With Survivor Series just on the horizon, and a 2-on-1 Handicap Match for the Diva’s Championship looming, the Lay-Cool/Natalya saga once again continues on Smackdown. Layla rides solo this week as she takes on Natalya in a rematch of sorts from Bragging Rights. Can the two Divas recapture the magic they created at last month’s pay-per-view? Lets take a look…
A smiling Natalya makes her way to the ring first and she gets quite the warm reception. She looks gorgeous, like usual, and once she climbs into the ring and gets set, Lay-Cool’s theme song begins to play. Layla is riding solo tonight and she walks out in her all black attire. Despite the fact she’s British, her welcome is less than friendly. She doesn’t seem to mind, to be honest. Michael Cole explains Michelle’s absence by letting us know that Michelle is basically disgusted by all things British, among some other comments.
Coming off the heels of one hell of a brawl at TNA Turning Point, one would assume that the powers that be would continue to build the feud between Mickie James and Tara, leading up to another action-packed match. Right? Right? Think again, this is TNA we’re talking about. It should be TMNS – Totally Makes No Sense. Last night, we received no follow up, no segments, no interaction between the two. What we did get is a mixed tag match that follows up on the feud between Jay Lethal and Robbie E. Jay has recuited one half of the TNA Knockout Tag Champions, Taylor Wilde to be his partner against Robbie E and Cookie. Can the Jersey kids keep the party going or will it be canceled?
Prior to the match, we see Robbie E and Cookie walking towards the stage. Cookie is trying to talk to Robbie about said match, but he’s too busy admiring the X-Division Championship belt. As they near the camera, Cookie has a message for Taylor. “I may not be a wrestler, but I’m from Jersey – I know how to fight!” (Must be a Jersey thing…) She tells Robbie she’s going to make him proud of her tonight.
Back from commercial, out first is Jay Lethal and Taylor Wilde, her tag belt around her waist. (Wasn’t there some kind of rule that said you had to defend your belt before 30 days were up or you were stripped? Oh wait, that would require continuity…) Whoever does the women’s makeup in TNA ought to be fired. Taylor’s sporting a blue top and skirt instead of silver, which looks lovely on her, but the makeup is horrid. It’s unnecessary how they cake it on. Her hair looks cute though, flipped up on the edges.
Next out is Robbie E and Cookie, but looks like Cookie’s having second thoughts. She’s screaming at Robbie, who’s paying her no attention, too absorbed in the belt he’s carrying. She’s sporting an outfit that looks more suited to clubbing, not wrestling, huge boots with fishnets and those huge hoop earrings are a hazard in this environment. Robbie gets into the ring, celebrating with the belt, but Cookie remains on the outside, waving at Robbie, refusing to get in the ring. Only when the referee starts counting her out and Rob yells at her to get in the ring, does she scurry between the ropes, still pouting. Fade to commercial.
author’s note; Apologies for the lateness of this Redux. I was asked to work at 8am yesterday morning and usually I do these things in the morning. But I ended up staying at work until close (8pm) and was just far to tired to function when all was said and done!
Previously on NXT…
The second rookie elimination of the season took place with bad girl Maxine getting the boot. The highly anticipated nuptials of Aksana and Goldust had a few glitches but in the end the couple managed to tie the knot. Too bad Aksana slapped the taste out of her new husband’s mouth when he went to kiss her. Cody Rhodes invaded the show and ended up being the kissee in a most amusing kissing contest. AJ may or may not have hinted towards feelings for her NXT mentor, Primo Colon. Kaitlyn and Dolph Ziggler were finally caught kissing, and Vickie Guerrero ended up with wedding cake all over her face.
Oh boy.
What kind of drama will enfold tonight? Grab a beer, pop some popcorn, and get your ear plugs ready. NXT is about to begin!
When NXT opens, the handsome Matt Striker is standing in the ring. He lifts the microphone to his lips to welcome the remaining four rookie girls to the show but instead, Goldust’s theme music hits and the Bizarre One walks out to the ring. No painted on tears tonight from what I can see. Goldust has the microphone and he calls out Aksana. He says that all week long, his “wife” hasn’t picked up her phone or anything, and he deserves an explanation. Goldust says it’s in Aksana’s best interest that she gets out to the ring right now. Aksana does indeed walk out and she’s got the Million Dollar Championship draped across her shoulder. She mocks Goldust by asking him if his heart is broken or something. She reveals that she used her pro to solve her immigration issues and now she has her green card and can stay in the country. Everything is all about Aksana and now she has the title. Aksana says that when she and Goldust get divorced she will own half of everything he has, including the belt and she plans on cashing in her half. That’s the American way.
I was right about Aksana. Imagine that.
