This week’s SmackDown saw the WWE television in-ring debut of one Serena, a Diva who has been much buzzed about ever since she was signed to a developmental contract last year. Why? Because Serena, prior to WWE, was one of the most talented young things on the independent circuit and shot to the top of the card in SHIMMER. The time has finally arrived for Serena to step into the WWE ring in a mixed tag also featuring Kelly Kelly.
As background context to this segment, in an earlier backstage scene, Luke Gallows and Serena were told by their stable leader CM Punk that if they didn’t win tonight, they would be kicked out of the Straight Edge Society. Would Serena and Luke go the way of the dodo and er, Darren Young from Monday night? Let’s find out…
Serena is billed as having trained hard over the past few months under the tutelage of Punk. We’re to believe that she has no previous wrestling experience and is a beginner in the ring.
Say what you will about the Big Show’s in ring work (*cough*), but for Kelly to be teamed up with one of the SmackDown brand’s top stars is a big deal and a huge coup for her. After all, the most that the Raw Divas can muster up is teaming with the Superstars roster.
We kick things off with Show and Gallows but Gallows quickly tags out to Serena which means it’s Diva time! Kelly goes to lock up with Serena but get a kick to the stomach and an elbow across her back. Serena picks up Kelly and begins screaming in her face but K2 uses her legs to kick free of Serena’s hold and hits her with a couple of really flimsy looking forearms. (Need some work on that K2). Kelly whips Serena into the corner, riles up the crowd and goes for her handspring elbow. Serena, meanwhile, sees the move coming and clubs her opponent over the back, knocking her to the ground.
Kelly tries to crawl to her corner to tag into Big Show but Serena kicks her swiftly in the midsection keeping her down. She goes for a pin but no dice. Serena then picks up Kelly only to club her across the back and right back down to the canvas where she then hits her with a couple of knees between her shoulder blades also. Another pin attempt but K2 kicks out. Serena taunts Kelly a little bit before taking the time to do a ‘Straight Edge salute’.
Serena then applies a submission hold as the crowd gets behind Kelly. The blonde rises to her feet and begins fighting her way out of the hold, hitting a jawbreaker on the Anti-Diva. Kelly stumbles to the corner, Serena tries to run at her but Kelly moves and Serena meets the turnbuckles. Kelly hits her with a Thesz Press next before straddling her neck and smashing her head against the canvas — except Serena’s head never actually meets the canvas. Well, this is awkward…
Kelly then hits her whirly-bird head scissors, but again, this one didn’t go well either. Serena didn’t land in the usual forward roll fashion, rather kind of stumbling on her side. Another iffy spot.
Kelly then kicks Serena in the midsection, hits the ‘X Factor’ and goes for a pin. Gallows, however, pulls her off Serena which results in Show getting involved in the match too.
In the midst of a fray outside the ring, Kelly goes for the K2 but Serena counters and hits a modified version of the ‘Go to Sleep’ connecting with Kelly’s midsection instead of her head. Serena wins!
So Luke & Serena live another day under Punk.
If I’m totally honest, I’m excited to see Serena debut in the ring and get the win, but the match didn’t do much for me. The two iffy spots were very noticeable to me — particularly Serena’s head not even touching the mat. The rest of their work together was fine and there were no miscommunications between the two which is a definitely plus — especially when you have two girls who haven’t really worked together before. But what they put together in the ring wasn’t memorable to me save for Serena’s finisher. Having seen her work elsewhere, Serena felt watered down in this match.
However, I have a theory — perhaps Serena’s style and move set were toned down due to the fact that she’s supposed to be portaying this girl who has only been wrestling a few months. Matt Striker noted how she had been training for the past few months since she debuted on SmackDown, so perhaps they wanted her to be more realistic and not have a technical, balls-to-the-wall match that we know she can right off the bat?
Still, it wasn’t a terrible match by any means. It was an acceptable.
Elsewhere, we had Michelle McCool and Layla in a backstage segment. Regardez:
The scene opens with Layla and Michelle boasting about what they did to Melina at SummerSlam. Layla says that Teddy Long is looking to punish them for what they did because he wasn’t happy. Michelle dubs Melina, ‘Lady Wawa’… Get it?
Layla mentions that they have something planned for Melina, because it’s “Flaw…” — oh wait, must check no one’s listening — “… less!”
