Another week, another Raw Divas match on WWE Superstars. This week, we’ve got another tag team match: Eve Torres and Kelly Kelly vs. Alicia Fox and Katie Lea. Can Katie Lea score her first win in quite a while, or will the flashy faces prevail? Watch the match below:
Alicia and Eve start the match with a tie-up, Alicia taking control and turning a side headlock into a hip toss. She holds the headlock on Eve, despite her fight for momentum. Alicia eventually gets to her feet and is shoved away by Eve. Alicia bounces off the ropes and shoulder-blocks and attack by Eve, laying her out. Alicia goes for an attack of her own off the ropes, but is hit with a dropkick from Eve.
Alicia spazzes out a bit (overselling the dropkick much?) while frantically trying to get to her corner to tag in Katie Lea. Katie comes in and locks Eve in a belly-to-back hold that she eventually gets out of, twisting one of Katie’s arms and tagging in Kelly. She then hits Katie with a snapmare by the arm, allowing her and Kelly to hit a doubleteam on her. Kelly goes for he pin, and gets a 1-count. Kelly brings Katie to her feet, but Katie immediately lifts her up (I always call Kelly the “rag doll”, but this is too literal!) and carries her to her corner, smashing her back-first into the turnbuckle.
She goes for an attack but Kelly blocks it, nailing Alicia and then Katie again. Alicia gets another elbow to the face and Kelly dodges a charge from Katie. She hits an arm drag, wrenching Katie’s arm and tagging in Eve. Eve climbs the turnbuckle, hitting a sunset flip onto Katie and rolling her into a pin, getting a 2-count. She hits Katie with a few forearms (or pats to the cheek.. they were so light they might as well have been) before having an irish-whip reversed on her. She comes off the ropes and kicks a crouched Katie, hitting a clothesline and then her somersault splash. She attemps a pin, but the referee checks Katie’s shoulders and she kicks out before he can even get down a 1-count.
Both Divas get to their feet, Katie taking refuge in the corner. Eve advances towards her but is kicked in the face. Katie goes for an attack but Eve hoists her up into a fireman’s carry, falling back and sandwiching Katie onto the mat (my God.. I don’t think I’ve seen that move since the last time I played a wrestling video game, which has been yearsss). She climbs the turnbuckle, prepping for a moonsault, but Alicia shakes the ropes, making her lose her footing. Eve doesn’t fall, though, but climbs back down. She grabs Alicia by the hair, and is pulled over the ropes, Katie Lea shoving her over for the last bit. On the outside, Alicia kicks her before Katie comes out and tosses her back into the ring, slamming her knee on the corner of the ring apron.
Katie continues her assault on Eve’s knee and goes for a pin, getting a 2-count. She drags Eve by her bum knee to her corner, tagging in Alicia. Alicia slams her bad leg against the mat, stopping Eve’s crawl to her corner with a well-placed knee to her back. She locks her into a half Boston crab, focusing on the bad knee. Eve crawls towards the other side of the ring, almost reaching the ropes but Alicia releases the move before she can, striking her on the back, dragging her away from the ropes, and trying to lock in the move once more. However, before she can, Eve kicks her away with both feet, catapulting her off the ropes and across the ring. Before Alicia can gain her bearings, she tags in Kelly.
Kelly comes in with a slight variant of what I’ve dubbed the Kelly Kelly Offense™, consisting of two clotheslines and a whirly bird hurricanrana. She also hits her handspring attack into the corner, though for a second I thought Alicia overzealous selling was actually a counter. It wasn’t until she hit the mat that I figured that her forward thrust was meant to make sure Kelly made contact. Maybe Kelly slipped an industrial strength magnet into Alicia’s top and planted the other into her own back? That’d be a sneaky move, sis.
