WWE Diva Melina Returns To Paparazzi Queen Heeldom

Last night on RAW, WWE diva Melina turned heel following a victory in a triple-threat match (against Alicia Fox and Eve) to determine the new number one contender for the Divas Championship.

I'll admit to being a skeptic that the Paparazzi Princess was even turning, in spite of all the rumors circulating throughout the IWC as of late. It wasn't that I didn't like the idea of a heel turn; it was more along the lines of my inability to see the simple act of walking away—not even seeing what was going on in the ring, at that—as a sign that she was going bad girl again.

Of course, I'm referring to Melina calmly walking off to the back following her match against Natalya on the December 6 RAW episode. To slightly backtrack, LayCool were at the announce table for the contest, and after Melina tapped out to the sharpshooter, she fell out of the ring and hobbled away to the backstage area, not once turning back.

At the same time as this was happening, Natalya was getting a beatdown at the hands of Layla and Michelle McCool. Again, Melina never even looked back. All along, the commentators—Jerry "the King" Lawler in particular—were saying she needed to return to the ring to help the champion.

I didn't see that as a sign of a potential heel turn. Had Melina looked over her shoulder and seen what was happening, I would have felt differently. But after last night, when the new number one contender delivered a hard slap to Natalya's face when she went into the ring to congratulate her, I obviously see things more clearly now.

But she shows her true colors to Natalya seconds later, photo copyright to WWE.com

In spite of the tease of a reunited pairing of Melina and her real-life boyfriend John Morrison a few weeks ago, the WWE decided it was time to start anew. Morrison is now the number one contender for the Miz's WWE Championship after he defeated Sheamus in a ladder match this past Sunday night at the TLC pay-per-view, and Melina is moving onto bigger and better things than she's had since Night of Champions back in September.

A heel turn for Melina is definitely the right move at this time. She was a great babyface, and I take nothing away from her good girl persona, but her loss to Michelle McCool in the unification title match really hurt her. She was relegated to pointless backstage segments, misused in matches and occasionally not even seen on RAW at all.

In one fell swoop, a whole new window opens for the Paparazzi Princess. She is now again in contention for the Divas title, soon to be in a new feud with Natalya, and things couldn't be better. Perhaps during this feud, we'll also see a few tag team matches. I would expect Beth Phoenix to be the champ's partner, and perhaps Maryse will team up with Melina? Since the latter two are my favorites, I know I would really enjoy that!

Many fans claimed Melina's face character was a bit stagnant and complained that she needed to go heel again because she missed that certain spark to her personality. Well, folks, you asked for it, and now you're going to get it. We Melina fans couldn't be happier!