How the WWE Can Re-establish Emma on the Main Roster
If you are reading this blog post right now than you most probably have been following Emma's career pretty closely in recent years and will know all too well that she is not only an original NXT "diva" but one of the women to truly kick start the revolution in women's wrestling in the WWE. It was back when NXT first kick started that her and Paige would begin to draw in the fans and creating a new following and interest in the women's division in the WWE. Week by week they started to create something special. Captivating fans with strong stories and brilliant matches Emma and Paige were the two leaders in creating what everyone is now calling the divas revolution. But where did it all go wrong for Emma? How did Paige end up becoming a two time divas champion in the space of one year while Emma was competing in a thirty second match up and receiving next to no TV time resulting in going back down to NXT? Back when Emma's career first started out in the WWE she was one of the biggest baby faces in NXT and of course her division. The bubbly personality, the dancing, and the quirky attitude of the Australian diva had fans cheering her name and dancing along to her entrance theme. I mean come on, if you are honestly sitting there and saying you never once did the Emma dance than you're lying to yourself. While her character was sure aimed at a younger audience and was not the most dynamic or interesting she knew how to get the crowd going, entertain the fans and when she stepped into the ring she always showed great potential. It would be two stand out matches between Emma and Paige, both for the NXT women's championship, that would really begin to change how people viewed women's wrestling. If you haven't seen these matches than I would advise that you go and check them both out, their both very easy to find anyway and I have written about them both a couple of times already here on my blog before. In both these matches and others she competed in while down in NXT Emma showed herself to be a solid and talented in ring competitor. Her move set was strong and while she needed to clean things up a little here and there the most important thing we could all see in Emma was her potential. One thing I truly did love about her was how well she stayed in character during her matches. Her signature moves were kept close to her character and it made stories that she took part in that much stronger on her behalf.
After failing to knock off Paige for the NXT Women's championship at NXT Arrival Emma started to look for things else where and with the likes of Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Charlotte making a bigger impact in NXT it was time to move on. Over time Emma proved that she had many qualities that the WWE look for in a main roster diva and she would soon make the jump from developmental to the main stage. Appearing in the crowd cheering on Santino, Emma kept to her child like, bubbly, quirky character. It took some time for her to actually get into the ring and show off her wrestling talent. We saw her appear in backstage segments and even compete in dance off's with Summer Rae but that was pretty much it for quite some time. Even when she did step in the ring her matches were very very short and yes she did pick up a couple of victories they were all completely meaningless and did nothing for her what so ever. After her work with Santino ended there wasn't really anything for Emma. The likes of AJ Lee and the Bella's were the dominate divas on the roster and once Paige got her call up there was a new top dog in town and Emma was pretty much completely forgotten about and we would see her compete on TV very very rarely. There is was never any doubt that Emma was a brilliant talent. During her time in NXT she was clearly a promising diva with the potential to go on and do great things. But there were flaws and the transitions from Developmental to the big stage is huge. Like it or not the fact of the matter is some characters are going to be great in NXT but just one hack it on the main roster. Take Bo Dallas and Adam Rose as another set of examples. Emma unfortunately fell into the category. It was never her wrestling ability that was questionable it was the character. Yes, it was entertaining to some degree but when you have such strong characters like Paige and AJ Lee and competing with women who have been in the business for as long as women like Natalya and the Bella twins and you top that off with the facts that one Emma is not on Total Divas and two at this point not many people were watching NXT she didn't stand a chance. The character just was not hacking it. It wasn't strong enough, it didn't match up to the competition and she wasn't connecting with fans because she wasn't booked strong enough or used strongly enough.
So it was back to the drawing board and the WWE sent her straight back to NXT and it really was the right move to make. Focusing on her relationship with Bayley, who by the way is one of the biggest baby faces in the entire WWE, Emma's heel turn was teased for weeks and after beating down the leader of the Hug Nation, Emma started something new for herself and a hot new character was born. At first I will admit I wasn't sure about Emma working as a heel. I knew for a fact she needed something new and a change in character was exactly that but after being so used to seeing her work as such a strong and defined baby face it was difficult to imagine her as a heel. Week by week however she just got stronger and stronger and the more the character was built the more interested and invested I was in everything she was doing. Her mini feud with Bayley saw Emma show everyone a new side to her and we to so see what she was really made of. We got a couple of decent one on one matches that because of how well the story was told and because of how popular both these women where/are it was far more interesting and entertaining to watch. Mid way through her rivalry with Bayley Emma aligned herself with NXT diva Dana Brooke. The pairing was an interesting one but one that worked amazingly well. Their chemistry was strong from the start but it just got better and better as time went by. It wasn't completely clear exactly why they were aligning themselves with one another but it worked and thats what mattered. They very quickly became a very dominate force taking on the likes of Charlotte, Sasha Bank, Bayley and more and they became something I did really really like and enjoy. Emma tough Dana a lot and really gave her the extra push that she needed. As a newer member to the roster Dana was struggling to find her place and get something strong going for herself but working with Emma gave her a platform and from there we have just seen her grow and grow getting strong and stronger. However, this wasn't just a learning stage for Dana, Emma actually found herself learning a lot and improving. Teaming up with Dana allowed Emma to showcase a much rougher and dangerous side of her character and her entrainment factor went from strength to strength. Together they became the mean girls of NXT and not only did they look good together but they worked well together and they both learnt so much from one another. When Asuka came along Emma really did start to shine. With herself and Dana taking it upon themselves to make life a little difficult for the new face, they both took it in turns to take out Asuka but after Dana first failed to do so Emma stepped up and not only showed even more of her character but put on a fantastic feud with Asuka and a brilliant match up that I was lucky enough to see in person at NXT Takeover London. Many seem to believe that it was Emma to helped Asuka get over but in fact it was Asuka who rebooted Emma and made everyone once again pay attention to her. It was only this past week that the pair main evented NXT and gave us yet another brilliant match that I have been speaking so highly of since I watched it.
