WWE Divas: Monday's 'Perfect Metaphor' for the Division

Last night's Raw gave a strong statement on a number of levels. Both John Cena and Zack Ryder were given a lot of time for their respective angles.

CM Punk got into a good promo battle with The Miz while Alberto Del Rio began his slide to irrelevancy.

But the most striking thing was the blatant example of disrespect for the WWE Divas in years.

During a span of five minutes (in a show that usually has about 90-plus minutes of air time), the gals were given their usual ring schtick. At least the "Divas of Doom" were given a promo video.

Good thing, right? Not so much.

During the video, there was another "It Begins" video that hijacked the "Pin Up Strong" video. After giving the same message over that, it cut back into Beth Phoenix and Natalya's promo video.

Cue two minutes of ring action and Kelly Kelly once again embarrassed Beth with another roll-up victory. Cue Kelly's theme music "Holla" and we're on to the next segment.

More or less, the same booking we've been seeing for months

I don't think it's any secret that Vince McMahon looks on the Divas as a conundrum. On the one hand, he feels he needs them to appeal to a certain demographic.

On the other, he thinks it's a pretty blatant waste of time.

Last night though, he stepped over into the line into patent disrespect. While the video edit was good, it stands metaphor the feeling of the Divas makes it plainly clear how bad the booking them has been as of late.

Earlier this year, after Kharma went on medical leave due to pregnancy, the Divas division was left where it usually was: in a rut. A good heel turn by Phoenix followed by Natalya left to the feud between Phoenix and Kelly Kelly that lasted for months.

While it grew tedious towards the end and was plagued by inconsistencies in booking for both gals, it was the best feud this year for a division that is plagued with basic story lines and shoddy writing.

The match between them at Night of Champions was memorable for how good it really was.

After the feud between Kelly and Phoenix wrapped up, the WWE moved towards Eve. A feud that had a promising start was left hanging as the WWE moved to Phoenix and Alicia Fox.

After that? Who knows.

Last week, during another Divas tag team match, Phoenix and Natalya decided to go jogging around the ring for some reason that was never explained, while the match was largely forgettable. I seriously cannot even remember who won or even who wrestled.

Last Monday was more the same. I don't even think Natalya was tagged into a tag team match. Kelly returned to her roll-up finishing maneuver and the "Monster Heel" that was Phoenix was again left without pride.

There used to be a time were the Divas were a highlight for the WWE.

Great wrestlers such as Lita, Trish Stratus, Molly Holly and Ivory were quite capable in the ring and were given enough time to do what they needed to do. They were used in multiple angles and feuds at once.

While they were never given the superstar treatment, they were given some respect and used to accentuate an already great product.

The WWE isn't without talent in this day.

Current Divas like Natalya and Phoenix, the released Gail Kim and the shelved Kharma (whom is due back soon) are all great wrestlers in their own right. The WWE continues to sign good up-and-coming talent like Brittani Knight as well.

However, the lack of time and day given to the Divas will be the undoing. The simple fact is a good match requires some time to execute.

A personal observation is that anything less than five minutes tends to not really worth the time.

Perhaps the WWE needs to really look at how they book the Divas. They've reversed the great strides they made over the past five months and left the Divas back at the start line.

The WWE needs to really examine how they look at the Divas or write them off TV entirely. Either way, they need to stop wasting the time of the Divas, the fans and the precious segments on TV.