Week after week, we have witnessed Michelle McCool and Layla crack about 10,000 jokes, all with the same punchline: Mickie is fat. As lamented as this “Piggie James” storyline has been here at Diva Dirt, with its fat jokes and barnyard humor, it has been given one of the biggest buildups in recent Diva memory, and it was reasonable to think that they would cap off this pretty silly storyline with a decent enough match, at least to make the juvenile booking somewhat worth it. After all, their match at TLC was pretty damn good. Let’s see if Mickie and Michelle were able to transcend the “Mean Girls” cliches and mature a bit:
Michelle comes out to the ring, microphone in hand, and explains to the crowd that Mickie was a no-show tonight. “Where oh where has my piggie gone?”, she laments. She figures Mickie is forfeiting. Layla shows up in her fat suit, doing the same Mickie impression she did last Friday. She doesn’t get very far, though, before the real Mickie emerges and attacks her. She tosses FatSuitLayla into the barricade, as Michelle looks horrified. Did she really think Mickie was a no-show? Would that be why they left her off SmackDown last week–to fool Michelle into thinking Mickie went into hiding? That’s the only reason I can think of why Layla would come prancing down to the ring in a fat suit not once, but twice, and not even watch her back.
Mickie gets into the ring, and the match starts. FatSuitLayla isn’t quite done sticking her plastic pig nose into Mickie’s business, though, and climbs up the apron to distract her. It works for a split second, and Michelle charges with her boot but Mickie dodges, replaying a similar collision from TLC: Michelle accidentally delivers a big boot to Layla and lays out her backup. Michelle turns around right into a kick from Mickie, who plants her with the Mickie T. One 3-count later, and we have a new Women’s Champion!
FatSuitLayla comes into to check on her fallen friend, and Mickie hits her with a kick that lands her smack dab on top of Michelle. Meanwhile, several babyface Divas (Maria, Gail, Kelly, Eve, and the Bellas) come to the ring with a rather large cake in tow. Similar to what Laycool and Beth did to Mickie a week before, the Divas prop up Michelle and Layla as Mickie plants the giant cake in both their faces, the other Divas smearing it in. Michelle and Layla do a good job of acting horrified and look pretty damn hilarious blinded by yellow cake and icing while pitching a fit. Mickie celebrates with her newly-won title and smears some more icing in their faces, tasting it for good measure. All the good girls make their exit as the bad girls wallow in their “just desserts” (it’s okay, you can boo.. it was a pretty awful joke).
I would have much preferred an actual match to cap off their feud (as I assume this has.. I don’t know how else this could continue), or at least one with more than one move. Still, I suppose this feud was designed to end in an epic display of revenge. With weeks of humiliation at Mickie’s expense, it was only natural for this to end with Michelle and Layla getting their due, and it doesn’t get much more humiliating than losing your title in one move and being covered in cake by a host of Divas who are laughing in your face. Still, I would have loved to see a blow-off match that actually highlighted the wrestling side of this feud, if there ever was one. Michelle and Mickie are great wrestlers and have worked well together in the past, and it almost seems like a waste to end the feud without so much as a real match. Still, what we got tonight fits pretty well into the scheme of things–it isn’t epic storytelling, but it’s high school revenge in response to high school bullying. Hopefully Mickie’s next feud can graduate to college-level, at least.
Speaking of that, I wonder where this leaves Michelle. As mentioned, she’s had one of the longest title reigns in recent Diva history and has been in the forefront of SmackDown’s Diva division for what seems like forever. Will she fall off the radar for the time being and work on healing her knee? I assume the reason she hasn’t wrestled consistently is to protect her knee, and a bit of a break could do wonders for it. But with Michelle gone, who can take her place? Beth Phoenix? It sounds reasonable, but I have a feeling she has other things on her mind tonight..
