Show ▼

After exchanging gifts, which miraculously end up being two halves of one pendant [they're psychic apparently], in comes GM Teddy Long to announce that Layla will defend the Women’s Title next week against Tiffany, or as she’s now dubbed, ‘Skirt Tiffany’.

Despite being a short segment, I can’t even lie — I cracked up on more than one occasion. First at ‘Skirt Tiffany?!’ and then the Teddy-isms. Very funny. Again, Layla’s comic timing is perfect. I find her extremely enjoyable to watch in these little skits.

As for the match between Tiffany and Layla next week… wow! What a fast turnaround for Tiffany from wrestling debut to title shot. I think she’s worked really hard over the past few months, had consistently good performances in the ring and I look forward to seeing her wrestle Layla. Do I think she will win? Probably not, but it’s nice to see her being given an opportunity. She’s no worse than Kelly, Alicia, Eve or Maryse, who have all been in the title picture in the WWE of late, so why not?

My only gripe is that I tend to feel there should be some storyline development leading to a title shot i.e. a No.1 Contender’s Match or a battle royal. It is quite random that Tiffany is just granted a title shot, especially so soon after Kelly’s. Perhaps this will be a pit-stop leading to Kelly getting a rematch? We’ll see how it plays out last week.

Nothing more to really write about SmackDown this week. I enjoyed the humour of the segment, though.

If you want to see this week’s obligatory ‘Rosa in Training’ segment, click here. Not even worth discussing, to be honest.

Show ▼

Show ▼

Apologies for the late SmakDown Redux this week. Melanie is ill and was unable to write the column last night, and asked me to fill in.

Three days before WWE’s Money in the Bank pay per view, we have a mixed tag team match. Interesting. I suppose Creative thought that the fans have seen every mix of Tiffany/Kelly/Layla/Michelle possible, and decided to switch it up. Still trying to figure out their logic in Layla and Kelly’s partners, however. Tonight, we see Layla teaming with Trent Barreta (one half of the Dudebusters) to go against Kelly Kelly teaming with Chris Masters. Who will have the advantage heading into the PPV?

We fade back to find Layla already in the ring with Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft. Layla’s decked out in an outfit I’ve not seen before. It looks like a variation on her usual wrestling gear with red and purple. I’m….not sure if I like it or not. We’ll see. We get a recap of Kelly getting pounced upon last week by LayCool. Layla looks pleased as punch with herself and Michelle’s actions. Kelly’s music hits and out comes K2 with Chris Masters, being accompanied by Tiffany. Kelly’s in a bra top and shorts with a black and white striped pattern and blue trim. Cute! Reminiscent of the gangster Diva photoshoot not too long ago. I approve. Tiffany’s in a simple black dress and impossible knee high boots. I approve as well – knee high boots are a weakness of mine. The two blondes bump hips with Chris Masters then make their way to the ring. Layla tells Trent she’s got this, so we start off with Kelly vs Layla.

Right away Layla starts taunting her with the Smelly Kelly insult but Kelly’s having none of it tonight. She slaps the taste out of Layla’s mouth! She lands another smack (not as effective as the first), then grabs Layla’s hair and forces her over into a corner, smashing her head against the turnbuckle. K2 is on the warpath, perhaps giving our English Muffin a taste of what to expect at MITB. Kelly lands kick after kick, driving Layla down to her knees in the corner, screaming out her fustration and anger at one of the women who’s made her Smackdown life a living hell. The referee has to interfere and Kelly reluctantly backs off, still screaming in an effort to rile up the crowd.

Kelly goes for a handspring elbow but Layla jumps up and plants both feet into Kelly’s back, shoving her down hard. Rough spot! Layla goes for a pin but it’s only good for two. Layla’s talking smack as she grabs Kelly’s head but the blonde lands another solid slap to the face, getting some space inbetween the two for a moment. But as she gets to her feet, Layla lands a nice spinning back kick that sends K2 back to her knees. Gathering Kelly up, the co-Women’s Champion nails her with a hard backbreaker, then bends her backwards over her knee in a submission stretch. Both women are yelling but Kelly refuses to give up. All of the sudden…

The camera switches to the ramp – out comes Rosa Mendes, skipping rope towards the ring! What the h-e-double hockeysticks? Layla is confused, but what’s stranger is the Dudebusters reaction. Trent actually joins Caylen outside the ring and they proceed to spin the jump rope for Rosa! Striker starts singing a jump rope song that’s gone over my head, Josh makes a comment about double dutch, and my fellow Louisvillians in the crowd are befuddled. As am I. As is the referee. As is Layla. Who proceeds to scream her head off at the threesome. Taking advantage of the distraction, Chris Masters levels both Caylen and Trent with a clothesline and a shoulder tackle! Layla’s pissed but she turns around to be met by a kick to the mid-section. She doubles over and Kelly hits the K2 for the three count!

As Chris and Kelly celebrate in the ring, Rosa looks horrified. As Layla gets to her knees, she looks around and locks eyes with Rosa. Oh boy, if looks could kill…Rosa would be in Cave Hill Cemetary as we speak. She points a finger at the hapless Miss Mendes, who gathers her jump rope….and skips rope to the back as quickly as she can. Fade out on Layla, still in the ring, looking confused and angry.

Have we just witnessed a precursor to this Sunday’s Women’s Championship match? Or, much like Communism, is this win simply a red herring? I’m certain LayCool will have tricks up their sleeve in order to keep the belt around Layla’s lovely waist. Will those tricks include bringing in a certain Smackdown consultant? Or will the determination of Kelly (sure to be accompanied by her BFF, Tiffany) be enough to overcome the odds? One way or another, we’ll find out on Sunday.

Show ▼

Josh Mathews announces that Kelly Kelly will challenge the official WWE Women’s Champion, Layla at the Money in the Bank pay per view next week and asks for Kelly’s thoughts. Before she can even get a word in, in comes Layla taunting her. Layla takes a can of spray out but before she can do anything, Kelly smacks it out of her hand and grabss Layla by the throat rather viciously. “What are you gonna do, huh?” she says to Layla.

However, Michelle McCool makes the save, attacking Kelly from behind. The two Divas beat down the #1 Contender and Michelle smashes her head against the ground. As they leave, Tiffany and some referees come to check on her, although the damage has been done.

A really short segment but after an extremely satisfying 8-minute match on Superstars last night, I’m not complaining. Kelly’s aggression with Layla was fantastic and finally, I feel like I’m seeing something from this girl. Usually, she’s just so happy and smiley and lacks a fire and desire but here, you could see that fire in her. She’s finally fed up of Layla and Michelle and is ready to fight. Good way to set up their title match.

The beatdown on Kelly was also nicely done and sets up this match pretty well, with some real animosity between these Divas now. That’s all I ask for: make it seem real. I want to see a real tension and animosity between these girls heading into pay per view matches and they did that. But my concern is that next week, they’ll lose all this momentum just two days before the pay per view. Hopefully not.

For Rosa & Serena, follow the cut:

Seems like Rosa Mendes has a new gimmick… of training backstage? I don’t know if this even going anywhere but for the last two weeks, she’s been seen working out and being given odd looks like by other Superstars. Watch this week’s encounter with CM Punk and Luke Gallows:

Will it actually lead anywhere? I doubt it. But it gets her on TV.

We also had continuation of last week’s Serena segment. It looks as though there’s a storyline brewing within the Straight Edge Society. Watch below:

It’ll be interesting to see where this is going. Sadly, it doesn’t look as though she’ll be part of the women’s division but the fact she’s getting a storyline is great.

Show ▼

Show ▼

Following last week’s disastrous ‘jump rope-gate’, the pressure was on this week for SmackDown to return to form. So what better way to get back on track than giving us the match that we have been waiting for since the moment Kelly Kelly was drafted to SmackDown back in April? She finally faced off against the co-Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool. Watch below:

Out first is Kelly with her Blondetourage team mate, Tiffany followed by McCool and Layla. As they arrive at ringside, Layla gets in Tiffany’s face and out of no where, Michelle blind sides her and knocks her to the ground. Michelle then grabs Tiffany and head first, throws her into the barricade. What an intense way to kick things off! Kelly Kelly checks on her fallen comrade while Lay-Cool mock her by spraying air freshener into the arena.

As the bell rings, Michelle rolls into the ring and then rolls right back out, exclaiming: “I don’t need to do this.” Obviously a reference to the fact that she, and Layla, don’t take Kelly seriously as a challenger for their belt.

With Michelle on the outside, the referee begins his 10-count but the co-champion rolls in by four — unfortunately for her, she’s met with stomps by an agitated and feisty Kelly. Michelle gets to her feet and kicks Kelly in the mid-section, sending her right down to the mat followed by a kick to the chest. Michelle then strikes Kelly with a swift uppercut followed by a butt bump. Michelle strikes Kelly across the back before hitting her with knees; she then drives her into the corner and begins choking her out with her leg. The referee breaks things up and Michelle begins arguing with him which allows Layla to sneakily spray Kelly with the air freshener can.

Tiffany then re-appears, clotheslining Layla down to the floor and removing the can from her hands. Michelle however, grabs Tiffany’s hair through the ropes and kicks her to the mat. Once again, Tiffany takes a brutal bump to the floor outside.

Kelly, meanwhile, takes advantage of a distracted Michelle — rolling her up from behind for the 1, 2, 3.

Despite being yet another short segment, I thought this week’s SmackDown was far better than last week and actually worked in setting up storylines going forward. Kelly Kelly has now defeated both members of Lay-Cool in singles action and surely, that puts her in line for a title shot next? That’s the story that was told here and it was nicely done.

As for the match, it wasn’t the most memorable bout but I do enjoy seeing Michelle’s physical nature in the ring and she really grounded-and-pounded Kelly. I suspect, like Maria, Kelly is better served in a role of being pounded on rather than doing offense. She looks great taking a beating.

The highlight of the entire segment for me was Tiffany. Once again, she had such a small role — just standing at ringside and taking a couple of bumps — but she did her job perfectly. Both of her big bumps looked devastating and I don’t know why, but this girl takes the most jaw-dropping bumps on the outside. I wonder if that’s why they keep doing them? She just does them so well. She sells the physicality of it and looks like she’s really taken a beating. The first bump in particular, into the barricade, made me cringe a little — but that’s a testament to how believeable it looked.

Not a bad night for the SmackDown girls and it sets something up for next week and the weeks ahead. A lot has been said about Kelly inching so close to the Women’s Championship but personally, I’m not too fussed. Will she get a title shot? Yes. Do I think Kelly will be the next Women’s Champion? No. I expect this will be a stop gap until Melina is cleared to wrestle. My hunch is that she will be back on SmackDown and drive a wedge between Lay-Cool.

EDIT: As well as Kelly, it was also a big night for Straight Edge Society Diva, Serena who got a big segment with CM Punk and Kane. Watch below:

For those who haven’t been following this storyline, Kane thinks Punk is behind an attack on The Undertaker which has left him in a ‘vegetative state’. Anyway, for the past few weeks, Kane has been jonesing to get his hands on Punk but when he does this week, Serena comes out with proof that he couldn’t have attacked ‘Taker.

We see footage of Serena in a bar on the night of the attack as Punk, Luke Gallows and the mystery third member [Joey Mercury] walk in. Punk is pissed and leaves, Serena runs after him.

Anyhoo, after the footage airs, exonerating Punk, Kane leaves the ring but the Straight Edge Savior isn’t happy with Serena for exposing her relapse. “Have you any idea what you’ve done?” he screams, leaving Serena in the ring.

