Hello again, everyone! Pulling double duty today as Jack is away living the dream in Magaluf.
Last night, Naomi took on Rosa Mendes in singles action. This is an opportunity for Naomi to shine ahead of her match with her former Funkadactyls team mate, Cameron, on Sunday at Battleground. As for Rosa, this is a chance to hang with one of the best wrestlers in WWE. Let’s get to it.
Naomi is out first, followed by Rosa who is of course going to be appearing in the third season of Total Divas. Of all the divas on the roster, Rosa would not have been my pick for newest cast member. But never mind, ‘ey? She might prove me wrong and wind up being the most interesting diva yet!
The ladies lock up and Rosa drives Naomi into the ropes. The ref warns her to break it up and Rosa shoves Naomi in the chest. Naomi retaliates and goes for a roll up but only gets a count of one. Naomi with an arm drag and then a drop kick and Rosa rolls to the outside to regroup. Naomi’s surely letting out some frustrations after the last few weeks.
Naomi’s all smiles as she taunts Rosa, who tells her and the crowd to shut up while she gets herself together. Rosa heads back into the ring, right into another pin attempt from Naomi. Rosa kicks out but Naomi remains with the upper hand as we go forward. Rosa catches Naomi out of the corner and pushes her to the outside, finally gaining herself some momentum.
Rosa looks very pleased with herself as she strikes Naomi on the outside and poses for some pictures. Back in the ring, Rosa goes for her first pin of the match but Naomi kicks out. Frustrated, Rosa smashes Naomi face first into the canvas then follows it up with a suplex. Another pin attempt but Naomi kicks out after one. After choking her on the ropes, Rosa has Naomi locked up.
The crowd gets behind Naomi and she uses that to fight out of Rosa’s hold. Rosa’s still in control though as she hits Naomi from behind then lays her out with a big, impressive side slam. Rosa gets a two count and goes in for the submission again, but Naomi fights out and sends Rosa to the outside with a big kick to the mid-section.
Naomi heads to the outside but Rosa catches her and lines up another side slam. Naomi counters it into a hurricanrana and Rosa’s left reeling on the floor.
Naomi throws Rosa back into the ring and right away goes for a backslide pin. Rosa kicks out but is met with a fierce drop kick from Naomi! She follows it up with another one, then a modified shoulder block take down. Great showing from Naomi here as she pumps up the crowd! She misses the split legged moonsault and Rosa looks to take advantage, but she only gets a two count once again.
Rosa’s screaming this and that now but Naomi uses it to her advantage. She turns Rosa and around and plants her with the inverted DDT for the three count!
Thoughts: Not a bad match, I don’t think. It did wonders for Naomi ahead of Battleground and really showed her as a tough competitor. Rosa only had one shining moment for me, and that was her side slam. Otherwise she still looks like a rookie, and I’m sorry, but given how long she’s been there she should really be doing a lot better. Even girls like Kelly Kelly, who was by no means naturally gifted, managed to get so much better and have real, credible matches in a shorter amount of time.
I feel like Rosa could be great. She’s got such attitude and being a heel suits her, but it doesn’t seem like she’s making any strides in the ring. Hopefully season 3 of Total Divas will give us more of an insight into her as a competitor. I, for one, would love to see her in a training session.
Until next time, ciao! x
