Dana Brooke has been on WWE’s main roster for less than a month, but she’s already emerging as of one the top women in the division. While this hasn’t exactly come across on television, the fact that she’s been involved in two separate angles in a little over three weeks is a clear indicator that she has the support of many top WWE officials. Brooke, 27, began her main-roster career with Emma and has since been paired with Charlotte.
Dana Brooke has a unique; while she has a girl-next-door quality to her, she also possesses a mean streak with the physique to back it up. Her bodybuilding background also gives her a leg up in an industry that promotes it. Dana is also fortunate enough to enter the WWE during a renaissance in the WWE Women’s Division, especially before the launch of the brand split in which the entire division will most likely be on the show and heavily featured.
When Dana was first brought in, she attacked Becky Lynch during a backstage segment, aligning herself with Emma who had been feuding with the Irish Lasskicker at the time. They introduced their EnD (Emma and Dana) gimmick to a mainstream wrestling audience after a successful go of it down at NXT. This was designed to eventually lead to a tag match, with Brooke and Emma taking on Becky and a partner to be determined. That partner may have been Sasha Banks. Unfortunately, Emma went down with an injury, and Sasha’s ailments have stalled her push as well. Banks was just cleared to return to the ring this week, and we’ll see if her path to the SummerSlam title match is still in place.
The WWE was giving its audience a secondary women’s feud, even if it came as a surprise that Dana Brooke was involved. And while the angle had to be completely scrapped due to the injuries, they could have easily folded on Dana and put her push on pause. But that won’t be the case , according to the Daily Wrestling News . As noted, Brooke has earned a lot of fans backstage, most notably Ryan Ward, the recently-promoted writer who will now likely take the lead on the SmackDown team when the brand split is initiated.
Whether or not Ward’s involvement with the new Tuesday night show means that the women will get moved there as well remains to be seen. But Ward had a lot of experience writing for the vast majority of the current females on the main roster, including Dana Brooke. Her new pairing with Charlotte is a clear indication that they’ll continue to push her despite the original plans getting thrown for a loop because of injury.
Wooooooooooo! Dana Brooke steals the show #EXTREMERULES @DanaBrookeWWE pic.twitter.com/P9Hxi6t5AK
— Steven (@steviebreech) May 23, 2016
What’s more, in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , it’s being pointed out that the Charlotte-Dana Brooke tandem is being booked in such a fashion that will eventually lead to their split, which will include a big payoff singles match. That may have been in some long-term plans, but it’s being accelerated to keep her involved in a top storyline. It remains to be seen whether the title will be on the line at that time or not, but like Emma before her, Dana has a chance to become a champion in her future, which was once seen as a long shot.
The other interesting thing of note concerning Ward’s support of Dana Brooke is that Cody Rhodes alluded to the writer in an unflattering manner during his statement following his release. Cody referred to Ward as “the other (writer) too busy hitting on developmental divas.” This did not sit well with WWE officials, and as mentioned previously, that split did not end amicably.
[Image via WWE]