Goldust calls Aksana a conniving little Lithuanian witch. He also says she is clueless and that tonight she’s not in America. She may be able to stay in the U.S.A., but he thinks it’s time to kick her butt right out of Britain. Aksana is not amused. To her surprise, Naomi walks out next. She has a microphone and she says that she doesn’t want Aksana kicked out of the country. When Goldust goes to protest, Naomi explains herself. She says she felt like Aksana was fake the entire time and she never bought the immigration story for one minute. She accuses Aksana of hatching the plan just to become the center of attention. Aksana protests the accusation and claims that she really would have gotten beat with a shovel if she would have had to return home. Naomi just doesn’t care. She says Aksana is fake and phony, and she wants to face her in a match tonight. Aksana looks at Goldust and asks him what she should do since he is her pro and all. Goldust finds that hilarious and tells Aksana to go and get her butt kicked by Naomi tonight.
Instead of following up on the feud going on between Natalya and Lay-Cool at the moment, WWE opted to go with a six Diva gimmick tag match. Go figure. This week, the team of Eve and The Bella Twins face off against Alicia Fox, Maryse and Tamina. But this is no ordinary battle, oh no! From the geniuses that brought us ‘Diva Bowl’ last year, comes the ‘Divas Cup’… except, there’s no cup in sight? Cheapskates! Check out the match below:
The babyface team makes their entrance first, sporting Manchester United uniforms, to a chorus of jeers from the crowd. I’m told this is because of rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool (which is being represented by the heels). I’m not really a soccer fan, so this was completely wasted on me and the majority of Americans watching at home.
Out next are the heels, and apparently Tamina missed the memo for this match. Doesn’t she know that they’re supposed to be ‘sexy’ soccer players? She looks like she’s an actual soccer player! *shock horror* All jokes aside, I kinda like the fact that Tamina doesn’t try to be as overtly sexy as her counterparts. I think it makes her come across as a more serious competitor. That said, she really stuck out like a sore thumb coming down the ramp with Maryse and Alicia. The Divas take their places in their respective corners, Mike Chioda signals for the bell and the Diva Cup is underway with Eve and Tamina kicking things off.
Billed as a match that had it’s roots in the company they both formerly worked for, last night saw a grudge match between Tara and Mickie James.. At first, it felt like Mickie would simply have to go through Tara to get a shot at the Knockouts Championship, but this feud has taken on a life of it’s own. Each woman is eager to get their hands on the other. So who would come out victorious?
Prior to the match, backstage we see Christy Hemme with Mickie James. It’s a short promo but MJ gets straight to the point. She admits there might’ve been mutual dislike between the two in the WWE, but no matter what, she says that Tara “will respect me.” There’s a gleam in her eyes as she glares at the camera before stalking off.
JB announces Tara being accompanied to the ring by Madison Rayne, but as Tara rides out on her bike, she’s going solo. (JB must’ve had a tad bit of the hair o’ the dog…) She’s sporting boots, fishnets, and a ripped t-shirt and frankly I’m hard pressed to make sense out of this outfit. It looks trashy to be honest. However, I adore the red streaks in her hair so I’ll overlook the outfit. Next out is Mickie James and I vastly prefer her new gear over the cut off shorts and tied shirt. Her outfit tonight is a blue top like she used to wear in the WWE, plus pants that have cowboy chaps on them. She should’ve taken the chaps off, but on the whole it’s a big improvement.
It’s no secret that NXT rookie Diva, Kaitlyn, has a thing for Intercontinental Champion, Dolph Ziggler, and as we found this past week on NXT, those lustful feelings and that undeniable sexual attraction is more than mutual. Kaitlyn and Dolph paint a pretty picture; they’re both hot, passionate, young. They have all the makings of a professional wrestling supercouple. Too bad there’s one giant roadblock standing in their way.
Dun…dun…duuuuuuuuun!
Dolph has a girlfriend. She is Vickie Guerrero. And Vickie, who just so happens to be Kaitlyn’s mentor on NXT, was none to happy to witness Dolph’s giant betrayal on Tuesday night. To make matters worse, the official consultant of Friday Night SmackDown ended up with cake, all over her face!
Things take a nasty turn this week as this little triangle comes to a head on SmackDown. Like sands through the hourglass….
Tonight’s episode of SmackDown kicked off in dramatic fashion for our trio. Dolph, who last won a match in God knows when, took on former tag team competitor, JTG. Interesting tidbit for all of us JTG fans: JTG and his former tag team partner, Shad Gaspard, never won the tag team titles during their tenure together.
It’s fair to say that Dolph basically dominated the match. It could even be deemed a squash. Dolph hit his finisher, the aptly titled Zig Zag, but decided to yank JTG up mid-cover. Our savvy champion didn’t just want to settle for a routine pinfall tonight. He wrapped JTG up in the most devastating of sleeper holds and pretty much sent Brooklyn native to sleep. The referee called for the bell and Ziggler was awarded a much needed victory.
This week on Superstars, we finally get to see her doing something other than entertaining the guest hosts – it will be Gail Kim taking on Alicia Fox in a battle between two former champions. Can Alicia outfox Gail, or will she eat defeat? (I’ll leave the jokes up to David!) Let’s find out.
