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A learning experience
“I admit…I didn’t take her seriously, and I still don’t. She got me once, but that’s it.”
Those are the shocking words of Melina, who lost the Women’s Championship to Candice Michelle at Vengeance: Night of Champions. These words are shocking not so much in their content, but because of their author; Melina is one of the most domineering and confident (perhaps arrogant) Divas WWE has ever seen, so for her to even partially admit failure is a milestone.
At The Great American Bash, she has a chance to rectify that failure when she invokes her rematch clause and meets Candice for the gold. For the challenger, it’s a chance to right a wrong she admits never should have happened…but for the champion, it’s much more than that.
“(The Bash) means the world to me; I worked so hard and dedicated my heart and my time into becoming the champion,” Candice gleefully revealed, “so now that the dream has come true, I need to focus my hard work on staying champion. This is my first pay-per-view as champion, and I know my work is cut out for me.
But if anyone thinks they’re going to knock me off, they better come strong because I’m going to.”
Not so fast, says the challenger.
“I lost at Vengeance; I can accept that, but then again, I won’t. Yes, I want to get my title back at The Bash, but my main concern is teaching Candice a lesson.”
These two Divas have had quite a war over the last few months, both in the ring and on the pages of WWE.com in their respective blogs. In the ring, Candice clearly has the edge so far; after all, she is the champion.
However, the verbal sparring has died down a bit, for reasons that might sound surprising coming from the challenger.
“Truthfully, I stopped the verbal wars because I feel like I have nothing more to say,” Melina revealed. “I am very aggressive and I know my craft, so let’s do it in the ring.”
Even without the war of words, this rivalry has gotten quite personal in a hurry, mostly because of the actual disdain the champion holds for her A-list challenger.
“I put a lot of heart into being in this business. When I see people who think they can walk all over others, I don’t like it. That’s not being a champion to me,” Candice revealed.
“I put my heart into showing people that I can be a great champion; there’s real emotion involved. But to see someone who thinks they can walk all over people and talk their way out of things? To me, those people aren’t good enough to be champion.”
Candice never has to mention Melina’s name, yet it can easily be discerned that those words were directed squarely at the challenger. Still, she won’t let her personal disdain get in the way of professional success.
“If anything, those feelings make me even more focused,” Candice said.
“You can talk the talk all you want, but until you walk the walk, it means nothing. I’m walking that walk right now. Personal issues keep me strong and focused; anytime someone tells me I can’t, that makes me think I can.”
With all that said, Melina’s response to the same question made it seem like she may not have learned from history.
I never thought Candice would take the title from me,” Melina sneered. “She’s not nearly my strongest opponent or my biggest rival; that would probably be Mickie James, and I figured if anyone beat me, it would be her. Like I said, I admit I didn’t take Candice seriously, and I still don’t.”
It’s said that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Melina would like to avoid falling victim to that cliché on Sunday, and if there’s one consolation, it’s that both Divas agree that keeping the gold is a lot harder than getting it.
“When you have the gold, everybody wants to take it from you and you have to be ready,” Melina posited, “but when you’re chasing it, it’s the champion that has to worry about everyone, so it’s easier to swoop in and take the title.”
Candice will agree, but to her, the gold isn’t the only thing she has that Melina doesn’t.
“I believe heart is way more valuable than experience,” Candice said. “She has the experience, but you can’t gain heart. I have it, and if you think you can break me, bring it, because I’m gaining experience and I’m going to be champion for a long time.”
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