Kelly hits a frankensteiner (I got all of ‘em! Bingo!!!) and hooks Alicia’s leg into a pin. Katie busts in, breaking up the pin and prompting Eve to come to Kelly’s defense, but she’s halted with a kick by Katie. Kelly attacks Katie from behind, her surgically implanted magnet somehow prompting Katie to go flying out of the ring. Alicia goes to attack Kelly in the corner, but she’s met with a kick. Kelly hits a splash from the top rope and goes for the pin, but Alicia keeps her momentum rolling into a pin of her own. She holds Kelly tight and gets the 3-count and the win for her team.
Reading the spoilers, I was absolutely shocked to see Katie Lea actually get the win, but with Alicia getting the pin it makes a bit more sense. Still, Katie got a lot of licks in on Eve and worked her slow-paced pretty well in aiding to Eve’s knee troubles. Alicia built on that in a great way with her submission and showed some good heel characteristics in seemingly just punishing Eve. SI have to say, though, that she needs to pull it back a bit in terms of selling–there were so many instances in this match where she ruined the illusion of the moves by practically jumping into the attack or flying around after a simple dropkick. She’s a great heel, like I’ve said, but she’s best on offense and obviously needs to work on her defense, especially given how much selling heels need to do.
Speaking of selling, Eve’s become a pro at that. She can take the punishment well, and her flashy moves as as flashy as always, but she’s proven a lack of talent in the basics, her simple attacks (like the forearms) looking feeble and weak. It just further proves that she (and her trainers) need to not worry about how many flips he can do in a match and make sure she can believable fill in the blanks of the match with some actual story and groundwork. Without it, she’s nothing but flashes of nonsensical color. Kelly’s already far beyond the point of no return, having become little more than flashy moves. There’s just not much substance to what she does, and while she does the hurricanranas and frankensteiners well, it just gets tiresome to see them in every single match, almost in the same sequence each time. This kind of predictability isn’t entertaining.
The match was alright, if suffering from shoddy selling and some predictable offense. From reports that the match was “really sloppy”, I was expecting much worse. But the match in itself wasn’t too horrible–or predictable, for that matter–after all, the heels actually got the win. We all know that in these types of matches, the babyfaces usually go over. It was even more surprising to see Katie Lea on the winner’s side, mostly because of how she’s become a second thought to the bookers. It obviously would be a different story if someone like Jillian was her partner (which last week proved). Alicia or no Alicia, I’m glad to see some different Divas tasting victory. It may not come often for Katie, but it’s still pretty sweet, no?
Food for thought: Do you think Katie Lea will ever be in the limelight again?
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29 Comments
Yea i noticed that Alicia kind of overselled some things as well but overall the match was very good leaves me wondering what will be next weeks superstars match.
I love that pic at the top, I used it for my Alicia Fox album on facebook. this match wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
The usuael veiled shots at Kelly. Why are you so against her having signature moves? Surely you have no problem with Mickie doing mickarana, sitdown dropkick, lou thez press every match. Or Trish doing handstand takedown, lick hand slap, whirlybird, matrish every match in predictable order.
There is a big thing that is always lacking in you and Melanie’s general analysis and that is ability to get over. This is a business and the fans want what they want. Wishful thinking hoping that only people you are willing to put over get over is simply that. Alicia gets total crickets for heat and failed as a face. How can those facts be ignored? Eve has been on TV for 2 years and used as the default #2 marketable diva but cant get any reaction. How can that be ignored? KK stays popular no matter how much they bury her. How can that be ignored?
KK with a big push and working against top workers like Beth, Natalya, Katie, a heel Gail, would be a lot more over then what they have been doing and produce the best possible matches.
