Total Divas - General Discussion

[anadyr21]

No one is watching this dreck. Not surprising when the "extras" are more interesting.

 

I love R-Truth, but does he always have to be the butt of the joke? He's scared of ladders. He's scared of spiders. He's scared of cats too?

 

Kofi's son was adorable. Can we put Kofi, Big E, and Xavier Woods this show instead?

 

I know Cesaro is injured too, but can we have him on the show? The bromance between him and TJ would be fun. Swiss Superman indeed!

 

Why did the party have to have a theme? And why a cat theme? Girl, you are really gonna turn into the old, crazy cat lady. There's nothing wrong with an older woman, no children, and many cats, but Nattie brings the cray-cray!

 

I've always found Paige to be exhausting and annoying, and attributed it to her youth. I now realize, I flat out don't like her. This is beginning to extend to Alicia Fox, and darn it Foxy, I want to like you!

 

Rosa brings absolutely nothing to this show. She never has. I'd take any Diva, including Eva Marie, over her. At least Eva Marie does something WWE related, no matter how badly she does it.

 

This was our introduction to Mandy (outside of Tough Enough, which I didn't watch), so I'm gonna cut her some slack. I don't think I like her. I'm gonna need her to do something besides fake-smile and wear tight dresses.

 

The Bellas need a new storyline. It's all marriage, kids, and endorsements. But, good for them for them for thinking of Plan B when this is all over. I'm with Nikki on wanting to be a female Rock or Cena. I just don't think she has the charisma to pull it off. 

 

Why am I still watching this?

[DkNNy79]

Mandy was stupid to try and align herself with Eva Marie.  Doesn't she watch this show?  Even if she didn't, once she signed up to do it, she should've done her research.  She would've discovered that everyone hates Eva Marie.

 

Nattie acts really immature at time and then super old fashioned at others.  There doesn't seem to be any in between.

 

The guys are more entertaining.  Paige is just immature.

[Hero]

Brian is retired from the WWE. I wonder what he is going to do.

[KerleyQ]

If he wants to stay as part of the WWE, he can replace whoever that new Smackdown announcer is that does an obnoxiously fake affected Marv Albert-like voice.  

[anadyr21]

It's about darn time. The WWE is about making money. If their doctor's didn't want to clear Bryan, then they had some serious reservations. Based on his comments about his concussions during his retirement speech, the WWE was probably right.

 

Judging from Raw going 20-30 minutes over, Twitter comments, and the WWE Universe, he's still universally loved. He has a book out, he still does charity work (I'm not a shill, but donate to Wigs for Kids!), and he could still make a ton off endorsements. I wouldn't be surprised if WWE didn't have a job behind the scenes for him, if he wanted, assuming he and Brie aren't about to start their family right now. If Corey Graves can be sidelined for concussions and be made an announcer, why couldn't Daniel Bryan?

 

But I definitely understand. He's been a wrestler for his entire adult life. That's his identity. I wouldn't mind Total Divas delving more into what happens to him after wrestling and how does the wrestling spouse deal with it. This would be different from TJ/Nattie, as we're now dealing with a former champ and someone more well known mainstream. Best of luck to him.

[BellaLugosi]

I don't think he'd be an announcer, he'd still be on the road and I think he'd rather be at home raising his family.  He might pop up once in a while but I can't see him taking a full time behind the scenes job now. I'd say Brie will retire soon too. I was saying to a friend, out of Nikki, Brie and Bryan, Brie was the one who seemed the most ready to retire and she's the only one who is healthy enough to do it now. Strange how life works.

 

Speaking of Corey Graves, he was kind of choked up on the Raw pre-show. I never watch it but I watched it this week to see what they were saying about Bryan. I adore Bryan, I first saw him in ROH, and I cried through the whole thing. 

[Fukui San]

Very sad about Daniel Bryan, but obviously hoping he has a good retirement.

