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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Additional post :the question was raised about like Beth can sell why can’t Michelle sell as well.The answer is look how long Beth has been at this deal of wrestling.Since she was in HIgh School.Yes Beth is very good at it.She’s gotten it down to a science and that is something you either can do or you can’t.The best way I think for K2 to do is work with someone like Beth who she knows works very well in the ring and learn from her and work against Michelle and Layla who has proven herself against Beth who is one of the Top workers Diva wise on the WWE roster.But you see Beth this is what she ‘s been doing all her life and she’s gotten quite good at selling and not getting hurt like Mickie Michelle Melina.And Beth continues every week to do what she does in the ring PUt ON a A very Good show.Like she did in Extreme Rules when she won her Third Women’s Title.And I thought it was good that Beth waited and entered the ring with K2 that was nice .Beth was merely entroducing the newest Diva to SmackDown beiing that Beth is the Top FAce and one of the most Dominate faces in the wwe.FEw if any other Diva’s on the roster have as much ring presence or power as well as ring skill as Beth has an can sell the Hell out of what she does in the ring.
kelly is boring besides her looks n abit of charisma is nothing special….she isnt a wrestler & i think alicia,tiffany & rosa might be fired soon since wwe has nothing for them when they besides rosa deserve a spot more then kelly does….
I’m not sure if Kelly can develop a character & cut a decent promo, i mean did you see on the jerry springer raw segment thing, she was terrible, she was laughing when she was catfighting with eve. But i’ll give her time to develop, you cant develop a personality & new moves in one match, i takes time, i mean look at Layla.
But i have thought of something that could give the smackdown divas over even more. They could have a 6 person tag.
Big Show, Beth & Kelly vs Jack Swagger & Laycool.
Just a thought, it could be the main event.
I like Kelly. Sure she’s a little spot monkey and does all the same stuff, yet, Maryse does the exact same thing and she is a former Divas Champion. So i don’t see any problem with it. I think she’ll improve even more in SD!. I mean, like I said tons of times, she started out as a girl who only took her clothes off, danced and entered in storylines where she was some dudes armcandy (difference between armcandy and eyecandy, is that armcandy is a girl who only serves to be the hot girlfriend of a superstar and eyecandy is a hot girl for the crowd to see). She actually wrestles now, and In my opinion she’s a good ragdoll for better Divas without looking as clueless as Maria.
However like I said in the spoilers, I’m kinda sad for Tiffany. She has been showing us a lot of talent and she seemed a future great diva. I hope she doesn’t disappear in the shows. Put Tiff teaming up with Beth and Kelly against Laycool and Rosa (this one also needs to improve). It could be a good feud and they would have more chances of match ups, instead of Beth/Kelly vs Laycool repeated a lot of times.
Also use Serena as a Wrestler. She is to talented just to be Punks bald armcandy.
Steve Austin on his twitter site put Beth Phoenix over,and saysThe Beth Phoenix-a class act and a powerful presence in the WWE. Now how’s that for a completement by a HOF.Can’t get any better then being put over by like Beth says the toughest SOB to ever grace the ring.
Hmph, looks like K2 is still as boring as ever. Kelly’s moveset is extremely limited, and I hope this isn’t the end for Miss (soon to be Mrs) Tiffany. tiffany was very aggressive in the ring, and it worked for her. She was developing a character, the cute blonde chick who could kick your ass XD
It was an acceptable Smackdown, but Kelly totally dragged it down. :/
anybody else think when Beth was in the ring the crowd was silent ? i’m happy with the move because the crowd reacts better with Kelly Kelly than they do with Gail.
Kelly squints while she smiles. Makes her look Asian. That is all.
solid match, but you can tell Kelly Kelly is not up to par with these girls despite being very charismatic and a good seller.
The match was okay for me. I am kinda upset because I was actually digging Tiffany. Lol. But hopefully Kelly Kelly can develop more of a character instead of being generic and improve her moveset because if not, I fear the SD! divas will become predictable and boring.
