ProWrestlingViews.com

The WWE Diva Title has nowhere near the history of the WWE Women’s Title, but the brief, six-minute match between champ Michelle McCool was the first breather the audience received all night so far. There was no need for home theater furniture during this “get up and get fresh snacks” match.

Jim Ross and Tazz did what they could to inject some life into the match, but the crowd was shouting “boring” throughout, which made even the brief, six-minute format seem a bit long. On a night with so many terrific matches, this one was a genuine snooze-fest.

I haven’t been a big fan of the tired, old storyline involving WWE Diva Maria and one-time InterContinental Champ Santino Marella; the abusive. controlling boyfriend vs. compliant beauty storyline has been done to death over the years, with probably Macho Man Randy Savage/Miss Elizabeth and Marc and Rena Mero being the most successful iterations of it.

Yet I must say that it doesn’t require the services of a CAT5e to suss out the in-ring improvements Maria has shown; her recent matches finally have her pulling off enough convincing moves to rank her right up there with other battlin’ WWE divas like Candace Michelle, Mickie James and Melina. Sure, none of them really measure up to the days of Lita and Trish Stratus, but hey… those days are long gone now.

One of the original female wrestlers, Mae Young, who first stepped into a Memphis wrestling ring in the late 1930s/early 1940s and occassionaly makes a guest appearance on WWE programming even now, has been selected to be one of this year’s inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The class of 2008, as announced so far, also includes Ric Flair, Peter Maiavia and Rocky Johnson.

Young, who only about 10 years ago was involved in a Raw storyline in which she “got pregnant” by WWE wrestler Mark Henry and, in a rather disgusting resolution, gave birth to a slime-covered hand (as in, “give the woman a hand”), wore maternity clothes and everything to put the sketch over the top; and she has frequently been used, alongside fellow geriatric WWE Diva Fabulous Moolah, as the foil to some of the seemier WWE sketches and plotlines.

Despite her use over the last decade or so as comic relief, Young was a barrier-breaker in her day and the Hall of Fame induction is certainly a legitimate selection. Congrats, Mae!

Once upon a time, not that long ago, Joanie “Chyna” Lauer was the queenpin of WWE’s women’s division. A huge woman made somewhat pretty thanks to Vinnie-Mac’s on-staff plastic surgeon, she made her rep by being able to go toe-to-toe with cruiserweight men.

Then we went through the Trish Stratus-Lita era, in which the woman’s title was credibly held by either one or the other of them. Trish was the pretty-looking girl who eventually learned to wrestle a passable match, while Lita was able to pull off some high-flying, Hardy Boyz style moves until injuries got the better of her.

These days, however, Raw’s women’s division is a bit deeper. Between some solid newcomers and some who cut their teeth during the Trish-Lita era, there are now as man as five or six women who can wrestle believably enough to hold the women’s title.

Slowly, the WWE women’s division is becoming more than just a series of Thanksgiving Day gravy matches and Golf Apparel Ladies bra and panties matches.

Thank goodness… the women’s division finally features some decent wrestlers, not just gals with only T&A assets.