Well, we are officially back to square one.
A few weeks ago, WWE announced that they were bringing back the Tough Enough concept. Now, it appears that the Diva Search will be returning as well.
The early word is that the contest would appear during "regular WWE programming" and run for 10 weeks. This could mean that it runs as part of one of WWE's current shows, or that it shares the timeslot that Tough Enough will get. With no start date set, we still do not know when this contest will run, but it is pretty certain that it is indeed coming back.
This development can be looked at in two ways. On one hand, the existence of this show as well as Tough Enough represented a transition period in the WWE and not a very successful one. Now that it looks like WWE is on the upswing with a youth movement, it would seem odd to want to go back to a time where things seemed bleaker.
At the same time, a percentage of today's success could be attributed to these reality shows. Specifically in regards to the Diva Search, a large percentage of today's Divas were first seen as part of the contest. Other than winners like Eve Torres and Layla, talents such as Michelle McCool, the Bella Twins, Maryse, Maria, and more got their start in the Diva search. Thus, it can certainly be argued that the show was a rousing success.
Still, some would argue that the talents coming out of the Diva search are greener than Rob Van Dam's pot and thus are being signed on looks alone. This plus early face exposure leads to shoddy women's wrestling, which is only now starting to really turn the corner.
Here's the thing. The overwhelming majority of wrestling fans DO NOT CARE about the Diva's division. They look at it as eye candy only, and if the eye candy can flip around a little bit in fun outfits, everybody wins. Thus, this competition will find some good looking women and maybe hire a couple that could eventually be valuable to the company. Bear in mind that the average lifespan of a Divas is about 5 years, so replacements are always needed.
I guess this show could breed us a few new Divas, but I'm not all that excited for it. As long as they don't use part of Raw or Smackdown for it, I can deal and hopefully down the road will appreciate the fruits of its labor. Then again, maybe the person worst paying attention to is the host of the show. They had this Mike guy hosting in 2006, I wonder what happened to him..............
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