As said earlier, they only have two credible contenders for the title, Michelle and Beth. However, maybe the WWE can throw us a swerve and maybe give Layla the championship? Or maybe Serena? Or maybe AJ Lee or Savannah (i.e., do a Gail Kim debut). It would shake things up.
I think Smackdown is where Kelly needs to be at the time in her career. I heard lately that’s why she was moved on the main show and not in the Supplemental Draft. I’m all for a push for Kelly as long as she gives us something different.
The match itself wasn’t anything extremely memorable or exciting, but it got the point across that Kelly is there.
I’m really hoping that Kelly’s moveset extends throughout her time on Smackdown! I’m really tired of the same ‘ole four moves that she’s been using for the past four years. As for the match, it was pretty good; the little jibberish that Vickie yelled after attacking Kelly made me laugh.
I was really hoping for the presence of Alicia on Smackdown! as a result of the Supplemental Draft but instead Rosa and Kelly were sent over. Hopefully, Rosa and Kelly start a little feud of their own. It’ll be nice to see two diva feuds progressing on Smackdown!
@ Dameon
Not me
I already lost all hope in Kelly Kelly
And yes Alicia Fox would of been a better choice then Rosa or Kelly
But If they needed a jobber, go with Rosa
@madslam2009
True stuff but Rosa has practically been out of action and jobbing during her entire run except for the first few months with Beth, Santino, and Melina. To be a jobber now is just like saying, “We just wanted you to pose for us, look pretty, and be a jerks eye candy,” practically. Off topic, she’ll be released sometime this year!
In some spoilers, it said that they are going to give Kelly a push, it maybe not be for the womens title but it maybe for her to extend her moveset & character as she gets bullied by Laycool & Vickie.
However, when i read this spoiler, it got me thinking, there is a PPV called ‘Fatal 4 Way’ in June, so im thinking that they might be Beth vs Kelly vs Layla vs Michelle for the womens title. If that does happen, that’ll be fantastic & will deffiently trump the Raw Divas. I would like Layla to win & shock us all.
@TJ Glee: Only the two main events matches at Fatal-4-Way will be contested in Fatal-4-Way matches.
I think the way to end his fued for now is to have Michelle get her rematch clause in 2 weeks. Next week, Michelle can hype the match and say that to soften Beth up, she’ll be in a Mixed Tag Match with a partner of her choice. Michelle says Vickie has rested her so Beth will be facing Layla and her partner.
Layla will pick Chavo Guerrero as her partner and Beth will be partnered with Kane. Simply Flawless’s plan has backfired, and Chavo runs away towards the end of the match and Kane follows him. Beth hits the Glamslam for the win but after the match, she is ambushed by Michelle.
Beth then would win the week after, and then the week after that, a Battle Royal to be the Number 1 Contender happens. Layla accidently eliminates Michelle teasing their split and the final two Divas are Serena and Kelly. Serena wins after the Mystery Man pulls Kelly off the apron, setting up Serena vs Beth which would also flow into the top, popular fued between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio.
Good plan eh? :P
Wow, AMAZING ^ !
I loved this match! I’m glad Kelly Kelly came to Smackdown & I lover her dynamic with Beth as a babyface. Kelly is definitely going to add that extra pop to the diva matches that Smackdown desperately needs.
Go Kelly! Holla! Holla!
Your “Life goes on without Mickie James” line made me sad. :( I don’t want to go on without her…
Michelle & Kelly have worked together quite a few times…waaay back in the day. They used to tag up against Layla & Victoria or Layla & Melina.
@ChrissyL
Kelly Kelly may get a crowd reaction but she has the same pop in divas action that she had on Raw. She was cute on ECW but she is on Smackdown and right now she and Rosa and maybe Tiffany are the weak points. She is a 3 year veteren.
Learn some new moves.
I’m guessing next week it will be Kelly vs. Layla or Kelly vs. Michelle. i hope Kelly switches up her moves. I would like her a lot more. A pretty good match, although nothing memorable this week. However, Beth looks great as the champion! And I like that second rope clothesline move she’s been using.