It’s that time of year once again: the Perfect 10 is back to count down the top 10 Divas and Knockouts of 2010. Based on their year’s successes, we’ve compiled (as best we can) the ten Divas and Knockouts we feel gave us a 2010 to remember in WWE and TNA. Check back over the next five days to see the countdown unfold, with the #1 being revealed on New Year’s Eve (Friday).
#3: LAYLA
LAST YEAR: — 2008: –
No Diva has seen her stock rise quite in a 12 month period quite like Layla. The rise and rise of the London-born Diva has to be considered perhaps one of the greatest success stories of the year. While Divas like Eve and Alicia were touted ‘the next big thing’ in the Divas division, it was Layla who truly proved to be the next top Diva in WWE, joining the ranks of Michelle McCool, Melina and Beth Phoenix. By associating herself with McCool last year, Layla shot to the top of the Divas division and became one half of the duo that defined 2010 in female wrestling: Lay-Cool. She now defines herself not as ‘former Diva Search winner’ but as ‘former Women’s Champion’.
Beginning the year by continuing her feud along with Michelle against Mickie James, Layla memorably donned a fatsuit on an episode of SmackDown, mocking James. At January’s Royal Rumble, again she donned the fatsuit but this time she was attacked by Mickie, who then went onto defeat Michelle for the Women’s Title and dumped a cake on both members of Lay-Cool just as they had done to her some weeks prior.
Despite being humiliated, the year would get a lot better as Michelle regained the Women’s Championship just a month later and the duo of Lay-Cool turned their attention to the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix. Mocking her for her lack of femininity, Lay-Cool dubbed her the ‘Manazon’ and ‘Glama-man’. After Beth defeated McCool in an Extreme Makeover match in April, Lay-Cool would then team up in a two-on-one handicap match on SmackDown against the injured Beth who had torn her ACL just a week prior. In the match, Beth dropped the belt to Lay-Cool and much to the surprise of fans, it was Layla who picked up the pin and officially won the Women’s Championship, making her the first Diva Search winner to do so.
A first in Diva history, Lay-Cool declared themselves co-Women’s Champions, first holding a title each and then sharing half of a belt. Over the summer, the duo feuded with Kelly Kelly (who they dubbed ‘Smelly Kelly’) and Tiffany (‘Skirt Tiffany’). Layla found herself in the mix of things in this feud, defending the Women’s Championship on behalf of Lay-Cool at Money in the Bank in July. The flawless one was victorious in retaining the belt.
Following Melina’s return to Raw in August, the two SmackDown Divas made their presence felt following a Raw Divas Championship match at SummerSlam, laying out Melina. Lay-Cool then challenged Melina to a title unification match at Night of Champions. Tension soon arose in the Lay-Cool camp as they tried to decide who should face Melina: it ended up being Michelle McCool, despite Layla being the official champion. Though she teased that she wasn’t in Michelle’s corner at the pay per view, at the end of the match Layla distracted Melina, allowing Michelle to pick up the win. The duo then declared themselves co-Divas Champions as Layla defended the belt the next night on Raw successfully against Melina.
The co-Divas Champs then found themselves with a new challenger: Natalya. Having won a battle royal to become #1 Contender, Natalya was unperturbed by Lay-Cool’s antics including mocking her for looking like her father (saying she had a beard) and even dressing up as her. Layla defeated Natalya, successfully defending the Divas Championship at October’s Bragging Rights, but the duo eventually lost the belt to Nattie at Survivor Series.
In November, the Diva duo were memorably humiliated by Mae Young who defeated them in a match at 87-years-old. That moment won Lay-Cool a Slammy for ‘Knucklehead Moment of the Year’.
In December, Lay-Cool made history by being two of four Divas involved in the first ever Divas Tag Team Tables Match which was won by Natalya and Beth Phoenix, who finally gave Lay-Cool their comeuppance.
It’s safe to say that no two Divas have had quite the visibility of Lay-Cool in the past 12 months. Layla has risen within the Divas division, showing much improvement in the ring and perhaps showing that she is the most charismatic Diva on the entire roster. Her comedic ability second to none, Layla is often the life of Lay-Cool segments. Picking up the Women’s Championship and being considered the last ever Women’s Champ etches Layla’s name in WWE history.
Many have called for Lay-Cool to take a backseat in 2011 and now out of the title picture, perhaps they will. But with no gold in sight, could Lay-Cool implode in the coming year? And if so, can Layla continue to sustain herself as one of the top Divas in the division with her flawless BFF?
