What the Falkland Islands is WWE doing w/ their divas division??? I can not but shake my head. Let's look at this logically.  First, the whole PG-rating thing 86's the Bra & Panties matches, thereby erasing a big core of the divas' audience.  This left the company in the rather unenviable position of having to create a new market for their divas almost from scratch. Ugh. To quote The Hunt For Red October "possible, ...but not recommended".  Still, I could see it working, with a lot of effort.  Most of the divas they have are hard working and seem willing to try to pull this kind of thing off.  They have a great base to start from as high level female athletes: tough girls who can kick asphalt and still be fun to hang out with.  WWE had the perfect opportunity to launch the new "Smart. Sexy. Powerful" (although I'm not sure I would have gone w/ "smart" for all of them...ha!) catch phrase at  - where else? The 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania, naturally! Makes sense, doesn't it? Should have made cents too!

 So, predictably, what does WWE do? Not that.  They set up a poorly conceived, middlingly executed pseudo-match for a "crown", which they have no candidate capable of carrying. They turn the divas one shot at glory on the Grandest Stage into a farce, giving the victory to their own Mrs. Doubtfire and in the process trashing the entire divas division in general and the Raw division in particular.  And then Vince has the nerve to complain about the gals being sloppy in the ring? I'd be sloppy too, given that kind of treatment.  And he wants them to "step up"? Question: to WHAT, Vince? Step up to Santina's ridiculous costume, look him straight in the nipples and pinch him? Good gravy.  I think that's expecting too much of a girl. Especially a sexy, smart, powerful girl.  That kind of girl would tell Santina to go Helsinki...and like it.  And to take Vince with him.

 By doing what they did at Wrestlemania, WWE showed their own complete disrespect for the divas' division.  How can they expect their audience to respect these women, when they clearly dont?  Look at Beth Phoenix. Santino was good for Beth. Santina was horrible. The Italian Attache case gave Beth a chance to show off her comedic side.  It was a nice change from the Unconquerable Woman of Stone she seemed to be and it made me like her a whole lot better.  Beth to that point was a force to be reckoned with on Raw. Now, no one is even talking about her as potential Diva's Champion. By rights, her in-ring ability should easily allow her to peel the belt off Maryse and become the first dual champion. Better yet, there was a perfect potential three-way race for the Divas' title that could have been set up just by adding Mickie James to the mix. You mean, a women's title battle, with a  great, athletically-based story: a truely competitve race to make history? That oughta be enough to give any accountant a hard on. Sorry, boys, go back to your magazines because WWE has blown it once again.  Instead, the McMinions are salivating over when McCopycat will do it. Shake of head. Not that I don't like McC. I do like her.  I'm just tired of her being the "it" girl all the time.  She's surely not the only hard working diva with a passion for the biz.  And to be worthy of the dual championship, she still should be doing more than being a solid, athletic wrestler with a vague heel mode and negligible crowd reaction.  I know the company's put a lot of money into pushing her, but sometimes, you just gotta pull out, ya know?

 And the saga continues at today's PPV.  Let's ignore the begging question of whether a hog pen is really "extreme".  Does ANYone want to see Santina vs. Vickie? H--O-G P-E-N is now the new way to spell "snack break".  And its one more sign of WWE's disprespect to their divas - a disrespect these women don't deserve and in all likelihood are trying to claw their way out of (that's the real extreme challenge), which they won't do with yet another suggestively named photo shoot. Think about V & Co. If you're confused, ask Cena. You want hustle? You want loyalty? Give respect.

(c) 2009 B.E.