Out first is Alicia Fox in her brown and blue gear, looking sassy as ever. It’s now that I realize there’s a new commentator beside Lawler, who’s name is Scott. As I watch and listen to the match, I have to wonder where they got this man. He’s as wooden as…well, as a piece of wood. I mustn’t be too harsh, and honestly I tune out the commentary during the women’s matches anyways. Gail Kim’s music hits and tonight she’s in her light purple gear, which she looks stunning in. I must say the extensions look very good on her. She gets a good pop from the crowd as she makes her way into the ring.
The bell rings and the two lock up, jockeying for position. Gail winds up forcing her against the ropes. The referee breaks them up, Alicia shoving her face and smirking. Another lockup, Alicia getting Gail into a side headlock, then flips her over to the canvas. Gail reverses, wrapping her legs around Fox’s neck.
The Halloween edition of NXT certainly left a positive taste in the mouths of viewers. Brie Bella and AJ put together a match that was perhaps one of the best Diva matches on television this year. Nikki Bella continued her descent into WWE heeldom much to the disgust of her twin. Maxine won a Halloween candy eating contest, while Kaitlyn took home top prize in the costume contest for her Vickie Guerrero impersonation. Was it mentioned that the sexual tension between Kaitlyn and her mentor’s boyfriend, Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, reached an all-time high?? Oh, lets not forget the fact that Ted DiBiase and everyone’s favorite French-Canadian Diva, Maryse, invaded the show. They set out on a quest to get the Million Dollar Championship back from Goldust and Aksana. Aksana saved the day once again and looked amazing while doing so.
Tonight, the highly anticipated wedding between Lithuanian-born Aksana and the adorable Goldust will take place. Will Maryse and Ted show up? There’s an elimination too. Which rookie is going to be sent packing during the ninth week of competition? Lets take a look!
Note: Please excuse the audio on the videos. It looks like a production copy of the show leaked.
Striker is in the ring and he brings out the rookie girls. Kaitlyn, Maxine, Naomi, AJ, and Aksana make their way to the ring. All the girls look gorgeous tonight as they’re in street clothes which leads me to believe no one will be wrestling tonight. Striker explains to them that tonight is the elimination but adds that with three challenge wins Naomi is eligible for immunity. He also says that with the exception of Aksana, the other three girls can catch and tie Naomi. Since mathematics is not on Aksana’s side, Striker excuses her from tonight’s competitions so she can get ready for her wedding. Aksana waves, walks off, and we’re told that the first challenge tonight is a kissing contest. Striker wants a special guest judge so of course, Hornswoggle is brought out. Maxine is not happy about this but Horny, on the other hand, is overjoyed. Striker tells him that he gets to pick which Diva kisses the best.
In an effort to get this Divas Championship feud rolling again after last week’s lull, WWE gave us another Michelle McCool vs Natalya match, but this time with a twist: If Natalya could beat Michelle McCool in singles action, she’d receive one last shot at the Divas Championship at Survivor Series. Can Natalya overcome the odds and get another crack at the title? Will Lay-Cool cheat their way to another victory? Find out… after this pointless Divas segment. Damas y Caballeros, I present to you: Diva Twister!!! (With a very special cameo):
I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t expect the majority of the Raw Divas to be lumped into a segment with Pee-wee, so I wasn’t really surprised. The jokes were cheesy and the acting bad, no surprise there either. Another typical Guest Host segment, all in all. If I feel bad for anyone, it’s everyone in the audience under 21, who had no idea who Pee-wee Herman was and The Bella Twins for having to share their “Guest Host Arm Candy” spot with Eve and Melina and any other Divas that don’t happen to have a match on Raw or Superstars that week.
Believe it or not, there was a silver lining in this black cloud of a segment. Four-time Women’s Champion made a rare appearance, accompanying her self-professed idol, Pee-wee Herman in this segment. As a huge fan of Lita, I almost blacked out when I saw her pop up on my screen. She could have eaten a live puppy on the air and I’d probably say it was the best moment of Raw this week. That said, even Lita’s appearance couldn’t save this bomb of a segment. Thumbs down for Diva Twister and two thumbs way up (I wish I had more thumbs) for Lita’s cameo.
It’s not Halloween without the Divas breaking out a costume — or eight, and that’s exactly what we saw this week on SmackDown. Some were uninspired (Batman & Robin? Yawn.) and some (Lady Gaga, Beyonce) tried to capture the pop culture of the day, even though WWE is about a year behind in what’s relevant.
Watch as what begins as a Halloween costume contest becomes a full-fledged eight Diva tag team match:
A rarity for the Divas, they each get their own entrance in order to show off their costumes. The Bellas are out first dressed as Batman and Robin. Out next is Alicia Fox dressed as Cleopatra; a valiant effort but not quite as breathtaking as Asha on last night’s episode of ‘Outsourced’. Kelly Kelly, rather predictably, goes for a ‘sexy’ Little Bo Peep costume. Rosa Mendes is a leprechaun? Doesn’t she realise Hornswoggle is in the ring and likes to sexually assault Divas? Former Divas Champ, Melina is Spiderwoman and then it’s the pièce de résistance: Lay-Cool as Lady Gaga and Beyonce. You’d think they’d go for the matching Telephone outfits, but nope — Layla is Beyonce in the two year old ‘Single Ladies’ video (which is what we suggested for Alicia Fox last year and sorry Lay, it would’ve suited her much better) and Michelle is Gaga in the equally old ‘Poker Face’ video. Still, A for the effort of trying to do something relatively current.
