Things were looking up after Beth Phoenix became the new champion at No Mercy. She had very little charisma or wrestling skills. Vince McMahon kept her around so his character could make out with her, like he previously had with Trish Stratus & Sable. Candice Michelle was hot and beautiful, but that’s her only asset. Melina wasn’t bad, but her entrance was the only thing remotely over. Many fans felt like WWE was trying to replace Trish & Lita with Ashley Massaro, but no one bought in to the hype. It had three brands to do something, and what did it do? Nothing. This is what Trish Stratus & Lita left behind, and can you blame them? WWE did not know what it was doing with its women’s divisions. Torrie Wilson, Maria, Fabulous Moolah & Mae Young, Sharmell, Jillian Hall, Cherry, Vickie Guerrero and Kristal. You might think, who is left over? I’ll tell you. WWE introduced Michelle McCool, but she wasn’t quite ready yet. Layla & Brooke Adams would later join her as a teasing trio of dancers called Extreme Exposé. All the while, Kelly Kelly is the new exhibitionistic face of ECW because she likes to strip. WWE has Mickie James, Victoria, and Beth Phoenix, yet they push Candice Michelle, Melina and Ashley Massaro. None of the matches ran longer than 10 minutes. She not only defeated Melina many times, but also retained her title against Beth Pheonix at Unforgiven in 7 minutes. Candice Michelle is the most dominant diva of 2007. Mickie James had less than 7 minutes as champion. Four of the PPVs saw no women’s matches at all (December had a mixed tag), while five included a title match. This is close to five minutes less than the men had in the 2007 Royal Rumble. In 12 PPVs, WWE’s Divas had 49 minutes and 45 seconds of match time. SummerSlam – Beth Phoenix won a 12-diva battle royal to become #1 contender (7:09).The Great American Bash – Candice Michelle retained the title against Melina (6:22).Vengeance: Night of Champions – Candice Michelle defeated Melina for the title (4:07).One Night Stand – Candice Michelle defeated Melina by submission in a (non-title) Pudding match (2:55).Backlash – Melina defeated Mickie James to retain the title (9:02).WrestleMania 23 – Melina defeated Ashley in Lumberjill to retain the title (3:40).The numbers in brackets show the duration of the match: An “X” means no women-only matches occurred on the show. You’d assume, having been previously put over by Trish & Lita in big matches, that Mickie would be firmly on top of the mountain, right? Well, let’s look at what happened in the next 12 PPVs.
In her last match, Lita passed the torch, and the title, in an incredible encounter with Mickie James. With no Trish or Lita around, the division, which had a title exclusive only to Raw from 2002 to 2008, struggled to find the same respect it once had.
It wasn’t about women’s wrestling, it was about exposing her body and personal life, and doing so in a way which harmed her reputation. Lita did everything the company asked, but being exposed in the “Live Sex Celebration” was telling of how WWE felt about her as a performer. However, the pressure of having to perform as a slutty character, and be the target of fans’ blame in the middle of a real-life love triangle with Edge & Matt Hardy, was both unjustified and stressful.