After they leave, it’s revealed that Hornswoggle has been posing as a plant and has heard everything they said. Someone really should file a sexual harrasment suit against him…
What do Layla and Michelle have planned for Melina? Will we find out on Raw? To be continued in the Raw Redux with Steven…
86 Comments
at 1:45 am
That LayCool segment was weird because apparently a plant can blend in quite well with a locker room. Oh boy, let’s hope Hornswoggle doesn’t get involved with this storyline :(
The Serena match was ok, I guess. There were some iffy spots like the hurricana, but I will say that the Thesz Press would have sucked anyway even if Serena’s head touched the mat. That has always been a stupid wrestling move to do imo and one of the reasons why I can’t take Kelly seriously as a wrestler. Her moveset can be so laughable sometimes. Also, since Serena hasn’t wrestled in months, she might have been rusty. Oh well, hopefully this isn’t the last time we see her in the ring wrestling.
at 1:46 am
agree about the match. maybe i was looking forward to seeing it so much i over hyped it in my head or something? but it really didn’t work for me.
i do feel a bit sorry for kelly the character. she had that rather impressive (by her standards) title match against layla and seems to have just disappeared from the title scene. granted there really isn’t a title scene right now, but going from that to wrestling serena in some oddly put together match is a definite step down storyline wise.
regardless, i’m glad to see serena finally wrestling, however unimpressive it was. her being in a feud with the much loved by fans kelly is a great start for her, especially if she finally does get to break off on her own.
at 1:46 am
Kelly was selling Serenas offense terribly. Those knees made it look like they dudnt even connect. Little dissapointed but Melaine’s theory makes sense. Not the best way to debut but at least it was more of a divas match than a mixed tag. And it gives Kelly something to do.
at 1:47 am
I kinda liked the match.. hahha… maybe its cause I like Kelly…
In the spoiler it said the crowd didn’t like the match but Kelly pretty much got a pop…. love that she is getting a pop…
Serena’s finisher I wasn’t so happy about… maybe its the divas thats why wwe wouldnt want Serena to get a knee into Kelly head so the midsection would do…. still not happy abut that move…
I hate that when Kelly was slamming Serenas head… the head didnt really hit the canvas.. But It was a good match.. Atleast the Divas had more time than the guys
Maybe Hornswoggle is planning on spying on Laycool because Melina or Teddy hired him to snoop around… or whatever…. just hope Hornswoggle doesn’t get involved during Laycools matches…
at 1:47 am
Good night for the SD ladies. I like how they fit Lay-cool in a segment that didn’t take away from the mixed tag match and it also progressed the ongoing storyline between Melina & Lay-cool.
Mixed Tag Match: I loved that they actually gave most of the in ring time to the divas and the men were the outsiders on this. I would love to see this mini feud progress between Kelly & Serena, they seem to have some chemistry. A few iffy spots; but I still enjoyed this match and the fact that Serena has finally debuted in the ring!
Lay-cool Segment: I always enjoy the segments they put together, it moved the storyline on but it also made a hilarious segment apart from Hornswoggle being there; go away. I love when they’re like “FLAW…less!” It just cracked me up.
I can’t wait to see what is in store on RAW. Great write up Melanie! “Lady Wawa” xD
at 1:49 am
oh! and just on the kelly/serena head meets mat move, before people start shouting “omg botch lolz” and the like, let’s just remember that serena has no hair, i’m sure if she did her head not meeting the canvas wouldn’t have been so obvious. it’s not as if kelly really pounds her opponents head into the mat with everybody else. still, it’s an odd move for a face to have.
at 1:49 am
That is who people have been proclaiming about for months? She didn’t strike well and she didn’t try to sell. People really need another one of those wrestling weekly?
Didn’t care to watch the LayCool segment. They are horrible every time.
at 1:51 am
The tag match was kinda standard. Solid enough, but nothing spectacular. We’ll see what Serena’s made off soon enough, provided they push her in an in-ring capacity.
Likewise, the Lay-Cool segment was alright. I just hope the feud isn’t going to be based around Lay-Cool making fun of Melina for crying though, because that could get old fast. Hopefully we see a much more mean-spirited Lay-Cool, because it’s like they’ve been on hold for months. I wanna see some genuine intensity and anger here…hopefully Melina will erupt and bite back hard.
Agree w/ohiofan1 regarding Hornswoggle.
Honestly, it was just an aiight SmackDown, the highlight being Striker coming on to Cody on commentary. That was cute.
at 1:54 am
*of
at 1:56 am
Math was o.k. and im liking Serena’s gts.
