Summerslam: A.J vs Paige

The Paige and A.J feud as far as I am concerned has failed to live up to the mass amount of hype people had for it when it started. This whole pretending to be friends and actually enemies this was and is ridiculous. That said Paige going heel was badly required. It has really been revitalization her and almost gave her a do-over from her original debut as babyface that was awful. A.J on the other hand is not exactly looking like much of a baby face in her actions. In the end, it doesn’t matter much.

This feud has been badly overshadowed by the Brie and Stephanie feud and despite being for the title I would bet they do not get as much match time as Steph and Brie match is given. Should be a better match with these two time restraints or not. These two are starting to develop some chemistry to some extent.

Why I feel A.J is on a different level and deserves to keep her championship. I feel for the sake of extending the feud Paige is going to win the title. I can’t see anyone positioned to jump into this feud for the Diva’s Championship.

Another thing this feud has lacked is time invested in it is build that again is because of all the time being invested in Stephanie and Brie. Second fiddle all around is this feud and it should not be in one sense being for the title. It is easy to understand why it has been with the return to the ring of Stephanie McMahon who has not wrestled in a WWE ring in over a decade.

I still think that at the end of the day we could see Stephanie to return to face A.J Lee in a match that takes place at Wrestlemania. It makes a lot of sense if WWE is willing to make it happen.

In terms of the Diva’s Title, it is not looking good being booked below Steph but it is only for one show and it understandable.

This match wise has the chance to be the best of the encounters between Paige and A.J where neither girl should have to hold back for storyline purposes and can just go at it. If this is not the best women’s in-ring match of the night it would be quite a surprise but fans are not as invested as they are in the Steph and Brie feud even despite the bad booking on Monday.

So that is it will finish up are Summerslam Previews before Sundays show.

Check out the rest of our In-Depth Summerslam previews so far: 

Stephanie vs Brie     

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins   

The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler   

Jericho vs Bray Wyatt 

Swagger vs Rusev 

 

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Paige Being Bad Is Good For Her Future Success

If you are a fan of WWE’s Paige you may still be pretty upset by the events of last week. It may not look great right now, but I maintain what happened last week might be the best thing for the young native of England. I think it is fair to say the WWE had done Paige no favors in terms of her booking since being added to the main roster. That may seem odd when you consider she was given the “Diva’s Championship” on her first night on the roster. She was not booked strongly with that title and as a result her getting over as “babyface” character.She was failing to a large extent. Suddenly we are sent back to square one when A.J Lee returns to the WWE for her first appearance since that night.

It was never clearer when A.J returned how Paige was out of her league to some extent. She is not a good talker and that was made painfully clear last week. Where she is strong is in-ring with her work she is even at her young age one of the better females in the company. Booking her as a “babyface” did not show off those skills as well in her matches. Paige was booked as a young rookie that would fight from behind and often times seemed more lucky than good at the end of a match.

Even in the relatively short match she had with A.J in losing the Diva’s title you saw a vast difference. She was aggressive and vicious in her attack. When is the last time you ever saw a female deliver a head-butt in a match. I can’t ever recall it personally in the WWE. Wrestling in a “heel” role this should highlight her aggressive style and get over her original gimmick she was billed as in NXT as being the "anti-diva" to some extent.

She still has the issue of being very under developed on the microphone and I have heard several people suggest a couple of solutions to this issue. One that was mentioned was making Paige the first ever Paul Heyman Girl and allow Heyman to do her talking for her. This would be a huge plus for Paige to have a manager something that is rare for female competitors but would work. It makes her have something different from everyone else and that alone makes her stand out. I could easily see Heyman making Paige come off like a Ronda Rousey type killer eventually. He is well aware of MMA and the impact that Rousey has had on that world. She is without question the “Baddest Female on the Planet” and wrestling is in need of a no nonsense female that appeals to fans that support someone like a Rousey.

Another option and more natural connection would be William Regal. The fellow native of England would offer some different aspects from Heyman but is fully capable of getting over the vicious nature that Paige will be bringing to matches. He could offer his guidance to Paige, which is logical and you could even use Regal having ties to her family as a reason why he has chosen to help her realize her potential.

In any case, Paige really was in bad need of a reset to her character and should get it now with this turn to the heel side of the equation. Working with A.J should be a good learning experience for her as well as it is fairly clear that no female in this company has been as “over” as she has been with fans in the recent history of the WWE.

Paige is only 21 years old and will be given lots of opportunity to grow and live up to her potential which is still very high. This might seem like a roadblock to her early career, but it might be the best thing for her and a tremendous opportunity to grow from it. She seems far better suited to be a “heel” than a “face” for my money.  Eventually a no nonsense butt kicking character can become a "babyface" and it has been proven by Rousey in the UFC and was proven by Austin in the WWE. These are big names to live up too, but merely extreme examples of what I am talking about.

Paige will be fine and should embrace this new role and thrive with it.



Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com