Onto the costume contest now, but before Teddy Long can begin his officiating, Michelle takes to the microphone and pretty much says Lay-Cool should win and save us from the laborious task of watching each of them shake their rumps and embarrass themselves. Melina takes exception and argues with Lay-Cool only to be hit with a zinger from McCool. “Why are you even dressed up? You’re scary enough as it is.” I giggled. Sorry Melina… Layla shoves Melina but before she can fight back, Hornswoggle intervenes and knocks poor Michelle on her butt in fright. Didn’t that little sex pest troll learn from last time not to mess with Michelle?
Tensions are building between Mickie James, Tara and Madison Rayne. With such a violatile mix, what can we expect on Impact tonight?
Apparently we’re kicking the show off with a fight backstage! It’s Tara and Mickie James going at it in catering (with no food…), beating each other with garbage, empty pans, a beverage keg and anything else they can get their hands on. There’s a few people looking on in the background, one of them actually appearing to be laughing. (Corpsing? Send for the man!) Maybe they should be getting acting lessons from Dixie Carter if they’re going to be on screen.
They wind up in the ring eventually, with Madison Rayne, Sarita, Velvet Sky and Angelina Love getting involved along the way. Flair comes out with security and separates them (not very well however) and stipulates that later we’ll see The Beautiful People and Mickie James vs. Madison, Tara and Sarita. He keeps calling Mickie “nutjob” along the way. Ric Flair has finally lost it.
Thoughts: Not a bad way to start the show, featuring most of the Knockouts division. It’s nice to see Sarita getting involved as she’s one of their best workers, as anyone who’s seen her work outside of TNA can attest to. If they can continue to keep this level of passion in this feud, it’ll put the Knockouts back on top as a big ratings draw for TNA. Me? I’m not going to put all my eggs in this basket just yet.
We’ve had a couple of months downtime, but we’ve not been resting on our laurels – as we return with one of our biggest guests yet, recent WWE “Anti Diva” Serena Deeb! A nicer person you could not hope to meet, as despite being inundated with wrestling bookings, she was able to give us over … Read more
Rookie Divas Maxine and Kaitlyn stunk it up in what was perhaps one of the worst matches in WWE history. Naomi swept the challenges, putting her first in line for immunity from elimination. Aksana received her engagement ring from Goldust and fawned over it, even during challenges. And last, but certainly not least, the highlight of last week’s episode was the beginning of perhaps the end of the Bella twins as Nikki Bella showed some fire (as well as major heel tendencies) during the tag team main event which pitted Nikki and Brie Bella against Naomi and her pro, Kelly Kelly.
This week can only be better, right?
Mr. Blue Eyes, Matt Striker, was waiting for us as the program began. He introduced us all to the Halloween edition of NXT and brought out the rookie Divas. They were dressed in Halloween costumes of course and kudos to them for not being so stereotypical. AJ was out first this week and she was dressed as Ninja Turtle Raphael. Naomi followed her and was dressed up as the Hamburger Helper hand. Wow. Kaitlyn is out third and she’s wearing a dead-on Vickie Guerrero costume complete with padded backside. Out fourth is Maxine and she’s playing the part of “Ice Queen” tonight. And last, but certainly not least, the future Mrs. Goldust walks out and she’s dressed in a fire engine red devil costume. The girls get in the ring and Striker lets us know that elimination is next week and that currently, Naomi is leading the pack with immunity challenge wins. He tells the girls that there is plenty of time left to catch Naomi and even pass her, and with that being said the first competition of the night is about to take place. Of course, it’s a Halloween costume contest. Each girl will have fifteen seconds to impressed the WWE Universe with her costume and the fans will be the judges.
Aksana went first. Music started to play and Aksana really did nothing but blow kisses, pose, and move around a little bit. She didn’t even dance. She probably should have just done her push-ups again. Maxine went next. Striker asked her what her costume was and she told everyone that she was an ice queen. Striker remarked that she could certainly melt that costume, and Maxine looked up at him. She said that she could melt that costume and that she could send shivers down his spine. Maxine asked Matt if he knew what cold water did to a man. She looked away from him and revealed that she would hate to embarrass him so she is going to use the rest of her time to say that there is only one place for this queen, and that place is on top.