It will be interesting to see where they go from here — will Serena be kicked out of the Straight Edge Society? Personally, the women’s division could use her so I’d be all for it. I could definitely see her as a babyface that is bullied by Lay-Cool for not having a ‘girly’ look. And if Melina returns to SmackDown as I expect she will, the prospect of Serena, Melina and Lay-Cool will help SmackDown regain its title as the best weekly women’s wrestling on TV. The thought is salivating…

Show ▼

Only in WWE could an altercation be incited by gasp, a jump rope. The starring role, it seems, of tonight’s Divas segment went to said jump rope and it looked to me as though it got even more screen time, focus and attention than any of the Divas. In the words of The Miz: “Really? REALLY?” ‘Jump rope-gate’ came across as silly child’s play and made me wonder whether SmackDown had been transported to a kindergarten playground. These are grown women, right? Is it that hard to come up with real, personal animosity to sell storylines for the women? Apparently so. Watch ‘Friday Night Jump Rope’ below:

The segment opens with Rosa Mendes in the ring skipping in the ring. Sure, she’s got jump rope game but why is this on our TV? Out comes Kelly Kelly accompanied by Tiffany before Lay-Cool come out with Kaval and join commentary. Matt Striker explains that last week, Lay-Cool told Rosa to get in shape and that’s why she’s jumping rope. Hey Rosa, couldn’t do that backstage? Cue some funny comments from Lay-Cool and yes, I am still loving the rolling R’s. ["Rrrrrosa... Rrrrring"]

The bell rings, Rosa goes to hang up her rope, gets clubbed from behind by Kelly. Kelly hits the K2 and in the words of Bugs Bunny, “That’s all, folks!” So, the entrances took up two minutes and the whole match, bell to bell, lasted what… 10 seconds?

After the ‘match’, if it can even be called that, Kelly shows off her jump rope game before throwing the rope at Lay-Cool who are at the announce table. Layla and Michelle get heated and try to enter the ring to confront Kelly but Tiffany evens up the numbers and the co-Women’s Champions back off. Wait… haven’t both Layla and Michelle beaten Tiffany? Not that logic applies to WWE’s writing but wouldn’t it be easy for Lay-Cool to take out Tiffany considering she’s fallen to both of them before? Then couldn’t they just gang up on Kelly? It doesn’t seem all that ‘smart’, as Matt Striker put it, to me. Then again, you can see both Layla and Michelle are in expensive shoes and short skirts so it was given that there’d be no scuffle here. At least make it believeable!

The jump rope may be a small, inoffensive object used in this segment but to me, it signifies so much more. It signifies that WWE’s writers don’t care to show the Divas in real storylines with real personal animosity. Lay-Cool’s last feud with Beth Phoenix centered around make up and giving someone a makeover and now this feud includes a playground object like a jump rope? It just seems like WWE is dumbing down these girls, who are supposedly ‘smart, sexy and powerful’ and making them seem like nothing more than petulant, immature 12 year olds — and I think most girls grow out of jump rope at 12 anyway. WWE is so hell-bent on the Divas being ‘girly’ and ‘feminine’ that they’re radicalising it and doing the stupidest stuff.

The fact that a jump rope was thrown at Lay-Cool by Kelly — are you being serious? This is going to be an inciting incident in a feud? “Oh my God, she threw a jump rope at me, let’s get her!” Can you imagine that in a promo package before a pay per view match? Just a couple of years ago, you had Beth Phoenix slamming Melina up against a locker and it was so intense and so physical that you could see the animosity between them and you couldn’t wait to see them eventually wrestle each other. Throwing a freaking jump rope is doing nothing for me.

Then we have Rosa just standing idly by after the match. Last week, Lay-Cool humiliated her backstage. This week, Kelly humiliated her in a 10 second match. But afterwards when the Blondetourage and Lay-Cool faced off, she had the perfect opportunity to blind side either of them. But no, she was just standing there and looking goofy. Why bother with the segment backstage in that case?

This, to me, was one of the worst Divas segments that SmackDown has had in a really long time. Just so tedious, childish and frankly, insulting to not only the audience, but the Divas themselves.

The only positive I can draw is the mention of it being Layla’s birthday. Happy birthday to her.

Show ▼

But before we get to the match, we have a backstage segment with Lay-Cool and Rosa Mendes:

“The Joker called… he wants his make up.” No Layla, not a good one. *Tumbleweed* Nonetheless, this segment made me laugh and yes, I even felt a little sad for poor Rosa who broke down into tears after Lay-Cool teased her. I think it just goes to show the strength of Lay-Cool as characters: not only are they bitchy to the babyfaces, but the heels too. As for the ‘real talk’, real talk indeed. Rosa does need more training and she has yet to win a match. How ironic. But to her credit, the tears made me go ‘aww’. Nicely acted. I think it’d be interesting to see her want to exact revenge on Lay-Cool but still be a heel.

Also, just a couple of quick notes: I loved Michelle’s rolling of the R’s. So funny! And I loved her digging her little fingers into Kaval’s face and him not looking the least bit amused. Bless him. So adorable! I’m loving Lay-Kav-Ool.

And now it’s time for the match!

Lay-Cool are out first and Michelle gurl, don’t think we didn’t notice that fumble in your entrance! Damn, those heels are fierce, but you’re lucky you didn’t break an ankle. Next out is K2 with her mascot for the evening, Tiffany who is looking fierce herself in all black.

Match kicks off with Layla applying a side headlock on Kelly. Kelly begins fighting out of it and shoves Layla, but the Women’s Champion manages to pivot and hit her with a forearm. Layla then whips herself off the ropes and knocks down K2 before bouncing off the ropes again and jumping over Kelly and bouncing off the opposing rope. In that time, Kelly manages to get on her feet and Layla comes at her with a beautiful roll through pin combination that we’ve seen Layla hit in the past. Such a complex-looking move but Layla hits it with such a speed, it just looks amazing. Great spot already.

Kelly kicks out of the pin and Layla picks her up by wrenching her arm. K2 fights back with some really flimsy looking shots to Layla’s stomach. Kelly then uses the ropes to hit a standing somersault into an arm drag. Another great spot.

Kelly then follows through with a Thesz Press and smashes Layla’s head against the canvas, rather viciously and out of character for the usually ‘girly’ wrestler. Kelly then hits a low dropkick which sends Layla out of the ring. As Layla gets back on the apron, Kelly goes to greet her but gets hung on the middle rope by the Women’s Champ. Layla then kicks Kelly and goes for a cover but no three count.

Layla now applies that great head-scissors submission move that we saw last week against Tiffany, but Tiffany soon counters out of it. Kelly takes Layla off her feet and hits her with a jack-knife pin but Layla kicks out and goes for a kick to the midsection but Kelly catches her leg and hits her with a clothesline. Kelly then kicks Layla and throws her into the corner where she goes for a handspring elbow but Layla wisely moves out of the way. Layla, however, is met with a boot as she tries to get close to K2.

Kelly now mounts the turnbuckles but the other half of Lay-Cool, Michelle gets up on the apron and distracts Kelly which allows Layla to get on her feet and hit a beautiful straight kick to Kelly. Meanwhile on the outside, Tiffany knocks down Michelle but Layla, through the ropes, kicks Tiffany in the head, sending the fledgling blonde Diva down. I just want to take a moment to commend Tiffany’s selling here because she fell to the floor like she had just died. Even when she’s not in the match, her one spot looked so impactful.

Back in the ring, Layla drags Kelly to the center of the ring for the Lay-Out but Kelly counters and hits the K2 for the 1, 2, 3.

This bout, like last week, was a great little match with some memorable spots. I really enjoyed it and I don’t often say that about Kelly’s matches. I think it’s a testament to Layla in particular, who as I continually say, has developed into a great worker and is able to bring Kelly — who in my opinion, not the best wrestler — to a great match. Compared to their matches on ECW a few years ago, both Divas should be ever so proud of themselves because you can see the improvement in their work since then. They had a good chemistry, a nice fast pace [without any iffy/botched spots] and delivered a fun match.

I particularly took note of the fact that a lot of Kelly’s usual repertoire: whirly-birds, hurricanranas etc. weren’t used in this match, nor were they used in her match with Rosa a couple of weeks ago. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that she’s working with less skilled girls in the ring and girls who are of a similar stature. It seems like she needs to be in the ring with a Michelle or Beth to pull off those moves. And considering how boring those ‘flashy’ moves become after a while, I’m glad that she hasn’t been able to use them lately. The one spot she did do that was a little flashy, the standing somersault, was actually a really nice spot and led into a nice armdrag. Little moves interspersed into the match like that are great. The danger with Kelly though is that most of her matches are made up of moves like that and they lose their luster and it becomes apparent that she is something of a one trick pony. So I’m glad that it was more toned down here because Kelly looked better in the ring, and all the more competent a wrestler, for it. Good job.

I’m loving seeing Layla in singles matches, in fact, I’ve feel quite spoiled over the past couple of weeks. I’m sure we’ll go back to a Michelle singles match or a tag team match next week, but in the past two weeks Layla has had the opportunity to shine on her own in the ring and I’m really liking what I’m seeing. She brought Tiffany last week, and Kelly this week, to two good matches. I’m excited to see what else Layla has to offer as a singles wrestler and look forward to a day when we can see her against the likes of Michelle, Melina, Serena, Natalya and even Eve Torres.

Another solid match on SmackDown.

Show ▼

For the first time since becoming Women’s Champion, Layla finally gets herself a singles match on SmackDown, facing off against another Diva that has been impressing of late, Tiffany. On paper, this was an exciting opportunity for both rising Divas to show what they can do in the ring. How did it play out in execution? Watch the match below:

It’s great to see a fresh, new match up on SmackDown especially given the shallow talent pool that the brand has at the moment. We’ve only seen Tiffany in singles action against Michelle thus far, so I have been anticipating these two squaring off for a while.

Lay-Cool are out first with their NXT Rookie, Kaval in tow. As Layla and Michelle McCool take off their hoodies in their signature entrance, they toss it over Kaval’s head as if he were a coat rack. As they approach the ring, Lady McCool has the bottom rope held down for her by Butler Kaval as she enters.

It’s promo time now. The duo make Kaval hold their belts before addressing the crowd. Lay-Cool mock the crowd, yadda, yadda. Oh hey, Michelle’s parents are in the crowd. Kelly’s mom is too, but apparently she’s not important enough to be shown on camera. Oops. More mocking the crowd.

Tiffany Tiffany is out next with her own personal manager for the night, Kelly Kelly — they are dubbed the Blondetourage by Matt Striker.

The match kicks off with Layla delivering a hefty slap across Tiffany’s face but the rookie Diva fights back with some vicious forearms. We’re already off to a nice, aggressive start! Tiffany tries to whip Layla into the corner, but she reverses — Tiffany manages to catch herself in the corner and hoists herself up using the ropes with her legs now on Layla’s shoulders. Layla grabs her legs and throws them over the top rope and Tiffany lands on her feet on the apron. Layla screams at Tiffany and grabs her by the head but Tiffany fights back with another forearm and a shoulder block through the ropes. Tiffany tries to climb the ropes but Layla delivers a beautiful kick as Tiffany takes a bump to the apron.

Layla drags Tiffany into the ring by the leg and goes for a cover but Tiffany kicks out. Layla now applies a submission move on Tiffany, wrapping her legs around her head. Meanwhile, Matt Striker inadvertently reveals that he watches teen drama for girls, reciting the tag line for Pretty Little Liars. “Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret,” he says. Back in the ring, Layla locks in her submission ever harder, using her hands to elevate her — really nicely done. Layla then drags herself, and Tiffany, to the ropes where she uses them for extra added advantage while the referee checks on Tiffany.

The referee eventually cottons on and breaks up the illegal use of the ropes but the damage is done to Tiffany. Layla goes to pick up Tiffany but this time, it’s the blonde who delivers a mighty slap to the Women’s Champion. She follows through with an atomic drop and some big clotheslines. Tiffany whips Layla into the corner and climbs the ropes, delivering some shots to Layla before being thrown off the turnbuckles. Layla then tries to take control but walks into a small package and just about has the match won but Layla kicks out at the last second as McCool screams on the outside of the ring and gets up on the apron.

As Tiffany shoves Michelle off the apron to the cold, hard floor outside, Layla manages to regain her composture and blind sides Tiffany with a devastating Layout for the 1, 2, 3.

I actually went back and watched that finisher a few times because it really did look deadly and like it took Tiffany’s head off. Just go back and watch that again. Perhaps the best that move has been executed to date.

So what’s the verdict on this match? Despite being on the short side, I thought both Divas were extremely competent and gave as good as they got. I loved the aggressive start to the match with Layla’s slap and Tiffany’s forearms — it set the tone for the match which saw more aggression including Layla’s lovely headscissors submission.

Both Divas worked really well together and despite the length, there were some really good spots here. Tiffany really impresses me in the way that she delivers her moves — even just watching her forearms, they look so believable and well done. She’s not afraid of being aggressive in the ring and her moves connect with conviction. Her clotheslines, too, were well done.

