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Nikki Bella may have won the Divas Championship on Monday, but these ladies are much more deserving...

On Raw this past Monday, Nikki Bella won against Charlotte (by disqualification... yawn), breaking AJ Lee’s prior title record to become the longest-reigning Divas Champion in WWE history.

And then everyone came back from their bathroom break and watched the rest of the show.

Now, before you start calling me sexist, let me be clear: I like women’s wrestling. I just happen to fall in the category of people who like good women’s wrestling, a category that—in my opinion—Nikki Bella does not currently fall into.

In a word, Nikki’s wrestling is boring. In another, tired. And in a third, RARELY FUCKING HAPPENS. I know, that’s more than three words, but if Nikki Bella can build a wrestling career off of not wrestling, I feel I should be allowed to build a journalism career off of not giving a fuck about accuracy.

For whatever reason, WWE has put all of their Divas eggs (in all seriousness, no pun intended) in the Nikki Bella basket. Maybe it’s because she’s attractive and all the lonely wrestling nerds can’t look away from the TV when she steps into the ring. Maybe it’s because she just so happens to be partnered up (in real life) with a fella named John Cena. Or maybe it’s because... fuck, I don’t know. Because we live in an unjust world where undeserving people rise to fortune and fame while the rest of us work our asses off just to barely be able to scrape by? Yeah, I’ll go with that one.

(FACT: No other title-holding talent wrestles less than Nikki Bella. Even Seth Rollins wrestles more than Nikki, and that’s saying a lot. You know what would be interesting? To compare AJ Lee’s 295 days with the belt against Nikki’s 295 days with the belt and see how many matches each of them wrestled during that time.)

The most frustrating thing about all of this isn’t that Nikki is still the Divas Champion, but that there are so many other talented Divas in the business today who are so much more deserving of the title. Here are five of those women.

Paige

That’s right, give it back to Paige! Sure, she’s already held the title twice before and she’s only 23 years old, but she comes from a professional wrestling family (her parents and two brothers are all professional wrestlers) and she debuted at the tender age of 13. All of this is to say that, even though she’s young, she’s seen more ring action than most Divas ten years her senior. She also has a fun ring presence (though her “This is my house!” bark has long overstayed its welcome) and can believably go head-to-head against any of the company’s more seasoned talent. Does she deserve it as much as some of the fresher talent currently making its way up through the ranks? Maybe not. But she’s definitely more deserving than Nikki, mostly because at least she still wrestles.

Brie Bella

Oh, Brie. I gotta be honest, I’m only suggesting this out of pure pity. Brie is mostly on par with her twin sister when it comes to ring and mic talent, but unlike Nikki her character (and, in turn, her career) somehow got sidelined along the way. Sure, she held the Championship for 70 days back in 2011, but that was for 70 days back in 2011! For whatever reason, it was decided that Nikki would become the face of the sisters (ironic, seeing as how they’re twins), whereas Brie would become the, you know... other one. Throughout the course of her career, Brie has played the equal, enemy, indentured slave, and now mindless follower to her sister’s character, and there is absolutely no reason for this to be the case. Push Brie.

Becky Lynch

Lynch has only been a part of the main roster for two months now (she was brought up from NXT alongside Charlotte and Sasha Banks this past July), but she’s already proving to be a fan favorite. In addition to having a great look (a steampunk-inspired outfit and a head of bright red hair), Lynch’s outgoing personality and fiery attitude has made her an NXT alumni standout. And let’s be honest, that Irish accent doesn’t hurt either. After suffering a serious head injury in 2006, Lynch thought her wrestling days were over. But here we are nearly a decade later, and she’s rising in the WWE ranks faster than almost anyone else. A title is most definitely in her future; it’s just a matter of when.

Naomi

In 2012, Naomi made her main roster debut on Raw as one of two female backup dancers in The Funkadactyls. Along with Cameron, she would accompany Brodus Clay down to the ring, skipping and dancing to a bad attempt at '70s funk. She then proceeded to take part in this ridiculous, tired shtick for the next two years. To be read: Naomi has paid her dues. With the exit of Clay in 2014, the door opened for Naomi to go solo. Since then, she’s been impressive in the ring on both the giving and receiving end of hits. Here she is getting jobbed by Alicia Fox with one arm tied behind her back.

Natalya

Like Brie Bella, Natalya also held the Divas Championship for 70 days, but her reign came the year before in 2010. The daughter of Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart (and member of the Hart wrestling family), all Natalya knows in life is wrestling. It’s in her blood, and it shows in the ring. And unlike much of the current Divas roster, she’s a scrapper who’s not afraid to take a serious hit. Also, for a brief time in 2012, her character became known for having horribly smelly and embarrassing farts. No shit (pun intended this time). If that’s not reason enough to give the poor woman a second title, I don’t know what is.

Runner-Up: Santina Marella

Because this never gets old:

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