Yep, I was right. Tonight, Beth became the 2nd woman ever to compete in the Royal Rumble match, with rumors circulating just hours before showtime and coming to fruition when it came time for the Rumble’s 6th entrant to reveal itself:
[ skip to 3:20 ]
With the Great Khali and CM Punk in the ring, Beth charges valiantly towards the ring, standing toe-to-toe with Khali and looking positively puny. Beth shows no fear, and Khali plucks her up to eliminate her, but she fights back. He places her over the ropes and on the apron, telling her to leave. Instead, Beth grabs him and kisses him, a la Anne Hathaway in “Get Smart” (Khali being on the receiving end there as well), pulling him over the ropes in the process and eliminating him.
As Beth celebrates CM Punk comes charging at her, but she plants him with a clothesline. She kicks and punches him, eventually getting him up on her shoulders. He wriggles free, though, and hits Beth with the Go to Sleep, easily tossing her from the ring and eliminating her.
It was awesome to see Beth compete in the Rumble. I’ll admit that when I heard the rumor Sunday afternoon I was skeptical that it would even happen, but if there’s any Diva fit to compete in that testosterone fest, it’d be Beth. I remember loving to see Chyna compete with the men in the Rumble and this, however short it was, brought back those memories. Eliminating Khali, however the means, is an impressive feat, and beating the tar out of CM Punk is nothing to sneeze at. For something no one saw coming (before Sunday, at least), Beth’s appearance in the Rumble was a pleasant surprise and a nice treat for us Diva fans. I wouldn’t object to seeing her do some more gender line-bending in the future, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she might be knocking on Mickie’s door quite soon instead..
Michelle vs. Mickie Rating: 3/5 — Sweet revenge, and satisfying in a storyline sense. A little more wrestling wouldn’t have hurt, though.
Beth in the Rumble Rating: 4/5 — I would have loved to see her go toe-to-toe with more men, but beating on CM Punk is good enough. I think lesser men would have objected.
Food for thought: Do you think Beth is Mickie’s next foe?
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45 Comments
Loved it loved it loved it!!! Her clothesline on Punker was epic. The crowd seemed to perk up when she came in….
not wanting to start any arguments or anything but you ALWAYS look for the best in the divas.. but when the knockouts column is written it is always bad even when there is a good match- something always bad has to be said.
like HOW THE HELL can beth get 4/5 when she was eliminated relatively quickly. and how does michelle vs mickie get 3/5 when there match was 20 seconds freakin long!
tbh i think yous are just diva marks and i do agree the knockout division isnt all that great anymore.. but even even if they have a great match yous cant just appreciate it theres always something wrong with them. its pisses me off so much!
Melanie Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 7:26 pm
kristygrahamx – Erin doesn’t even write the freaking Knockouts column. All the columns are written by different people with different opinions. If it pisses you off so much, please GO AWAY and stop wasting my bandwidth. I am sick of people bitching and moaning, all the while thinking they are entitled.
I loved the way they handled this. I had no desire to see them wrestle a long match anyway, especially after that hideously boring promo from Michelle beforehand. Mickie got her revenge and Michelle finally lost that damn title, that’s all I wanted to see, and that’s what I got.
Maybe Mickie can mix it up with Serena or Natalya now. Mickie v Beth has already been done to death and I really hope Michelle takes a break from the top spot, injured or not.
Beth in the Rumble was awesome, maybe they’ve found the way to make her interesting again.
I loved the whole lot of the Rumble. Shame Beth wasn’t in the ring longer, yet the way she was involved was cleverly done. Mickie’s match being short is a bit of a downer, yet I loved the aftermath.
kirstygrahamx – Did you even read my reasoning behind the ratings? I’ll give you a hint: it’s right after the numbers. Maybe that will enlighten you as to why I rated them like I did.