Meanwhile, I thought Layla did a great job in leading Tiffany into a great match and set the tone. She can also be very aggressive and cunning in the ring and her spots including kicking Tiffany off the turnbuckle was nice. She really does have some of the sharpest kicks amongst any Diva I’ve ever seen.

Great match. Very enjoyable, if a little short.

Show ▼

Thoughts after the cut:

Melanie’s Thoughts
As with last week’s Kelly vs Rosa, this looks like a nice, fresh match-up and I’m really looking forward to it. Nice to see WWE putting out fresh matches even though there’s so few Divas on SmackDown. Also nice to see Layla pick up a [hopefully] legit win.

WWE has booked a supershow with stars from both Raw and SmackDown for the night in Oklahoma City. The earlier start time of 6.45pm is indicative of a television taping, according to ProWrestling.net.

SmackDown will move to Syfy this fall after just two years on MyNetworkTV.

It looks as though we have our next Divas feud on SmackDown as Team Lay-Cool scouted Kelly Kelly during her match tonight with Rosa Mendes. The co-Women’s Champions, Layla and Michelle McCool, watched on as K2 faced off against fellow her Raw import. Upon seeing spoilers for this week’s show, I have to admit, I wasn’t optimistic for a Kelly vs Rosa match — both seem so limited in the ring — so how did it all come together? Regardez:

Latina Rosa is the first out for her first match since the match that saw Beth Phoenix injured a few weeks ago. She’s followed by Miss Kelly who is having, not just a good hair day, but a great one, it seems.

The two Divas start things out with a lock-up but it’s Rosa who gets the better of the exchange with a knee to Kelly’s stomach. Mendes whips K2 into the corner but Kelly manages to gain momentum and stop herself, as Rosa comes charging at her, she uses the momentum to jump over Rosa and into a backflip. Kelly then charges at Rosa to hit a neckbreaker and pin attempt but Rosa kicks out.

Just as Kelly begins controlling the match, out come the co-Women’s Champions to the entrance ramp. Layla mocks Kelly by holding her nose, playing into the whole ‘Smelly Kelly’ thing and Michelle waves at Kelly sarcastically. Meanwhile from behind, Mendes grabs Kelly by the hair and smashes her against the canvas. Rosa kicks Kelly and goes for a pin of her own but Kelly kicks out this time.

Rosa now whips Kelly into the corner and runs at her with a stinger splash before taking a moment to pose for the crowd. Mendes props K2 over the middle rope and begins choking her out using her leg before the referee breaks it up. Rosa grabs Kelly by the hair and slams her face-first down against the canvas and again, shows off for the audience. Rosa then picks up Kelly for a nice snap suplex and pin attempt while we cut to Lay-Cool watching on. Rosa then pulls Kelly’s hair before wrapping her legs around her throat in a headscissors submission. The referee breaks up the hold which results in Rosa clubbing Kelly across the back and bouncing off the ropes, however Kelly counters but leaping atop Rosa with the Thesz Press and then bounces her head off the mat.

Kelly now gains momentum, screaming, “Come on Rosa!” in her usual shrill voice and hits clotheslines on Mendes. Rosa now whips Kelly into the corner but Mendes reverses and it’s Kelly who meets the turnbuckles. Rosa charges at Kelly but gets a boot to the stomach. Kelly climbs the ropes and hits a crossbody from the middle turnbuckle. Kelly goes for the pin but no three count.

Kelly picks up Rosa who fights back with a kick and then bounces off the ropes for a neckbreaker, Kelly manages to reverse however and hits the original K2 on Rosa for the 1, 2, 3. Meanwhile, Michelle and Layla look on perplexed. Well, they do say a picture’s worth a thousand words…

We finish with a staredown between Kelly and Lay-Cool as it becomes evident that these three Divas will eventually square off, perhaps for the Women’s Title.

The match was definitely not the disaster I was expecting. I didn’t have a lot of faith in these two putting on a decent match together without the guidance of a more experienced Diva in the ring with them. It wasn’t a bad match however, it wasn’t exactly a great match either — just okay and not very memorable. I felt as though I was just watching two girls go from one move to the next and trying to make sure they stringed together a cohesive match. If that’s what they were going for, kudos to them. They did their spots and credit to them for that. However, the problem I have with this match is that it felt like I was watching a training match, like someone was filming an FCW training session — move one to move two to move three etc. I didn’t feel passion, energy or intensity from either Diva — it felt a little like there were two Diva-bots in the ring. A match should have passion and fire in it and I didn’t feel that. As much as Rosa did try to ham it up to the crowd with her posing etc., it didn’t come across as natural and I don’t think the audience has really accepted Rosa yet. As for Kelly, she is extremely popular and manages to get the crowd into what she’s doing which is a good thing, but at the same time, I don’t feel her in-ring work backs up her popularity.

I did notice that Kelly strayed away from any of her signature moves that she would usually hit i.e. the whirly-bird or the multiple hurricanranas. I guess it was for the best considering who her opponent was. Again, however, it just shows that she too needs to work more experienced girls to be able to pull out moves like that.

It’s going to be interesting to see how she works with Lay-Cool because it seems like she’s in line for a feud with them — perhaps for the Women’s Championship. Can she handle it? I look forward to seeing her work with Michelle, who I think can bring out a lot in girls who are greener than her [see: Maria and Tiffany]. Seeing her with Layla could be touch-and-go, but I think Layla is getting to the level where she too can have great matches with just about anyone. She really brought out something in Eve during the commercial free Raw.

Verdict: Tonight’s SmackDown was so-so. Decent ring work, but nothing to write home about and nothing memorable that I will remember in the morning, unlike the Gail/Jillian and Tiffany/Michelle matches on Superstars.

Raw — by Erin
We start off the show with some Raw action, pitting Gail Kim against the woman she defeated on this show back in April, Jillian:

The match starts with a tie-up, Jillian backing Gail into a corner. she kicks her in the midsection and takes a moment to flaunt before turning back, but Gail slips out of her reach and flips over her, rolling her into a quick pin attempt, which earns her only a 1-count. Jillian, frustrated, gets to her feet quickly and slams Gail to the mat by the back of her head. She goes for a pin of her own, and Gail kicks out at 1.

Jillian whips Gail into the ropes, but on the return Gail turns the tables, latching onto Jillian’s midsection with her legs and rolling her forward into another pin attempt. Jillian kicks out. Gail goes on a rush of offense, nailing Jillian in the corner and then hitting a free-standing monkey flip. She dropkicks Jillian one last time, with sends her out of the ring. Jillian stumbles about outside, catching a breather. Unfortunately for her, Gail latches onto her neck with her legs, slipping through the ropes and hitting a hurricanrana outside the ring. Wow! I don’t think I’ve seen that done before. It’s creative, but doesn’t look as deliberate as it could have. To take full advantage of Gail’s moves, I think it’s vital to keep that unpredictable feeling in her matches and so far, this match has delivered that very nicely.

Jillian gets her revenge pretty quickly, though, pushing Gail so that she nails the ring apron face-first. She slips back into the ring and lounges a bit while Gail tries to shake away the cartoon birds flying around her head. She manages to get back inside the ring before the referee counts her out, but Jillian doesn’t give her a moment to recover, as she’s on her instantly, kicking her and slamming her face into the mat. She tries for a pin, but Gail kicks out at 2. Focusing on Gail’s loopy head, Jillian props her up against her knee, pulling her by her hair and knocking the back of her head against it. She lets go eventually but stays on Gail’s case, whipping her into the corner. Gail can barely stay vertical, though, and slams into the turnbuckle and falls back to the mat. Jillian senses Gail’s weariness and goes for yet another pin, getting only 2 again.

She brings Gail back against her knee and latches her into a headlock. The crowd starts to really get behind Gail, and she slowly gets to her feet and battles out of the hold. she elbows her way out and shoves Jillian away, going for another bodyscissors, but Jillian telegraphs it and lets Gail set herself up for a face plant. Jillian covers her, but Gail again kicks out at 2. Jillian is flabbergasted. She slaps her and tries again, but Gail kicks out even more vigorously this time, showing increased life. Jillian pulls her back into a hold punishing Gail’s head, jabbing her elbow into one of her temples and her knee in the other.

She lets go of Gail, hoisting her up and whipping her into the corner, setting up for a handspring elbow, belting out a flat note Tarzan-style before going for it. Gail jumps up, hooking her legs around Jillian’s neck and hitting a hurricanrana. Gail tries to get in a few blows on Jillian, but Jillian strong-arms her and slams her to the mat, her head again being jostled around. With Gail prone, Jillian goes for a cartwheel elbow, but is met with Gail’s knees instead. Gail keeps her momentum, nailing Jillian on her way through the ropes before scaling the turnbuckle. Jillian stops her in her tracks, taking control and hitting her with a top-rope suplex.

The move looks to have knocked the wind out of both Divas, as Jillian is slow to capitalize on the move. She eventually does get a cover on Gail, but Gail resiliently kicks out at 2. Jillian can’t believe it, but manages to thwart an attack from Gail and get her in a backslide pin, but Gail slips out of it rather quickly, pulling her to her feet and hitting the Eat Defeat. Gail gets the pin and the win.

What a fantastic match! The really played on the strengths of both Divas, with Jillian looking more vicious and malicious than usual, relentless in her attacks on Gail and calculating in focusing on her ailing head. She’ll likely always have that silly personality, but it’s nice to see her have some seriousness in the ring and really pull it off. You wouldn’t think that the girl who warbles pop songs for laughs could come off so intimidating in the ring, but she does.

Gail’s no slouch either, and her exciting, athletic maneuvers made the made unpredictable, exciting, and visually stunning. She utilizes them in a way that doesn’t make her look like a spot monkey, peppering in more basic, match-building moves that other Divas don’t and, as a result, lack real in-ring integrity. Her matches, as exciting and flashy as they are, are not *only* that. Gail mixes flash and substance in a way that makes her one of the top “must-watch” Divas in the company. Hell, both her and Jillian proved in this match that, given the right amount of time, they’re both “must-watch”. All it takes is a little effort from the boys backstage to give them the stage to perform, and these girls will put on a match that restores your faith in the division. I won’t say that one match can erase all the cynicism from my black little heart, but it does give me hope that, if the bookers are more generous and thoughtful in booking Diva matches and storylines, the Divas are more than capable of doing their part in giving us something fun to watch.

SmackDown — by Melanie
Following perhaps one of the best Divas matches of the year thus far, Michelle McCool and Tiffany had a tough act to follow. Let’s see how they fared…

The match starts with the co-Women’s Champ wrapping her arms around Tiffany’s waist, the fledgling Diva then counters on the McCool and wisely takes her down by the legs. Tiffany then follows through with a headlock as McCool gets to her feet and manages to get out of the hold and wrenches Tiffany’s arm behind her. The Divas again hit the mat and Tiffany manages to roll over and apply the same move on Michelle. Michelle applies a headlock as Tiffany counters by using her athletic prowess to do a headstand and then float over out of the lock. Very nice mat exchange here between the two Divas. Tiffany then jumps back over Michelle and goes for a cover but no dice. Very technical way to kick things off.

The two Divas exchange arm wrenches but Michelle gets the better of the exchange, grabbing Tiffany by the hair and throwing her out of the ring. With Tiffany propped up against the announce table, the vicious McCool hits her patented knee strike on Tiffany. Another great, intense spot. Tiffany winces on the outside while Michelle gets back into the ring as the referee begins a 10 count.

As Tiffany gets back into the ring but is struck across the back by an opportunistic Michelle, who then begins hitting knee strikes across her back. Michelle tries to drag Tiffany across the ring but Tiffany holds onto the ropes and Michelle, again rather viciously, stamps on her hand. Meanwhile on the outside, Layla is clapping away and exclaims: “I feel sorry for her.” Me too!

Michelle is ready to put Tiffany away and signals the Faith Breaker and whips herself against the ropes in Tiffany’s direction, but the young Diva — still hurting — tosses her overhead in a desperation move. She follows through with an atomic drop and a back elbow. Meanwhile, rather unfortunately, Miss Tiffany’s skirt has hiked up giving the fans a load of her pink panties. Ruh roh! From the corner, Tiffany now hits a monkey flip and then smashes Michelle by the head against the mat.