 

If he were to want a continuing onscreen role, here's what I'd pitch: He'd be a heelish manager, a guy who obsessively tries to build up young guys but is frustrated when they aren't as ring smart as he was.  Imagine him trying to manage a young tag team, and he pulls off one of them off the apron to chew him out and draw diagrams on a chalkboard he carries while in the ring the partner is getting annihilated.  When the tag team loses his throws his clipboard and acts the bad sport. When the tag team win he upstages them with the "Yes!" celebration. This dynamic occurs until the team becomes good in their own right and they inevitably split, at which point he finds another team to try and mold from scratch and feud with the original team.

[Hero]

Why is Rosa on tour with the WWE? She's pregnant and obviously doesn't wrestle.

Is Mandy a good wrestler? Does she have a lot of air time?

Is it just me, or does Paige's face look different this season?

[The Ascension]

It’s almost borderline insulting to me that Rosa is back on this show. She never wrestled with WWE, pre-pregnancy. Now the show trots her out and acts like it’s totally natural for her to be backstage at WWE because OMG she’s pregnant and engaged, Total Divas viewers MUST want to see her.

 

I applaud Nikki for wanting to make a difference and I hope she is following up. I hope it wasn’t just a storyline. My girl Brie had some good points but her delivery was a little off for me.

 

This show needs to do something because it’s just not interesting and I don’t want it to be canceled because it’s one of the few things the divas division has going for them. I may be alone on this but I want to see more WWE stuff (and yes I watch WWE) not personal lives/Kardashians esque drama.

[The Ascension]

I cried my eyes out watching Bryan's retirement speech.The way the crowd connected with him and the way he connected with them…it is SO rare. WWE can push whoever they want and make them the top guy, but connections like Bryan had with a universal WWE audience (especially in the day of the snarky Internet commenters) are like Hailey’s comet. One of my favorite things was watching his entrances -  every time Bryan always looked so, so happy to be in the ring and every entrance, he looked around with a little grin on his face, in almost disbelief at how loud the crowds were for him. His retirement speech was perfect.

 

Really amazing to see someone accomplish their dreams and go out on top, and to know that they were so grateful and humble until the very end. Team Bryan forever.

Edited February 10, 2016 by The Ascension

[Texasmom1970]

If Nikki does actually want to be a serious inspirational speaker she is gonna have to get used to keeping the girls undercover more. Was glad to see her dressed a little more conservatively. I think I could pick her breasts out of a line up they are on display so much.

This show needs Trinity and John back stat this show has really been dullsville lately!

[Tatum]

It’s almost borderline insulting to me that Rosa is back on this show. She never wrestled with WWE, pre-pregnancy. Now the show trots her out and acts like it’s totally natural for her to be backstage at WWE because OMG she’s pregnant and engaged, Total Divas viewers MUST want to see her.

I applaud Nikki for wanting to make a difference and I hope she is following up. I hope it wasn’t just a storyline. My girl Brie had some good points but her delivery was a little off for me.

This show needs to do something because it’s just not interesting and I don’t want it to be canceled because it’s one of the few things the divas division has going for them. I may be alone on this but I want to see more WWE stuff (and yes I watch WWE) not personal lives/Kardashians esque drama.

Could not agree more with the last paragraph and I don't even follow WWE. This show is the equivalent of a naturally very pretty woman caking on makeup/false eyelashes/hair extensions to the point where at best she looks completely generic and at worst she looks cartoonish.

[Tatum]

Eva actually showed a glimmer of maturity when she interviewed that if she were Mandy, and she saw that a group of girls all hated one girl, she would ask the group what was up rather than just ask the girl why everyone hated her. I mean, yes, Eva has been nice to Mandy, but I don't think Mandy can be expected to make a good character judgment of Eva based on one week when Eva has likely been on her best behavior.

[OnceSane]

Brie and Nikki don't see eye to eye on the risk of potential injury vs. the reward of becoming the longest-reigning Divas champion. Meanwhile, Alicia and Rosa clash over their visions for Rosa's baby shower; and Nattie questions whether Mandy truly has her priorities straight.

[DkNNy79]

Some of the get ups Foxy wears is like boho bag lady to me. Her beau kinda gives me a skeevy vibe. With all her "training" Eva Marie still looks awful to me.

I thought Brie's advice was spot on. I don't know why Nikki got offended. I get that she loves her boobs, but she can't be naive about how people are going to judge her with some of the revealing stuff she wears.

