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Raw Redux (August 30th, 2010): U-N-I-T-Y

Last week on Monday Night Raw, BFF co-champs, LayCool told Melina they had an “offer she simply can’t refuse” for the 900th episode of Raw. As promised, LayCool appeared on Raw to inform the Divas Champion of their offer, but not before taking her on in a tag team match. Watch below as LayCool face off against Eve and the Divas Champion, Melina:

We come from commercial to find LayCool already in the ring, checking their reflections in their belts. (Belt? Half-belts?) Out next is the team of Melina and Eve, and LayCool welcome their fellow champ by running that ‘Lady Wawa’ joke even further into the ground. Without much pretense, the bell rings and our match is underway.

Michelle and Melina start off the match for their teams and right off the bat, McCool charge at Melina with a clothesline. Melina evades, and fights back with a flurry of forearms. While Michelle is still flustered, Melina charges Layla in the corner, knocking her to the floor. Unfortunately for Melina, Michelle McCool takes advantage of the distraction and floors her with a belly to belly slam for a near fall.

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FCW Watch (August 29th, 2010): AJ Lee vs Naomi Night

At long last, the FCW Watch has finally returned. With all the action going on in WWE’s farm territory as of late, we decided it was only fitting to get back on the ball when it comes to Florida Championship Wrestling. And what a week to do so! This weekend, FCW’s alpha females, AJ Lee and Naomi Night face off in a crown/titleunification match with the entire Diva roster at ringside. Check out the match below:

First out are the FCW Divas, all decked out in their Sunday best. This is also our first look at new Divas Celeste (now known as Ricki Vaughn) and Christina Crawford (Alicia Fox’s sister). Also at ringside, Aksana, Liviana and Raw Diva Tamina.

Next out is the Queen of FCW, AJ Lee followed by the FCW Divas Champion, Naomi Night (HEEEEEEYYY!!!). The top Divas shoot each other a few glares before the bell rings and the match gets underway. The ladies lock up, but AJ quickly gets the upperhand with a side headlock. Naomi manages to whip AJ Lee off and into the ropes, but is laid out with a shoulder block. AJ hits the ropes, looking to capitalize, but Naomi kips up and counters with her patented Booty Call butt bump for a near fall.

The champ tries to keep the heat on but AJ reverses into a school boy pin with the help of a handful of hair. Not to be outdone, Naomi executes a split-legged backslide followed by a few armdrags for another two count. Naomi tries to follow up with a scoopslam, but AJ wiggles out and into a waistlock, which is quickly reversed by Naomi. The champ tries to roll the queen up, but AJ holds onto the ropes sending Naomi rolling across the ring. Before Naomi can get her wits about her, AJ comes charging and hits a vicious Shining Wizard, but only gets a two count.

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Raw Response: August 30th, 2010

Get your Monday night Divas fix by tuning in to Raw tonight at 9pm ET on the USA Network. Be sure to tune in to the Post-Raw Show LIVE at 11pm ET following Raw! Discuss the show in the comments!

Report, Pictures & Video from FCW in Fort Myers (August 27th, 2010)

Big FCW post for you… we’ve got a fan report, pictures and video footage from Friday’s FCW live event in Fort Myers. Diva Dirt reader Bobby Lea Burchill sent us the following:

Before the show, I got to meet Christina Crawford, Isis the Amazon and Ricki Vaughn (formerly known as Celeste). All three were very nice and friendly, Christina especially. As reported earlier, Isis asked if it was alright before she took pics with fans, but she was nice about it. Ricki looks really good, and she shared the ring announcing duties for the night, not doing a bad job at all. Christina looks almost identical to Alicia, just with a darker color to her hair.

Onto the show, the Divas match was the third match of the show, and it was announced as a tag match. When Ricki introduced the team of Naomi Night & Aksana, I thought they were gonna run around the ring and slap hands, etc… but they came out in full on heel mode. They scowled at fans, refused to slap hands, and posed as they walked around the ring. Not only that, but Night ditched her braids and had purple bangs. And then out came Liviana and AJ Lee, to new music (no more Trinity theme), who were faces. This had me wondering if they really are being groomed for NXT, because AJ has been changed back to a face for the show, and more boldly, Naomi didn’t have her braids, but changed it to a normal hairstyle for Divas.

More after the cut:

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Which Divas Could Be on NXT Season 3? We’ve Got Clues…

With the finale of NXT season two on Tuesday (vote Kaval!), attention turns to season three, which if last season is any indication, should begin the very next week. And like the first season, we can probably expect the season three rookies to be announced on the second season finale on Tuesday.

