walking Dead, which went head-to-head with Total Divas, drew a massive 13.47 million viewers. That show has its season finale this coming Sunday.
– After announcing that they would not be carrying WrestleMania XXX on pay-per-view, Dish Network has decided they will in fact offer the show. The company received a lot of negative feedback from fans for initially dropping WrestleMania and will decide on a case by case basis whether to carry WWE pay-per-view events moving forward.
– WWE is teaming up with CharityBuzz.com, an auction website that allows people to bid on celebrity experiences, with proceeds going to charity.
“The auction, which launches today on Charitybuzz.com/WWE, features more than 100 unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences with WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends, celebrities and athletes. The WWE Universe can bid on the opportunity to meet Drew Brees at a New Orleans Saints game, meet Jimmy Kimmel at a live taping of his show, or join Daniel Daniel Bryan during his entrance at a WWE live event.”
– The official WWE website recently issued a poll asking fans who they feel is the most talented Diva among the cast of Total Divas. At last check, with 13,000 votes cast, Natalya was leading the pack with 46 percent of the vote. Following Natalya, in order, was Nikki Bella with 20 percent, Naomi with 12 percent, Brie Bella with 11 percent, Summer Rae with 6 percent, Eva Marie with 4 percent and Cameron with just 1 percent of the vote.
– You can check out a video of John Cena’s recent Muscle & Fitness shoot with Cesaro, which took place recently at the WWE Performance Center above, or by going to MuscleAndFitness.com.
– Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will be appearing as a guest host on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, will also be filming an episode of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on Monday at 5pm EST. As a result, he will be arriving to the building at RAW just prior to the start of the show.
– The following is the official preview for tonight’s edition of WWE Total Divas:
“The Braniel Bus: With convincing from Brie, Daniel Bryan decides to get a tour bus; Eva Marie’s past comes back to embarrass her; and Nikki loses a tooth in a match.”
The wedding between Bryan Danielson (aka Daniel Bryan) and Brianna Garcia-Colace (aka Brie Bella) is scheduled to take place on April 11th, which is just five days at WrestleMania XXX. Their wedding will be shot as the focus of the final episode of season two of WWE’s Total Divas reality show.
According to one report, there’s a decent possibility that both Bryan and Bella will win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Divas Championship at WrestleMania. The general consensus is that there’s no great reason not to, considering many expect Bryan to win the title anyways, and since the Divas title doesn’t have any real connection in terms of drawing money, it might as well be used as a prop to at least tell a good story.
– After returning to action at Friday night’s WWE live event, WWE Diva Layla also wrestled in a tag team match on Saturday night. Layla had been out of action for 6 months. While it’s still unknown why she took time off, F4wonline.com reports that it was not a health-related issue. Layla was reportedly dealing with a personal issue and many people in WWE were unsure if she’d ever return.
– Here is the After Total Divas video following Sunday night’s Season 2 premiere:
Renee Young and Alicia Fox recap the first episode of Season Two of Total Divas.
– UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey posted a video on her official Instagram account showcasing herself and fellow UFC female fighter Shayna Baszler practicing pro wrestling. You can check that out at Instagram.com.
– Following the rumors that AMC Networks had interest in purchasing WWE, the What Culture website posted an article looking at five companies that would want to buy WWE. You can check that out at WhatCulture.com.
– Season two of WWE’s “Total Divas” reality show premieres tonight on the E! cable channel. Also on television tonight is CM Punk, who will be appearing on AMC’s “Talking Dead.”
While appearing on the Arsenio Hall late night talk show recently, when asked about her relationship with John Cena, Nikki Bella noted that the two were on a break. Additionally, the Total Divas preview for the new season talks about Nikki having to adjust to life while broken up with Cena.
In both cases, this is likely a situation where WWE is playing up the Total Divas storyline, as the two were still together as recently as a few weeks ago.
Season two of Total Divas premieres this Sunday on E!.
– The latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which features The Big Show, is available online. You can check it out at PodcastOne.com.
– The following is the official synopsis for next Sunday’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which returns on E!:
“Nikki must adjust to her life without her boyfriend, wrestler John Cena, by her side ; Summer Rae is included on the main roster ; Eva Marie parents find out about her elopement and now she must face their reactions to her decisions.”
– Jim Ross’ latest FOXSports.com column is now online. In this installment, JR looks at how pro wrestling locker rooms police themselves and how disruptive wrestlers are dealt with.
– New York based photographer Digital Charlie got some exclusive photos of the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane match at Saturday’s WWE live event from Madison Square Garden, which you can view here.
– WWE Total Divas will return to the E! network this Sunday with the debut of season 2. The official episode preview reads,
“Nikki must adjust to her life without her boyfriend, wrestler John Cena, by her side ; Summer Rae is included on the main roster ; Eva Marie parents find out about her elopement and now she must face their reactions to her decisions.”
– Apparently prior to appearing on his show this past week, WWE Diva and Total Divas star Cameron had no idea who late-night talk show host Arsenio Hall was.
– It is being said that prior to reports surfacing online, many within WWE had no idea that Main Event would be airing live on the WWE Network each week. Apparently a lack of communication within the company led to many finding out about the news by reading it online.
