WWE Night of Champions: Can Beth Phoenix Finally Wrest the Title from Kelly?

At WWE's Summerslam PPV event, WWE Diva, and all-around scary chick, Beth Phoenix came up short in her attempt to take the title from perennial foe Kelly Kelly. Despite brutally dominating most of the seven minute bout and throwing around poor Kelly like a rag doll, Beth lost after the quick-thinking and nimble Kelly managed to turn the GlamSlam into a roll-up and sneak out the victory.

Unsurprisingly, Beth wasn't pleased after the match, and the furious challenger had to be calmed down and consoled after the match by her new best friend and tag team partner, Natalya, who seemed to be reminding her she would successfully win the title next time she and Kelly fought.

But will she come out victorious this time around? You see, the two are likely having a rematch at Night of Champions on September 18, so Beth has another chance at winning the title.

Personally, I'm leaning to towards saying that Beth Phoenix will emerge triumphant from the PPV. There are a few reasons for this.

First, I do not feel that Kelly has been a success as champion. She's performed admirably at times, notably during her Summerslam match with Beth in which she took some absolutely tough-looking bumps, helping to make their match the best WWE women's bout in quite some time.

But, overall, she has been a disappointment.

Kelly has a very limited personality. She's still incredibly sloppy in the ring and never looks entirely comfortable.  While she's a stunningly beautiful young woman–which always helps with the male fans–the patchy success other models-turned-wrestlers have had getting the fans to embrace them shows that for a woman in WWE to succeed, she needs far more than just looks.

I'd compare Kelly's stint in WWE to former WWE Diva Candice Michelle. Similar to Kelly, Candice entered wrestling as a model with no prior experience in the wrestling industry, but worked hard to get to a point where her in-ring work could be considered competent, even good, at times.

Like Kelly, her hard work was rewarded with a women's title run in the summer of 2007, and many critics labelled her “The Next Trish” (which a few people have said about Kelly, noting her good looks and improving in-ring ability).

Despite a promising start though, Candice turned out to be a flop. She didn't win over the fans at all (many were turned off by her nails-on-chalkboard voice and dull and one-dimensional babyface character) and was prone to accidents as her reign went on (the main reason her WWE career ended early was due to the litany of injuries she has suffered.)

Personally, I think Kelly is far more likely to turn out to be “The Next Candice” rather than “The Next Trish.” Hard as she tries to be a good wrestler, she simply doesn't have it in her to carry the belt or the division.

Chances are WWE management have figured that out, too.

And at the Night of Champions PPV they may elect to switch the title to Beth, a far more competent performer who has almost always garnered good reactions from the crowd. Beth will also do a far better job than Kelly has when working with the likes of Rosa Mendes or the Bella twins (who, frankly, need all the help they can get).

And, hey, if she can drag some of the poorer workers in the division to something bearable, she may even manage to have good matches with superior wrestlers like Eve or Naomi Knight (who's apparently on the verge of getting called up from developmental after her stint on NXT last year.) Certainly a victory for Beth would be a boon for WWE's troubled and lukewarm women's division.

Beth will win the title because it must happen to advance her current storyline with Natalya.

Recently forming a heel tag team, these two beautiful but very dangerous women are on a rampage through WWE's women's division. They are determined to prove that trained professional wrestlers are far superior to models-turned-wrestlers, most of whom got signed out of magazines and never paid their dues in the business.

Beth and Natalya are also far more appealing and intriguing than any of the dull-as-dishwater divas like Kelly or Eve. These two are the most interesting heel tandem in WWE's women's division since Laycool (who were, for most of their run, extremely popular with the crowd).

For this storyline to go anywhere, Beth cannot come up short a second time. It would greatly harm her credibility in the eyes of fans, who have been expecting Beth to win the title for months now. Giving the title to Beth at the PPV would be a massive step in the right direction for WWE's women's division, both in the ring and in the storylines.