Tamina Snuka: Is AJ Lee The Reason For The WWE Diva’s Push, Or Something Else?
To most WWE fans – and the commentary – one of the primary reasons AJ Lee was able to be WWE Divas champion for 295 days, which is the longest reign with the title ever, is her bodyguard, Tamina Snuka. Now that AJ is currently off the roster for an “injury”, is Tamina Snuka now being pushed to fill in the void in AJ’s absence?
Prior to her time off, The Inquisitr reported numerous times on the reason why AJ Lee would be taking a sabbatical. This includes the validity of her engagement to CM Punk. And for some fans, AJ dropping the title to Paige was punishment for CM Punk’s walk-out earlier this year, right after the Royal Rumble. Nevertheless, AJ’s absence, either it be amicable or not, is really giving Paige a boost, who this writer thinks is a great female wrestler from a wrestling family. Don’t believe me, just watch when Paige locks in her finisher, the Inverted Scorpion Crosslock (which I took the liberty of posting a video below).
Even though Paige makes a fine successor to AJ Lee, she is considered a “face”, or protagonist, and every “face” needs a “heel”. Enter Tamina Snuka, second-generation wrestler. Her father is legendary “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and her brother is Jimmy Snuka Jr. or Sim Snuka (but most wrestling fans know him as Deuce). Tamina Snuka is entertaining to watch in the ring and when given the chance to show character, does a more than decent job. However, there are other divas on the roster who would supposedly make “better” competition to Paige, especially Natalya. So why did WWE push Tamina Snuka? Was it because of her connection with AJ Lee? Below are the possible reasons on why Tamina Snuka is now the #1 contender for the Divas champion.
1. It Probably Fits The Storyline
On April 7th, Paige pinned AJ Lee to become the new WWE Divas champion while also ending AJ’s title reign. Throughout more than half of that reign, Tamina Snuka was her bodyguard, but also her “friend”. Commentary usually states that Tamina Snuka is “the only friend AJ Lee has”. Also, Paige “injured” AJ (though it is not reported how). Who better to seek vengeance for her fallen friend, AJ, then her bodyguard?
There have been previous stories in the past where a champion would lose their championship unceremoniously and get “injured” in the process. They would command their bodyguard(s) or friends to get the championship back as a form of vengeance for losing their title in the first place. AJ Lee could be, in storyline, barking orders to Tamina Snuka to get back her championship from Paige while she is “injured”. If Tamina Snuka does win, the storyline has two interesting angles to take. First angle is that Tamina Snuka could lay down and take a loss for AJ when she returns. The second, and probably more entertaining angle is Tamina Snuka can keep the title, disobey AJ’s orders, and the fans are treated to an AJ Lee versus Tamina Snuka feud. In this case, someone will have to become face.
2. Tamina Snuka Is Currently The Best Wrestler To Be A Wrestling “Heel”
Playing off of point #1 above, Paige needs a heel. Unlike the other divas, there really isn’t a prominent heel in in-ring ability, character development, and acceptance among fans. Though there are established heels in the division, like Aksana and Vickie Guerrero, neither of them have all three to really make the push for Paige’s opponent.
Tamina Snuka has a decent, or more, amount of all three. She is from a wrestling family and is actually a good in-ring competitor. She knows how to utilize her character, which included a stint as Santino Marella’s girlfriend. She was also the Usos’s valet, and of course AJ Lee’s bodyguard. Her heel status is established because of her association with AJ Lee.
Now don’t get me wrong for I understand there are current divas on the roster who had all three, such as Natalya. However, Natalya seems to come off as a face right now. It is unsure if she could really establish being a heel in one month’s time. Tamina Snuka is only picked because she currently has all three to a decent extent to be Paige’s heel. Not to mention, we are just a couple days over a week until Extreme Rules. It would be futile to establish another heel against Paige at this time.
3. It Might Be In Tamina Snuka’s Contract
This reason is more of a business take than anything to do with storylines. Most wrestlers are considered a 1099 employee, meaning they are under contract. Within their contracts are certain conditions wrestlers must meet but also conditions the employer will provide during the tenure of said contract. Maybe in Tamina Snuka’s contract, there is a condition that she will be allowed to wrestle for the WWE Divas championship before her contract expires. Why, there might even be a condition that she gets to be the WWE Divas champion. Being that Tamina Snuka has been in mid-card hell for a long time yet still performs optimally despite her role (Santino’s girlfriend for example), it is high-time she gets a chance at the divas gold. Also, most contracts expire around the end of summer. This writer is unsure if Tamina Snuka’s contract expires around that time too, but if it does and there is a condition for her winning the gold, WWE better cash it in.
4. Tamina Snuka Is Being Promoted, Especially For Hercules
Earlier on The Inquisitr, we reported that Tamina Snuka had a small role in the upcoming movie Hercules, opposite her cousin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Being that the movie is scheduled to release on July 25th, and that she does have a small role in the film, it is possible that Tamina Snuka’s push is a way to promote her role in Hercules. Probably the reason Tamina Snuka is getting a push, when other wrestlers star in films too, is because Hercules is a big-budget production and the WWE name is not associated with it. This method of promotion is nothing new to WWE either. They’ve done it multiple times before with other wrestlers.
One of the first wrestler pushes due to a role in a movie has to do with Edge. Back in 2000, the Rated “R” Superstar made a brief appearance in the latest movie in the Highlander series back at that time, Highlander: Endgame. Though his role only lasted less than 3 minutes, it was still pushed. This was also the time Edge started his solo career in the WWE. In retrospect, Batista’s return to the WWE may have to do with his upcoming role as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy.
There are probably other small reasons why Tamina Snuka is getting a push right now. The four above probably sums them all up though. Take note, this is just an analysis and study just from who the WWE has done their storylines before. So what do you think? Why do you think Tamina Snuka got the push for #1 contender?
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