Speculation has been mounting since earlier this month that next season will include Diva rookies for the first time ever. According to a report by the Figure Four Weekly newsletter, season three will feature four male rookies and four female rookies. Well, using our super-sleuthing and powers of deduction, we think we may know who is set to be part of the next season. Our clues below…

Syfy cameras at FCW taping: Reported by PWInsider, Syfy had its cameras at the FCW taping on Thursday night, which pretty much confirms that season three is a go. (I’m assuming that Syfy’s cameras were there to film footage for the little introductory video packages that they show.) On that night, AJ Lee, Aksana, Liviana and Naomi Night were part of the taping, as well as Jamie Keyes who already has an announcing spot on NXT.

Friday in Fort Myers: FCW held a show yesterday in Fort Myers which was attended by our friend, Bobby Lea Burchill, who offers up some more clues. At that show, once again, there was a camera crew filming the whole event including a Divas tag team match. Who was part of that match? The same suspects as above. AJ, Aksana, Liviana and Naomi Night.

But there’s more…

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SmackDown Redux (August 27th, 2010): Goodbye Serena (For Now)

There’s really not much to talk about this week in the SmackDown Redux because there wasn’t any Divas action. Sorry Lay-Cool fans! Instead, you can get your fix of those two Monday night on Raw.

Tonight’s episode of SmackDown, however, was Serena‘s final appearance on WWE television. Shortly after this episode was taped last Wednesday, Serena was informed of her release. The news broke this past Monday and quite eerily, it makes Serena’s final moments all the more poignant:

After picking up a win over JTG, CM Punk brings his minions into the ring for a dressing down. Perhaps I’m watching that much more closer since I know that Serena’s been let go, but interestingly, she was the only of the three disciples not to raise her arm in salute to their Straight Edge Savior. Defiant!

More eerily, when Punk bellows: “Be better or be gone,” he’s pretty much looking at Serena. ‘Be gone’? Well, that she certainly did do. I expect that they’ll explain next week that Serena caved and couldn’t handle it anymore — if they explain her absence at all.

More after the cut:

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NXT Lay-Kav-Ool Watch (August 24th, 2010): Are You Smarter Than Kaval?

A lot of us, myself included, were skeptical that the WWE could follow up their best NXT episode of the season with something amazing this week. And low and behold, those of us who were skeptical were right. NXT was nothing more than a lackluster show tonight and unfortunately, that meant all of us got the shaft when it came to Laykavool awesomeness. Maybe the WWE is simply saving all their cards for a jam packed season finale next week?

NXT kicked off with Jamie Keyes introducing the WWE pros. Laycool come out in their Flawless hoodies, with Michelle McCool in skintight jeans and Layla in small little shorts. MVP, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, and Zach Ryder are there in attendance as well. The remaining pros are still on tour seeing as how this episode was taped last week. The rookies come out next and it’s insane to me that it’s down to the final three. Kaval, Alex Riley, and Michael McGillicutty walk out and join Matt Striker in the ring. He introduces them as the final three and asks them how it feels to be in the finals of NXT. McGillicutty goes first.

Michael begins his speech by acknowledging the WWE Universe. He says he has the greatest job in the world and how these have been the greatest days of his life. He gives a shout out to Kofi, for helping him along the way, and Michael says that performing in the same ring as his father has made his entire journey worth it.

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Raw Redux (August 23, 2010): Three Champions, Two Belts, One Offer

Last week, Jillian managed to score her first win in almost a year, pinning Eve in a 6 Diva tag match. As a reward for her hard earned win, WWE decided to give her a shot at the Divas Championship against Melina on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw. Will The Shrill Songstress be able to pull out the win over The Paparazzi Princess? Check out the match below and find out:

We come to ring after commercial to find Jillian in the ring with her ever-present headset. She lets everyone in attendance know that she’s about to become Divas Champion once again, before torturing serenading us all with her own rendition of “Not Afraid” by Eminem, prompting Michael Cole to start singing as well. Kill me now… Fortunately for us, Melina’s music hits, cutting Jillian’s performance short. Melina makes her way to the ring in her usual extravagant fashion and the referee rings the bell, signaling the start of the match.

The two start off with a lock-up with Jillian getting the upperhand and pushing Melina to ropes, forcing a break. Surprisingly, Jillian breaks clean but goes right back on the attack with a stiff forearm. Jillian tries to follow up but is stopped in her tracks by a headscissor/heel kick combo from the champion. Melina tries to keep the heat on Jillian with a kick to the gut but is caught and pulled down into a painful looking split. Jillian goes to kick Melina in the back, but the A-List Diva ducks the attempt and lands a kick of her own, sending Jillian across the ring and into the ropes.

