WWE 'Money in the Bank' Preview: AJ vs. Kaitlyn

Divas Championship

AJ Lee (c) vs. Kaitlyn

A Payback rematch for the butterfly belt. Whose schemes will reign supreme when the former friends face off again for the greatest prize a female pro wrestler can attain?

The Road to Money in the Bank

A feud that has always been personal, with roots in a busted friendship, has become even more dramatically puerile in the weeks since the last scheduled match between current champ AJ and former titleholder Kaitlyn.

The top Diva has looked to build on her psychological tactics (such as posing as a secret admirer who sent text messages to Kaitlyn, only to humiliate her on national television when she revealed her ruse) by wearing a padded body suit to impersonate the Hybrid Diva and calling her "man arms".

Kaitlyn proved that she could do a pretty good impersonation of the pint-sized powder keg, even costing AJ a match against Natalya when she used her signature "skipping around the ring" distraction against her. The former fitness model also joined in on one of Jerry Lawler's favorite pastimes when she insinuated that Lee had not only been romantically involved with several wrestlers, but other WWE officials as well.

AJ returned fire by threatening to show revealing photos from Kaitlyn's past (which do exist, but you'll have to do your own googling on that, playa) before busting out a doctored photo of an obese K.

Luckily, they saved the best of the build for the go home show on Friday's Smackdown. The first Diva's contract signing in WWE history contained some soap operatics, but with a touch of Shakespeare, when the champ sought to turn the women's roster (who were out for the contract signing because...just go with it) against Kaitlyn by revealing derogatory comments about them in messages she had sent while thinking AJ was her secret admirer.

Kaitlyn got in a few good lines that, while they made fun of mental illness at least weren't slut shaming, that caused Lee to snap. The challenger responded to a slap with several of her own - including one to AJ's companion Big E Langston - and a devastating spear.

What's at stake?

This had been the best feud to hit the women's division since Trish Stratus retired. Unfortunately, it reverted back to WWE's favorite storylines for female characters - mocking body image issues, accusations of promiscuity and jokes about mental instability.

The contact signing contained elements of those, but also returned to the sense of betrayal and animosity that are key to great wrestling feuds. Kaitlyn and AJ delivered an above-average Divas match at Payback. If their Money in the Bank showing could just eliminate the qualifier of "Divas" from that description, they would do a lot for their own standing in the company, and the role of women in WWE overall.

Winning or losing may not be the biggest thing here, partially because there's no one else set-up for the pair to battle, but also because a great performance could go a long way to ensuring more time for women's wrestling on future PPVs.

Can AJ and Kaitlyn rise above the cattiness and steal the show? And who will be the queen of the division come Monday?

CSS will let you know the answers to those questions, so stick with us through the PPV weekend and all along the road to SummerSlam!