Victoria's Cageside Evaluation

Before we get started, a story from Cagesider, Blueblob4life:

"On a personal note, let me tell you about the first time I met Lisa, the person behind the character. I knew she was opening up a burger place with her husband here in Chicago, so I was excited for the new restaurant and the possibilities to meet her and other wrestlers. First time I sat down, she came over and was SUPER NICE! I cannot emphasize how genuinely nice Lisa is and how much she loves wrestling, talking about wrestling, and being a fan. She didn’t know about Shimmer or Chikara, but we both wound up going to Shimmer soon after her restaurant opened and we gushed about how great the event was.

Since that first time I met her, I’ve watched WWE PPVs at her restaurant, had the great fortune of interviewing her and her husband for a class, talked about the business as a whole, and I’ve met a plethora of wrestlers because of different events she’s had, including Kevin Nash, Molly Holly, and ODB. I willingly admit that I’m biased towards her, but as nice as she’s been to me and literally every person who’s walked in to her restaurant, on top of being a badass wrestler, she deserves the 5. Also, go to Squared Circle in Chicago. 2418 N Ashland Avenue and order the Bacon Blue burger. You’re welcome."

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What you loved:

1. Widow's Peak - One of the best finisher's ever. It fit her gimmick perfectly and hit with great impact.
2. Heel - Fantastic as a heel, Victoria pulled off the "crazy" gimmick quite well. She didn't really talk a ton, but her craziness came out in the ring.
3. Innovator - First women's cage match in the WWE vs. Lita. She was also in one of the few women's hardcore match against Trish Stratus in which she won the title.
4. In-Ring - Great worker, she rarely botched, and could have a solid match with just about anyone.
5. Hoss - She was an early version of the "anti-Diva."
6. Super Nice - Have to add one more here, according to multiple Cagesiders, she's super nice in person. I can't remember the last time we got so many compliments in an evaluation.

Best comment comes via  Paul Crewe:

"Firstly, dat hardcore match with Trish. Brutal stuff, and groundbreaking for women. Also, she owns a burger bar here in Chicago and couldn’t be sweeter personally. Not only does she personally talk with every person that shows up, she takes pictures and signs autographs with pleasure. To top it all off, we were there to watch Raw and a man was seated near us, alone. She chatted with him a while. Once the show started, she realized he was alone and not merely waiting on anyone. She DEMANDED he sit with her and her friends, picked up his food and marched him over to her table. That’s just the type of person she is, which is awesome in my book."

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What you loathed:

1. Face Work - It might be because she was so good at being a heel, but her face work was a bit bland.
2. Faded Out - At the end of her WWE run she was an outsider. The "diva" model look was the direction for the division and she simply didn't fit. Not really her fault, but Victoria just faded away at the end.
3. TNA Run - This was a mixed bag, but overall Cagsiders didn't like her booking while in TNA. A few didn't even know she was in TNA.
4. Mic Work - She did most of her talking through facial expressions and her in-ring work, not so much on the mic.
5. Under-appreciated - She helped carry the torch post Lita/Trish, and didn't have the best competition during this time. I don't think fans got to see how good Victoria was in the ring for the second half of her WWE run.

Best comment comes from anxiety goblin:

"Her heel work was so good I never really liked her as a face. Nothing else really that was her fault but I think she is very underrated. Victoria never really got the appreciation she deserved considering her wrestling was on the same level of Trish, Lita, and Mickie. Post golden-era she was lumbered with the shitty Vince’s Devils faction and then they seemed to just phase her out in favor of younger models."

On to the poll! With 174 votes, Victoria's average score 4.1.

Thanks, Cagesiders! Tomorrow's pick could have been a McMahon.

Until then!