Raw Redux (April 25th, 2011): The Beauty and the Breakdown
On this week’s special draft edition of Monday Night Raw, SmackDown’s Layla squared off against Raw’s Eve, with a draft pick on the line for their brand. To top things off, Layla’s former friend Michelle McCool is at ringside. Will Layla be to score a pick for the blue brand or will Michelle’s presence ensure a victory for Eve? Check out the match below:
We kick things off with Eve already in the ring, representing the red brand. Layla makes her way to the ring next, sporting a customized Smackdown T-shirt. While Layla does her usual entrance, Michelle makes her way out to ring to watch her former friend’s match. After a quick recap of Layla and Michelle’s fight on Smackdown, the official signals for the bell and our cross-branded Divas match is underway.
Layla and Eve start things off with a lockup, but Layla gets the upperhand with a knee to the gut, followed by a few clubbing blows to the back of Eve. Layla goes to whip Eve off the ropes, but Eve reverses and counters with a pretty sloppy STO for a one count. Michelle starts yelling at Layla from the apron, distracting her enough for Eve to score the win with a surprise rollup.
Oh, and some douchebag got on the microphone and interrupted the match… Anyhoo.
Post match, Michelle gets in Layla’s face and gives her a pieface, but Layla spring right back up and slaps the taste out of Michelle’s mouth, before throwing into the barricade. After bashing Michelle’s head into the barricade, Layla slams her into the apron and finally tosses her over the announce table; all the while crying hysterically.
While the actual match was short and nothing to call home about, I really enjoyed the post match fight between Michelle and Layla. I was surprised to see Layla being so aggressive, as she’s usually the more passive member of Lay-Cool, but I enjoyed the change of pace. With both members of Lay-Cool staying on the blue brand after the draft and several new Divas moving to Smackdown, it’ll be interesting to see where this storyline goes in the next few weeks.
We also got a new vignette featuring Awesome Kong, who has officially been renamed Kharma. With every Kharma vignette, I get more excited for her debut. Needless to say, with all the Diva draft moves and the impending Kharma debut, the landscape of the Divas division is about to change drastically.
DaWayne999
April 26, 2011 at 10:40 pm
That stop was so layla fault. I know everybody is going to blame eve, but lay loked as if she didn’t know to fall back or towards. But post match was awsome. Loved the kharma promo
wl75
April 26, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Layla really sold her conflicting emotions- she didn’t want to end the friendship, and she tried to do everything she could to save it, but she’s not going to take any more of MIchelle’s abuse….it’s cathartic in a way (and I hope they do some followup during the taping tonight- maybe they do a match at the PPV, maybe the hold off for a while, but Layla is well positioned to take KK’s slot as one of the top Diva babyfaces on the blue brand, if not the top..
squared.circle
April 26, 2011 at 10:54 pm
That post-match beatdown of Michelle had me screaming! I’ve been waiting for that for a looong time. I hope this feud really does Layla well. She’s more than proved that she doesn’t need Michelle to carry her.
rasharexx
April 26, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Layla did very very good in the segment with McCool. Michelle did a good job selling the head bashes against the barricade. But I’m not surprised to see Layla be so aggressive, she was pretty aggressive as a heel in her feud with Kelly and showed she isn’t afraid of any diva, especially in her tag tables match a few months back. WWE seems to be high on Layla, she draws a good crowd reaction, she is very beautiful, her acting is MORE than passable, and her skills in the ring have improved. And besides, Vince doesn’t just let any woman become the “women’s” champion, the same title that his beloved Trish and Lita have worn.
I’m excited about Kharma, the only issue I’m really bothered about is the selling from the other divas. I don’t see women like Rosa or Brie Bella taking a suplex or a powerslam from Kharma. With the weight difference and the “devastating” move set that Kharma has, I see her only have good matches with Gail Kim, Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool, and even passable matches with Layla, Eve, and Alicia Fox. All in all, I am ready for Naomi and AJ to come out of development and get into the scene. With the cuts coming soon, Naomi and AJ (both divas are said to be praised by the WWE officials) should be coming around this summer, hopefully.
In my opinion, Melina seems to be a shoe in for release. With the heat she has drawn for so long, it may be her time to go. I can see her being released, along with possibly Aksana. Though she is funny and cute, Maryse still fills that high role as the sexy blonde with attitude. Maxine, a possibility, even though I’m high on Maxine. Her promo skills are superb, and her wrestling has become average. But I don’t see any other woman being released. A lot of men will hit the door though.
shokko22
April 26, 2011 at 10:55 pm
I liked how layla’s smackdown shirt was cut to fit her ring gear top exactly.
e.beautyy
April 26, 2011 at 10:56 pm
match was eh.
michael cole sucks as always .
post match beat down?
GO LAY-COOL !
especially miss layla !
that beat down was vicious & i loved every second of lay’s emotion.
however, michelle cannot sell :|
NOBODY gets up from being thrown over a damn announce table .
other than that, raw was great for smackdown ( does that make sense? )
jacknife2058
April 26, 2011 at 11:00 pm
It kinda looked like they were trying to make it look like the STO was almost countered but Eve powered through. Unfortunately it didn’t quite look right. The post match beatdown was suprisingly strong for Layla. Here’s hoping Michelle clutching her elbow after landing behind the desk was kayfab.
