I love Total Divas but

[Lance Uppercut]

It seems that they're slowly phasing out the standard divas for the Total Divas in the level of importance right here. Since the Mixed tag got the death spot between Punk and Bryan main events, and the Bellas and Nattie are getting more interview time on Raw lately.

Man, the pops for AJ (and somewhat Kaitlyn) vs. the Bellas or Funkadactyls are night and day.

I would have hoped that the super smarky crowd would have chanted some hilarious Total divas-eque jokes at them. Like a "we want Vincent" chant or something.

[Dave the Dave]

And they're really emphasizing not Naomi's catchphrases. I don't like it. Don't make her popular.

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2013 12:27:51 GMT -5 Dave the Dave said:

And they're really emphasizing not Naomi's catchphrases. I don't like it. Don't make her popular.

Cameron has come off as completely unlikable (at least in my opinion) so far.

[Lazy peon]

I hate Cameron so much.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

The Total Divas girls ARE more important than the regular Divas now. The only reason AJ was important was because she was linked to so many main event talents. Now that she's done with Dolph, and not hooking up with anyone else, her emphasis was bound to fade out, title or no title.

And I like the idea of Divas other than the Champion & #1 Contender getting some kind of storyline focus.

[CH Punk]

Aug 20, 2013 14:15:10 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

The Total Divas girls ARE more important than the regular Divas now. The only reason AJ was important was because she was linked to so many main event talents. Now that she's done with Dolph, and not hooking up with anyone else, her emphasis was bound to fade out, title or no title.

And I like the idea of Divas other than the Champion & #1 Contender getting some kind of storyline focus.

Vince loves AJ.

Vince only likes Total Divas because it makes him money/more exposure.

Sooner or later AJ will get a bigger spotlight that 90% of the roster.

As for why Kaitlyn/AJ get a reaction (or at least the crowd gives a damn), while they don't give the Total Divas girls a flying f*** (despite getting as much if not more Raw/SD time and their own show) is because AJ and Kaitlyn are presented as wrestlers with some kind of seriousness, while the TD cast are walking caricatures.

And I'll take the former over the latter any day of the week.

[Abdullah]

Aug 20, 2013 14:15:10 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

The Total Divas girls ARE more important than the regular Divas now. The only reason AJ was important was because she was linked to so many main event talents. Now that she's done with Dolph, and not hooking up with anyone else, her emphasis was bound to fade out, title or no title.

And I like the idea of Divas other than the Champion & #1 Contender getting some kind of storyline focus.

I think a very convincing argument could be made that AJ was, and is important, because she's an exceptional performer. You're forgetting that a lot of her feud with Kaitlyn has had nothing to do with Dolph. I feel like AJ being in so many romantic angles is a reflection of the apparently all-male writers-room than anything else.

On-topic though, I don't think WWE gets that the fact that the people who watch Total Divas don't necessarily want to watch the Total Divas apply resthold after resthold. AJ, last night, got more of a reaction from a kick than Nattie and Brie did in their whole match. And I kind of like them, so it's not bias.

[Manute Bol]

People are always seemingly yearning for more divas action and actual storylines. Now we've got a bunch of divas getting some spotlight; if you include JoJo's singing there were 9 divas booked on SummerSlam. We've got feuds that don't center around the Divas Championship in addition to a feud that is centered around the title. The divas are getting more attention now than they have in years. Enjoy it while it lasts!

My question now is, will we get a traditional Survivor Series match this year of Kaitlyn, Natalya, The Funkadactyls & JoJo vs. The Bella Twins, Eva Marie, AJ & Layla? It could happen. I may be off here but I think the only years there have been traditional Survivor Series elimination matches were 1987, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

[Allie Kitsune]

Aug 20, 2013 12:36:39 GMT -5 Lazy peon said:

I hate Cameron so much.

Cameron is terrible in every possible way.

[The Tee Why]

I absolutely hate "GURL BYEEE"

what the hell is that!?!?!?

[Deleted]

The Divas segments on RAW have become ads for Total Divas. I mean even that "match" at SS with Natty/Bellas. - they weren't fooling anyone with that one.

Except for the stuff involving AJ...for now.

[rybackrulez]

They should be pushed over the regular divas

Next season will probably intro us to aj, kaitlyn, alicia, and some others

[Richard]

Aug 20, 2013 20:10:13 GMT -5 rybackrulez said:

Next season will probably intro us to aj, kaitlyn, alicia, and some others

AJ already said she won't appear on Total Divas unless they force her to, and I doubt they will. That applies to Kaitlyn too, I imagine.

[PKO]

I don't think they've been phasing anyone out in favour of the Total Divas cast. They have been getting short segments every week, but that makes sense with a three hour show to fill and a separate (and successful) show to plug.

Going forward I think some of them will take centre stage, but that's because Kaitlyn and AJ has run its course and Total Divas consists of about half of the divas roster. And that could be a good thing. Pushing, say, Natalya or Naomi makes sense not only to plug the show, but because they're both really talented.

As for the crowd reactions, AJ was one of the most pushed and featured performers of last year; if she wasn't getting much better reactions than the other divas then something would be very wrong.

I will say the Total Divas match not being the cool-down match at Summerslam was silly, however WWE have made some weird timing and placement choices in the past few years.