Question. Doesn’t she use this version in fcw?
lol…sexual harassment suit.
at 2:04 am
The match was, eh. My issue was when Kelly was trying to “slam” Serena’s head into the mat, it was not even close to even looking like it was hitting it. The finisher didn’t bother me that much, but that’s just me. You don’t normally see the Divas in these kind of matches longer than the guys, usually it’s the other way around.
Laycool, I always love their segments. Layla is so adorable, I cracked up when they were like FLAW…and Layla had this funny look on her face as she was looking to make sure no one was there…less. Hornswoggle must go away, I really hope he has no part in this storyline.
PS: Kelly was looking cute tonight too, loved her hair. Oh, and Punk looks nice with his hair like that, I just wish he’d shave that beard :#
at 2:12 am
My gilr looked good tonight but like Kaledrina said it wasnt a botch just Serana doesnt have any hair so its harder to do and It was a bad angle.
Oh well My girl looked HOT
at 2:15 am
why is hornswoggle back on my screen why?!
Laycool segment: I enjoyed it, but i normally enjoy there segments so thats par for the course. I loved the little pinky swear at the end :) my and my mates still do that sometimes, old traditions die hard lol.
Tag match: Not that good for Serenas debut, shame as i was looking forward to seeing her in the ring. Still it looks like they are setting up a storyline with her being Punks “favourite”, and she seems the most infatuated by him out of the SES so hopefully she will get more ring time and a proper storyline soon.
at 2:16 am
And Teddy wasn’t happy about what Lay-Cool did to Melina? Lol, wasn’t he the one who she slapped hard across the face back in 2006? And didn’t he fire her?
Haha, oh well.
at 2:23 am
Mixed tag match- The match was ok, not great but not bad. Who else agrees with me that Kelly needs to stop using the Thesz Press?? For one, her opponents head never hits the mat, and secondly it always looks like Kelly’s humping them. I love Serena’s version of the GTS. Hopefully when she’s out of the SES storyline, she can go back to her Spear finisher that she had in OVW.
Laycool Segment- All I can say is this; What a waste of time.
at 2:37 am
Lady Wawa is so fitting. Love it! It’s weird watching Serena wrestle like she’s some kind of newbie. But the way she navigates that ring and the way she bumps shows she’s far more advance than what Matt Striker would want you to believe. I like the gut buster, a little homage to Punk but it’s not finisher worthy me thinks.
at 2:39 am
I definitely hyped his matched up in my head too much. While i like the fact that the divas where the main wresters in this match and that Serina got the win, nothing else really happened, a few kicks, a chock hold and the usual kelly kelly moves. I just thought we would see more of serina.
Was that the same finisher she used when she was in fcw?
at 2:40 am
Glad to see serena wrestling in Sd. Kelly is hot as always.
Laycool segment was interesting and funny. I got a trivia, in filipino the word “wawa” means poor like poor lady…. hhahahahah
at 2:43 am
It was exciting to see Serena finally get to wrestle! The match was iffy but I was loving the heat Serena was getting after the win. I’m also glad the focus was pretty much solely on Serena/K2 instead of the guys.
Honestly though, my favorite moment of SmackDown (Diva’s wise) the entire night was Jack Swagger talking at Rosa and her not paying attention. I seriously laughed out loud and the fact that the crowd even reacted to Rosa (even if it was sound bite add-in) was awesome lol. Love her!
at 2:49 am
With Kelly in the match, I wasn’t really expecting much.
However, it’s really good to see Serena in the ring (FINALLY). Hopefully she’ll have some opponents that can actually wrestle in the future.
at 2:57 am
the segment was going very good to me till Hornswoggle appeared…it was a big turn off to me…if he will be involved it means a very stupid storyline is on its way
the match was okay and i agree with the fact that serena was supposed to look not very good in the ring plus it was her first match on SD!
i did’t like the head smash erither and it was a very strange botch..and the finish looked weird for some reason!! it connected badly so it really hurt kelly or it didnt connect at all im not sure!!
at 3:17 am
I love how Serena sells Kelly’s moves…. I also loved Kelly’s sitout facebuster.. very cool…. and I do think Kelly is a good performer…. i hate that a lot puts her down…
at 3:21 am
Plus.. I’m really hating what WWE has done to the Womens Title…. everything Lita, Trish, Molly, Chyna, Beth, Mickie and Melina has worked for it… and now… It’s in half…. I just hope the title will be put back to its natural form…. so stupid they split it…
at 3:40 am
@fanboy Finally Im not the only person who likes Kelly on this site
at 3:44 am
Lol.. I’m a Kelly fan since 2007…