And news flash: Cryssi writes the Impact column. Her opinions differ from mine and I can’t help it if she’s unsatisfied with the Knockouts and I’m optimistic about the Divas.
yay i can finnaly watch!!! MUHHAAZZ
@kristygrahamx – you’ve got a point about the match scores being “overly generous” – no need to put it across so rudely though :D
And quite since I am the writer of the Impact column I don’t see what I’ve said that is so bad? The only negative thing’s I’ve written is not about the Knockouts as people (except for you Lacey von Erich), but about the way TNA is handling booking them. If you hate the way I write, don’t read it just like Melanie said. Further more, when TNA gives me a reason to be optimistic about their handling of the Knockouts, then you will get your sunshine and rainbow Write-Up ;-)
Anyway…
Great review Erin. I loved the way the WWE ended the Mickie/Michelle feud and seeing Beth Phoenix eliminate Khali and beat the hell out of Punk capped off the night for me. I really hope this leads into a Serena/Beth feud. I don’t wanna see Mickie/Beth for 2198398230984234th time. How about Mickie and Natalya? :)
That’s because the TNA Knockouts have Lacey Von Erich on their side..
Any way, I’d have give the Mickie/Michelle saga a 2/5 it was so boring and the face divas (expect for Maria, as she actually was involved with the storyline) almost made me spit at my TV. :/
Beth was awesome, I’d have liked to see her eliminated a few people like Ryder, Ziggler, Bourne (people we knew wouldn’t win) but to eliminate Khali (all be it by a kiss) is still impressive. I wonder where this is going to lead, probably no where like the time she fought D-Lo and Santino (but that lead to Glamerella) maybe a feud with Punk and Serena, and bring her in more as a face character, since she’s doing the sitcom, could help to get her over with the fans.
I’m not going to bother fixing those typos… comment was rushed and I’m late for work, lol.
Yaaaaay that was so awesome to put Beth into the Rumble. And congrats to Mickie but I wished that the match would’ve been…well a real match.
The womens title match was kinda of a let down but the way you put it MIchelle hasnt really competed in ring since TLC so that Knee must still be a bother, but what sweet revenge, Mickie Looked Flawless as did the other BabyFace divas. I laughed so hard when they through that cake in MIchelle and laylas face as they were basically doing this for all the girls out there in the wwe universe. As for the Rumble Wow i didn’t read the spoilers so i had no clue that Beths name was being thrown around in the scramble so when her music hit at first i thought “what the hell” and then when i was able to catch my breath my heart then skiped a Giant Beat, to see her stand tall to Khali was Amazing and I also loved how the Crowed was so into it. For her going after punk amazing Is there a Serena Beth feud in the works IDK but would love to see it. As for her exit it kinda sucked how she was just thrown to the ground forgotten as HHH came down the Ramp but any way Amazing Show and With Edge coming back and winning it was an Epic Night to Remember. I give the womens championship match a 4/5, Beth a 5/5 and the whole show a 7/10 the undercard kinda sucked did you guys think that to???
The Michelle-Mickie thing was well-done,but that’s what should’ve been done on Smackdown (With the title not on the line) not on the Rumble!It would have been the perfect peak of build for the Rumble!Plus it would’ve show the fans that Mickie isn’t afraid or embarrassed.I mean,really!The whole feud,and especially the way people talk about it,is just too childish to me.
Beth in the Rumble was frikking awesome!I loved how the crowd went nuts for her when her music played,it showed that they do know who she is.I especially loved it when she beat Punk up for all of 10 seconds.
Overall,I perferred Beth to Mickie-Michelle,and considering the circumstances,that’s pathetic.
I loved the reaction, what beth got, the crowd went crazy when she had, cm punk on her shoulders, it was awesome and the clothsline was KaBoom!!!
The ‘overly generous rating’ (as some of you whined about) is because though they weren’t physically involved in the matches for too long they told an AWESOME story. That’s what the WWE is all about! Telling a story. If you didn’t know that by now then i dont know what you’ve been watching. The divas were NOT stripped of any time. Before the Michelle & Mickie match we got a pre-match promo. When’s the last time we ever seen that?! Michelle got mic time. We rarely see that either. They gave the divas plently of time & though they didnt have a match, they had enough time to entertain us and finish off their storyline which i find very gratifying. Mickie won which is something we should all be excitied about & we finally see the end of Michelle’s fluke of a reign. When i heard Beth’s music come on I jumped off my couch! Haha. I was pretty excited to see her in the rumble even though i read the spoilers that DD posted prior to the show. I’m just all around happy with what WWE did with the divas last night! Very, very pleased. :) :)
Melanie Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Finally watched it! Michelle’s promo was much better than on SD. She sounded more confident this time around. I also liked that she got some sort of reaction which doesn’t often happen with her unfortunately.