[Chairperson Meow]

I'm glad Brie is getting a goodbye title shot at Fastlane. She announced on GMA that she is retiring, probably this Spring/Summer. Most likely after Mania like AJ Lee did tbh. With all the new divas coming up, probably Bayley after Mania who sells merchandise like Cena, I can see Nikki retiring and marrying Cena.

[BellaLugosi]

Nikki has definitely kept up with the female empowerment thing. She's got a ways to go, but she's getting there. I think the problem with the sisters is that, whether it's intentional or not, Brie comes across as condescending or snarky to Nikki. She's not smarter than Nikki but she sure thinks she is.  Nikki definitely should learn to cover up more. I don't care what anyone else wears, but she looks way hotter when she's wearing a pencil skirt and a nice top, or jeans and a shirt than in those plunging necklines. I was embarrassed for her when they went to that fish pedicure place and she was wearing shorts and the cutoff shirt. It wasn't hot that day, her outfit was screaming "look at me!!!" 

 

Foxy's guy had a really nice house. With her I can't get past the baby talking. She's a grown woman, that needs to stop. And the glasses without lenses...as a person forced to wear glasses since a young age that offends me so much LOL!

 

Whimsey98: I was just talking to a friend about this last night, he has said that he wished the Total Divas storylines followed Raw instead of Raw having to follow the Total Divas storylines. I told him there's barely anything about wrestling even on there anymore. It just happens to be their job. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by BellaLugosi

[BellaLugosi]

My theory is that Mandy was brought on for Eva to have someone to interact with. I don't think anyone else wants to film with her. My dream is that she is being brought on to replace Eva.  I kind of like Mandy, but I also liked Eva at the beginning. 

 

I also felt a bit bad for Nattie. Her heart was in the right place. She's a weirdo, but TJ knew that when he married her. 

 

One thing that really bugs me about this show is that the women are always apologizing and borderline grovelling in situations where both the woman and the man are at fault. I'm still pissed that the Bella brother didn't apologize for insulting Nikki when he accidentally sent the nude photo to them. He slut shamed his own sister and she ended up saying she was sorry and he didn't. Ugh! I guess I expect too much out of reality TV.

Edited February 17, 2016 by BellaLugosi

[Racj82]

I think this is one reasons why a lot of wrestling fans don't take women wrestlers seriously. They are rarely lifers. They get around 30 years old or younger and bounce. I get that it's different for women because if you want a family and stuff like that, you can't wrestle full time. But, it also makes it hard to get invested in the women because they are so often gone as soon as they start getting good. Especially in the WWE.

 

In other news, Foxy's ex Wade Barrett basically told WWE he is done with the company when his contract runs out this year.

[Hero]

I give major props to all the wrestlers because what they do is hard. I don't think I could ever do it.

The Rosa, Paige, and Alicia storylines are so boring. They need to get rid of them and bring back Trinity.

I'm so jealous of Nikki's body. It's amazing and so toned.

[BellaLugosi]

OMG I laughed at Eva's face when Foxy asked her if she was going to the baby shower. She was so shocked she was invited LOL!! And Mama Bella giving wrestling advice. This show is hilarious.

 

I loved the Halloween princess theme for the baby shower. I would have that.  "They want it to be haunted babe, I don't want it to be haunted..." Is Foxy for real? Calling Rosa selfish? Wow! I felt bad for Rosa.

 

I also loved the difference between Mandy & Eva, with Mandy saying she wants to train and learn and Eva talking about getting a videographer and how important social media is. I can't stand Jonathon. And Eva needs to lay off the fake tan. The woman is orange. 

 

"I got 55 suits." Line of the night. I felt for Nikki with the injury. I strain my neck from sleeping wrong and I am out of commission. These girls are tough! 

 

"Nattie, stop being so nice, for once...." she says to herself. She's so passive aggressive.

 

Why is Dolph always hanging out with the women?

[BellaLugosi]

But on the flipside, there's a ton of guys who they keep around way too long and they wear out their welcome. I think the women aren't taken seriously in WWE because of how the company presents them.  You can be there for a few years and make a huge impact if the company gets behind you.