Tiffany kicks Michelle in the stomach and Michelle falls on her hands and knees, Tiffany whips herself off the ropes and goes for a sunset flip but Michelle rolls out of it and beautifully counters into the Faith Breaker for the 1, 2, 3.

Comparing it to the Raw Divas match, these two blondes really did have a tough act to follow and while I don’t think it could’ve topped Jillian vs Gail, this was a solid offering from SmackDown. I was particularly impressed with Michelle who I felt was on top form in terms of viciousness in the ring which really sells her heel character. The way she stamped on Tiffany’s hand to stop her from holding the ropes, the knee smash against the announce table — really intense and vicious heel-like moves from Michelle. I also really loved Michelle’s counter of Tiffany’s sunset flip into the Faith Breaker. This girl is really good at coming up with unique and interesting ways of seguing into her finisher. Usually, it’s kind of predictable when a girl is gonna hit her finisher — to use Kelly Kelly as an example, her opponent is usually on all fours and you know that the move is going to happen. Meanwhile with Michelle, she manages to come up with unique ways to fluidly go from a move into her finisher and it looks surprising and feels ‘real’, like it’s been hit out of nowhere.

As always, Tiffany was impressive, really stepping up against Michelle and not acting intimidated. You’d never tell that she is as new to the ring as she is, because she sells that ring presence so well. I know WWE considers Kelly the star power but hopefully they’ll give Tiffany the opportunity to take the lead in this brewing tag team feud.

What did you think? What match did you prefer? Comment below!

Show ▼

Melanie’s thoughts after the cut:

Melanie’s Thoughts
I am surprised that WWE acknowledged Mickie James as they never acknowledge Superstars/Divas who have been released on television after they’ve been cut. I would say this is a pretty big moment and goes to show the impact that Mickie had on the WWE. They usually act like the released wrestler ceased to exist but it’s hard to write out Mickie’s history. Hopefully, despite the shitty way she was let go, they’ll begin acknowledging and respecting her accomplishments as they do with Trish, Moolah and Lita.

EDIT: More spoilers added. Trying to reserve judgement on Kelly vs Rosa but just in case, I have already picked out the title of this week’s SmackDown Redux: ‘This is a Disastuh’. If you don’t get it, you obviously need more Gaga in your life.

What we did get however, was an unncessary albeit fun backstage skit with Layla and Michelle McCool with their usual shtick. Watch below:

I say unncessary because, with no real storyline to work with and no real feud or challenger for the belt(s), what was the point of this segment? What does it mean in the long run? Most likely nothing. However, on the other hand, I found it to be an enjoyable, silly two-minute skit that allowed Lay-Cool some screen time and the chance to show some personality and charisma.

The segment also worked in addressing/explaining the deal with the co-Women’s Championships with Lay-Cool, in their own unique tone, explaining that since it was a handicap match, they’re both champions. This was followed by a rather heel-like ode to Beth Phoenix which was well done. It’s like the male segments where the heel brags that they’ve ‘injured’ the babyface wrestler who’s now watching at home. However, usually when that happens, the ‘injured’ wrestler isn’t really injured and it’s an angle which sees them miraculously return and attack the heel. The problem then, is that here, Beth really is injured and won’t be back for several months which makes me wonder why continue as if it were still an angle? However, it’d be interesting to see them continue the Beth-teasing until her comeback, perhaps taking credit for her injury. That way, Beth is never out of sight or mind due to Lay-Cool’s continous mentions of her and it’ll create a feud for her to come straight back into — with the fans anticipating her return also.

But for the time being, it seems as though SmackDown just doesn’t know what to do with the Divas right now and WWE’s own flaws are coming back to haunt them; the release of Mickie James and the ill-advised move of Kelly to SmackDown. She was supposedly moved to SmackDown due to her popularity and was due to be given a push but when push comes to shove, they just aren’t prepared to give her the top spot. Meanwhile, Beth’s injury, obviously, can’t be chalked up to WWE and was but an accident. The saving grace of Beth’s injury was the tease that Layla and Michelle may feud after Layla seemingly shocked the world with her title win. However, it seems Lay-Cool are just as cohesive as ever — if not more.

Back to this week, it was a fun and frivolous segment that both Layla and Michelle pulled off well. However, it’s obvious that SmackDown’s Divas division is in a state of uncertainty, and sooner or later, the cracks will show.

Check back tomorrow for my opinion piece on what WWE should do with the SmackDown Divas division.

Show ▼

After getting our first glimpse of the new set-up with the Women’s Championship on Raw this past Monday, we got a full explanation on this week’s SmackDown. Team Lay-Cool have decided to share the Women’s Title despite Layla being the one to pick up the victory during last week’s match-up. Ring announcer Tony Chimel was quick to point out that Layla and Michelle McCool are the ‘self professed’ co-Women’s Champions — which, for the record books, means that only Layla is ‘legally’ recognised as Women’s Champ. Watch below:

Confusing as it may be, it’s a pretty cool gimmick to have Lay-Cool acting as though they are co-Women’s Champions. It’s not been done before with either the Women’s or Divas belts, so it’s somewhat refreshing and creative. This sets up lots of possibilities i.e. handicap matches against the likes of Kelly Kelly or Tiffany if they were to receive title shots; or perhaps us never not knowing which Diva may defend the belt and also, perhaps even a Lay-Cool sized implosion. But for the here and now, I guess they’re establishing this new gimmick and we can’t expect any storyline progression just yet.

This week, Lay-Cool once again faced off against Kelly Kelly and Tiffany. Layla and Kelly kick things off with a lock-up which turns into a side headlock by Layla. Kelly whips Layla against the ropes but she manages to counter with a quick counter pin which looked very impressive. Layla begins wrenching Kelly’s arm but K2 fights back with a forearm and then hits a springboard armdrag using the ropes. Kelly kicks Layla and whips her into the corner, Layla manages to stop herself and uses the turnbuckle to jump over Kelly and wrap her legs around Kelly’s head. However, Kelly then tosses her over the top rope, hitting her with a few forearms and then kicks her off the apron. Kelly now on the outside of the ropes is met by McCool who she also kicks off the apron.

Kelly now takes to the middle rope and hits a crossbody to the outside on Michelle with Layla seemingly getting away. Kelly chases her to the other side of the ring where she’s met by Tiffany who hits a clothesline off the apron on the Women’s Champion. Great spots.

Tiffany is now tagged in and jumps from top rope to hit a sunset flip on Layla. She then hits Layla with a low dropkick which doesn’t look very good at all and Layla simply lands on her butt. Layla now back up, walks into a back elbow and is whipped into the corner and hit with a monkey flip. Tiffany goes to lift Layla but she fights back with a knee to the midsection and tags out to Michelle. As she gets in the ring though, Tiffany grabs her by the hair and tosses her across the ring before knocking Layla off the apron.

Tiffany now goes for a monkey flip on Michelle but she manages to counter into a Faith Breaker and take the win for Lay-Cool.

Short, simple but a fun little match that managed to pack some good spots into 2-3 minutes. Obviously, there’s no real storyline progression here and I’m assuming any plans they had were thrown out of the window when Beth was injured. But for this week, their goal was to explain to the audience how this whole co-champions thing came about and establishing Lay-Cool as co-Women’s Champions and I think they did a good job in that. Hopefully now we’ll see more development.

Show ▼

Thoughts after the cut:

Erin’s Thoughts
I’m bummed that Layla is officially sharing her title with Michelle, but I guess a decent storyline could come out of it, like we discussed on the Post-Raw Show last night. I’m staying hopeful that the team of Tiffany and Kelly is more exciting than it sounds on paper, but I can tell now that we’re going to be missing Beth big time in the coming weeks.

Looks like we may be seeing someone new on Friday nights in the coming weeks. Perhaps FCW’s AJ Lee? And hey, I hear a certain Vicious Vixen is available after this Friday…

Let’s play armchair casting director. Who would you like to see in the role?

Having followed Layla from the beginning of her WWE career all those years ago during the WWE Diva Search, I always saw a certain something in her — I just felt that this girl was something special. Here at Diva Dirt, we’ve championed her for pretty much all of our existence; from her fashion sense, to her ever-improving in-ring skills and the personality that she easily oozes into her matches and skits. Never however, did I think I’d see the day that she’d hold the same belt that has been held by greats such as Trish, Lita and Victoria — especially not this soon.

It’s been a topsy-turvy week for the SmackDown brand; the Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix injured during last week’s taping and this week, the whole landscape of the brand was turned on its head. Watch below:

The segment opens with Rosa Mendes in the ring for a match with the homecoming queen, the Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix appearing before her hometown crowd in Buffalo, New York. The Glamazon gets an amazing response from the crowd… just wow. I don’t think I’ve heard a response like that for a Diva in years! There is some emphasis put on the fact that Beth was hurt during her match with Rosa last week on WWE Superstars, including a close-up on her Tara-like knee brace. Beth is ready to face Rosa but out comes Vickie Guerrero who reveals two things: A) that she is still the Official Consultant of SmackDown despite being the new Raw General Manager and B) that Beth will have to defend her Women’s Championship right now against Michelle McCool who has invoked her rematch clause — but it will also be a handicap match with Layla also in the match. Err, what was the point in having Rosa on the show in the first place? Surely, Vickie could’ve come out first, made her speech and then Beth could have come out? I guess it’s a case of any excuse to get a pretty face on the show…

Out come Team Lay-Cool who mock Beth’s knee injury as the make their way down the ramp. The match begins and we are told that this will be a tornado rules match with both Layla and Michelle in the ring at the same time. Michelle is the first to go after Beth, going right at Beth’s injured knee with a kick and then clubbing her across the back. Michelle applies a side headlock which Beth soon breaks free of and whips Michelle into the ropes and barges her down to the canvas. Meanwhile from behind, Layla is ready for some action but Beth turns around just in time and Layla walks into a clothesline.

Beth now begins work on Layla but is chop-blocked in the back of the injured knee by McCool. Michelle kicks Beth across the back of the knee but is then shoved down to the mat by Phoenix. Layla then runs into a back elbow. Beth now begins fighting off both Divas with blows but the cunning McCool again goes after the knee taking her down. Lay-Cool begin double teaming Beth, backing her into the corner where Michelle stretches the injured knee out over the middle rope applying pressure to it. Beth then begins to struggle free, hitting Michelle’s head off the turnbuckle but then turns around to deal with Layla. This gives Michelle momentum to climb the ropes, wrap her legs around Beth’s neck and begin choking her. Layla tries to come at Beth but gets a kick in the stomach. Beth then begins to fight free and hoists Layla onto her shoulders and then somehow, miraculously — especially given that she’s injured — piles Michelle on top. What a sight and what a feat from the injured Glamazon. Beth hits a Samoan drop on Lay-Cool before immediately clutching her knee and writhing in pain.

Beth struggles to cover Layla for a pin but she eventually does, however McCool breaks up the count. Michelle begins stomping at the knee before picking up Beth and attempting to whip her into the corner, Beth reverses and Michelle goes into the corner but manages to stop herself by using her leg. She then turns and runs at Beth, the two Divas then end up barging into each other and both end up going down with McCool flying out of the ring.

This leaves the coast clear for Layla to scamper in and pin Beth for the 1, 2, 3 and become the NEW WWE Women’s Champion!

After picking up the win, the new champion begins shrieking at her victory. You know Layla, most girls would cry when they win the belt. Layla’s shrieks of joy as I shall call them, were pretty funny though. Layla celebrates with her Simply Flawless teammates, Vickie and Michelle. Meanwhile in the ring, Beth looks heartbroken as she clutches her knee in the corner having just lost the Women’s Title in her hometown.

Where to begin? Let’s start with the match. Obviously, anytime you have a handicap match, especially with all of the ladies in the ring at the same time, it’s not going to be the most technical match and it’s not going to look that great. This match wasn’t by any means up to the standard that we have become accustomed to for Women’s Championship bouts but it wasn’t the most important thing here. The crowd however, were very into the match due to the hometown girl’s involvement and the stunned silence after Layla won the belt, a disbelief as it were, was just an amazing moment. Shocking your crowd into such a silence is not an easy feat — especially since they were so into the bout and were so vocal for Beth. That really was a DVR moment for me. The crowd were just in disbelief and awe and it just shows what a shocker this was for them to see their hometown girl lose the belt like that. That to me was even more powerful than cheers or boos.