As for the match, 30 seconds? Really? What a hollow title win and joke of a pay-off match. That said, I loved everything else — Mickie running down to the ring and jumping Layla, the cake payback at the end. I just wish we could’ve had a decent length match in between, it would have made this a perfect end to the feud.
Great to see Beth in the Rumble even if they did use the whole kiss thing. I wonder if this could lead to a feud between Beth and Serena?
First, kirstygrahamx: chill. Read what Erin writes first before having your criticisms.
Second, I thought about it and I can justify why WWE went that route last night. First of all, they wanted shock value. Everyone here at DD was speculating who was going, would Layla get involved, would Beth get invovlved, but in the end NO ONE expected this. They’ve pulled these short matches before and they’ve generated alot of buzz. We’ve all proven that today and last night. The only thing I fear is that in cases like this, the champion has won the title back quickly (like the next televised show) so I’m hoping that isn’t the case. Second, it was fitting. Mickie not only beat them with their own antics but she beat her without Michelle even getting a shot on her. This was more of a humiliation than what followed. And speaking of which, well that was quite literally was “just desserts”, wasn’t it?
Have people forgot that there was a promo before the match?
At this point, Serena is not going to do ANY TYPE OF wrestling. like what someone said already, she’s just supposed to be a fan with NO wrestling ability. What will fans think if they see girl from the audience and 2 weeks later she’s wrestling, they’re either going to think it was all fake and planned or that it’s very easy to learn to wrestler
3 months from now, they can use the excuse Punk taught serena to wrestler but right now
Melanie Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 9:19 pm
RKOyou — I am very aware of what you are saying. I made a simple comment with a suggestion of what could be possible. I don’t need to have you break it down for me like I’m an idiot. People seem to take such glee in shooting others down and creating a hostile environment in the comments. It’s getting old.
The Mickie/Michelle blow off sucked big time, man that could have been a great match. But I don’t think the WWE is done with their feud. I think we’ll get a proper match in the future. As for Beth, God it was great to see them stepping out of their little box and letting her compete, however short it was. The crowd was going crazy for her! Beth has quickly become one of my favorite Divas and it was great to get to see her have the spotlight for a second,
I loved Beth phoenix segment finally a girl that do well against the men and doesn’t look like a guy I agree with Beth on that one.
While I wanted a longer match, I can understand the reasoning story-wise. Laycool had tormented Mickie for weeks and put her through Hell. So, they had to pay somehow so that everyone got what they deserved. I’m just glad to see Mickie with another reign, especially after having to endure this storyline that, while produced some decent matches and interesting segments, still left a bad taste in my mouth.
As far as Beth, it was exciting to see her in the Rumble. She is everything that Chyna could only wish to be.
Michelle vs Mickie – This was good but could’ve had a longer match. They’ve been building up this action for months and we get a 3 second match. If the match was longer and decent then it would’ve fit in with everything else. The tiny portion they’ve had of this match would’ve been a fabulous ending. But look at WWE, doing things wrong again !
Beth in RR Match – That was a thrilling moment when Beth’s music hit. It would’ve been nice to see her stay probably until number ten came out. If they decide to put her, Serena, or Natalya in next year, I wouldn’t be surprised. Beth has so much potential to be the next Chyna and it would be a dream match and feud to see Beth vs Chyna.
