New SmackDown Diva, Kelly Kelly proved lucky on her debut on the brand this week, teaming with new Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix against Team Lay-Cool. The young Diva who was drafted to the blue brand during Monday’s WWE Draft was firmly in the spotlight picking up the victory over Layla. Watch below:
With Michelle McCool and Layla already in the ring, out comes the new WWE Women’s Champion and boy, is it good to see her with that belt! Next we get a special announcement before Kelly comes out with Tony Chimel announcing the newest Diva on the SmackDown roster. Hmm, pretty sure there was no such announcement last year when Melina arrived and she was Women’s Champ. It was however, a nice touch that made you feel like Kelly coming to SmackDown is a big deal — in the words of Kristin Astara, “Fake it till you make it.” Even though we all know Kelly isn’t the best worker, it’s nice to see that WWE cares enough about a Diva to kind of make them a bigger deal than they are and make them feel special.
Kelly kicks things off against an extremely fresh opponent in Michelle McCool. I can’t think of a time when I’ve ever seen these two wrestle even in one of those inter-brand tag matches so this seemed fresh and new which is the whole point of the Draft. McCool immediately side-steps Kelly, wrapping her arms around her from behind and drives her into the turnbuckles before hitting her with a back elbow and stomping into her. Michelle then pushes Kelly taunting her, saying “Come on.” Kelly does, shoving McCool right back. McCool does not take kindly to this and knees Kelly in the midsection. Michelle whips Kelly against the ropes, Kelly comes back with her tilt-a-whirl headscissors complete with scream on the former Women’s Champ — Michelle sells this really well. Kelly then hits a clothesline and runs at Michelle hitting her with a hurricanrana. Didn’t we just see a headscissors? Regardless, it gets a big pop. Kelly now goes for a pin but McCool kicks out.
Michelle kicks Kelly and throws her into the corner but Kelly manages to climb the ropes and wraps her legs around McCool’s head, possibly for another headscissors. Michelle however, throws her over the top rope onto the apron. Michelle screams: “This is my show, Kelly!” K2 fights back with a shoulder block through the ropes before jumping off the apron to hit an interfering Layla with a clothesline. However, just as she thinks she’s got things under control — Vickie Guerrero barges her down to the canvas, not dissimilar to the same tactic used against Tiffany in her first SmackDown match. Michelle now jumps to the outside, grabbing Kelly by the hair while saying, “Aw, poor Kelly” before driving her into the barricade on the outside.
Michelle then rolls Kelly into the ring for a pin but Kelly kicks out. Kelly tries to make it to her corner and tag out to an impatient Glamazon but is isolated by Michelle. Michelle picks up Kelly in a powerbomb position but Kelly hits a few forearms and then manages to take down McCool with another hurricanrana. She begins crawling to her corner but is stopped by Michelle. The two Divas get to their feet, Michelle holds one of Kelly’s legs and Kelly attempts to free herself by slapping Michelle. That doesn’t work so she goes for an enzuigiri which doesn’t even look like it connected. Michelle kicks Kelly, keeping her down and tags out to Layla now.
Layla runs at Kelly, hitting her with a double axe-handle, keeping her down on the canvas. Layla grabs Kelly by the head before throwing her back down to the mat and choking her with her foot. Layla then goes for a leg drop but Kelly rolls out of the way and tags in a fresh Beth Phoenix.
The Glamazon storms the ring, running straight at Michelle McCool, trying to knock her off the apron. She then throws Layla into the corner. Layla runs at Beth and is hit with an axe-handle followed by a back elbow. Beth then hits her with a headbutt before picking Layla up for a powerslam. Layla wriggles free and dropkicks Beth from behind as Beth falls into the corner. Layla runs at her but is met with a back elbow as Beth takes to the middle ropes for a great clothesline. Beth tells Layla to get up and then hooks her into Glam Slam position but McCool comes into the ring, Beth shoves Layla into McCool before kicking her rival out of the ring through the bottom rope.
Beth then hits a slingshot suplex on Layla, bouncing her off the top rope. She then tags in new SmackDown Diva, Kelly, giving her the floor on her first night to take the win. Kelly hits her K2 legdrop on Layla for the win. Not her best K2.