Next, how about a huge round of applause for Beth Phoenix? Wow. The Glamazon just proved her might on SmackDown this week. She’s injured and she still came to work, she hoisted not one, but two women on her shoulders and gave her hometown crowd the best show she physically could. That just shows you the determination, passion and drive that Beth has. What an amazing heart and an admirable performance from her. A fighting champion in the truest sense. The close-up on her face at the end — the heartbroken stare really melted my heart. I truly wish her the speediest of recoveries. Thank you, Beth.

And finally… the new Women’s Champion. There is just so much to be said about Layla that she was entrusted with the Women’s Championship. Even if it is ripped away from her next week, which it could very well be, she can still say she has won that belt. The same championship as the likes of The Fabulous Moolah, Wendi Richter, Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, Molly Holly and Mickie James, just to name a few. Those Divas who have come before the current crop that made that title mean something, it suggests to me that WWE realises the talent and depth they have in Layla that she was rewarded with the Women’s Title. She may still be developing as a wrestler and yes, it may have come out of left field — but you’ll get no complaints from me over Layla winning the title.

I say that Layla deserved to have this moment and to have that faith put in her to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. To see her transformation over the last year is a real sight to behold. The evolution of a Diva, a Diva that’s grown before our very eyes in every aspect. She has improved so much in the last year since she was moved to SmackDown in the 2009 WWE Draft. Her feud with Eve Torres upon arriving was pretty shaky but you saw her improve and get better each and every week. Her matches with Melina last summer were really good. Her matches with Mickie James and Beth Phoenix were great too. She has become such a consistent, reliable worker and a great seller; I trust that she can have great matches with whoever she works with. Then there’s her rise as a character — seeing Layla’s personality develop in the last year has completed the package. There are so few Divas on the main roster right now that ooze charisma, charm and personality. Layla is one of those few. The personality and life that she injects into her matches [crying and screaming when she's about to take the Glam Slam] and into her backstage skits are second to none right now. She is sexy and she is beautiful but she’s not afraid to look goofy or unsexy. She really has become the complete package and while girls like Maryse, Eve Torres and Alicia have been given their moments in the spotlight, Layla has been quietly working in the background to less fanfare to perfect her craft. I wondered when WWE management would sit up and take notice and it looks as though they have. She’s obviously still not a Beth or Michelle-level worker yet, but she’s making great strides and it’s a great thing to reward those that are showing that level of dedication.

WWE is making an effort to push new, younger stars and Layla [although she is 31] is one of those new, younger stars that could really be a big thing for the WWE if given the opportunity. They’ve taken a chance on Eve Torres as the Divas Champ, they’ve taken a chance on Jack Swagger as World Heavyweight Champ and now Layla too. I’m extremely happy for Layla and I think an underdog champion she may be, but her name is up there with all the greats now and no one can take that away from her.

Congratulations, Layla!

Show ▼

Show ▼

Melanie’s thoughts after the cut:

Melanie’s Thoughts
Obviously there are some conflicting reports as to who is the new WWE Women’s Champion. We are currently looking into it however, for now, we have provided a few different spoiler reports. If anyone has seen another set of spoilers, please email them in to divadirt@gmail.com and we’ll add them to this post to give readers a clearer idea. But for the record: #TeamLayla. Also, feel free to vote in our prediction poll below:

Show ▼

This week on SmackDown, Layla scored yet another very rare victory and like her win over a departing Mickie James two weeks ago, she can thank former Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool for the assistance. Watch this week’s SmackDown match below:

Out first are Kelly Kelly and the Diva who shall now be known as Tiffany Tiffany. The two blondes come out to the ring looking like Gym Barbie and Wrestler Barbie respectively. On the apron, Tiffany shows off her new and exciting~ entrance pose, holding her foot while pointing at the crowd — whatever works for you, Tiffany! Out next are Team Lay-Cool with Vickie Guerrero in tow. Does anyone else find Team Lay-Cool’s entrance on the ramp exhausting? So many turns…

Tiffany kicks off the match with Michelle and I’m excited because I think these two Divas have good chemistry. They lock up rather roughly before Tiffany backs Michelle into the corner and the referee breaks things up. Michelle then face-shoves Tiffany however the former ECW GM counters with a drop toe-hold, followed by an atomic drop. Tiffany then hits McCool with a back elbow before winding her arm and whipping her into the corner. Tiff goes for a monkey flip but Michelle, in a really amazing display of athleticism, lands on her feet and rightfully boasts screaming, ‘Flawless’. Meanwhile from behind, Tiffany has Michelle scouted and hits another monkey flip and this time, McCool lands on her tailbone and flees the ring.

On the outside, Layla and Vickie create a blockade of sorts, not allowing Tiffany to get to Michelle. Meanwhile, McCool gets back in the ring and as Tiffany tries to get up on the apron, she is hit with a low dropkick, sending her crashing to the floor outside. It seems like Tiffany is always taking a bump to the outside and I really admire just how game she is, she’s unafraid of getting physical and getting cosy with the concrete as it were.

McCool rolls Tiffany back into the ring and begins viciously striking her with her knee. Michelle then tags out to Layla who slams Tiffany against the canvas and whips herself off the ropes for a big splash but Tiffany puts her legs up, taking the wind out of Layla.

Tiffany crawls to her corner and tags out to a fresh Kelly Kelly. Layla runs to her corner but Kelly shoulder blocks her through the ropes and then somersaults into the ring over Layla’s back. K2 then hits Layla with a clothesline and two rather awful low drop kicks. Kelly kicks Layla into the corner and riles up the crowd for her handspring elbow — but not before trying to knock McCool off the apron in an un-Kelly like show of aggression. Kelly goes for the handspring elbow but Layla nails her across the back with her knees. Hey, anyone remember that old Kelly/Layla/handspring fail on ECW? How they’ve grown~

Layla now goes for a clothesline but Kelly reverses into a neckbreaker before tagging out to Tiffany who hits a crossbody from the middle ropes. Tiffany goes for the cover but in comes McCool, interfering and breaking up the count. The referee then tries to get Michelle out of the ring followed by Kelly. But while he is distracted with Kelly, McCool kicks Tiffany across the back, allowing Layla to hit her Layout for the 1, 2, 3.

This was a pretty good match that played nicely off last night’s backstage segment on Superstars. I really do like seeing Tiffany in the ring, it’d be great to see her have a longer singles match one of these days. She has great chemistry with Michelle and I see her as someone, minus the awful ring attire, that could conceivably challenge Michelle McCool in a feud in future. For some reason, I just can’t take Kelly seriously as a title contender and I just can’t quite picture her feuding or having great matches with McCool. Just looking at Tiffany, she looks like a Glamazon in the making. She’s a little more built than Kelly, she has some height — she really does remind me of Beth Phoenix. She has a great figure and looks intimidating in the ring.

Again, it’s nice to see Layla get a win because it doesn’t happen often but she still looks weak as McCool is always there to ensure the win. I’d really love to see Layla be given the opportunity to win a match of her own accord one of these days.

Nonetheless, a good match.

I know what you’re thinking, who the hell is Marosa? It became evident watching last night’s episode of WWE Superstars that feisty Latina, Rosa Mendes is trying to remodel herself as SmackDown’s answer to the French poodle Maryse — complete with a bilingual promo. Where have we seen that before? Oh wait, just this past Monday on Raw… albeit in French. So, in case you haven’t already deduced: Maryse + Rosa = Marosa. In her first appearance as a SmackDown Diva — on Superstars — Marosa took on her former mentor, the Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix.

But before the match, we got a backstage segment between Kelly Kelly & Team Lay-Cool which nicely sets up a tag team match for tonight’s SmackDown. Watch below:

It looks as though Lay-Cool have picked their next target, having already picked on Mickie James and Beth Phoenix, branding Kelly ‘Smelly Kelly’. Kelly actually speaks! Not that you would know from watching her on Raw for the past two years. It was nice to see her being able to actually be part of a segment and I thought she did a good job here with Layla and Michelle. Enter Vickie Guerrero and the two pin her down as Vickie sprays her. This results in Kelly screaming at Vickie, calling her the ‘official cow’ which was pretty hilarious and almost matched Maryse clocking Eve with the Divas Title on Raw. Now enter the Glamazon who clears house along with Tiffany. Not a bad little segment, it’s rare to see something like this on Superstars.

Next up we have Beth Phoenix vs Rosa Mendes. Beth comes out first followed by Rosa who makes a really peppy entrance. I had called for Rosa to move to SmackDown in the Diva Draft feature and this is part of the reason why. She may not be a good wrestler, but she does have some personality that I think WWE could utilise. However, it becomes evident that the personality they want Rosa to show is Maryse’s… Rosa cuts a promo in Spanish and English, introducing herself and telling Beth that she’ll soon beat Beth for the title. “Adios Glamazon,” she says and I don’t know why but it made me laugh. Rosa then beats the microphone against Beth’s chest a few times, almost taunting her — resulting in the announcers calling her ‘muy loco’. Rosa definitley showed some personality and flare here.

The match begins now with Rosa trying to push the Glamazon who is unmoved and instead, Beth retaliates with a shove of her own on Marosa. Rosa then gives Beth a pretty hefty slap that looked great, but it seems to have just pissed Beth off even more. Beth smirks and hoists Rosa over her shoulders and plants her over the corner turnbuckle before kicking her in the gut. The Glamazon then tosses Rosa across the ring by the hair before hitting her with a clothesline. Beth whips Rosa into the corner, Rosa counters but Beth manages to find her feet and uses the ring ropes to her advantage, jumping over Rosa and hitting her head off the turnbuckle.

Beth delivers a few forearms but is pulled away by the referee, she then runs at Rosa who moves out of the way and Beth meets the turnbuckles. Rosa then hits a splash on Beth in the corner. Rosa then runs at Beth and kicks her, meanwhile it looks like Beth is hurt as she limps to her feet and tries to use the ring ropes to sustain herself. Rosa runs at Beth again but this time Beth wraps her arms around Rosa and manages to counter into a school girl to take the victory.

A pretty interesting and eventful night on Superstars with all of the SmackDown Divas making an appearance minus Serena. There was some storyline growth, some character development and a short match but I thought it all worked well. The match was hardly exciting and ended abruptly due to Beth’s injury but it was a nice way to showcase Rosa. I really like that she shows some personality even though she’s not a great wrestler and I thought she had a great presence when she was cutting her promo, acting like a crazy biatch. It’s a shame that WWE has pretty much given her the Maryse trademark in her promos and it comes across as second rate, I think it’d have been just fine if she didn’t do the whole bi-lingual thing.

As for the backstage segment, it set up the direction of the Divas going forward — it seems like Kelly is the new victim of Lay-Cool. However, I have to wonder where this leaves Beth who is the Women’s Champion after all. It seems like the focus is now on Kelly and Lay-Cool who will be in a match on SmackDown, while the Women’s Champion gets relegated to Superstars. Even despite losing the Women’s Title, the spotlight is still firmly on Michelle it seems. With Lay-Cool moving onto feuding with Kelly, what does that leave for Beth? Shouldn’t Michelle be more focussed on a rematch against Beth than calling Kelly smelly?

Overall though, I thought it was good night with plenty of ground covered. Perhaps even better than Monday’s Knockouts segment on Impact. What does that tell you?

Show ▼

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.

Show ▼

Thoughts after the cut:

Erin’s Thoughts
I guess Kelly’s taking over the “Beth’s tag partner” spot. If so, the WWE didn’t even miss a beat in replacing Mickie. I guess we’ll have to see how this match plays out to see if Kelly really is playing second fiddle or is taking an active part in the Beth/Laycool feud.

In the first move of the 2010 WWE Draft, Kelly Kelly was drafted to the SmackDown brand after Team Lay-Cool defeated Raw’s Eve Torres & Maryse to win a Draft pick.

As a result of her draft, Kelly became the #10 top trending topic on Twitter worldwide. Pretty cool feat in itself.

What do you think of Kelly on SmackDown? Sound off in the comments and vote below!

Before this Sunday’s big Women’s Championship bout between Michelle McCool and Beth Phoenix, McCool and her Simply Flawless teammates literally ironed out the details for the match on SmackDown this week. Also, who knew that this would end up being Mickie James’ final appearance on WWE television? It’s a very interesting week for the blue brand. Watch below:

First comes the announcement of an ‘Extreme Makeover’ match between Michelle and Beth for this Sunday. What is an ‘Extreme Makeover’ match? Beats me. But I guess we’ll find out Sunday. Just as long as there’s no vanity mirror with light bulbs around it and the Divas aren’t forced to dress in feathered robes like this, I’m good.