– The official WWE website has added a new preview clip for season two of Total Divas. The clip is accompanied by the following description: “When the “Total Divas” star’s parents plan a visit to see their daughter, Eva Marie panics because she hasn’t told them she eloped. “Total Divas” returns to E! March 16 at 9/8 CT.”
– As previously reported, New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski was in attendance at the WWE NXT television tapings in Winter Park, Florida on Friday night. WWE tweeted a photo of the NFL star with Mojo Rawley during the show.
– The cast of season two of the E! and WWE reality show “Total Divas” will be appearing on The Arsenio Hall late night talk show next Thursday, March 6th. The show airs in syndication, usually in the 11pm timeslot.
– The latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which features an interview with WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia, is now online. You can check out the show at PodcastOne.com.
– Stephanie McMahon met with executives at the General Mills headquarters on Tuesday. Stephanie was talking with officials from General Mills’ “Totino’s” brand, as WWE and Totino’s announced their first-ever partnership in 2013.
– The following is a new preview video for season two of WWE’s “Total Divas” reality show:
OK! Magazine recently released the following updated synopsis for season two of WWE’s “Total Divas” reality show, which is scheduled to premiere on the E! cable channel on March 16th at 9pm EST.:
“Eva Marie starts up a friendship with new cast member Summer, who both bond over being the new girl. Eva Marie, who’s becoming more and more popular with WWE fans, also secretly eloped with her boyfriend and her family is not going to be too thrilled when they find that out. Brie, meanwhile, is planning her wedding to Daniel Bryan, which is getting overshadowed by her twin sister, Nikki, whose on a break with her ex, John Cena.
As for Nattie? She’s going to be in the center of lots of the feuds this season, one with Summer (Nattie doesn’t like how quickly she’s risen to fame), and another with Ariane, who confronts Nattie about acting inappropriate at the Bella twins’ birthday party. Uh oh.”
As things stand presently, there are no official plans for the WWE Divas Championship at WrestleMania XXX. The original plan, before Naomi suffered the eye injury at RAW, was for the Funkadactyl to face AJ Lee for the title. While not official, the likely scenario would have seen Naomi win the title as part of a story line for the second season of the “Total Divas” reality show. Even though those plans may be off the table, there is a good chance that Naomi’s injury and recovery will be used as part of a Total Divas story line.
As far as Naomi’s role at WrestleMania XXX is concerned, after the company received word last week that she will not need surgery, there is still time to factor her into plans for this year’s WrestleMania.
Naomi is expected to be out of in-ring action for four-to-six weeks. She won’t be able to appear on television unless she drives to RAW, as the pressure on her eyes from a flight would be dangerous.
– As previously reported, WWE Hall Of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland was the special guest on the second edition of the “30 Years Of WrestleMania” podcast, which is hosted by Renee Young every week at PodcastOne.com. During the interview, Edge noted that if he could have one more match in WWE, he would like it to be against Christian. He also spoke about his WrestleMania main event against The Undertaker being the highlight of his career.
You can check out the complete interview at PodcastOne.com.
– The following is a new official trailer for the upcoming second season of the WWE and E! reality show, “Total Divas.” The show returns on March 16th.
– TMZ.com caught up with Paul Heyman over the weekend, who was out in New York City with super model Ellie Gonsalves. Gonsalves is the winner of Heyman’s “#HustleBootyTempTats Top 25 Competition.”
Heyman commented on TMZ’s recent article about him chopping off his ponytail and revealed why you don’t see Brock Lesnar in Los Angeles too often.
– It’s been confirmed that JoJo will no longer be regular cast member of Total Divas when the show returns for a second season. She continues to train at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
– WWE has renamed the ‘Backstage Fallout’ Youtube series to ‘RAW Fallout’ and ‘SmackDown Fallout.’ Here’s the RAW Fallout video from last night featuring Big E:
– Layla wrote the following on Instagram, denying rumors that she won’t be returning to the ring:
“I will be back soon … Don’t listen to the rumors!!!”
– Brie Bella recently spoke with Bang Showbiz to promote the upcoming season of Total Divas and talked about Daniel Bryan filming for the show:
”When we started ‘Total Divas’ it was really hard at first, because you notice the cameras. But after around two weeks we just totally didn’t them. My sister is very loud and funny, and as you can see I’m much quieter than her and so is Daniel. He would just be at our house, staring at the crew and would say, ‘We don’t live an exciting life, is this fun for you guys? Because we don’t know if this is fun.’ They were like, ‘This is great, pretend we’re not here, don’t talk to us.’ Now we’re so used to it, we’ll say things and then we’ll look at each other and be like, ‘Gosh, did they catch that?’ ”
– WWE has rescheduled their originally scheduled tour dates in Saudi Arabia from February 13th, 14th and 15th to April 17th, 18th and 19th. The reason for the change was because the Al Janadriyah Heritage & Cultural Festival will be held in the same venue in February. Ticketmaster is offering new tickets for the same seats on the new dates, or refunds for anyone who had already purchased tickets.
– WWE added a video to their YouTube channel to promote the addition of Summer Rae to the next season of their “Total Divas” reality show. The video, which you can see below, is accompanied by the following description: “Summer Rae shares the exciting news that she will be joining the cast of “Total Divas” for the upcoming second season. “Total Divas” returns in March!”