After last night’s impressive showing at Bragging Rights between Natalya and Layla, the WWE Divas took two steps back and put on a random sixty seconds tag match for our enjoyment on this week’s edition of Raw. Watch below as Lay-Cool takes on Melina and Gail Kim for no apparent reason. Enjoy:
We kick things off with all four Divas in the ring (big surprise), and Lay-Cool are doing their usual preening. Across the ring, Gail and Melina mock the Co-Divas Champions in an adorable fashion. The bell rings and Layla sees Melina and Gail’s mimicry and comes charging at Melina. Melina evades and goes straight for Michelle, who ducks out of harm’s way. Layla tries to sneak up behind Melina to gain the advantage, but receives a kick to the mush for her trouble. Totally in control at this point, Melina knocks Michelle off the apron, before knocking Layla down with a modified Shining Wizard and a flying facebuster for a two count.
Melina tries to whip Layla off the ropes (tries is the operative word here), but Layla reverses it and kicks Melina in the shoulder and turns around and knocks Gail off of the apron. Layla turns her attention back to Melina, going for a clothesline, but Melina dodges again. Both ladies come charging across the ring with the same thing in mind it seems, as they collide in midair with dual crossbodies.
Both ladies struggle back to their feet and they both make it to a vertical at around the same time. Melina goes to roll Layla up, but doesn’t realize that Layla has managed to tag in McCool. Melina thinks she has things in the bag, but Michelle lands her patented big boot for the win.
It’s fair to say that WWE pay-per-views are either hits or misses. The events are either successful surprises or true epic fails all around. Bragging Rights was no exception. For once, it fell into the positive category as the WWE put together a strong show on all accounts, and for us Diva fans, we were treated to something truly special. The decision to put Layla in the ring against Natalya was met with some skepticism and a few eye-rolls, but judging from their SmackDown interaction it had all the ingredients to make a yummy recipe. To say Natalya versus Layla delivered would be an understatement. They put together a gorgeous, pure wrestling match that told a story and left everyone wanting just a little more. Michelle McCool once again put on a flawless performance on the microphone and on the outside of the ring. And to add the icing to this already delicious cake, Aksana and Maryse got involved in the Bragging Rights action by fighting for their men during the Goldust/Ted DiBiase grudge match.
What a night.
The match us Diva fans waited patiently for all night kicked off in grand style. Lay-Cool made their way to the ring and they had microphones in their hands. Layla and Michelle walked out on stage where Layla promptly demanded that the sound techs in the back cut their music. Once it was quiet, Layla turned to Michelle and with a cheeky little grin, she told her BFF that Natalya was no doubt excited to have a title match in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Michelle looked confused and wanted to know why Natalya could be excited over such a thing and Layla simply pointed out that Nattie would be at home amongst all the stupid accents. Massive heat for that comment. Michelle chuckled and began to imitate the accent in question. She said the men in Minnesota like their women larger because it’s so cold. Layla agreed and said that by the looks of things, it got extremely cold in Minnesota. Cue the collective “brrrrrrrrrrrrr”. Lay-Cool got inside the ring and Michelle continued speaking. She said that the comfortable surroundings won’t help Natalya out tonight. She’s going to need more help than that because tonight, they (Lay-Cool) will beat Natalya faster than they can delete all those text messages they keep getting from Brett Favre.
Real Talk. Ewwwwwww. Stop. According to Lay-Cool, Favre is doing nothing but embarrassing himself. Both members of Lay-Cool agree that Brett can’t help himself when it comes to them because they are flawless. They started to check their reflections in their championships when Natalya’s music hit. The third generation Diva walked to the ring with a smile etched across her lovely face. The commentators went over the fact that this match was for the WWE Diva’s Championship (apparently they’ve dropped the ‘unified’ part) and Natalya played to the crowd. Both girls got ready for the match and when the bell rang, Natalya and Layla started to circle one another. They went for a lock-up but Natalya effortlessly scooped up Layla and grounded her. She tried to work over Layla’s arm, but the British-born Diva was able to reverse it into a headscissors. Natalya was able to spring out of it and land on her feet, but Layla responded with a swift kick to the back of Nattie’s thigh. Layla took hold of Natalya’s wrist and started to twist it, but Natalya flipped through it, reversed it, and got Layla up in the air. While holding Layla upside, Natalya showed off her strength by doing a few squats, an homage to her late uncle, the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. She planted Layla in the mat and went for a cover. Layla kicked out right before the two.
The road to Bragging Rights heats up for the Diva’s tonight as Michelle McCool and Layla take on their opponent for Sunday, Natalya, with her partner, Kelly Kelly, in a tag team match. Since the anti-climatic conclusion of Hell In A Cell earlier this month, the rivalry between Nattie and delicious co-Unified Divas Champions has been picking up steam. For the past few weeks, we’ve watched Nattie come ever so close to locking Layla in the Sharpshooter, only to have Michelle jump in at the last moment and save her BFF. Will the same thing happen tonight? Dun dun duuuuuuuun!
When SmackDown returns from commercial break, Lay-Cool are already in the ring. Despite the fact Halloween is only a week away, Lay-Cool have decided to wrestle in costume tonight. Michelle has donned some nice yet ill-fitting jeans, a Hart T-shirt, and leather jacket. She’s dressed as Bret Hart complete with dark hair and baseball cap. Layla has morphed into a pink and blond haired Natalya. She’s wearing the third-generation Diva’s ring gear and to cap it all off, Layla has added a Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart goatee to the mix.