I thought tghe match was pretty good. I love me some Alicia Fox and thought she had a good showing here. I thought she did over the sold the monkeyflip by Eve. I also thought the connection between her and Kelly was alittle weird with the handspring backfilp. Nothing really terrible. I like Katie and I am glad she’s atleast been getting matches lately. Eve was okay. I like Eve but I feel hesitates alittle sometimes when she is about to perform her big moves. Once she gets that undercontrol she’ll be amazing. Kelly was her usual stuff. She pulled off what she needed to pull off so she did a good job. And before someone sees that as a dig at Kelly it wasn’t. I like her but i’m not going to think everything she does is gold.
nachos – I’m not denying that Kelly’s over. I often talk about how she’s the top babyface on Raw in terms of crowd reaction. I’ve never ignored that, so I’m not sure what Reduxes you’ve been reading. Me criticizing her wrestling doesn’t mean i’m trying to invalidate her over-ness with the crowd.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with having signature moves, as long as they’re not ALL you do. This is pretty much ALL Kelly does in the ring, and it’s horribly boring to see the same match every time she goes out there. Other Divas have signature moves, but they also have other moves that mix up their moveset. Kelly does not, and that’s my complaint. I’m not taking veiled shots at her either–they’re right there in black and white, and I’m not trying to hide any feelings about her wrestling.
she (and her trainers) need to not worry about how many flips he can do in a match and make sure she can believable fill in the blanks of the match with some actual story and groundwork. Without it, she’s nothing but flashes of nonsensical color.
Forget the veiled shots at kelly what about Eve? So you just assume that all she cares about is flipping, rrrrrrrrrright, the trainers might but that first match she had with Michelle, I saw a little more than just flips, if any she did do. Well it’s no surprise since I was listening while back and right after the Maryse match and you bascially blamed Eve for Michelle’s injury which was her losing her own damn balance lol! I suppose she is getting punished in some way for that. I dont’ know why KK is that popular, it just shows that they’ll fall for any cute blonde that comes along, look at the blondes that came versus the non ones, now some were talented but some like Lita, Vick or Molly, it was just like giving them bones compared to the doggie mansion that Sunny, Trish, Maryse or Kelly gets
erin, i thought your analysis was pretty much spot on.
i thought the match was better than alright though. i enoyed it. it’s so refreshing to see the raw divas in more than just a 2 minute match. i’m growing to like this “superstars” spot that the raw divas seem to be getting each week but I wish they’d also get more time on raw
I think this match confirms how green two of these girls are, and how one isn’t really that great. I like Maryse, don’t get me wrong, I think she has the best character on Raw because she actually has a character. But, I think she needs some more work. Katie Lea is ready to be the top heel on Raw, let her and Gail carry the division while we wait for Melina to return. And, in the meantime, Maryse, Alicia, and Eve can still work matches, but need to train a lot more. And, I’m starting to think there is no hope for Kelly.
Alicia and Katie kinda got a reaction from the crowd. Im hoping they realize the talent Katie is. I love the fact that she’s aggressive.
Kelly’s offense was kinda blah, but the match wasn’t as bad as I thought, especially since some fans told us it was sloppy.
Btw, the outfits were all hideous, except for Eve’s, but she’s always wearing that. And I hope they’ll end the Pseudo-Goth/Emo look that Katie as. I like that look, but it isn’t flattering to her. There are many ways to look dark and mysterious without looking like you’re in a 80′s video of some Glam Rock band.
I liked the match, my only wish is that Alica and Katie would have got a much cleaner win.
Oh and i also hate it when a Diva clearly gets a thumbs down on the looks department by Jerry “the king” lawer. In this match it was katie lea.
I thought Kelly and eve where ok, there clothes lines need a bit of work though, they look quite weak,but are sold by the others to strongly. It just doesn’t look right.
ALSO, at the beggining of the match Micheal cole says that maryse will face gail kim over the next couple of weeks.
So does this mean there title match isn’t going to be next week either, and all where going to see is more backstage stuff?
I actually really liked this match!I definitely perfered it to the Tara-Angelina match,and that’s saying A LOT.
Kelly was her usual spot-monkey self.
Eve always impresses me,because hse brings out new moves,which make her matches fun and interesting to watch.And even when she doesn’t use new moves she still mixes her repertoire up.Just another reason to love Eve.
