Divas Champion Beth Phoenix has tweeted several times during her title reign that she will be “Divas Champion forever”, and last night she certainly certainly proved that she’ll do whatever it takes to make that eternal title reign happen — nailing her challenger, Eve Torres, with the biggest Glam Slam in history!
Let’s catch up on all the action…
As Kelly Kelly‘s theme hits, she leads out the entire Divas roster to ringside where they will serve as lumberjills for the Divas Title match. Oddly, they’re all in ring gear which lead me to wonder if the match would be turned into an impromptu Survivor Series elimination match, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Random thought: Oh my, Maxine‘s ring attire could very easily be non-PG.
With that out of the way, it’s time to meet the challenger, Eve, clad in white. Not sure if I like this color on her. But before I can decide, the Glamazon hits the ring with her BFF Natalya in tow.
As Natalya joins the lumberjills at ringside, Eve has a look of sheer determination on her face. She certainly looks like a worthy challenger. The champion confidently walks right up to Eve, hoisting her Divas Title in the air in an intimidating manner as the referee tries to keep the pair apart.
The Divas lock up as the referee calls for the bell and it’s Beth who gets the better of the move, shoving Eve. However, Eve fights right back with a forearm shot to Beth. Beth goes for a forearm of her own but Eve ducks and runs the ropes. She launches herself at Beth, who catches her mid-air and drops her. Beth goes for an elbow drop on Eve but before she can hit it, Eve uses her quickness to cut her off at the feet and Beth lands on the canvas. Eve with a nice strike kick, showing off her martial arts background, and a pin attempt but no dice. Eve again hits another nice kick before showing off her patented booty pop. “Shucky ducky!” Beth rolls out of the ring before Eve can hit her standing moonsault, however. The babyface lumberjills play their part, tossing her back into the ring where Eve goes for a nice neckbreaker. Eve finally gets to hit her standing moonsault and goes for another pin attempt but the mighty Glamazon kicks out.
Beth kicks Eve away as she tries to catch her breath, leaning against the ropes. Eve comes at her but gets tossed over the top rope. Eve, however, doesn’t fall to the piranhas below, instead landing on the apron as the Bella Twins and Natalya clamour around her hoping she lands on the floor. Eve with a shoulder tackle through the ropes on Beth. Natalya tries to pull Eve off the apron but gets kicked away. As Eve re-enters the ring, Beth hits her with a hard kick and begins stomping into her. Beth places Eve under the bottom rope, guillotining her windpipe. The Bellas and Natalya take great glee in this as Beth pulls her back into the ring for a pin attempt but Eve shows resilience and kicks out.
Beth now applies a camel clutch, hoping to make Eve tap out but the challenger continues to hold on. Eve fights her way out of the hold. Beth whips Eve into the ropes, but Eve hangs on. As Beth comes at her, she kicks Beth away. Eve then shows off some lucha-esque, jumping onto Beth and then launching her into the middle turnbuckle. Eve continues to keep the momentum going with a dropkick and back elbow and a hard kick to the face. Eve runs the ropes and hits a nice sit-out clothesline. With Beth down, Eve goes for a running senton splash off the ropes but Beth puts her knees up, which sends Eve down to the mat. Beth goes for the Glam Slam but Eve butt bumps & elbows her way out of it. Eve then applies that beautiful triangle choke submission hold that we saw at Vengeance, as Beth slowly slumps to the mat. Natalya tries to reach out to Beth to help her reach the ropes but the referee catches this. However, Beth finds a counter, flipping out of the hold and holding onto the ropes.
Natalya trash talks Eve from the outside, trying to distract her. She then jumps up on the apron and as Eve goes to knock her off, she quickly jumps down while Beth hurries behind Eve and rolls her up for the pin, but Eve counters into a pin of her own, however, Beth kicks out.
Eve hits Beth with a back elbow and then uses the bottom ring rope for a boost as she hits a nice kick to the side of Beth’s head. Beth looks to be out cold as Eve climbs to the top for the moonsault. As Eve climbs up top, Beth jumps back to her feet, pushing Eve off the top and the challenger lands in a precarious position on the top rope!
Beth climbs up to the second turnbuckle too. The two two exchange some blows, but Beth manages to hook Eve’s arms as we realize what she’s going for… YES! A Glam Slam from the turnbuckle! SUPER GLAM SLAM! And that’s all folks.
Beth emerges victorious as Madison Square Garden comes alive for the biggest Glam Slam in history. Now that’s an MSG moment!
Beth and Natalya celebrate the successful title defense as Kelly and Alicia try to scrape what’s left of Eve from the mat.
Thoughts: While not as long or as technical as their previous bout at Vengeance, I really enjoyed this match. The chemistry between Beth and Eve was once again on show. I feel like we’ve seen Eve’s potential really explode in these two matches with Beth. Every week on Raw or in matches with the likes of the Bella Twins, we see little sparks of Eve’s potential, but being in the ring with a veteran like Beth, she’s able to go balls to the wall and have a great match. We always say that the less experienced girls should be wrestling with the veterans like Beth and Natalya so they can get better and show the world what they can do, and both Eve and Kelly have done that with Beth. Eve is looking more comfortable and confident in the ring than ever before, and I think that Vengeance match last month really solidified her as a “wrestler” and not just a “former Diva Search girl”. Few Divas have been able to really shake off that tag — Michelle McCool is perhaps the best example of doing so — but I think Eve has turned the corner and is now heading in that direction too. Her performance last night was strong.
I would’ve liked to see the match get more time, but I think that they more than compensated that by doing a big spot at the end which will have everyone talking. The two matches between these two have been very different. The last one was long and technical, and this one was short and about the big finish. I think that given the time they were given, they did what they could to have this match as memorable as the last one. You can’t have a great long, technical match given the time, so why not go the other route and do the big finish? The finish was magnificent. There are no other words for it. Madison Square Garden is all about historic moments for WWE, and last night Beth had her historic MSG moment. That’s one for the highlight reel.
Was it better than Vengeance? No. Was it a good Divas match, however? Certainly, yes!
Match Rating: 3.5/5
What did you think of Eve vs Beth?