Also this week Emma re-debuted on the main roster when she came down to team up with Lana and team bad along with Summer Rae to take out Alicia Fox and co at ringside after a one on one between Naomi and Paige took place on main event. While I will admit I did not like the fact that Emma re-debuted on main event, a show that not many including myself regularly watch, I was happy to see her back up on the main roster and more importantly squeezed into a Wrestlemania match. Something to note about this was the reception Emma got. The crowd loved her and it was so great to see. She got a strong reaction from the main event crowd and fitted into the picture well for Mania still making sure everyone knew about her new character who hadn't been tuning into NXT. With Emma now back up on the main roster will the WWE finally get it right with her? It's hard to believe that after all the hard work NXT, the creative team, and of course Emma have been putting in over the past nine months or so that they would just send her right back at the beginning again and make the same mistakes. Some could argue that they have already made a mistake by having her red-debut on Main Event instead of RAW but I think it saves for something special. If this was done on RAW in the same style it was done on Main event than the attention would not have been on Emma what so ever and more on just another face joining team Lana. At least now there is space for Emma to make a mark on a separate episode of RAW and it can be then that we see something really new and fun start for her.
Personally, I would focus on the night after Wrestlemania. It's a huge RAW full of many fans who have watched NXT and so will know about Emma and her change in character while back down in developmental so the reaction she gets on the night is bound to be something special and a loud one at that. In an ideal world I would love to see Emma come out on RAW and cut a promo about it's her time and its all about her just as her character has pushing down in NXT. What is so great about her now is she really does feel like she has a place. In her early days in the WWE she was misused on the main roster and treated like a side note.Now with a new character and a new attitude Emma deserves to have the time to come out to face a strong RAW crowd and make it clear that this is a new start for her and it's her time to take over. She could mention how she was never involved in the divas revolution, how she was never taken seriously or put in the divas championship picture. A couple of shots at Paige and how their history and maybe even a dig a Total Divas and straight away she's got some heat running. The chances of Bayley debuting on this night are really high. We all know that she is set to defend her NXT Women's Championship against Asuka at NXT Takeover Dallas next Friday and is very likely to drop the title on the night meaning that it's very likely that she could debut the night after on RAW. If Emma demands an open challenge to prove herself and prove that she has what it takes to take out any diva in the locker room and out comes Bayley we have something very special and fun on this episode of Monday night RAW. Sure they could have a match and it could end in Emma causing a DQ and beating down Bayley witch in itself will emphasis her change in attitude even more or she could just laugh at her formal rival and attack her then and there ruining her debut. Or seeing Bayley debut separately in her own match against someone else and Emma coming down and attacking her and cutting that promo after witch would just as well. I know there will be a lot of people who probably will not want to see Bayley feud with Emma in her first main roster storyline but I would much rather see the rivalry between the three women in the divas championship match at Mania continue their work after next Sunday and keep Bayley away from the title picture for a while. That way it allows the current NXT Women's champion to establish herself on the main roster, get the fans to know her a little better, and fit in some great matches against women she has history with and can get a great match out of her so that when Summer Slam rolls
I'm a huge fan of Emma. I honestly thing she is the total package and the WWE would be stupid to get things wrong with her a second time around. She not only has a great look but she can tell a great story, she's decent on the mic, and is a brilliant in ring competitor. Her new attitude is so convincing it's captivating. When she's in the ring she really does make you believe she is super angry, super pissed, off and really does want to hurt her opponent. She is completely ruthless and aggressive in the ring and that style and attitude is going to get her a long way on the main roster if the WWE handle her and treat her right. Storyline wise there is plenty she can do and the WWE can book her in. I really do hope they don't mess her up for a second time round. She has worked far too hard and came far too far to get pushed right back to the bottom again. As always I would love to know what you guys think, so leave a comment bellow or tweet me at @TezangiVictoria letting me know what you think of Emma and how you think the WWE can re-establish her on the main roster.
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