 

There's an article here http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Specialists_34/article_84356.shtml#.VsS8tVQrLnE about the average length of a Diva career. I was also looking at it myself recently, and here's when the current crop of girls debuted on the main roster (not including NXT or FCW or other places)

 

Alicia June 2008
Brie August 2008-April 2012, March 2013-present
Naomi January 2012
Nattie April 2008
Nikki August 2008-April 2012, March 2013-present
Paige April 2014
Summer April 2013
Tamina May 2010

 

(If anyone is interested in how long some of the girls have been there)

[Racj82]

But on the flipside, there's a ton of guys who they keep around way too long and they wear out their welcome. I think the women aren't taken seriously in WWE because of how the company presents them. You can be there for a few years and make a huge impact if the company gets behind you.

There's an article here http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Specialists_34/article_84356.shtml#.VsS8tVQrLnE about the average length of a Diva career. I was also looking at it myself recently, and here's when the current crop of girls debuted on the main roster (not including NXT or FCW or other places)

Alicia June 2008

Brie August 2008-April 2012, March 2013-present

Naomi January 2012

Nattie April 2008

Nikki August 2008-April 2012, March 2013-present

Paige April 2014

Summer April 2013

Tamina May 2010

(If anyone is interested in how long some of the girls have been there)

Some of it is on WWE for sure but look at the women they have pushed in the past few years. Bellas are on their way out, AJ gone, Kaitlyn gone, Eve Torres gone, Kelly Kelly gone, Beth Phoenix gone even though she put a good amount of time in and had some weak women to put over. But it goes on and on. Also, in almost every case the woman rose right when the previous woman quit. I don't worry about that with the likes of Sasha and Becky. They love this. They don't have their minds elsewhere. I and many others appreciate that.

[KerleyQ]

John's 55 suits cracked me up.  Who does that?  

 

I go back and forth on Nattie.  I think I like her when she's not neck deep in whatever "wacky hijinx" story the show has cooked up for her.  I think she genuinely cares about these other girls, especially Brie and Nikki.  And I can appreciate her wanting to help Mandy, but not wanting to waste her time if Mandy is just going to be another Eva.  

 

Foxy was just a straight up bitch to Rosa (and I generally prefer Foxy to Rosa on this show).  Telling Rosa she's being selfish was ridiculous.  The whole baby party was about what Foxy and Paige wanted.  Throw yourselves a ghost princess Halloween or birthday party, ladies, and try to make this about the guest of honor.  Or, if you can't do that, then back out all together, and let someone like Brie throw the damn shower.  (You know Brie would be completely into that.)  

[Texasmom1970]

I honestly do not know why I still tape thus show, must be a habit. I usually find myself not even paying attention. Again why is Rosa hanging around. Being pregnant I'd be at home but maybe it's in her contract.

[OnceSane]

Brie drives her sister away when she refuses to enable Nikki's fear of being alone; Rosa stresses out about her religious mother meeting her atheist boyfriend; and Alicia Fox considers ending her friendship with Paige.

[BellaLugosi]

Who would want to be friends with Alicia anyway? Then again, who would want to be friends with Paige?

[Hero]

Alicia is one of those friends who is really exhausting and needs constant attention.

[KerleyQ]

I figure Dolph will go anywhere, anytime to get on the camera (maybe he just prefers the company of women).

 

 

I get the impression it's for the camera time/attention.  During the WWE story line, where he was supposed to be involved with Lana, he was out there using social media to promote that by pretending there was really something going on between them.  And he was willing to sign on for that story line on Total Divas where he was after Nikki.  I think he'll do whatever is needed to get attention and camera time, and since the show needs some guys willing to do so, they're more than happy to point a camera in his direction.  

[anadyr21]

I think I'm just hate-watching at this point.

 

The one thing I liked was seeing the different types of workouts the ladies use. I wish we could see more of that. I'd love to know if some Divas work out more to their physical strengths, and focus more on flexibility or cardio, rather than weights (especially high weight, low rep).

