The Divas Championship will be on the line this Sunday when AJ Lee takes on The Diva of Tomorrow Paige. The match was announced just days ago after Paige assaulted AJ, shoving her off the ring canvas and injuring her. The Black Widow had to be placed on a stretcher and carried out, although word is she’ll be ready to go this Sunday. The two Divas have gone back and forth, exchanging words, slaps to the face and punches to the head as they both attempt to establish dominance of their division. Each week, what started off as bizarro-friendly discussion quickly turned into heated exchanges and ultimately an end to a friendship that never seemed to be true to begin with.
AJ Lee vs. Paige (Divas Championship)
The History
The very first time these two women faced each other in singles occurred back in April, during Paige’s jump from NXT to the WWE. While visibly shaken and apparently “not ready” to compete in a singles match, AJ forced Paige to compete against here and put the Divas Championship on the line as a way to entice the Anti-Diva. AJ dominated the match but was upset when Paige hit the Page-Turner, pinning AJ to become the Divas Champion in her first match — the first since Gail Kim won the now-defunct WWE Women’s Championship. The loss would also send AJ into hiding until her return over two months later, where she would surprise Paige, challenge her to a match and defeat Paige in a quick match to re-capture the Divas Title. She would have another opportunity the following month at the BattleGround PPV, but AJ was successful in defending the Championship. Paige, who had failed to get the audience completely on her side during her run as the Champion, realized she didn’t measure up to AJ’s popularity and turned on AJ, using her faux-kindness to blindside AJ on countless occasions. Their SummerSlam match will mark the forth time these two meet in singles competition.
The Build-up
Since breaking into the scene and defeating AJ Lee for the Divas Championship, Paige has posted an out-standing 23-4 record which includes three tag team matches where she was partnered with her SummerSlam opponent. Paige defeated the likes of Alicia Fox, Tamina Snuka, Cameron, Naomi and Brie Bella but also took losses against Naomi, Alicia Fox and AJ Lee on two separate occasions. AJ, since starting her current program with Paige, has gone a perfect 10-0, defeating Summer Rae, Eva Marie, Rosa Mendez and Cameron, most ending in a submission decision after a lop-sided affair. Safe to say, AJ’s only real threat during those matches came against Paige and even at that, she has had her hand raised in triumph each time after losing her first match against Paige before taking her hiatus.
The Match
Similar styles between Paige and AJ, both women look to use their submission moves to pick up wins. Paige’s Scorpion Cross-lock has put away several opponents in both NXT and the WWE. Her unique move-set that features her quickness and technical ability also blends in brutality with her headbutts and vicious uppercuts. While we haven’t seen her full ability like we did during her days in NXT, that could very well change at SummerSlam. AJ Lee has used her Black Widow submission since 2013 and has made the likes of Natalya, Layla, Kaitlyn and both Bella Twins tap out. Like Paige, AJ also tends to focus her abilities by using quickness and a blend of kicks including a shinning wizard that has once downed Paige. The weakness for both is also similar as they are both susceptible to quick roll-ups, however a match of this caliber likely won’t end with that kind of result.
The Prediction
It’s almost safe to say that this match will end with a submission result. While AJ has her shinning wizard as mentioned above and Paige has her Paige-Turner, both women seem to love causing as much damage to each other and will likely want to make the other tap out. It is still quite early into the program for these two and they can continue to build chemistry with each other. We may very well see a rivalry of Lita-Trish caliber between these two, so this definitely isn’t the end of the road for this feud. Paige can take a loss here without it damaging her status, as she can quickly turn things around by bull-dozing through the roster en route to another Championship shot. AJ Lee could use another big time win to solidify her current run as the Divas Champion, just so it doesn’t seem like they tossed the title back on her for kicks or storyline purpose. These two can work on a meaningful program, which in turn gives some time for the rest of the Divas roster to catch up. Perhaps we could see the next Molly Holly or Jazz emerge onto the scene and put a real fork into the road.
Photo via WWE.com
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