Fact: The “Divas’ Revolution” needs to be bigger than WWE thinks

“That’s a good-looking belt…that’s a women’s WRESTLING belt!” declared Alundra Blayze on the occasion of her Hall of Fame induction, holding her once-discarded women’s championship aloft.

Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, three-quarters of NXT’s four horsewomen, have now joined Paige on the main WWE roster, leading some to announce that a “Divas’ Revolution” is now under way.

Enough has been written about the way NXT treats women’s wrestling – the women are characters in their own right, with motivations beyond “jealousy” and “boyfriends”, and the belt itself is for women, rather than “Divas”. (Can you imagine the men having a “Superstars’ Championship”?)

But a true revolution will never be successful until there’s a change from top to bottom.

Question: what do WWE have in store for Emma?

I’m still not entirely sure what to make of this week’s Emma-related saga. (Melodr-emma?)

After news broke of her arrest for sixth-degree larceny (or ‘shoplifting’, as it’s known), WWE were swift to update their website with news of her release.

By the time I woke up the next morning, she’d been reinstated, and WWE were talking ominously of the further action they intended to take in recognition of her law-breaking.

I found the entire episode quite puzzling.

Fact: Paige can be the cornerstone of the new, improved Divas’ division

I talk about this a lot, but after last night’s RAW it seems that it’s finally coming true – Sara Del Rey’s fierce dojo stable is preparing to take over WWE and give us the Divas’ division we should have had all along.

Facts on Naomi, injuries, Divas and women in WWE

Did you see the pictures of Naomi’s broken eye socket?

If you did, it’s likely you didn’t see it on her Twitter account. She posted it, and then deleted it.

Why?

Fact: Kaitlyn has left WWE, and the Divas Division is diabolically depleted

Have you missed Kaitlyn lately? I have. Remember when she was champion? Remember when she was feuding with her best pal AJ? Remember when she had two weeks of a storyline with Cody Rhodes, and then the Bellas came back and WWE forgot about the Divas who can wrestle?

Well, it’s probably not a surprise that today WWE has announced that Kaitlyn will be pursuing future endeavours outside the sports entertainment world.

Kaitlyn followed up by tweeting that it was “bittersweet”, and confirmed that there are “big things on the horizon for 2014” (which her fiance PJ Braun described as “an awesome new project”).

Wrestling fans being wrestling fans, there’s a lot of chatter about womenfolk not being interested in wrestling once they snag themselves a man, or the possibility of Kaitlyn posing for nude pictures.

Rolling my eyes at this and moving on, I’d like to wish Kaitlyn the very best – she has consistently been a great performer, she’s hilarious on Twitter, and I like her hair.

So waving her a fond farewell, let’s look at what we’re left with – a continuing feud between Divas who are on Total Divas, and Divas who are not. Wrestling doesn’t even matter any more.

Question: are the Bella Twins what the WWE Divas’ Division needs?

When I said the Divas’ Division needed some additions, this was NOT exactly what I meant.

Yes, the Bella Twins are back, and they are being petted by Damien Sandow (though not by Cody Rhodes).

Fact: Beth Phoenix bids farewell to WWE

And so farewell then, Beth Phoenix, kayfabe-fired by Vickie Guerrero on Monday Night RAW, but in reality choosing to leave WWE at the end of her contract.

I’ve always had a sneaking sympathy for Beth – smart marks whine that although she’s OK, she’s not one of the best female wrestlers in the world, and drop the names of their indy favourites, while the idiots who hate women(‘s wrestling) complain that she’s too muscular to be their stupid version of “hot”.

Well, in her seven years with WWE, she’s had a pretty decent run.

Question: has WWE been too harsh on Kelly Kelly?

Hands up, I’m not a great fan of Kelly Kelly (the character, I’m sure she’s a perfectly sweet woman, and I’ll maintain that Randy Orton is an utter tosser for saying what he did about her).

When I heard that she’d been released from her WWE contract, I wasn’t that bothered, until I realised that in the past year or so, the Divas Division have lost Kharma, Maxine, Sofia Cortez, Raquel Diaz, the Bellas, Melina, Gail Kim, Michelle McCool, and are apparently about to lose Beth Phoenix too.

Reports are suggesting that WWE weren’t happy with K2 posing for “risque lingerie shots” for her own personal calendar (merchandise she’s apparently contractually obliged to produce and sell).

Fact: Dusty Rhodes thinks Paige “should have been born a guy”

Dusty Rhodes, the NXT commissioner, has an odd Twitter account. The spelling and syntax are both terrible, but the profile picture is him at home and his eldest son tweets him, so even though the account isn’t verified, I think we can be fairly sure it’s him.

He tweeted last week about NXT’s Anti-Diva, England’s very own Paige, and enthused thus:

NXT going well!Paige is the real deal, should been born a guy !

— @#STARDUST (@dream_rhodes7) August 27, 2012

Obviously this was meant as a compliment – Paige is incredibly talented in the ring. And I wanted to object to it and claim that she can shine just as well as a female wrestler.

But it’s not true, is it?

Question: why have WWE released Sofia Cortez?

It seems impossible that there are now only two alumni from the last series of Tough Enough still with WWE.

There’s Christina Crawford, aka Caylee Turner, who continues to display weak ring ability (if the NXT episode last week is anything to go by) and cut one of the worst promos I have ever seen on poor Bill De Mott who tried desperately not to laugh at her.

And there’s Ariane Andrew, aka Cameron, who graces WWE programming as one of Brodus Clay’s Funkadactyls and who announced proudly that her favourite ever wrestling match is Melina v Alicia Fox.

WWE used to employ another female graduate of that series, Ivelisse Velez, aka Sofia Cortez, who’s been wonderful on FCW and more lately NXT, teaming up with Paige to form the Anti-Divas.

Except now she’s been future endeavoured, and nobody seems to know why.