The blonde babyfaces celebrate post-match with Kelly victorious on her SmackDown debut while Beth can say that she is the new Women’s Champ. Life goes on without Mickie James…
This was a decent match and it was nice to see Kelly and Michelle work together because it’s something we haven’t seen before but quite frankly, if this match is any indication of what’s to come, I see myself getting bored quite quickly. I give Kelly her props — she is popular and in that respect, WWE made a wise choice in replacing the extremely popular Mickie James with someone of equal popularity. But as an in-ring worker, she doesn’t excite me. It seems she will be wrestling more on the SmackDown brand but as seen in this match, her moveset is extremely limited. Two hurricanranas and similar move in the headscissors. Kelly is someone who is content with the moves she can do, and she does them well, but I don’t see her growing as a performer. I hope she proves me wrong and she steps up in the coming weeks and months against Lay-Cool, but right now I’m not convinced.
Again, I feel bad for Tiffany and the fans that had begun to get behind Tiffany because she was showing her potential and I feel there’s a lot of growth for her make as a wrestler if given an opportunity. She is an interesting character also in that she’s not afraid to look ‘unpretty’ in the ring, she’s a beautiful girl but she gets into the ring with her game-face on and don’t let that silly skirt fool you. I’d really love to see a feud between her and Layla brew to complement the Michelle/Beth stuff. However, it seems Kelly is now the focal point.
Another thing that I didn’t like was the feeling of a ‘comedown’ from the high that was Sunday’s Women’s Title match. It just felt like, “Here’s the Women’s Champ… but oh wait, here’s our new Diva.” Which one is more important? It seemed like Kelly was here tonight. There should have been something more for Beth as champion — perhaps a backstage segment or an in-ring promo. This would have been exactly the same as if Michelle was champion.
I guess there’s no clear direction of what’s going to happen next and this is the part where SmackDown struggles. What do you do after the title switch? When Melina lost the Women’s Title to Michelle last year, the feud went on and on and began to drag. It seemed like Michelle and Mickie were still going at it when Mickie won the belt earlier this year but her staph infection prevented that from continuing. I’d like to see some middle ground between those two situations. Have a rematch but don’t let it drag too far on. In the meanwhile, hopefully they begin prepping someone in the background that can eventually challenge for the title — perhaps Serena.
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71 Comments
I firmly agree. Wasnt a big fan of Kellys move to Smackdown over Gail, as I feel like now SD only has 2 actual possibilities for title holders. The match was decent for Smackdown quality, in particular loved Beth throughout it. Laycool continue to become two of my favorite divas in WWE with their creativity and awesomeness.
And of course, forgot to mention, as always, spot on redux Melanie. Agreed on all points, especially Kelly. She was better, but I feel I’ll become bored soon.
Ehh it was a good match but quite boring tbh. Like you said Melanie Kelly is very limited which will be a big downfall for her. She is very popular but if she continues to do the same 3-5 moves every week it’s going to be extremely dull and boring. I hope she can prove me wrong but I don’t know. From what I heard Kelly is supposively going to get a push on Smackdown towards the Women’s Championship. Which I hope that doesn’t effect Beth’s reign. I see Michelle winning the title back within the next month or so then Kelly will eventaully win it off of Michelle. Sucks to be Tiffany right now.
I think as always SD will come through in the end, even with the dumb decision to gut the show because of the My Network TV deal coming to a close. I’m gonna reserve judgment until next week’s show. Which to me should be a much better indicator of SD’s direction from now until the move to SyFy
Kelly is really lacking in everything Smackdown needs, except her popularity. Yes, she is over but it doesn’t make up for the fact that she lacks tremendously in the ring and in a 8 minute match, her weakness begins to show. They can carry her but you can only carry someone for so long before they need to be able to hold their own. Kelly I believe will not grower as a wrestler and it will be a bad thing for Smackdown. Tiffany is a much better choice, Tiffany is good. She proved that in FCW and her matches on Smackdown.
Gail would of been a better choice wrestling wise and as for her being over. Maybe if they tried… she could get over.
Anyway, it was a below decent match with Beth being the high point. It was sloppy and very boring. Hopefully things improve over the next couple of weeks but I doubt it.
I personally liked kelly’s move to smackdown cause with new opponents like Michelle and old ones like Layla she will be able to develope her character more an hopefully that will change her in ring skills to, sure Maria became better in the ring when working with Michelle :)
wow Tiffany could have just went bac to fcw cause with kelly on smackdownand getting a huge push TIffany is just goiing to become like how katie lea was…there’s no room for Tiffany on sd with Kelly there….ugh Tiffany would have been a better choice shes better!