Random Thoughts: At this point, all I can say is wow. These costumes are pretty hilarious and Lay-Cool are probably the only Divas who would pull off something so evil. I would love to see someone dress up and imitate them one week. Now that would be amazing.
Last week, we saw a title change hands without a finger being lifted. One wonders if things can go up from here, or if it’s possible to go even lower. Having done a test run on Xplosion with pretty good results, tonight we would see a rematch between Sarita and Mickie James. Can James pick up another victory or can the former Dark Angel get the pin this time? Find out below..
Out first in a new outfit of green and purple is Sarita. She’s looking good in those colors, and I believe she has some streaks in her hair. Very nice! Exuding confidence, she enters the ring. “HARDCORE COUNTRY!” blares, signalling the arrival of Mickie James. And as she enters, my jaw drops. I know she’s playing up the ‘country’ aspect of her character but…the shorts are ripped so high, you can see the pockets! They look like they’re barely there, and the top looks like she could bust out of it at any time. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, considering what Angelina, Velvet and Madison have worn to the ring but…goodness. Her hair looks fabulous though, so that’s a plus. She gets a great reaction from the crowd as she enters, but Sarita doesn’t look impressed. As the bell rings, the two circle each other before locking up.
Sarita initially gets the upper hand with an arm lock, but James counters and manuevers her into a monkey flip that sends Sarita across the ring. The Latina is not impressed and she gets up, shoving James while saying, “Who do you think you are?” MJ blocks a forearm and counters with a spin kick that connects to Sarita’s stomach, then follows up with a nice bit of offense that ends with a nice dropkick and a pinning attempt. The cover’s good for two.
Fresh off a disaster of an elimination episode, NXT put together it’s most impressive and exciting episode yet. Naomi soared to new heights as she impressed in a match against pro Diva, Alicia Fox. Kaitlyn and Vickie Guerrero reached the point in their relationship where they reluctantly agreed to tolerate one another until the next elimination. AJ proved to everyone that she is a legit wrestling fan by dominating the “Name That Tune” challenge and Maxine continued to impress everyone with her mic skills. The icing on the proverbial NXT cake at the end of the night when Aksana lost it over her immigration woes and Goldust reiterated to her that they do indeed have options to fix these problems. He got down on one knee and popped the question, and Aksana happily accepted it.
So what happens next with the second elimination a mere two weeks away? Lets take a look…
It’s redundant that NXT always begins with Matt Striker introducing the rookies and tonight was no exception. He’s standing in the ring and introducing the rookie girls. Kaitlyn, Aksana, Naomi, AJ, and Maxine make their way to the ring where the host himself is standing. He tells the girls that they’ve made it to the halfway point of the season and that in just two weeks, the second cut will take place. He congratulates Naomi and AJ on their wins last week and tells them that they are one step closer to immunity. He starts to tell the others that they have plenty of time to catch up when Vickie decides that she wants to interrupt. She starts screaming “Excuse Me” and begins to walk down towards the ring. She tells Matt that she just can’t handle the way he talks to the rookie Divas and then she turns her attention towards Kaitlyn. Vickie wants to know why Kaitlyn is dressed the way she is and basically, Vickie does not approve.
Last week, WWE treated us with a very good promo from Co-Divas Champions, Lay-Cool and the #1 contender, Natalya, creating more hype for their match at Bragging Rights. This week, Natalya faces off with former Divas Champion Alicia Fox in singles action before her title match against one of the members of Lay-Cool at Bragging Rights. Check out the match below:
We start off with Natalya already in the ring, receiving cheers from the fans in her hometown of Calgary. Alicia makes her way out to the ring next, looking cocky as ever. The two Divas circle each other for a bit and the referee calls for the bell to kick things off. The Divas start off with a rough tie-up, with Alicia getting the upperhand and muscling Natalya into the ropes. Natalya reverses the hold, forcing Alicia to the ropes and the referee gets between the two to break things up. Nattie breaks clean, but Alicia seizes this opportunity and takes Natalya down with three hard slaps followed by a kick to the head.
(The alternative title was “The REAL Jersey’s in the house BITCH!” but I had second thoughts about that.) Four days ago, we saw Tara crowned as the new Knockouts Champion. Madison Rayne made it very clear she was not happy about this development. Tonight will see the fallout from the match as well as someone from the real Jersey Shore invade Impact looking for the impostor. Lets get down to business, shall we?
Some unfamilar music hits and out comes Madison Rayne wearing black pants with her name splashed on the side and a hot mess of a top. Yikes. She has a referee in tow, and as she climbs into the ring with him, we get a short recap of what happened at Bound for Glory. Madison grabs a mic and goes off about how, on the biggest night in professional wrestling, her plan to become three-time Knockouts Champion went awry. She wants Tara, the person who owes her job in TNA to Madison herself, to come to the ring for a title match right NOW.
