Where Does WWE Diva Eve Torres Go from Here?

With her stunning good looks, feisty charisma and outstanding athleticism, many predicted big things for model Eve Torres after she emerged victorious from the 2007 Diva Search.

Indeed, the well-spoken Torres, who graduated from the University of Southern California in 2006 with an honors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering, emanates a strong personality and sharp intelligence that allows her to stand out from the gaggle of generic, one-dimensional divas that usually make up WWE's stagnant women's division.

"The Next Trish" is a lofty, burdensome label for any woman in WWE, but if anyone was cut out to fill the gaping hole Stratus left when she retired in 2006, it is the multi-talented Torres.

Alas, this didn't exactly happen, and in the years since Torres was awarded her WWE contract, the former NBA dancer has seen her considerable talents wasted in one mediocre, time-wasting angle after another.  

Anyone remember when she was R-Truth's backup dancer? Or her stint as Cryme Tyme's manager on Smackdown? Or her brief, tacky romance with jobber Chris Masters? No? That might be for the best. Those angles were dire.

Is Eve's latest angle, which has seen her and onscreen boyfriend Zack Ryder become embroiled in a feud with the newly masked monster Kane, much better? Eh, not really.

Although, on the bright side, it has garnered Eve considerable air time, allowed her to be in main event segments and made her far more relevant than any other woman on Monday Night Raw.

Hey, elements of this angle, which has seen the evil Kane target Ryder and Eve as a way to get to Zack's good friend, John Cena, may have been widely mocked by fans and critics (including an unintentionally hilarious skit on Raw two weeks ago, which saw a panicked Ryder frantically attempt to the change a flat tire on his rental car so he and Torres could speed away from a chasing Kane), but at least the Diva Search winner now has an established and fixed role on the show.

Which is more than can be said for current Divas Champion Beth Phoenix, who hasn't been seen on television in weeks. The former poster girl for the division, Kelly Kelly, seems to have vanished off the face of the earth, too. Regrettably, despite some indications last year that WWE were finally getting serious about pushing their women's division, the divas are as overlooked and marginalized as ever.

So, basically: the campy, convoluted angle may not be much, but it's better than what most of the other women have going on currently, and it has propelled Eve into the main event scene. She now shares screen time regularly with John Cena and Kane, most notably on last night's Raw, in which she angrily blasted John Cena for putting Zack Ryder in harm's way, seemingly sending the guilt-ridden Cena slightly mad in the process.

So after this, where exactly does Eve go from here? She seems to be at a loose end after onscreen sweetheart Ryder was temporarily written out of storylines due to a "broken back" after Kane savagely chockeslammed him during their short squash match (a scared-looking Eve was at ringside during the bout, weeping profusely and begging the indifferent monster to show mercy).  

Either she can remain babyface and wait for Ryder to return in a month or two, in which case their cheesy romance angle can pick back up again, or, and this may be a more enticing possibility, she can join the dark side and align with Kane, branding Ryder "a geek" and claiming she wanted "a real man." It would hardly be an original angle, but entertaining nonetheless. 

Certainly, no one seems terribly interested in the floundering Ryder/Eve romance—the two do not have strong on-screen chemistry or seem at all believable—so a drastic change in the storyline direction for her character may be just what is needed to rescue the storyline. 

For one thing, it would be a fresh, new challenge for Eve, who has never played a bad girl during her stint in WWE, and she would likely relish the chance to play an entirely different character.

It would also be good for the struggling Raw product as a whole. An enraged Ryder coming back to swear vengeance on Kane and Eve for wrecking his body and breaking his heart would give the feeble Ryder character—and this campy storyline—an edge he so desperately needs. It would also allow him to step out of Cena's long shadow and become his own man and someone capable of fighting his own battles.

Take our advice, Vince: turn Eve heel.