I dont know what was wrong this week, but I thought this match was missing something. In comparison to the tag match with Mickie last week it just wasn’t as good. No disrespect to Kelly but im starting to wonder whether she would be more suited to Raw and the 2-minute match scheme over there. I guess its only the first week so theres lots of time for improvement, id just like a bit more storyline progression between Beth/Michelle next week.
it feels awkward that kelly and beth teaming up. kelly used to be beths favorite ragdoll lol. the match is ok.. the crowd seems bit dead cept at the end.
wheres tiffany? she and beth are actually good pair. though mickie and beth are much more exciting tag partner. stupid wwe for releasing her!
Ugh this match shows how much growth and work Layla has put into her ringwork since her ECW days with Expose unlike Kelly Kelly who uses 5 variations of hurricaranas as her moveset.
Anyways, Good Redux.
Ok match but Kelly was SO BORING, and I didn’t see much chemistry between her and Beth.PS. Can’t she throw in a DDT or an arm drag? PLEASE bring back Tiffany.
Why can’t Michelle sell? She got enzuigiri’d (botched or not), and it didn’t even phase her. If Beth, who looks much more physically stronger than Michelle, can sell for tiny Layla, why can’t Michelle sell for.. Anyone?
I actually expect a Kelly vs Vickie match (a real one) soon. Vickie ran into Kelly like a bulldozer in this match. It might be the first match on SD to make the crowd REALLY care since.. I dunno. One of Torrie’s last matches. haha
The match was boring. Why do people want Kelly to develop her character? Did you guys see the bad acting every promo/segment she had on Raw? Did you HEAR her every promo/segment she had on Raw? OUCH
I feel that matches have a lot more weight behind them when we have some sort of promo/storyline progression. It would of been nice to have seen an exchange between Michelle and Beth or more then just the anti-Kelly t-shirts. But then again, thats how all these feuds with Laycool start… so I’m seeing a Kelly vs Laycool feud.
i think i speak for everyone one when i say we want TIFFANY
tonight felt like a blank slate to be honest, there was no fire between Beth and Michelle, laycool were more interested in Kelly Kelly then the Glamazon that just took Michelle’s title and assaulted her with a bucket lolz
this is a odd statement but in my opinion i think I’m right but Kelly was a lot better when she was first on SD (back when the Divas title was first brought in) then she is now , she did more then just the same old routine back then, she suffers from Cena-ism hopefully the SD Divas can help cure it,
it was an ok match but, the crowd seemed dead and i was able to tell what Kelly was going to do before she did it so i found it boring till Beth got in
This match was very boring , Kelly Kelly was blah , its like all she is good for is her Head scissors …. I can just see it now this is all we r gonna get for the next up coning weeks… Beth & Kelly vs Lay-Cool , Michelle vs Kelly , Layla vs Kelly , Lay-Cool , Rosa vs Beth , Tiffany and Kelly Kelly….
From what I can see, with the new direction on RAW, and Kelly on SD! (BURN!), I’m gonna be enjoying RAW much more and SD! not so much, which is a darn shame. IF only Melina or Gail took Kelly’s place. I saw this coming. Kelly is as exciting as a stick. No wait, stick > Kelly. She’s boring, extremely limited moveset, no character, SD! has officially gone down the tubes, even the main roster. I’m actually hoping Big Show wins the title, and I never thought I’d say that.
I get what people mean when they say this match ‘lacked something’, I mean firstly it could be a back-up face that has the realism of winning a prestigious title like the Women’s Championship or it could be the fact that we’ve come off this HUGE Beth/Michelle feud and Beth has the title and all attention was diverted to Kelly Kelly, who is still doing the same things she did on ECW. I must say I prefer Kelly on SD as I did when ECW/SD bound together upon the Divas title launch, but Beth is a powerhous and even as a face she’sbeen the loner character, only showing respect when she needs to (towards Mickie after putting their differences aside or protecting Tiffany) I’d have rather seen them build upon Tiffany who wants to improve and offers something more than ‘I <3 WWE and am seeking the rewards from this now" K2, it just seems like backstage politics of handing her the limelight for kissing up so much.
Problem with Beth as champion as its said, with LayCool together, there's no other heel bar Rosa and Serena to step up. Now they've made n oeffort with Serena and I have an inkling they won't be trusting Rosa anytime soon, so I guess its Beth vs. Michelle round II until Michelle wins it back and its Michelle vs. Kelly. I don't know, the writers focused too much on Kelly and not enough on closing the chapter of this feud. Plus, get Tiffany back! She might be making her new attire, but I'd rather see improvement than someone who refuses to do anything different.