So after months of waiting for this tag team match, it’s finally here — Beth and Mickie James versus Michelle and Layla with Vickie on the outside. It seems like this match itself has been months in the making, let alone the Women’s Championship bout. I was really looking forward to seeing a relationship develop between Phoenix and James so it’s weird to think this will be their one and only appearance together as a team.

The match begins with Layla and Phoenix, Layla smartly runs around Beth and applies a side headlock on the Glamazon but is then hoisted in the air and twirled around by the forceful #1 Contender. Layla begins to find her ground, reapplying the headlock but is picked up again and dropped by Beth Phoenix. Beth runs at Layla, who kicks her in the leg, followed by a kick. Layla then irish whips herself off the ropes, as McCool blind tags herself in, and runs at Beth who catches her by the legs. Layla is locked into a giant swing by Beth but in comes Michelle who for some reason, jumps over Layla and then gets hit with a back elbow by Beth. Not even sure what’s going on here. Beth then picks up Layla in a lateral press position, hoisting her above her head but is kicked in the back of the leg by Michelle and ends up falling to her knees. McCool then works over the leg and goes for a pin but to no avail.

Michelle then continues to work over Beth’s leg before tagging out to Layla. Layla also begins working over the leg, stretching it over the bottom rope, applying pressure. She then distracts the referee while from the outside, Michelle begins choking Beth with her foot. Layla drags Beth to the center of the ring, and applies a leglock but is kicked away by Beth. She then throws Layla into the corner and tags out to Mickie who hits a shoulder block on Layla and then slides into the ring under the bottom rope. Mickie hits some clotheslines on Layla, knocks Michelle off the apron but is then caught with a kick by Layla. Mickie manages to reverse an irish whip attempt into a neckbreaker. Mickie signals to the crowd that she is going up top, to a big pop, and hits a Thesz Press on Layla. She goes for a cover but it’s broken up by Michelle who kicks her in the head.

Beth now gets involved, attacking Michelle from behind and the two end up outside the ring. In the ring meanwhile, Layla hits her Layout on Mickie for a surprising win. Layla herself is shocked afterwards that she either A) actually won a match or B) pinned the five time Women’s Champion.

After the match, Beth Phoenix gets in the ring and sets her eyes on Layla but from behind, Michelle chop-blocks her bad leg and takes her down. Lay-Cool now work over Beth as Layla goes to the outside to get an ironing board of all things. Why the hell is there an ironing board under the ring?! Layla props it up in the corner and they both irish whip Beth into the ironing board, back first, in a pretty sick move. Beth however, manages to slowly get back on her feet but is met with a huge big boot from McCool. Vickie then gets into the ring, handing them both lipsticks, as they smear it all over Beth’s face adding further insult to injury. I don’t know about you, but Beth looked severely sunburnt to me — I don’t know if that’s the look they were going for.

The match was decent as well with McCool and Layla isolating Beth’s leg. It’s crazy to think that this was Mickie’s last match, you could hear the pops when she was tagged in and went up to the turnbuckle — how do you just release your most over Diva? It baffles me.

I have to wonder if WWE knew on Tuesday that they’d be releasing Mickie this week, because I was extremely surprised to see her lose clean to Layla who seemingly loses all the time unless Michelle picks up the win in tag matches. It’s a nice rub for Layla but extremely surprising nonetheless. I do think they knew they would be releasing Mickie at the time, it’s a hell of a coincidence.

In all, it was a strong build to Sunday’s match even if it came at the last minute. I thought the post-match beatdown was incredibly effective and made you look forward to the PPV to see if Beth can get her revenge. Great stuff. Considering that this supposedly got terrible reviews in the spoilers, I guess they did a decent editing job to make it look good — it came across great to me.

More detailed spoilers have been added.

Show ▼

Thoughts after the cut:

Erin’s Thoughts
This match (i.e. before the post-match shenanigans) sounds like something I would’ve loved to see last night on the Smackdown invasion of Raw, but Friday’s better late than never. It’s unfortunate to see Mickie kind of tossed to the side, even though she’s no longer the one chasing the belt. She just seems kind of forgotten now. I’d like to see her stick up for Beth in the same way Maria did for her. It would give her something to do without actually being the one that Laycool’s targeting.

I gotta say that I’m not looking forward to seeing the ironing board beatdown nor the tween slumber party-esque lipstick graffiti. Is this really what a feud between Michelle McCool and Beth Phoenix should be? I feel like Laycool should have more up their sleeves than just smearing makeup on people’s faces. Be vicious and bitchy, but in a way that’s actually compelling. Unless Beth has an intense phobia of lipstick, I don’t think this attack is going to do much damage to her psyche.

Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool and her now former rival, Mickie James dusted off their heated feud for one more outing this week on an edition of SmackDown from London. And the result was perhaps one of the best Divas matches on TV so far this year. It’s no secret that Michelle has rarely wrestled a singles match on SmackDown in the past few months but I guess an international TV taping is a good a reason as any. Watch below:

So, Mickie is back from her little hiatus due to injury and she’s back in the ring with the woman who took the Women’s Championship from her back in February. Despite having surgery and everything, Mickie was on fine form as she skipped and hopped to the ring for her match followed by McCool with Layla and Vickie Guerrero in tow.

The former Women’s Champion gives McCool a little sly wink as she steps onto the ring apron for her signature pose, suggesting that she has not forgotten any of the animosity between them. As the bell rings and the match begins, the two Divas lock up but it’s Michelle who gets the better of the exchange, using her leverage to hit sort of an overhead throw on her. The arrogant champion then segues into press ups which become one-legged press ups, as Layla and Vickie cheer her on. Much to her surprise though, Mickie drops down opposite her and struts her stuff too leading to a nice showdown. Michelle looks surprised and confused as she says, “I didn’t know she could do that” to the crowd. Best to keep your eyes on your opponent Michelle, as James hit a great low dropkick on the champ and goes for the pin but no three count. Mickie goes for another pin attempt, this time sweeping the legs and jumping into a bridge but Michelle kicks out yet again.

The two Divas get to their feet, Michelle kicks Mickie in the midsection and attempts to whip her into the corner, Mickie counters and hits McCool with an elbow. Mickie grabs Michelle by the hair, moving into the corner going for a Tornado DDT but instead, Michelle blocks it and throws Mickie over the top rope to the apron outside. Mickie fights back with a forearm but gets caught with a knee to the stomach instead. Michelle then directs James into the middle turnbuckle, dazing the five-time Women’s Champ. McCool admires her handiwork with some added cheers from Layla on the outside. But Michelle rightfully cuts the celebration short and re-diverts her attention to her opponent, dragging James back into the ring by her hair and slamming her hard against the canvas before repeatedly bashing her head against it. The referee breaks things up and McCool begins arguing with him, meanwhile she uses her leg to choke Mickie in true heel fashion. She then goes for the pin but no three count.

Michelle now applies a submission move, wrapping her legs around Mickie’s neck in a headscissors. Michelle lifts herself up off the canvas, which according to Matt Striker ‘intensifies the pressure’. She then turns over and uses her legs to slam Mickie against the canvas. Hmm, I recall seeing a similar move used by Madison Rayne against Tara last week. I’ll let you speculate as you will… Anyhoo, Michelle strengthens the lock, using the ropes to her advantage as some sweet little fans in the front row will Mickie to fight out of it.

Michelle breaks the hold, gets to her feet and slaps her hands together signalling the end but as she turns around, here comes Mickie fighting back with forearms but McCool hits her with a knee strike to the stomach. She then follows through with huge knee strikes to the head before shoving Mickie down to the canvas. As a dazed Mickie holds onto the middle rope trying to regain composure, Michelle runs at her with her devastating patented knee strike, taking Mickie out before taunting her a little bit. Mickie begins fighting back now with a kick to the stomach and a back elbow before using the corner to hit her own patented move, the hurricanrana which is sold beautifully by Michelle. Michelle then walks into a clothesline and another elbow before rolling out of the ring as if she’s had enough.

Mickie chases Michelle out of the ring, grabbing her from behind and throwing her into the barricade. Then, in a highly unusual spot for a Divas match, she steps up onto the barricade and hits a Thesz Press on McCool which gets a big pop. Layla then runs at Mickie but gets a smaller-sized Thesz Press for her troubles. Mickie then spots Vickie, the woman who cost her the Women’s Championship but rather than be distracted, she turns around and takes control of her opponent who is now on her feet.

Mickie rolls Michelle into the ring and irish whips herself off the aprons, McCool gets to her feet and tries to clothesline her mid-flow but Mickie ducks and counters it into a neckbreaker. Mickie then goes for the pin, seemingly having Michelle down for three, but Layla is now on the apron screaming at Mickie. James kicks her and Layla stumbles into the ring. Meanwhile, Michelle is now back on her feet and as Mickie turns around, she walks into a huge big boot from Michelle, which she sells to perfection. McCool covers her and wins.

After the match, Michelle is seemingly not finished with James, kicking her around and smashing her head into the canvas. Michelle screams at Mickie to get up but is shoved by Mickie instead. Just then, the Glamazon Beth Phoenix hits the ring and grabs Michelle’s leg as Layla and Vickie try to pull her out of the ring. Simply Flawless hightail it over the announcers’ table and into the crowd to get away from Beth. We then get an awesome, awesome shot of Beth just standing on the barricade towering over her nemesis. Meanwhile, Michelle and Layla taunt Beth calling her a man.

Beth then gets back in the ring and has a little friendly exchange with Mickie, with the two now seemingly seeing eye to eye.

This match was just fantastic and really seemed like a pay per view quality bout. The timing of the match worked out perfectly for it to develop and tell a story. You also had some spots that you don’t necessarily see in a Divas match, with Mickie Thesz Pressing Michelle by jumping off the barricade. Considering that Maria just revealed to us that Michelle and Melina were told off for being ‘too devastating’ during their Night of Champions match last year, I was surprised to see the Divas allowed to go for a spot like that on the outside. This was definitely a real treat for the British fans who only get TV tapings like twice a year, it’s great to see that added effort go into the Divas match.

It’s becoming rare to see Michelle McCool in singles action on SmackDown but when she does, boy is it worth it. I always enjoy seeing Michelle in the ring, she has developed into an amazingly consistent, high quality worker that can go with just about anyone. I thoroughly look forward to seeing her against Beth Phoenix in the future, I feel that match could perhaps be something really special. Looking back at their one match in October 2008, when Michelle was the babyface Divas Champ and Beth was the heel Women’s Champ, McCool’s transformation and growth as a wrestler since that time has been a great one. What I like about McCool is that you can see the growth and changes in her moveset as she has gone from happy, smiley babyface to conniving, vindictive heel. The spot such as aggressively smashing her opponents head against the canvas is just one example. I don’t often see that change in style and tone from other Divas or Knockouts when they switch from babyface to heel or vice versa, so I think it’s well worth pointing that out and complimenting McCool on that.

And also kudos to Mickie, who had surgery just under two months ago and is back in the ring, fighting fit and delivering matches like this. Looking back at her match with Michelle at TLC in December, I get the feeling that Mickie is challenged by Michelle as a performer and in turn, ups her own game. Her matches with Michelle [barring the Royal Rumble] have been consistently great. There was a lot of worry that Mickie had become complacent on Raw, but I definitely feel like Mickie and Michelle provide a challenge to each other which reads on screen and leads to an awesome match.

The one disappointment I have is the ball-dropping of Mickie and Vickie. You would think that Mickie would be furious and want to get her hands on Vickie, the woman who cheated her out of the Women’s Title. Instead, she returns from her injury to little fanfare [thanks to WrestleMania] and what could have been an awesome comeback has been lost. I would have loved to see Mickie kept off TV after losing the title and then reappearing out of nowhere one week and attacking Vickie Guerrero. That in itself should have been a secondary storyline to accompany Beth and Michelle. I feel that potential has been wasted and now Mickie, I guess, will play second string to Beth.