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Raw Response: August 23rd, 2010

Get your Monday night Divas fix by tuning in to Raw tonight at 9pm ET on the USA Network. Be sure to watch to witness all the SummerSlam fallout. Discuss the show in the comments! Be sure to tune in to the Post-Raw Show LIVE at 11pm ET following Raw! PLEASE DISCUSS THE SHOW AS … Read more

SmackDown Redux (August 20th, 2010): Straight Edge Success, “Lady Wawa”

This week’s SmackDown saw the WWE television in-ring debut of one Serena, a Diva who has been much buzzed about ever since she was signed to a developmental contract last year. Why? Because Serena, prior to WWE, was one of the most talented young things on the independent circuit and shot to the top of the card in SHIMMER. The time has finally arrived for Serena to step into the WWE ring in a mixed tag also featuring Kelly Kelly.

As background context to this segment, in an earlier backstage scene, Luke Gallows and Serena were told by their stable leader CM Punk that if they didn’t win tonight, they would be kicked out of the Straight Edge Society. Would Serena and Luke go the way of the dodo and er, Darren Young from Monday night? Let’s find out…

Serena is billed as having trained hard over the past few months under the tutelage of Punk. We’re to believe that she has no previous wrestling experience and is a beginner in the ring.

Say what you will about the Big Show’s in ring work (*cough*), but for Kelly to be teamed up with one of the SmackDown brand’s top stars is a big deal and a huge coup for her. After all, the most that the Raw Divas can muster up is teaming with the Superstars roster.

We kick things off with Show and Gallows but Gallows quickly tags out to Serena which means it’s Diva time! Kelly goes to lock up with Serena but get a kick to the stomach and an elbow across her back. Serena picks up Kelly and begins screaming in her face but K2 uses her legs to kick free of Serena’s hold and hits her with a couple of really flimsy looking forearms. (Need some work on that K2). Kelly whips Serena into the corner, riles up the crowd and goes for her handspring elbow. Serena, meanwhile, sees the move coming and clubs her opponent over the back, knocking her to the ground.

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NXT Lay-Kav-Ool Watch (August 17th, 2010): Rule One of NXT: Never Mess With Laycool’s Rookie.

Tonight’s episode of NXT was nothing short of epic. We were treated to two dramatic eliminations, Laykavool cuteness that was almost unbearable, another amazing match featuring Kaval and Husky Harris, and a down right brilliant promo delivered to us by Cody Rhodes. So much went on tonight that I’m not sure where I should even begin. One thing is for certain, the double elimination proved to be the catalyst of the best episode of NXT this season.

Jamie Keyes, who looked stunning like always, kicked the show off this week by bringing out the NXT rookies. Husky Harris, Kaval, Joe Michael McGillicutty, Alex Riley, and Percy Watson all took their turn walking out to the ring. Once everyone had made their entrance, Matt Striker (looking yummy in nice man jeans, navy button down, and nude colored vest) took over. Striker reminded everyone that tonight was a double elimination and in two weeks, NXT would crown the winner of season two. Striker said that tonight the pressure was on and that the WWE was going to give the rookies one minute to speak their mind about any topic they wanted… except for why they should NOT be eliminated. “Showtime” stepped up to the plate first and his topic was 3 D.

Percy opened up with a joke that had the potential to be funny, but because it came from it was a big fail. He said the 3 D’s are how he lives his life: desire, determination, and dedication. Desire because you have to know what you want, and dedication because you have to be dedicated to your craft. He said that he has the determination to succeed and win this season of NXT. He basically failed on that account, but more on that later!

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Raw Redux (August 16, 2010): Jillian, It’s Your Lucky Day!

As we all know, Melina picked up a huge win last Sunday at SummerSlam over Alicia Fox to win the Divas Championship, but her moment was ruined by the BFF champs, Lay-Cool. Will Melina get her revenge on the Flawless Ones? Will Alicia get a chance to redeem herself and win back the Divas Title? Will Melina come to the ring as a Vegas showgirl again? No. None of that happens. Instead we get a 6 Diva tag match pitting the team of Melina, Gail Kim and Eve Torres against Alicia Fox, Maryse and Jillian. Check out the match below:

Out first are the babyfaces and I must say, they look like a rag-tag group of super heroines. but I like it for some reason. Next, we have the heels, led to the ring by Alicia, who gets right in Melina’s face. This lead to a bit of a scuffle between the two teams. The referee finally gets control of the situation and signals for the opening bell.

Gail and Maryse start the match off for their respective teams. In her usual arrogant manner, Maryse shoves Gail, before narrowly dogding a bitchslap to the face. Maryse charge but is quickly taken down by a drop toe hold. Gail follows up by slamming Maryse’s face into the canvas repeatedly. Maryse tries to get back into the game by reversing an Irish Whip but Gail using the ropes to hit a springboard crossbody. Gail ties Maryse up it the Tree of Woe and tags in the Divas champion, Melina. Gail grabs the still incapacitated Maryse by the hair and Melina leapfrogs over her partner, coming down hard on Maryse’s mid-section.

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