You certainly speak for me eatdefeat tk.
Also did you guys hear that Katie Lea was penned to be drafted to SD by officials? Talk about rubbing it in. A fallout report by officials was made, detailing each one. Katie could’ve had some spotlight :(
The match was good. It wasn’t great, but it was good. I have hopes that Kelly Kelly can improve. This was her first week on smackdown. I am sure it will take some time for her to start to improve. I guest I am just trying to look on the bright side of things :/
This match wast bad at all. I feel sorry for tiffany tho, They should have drafted her to raw.
i honestly really hate kelly kelly in the ring she’s improved since her ecw days but her move are so limited and she’s such a little spot monkey it would be different if she was maryse who’s moves are limited but at least she’s entertaining or jack evans he’s a spot monkey but he’s so amazing to watch. I miss tiffany i don’t know if i was the only one who was getting that student mentor vibe from beth and tiff sort of like trish and ashley had (being connected to trish is what made ashley so popular)
A part of me dies inside each and every time Kelly does that fucking ‘whirlybird headscissors’ shit. Not because she uses it in each match, but because it makes her (and her opponent) look like a fool. I’m hoping Michelle and Beth do something about this and possibly help her figure out a new moveset.
I don’t get why Kelly only does those moves. We’ve all seen her do more moves during her feud with Layla on ECW and her little mini-feud with Beth when first she came on RAW. I also wish she would go back to her old K2, it looked more effective. The match was ok but not bad.
i dont know y all of u are complaining! jeez! kelly finally has a role AND a possible storyline. shes not a jobber anymore (that I no of) and to be honest, its still better than RAW.
What do you mean FINALLY has a role? Kelly’s had a role of ‘pointless addition’ for ages now. She’s bunged in anywhere regardless of continuity, that’s why she suited Raw because they could find a way every week for her to do something pointless and give the middle aged men five minutes of pleasure time. As for jobber? You mean she might have lost two matches? That’s not jobbing, want to see jobber, Note: Jillian Hall or Katie Lea Burchill. If Kelly is ‘jobbing’ I’m sure Jillian is dying on the inside.
ok match…. Beth looked GREAT!! I love the darker tones. Kelly was ummm there. When wrestling is just a job or gig why would you go all out especially for a dangerous craft. She doesn’t have passion for the technique which is a shame. Why divulge a ton of energy when you gain popularity by doing the bare minimal? She’s content that’s what I believe! With time this may change and I hope so.
Just like always, I end up agreeing with every single word you say. Great write-up! If you think about, Kelly isn’t all that bad. It’s just that she never shows us anything new. Just the same couple of moves as always and it’s getting really boring. I don’t know if it’s her or if they’re just booking her badly but either way, I’d love to see K2 bringing something we haven’t seen before. Something fresh. Something that isn’t just a headscissors and a couple of backflips. I really don’t care for her that much. She’s an amazingly beautiful woman but she needs to learn, that’s not going to matter if you can’t perform.
I enjoyed the match… Kelly is very charismatic…. though I feel bad that Rosa was drafted to Smackdown instead of either Jillian or Alicia….
I know this is random but does anyone else miss Alicia Fox? Haven’t seen miss Fox in a while.
Some people just sound crazy up in here. Talking about killing Divas and shit, lol.
ANYWAYS, I liked the match. I don’t know why people let Kelly upset them so much. She’s found a style that works for her and garners a pop so don’t expect her to (or WWE to let her) stray away from it anytime soon. Now that she’s on SmackDown! and has more time, especially once she finds herself in singles competition, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her flesh out her moves a bit more, but it was only her first night. I thought she showed good attitude here, shoving Michelle and clotheslining Layla on the outside.
I agree Alicia fox is my Favourite diva
The match was alright but it was kind of slow paced
Layla was acting like Masion with hitting one move then getting pinned
Would of liked kelly to have been replaced with GAIL kIM
I definatly miss A Fox. I hope we at least get to see her on Superstars or something soon.
The match was kind boring to me. By SmackDown! standards, anyway. Kelly does fine in 2 minute matches and 8 person tag matches, but for some reason she seemed a bit lost here. I guess she just has to get used her new opponents. It seems she was getting used to the likes of Jillian and Alicia. Honestly, I dont know how many more huricaranas I can take in one match from her. She should really expand her move set if she wants to grow as a wrestler. That twirly bird stuff gets old fast.
