WWE SummerSlam 2011: Time Equals Success in WWE Divas Championship Match

The WWE Divas Championship match at Sunday's SummerSlam pay-per-view spectacular was, arguably, the best Divas match the company has featured on PPV or on any of their four television programs in quite some time. It was also the best match in the young career of current titleholder Kelly Kelly, and the reaffirmation of Beth Phoenix as the most talented female competitor in either of the big two promotions.

The SummerSlam match bucked a trend that has recently earned the harsh criticism of fans and WWE employees alike. For the last three years, really, the female talent employed by the company has been the recipient of unfair treatment by the creative team. Outside of the long-running LayCool duo, the Divas division has been devoid of solid storylines and in-ring time has been nearly non-existent.

How often have the Divas been trotted out on Raw and have been forced to rush through a one-minute match, only to be criticized and critiqued for botched maneuvers and poor wrestling? That criticism has been misdirected.

WWE agents (or producers, whatever they may be called nowadays), the creative team and Vince McMahon himself should be held responsible, if not more, for the current state of the Divas division within the WWE. They have shown a refusal to pay attention to the female product and take the steps to improve where the division may be lacking. There is absolutely no way one should expect any inexperienced talent, male or female, to improve when they are allowed only one minute in front of an audience and television cameras.

At SummerSlam, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly showed both the WWE Universe and the powers-that-be within the company what the Divas are capable of when given enough time to tell a proper story. The tale of the powerful, more experienced and skilled Phoenix dominating the former model-turned-wrestler Kelly was booking 101 at its finest and the type of story that, if capitalizes on, can re-invigorate the horrendous Divas division.