Check back later for #2
Catch up on: the 2008 list, the 2009 list
16 Comments
at 9:37 pm
As much as I agree that Layla did skyrocket to the top, I still don’t think she’s that great of a wrestler. She has maybe 3 or 4 moves in her skill set and she hasn’t impressed me. She is amazing on mic, I will give her that. Congrats to her none-the-less.
at 9:44 pm
I’d say she deserved this spot for 2010, either this or 4 and I would have been happy.
I can see it now, Madison Rayne ranked at #2 and Michelle McCool wins at #1… again! x___x
at 9:55 pm
She really did it big this year :)
at 10:02 pm
layla has shown more than 4 moves shes no john cena at all…i was hoping she’d get number 1 since shes had better matches wwe wise than mccool this year…
most improved diva of 2010 by far….cant wait to see what 2011 brings for layla…
at 10:16 pm
So happy Layla got in the Top 3. I knew DivaDirt wouldn’t throw her down because she HAS done better then Angelina
at 10:32 pm
WOW she really deserves this spot i mean shes one of the top heels in wwe today not to mention the most improved diva this year(with eve)….but yeah a well deserved spot for my lil english muffin layla =]
at 10:39 pm
I’m happy Diva Dirt didn’t label Layla and Michelle McCool into a rankl together, that would be unfair. Whilst both are a team, and appear together, wrestle together etc they still have done a lot seperatley this year. For Layla, that was getting herself over with the crowd and improving her wrestling skills and she should be praised for that.
I have to disagree, I think she’s done very well this year wrestling wise. One of the fastest divas to improve to date.
at 12:21 am
I’m so proud of Lay she finally made the Perfect Ten ,and her debut is #3!
This was just absolutely her year.WWE finally believed in her and gave her a chance and saw her true talent. I knew Layla had what it took to be a superb diva from the first time she introduced her self as a new Diva Search contestant. I saw her comedic abilities in her very first fued against (the than not so awesome) Miz. I always had faith in her, I thought/think anything she did/do was/is great even when she along with her Extreme Exposé partners came out on ECW and simply danced for half a year at-the least she had screen time . It hurt me to my heart to see her turn heel. Than she began to job-out constantly to Kelly Kelly week in and week out never winning a match.
Now She gets the proper screen time she deserves after a complete year on raw without any on-screen speaking at all… but now she’s the best diva on the mic through out the entire roster.she’s also a great wrestler now (that wins matches)
I love Layla she is my favorite diva of all times. I can talk about how proud of her I am all day. Only thing That saddens me about her career is that even though she was a diva at the same time as Trish and Lita she never had the chance to have any in-ring interaction with them. There will never be another Trish nor Lita And one day (IMO) we’ll all be able to say there will never be another Layla!
Ready to see what 2011 holds for her KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK LAY!
sign—YOUR BIGGEST FAN EVER!!
at 12:30 am
i believe these lists to be pretty accurate great job dd!!
at 1:22 am
Layla was awesome this year.
at 2:23 am
In 2010, Layla came into her own more than any female performer and perhaps more than ANY performer besides Miz and Barrett. One thing I really like about Layla is her selling which is among the best for any female worker today.
at 4:48 am
Layla super deserves this.. from her ring gear to her entrance to her moveset she is just awesome…. :))
at 8:00 am
Layla has amazed me…. And will continue to. FLAWLESS!!!
at 2:21 pm
hmmm i’m a fan of lay-cool actually :) … i love mccool n lyla soooooooo much <3 =D
…. they did something which made me hate them lil bit THAT PIGGY JAMES etc etc
m fan of mickie tooo … i think thats y i got angry when i saw them making fun of mickie :( … i saw the table match … :'( … it was sad they lost :'( … mccool and lyla did their best :(
…. WISH THIS YEAR WILL BE A GREAT YEAR FOR ALL DIVAS :)
at 3:05 pm
she most certinaly deserved the spot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
at 4:28 pm
I’m late to comment but I don’t think Layla deserves the 3rd spot at all. Sure, she had a good year and all but she’s not as talented or entertaining as a lot of the other Divas. Certainly, she improved in the ring and had a lot of promo time so I can see why she’d rank so high but I totally disagree with it. Admittedly, Layla is one of the best Divas on the microphone, even though I find her annoying and boring most the time. I know that Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Michelle McCool and Natalya Neidhart are all better wrestlers than Layla and I like to think that Kaitlyn and Maryse are too. As for promos, Kaitlyn is the best but I also enjoy anything with Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly and Maria. I don’t think Layla is the most comedic Diva (Kaitlyn or Maryse are) and I also don’t agree that Layla will be the last Women’s Champion either. I bet WWE will bring back the belt to bring more legitimacy to the Diva division. Anyway, Layla at #3 doesn’t work for me, she wouldn’t even be on the list but sure, she had a great year.