Why WWE Total Divas is a Guilty Pleasure

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

For months on end, WWE had been hyping the debut of its new "Total Divas" show on the E! network. It felt like a million commercials aired for it during WWE's programming, and that's not including all the Diva segments devoted to building towards the show's debut that occurred. Needless to say, the hype was obnoxiously overbearing and it left viewers with a bad taste in their mouths going into the show's premiere. Honestly, I, too, was not high on the concept and saw it to be a complete waste of time. However, I made a vow to tune into the first episode and see if it truly was as bad as the commercials depicted it to be. You can't form a clear opinion of something without experiencing first. That, and the fact I was left with nothing else to do on Sunday night.

Shockingly enough, the show wasn't nearly as horrible as I originally anticipated it to. Sure, there was drama and whatnot, but I was more intrigued by the behind-the-scenes stuff that was included in the first episode. I mean, who knew Brodus Clay could be a real jerk at times? I also had no idea that the people ahead of talent relations pulled people aside and told them they wouldn't be taking part in WrestleMania. That came as a complete shocker to me and I found most of what was featured to be incredibly interesting.

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Of course, I understand that not everyone's going to like the show. Based on what I saw on various websites and social media outlets, the reaction was almost split down the middle. I saw many people (myself included) that were impressed with the show and how it wasn't tremendously terrible after all. I saw others that thought the show was absolutely awful, believed it was all fake and would never tune in for another episode again. Firstly, I commend those people that actually gave it a chance by tuning into the first episode. If you didn't enjoy it, that's completely fine. Not everyone will. At least you took the time out of your day to watch the first episode in its entirety before bashing it. No one is forcing you to watch, so don't bother trashing it going forward if you won't be tuning in.

Contrary to what some might believe, I enjoyed the show's premiere. The drama is one thing, but breaking the fourth wall and giving viewers an inside look on what goes on outside the ring and behind the curtains is what I'll be tuning in for. Who knows, the rest of the season may end up being garbage, but that remains to be seen. I, for one, will be tuning in for next week's episode after the inaugural edition exceeded my fairly low expectations. I'm not proud to say that I'm a fan of the show, but I will say that watching it makes it something of a guilty pleasure of mine.

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