 

As much as I dislike Eva Marie and find the idea of her having a "videographer" to be frustrating, she's also correct in that social media is very important, especially when Plan B is what you really care about, not WWE. Cuz, you know, it would be absolutely ridiculous to spend your free time working out and improving your craft, rather than showing off your ability to wear a bikini.

 

I'm all for exploring alternative treatments and I do think some of them are very effective. But, ozone? Really? I'm sure Nikki has tried other things, but why show this? And I really am asking. What's the angle? I realize her issue required actual surgery, but there are other, minimally invasive procedures that they could have shown, that aren't complete quack science.

[The Ascension]

Who would want to be friends with Alicia anyway? Then again, who would want to be friends with Paige?

 

Seriously. The only girl on this show I'd want to be friends with is Brie.

 

I just don't care about Rosa. She's a child and painful to watch. I've been watching WWE almost two years and I think I've seen her wrestle once. She was a valet for a bit but even that got dropped very quickly. Just because she's OMG having a baby does not mean viewers (which I know are mostly female) want to see her. 

 

This show is sinking. It's getting worse every week. Show more wrestling related plotlines!

[Hero]

When John wrestles, does he ever lose? Or does he win because, I assume that most of his fans are kids.

 

I totally give him props to keep on wrestling while his nose was just broken seconds before.  

[Hero]

Ew. When Brie and Nikki say this, it's so annoying. Why is everything "ew" to them?

[Tatum]

 

I was glad Nattie said something to Mandy (I would not have waited around for an hour for her to show up--they are forever on their electronic devices, so why didn't she call or text Mandy?), and it does feel that she cares about what happens with the women coming up.   I still wish they would show more of the training part, because I find that rather interesting

 

I know! I was so pissed at Mandy for interrupting Nattie because I really wanted to hear what Nattie considered the most basic function of wrestling, and where you start when someone with no experience comes in in order to assess their talent. I was pretty peeved too that Mandy floats in 40 min late with a latte in hand and wants to take a selfie right away. I suppose she didn't want to do it at the end of the session because she would be sweaty and her hair would be up. She appears to be just like Eva although I will give her credit for following Nattie out and apologizing. She may have truly been running late due to a minor car accident but then show a little damn hustle when you come in to the gym. It definitely came off more as a political move to stoke Nattie's ego (asking to learn from her) than a genuine desire to train.

 

Also, a drinking game could have been made over the number of times one of these girls said social media.

[Tatum]

This is sitting on my DVR, but I think maybe I'll skip. The hijinks of Rosa, Paige, and Foxy are not entertaining to me. Also, this show may be bringing more attention to female WWE wrestlers, but I don't think it's doing them any favors. Instead of portraying them as serious professional athletes, it just shows them acting like a bunch of vapid, catty bitches.

[OnceSane]

When John wrestles, does he ever lose? Or does he win because, I assume that most of his fans are kids.

 

I totally give him props to keep on wrestling while his nose was just broken seconds before.

He does lose but not often enough (IMO), especially when he's holding a belt. There's a reason he's called Super Cena.

[BellaLugosi]

The sound effect when Seth kneed John....and I guess he didn't want the cameras in his face when it happened.

 

Did you guys notice with Alicia and Paige, they showed them driving to the restaurant, but didn't show them driving again after they drank those drinks?  I was wondering if they'd show them drinking & driving.

[BellaLugosi]

She appears to be just like Eva although I will give her credit for following Nattie out and apologizing. 

 

Eva would have talked to everyone but Nattie about Nattie "going ham" on her for at least 6 episodes.  

[OnceSane]

Nikki's championship reign is at risk when she faces an old foe; Nattie is torn between taking TJ's last name or have him take hers; Paige fights to keep her relationship with Kevin afloat; Brie has a romantic bone to pick with Brian.

[Hero]

So sick of Nattie, Paige, Rosa, and Alicia centered episodes. Fire all of them and bring back Trinity and Jon.

[BellaLugosi]

I try to like Rosa, I really do. But she has an Instagram account for her baby and is using it to shill a line of baby clothes with skulls on it. I find that all so...icky. I don't see the point of it. She posts baby pics on her own IG and posts pics of herself & promotes Total Divas on the baby's IG. It doesn't help that she posts on the baby's IG as if the baby is writing it... 