the segments were great Michelle did some nice mic work, layla and michelle getting caked was a greate way to finnish the feud,
but the match…… what a disappointment, i have been really looking forward to this match and it didn’t pay off, excluding the story aspects …it sucked
Beth going into the rumble was a good idea, i wonder if she will take her anger out on serena
“Beth going into the rumble was a good idea, i wonder if she will take her anger out on serena”
Or Serena goes after Beth, afterall Beth tried to hurt CM Punk, her savior. That would probably make more sense then Beth going after Serena (when her problem is with CM Punk)
well it would make more sense yes, but WWE doesn’t care what makes sense, if they did Mickie and Michelle would have had a popper match :P
I think they should’ve bought some punch too. Oh and I want to see more women in the Royal Rumble. I know Beth and Chyna eventually had to do it because it’s they’re gimmicks but next year I want to see Mickie James and Melina in it too. Oh and wouldn’t be funny if Michelle McCool was left in the ring with the Undertaker in the Royal Rumble since they’re supposedly dating and all.
GO Beth!!!!
Congrats Mickie!!!!
Lets watch Maryse Make “HERstory!!!!”
(:
Maybe this will lead to Natalya takin the belt off Mickie,
cause Beth honestly doesn’t have any direct heat with
her like Michelle and Layla did, and they have feuded
God only knoes how many times, and I dont wanna see
the feud for Beth & Mickie that comes outta there ass
this time!
Or even perhaps Layla can feud with her, either by getting
revenge for Michelle and remaining heel, or Michelle or
even Layla ditch each other and Layla goes after it as a
tweener soon to be face!
(:
All in all i loved the Rumble, Beth was my favorite part, now
i just wanna see Maryse in that big Divas Tag Match!
(:
Agree or Disagree(about the feuding ideas)
i think i would have preferred beth eliminating punk instead of khali with that kiss. serena could’ve gotten all possessive and stuff, starting a feud with her. beth could then have had, say a mixed tag with dx at some point. if they want beth to be the new chyna, they may as well go full out with it, right?
Hopefully this is a way to write Michelle the heck off of SD. Like have be so embarrassed she goes MIA to cover up her knee thing.
Why would people want a full length match? Michelle killed that crowd with the horrible promo. Heck, after Mickie got done with Layla and moved on to Michelle, the crowd stopped caring. There would have not been any heat. No one would be talking about the match afterwards. It would’ve looked bad considering A LOT of people are noticing this was the first actual freakin’ storyline for the Divas since.. Damn. The closest I got was Trish vs Mickie. And still no crowd response.
While you could probably justify the ending based on the nature of the storyline, I really think that had little to do with the decision to have a quick match. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got more info later this week, but I am 95% sure that the WWE is still protecting McCool, and that it is the only reason we didn’t see a full blow off match yesterday. Not the WWE’s fault really. Just bad luck. We can only hope that Michelle will recover in time for Wrestlemania. Mannnnn I really want to see these two go at it again.
beth did great job in there….and the divas match was a good way to end the story but a real match was goin to be better
but overall a good night for divas fans
THIS WAS HORRID, are you kidding….. I wouldn’t wanna earn the title in a 20 second storyless squash match when I invested so much momentum and vigor into an actually storyline…. HORRIBLE CLIMAX….. Beth was a pleasant surprise, Horrible she didn’t get to do more, or even get the fans to think she might possibly get somewhere in this match…. At least she was Eliminated by Punk, I mean Chyna got Eliminated by some jobber named STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN…. but better luck next time…..
This is truly a testament of no matter how underwhelmingly insignificant “DIVA” action is, we accept it and make it seem great when in reality…. THIS WAS PURE GARBAGE. DIVA-DIRT take pride in the era of the PAST because every bit of product we are seeing today… isn’t the art of Pro-wrestling but a bastardization and humiliation of the entertainment we love… If you paid for this bless you…. because this was like sayin your favorite star is starring in a movie, but they wont make past the opening 2 minute credits….
I can’t believe no one said anything about Cole saying Diva’s championship before the promo.
Melanie, there are some problems trying to post with Opera. I can post with both Firefox and IE but not with Opera. Could you maybe look into that?
