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She's Come A Long Way

I'm a fan of Candice Michelle's. I figure it makes sense to ensure my bias is obvious right from the beginning, rather than allow this article to appear to be a completely objective piece of writing. As a fan of hers I've noticed that the last couple of matches she's had have certainly stood out from the crowd. In fact the month of July has been a very impressive month for Candice indeed.

In a previous article I've covered Candice's origins and how she came to be in the WWE so I'll skip that and cut straight to the chase. In the past Candice has tried her hand at wrestling with limited success. She's been a passable wrestler for a while now, but her last couple of matches have shown signs that she might finally be raising herself above the level of eye candy and into something more worthwhile.

To illustrate Candice's recent evolution I'll look back at her performance over the last month and highlight how much she's changed.

3rd July 2006:

The month started predictably enough with Candice acting as eye candy backstage for a DX segment. It was hardly an Oscar winning performance and she still has some way to go before she could cut a promo with the best of them. This piece was always only ever meant to advance the DX storyline rather than one relevant to the Women's Division, so Candice can be excused for her average performance.

11th July 2006:

After an invite by Paul Heyman, Candice made an appearance on ECW to take part in what was originally planned to be a dance-off between her and Kelly-Kelly. Although Candice's wrestling wasn't on show tonight, some of her other talents were. Whilst Kelly stood around almost dumbstruck, Candice put on a superb dance performance which many fans saw as yet another example of just how lacklustre Kelly is as a WWE Diva. So far this month, Candice had demonstrated that she was at the very least passable on the microphone, but also that she is capable of delivering some very rewarding T & A action when required. As Trish has become a better wrestler, she has shown a greater reluctance to put it all on display, which although perhaps understandable for someone who wishes to be taken seriously as a wrestler, is also disappointing for the fans who remember the T & A of her early years that helped cement her position as a noteworthy Diva. Candice may well be able to offer fans sizeable helpings of both T & A and wrestling into the future.

17th July 2006:

This week on RAW, Candice came out as a special guest referee for a tag match between Trish and Torrie and the team of Victoria and Mickie. Although acting as a referee is not the most taxing of jobs, Candice put in a good performance and ultimately found herself playing a more direct role in the outcome of the match. Rather than Candice's wrestling skills, what the match highlighted was how her closest counterpart Torrie Wilson is performing in the ring these days.

The match was less than impressive as far as Torrie was concerned, and for her sections of the match the action was never really elevated much beyond the average standard of wrestling that we've come to expect from her. With Torrie's performance in mind, Candice's matches over the next fortnight look all the more impressive. Not so long ago it could be said with some confidence that Torrie was the superior wrestler to Candice, but it may now appear that the brunette has surpassed Mrs Wilson.

24th July 2006:

Candice's first proper wrestling match of the month saw her take part in one-on-one action against Mickie James. Before the match even got properly under way, we can already learn a few things about the WWE's current opinion of Candice. Not so long ago, had anyone suggested that these two Divas would be going head-to-head in a match, we would have all eagerly looked forward to yet another piece of car-crash TV. But the WWE obviously felt confident enough to put the two together in the ring in a pure wrestling match and let the pieces fall.

The match got underway pretty quickly with Mickie taking the initiative and taking Candice to the mat. Candice took and sold the bumps well. When most rookie Divas get hit, they'll briefly acknowledge it and then leap back to their feet as if nothing had happened. There was no evidence of such rookie behaviour here thankfully and Candice convincingly had herself thrown around the ring by Mickie James.

When Candice finally found her feet and was able to do some wrestling of her own, it sadly kicked off with the over-used figure-four neck lock that she does off the top turnbuckle. Although an effective move, it often feels like a portion of the match has been specifically engineered just to allow this to be used. In the past it has also often been about the only decent move that Candice has used during the course of a match. In this instance however, it almost came out of the blue and seemed like a genuine and appropriate place to employ it.

The match concluded with Candice taking to the top rope and scoring a splash in an attempt to get the win over Mickie. Candice seemed to show little reluctance in taking to the top rope, and it looked like Mickie was lucky to score the win over her. Although in relative terms Candice didn't take a particularly active part in this match, what little we did see was nonetheless impressive and showed real promise.