“Broken” heralds the entrance of Tara to the Impact Zone. She looks conflicted as she walks to the ring, title belt fitted around her waist. As soon as she gets into the ring, Madison reminds her that it’s because of Rayne that she was back in TNA, that she was able to wrestle, and that she was in the match on Sunday. “ME, ME, ME!” (I know another Madison who’s laid claim to ‘ME’, pretty sure that’s gimmick infringment Ms. Rayne..!) The brunette urges Tara to do the right thing, so very reluctantly, Tara takes off her belt and hands it to the referee. After holding it up, he gives it to the ring assistant, and calls for the bell. Madison again tells Tara to “do the right thing” …and with a good deal of hesitation, Tara lays down. Madison, quite enthusiastically, pins her.
The show may be called ‘WWE Superstars’ but it was all about the Divas last night, as we saw not one, but two good, solid matches from the Divas of Raw and SmackDown. Furthermore, it’s worth pointing out that both matches are rematches from pay per views that have occurred in recent months and in both cases, I felt the matches were much better than those PPV outings.
First up, we had Kelly Kelly vs Layla in a rematch from July’s Money in the Bank pay per view. Watch below:
We kick off the show with K2 with #1 Contender, Natalya in her corner. Can this be considered the new Blondetourage? (Come back, Skirt Tiffany!) Next out is Lay-Cool and they are referred to as ‘the strongest Diva alliance in WWE history’. That is quite possibly true.
As the bell rings, Layla begins working out in the ring, before screaming “Boo!” in Kelly’s face. If I didn’t find Layla totally adorable & hilarious, that would have been really lame. It’s a good thing you’re cute, Layla. Kelly finally has enough and slaps Layla straight across the face and it’s on! The two Divas tussle, grabbing each other’s hair and back into the ropes as the referee tries to break things up. Layla runs at Kelly going for a kick but Kelly counters into an atomic drop on the co-Unified Divas Champ. K2 then kicks Layla in the back of the knee, taking her down, and goes for a pin but no dice.
Kelly hits another kick, this time to the front and once again, goes for a cover but Layla kicks out. Layla scatters to the side of the ring seeking comfort from Michelle but Kelly is not far behind and begins stomping into Layla’s lower back. Kelly hits a forearm and attempts to whip Layla into the corner, Lay reverses and runs at K2 but gets a boot in the face. Kelly attempts a crossbody from the middle rope but Layla moves out of the way and K2 instead meets the canvas. Ouch! Layla goes for an opportunistic cover but Kelly kicks out.
Layla hits a snapmare followed by a low kick before applying a nice body-scissors. Layla cinches the submission in tightly and even rakes Kelly’s face. K2 fights back however, pulling Layla’s hair. Layla then expertly rolls over into a pin but they roll back over before a 3 count can be made. She goes for the pin again but at two, Kelly manages to break free and goes for a roll up over her own but Layla kicks her off. Layla then hits a low dropkick on Kelly. Lay then begins pulling at Kelly’s hair but gets an overhead kick from Kelly who then begins smashing her head face-first into the canvas.
A fired up Kelly is on her feet now and riles up the crowd to get behind her as she gains momentum with some offense. Kelly whips Layla into the ropes, but Layla manages to hit that impressive cradle pin on Kelly and nearly has the match won but K2 kicks out.
The first elimination of the season took place and perhaps the most well known rookie girl, Jamie, was sent packing. Her send-off from the show was filled with dignity and class, and well wishes for the remaining five. Aksana‘s immigration woes took a turn for the worse when it was revealed that she had four weeks to clear up her issues or she would be deported. Maxine took a horrible bump in the ring that may or may not keep her sidelined with a neck issue. And finally, the Kaitlyn/Dolph/Vickie Guerrero love triangle came to a head when Kaitlyn defeated Vickie in a one-on-one match.
How will tonight’s episode play out? Keep watching and find out!
As per usual, the gorgeous Matt Striker is the first person we see when NXT begins. He announces the girls and out comes Maxine, Aksana, Kaitlyn, AJ, and Naomi. They get in the ring and for some reason all of them have air horns in their hands. Striker tells them that the next elimination is three weeks away and as far as challenges go, the slate has been wiped clean. Everyone starts from scratch tonight and the first competition of the evening is going to be Name That Tune. For the first round, thirty seconds of a WWE Superstar theme will play and the first girl to sound their horn will get a chance to answer. In the second round, the points will be doubled.
This competition isn’t really a competition to be honest. AJ basically gets every single theme song right but one. All the other girls stand there and look dumbfounded and AJ even seems a bit embarrassed that she knows every single answer. She scores 1900 out of a possible 2000, with Naomi getting 100 points for an earlier answer. Needless to say, AJ picks up her first challenge win. Striker announces that up next is a rookie versus pro match, with Naomi taking on former Diva’s Champion, Alicia Fox. The show fades to a promo for Chris Jericho’s new DVD.
