10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2008
8. The Divas Title Was…
…a decent idea on paper as a counterpart to the Women’s Title over on Raw.
However, Michelle McCool was a rotten choice as first champ. Fans found her boring as a babyface, and her matches vs. Natalya, Maryse and Maria were either too short or too meaningless within the context of the shows they were on for people to pay much attention. That's undeniable. Babyface and future Hall Of Famer Michelle was humdrum at best.
The new Divas Title was introduced at the Great American Bash in July, but was actually only defended on TV or PPV 4 times for the rest of the year. That spoke volumes about the importance of the thing. For a modern equivalent, it’d be similar to the Women’s United States belt in terms of genuine WWE zest.
Unfortunately, there was no Chelsea Green back in 2008 to save the day. Fearless leader that she is.
Today, WWE would tell you that McCool was one of the leading lights in the women's game for ages. Technically, she was one of the main stars in the division for a while, but it'd be difficult to name anything worthwhile she achieved outside the LayCool unit with Layla. Even that had some unsavoury stuff, like the whole "Piggy James" bullying debacle.
Vince McMahon loved his smiling blonde babyfaces during this era. In that sense, Michelle was a blueprint for what Kelly Kelly would become. Alarmingly for McCool, Kelly did it much better than she did. Fans didn't really get onside with anything Michelle was up to.