Speaking of the Glamazon, what a unique ending to this segment with Simply Flawless escaping through the crowd and as I mentioned, I absolutely loved the shot with Beth just standing on the barricade looking so powerful and statuesque towering above Michelle and company. That was a really imaginative new way to do things rather than the usual escape up the ramp. Pretty creative.

All in all, this was a great week for the Divas of SmackDown and I think we may finally get that Beth/Mickie vs Lay-Cool match we’ve been waiting for next week!

Show ▼

Show ▼

The SmackDown Divas this week were relegated to WWE Superstars for reasons that I can’t quite fathom. For one, the WWE Women’s Champion Michelle McCool has been a huge staple of the show for the past couple of years and also, Vickie Guerrero is another big selling point. Seems odd that they’d move the Divas segment from SmackDown to Superstars when such key players are involved. I guess we needed more time on SmackDown for the dissolution of Cryme Tyme, who coincidentally, spend more time on WWE Superstars than most. Nonetheless, this segment felt exactly like it would on SmackDown — it was given plenty of time and the Divas were given promos which is somewhat unusual for this show. So while I am a little confused as to why it wasn’t on the main show, it works just as well.

This week, the gear was turned up on the whole ‘Glam-a-man’ situation as Simply Flawless, lead by Michelle McCool, made their way down to the ring and out-and-out called Beth Phoenix a man. They had been planting the seeds for this direction prior to WrestleMania with the ‘Glam-a-man?’ t-shirts but as I mentioned last week in the Redux, it looks as though they are pressing ‘restart’ on this feud due to the yearly obstacle that is ‘Mania, which hinders rather than helps the Divas storylines as they have to be put on the show en masse with the Raw Divas also. Watch this week’s segment below:

First up on the mic is the heat magnet herself, Vickie Guerrero who then introduces us to the Women’s Champion, McCool who informs us that Beth Phoenix is a man. Great. More of WWE’s immature ‘potty humour’. The fat jokes with Mickie were just the start I take it. It’s a shame that every Diva feud must boil down to such elementary, vain things such as who’s sexier, who’s fatter, who looks manly etc. It just portrays the Divas as being high school bitches and not the intelligent women we know they are. Michelle McCool is in fact a very intelligent woman and dumbing her down with this character just seems silly to me. I could buy her as being a cold, calculating, meticulous heel who uses her brains instead of her brawn but that would be far too complicated to script apparently. Instead, the Divas must be dumbed down and enforce stereotypes. It’s evident that WWE doesn’t actually believe the Divas are smart as they would like us to believe with their ‘Smart, Sexy & Powerful’ slogan. Anyway, I digress. The acting here is pretty standard fare for Lay-Cool but they do it well, particularly Layla.

Vickie Guerrero announces that as a result of the new information that ‘Beth is a man’ she will have an intergender match against Layla. Out comes a super pissed off Beth Phoenix who avoids her regular entrance and marches to the ring with authority — nice touch. It sells that she’s annoyed and has no time for the happy, smiley Glamazon pose at the top of the ramp.

As Beth enters the ring, Layla tries to back away from her and she dashes out of the ring with a shrill scream. Layla composes herself on the outside and gets back in the ring but when she sees the Glamazon running at her, she once again tries to escape the squared circle but this time is stopped by Beth. The referee tries to keep the two apart and as a result, Layla manages to lay in a kick to Beth’s head and take control. Layla then lays in a few more of her sharp kicks and tries to irish whip Beth but the Glamazon isn’t moved. Beth throws Layla into the ropes and bends over for an overhead toss but Layla holds onto the ropes and kicks Beth in the head again.

Layla realises that her quick thinking has just pissed off the Glamazon even more and lets out yet another shrill scream as Beth hits her with a double axe-handle. Beth then grabs Layla by the neck and lifts her off the ground as Layla screams ‘Noooo’. Beth rests Layla on the top turnbuckle and then throws her off with Layla landing on her back. Beth then grabs Layla by the legs but she tries to counter by holding onto the ropes resulting in Beth slamming her onto the canvas. Beth then screams at Layla to call her a man to her face, meanwhile from the outside of the ring, the Women’s Champ tries to interfere and grabs Beth’s leg. Beth jumps out of the ring and Michelle and Vickie hightail it. Beth chases Vickie, who stumbles but Beth is forced back into the ring by the referee. As Beth gets up on the apron she is hit with a great low dropkick by Layla. Beth eventually gets back into the ring but Layla begins choking her over the bottom rope with her foot. Layla then jumps on Beth’s back, choking her before Beth mounts a comeback and backs into the turnbuckles wriggling free of Layla.

Beth walks into a back elbow from Layla who then climbs the turnbuckles and goes for a double axe-handle but is caught by Beth who hits her with a side back breaker and then picks her up for the Glam Slam. Layla, again, sells it like a pro as Beth takes the win.

After the match, Michelle attacks Beth from behind with a distraction from Vickie but Beth soon overpowers her. Simply Flawless hightail it out of the arena after only aggravating Beth some more.

I think I’ve lost count with the amount of times a match has ended with Beth hitting the Glam Slam on Layla for the pin. I’m sure I’ve seen it at least three times in the past month or so. This was effectively a squash match for Beth, though I really think they should have tried something different here. Perhaps give Layla a [much desired] win by having McCool and Vickie interefere more and cost Beth the match. Yes, we’re building up Beth for a title match but you’ve already had the same finish many a time. Why not mix it up and tease tension between McCool and Beth by having the champion cost her the win? I guess they did have that interaction between Beth and Michelle after the match which also worked to a degree.

As for the work, solid match as always from these two. I say it nearly every week, Layla has some of the sharpest kicks I’ve ever seen and really does look [in sing-song voice] flaw-less. She has blossomed into a fantastic worker, I’d just really like to see what she can do in the ring though against someone like Tiffany. When you put her against a Beth, Melina or Mickie, it’s usually a very one-sided affair with Layla losing. I’d like to see her against someone who isn’t a top Diva so we can see just how improved Layla may or may not be. I’d hazard to guess that having worked with the aforementioned three Divas for the better part of a year, if you put her in a match with a lesser-skilled Diva, she will shine on her own accord. Working with Beth etc. is becoming too ‘safe’ for Layla, put her in the ring with one of the lesser-skilled girls and let’s see just how much she has improved. I think now compared to last year versus Eve, we will see a world of difference. The only way to build new stars is to give them an opportunity, they’ve been using Layla in this enhancement role for a while now — give her a chance to break out. She’s already got the character and I think given the chance to show more offense etc., she could show that she has the wrestling ability too. And if she can show that, then there’s no reason to not push her and give her storylines and feuds of her own, maybe even have her go after the Women’s Championship. WWE just hasn’t given her the opportunity yet because they keep putting her in an enhancement role. I feel Layla could be the next top Diva if given the chance.

Last week I asked WWE to build more storyline between Beth and Michelle and well, I can’t deny they did that. Am I thrilled about the storyline direction they went in? No but at least I got what I asked for. The whole Manazon/Glam-a-man thing is obviously akin to ‘Piggie James’ and will likely be Simply Flawless’ signature taunt for whoever they feud with for years to come [if they last that long]. As mentioned in my tangent earlier — it is elementary, it does paint the Divas as being shallow and all about looks, sex appeal etc. but WWE has always been stuck in that gear and that will likely never change which sucks. Yeah, Beth’ll probably overcome the adversity just like Mickie did and perhaps win the Women’s Title but I question whether we need to go down this low-brow route in the first place. When I see stuff like this it makes me wonder whether the Creative Team is so elementary in their thinking that they sit around jesting one another to pull their finger…

With WrestleMania and those pesky Raw Divas getting in the way of actual storyline progression for SmackDown  just when it was getting good, it seems as though the writers of the blue brand have pressed the ‘reset’ button. Watching this week’s show, you’d be forgiven if you feel like you’re watching a rerun, because that’s exactly what it felt like. If you skip this week’s show, which obviously you aren’t because you’re reading this, you’d honestly not be missing anything because everything is as it was two weeks ago — even the match. There was nothing new to learn coming out this week’s show: Beth Phoenix still wants the Women’s Championship, Vickie Guerrero still has heat on her and Tiffany is still that young Diva opening our eyes to her surprisingly good in-ring ability.

In fact, the only new thing piece of information to take from this week’s show is that Vickie’s version of the frog splash is now the ‘Cougar Splash’ (Rarr!). Must-know information, I’m sure. Watch the backstage scene below:

Next up, it’s time for this week’s Divas match which is exactly the same match as two weeks ago. Funny how SmackDown only has four active Divas in the women’s division right now while Raw has like 11 and uses them for one minute each week. Can the Draft hurry up?

Watch the match below:

So for three out of three matches on television, Tiffany is wearing the same ring attire. Girlfriend is just begging for jokes about not washing her clothes and/or smelling.

McCool and Tiffany start things out with a lock-up and the Women’s Champion backs Tiffany into the corner and pushes her. She then boasts to Layla & Vickie in her corner but as she turns around, she finds a peeved Tiffany who hits her with a drop toe hold and an atomic drop. Tiffany tries to irish whip McCool into the corner, McCool reverses but she can’t move Tiffany so she instead goes for a kick to the gut. Michelle agin goes for an irish whip into the corner but Tiffany reverses and hits a one-legged variation of the monkey flip. Michelle lands in the corner and Tiffany runs at her to presumably hit a real monkey flip this time but Michelle manages to toss Tiffany who lands on her front pretty hard. Ouch!

Michelle goes for a cover but doesn’t get the pin. McCool then chokes Tiffany over the middle rope with her legs before smashing her head repeatedly against the canvas. The champ then tags in Layla and the duo hit a double-team move, a front leg sweep, that’s accompanied by a unison, “Sorry Tiffany.” Tiffany hits her head pretty hard on the map… this is becoming a regular occurence.

Layla grabs Tiffany by the hair and hits sort of a leg split slam similar to Melina and goes for a cover but Tiff kicks out. Layla then applies a chinlock with her knee digging into Tiffany’s back. Tiffany however, slowly gets up and slams Layla onto her back. She makes a dash for her corner and tags in the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix.

Phoenix storms the ring with a shoulder block and some double axe-handles on Layla. She then picks up Layla for an airplane spin and then hits her with a powerful clothesline sold beautifully by Layla. Beth then knocks McCool off the apron, but as she is distracted up gets Layla who goes for a beautiful spin kick but Beth ducks and locks in her Glam Slam for the win.

After the match, a staredown ensues between Beth and Vickie before Simply Flawless flee the ring.

Beth wins again. They tease Vickie being pissed off again. Michelle escapes from the clutches of Beth Phoenix with the Women’s Championship again. In a way, I guess it’s a good thing that they’re backtracking and re-selling the story that they laid down a few weeks ago. I mean, it did get overlooked by the last-last minute crappy WrestleMania push. However, I highly doubt that this was WWE’s intention. It really just seems like a case of these Diva storylines reaching a peak and then just going around in circles for weeks before a pay-off is to be had — they did it with Melina vs Michelle, they did it with Mickie vs Michelle and now this storyline too.

Because the Divas are usually an afterthought and added to pay per views after they’ve taken care of giving spots to the guys, it’s unlikely that there’s an end game in sight for a pay off match i.e. Beth vs Michelle. If they were to do a PPV match between these two at Extreme Rules in three weeks, it probably wouldn’t be finalised until a week or so [if that] before the event and thus, we’ll probably be going around in circles until they have that title match finalised. It’s the big curse that plagues most of these Diva feuds, no matter how hot they start they soon fizzle out and it’s something I really hoped wouldn’t happen here. The momentum behind Beth right now is crazy, they should definitely capitalise on that push her into a Women’s Title match against McCool. The longer they wait, the quicker that momentum begins to die down.

As for the match, it wasn’t bad at all. All four Divas worked well, Layla again was extremely crisp and clean in her execution of moves [that spinning kick] as well as in her selling. Tiffany took the ‘Maria role’ this week, taking a big beatdown from Lay-Cool and not really shining as much herself. She did a good job in that department this week.

Other than that, there’s not much more to comment on. Let’s hope we get some advancement next week.

More detailed spoilers have been added.
Show ▼

Thoughts after the cut:

Erin’s Thoughts
Earlier spoilers suggested that the Raw Divas would have some sort of presence at this show, but obviously it didn’t pan out that way. I’m fine with that–the lack of Raw Divas gives this match a better chance of breaking the 1-minute mark.