Spinnig Headscissors
Handspring Elbow [Jillian does it better]
K2 or kelly killer [does anyone know what it is called]?
I saw it the last kelly kelly match
And the one before … and the one before… AND THE ONE BEFORE
Sad to say this but I prefer Maira over Kelly Kelly. She’s so annoying.
at DarkRaven,
I’m with you, I totally miss Alicia. She haven’t been on RAW for weeks now. I hope she can get a match on Superstars(with her wining) or just tag team match on RAW this coming week. This is just wishful thinking but since Edge is on RAW and he’s turning heel and we all know Edge need someone to help him(like always) they can be in a storyline all over again. Since she doesn’t be on RAW everyweek. That can be good or bad thing for Alicia. She can end up like Natalya or Trish never know.
wwe seems to be very high on kelly…coming after beth…and making beth waits for her to inter the ring together…donno wht to say
and ya i feel bad for tiffany too she was doin well but after all a good match
Kelly is so damn orange, go back a year or 2 she actually looked quite nice without being orange, but now, urghh she repulses me. Also she was just as bad as she is on RAW, just more ring time, let’s see what happens on SD!
The 1 reason I am glad Gail did not go to SD even though it would maybe be better for her is that she would be used for quick wins to let Michelle be #1 contender again.
She’d just reverse a hirricanrana into the Styles Clash basically.
I hope Gail turns on Eve and becomes heel. MUAHAHA!
Kelly moving to Smackdown was a terrible move in my opinion as she is very limited to her moves in the ring. She only has about 5 moves which would work better with the 2 minute matches on RAW. Plus she just aint championship material and is she wins the title I will riot. Moving Gail to Smackdown would have been a much better choice as she has enough moves to work longer matches and is Championship material.
I actually quite liked the match. It was nothing amazing or special, but it wasn’t bad by any means. Kelly needs to learn some new moves, hopefully within the coming weeks and months she’ll get more confidence and realize that on SD you can actually do more than hurricanranas. Laycool focused on Kelly too much, I think. I’m hoping that’s just because she’s the new diva and they’ll go back to hating Beth more next week.
Gail Kim was supporely going to Smackdown but they pick Kelly Kelly instead.
I loved Beth during it all! Shes such a great face!
I wish Tiffany can get some more in ring time though, she’s good! SmackDown needs more heel divas, or at least I think they should get Serena active, I’d love for her to take the title this year.
Good match, Kelly kept repeating her moves. Guess this does show Layla’s improved more than Kelly.
WWE said Eve Torres and Kelly Kelly will be gettin big pushes! which i think is good for K2 she works really hard and she has alot of determination! but i dont think Eve’s push will work out tbh i give her another 2 years at wwe max!
pretty decent match! as usual Beth and Michelle were the one’s to watch!
That’s what I love about this site.Most of everyone is that they’re never satisfied.Always wanting a little more.So what if Kelly Kelly was the center of attention.She’s tag-teaming with one of the toughest Diva’s and most Dominate Diva ‘s on The WWe roster.I look for Beth to have a nice title reign.Just because they said that Kelly Kelly is getting a push doesn’t mean that Michelle is getting the title back soon.I just means now No More gimmick matches for Kelly.She gets to do some actual wrestling.And it’s either she works with Beth or she has to face Beth in the ring .She now has to face Michelle in the ring Who besides Beth is a Top worker and will test Kelly in the ring.For one thing they worked to hard to turn Beth face and get that Women’s title that has been On Michelle for a very long time.Kelly has a lot of work to do in the ring if she want’s to become a future title holder.But for now she gets to do some actual work in the ring on SD,Kelly was just drafted to SD something she hasn’t done in a quite a while..Kelly Kelly only has a couple of basic moves unlike Beth and Michelle both have several in their arsenal.Kelly has a lof of work to do before she reaches the level that Beth and Michelle have.But last night Kelly got to shine thanks mostly to Beth being the New Women’s Champion.Something that Beth has worked a long time for .I do see Beth having a nice Title run on SD.At least one or two of you fans actually are guite right in Beth’s time is now.She gets to wear the Championship Belt.
I hope Kelly get’s taught some new move’s soon!!
i wish kelly would go back to her old attire with the chaps, at least then it all matched lol