 

https://www.instagram.com/realjordanschubenski/?hl=en

 

She named herself as #WCW. Oh Rosa......

[langway]

I try to like Rosa, I really do. But she has an Instagram account for her baby and is using it to shill a line of baby clothes with skulls on it. I find that all so...icky. I don't see the point of it. She posts baby pics on her own IG and posts pics of herself & promotes Total Divas on the baby's IG. It doesn't help that she posts on the baby's IG as if the baby is writing it... 

 

https://www.instagram.com/realjordanschubenski/?hl=en

 

She named herself as #WCW. Oh Rosa......

 

I saw this shit and cringed so fucking hard. My exact words were "Way to whore out your newborn".

[Hero]

T.J. looks so sad all the time. Nattie and her family are really over bearing.

[Hero]

I'm actually surprised that she is still in contract with the WWE. What I gathered from you guys, she hasn't wrestled in a long time. Is the WWE just waiting until her contract expires?

Edited March 2, 2016 by Suzy123

[Hero]

She might have entered into the contract before they knew she was pregnant. I don't know anything about the WWE or their contracts, but I imagine they couldn't just fire her for being pregnant since that would be a lawsuit in the making.

According to Wikipedia, that source of all information but not all of it very accurate, she was only a correspondent for a little before she went on maternity leave in October.

I wasn't talking about her being pregnant, but i assumed that she rarely or never wrestled.

[BellaLugosi]

There's backstage drama to that. She was in a relationship with a guy in management, Michael Hayes.  She was drinking a lot when she was with him. They broke up, they couldn't fire her then. She went to rehab, they couldn't fire her while she was in rehab or shortly after. Then she went on this show, then she got pregnant....they can't fire her again.  I think they'll quietly let her go once Total Divas is done with her. 

 

ETA: While keeping her under contract, she rarely wrestled because she's terrible. Even on house shows (non-televised shows) they don't have a lot of room for the women, so they would use someone else before her. Plus, she's probably not getting paid a lot so it's worth it for them to keep her on the payroll for Total Divas and to avoid a lawsuit for firing her. A former employee, Dawn Marie, sued them for firing her while she was pregnant. 

 

 

 

Rosa's wrestling history: http://www.profightdb.com/wrestlers/rosa-mendes-3952.html

Edited March 3, 2016 by BellaLugosi

[Tatum]

 

There's backstage drama to that. She was in a relationship with a guy in management, Michael Hayes.  She was drinking a lot when she was with him. They broke up, they couldn't fire her then. She went to rehab, they couldn't fire her while she was in rehab or shortly after. Then she went on this show, then she got pregnant....they can't fire her again.  I think they'll quietly let her go once Total Divas is done with her.

 

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. So, she's kind of like that person that gets injured on the job and keeps getting worker's comp, then will come back and get re-injured and you can't fire them even though they never work.

[Tatum]

He might still be in pain from his neck injury, which may be part of the problem.  I agree, Nattie and family are difficult to stand.  The happiest he looks is around the cats and the few times he has been seen with his male friends. 

 

Hee, TJ is only happy when he's with his cats.

 

While Nattie's family is obnoxious, the few times we've seen TJ's family makes me think they are exactly like Nattie's. I wonder if part of the reason those two stay together is they know how unlikely either of them would be to attract someone who could stand either of their families. Still, TJ drew the short stick because his obnoxious family stays in Canada while Nattie's sister and mother pretty much live in TJ and Nattie's house.

[Hero]

It must be awkward for Rosa to just wander around backstage not doing anything.

Does she actually have to travel wherever the WWE goes ecen if she is not actually working?

[BellaLugosi]

Rosa is annoying, but I kind of felt bad for her.  She did have a good idea, and she wants to work and not just sit around. She's just so bad at everything. And the reason Mark gave was lame. All those attacks are planned. So don't have Rosa do those ones.

 

Paige is so annoying. Heaven forbid she put some effort into her relationship. 

 

Bryan and Brie are adorable!