Lily
April 26, 2011 at 11:10 pm
It was not Layla’s fault, Eve messed up the move. She was confused and didn’t know what she was doing. Stop trying to make it seem like Eve didn’t mess up …again. You always seem to defend Eve when people judge her.
I liked the little tease of Layla becoming bipolar crazy. ‘I’m sorry michelle, i didn’t mean to’ then bam! I hope tonight Michelle cuts a promo on SD and WWE announce Layla vs. Michelle at Extreme Rules but that’s only the start of the feud because the feud still has alot of months worth.
DaWayne999
April 26, 2011 at 11:14 pm
I’m also not understanding how in the hell that shit of a creation named cole is not only getting more times than the divas, but is taking up like 20% of raw in general. And its not just Diva fans. It seems as if everyone is tired of this crap fued of cole and king. Hopefully this Sunday will be the end of it for good, where as it should have never happend in the first place.
Lily
April 26, 2011 at 11:16 pm
@e.beautyy
Her selling was fine. She isn’t going to drop dead because she was thrown OVER the announce table and not on it.
Liam
April 26, 2011 at 11:17 pm
I’m not going to judge the match as there was no match really…just a few moves then a roll-up HOWEVER short matches on RAW will be more believable when Kharma debuts, as she can clean house!!!!
Anyway thanks Cole, for doing it ONCE again!!!! Kharma debut already and beat this guy PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF ALL US DIVA FANS!!!!
I Loved LOVED LOVVVED the post match segment. There is only so much some one can take and tonight our lil’ English Muffin Layla finally blew up! Her emotions etc were very well played, It was like as if she didn’t want to do it, but she knew she had to other wise Michelle would continue to walk all over her.
I think it is fair to say a make up isn’t on the horizon for these two..this is just the beginning!!! :D
JACKBLACK
April 26, 2011 at 11:17 pm
lmao I love Layla but is was her fault. Watch it again you’ll see. Eve has done that same move on Mayse before and it wasn’t botched. Layla didn’t know how to fall which was prolly a little miscommunication between her and Eve..
Liam
April 26, 2011 at 11:19 pm
Its like Vickie is the female who gets biggest heat and Cole is the male who get biggest heat…Maybe they should both have a match…good way to turn Vickie face eh? Just sayin’ ;)
JACKBLACK
April 26, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Hell even someone on the post raw show even said it was Layla fault lol
melina prez
April 26, 2011 at 11:22 pm
not such a good match but the after match beatdown was great !!!
But that kHARMa promo was simply flawless in the words of Lay-Cool who r now broken up….. which is a good thing !!!
DaWayne999
April 26, 2011 at 11:22 pm
@ lily, I’m not going to engage in the name calling, or disrespect thing, cause that’s not me, so with that said, yeah clearly layla didn’t know whether to fall back or forward. And yea ima defend eve. Why wouldnt I. That’s like telling the biggest trish fan not to defendant trish, when ppl judge her. Ppl area going defendant their favorite. As a matter of fact I’m going to respect what u said about layla, not messing up, because if I don’t, we will go back and forth. And I’m here to talk about the action of divas. Not argue.
DaWayne999
April 26, 2011 at 11:25 pm
I ment defend. Sorry. Its this dang Android. It thinks its right
Liam
April 26, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Guys stop ok! Lets now get into this big debate on who bothced the moves!!!! Please! The divas have a stict time limit, rushing around and having to get everything done in the time is harder than it looks! So please dont cause an outrage just because of a move! You guys are better than this, dont pick faults just be happy there was divas match AND segment!
Lily
April 26, 2011 at 11:29 pm
I rewatched the spot about ten times and noticed layla did mess up, so nevermind.
Lily
April 26, 2011 at 11:30 pm
@Liam
Calm down, i don’t see any argueing. Just a misinderstanding.
DIVAsupporter
April 26, 2011 at 11:33 pm
The thought of Layla beating Michelle seems great on paper.. but wth ??? Michelle doesnt know how to sell… and Layla seemed confused… Im all up for laycool feud but that beat down was just confusing… Layla seemed like she didnt like what she was doing yet she continued to do so..
Team Laycoolness!!!
April 26, 2011 at 11:34 pm
I genuinely got out of my chair and screamed when Layla finally snapped, this fued has just begun and I can’t wait to see where they take it, I’m hoping we get a conflicted Layla not always taking a beating, but proving to Michelle and the WWE Universe that she is no longer jobber material and that when the right buttons are pushed, she will explode!
On a side note I’m really hoping for a Lay-licia pairing on the horizon (Or maybe even Lay-Fox!) maybe after Michelle recruits the fierce one to do her dirty work, but it ends up backfiring after she treats Foxy the same way she did our English Muffin!!! XD
mikeparis18
April 26, 2011 at 11:35 pm
I love that Layla fought back. It felt realistic. She’s been in this abusive relationship for a long time and finally had enough. I hope we get a hardcore rules match @Extreme Rules between Layla and Shell like the one between Trish and Victoria @Survivor Series.
Team Laycoolness!!!
April 26, 2011 at 11:36 pm
@DIVAsupporter – The reason Layla acted this way was because deep down she wanted to remain friends but wasn’t gonna take Michelles crap anymore so felt she finally had to stand up for herself, even if she didn’t really wanna do it! :-)
DaWayne999
April 26, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Layla seemed conflicted to me. I thought that was what she was supposed to do. I’m looking towards the changes. It just seems like on raw, u don’t know what will happen. While smackdown will surely see the fallout from lay and choose.