After the frustrating mess that was the Divas action on Raw last, WWE decided to forgo a match altogether this week and have Natalya and Lay-Cool cut a promo in the ring. Will they be able to deliver on the mic or will we be just as upset as last week? Check out the segment … Read more
At Bound for Glory, Knockout fans would see the culmination of the feud that has been building for the past few weeks. The insertion of the newest Knockout, Mickie James, as the special referee was a wild card added on just last Thursday. Would the match really be more of a tag team effort (as the Beautiful People have led us to believe), or will fragile alliances break under the pressure (how deep is Tara’s loyalty to Madison really?) as the Knockouts Championship is on the line? And where would Mickie fall in all of this? Lets find out…
We open with Christy Hemme backstage with Madison Rayne and Tara. Madison proceeds to shred Christy verbally, unloading on the poor redhead her frustrations and fury. The promo is actually pretty hilarious and well done, with Tara providing the straight face in the background. Words can’t do it justice, you should have a listen for yourself. I’m loving Madison on the mic!
Once the interview is done, we see a video package detailing how this feud came to be, with several of the past interviews from each woman spliced in. Also included is how Miss Tessmacher came to be the Knockouts Division supervisor – something she has done a particularly good job at so far. The “Tale of the Tape” brings us up to speed before we fade back into the arena.
“HARDCORE COUNTRY!” blares over the speakers (I’m sorry, I can’t take that music seriously…how cheesy can you get?) and out skips Mickie James, who gets a loud welcome from the crowd. She looks fantastic in her referee shirt, hair done up properly. She feels genuinely enthusiastic to be there. After her entrance into the ring, new music plays and out come Madison Rayne and Tara, guiding the motorbike down the ramp instead of coming through the crowd. Very nice bike!
Natalya faced off against Michelle McCool, one-half of the self proclaimed co-Diva’s Unified Champions, in a riveting match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The third generation Diva defeated the champion by disqualification when Michelle’s partner-in-crime, the vivacious Layla interfered by throwing her shoe. Natalya was left in the ring with a hollow victory and no title to show for it. The next night on Raw, Natalya got a chance to take three seconds of her frustration out on Alicia Fox, and picked up a win, while Lay-Cool fell to defeat thanks to a dastardly twin switch orchestrated by those darn Bella twins! Those events led the majority of us to think that perhaps Lay-Cool versus Natalya was officially over. But maybe it’s not! Tonight, Layla steps inside in the ring against long-time rival, Kelly Kelly. Michelle will be at ringside but guess who will be joining her…
The team of Lay-Cool are the first to enter the ring on this glorious Friday night. Layla is wearing her SmackDown best and Michelle is wearing a T-shirt that has been constructed to say “Flawless Dynasty.” Lay-Cool play to the crowd who thank their lucky stars that the two girls aren’t wearing microphones tonight. Their ring entrance is short lived because pretty soon Kelly and Natalya make their way to the ring. Kelly is supporting her American heritage with a red, white, and blue flag attire and Nattie is dressed in her usual pink and black. Layla and Michelle aren’t so excited to see Kelly and they immediately begin to hold their noses and act like her smell is the worse than the a men’s locker-room after football practice. From the outside of the ring, Michelle gives Layla some last minute instructions and when the bell rings Layla scoots into the ring and locks up with Kelly.
Layla wraps Kelly in a headlock and flips her down to the mat on her back. She goes for a quick cover but Kelly is out after the one count. Both girls scamper to their feet and Kelly goes for Layla and throws her down on the mat. Layla rolls out of the way and gets up, clearly pissed off. She shoves Kelly who takes it like a woman, and then shoves Layla back just a little harder. Kelly attempts to follow it up but Layla kicks her right in the stomach, wrenches the arm, and then follows it up with another kick, this time to the ribs. Kelly tries to hook her arms around Layla’s waist but Layla backs her up to the ropes and nails her with an elbow to the side of the skull. Layla kicks Kelly in the stomach once again and this time the happy-go-lucky blond awkwardly falls through the ropes. Layla distracts the referee and Michelle sneaks up behind Kelly and kicks her again just for the hell of it. That prompts Natalya to come around the ring from the other side. The referee stops her before she can do anything and Layla slides out of the ring to get her opponent. Kelly is tossed back into the ring.
It was a very special TNA Impact last night: only days before Bound for Glory, TNA went live and promised us a spectacular show. Did it live up to the hype? There’s tons to talk about, so lets get right to it!
After a painful segment between Abyss, Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and various other male talents, we switch to an outside area where a car has just pulled up. Who exits but the country singer/wrestler Mickie James! The cameraman asks what she’s doing here. James is coy, saying only that we’ll have to watch and see. She looks good, rocking the beads threaded into her hair. Taz exclaims, “Mike, that WAS Mickie James!” Well no shit, Sherlock. We get an announcement from our fearless commentators that up next is the tag team match between Tara and the Madison Rayne vs. Angelina Love and Velvet Sky that will determine who owns the rights to “The Beautiful People” name and music. Should be interesting to see if any tensions regarding the upcoming pay-per-view match manifest in this one tonight…