Alicia,as always,was mighty Foxy,and fun to watch.I think she could’ve toned it down a whole heck of a lot more in the selling department,and I especially hate it how she flails everywhere when being hit.I also thought she should’ve executed the half-leg boston crab more correctly/aggressively.
Katie Lea was decent.I think she should’ve gotten more offense in,though.
karl – Thanks for mentioning that. I guess we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for this finals.
stchick – I’m not assuming that Eve only cares about “flipping”, I’m saying that that is what they’ve probably been focusing on in her training, and it’s not a smart thing to do. If her moves in between the fancy stuff show anything, it’s that she hasn’t been fully trained on the basics. And I didn’t “blame” her for the Michelle thing, I was only repeating what I had heard from the other wrestling news sites. And even then, there’s no conclusive truth about what happened then, because it was at an untelevised event. Believe me, I have no vendetta against these girls. I’m just giving my opinion on their performances.
This match was just funny to me. I’ve got to hand it to Eve. I’ve seen a lot of bad Divas over the years, but none have made me laugh the way she does when she attempts to wrestle. Alicia was bordering on Shawn Michael’s overselling Hogan at SummerSlam too. At least they’re bad in an entertaining way, I suppose.
karl wrote:
“my only wish is that Alica and Katie would have got a much cleaner win.”
They are the heels. If you show the fans the heels are much stronger and skilled than the faces, or the heels start using spectaculair moves, then why should the fans care about the faces? They would just cheer for the heels instead. A lot of heels were forced to turn into faces like that in the past.
@karl: That might be happening and I think it’s ok cause then there would be a little storyline and not only a simple tournament. So why not ;-)
Kelly’s moveset is sooo restricted. I know that she hasn’t the strength to elevate somebody but there must be some moves she can learn and use cause it is ALWAYS the same and it bores me like hell.
I really like Alicia’s overselling. It looks pretty funny to me :-D
i agree that eve needs to work on the basics (dropkicks, forearms, clotheslines), however, what I love about eve is she brings something new nearly every match. Mccool kind of does the same too, which is nice to see. As much as I love mickie, she does usually do the same moves every match. Its nice to see that eve is really trying and it shows how much passion she has and wants to become a good wrestler so kudos to her.
Ive read on some sites (prowrestling.net) that the match was just like one of the most terrible matches they have ever seen. i didnt think it was bad at all. i found it enjoyable and refreshing and i really do hope the diva matches on superstars continue.
To me Eve lacks something…i dont know what it is…she looks lost and mixed up and uninspired and lazy and slow and out of breathe and like she doesnt want to be there
i love eve shes beautiful and has a great move-set but barely knows the basics and it shows
Kelly Kelly just like her redundant name is the same flashy moves that make her opponent carry her throughout…i like her too but she needs to change
Alicia oversells but shes awesome and has great potential that wwe needs to touch up on
Katie is just pure awesomeness….nuff said
answering if Katie will ever get the limelight again? I doubt it, this match was cleary made to give Alicia a win after losing 2 weeks in a row and they didn’t want to give a jillian a win so they teamed katie up with her instead
I thought the match was okay but very sloppy from all girls. Alicia really needs to turn down the flailing and over-selling because it looks weird that she reacts that way to a basic dropkick, to a big move it’s fine
Kelly is and will always be the spot monkey of the match. Nothing more to say about her
I hope Eve does not become like kelly and sticks with the flashy moves, she needs to work on holds and basic moves
If Katie ever pins anyone, she might have hope left
Decent match, I thought when Katie hit the ring it got a little slow though. To be honest im really not a fan of her work post-OVW. I believe that Jillian wasn’t booked for the match because she is tackling personal issues at the moment RKOyou.
This match firmly put Miss Fox in number three place on RAW, not including Melina of course. I’m hoping RAW looks back at the old WWE days where almost every woman was a contender and see that the current RAW Roster could easily be similar. Katie, Jillian, Maryse and Alicia would all be great champions and we know that Gail and Melina are also championship contenders. Eve with a little bit of help could be in the same field so I’m hoping that in the future year we have some diversity within the Divas division. Of course my prayers are unlikely to be answered… ever.
pretty good match (:
I loved Katie Lea’s ring attire. This match seemed a bit helter-skelter to me.
