This past Monday on RAW, something amazing happened: Wrestling fans around the world didn't want to put their foot through the TV when the Divas segment came on.
Instead of being slapped in the face with yet another continuance of the Santina Marella Calamity, we were given a very legitimate Divas match between two legitimate wrestlers: Maryse Oulet and Mickie James.
That was a welcome sight, as the Divas belt has looked ready to fold ever since Michelle McCool got to wear it, and because Women's wrestling is in serious need of help.
The days of Wendi Richter and Leilani Kai appearing near the top of a marquee are long gone, and the void left from the departure of Trish Stratus could by no means have looked like anything close to an easy task when confronted by WWE. However, the grave dug for their Women's division has been of their own doing.
Women wrestlers like Torrie Wilson, Victoria, and the aforementioned Mickie James were shelved for a variety of reasons in favor of girls whose talent was, at best, sketchy.
Maria, Jillian Hall, Michelle McCool, The Bella Twins, Kelly Kelly, and even Candice Michelle are nice to look at and do have some skill, but they all either have underwhelming talent for the level they were placed or have injury records that would be considered inexcusable in a male wrestler. (I'm looking at Candice for that one.)
The point is that for about a year and a half, the Women's divisions have sputtered along, intermittently gaining momentum when bonafide wrestlers were allowed to compete against each other—the most recent incarnation of this seemingly in Monday night's match between Mickie and Maryse.
Maryse getting any recognition is nice in and of itself. She's shown a lot of promise and—provided she wants to continue to wrestle and continue to work hard at it—should be a standout heel for a while.
The fact that she has the Divas belt only helps fuel any potential feud, and given her talent level she should at least “be around” anything of significance within the ranks of the WWE Divas.
The far more important part of last Monday's events was the involvement of James. With Beth Phoenix lost amid the Sea of Abomination that is the Santina angle, James was the only legitimate title threat in RAW's Women's stable; yet she happened to be buried as the entranceless tag partner of Kelly Kelly.
Don't confuse what I'm about to say with an accusation that Kelly should just be shoved to the side, because I don't think that in the least. However: As much as I'm all for Kelly working with someone who has the experience and knowledge that Mickie does, relegating Ms. James to barely recognized tag partner was inexcusable and inexplicable, assuming WWE is still operating on the premise that they are a for profit-corporation and thus wouldn't want to harm its own product divisions.
While somehow one of the more senior Divas, at 29 years old James is hardly on a career downslope either. On top of that, she has and still can literally do it all.
Before her arrival to WWE as Trish Stratus' obsessed stalker, James had a solid career in various Independent promotions and—more importantly—TNA, where she worked with the boys in Clockwork Orange House of Fun Matches which, partly due to her strong work in them, are still worth checking out today.
Since then she managed to get onto WWE and has managed to—at least in some way—bridge the gap between the era of Stratus and today.
In fact, she's carried the belt better than anyone since Stratus and since her face turn has arguably been WWE's best Women's champion.
Her track record as a reaction getting hard worker who can put on a wide variety of matches makes the previous decision to hide her behind this Santina angle all the more perplexing but that's not the here and now.
What matters now is that she's finally been given a chance to shine in the spotlight again, and if done correctly it can have incredibly positive effects on the Women's division.
Having a marquee Women's name like Mickie James is exactly what the floundering Maryse angle—and the equally floundering Diva's belt—needs.
While Maryse is a key second half of that feud and important in her own right, her and the Divas belt have never gotten traction on their own and a star with Mickie James' talent is exactly what both of them need.
The problem with the Diva's belt and with Maryse in particular is that both of them have been reviewed as boring.
The Diva's belt was a top candidate for “Worst Belt in WWE” when then face Michelle McCool held it and Maryse has been hampered with the criticism that she is a character with no substance—essentially just another pretty face.
Now that she's been paired against James, this potential push needs to build steam and if it does, it would solve two problems.
First, it would lend some much needed credence to the Diva's belt. James is a bonafide title contender and, unlike many of the women WWE had sniffing around the Diva's title after Natalya lost the initial title match, she has credibility with fans of the Women's division and the championship runs to back it up.
The Diva's belt got created last year and, while asking it to gain any respectability in under 12 months seems a little insane, it can. The problem is that it hasn't had a real chance to start. Excluding their reigns as Diva's champion, Michelle McCool and Maryse have held exactly zero titles.
The fact that Mickie James has at least one gives her infinitely more title reigns than those two outside of the Diva's belt realm.
That she is a four-time Women's champion means that even if you doubled Maryse and McCool's combined title reigns, they'd still only be tied with Mickie—if that doesn't show you she can add relevance to a title, nothing will.
Second, James will be able to bring out qualities that can make us either love or hate Maryse. James made Beth Phoenix interesting, I'm sure she can make the thickly accented, yet more talented, Maryse interesting.
Let's face it; Beth Phoenix is a good wrestler and the entire persona that she's built of “I'm big and bad now get in the ring so I can beat you senseless” is, quite frankly, good for the Women's sport.
Unfortunately, Beth is about as captivating as a tin of sardines and that's proven by her total disappearance now that she isn't in the ring regularly competing against other top wrestlers—namely Mickie.
What's more important than that, however, is that both women be given the spotlight. On a regular basis. What would be ridiculous is if WWE once again began relegating the title bouts to the middle of RAW episodes and PPV dark matches.
James can be the face the Diva's belt, division, and Maryse desperately need. Therefore, I must implore WWE to continue to give this legs. Don't let the Women's concept continue to flounder in obscurity.
It will never be a main event, but it doesn't have to be as irrelevant as it's been made to be. You have a real, interesting, heel in Maryse and thanks to Mickie James you finally have a face to pair her against.
Mickie can give credence to your Diva's belt: A title that at one point was so low on the totem pole Maria was within theoretical inches of wearing it.
Maryse can bring the title over and be a stellar heel, but it has been lacking a stand out talent to carry it and you've finally done something right by giving it the start of the long credibility building process last week.
The Women's division is in serious need of assistance and the talent who can help the rebuilding process are together—on your supposed flagship show no less.
Please, WWE, don't let last week be a one time occurrence. Keep this going and let the Women of your show shine as brightly as they possibly can. Not doing so would be cheating the wrestlers, the fans, and even yourselves.
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