WWE: It's Now or Never for Light Divas Roster

I was informed of something rather interesting the other day. Of the 12 remaining Divas on the active roster, only one of them has not changed their status as a face or a heel within the past year.

The only exception is Kelly Kelly, who has remained a face for quite some time now. What does this mean? The Divas division is in more trouble now than it has ever been in before.

The days of Lita, Trish and Mickie James are over. The times when Jacqueline and Ivory would hold the title are blurs on the horizon. This is the time for Eve Torres and Natalya, capable athletes in their own rights, to be subjected to poorly placed moves and quick roll-up victories.

As stated before, there are 12 listed Divas on the current roster, along with three non-wrestling Divas. Those three are ring announcer Lillian Garcia, as well as the pair of Cameron and Naomi, known as The Funkadactyls, who dance alongside of Brodus Clay.

None have any intention of wrestling in a match any time soon, limiting us to the dozen Divas. Let's look through those 12 women now.

Now without Daniel Bryan in her life, AJ seems to be going through a change. We can just about refer to her as a heel at this point, though this character is much more complicated than simply that.

She has had such a mean streak in her lone televised match since the change in attitude that the bout was simply thrown out. Now, all we have seen are weeks where AJ will talk to Kaitlyn and slap her across the face. A feud with the Season 3 NXT winner seems to be pending.

Aksana has seldom wrestled and for good reason. The former NXT rookie simply isn't quite as talented as other Divas. Her microphone skills are probably all that are keeping her on the main roster at this point.

The lovely Lithuanian changed her look and placed herself at the side of Teddy Long when he was Smackdown GM. Since Long lost the job, Aksana has seemingly taken his heart with it. She is back to being a bad girl for the first time since the end of her run on NXT.

Aligned with Antonio Cesaro, there is likely more managing and making out with Cesaro in her future and fewer matches.

Alicia Fox is a former Divas Champion, but that fact is hardly remembered. It could be a jab at the title's history or Fox's impact in the company. I'll tend to sway toward a combination of the two.

Fox's athleticism makes me excited to see what she can deliver, but her chances have been slim at best. Her title win seemed like a fluke and didn't last very long. Fox is hardly seen and is never involved in any noteworthy feud. Basically, she's keeping busy while doing nothing.

Beth Phoenix is clearly the thoroughbred of the group right now.

She is a veteran and a decorated Diva. Her multiple championship reigns mean she should be feared. Phoenix was days away from eclipsing Maryse's record for the longest reign as Divas Champion, but she lost the title to Nikki Bella six days before Extreme Rules.

There's no solid evidence to an injury for Phoenix, but sitting her purposely doesn't seem very smart on WWE's part. There's got to be a problem with her, right?

Eve is also a former Divas Champion and is a very athletic one at that. Instead of showing off her jujitsu background, Eve was often relegated to top-rope moves and booty shaking.

We get that Eve likes to dance, but when she is so skilled in a fighting background and isn't using that enough, something needs to be assessed. Eve, who has been involved in more storylines than most Divas, is now an assistant to John Laurinaitis. That might change when David Otunga returns, but she's excelling in her new position. 

Eve's new role may mean permanently keeping an athletic Diva on the sidelines.

Kaitlyn won the third NXT season, despite not being on the season originally. That granted her a future Divas Championship match, which she is yet to have received. Simply put, she isn't quite ready, but she's getting there.

Kaitlyn represents the light at the end of the tunnel for the Divas division. And she can be a fixture and a star when the division is through this rough patch.

Kelly Kelly has been around for quite some time now, and while her in-ring work has gotten better, it isn't much of a compliment.

Kelly still seems to get carried in many of her matches, and had it not been for Beth Phoenix, her reign as Divas Champion last year would have seemed weaker than it already did. There isn't much to change about Kelly Kelly. She is fine as a face, but her in-ring ability may just not be there.

It's hard to try and sail the ship on Kelly Kelly, especially when she is only 25 years old.

Layla is the current Divas Champion, and it could be a lot worse, as she does bring some of her experience as a former Women's Champion to the table.

Of course, Layla was the less impressive half of LayCool, but again, it could be a lot worse. Layla has that rare ability, as her in-ring skills are better than microphone skills, which aren't terrible either. Layla is easily one of the best three or four around right now on anybody's list.

Maxine has truly been improved from NXT. She is a big part of NXT and is really doing good things on that show. She was featured in a tag-team match on Raw randomly. There was no explanation, but that doesn't matter.

It basically implied that Maxine is viewed as a potential top heel Diva of the future. And if her ring attire does nothing for you, male or female, then check your pulse.

Natalya is a very good in-ring performer, remember? It's hard to imagine that those in charge of her bookings feel that way.

I don't know if there is someone that she upset in the higher ups, but it has certainly been tough times for Natalya. The build with her and Beth Phoenix aligned together really felt like she would end up getting Beth turning against her, and the Natalya/Beth Phoenix storyline would revive the division.

Well, that didn't happen. Instead, Natalya had a short stint with an angle of her not being able to control her bodily functions, specifically with her farting at random moments.

Rosa Mendes is in the perfect place for her career. Her wrestling ability is marginal, but her position as a heel manager for Primo and Epico is a great fit. Mendes brings back the memories of Trish Stratus managing Test and Albert back in the day.

Don't let the fact that A.W. now represents the tag team make you worry about Rosa's future. She is also being represented by A.W., so she will be fine.

Tamina Snuka was a No. 1 contender just a few months ago. Now, Snuka seems further away from a title reign than ever before.

Snuka was trying to garner the support that her father, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, had in his WWE stint, which yielded a Hall of Fame induction despite never winning a championship. Tamina still has just as many championships as her father did in WWE.

It may just stay that way for a while. Is it just me or is Tamina capable of doing things in the ring that her father never could? Instead of Samoan drops and splashes from the top rope, Tamina could do more than copy her legendary father.

Needless to say, there isn't a lot of talent to work with, especially when you see the Divas that have left and have been released over the past few years. This reminds me a bit of when the Women's Championship was revived in the Attitude Era.

It was a tough time seeing Sable as a champion despite her lack of skills; but the division got better, and the talent surrounding the title got tougher.

FCW has a few good Divas down in development and the allure of WWE will always keep female wrestlers chomping at the bit. If WWE can put up with the division until it goes back on the upswing, this dark Divas age will be over before you know it.

Follow @RobertAitkenBR