Show ▼

Check back later tonight for spoilers for this week’s show.

The final SmackDown before WrestleMania promised a Beth Phoenix vs Vickie Guerrero match, but anyone could see a mile away that it wouldn’t be a straight one-on-one match. Last week I predicted that Vickie would likely change it to a 3-on-1 match with her teaming up with Lay-Cool but oh no, that wasn’t enough — Raw’s Maryse and Alicia Fox were tacked on too. Why? God knows. I get that it’s all in the name of WrestleMania, as the Divas will have a last minute multi-Diva tag match but there’s been no reasons given as to why the various Divas of Raw and SmackDown are coming together and fighting. And frankly, it’d be a waste trying to figure out why.

The big story however was not WrestleMania, which wasn’t even mentioned on the show. Instead that match was quietly announced on the WWE website, and I do mean quietly! Not even a slide in that flash player thing on the homepage, it was literally just tacked onto the ‘Mania page where only those who were looking to find it, would find it. Doesn’t instill a lot of confidence about this match, does it? Anyway, I digress…

The big story was the continuation of a rather fun feud on SmackDown where Beth Phoenix once again, looked golden and Vickie Guerrero, well we saw a little too much of her. Watch below:

So as explained earlier, before the match begins Vickie announces that it will now be a 5-on-1 match. Despite the switcheroo, Beth shows no signs of being intimidated and can’t wait for Layla to get in the ring to start things out. Beth extends her hand to bump knuckles with Layla [really?] but as Layla comes closer, she nails her with a forearm. Layla tries to tag out but is dragged across the ring by Phoenix and cue some funny screams from Lay-Lay. Layla begins fighting back with some forearms and again, some beautiful kicks. She then tries to hightail it to her corner but Beth grabs her in mid-air. “Michellllllle… Please help me!” Gotta love this girl!

Beth runs into the corner with Layla and begins stomping into her but is dragged away by the referee and somehow, she herself falls straight on her butt. As Beth exchanges insults with the other Divas on the apron, Layla mounts a comeback and hits Beth in the jaw with an elbow. She then tries to jump on Beth who picks her up and hoists her in the air in gorilla press slam position. Meanwhile from the outside, Michelle tags Layla and hits Beth in the back of the head. Beth uses Layla as a human weapon as it were, using her to hit Michelle off the apron before dropping her to the canvas.

Beth drags McCool into the ring and throws her across it before bringing in Alicia Fox the hard way and knocking Maryse off the apron with an elbow. Back in the ring, she hits Lay-Cool with a double clothesline before throwing Maryse into Alicia and then hitting them with a double clothesline also. All four Divas then begin clamouring around Beth as she does her best to fight them all off. The referee tries to restore order by getting Maryse out of the ring. Meanwhile, Layla grabs Beth by the legs as Michelle delivers a stiff & swift big boot to the Glamazon. From the outside of the ring, Vickie screams “Excuse me!” wanting to be tagged in to make the pin. McCool tags her and Vickie, getting into ring the first time in the match, promptly takes credit for the Women’s Champion’s handiwork.

After the match, it’s not enough as Lay-Cool prompt Vickie to climb the ropes and hit a frogsplash, her late husband’s signature move, on Beth Phoenix while Maryse & Alicia hold her down. But just as she climbs the ropes, she notices the babyface band of Gail, Eve, Mickie & Kelly hitting the ring and tries to alert her teammates. The babyface Divas clear the ring of the heels and leave Vickie alone in the ring with the Glamazon… ruh roh!

The Glamazon comes to and begins smirking as she spots Vickie. Vickie does a hilarious, “I’m just going to go…” expression and tries to hightail it but Beth grabs hold of her pants. Beth pulls down Vickie’s pants revealing pink underwear with a bejewelled ‘Excuse me’ on it and the audience goes wilde! Beth is in hysterics and mouths, “I’m sorry” to a humiliated Vickie who then runs out of the arena. Meanwhile, the crowd roars for the Glamazon who has most definitely arrived as a babyface.

This was an extremely fun segment that I feel got lost in the shuffle of WrestleMania. This would have been just as great any other week building up the SmackDown storyline, instead it was overrun with the girls from Raw to build to Sunday’s WrestleMania — yet they didn’t even mention a match at ‘Mania. I now wished they’d have held off this segment to next week perhaps, after WrestleMania to really make it mean something and use it to build up that rivalry between Beth, Vickie & Lay-Cool. You could have easily cut Maryse & Alicia from this match and you could easily have had Mickie and Tiffany, SmackDown Divas, be the ones that made the save. The use of Raw was unneeded. Two days before ‘Mania, this great segment I feel will be overlooked perhaps in coming weeks.

The match was obviously not a full-fledged competitive match, rather a device to keep continuing the storyline and that’s fine. Again, Layla’s comedy was on-point and really, I’d rather see her in the ring with Beth than Maryse or Alicia as she’s actually part of the storyline so I’m glad the two Raw Divas were kept out of it for the most part.

The crowd ate up Beth Phoenix and I think she has so much momentum behind her right now that it’s hard to go wrong. I think fans are getting behind Beth and she’s so much more interesting and multi-faceted as a character than she’s ever been before.

SmackDown has been delivering and this week was no exception, but I’d have made some changes — no Raw necessary!

As viewers in the US and Canada are able to see this week’s pre-WrestleMania SmackDown before fans internationally the Redux will be delayed until this week’s Divas match appears online.

However for those watching on TV, be sure to discuss the Beth Phoenix vs Vickie Guerrero match in the comments!

Watch the fan footage in the spoiler tags:

Show ▼

Also a quick note on this week’s SmackDown Redux. The show usually finds its way online before it airs in America due to international airings however this week, America will have the show as a first-run due to WWE filming cutaway footage last night at Axxess. As a result, the Redux will be up either late tonight or tomorrow.

EDIT: Additional spoilers have been added.

Show ▼

The Glamazon, Beth Phoenix inched ever closer to the coveted Women’s Championship on this week’s Friday Night SmackDown as she delivered an all-mighty Glam Slam on the current champ, Michelle McCool. The Glamazon’s mega momentum was overshadowed, however, by a post-match announcement for next week’s show. Watch below:

This week’s Divas action saw the aforementioned Phoenix and McCool in tag team action; Phoenix teamed with the newcomer Tiffany and McCool with her Simply Flawless team mate, Layla. ‘Flawless’, known for subjecting Mickie James to rather painful ‘Piggie James’ jibes, unveiled their latest campaign this week against Beth Phoenix with t-shirts reading ‘Glam-a-Man?’ Stay classy, WWE.

We kick off the match with Phoenix and Layla. Layla attempts to fight the powerful Glamazon with some kicks to the legs but Beth picks her up with great ease, hoisting her in the air for an airplane spin and drops her back down to the canvas. This leads to a really funny moment with Layla, who is easily the best comedienne among the Divas, trying to make a tag to her tag team partner ["Ohhhh Michellllllllle"] only to find out that she’s in the wrong corner. As she gathers her surroundings, she walks right into a clothesline from Phoenix who then tags out to Tiffany.

Tiffany hits a really nice crossbody from the middle turnbuckle and goes for a pin but Layla kicks out. She then hits Lay with a rather weak elbow but then hits another one which looks much better. Tiffany then goes for a suplex which to me, looked a little slow and Layla landed awkwardly rather than nice and flat. Another near fall.

Tiffany hits a few forearms, throws Layla into the corner and runs at her but ends up being ‘thrown’ over the top rope by Layla, though honestly it looks more like she just jumped over the top rope. Layla then hits a really beautiful kick which connects to Tiffany’s head. Layla runs at Tiffany but she blocks a forearm and instead hits a hangman on Layla over the top rope. As the referee tends to Lay, on the outside McCool runs and jumps Tiffany from behind. Layla then climbs out of the ring and hits Tiffany’s head against the side of the apron before rolling her back in.

In comes McCool now and Layla throws Tiffany in the champ’s direction and she goes for a clothesline into a spin. McCool grabs Tiffany by the head and begins hitting her with knee strikes before slamming her down to the canvas and smashing her head against it. McCool then goes for a leg drop but Tiffany rolls out of the way and crawls to her corner to tag in Beth, Michelle however grabs her foot but Tiff breaks free and gets the tag.

Beth gets the hot tag with a great crowd reaction and runs right into McCool. She then hits her with an overhead toss and double axe handles. The Glamazon then sets up McCool for a beautiful stalling suplex, then uses the ropes as a slingshot before hitting the suplex. Beth seemingly has the win as she goes for a cover but in comes Layla to break up the count and she again gets hoisted high above Beth’s head in a gorilla press slam position. However, McCool — now up — kicks her.

McCool goes for the Faith Breaker but can’t pick up Beth, instead Beth manages to pick up Beth on her back, hooking her under the arms. McCool then wriggles free and applies a waist lock to Beth. Beth runs at the ropes, ducking between the middle rope as McCool’s throat hits the top rope.

This allows Beth to go for the Glam Slam, with the Women’s Champion screaming ‘no’, the slam is hit to perfection and Beth picks up a win over the champ.

After the match however, before Tiffany and Beth can celebrate out comes Vickie who tells Tiffany to ‘take her cute little skirt’ and hit the bricks. Liking the skirt mockery from Michelle last week and now Vickie.

Vickie comes to the ring and tells Beth she wants an apology. Beth says she apologised to her in her office already, this prompts Vickie to say she wants an apology in front of the crowd. Beth apologises, saying she realises that she shouldn’t have put her hands on an authority figure but Vickie isn’t pleased. Vickie says Beth will regret putting her hands on her and says she’s superior to Beth. She then announces that Beth will face her next week on SmackDown as the segment ends.

All in all, it was another strong week for SmackDown with plenty of ground covered that should pose new questions and storyline progression for next week.

The match was great. with Beth particularly shining, coming into her own as a babyface and something of an anarchist. She comes across as a no nonsense, Stone Cold-like babyface and I think the fans are really responding to that and she got a decent pop when she got the hot tag. Tiffany had a good showing also, as with last week but there’s definitely room for improvement. Seeing her in the ring with Layla was somewhat strange, we’re so used to thinking of Layla as being less experienced in comparison to the likes of Beth and Michelle but then here comes Tiffany, who is less experienced than her. I think Layla has become such a solid, dependable worker who deserves all the success that comes her way. I don’t consider her to be ‘less experienced’ anymore, I see her as being on someone that can be relied upon to have great matches with everyone just as I do the likes of Beth, McCool etc. No one in the Divas division does comedy like her, most are concerned with being ‘sexy’ but she’s not afraid to be fun and goofy and I love it. She’s become such a well rounded worker and character.

Beth picking up a victory over McCool, pinning the champion, is definitely a step in the right direction and can easily be drawn upon should they announce a match between them for the title in the future. Obviously, it looks as though a WrestleMania match which I would have loved to have seen, is off the cards. That’s okay, I tried not to get my hopes too high up and the nature of ‘Mania is so that as many girls can get a payday as possible — quantity over quality. Even then, there was no progression on what happened on Raw on Monday save for a little bit of commentary. Nowhere were the Raw Divas to get their revenge, nowhere was there evidence of Beth maybe backstage on the phone with Eve and/or Gail to hint the obvious six-Diva WrestleMania match. I think we all know now it will be Beth, Eve & Gail vs Layla, Maryse & Michelle but there was no progression on that angle which is a huge waste considering there’s only a week till the show.

I felt the Vickie announcement of Beth versus her for next week overshadowed the fact that Beth had gotten a huge win over the Women’s Champion, which I feel is far more important. Nonetheless, Beth vs Vickie, I’m assuming, is a sort of replacement for what should have been Mickie vs Vickie. If we think about it, Mickie has a whole hell of a lot more to be pissed about with Vickie and I think doing Vickie vs Beth now will stagnate what could be a big match between Mickie and Vickie upon her return. Vickie shouldn’t get in the ring with everyone and it should have been saved for Mickie’s return, after all she was the one who was cost the title at Vickie’s hands.

I’m going to hazard a guess and suggest that Vickie will probably change it to a handicap match next week, with Layla & Michelle teaming with her against Beth, resulting in a beatdown. We may get a save from Eve and Gail if they have Beth come into the mix of that angle on Monday’s Raw and announce the WrestleMania match between Raw and SmackDown next week.