Greetings everybody, and welcome to another edition of your FCW Watch! The developmental program has been on a lengthy string of Diva matches as of late, until last week when the streak was broken and we were all wondering what to do with ourselves. Well never fear, because they return this week in tag team form, as Kaitlyn teams up with Audrey Marie to take on Sofia Cortez (Ivelisse Velez) and the reigning Queen & FCW Divas Champion, Raquel Diaz! We also get a brief continuation of the story that began last week involving General Manager, Maxine, and the newest Diva, Summer Rae (Danielle Moinet).
Without any further ado, let’s get underway!
We head to the arena for the opening of tonight’s episode, as ring announcer for the night, Caylee Turner, announces the following Divas tag team match. The upbeat theme of Audrey Marie hits, as both she and resident SmackDown/NXT Diva, Kaitlyn, step out in matching baseball themed attire. They then exchange a chest bump before hopping into the ring and posing for the adorning fans. Up next comes the new theme song of Raquel’s that I will never forget as belonging to Angela Fong. (Still missed!) Nonetheless, out come both she and partner for the night, Sofia Cortez. They don’t seem to mesh quite as well as Audrey and Kaitlyn did when comparing entrances. Diaz steps in front of Cortez while they step inside the ring, as the bell sounds and we kick things off as Kaitlyn shakes her booty at the villainous duo.
Sofia and Kaitlyn start things off as Cortez mocks Kaitlyn for her ridiculously awesome muscular features before beckoning her for a test of strength. The former NXT victor seems confused at first, but cooperates and easily takes the advantage by hoisting Sofia into the air by one arm and dropping her in her corner as Sir William Regal compliments Kaitlyn’s “walnut crushing thighs”. This man is genius! Raquel decides to make the tag in, as she goes for a slap that Kaitlyn blocks. Ever the one to capitalize on her opponent, Diaz kicks Kaitlyn in the leg and attempts to scream at Audrey I believe, to which Kaitlyn grabs her by the wrist and socks her with a strike. A nice dropkick follows, before Kaitlyn decides to make the tag into Audrey Marie and they hit a double team Irish whip/clothesline maneuver for a one count.
Audrey sends Raquel off the ropes and slips into a nice abdominal stretch, but Raquel quickly breaks it up and transitions into a bridge pin for a near fall. The Divas Champion then ambushes Kaitlyn off the ring apron, before feeling the effects of a kick to the gut from Audrey. Marie sends Diaz off the ropes, but Raquel holds on as Audrey goes for a dropkick. From there, the Queen grabs her by the legs and slingshots her onto the second rope where Sofia kicks her in the head while the referee is caught up with Kaitlyn. Diaz then flips into a jackknife cover for a two count, before shoving her back into their corner and tagging in Sofia Cortez. Sofia then hits a beautiful northern lights suplex for only a two count, as Audrey gets the shoulder up.
Cortez sends Audrey off the ropes, but the former Divas Champion fights back with a kick. She then ducks a clothesline, but gets caught up in a wicked sick flapjack that pretty much looks to snap her neck off the top rope! Sofia hooks the leg, but Audrey gets the shoulder up which only adds to the anger Cortez was facing with her. Raquel quickly tags back in and hits a suplex for a two count, as the crowd starts to get behind the plucky cowgirl. Diaz transitions into a camel clutch, but Marie does not give up no matter what. Raquel just seems relentless in her attacks on Audrey, before flipping it into a pretty cool pin maneuver for a near fall. Sofia Cortez makes the tag back in, as she taunts Audrey and goes for a neckbreaker. Marie manages to flip the neckbreaker into one of her own and drop the veteran with the vicious move.
Audrey tries to make the tag, even kicking Sofia off a few times, which for some reason, persuades Raquel to walk inside the ring and check on her. Sofia proceeds to ambush Kaitlyn off the side of the ring once again, but this gives Audrey the time to make her comeback with a set of clotheslines for a near fall. The crowd gets behind her as she goes for a sunset flip that Sofia counters into one of her own for a close count. Cortez then signals for a backslide, but Audrey drops her with a Russian leg sweep as Kaitlyn soars inside the ring to eliminate Diaz with another one of her dropkicks. Back inside the ring, Audrey goes for the pin but Sofia kicks out. Cortez then looks to go for a suplex, but Audrey sweeps out from under her legs and rolls her up into a bridge pin for the victory! The fan favorites celebrate their victory, as Raquel and Sofia don’t seem too pleased with the result.
Backstage, we spot our new Diva, Summer Rae, as she leads William Regal (Maxine’s former squeeze) into the control room to take a gander at the production behind FCW. She takes a seat per his request, as he looms over her and attempts to show her how to handle the knobs that are a part of the machinery. Summer asks if one of the certain knobs is how you turn the music on, which sparks him to reply that it’s how you turn something on. (Insert our newest WrestleMania theme, Turn Me On by Nicki Minaj, here.) He begins to get a little too close for comfort to Summer, before Maxine walks up on them from behind, none too pleased. She orders William Regal to come to her office immediately, before walking off as Summer questions if Regal has to go. He assures the blond beauty that he can stay for a little bit longer, as he continues assessing the knobs in front of her.
Thoughts: Beginning with the match, I thought it was on the okay side, overall. It was pretty solid until the end when I got confused by what happened. I was waiting for Kaitlyn to get the hot tag for a good few minutes, and then Audrey performs the comeback herself after being beaten up for a majority of the match before that. I don’t know if it was just miscommunication between the four after Raquel ran inside the ring and Sofia shoved Kaitlyn off, but this was the same match I saw at the live event I attended a few weeks ago and I thought that the non-televised match was far superior to this one, so perhaps they worked out the small kinks after this was taped. Who knows?! But I will say that I’m dying for Kaitlyn and Sofia Cortez to get in the ring together for a singles match on TV. Someone make it happen!
Also, I continue to like the segments between Maxine and Summer Rae as well. They’re short, but to the point, and I love that Summer is targeting Maxine’s former (storyline) friend with benefits, William Regal. It makes perfect sense if she wants to get inside Maxine’s head and eventually take over her job, and I really can’t wait to see the continuation between these two. I very much like that Summer is actually being given a role on the show as opposed to simply ring announcing for a while as most Divas do, and fingers crossed, it continues on for her.