Tbh, I don’t like it when someone is over who can’t wrestle or is a mediocre wrestler; it’s indicative of what WWE women’s “wrestling” has become and I’m not sorry for how I feel. I feel that it gives the impression that it’s enough and I worry that they’ll settle for that instead of improving. The crowds remind me of people watching fireworks: they’ve seen them before but each time they act like it’s the first time. KK seems like a very nice person but watching her perform (not wrestle) I feel like I’m getting a repeat of an earlier match.
Unless I’ve been missing something, two of the few Divas allowed to develop a full personality complete with verbal parts are Maryse and Melina. RAW Divas don’t even have the materials (storylines, etc.) to be complete heels, unlike MM on Smackdown. I wouldn’t boo for Alicia Fox or Katie Lea, either, cause all the crowd knows is that they “don’t like” the face. Development of character, please, WWE!
“don’t like the FACES” I meant.
I feel like Eve knows the “basics” in terms of holds and mat work, she’s just not showing it. If anyone remembers the Superstars match she had with Layla, there’s a tiny bit of that in the beginning of that match. As for striking attacks, sloppy yes, but neither were Lita’s (her punches annoyed the fuck out of me) and she did alright for herself in putting together a career.
Also, I must say that the sunset flip out of the turnbuckle was very fluid this time unlike some of the other trys at it (Survivor Series comes to mind).
It’s interesting, the contrast between some people’s opinions of KK and Alicia. In some ways, KK seems to be a victim of her own ability, whilst Alicia is so often lauded for being less impressive.
See, KK get’s called a spot monkey cos the moves she often uses are all the more noticable, cos they are big, flashy and in your face. Not that that distances her from many of the women of the roster really… I don’t see any of ‘em mixing up their moveset to a huge degree, from KK to Beth and Mickie. And that’s no real fault of their’s, it’s moreso cos they’re only getting a few minutes of ring-time tops per show.
But then there’s Alicia. And in her recent matches, all I’ve seen is the same thing. Only what I see it a lot less difficult than any of her peers. They’re just as easily ticked off as KK’s moves (for example) but, maybe cos of a complete absence of flashiness, it seems to be ignored with her.
When Alicia shows me something other than the most generic heel moveset – a few kicks/strikes/slams, a rest hold or two and her finisher, then I might jump on the bandwagon. But for now, I’ll judge her on ability. Not the hype.
Eve’s forearms/strikes are hilarious, they make Kelly’s look like The Undertaker. I always thought RVD had the worst looking punches ever, but I think Eve has him beat.
With Eve’s offence and Alicia’s selling, anytime they’re in the ring together always provides comedy, especially in recent weeks.
And screw Jillian or Katie, Kelly is the one I’m pissed about always jobbing, she should be being built up as the top babyface since she’s the only one on Raw people care about.
Kelly always jobs? I don’t know what shows you watch. As a baby face when she is in a tag team, her team wins most of the times. And in singles she might loose more times, but Katie and Jillian are in a way worst situation than her.
haha burke lol! no, RVD will ALWAYS have that title, but while it’s comedy, I think Eve really felt humiliated a few weeks ago. Sorry Erin if I implied that “that” is what you assumed like I knew what was going on in your head lol. But I don think she knows the basics, it’s just that they are now trying to get the flashy part down, which i think might be a mistake, since she needs to get the basics in a sense that she needs to look a little more powerful out there
I don’t know why the crowd was so into this. I kept spacing out randomly throughout the match. Although, that backwards hurricanrana that Kelly did was pretty interesting. Seems like something that would be scary to do.
I really like Eve, but she really needs to stop going for the fancy moves and start perfecting the basics.
Side note: All four of these girls were weird to see in a match together. They don’t mesh at all.