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WWE Survivor Series 2011: Why Eve Will Claim the Divas Title from Beth Phoenix

Posted: Nov 16th 2011 By: mikeiles

WWE announced last week that plucky underdog Eve Torres will have a shot at challenging Beth Phoenix for the Divas Championship at Survivor Series this Sunday.

For those who don't remember, Eve got the title match after she won a calamitous costume battle royal on the Halloween edition of Raw. (She was dressed as Robin, Batman's sidekick.)

This is her second attempt to win the gold. Eve previously had a title shot against Phoenix at WWE's Vengeance pay-per-view. The former dancer put up a brave fight but ultimately lost clean to her bigger foe after a brutal Glam Slam.

The bout, which was longer than most WWE women's matches, was praised for the smooth exchanges between the two women, as well as its intensity. There's every reason to expect the rematch at Survivor Series will be just as impressive.

Sadly, while the match looks very good on paper, it has had a dreadful buildup on Raw. In recent weeks, WWE has been far more concerned with promoting Kelly Kelly's Maxim cover rather than putting over Eve or Phoenix.

Even worse, on Monday's Raw the match was barely mentioned as a promo for Kelly's Maxim photo shoot was played, followed by a laughably short Kelly/Natalya match. The whole thing was a complete debacle.

The fact this was a three-hour Raw meant management had more air-time to give to the Diva division than usual. The fact the women still got shafted on time must have made it even more of a sharp slap in the face for all the girls.

Despite the terrible buildup though, Eve fans can probably take some solace from the fact that their girl will likely walk out of Madison Square Garden as the new Divas Champion.

There are a few reasons for believing that this will be the result of the match.

First of all, Beth Phoenix has not been a success as champion. While she has the looks, the work rate and an intense charisma, she has shown herself unable to carry the division or make it relevant against in 2011.

This is not entirely her fault. Certainly falling to Kelly on two straight pay-per-views (SummerSlam, Night of Champions) did a great deal of damage to her momentum. Additionally, her once-intriguing "Divas of Doom" storyline with Natalya has become tired and muddled in recent months.

If the two are so strongly against models and women's wrestling being centred purely on sex appeal, why are always trying to dress themselves up to look glamorous and sexy?

While Phoenix has tried her best, management has dropped the ball on her and Natalya in a big way and the current champion as become almost an afterthought on WWE television. Therefore, now is the perfect time to give Eve a title run and see if she can help boost the status of the division.

Another reason to think Eve will likely emerge from Survivor Series victorious is that WWE is, per reports, eager to do some sort of Kelly vs. Eve program at some point in the future.

Eve would become Divas Champion, possibly enraging Kelly, who feels she is entitled to the belt. Eve taking on her former best friend in a bitter feud over the title could be the one angle that reinvigorates WWE's stagnant women's division.

Also working in Eve's favour is that since she entered WWE as an inexperienced model in the 2007 Diva Search, she has worked incredibly hard during her time in WWE and turned into a very good women's wrestler.

While she is not yet as consistent and reliable in the ring as Phoenix and Natalya are, she is still far better than the overall majority of the women (including Kelly, who has been given a far bigger push).

Almost certainly, WWE can trust her to hold the Divas title and perform well as champion.