31st July 2006:

This was Candice's second wrestling match of the month and also what inspired me to write this article in the first place. The match started with Candice and Victoria going head-to-head in the ring. The initial lock-up between the two of them looked solid and nothing like the half-arsed attempts that we've seen in the past. Predictably Victoria took an early lead and threw Candice around a bit. But she soon came back and was able to flick Victoria onto the mat with a fireman's carry which she fluidly connected with an improvised flying knee to the back of Victoria's head.

Fluidity is an appropriate term to keep in mind here, as Candice then pulled Victoria back to her feet, delivered a series of arm wrenches, then delivered another fireman's carry (which highlights her current limited repertoire) and then without letting go of Victoria's arm, delivered some kind of shoulder stretch. With the smallest of pauses she grabbed Victoria's arm again and deployed an arm submission. All of this took place within a few seconds of each other, and all of it seemed to be carefully thought-out and interconnected. Long gone seems to be the days when Candice would just string a random array of moves together. Now we are being treated to a good display of technical wrestling with a purpose; in this instance the wearing down of a specific body part.

After this, Victoria was able to tag Mickie in, and Candice and Mickie went at it, with Candice delivering a series of vicious looking elbow strikes to James. Not long after, Mickie gained the upper hand and Candice found herself dumped on the mat again, once again impressively selling all of the moves.

Eventually Candice was able to tag in Trish who then proceeded to clear the ring with an impressive but nonetheless recycled and familiar set of moves. All the while Candice laid on the edge of the ring apron trying to catch her breath. It would have been good had she gotten up again and made herself available for the tag, but I suppose she's progressing one step at a time, so we might see more sustained action from her in the future.

As the match drew to a close, Trish delivered an incredibly sloppy Stratusfaction Bulldog that looked like it so very nearly could have gone badly wrong, which left Candice to deliver a dropkick to Victoria in the background to prevent her from interrupting the three count. That concluded what was overall an average match, but one that showed incredible promise for Candice Michelle. In terms of overall consistency in this match, I would have to rank Mickie first, followed by Candice, then Victoria with Trish bringing up the rear. Until tonight's match, never had I considered myself saying that Candice had put in a better performance than Trish. Although what Trish did in the ring was still impressive, Candice was definitely on form and overall looked a lot more in-control during the course of the match.

What else she has to offer:

Candice is naturally a very attractive woman and is not shy to show off her body. Her ring entrances, although not particularly original are different and stand out from the usual routine that the other Divas go through. What she wears to the ring is also an encouraging sign of things to come. Every week it is always both varied and revealing, which makes a pleasant change when compared to Divas such as Trish who for the past two or three years has consistently worn a variation on the theme of a black top for the majority of her matches. Candice seems to have found a wardrobe that is both practical for wrestling, but also gives the fans what they want. In the long run this kind of thing will help get her over.

As well as being pretty, Candice is also naturally sexy. This may seem like an odd differentiation to make, but there have been times in the past when segments have suddenly looked awkward because one of the involved Divas didn't quite know how to act. Torrie Wilson always looked like an amateur compared to Sable in their numerous bikini contests, and more recently Candice made ECW's Kelly-Kelly look like a little girl trying to act like a big girl in their dance-off. It would seem that Candice can deliver both in the ring as a wrestler and as a piece of eye candy dependant upon what she has been called to do.

The final thing worth mentioning in all of this is Candice's obvious desire to better herself. The recent improvement in her wrestling ability is the most obvious example of this, but an alternative but equally obvious one is the loss of the puppy fat that she had been carrying for the last couple of months. Presumably before Candice decided to start training she had done little to keep herself in shape and it was beginning to show. Now Candice is looking good in the ring both physically and in terms of her wrestling ability. If she continues to work hard she's only going to get leaner which should theoretically mean we can expect her to develop into a nippy, technical wrestler. Only time will tell.

Overall:

As I've hopefully illustrated, Candice has come a long way in this month alone. It would be foolish to suggest that there isn't any room for improvement or that from now on we can expect Candice to be delivering this same high standard of wrestling every week. Much of my hope for the future is based upon Candice's last two appearances on RAW, the latter easily being her most impressive show to date with the WWE. It would be nice to think that from now on she will only get better and soon become a fully fledged wrestler, but it would be naive to suggest such a thing until we've seen Candice in the ring a few more times.

Candice has a lot to offer by the looks of things, and we now just have to wait and see if she can build upon what is shaping up to be a very impressive transformation.