OOOOOOH!!!! JUST WAIT TIL THE RUMBLE, THEIR WILL BE HELL TO PAY…..You HAVE NEVER FELT THE PAIN I WILL BRING… YOU THINK YOU TORTURED ME, THINK YOU HURT ME, THINK YOU EMBRASSED ME…. I will TOTALLY DESTROY YOU!!!…….. I will DDT you and throw a Cake in your face….. PURE HELL!!!!! …..LOL
(but not exceeding more than 2 minutes, since hangin in there totally kickin butt til you are absolutely tired would be the greatest workout for my weight problem but nevermind)
they really don’t plan diva matches…week -to- week… I THINK THATS UNACCEPTABLE!
NEXT FEUD IRONWOMAN MATCH…. see who can get the most pins in “THREE” Minutes…… Start Training now ladies
Just a little side note for all those who say McCool failed as a face or never got pops, listen to the crowd during her entrance, it may not be Trish-like, but it’s almost as much as Kelly gets.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6yg2s_beth-vs-michelle-lumberjill-match_sport
@totallynecessary
just shut up.
thats harsh, and you seem to think it
is the Divas fault for what goes on in the
ring.
you seem to forget that this is our entertainment,
but they’re JOBS!! that means that they are
told what to do, when to do it, and how long to
do it for.
this wasn’t horrible at all. you wanna talk horrible,
on WWE’s part?! Lita & Victorias retirement matches!!
the matches themselves weren’t horrible, but there
losses in them were horribly demeaning.
@litaluva06 (cool name….AGREED!!!)
I dont think it’s their fault
but take pride in your art form and inspire others with what you do….
They have too much raw talent and opportunites to be rushed along….
STAND UP and GIVE THE BOOKERS A REASON TO SAY….
We should give the Divas a 10 minute slot today, and not how do we fit these girls in as fillers…
Don’t be content with givin that “TRUE” fan less than your best…
Don’t be content with praisin your favorite even when they haven’t given their best.
I just wish we all realize these divas are on a limited schedule most last at 30% less than their male counterparts in this business and if you wanna achieve anything that can make you “legendary” you must cease the moment and not litter your career with meaningless title reigns earned by the antics that anyone off the streets can do…. THATS NOT PRO WRESTLING and THATS BARELY ENTERTAINMENT….
Great clothesline by Beth! I liked both segments. I felt unsettled by how Punk was holding Beth’s head down there, though. Maybe I’m weird for noticing that. lol
@Melanie. Agreed. @Kalderina – that’d be a great storyline with Punk/Serena/Beth
Also, they actually DID make a plant into a wrestler immediately (unless I’m remembering incorrectly). Santino, anyone?
@ totallynecessary – I can understand your frustration. I remember reading someone’s sentiments (not here) of the Divas was “Being a female in WWE is only slightly more honorable than being a prostitute.” which was ridiculously, extremely harsh but indicative of how some WWE fans who couldn’t care less about Divas feel (a select few, though, I’d imagine). I’ve often said that they should make it work in a few minutes they have in order to pave the way for getting more time. I’m worried that people will start to forget the past ability/accomplishments of the Divas and instead look at WWE women’s wrestling as only potentially being what it is now. Which would be a shame because there are still so many with a TON of ability/talent. At the same time, I can imagine they have to be stressed/rushed. I wish WWE would take a chance and book in such a way to give them a bigger spotlight. I think they’ve done this to some degree with this Michelle/Mickie feud.
I’m not a fan of the short match thing and plus my stream messed up so I really didn’t even get to see my girl Mickie. I’m happy I didn’t get to hear Michelle attempt to speak…I hate her voice so much well I don’t like her at all really. I understand why they went that route for a few reasons but I think the main reason is Michelle’s knee is still effed up. That’s why she hasn’t been wrestling on Smackdown! lately…haven’t you noticed that?
I do hope Mickie moves onto a feud with Natalya but its doubtful.
The Mickie/Michelle match sucked, but the revenge was kinda cool. Im just happy this storyline ended. Lets hope that doesn’t mean the end of tv time for the girls to.
About Beth, loved the fact they given her a chance, but it could have been more worked up. The Khali kiss has blargh, and it would have been more logic for Beth to remain kinda “hidden” and wait for the end to do her attacks.