Hola, and welcome to this weeks Superstars Redux. This should’ve been our third week together, but two weeks ago they decided to cut a mixed tag involving Layla and Aksana… and then last week they also cut a match between Layla and Natalya. Luckily for whatever reason, the match was filmed again this week and actually aired. I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve such a gift of one of their matches not being edited out, but let’s just soak it in because we may not see any more for a while!
Following the entrances of both Natalya and Tiffany… er, Layla, the bell sounds and we get things underway with this non-title match. Nattie shoves the Champion back early on and proceeds to simply sit on her for a pinfall attempt, but Layla fights out and does not amuse our anvilette. She smacks Layla, and follows it up with an Irish Whip that the champion counters into a nice crucifix type roll up. Natalya kips up, as Layla continues to keep the control with a side headlock. She then starts to channel her inner freakin Costa Rican by shaking her chest around in forms of dance, but Natalya wants all business in the ring. A drop toe hold follows suit, proceeded by a slap on the butt and some added dancing as Layla decides to get down. Nattie attempts a clothesline, but Layla ducks and hits a facebuster. Some kicks follow up, before Layla leaps off the ropes with a crossbody for a two.
Natalya climbs out to the ring apron and screams that she doesn’t have to put up with this… allowing Layla to use her assets and knock Nattie off to the outside. A kick to the head later and the crowd gets behind Layla. She goes for a baseball slide, but Natalya smartly traps her into the ring skirt and goes to town. She tosses her back inside and slams Layla down by the hair, before dropping our champion face first for a two count. Nattie steps on Layla’s hand and then locks in a bow & arrow submission. Layla looks to be in danger, but she soon rolls through into a pin for a two count. Layla with a roll up for another two, as Natalya levels her with a discus clothesline. She begins to throw a tantrum while then going for a suplex, but Layla counters out and hits a huge kick to the skull for the win!
Thoughts: It feels weird to have an actual Divas match to recap… but I really enjoyed this bout between Layla and Natalya. With who was involved though, there was never any doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t. I’ve said it before, but Natalya is THE Diva when it comes to actual wrestling ability for me. I honestly believe she could wrestle her own cat, Gismo, and put on a match of the year candidate. She can work anyone and put on a great showing, sort of like being the equivalent of a female Daniel Bryan. To be honest I can’t even pinpoint either of them having a bad match. Layla, for me, is also at her best she’s ever been with ring work. It’s a shame that her title reign has been so awful when she’s so good in her own right, but there’s nothing you, me, or anyone who isn’t in charge of WWE can do about it. I think that it’s commendable to see Layla stepping up her game with any chance she gets. Given how poorly her reign as Divas Champion has been treated, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her become sort of stagnant since she never gets opportunities to go out and entertain. But this match showed that Layla does capitalize on every second she gets to perform. She continues to add new moves to her repertoire, and is even attempting to show personality and character throughout the match, which is something a lot of faces don’t get to do since they have all of twenty seconds to do a match.
I’m also really glad the match didn’t get cut for once. We’ll never know if it actually would’ve had the fire not prevented WWE from taping any Superstars matches Monday, but maybe count that as a blessing in disguise because I know I was disappointed when their match got cut last week. I still wish this could’ve been an actual feud that lead to them facing off on a Pay Per View, because really if you give them an even bigger stage and more time, these two could have an even more fantastic match. Natalya is who I wish WWE would go for in a feud with Layla, but I highly doubt they will now since Layla just beat her cleanly here. I still see Eve being next in line when they decide the Divas can start appearing on Raw, and I’d be perfectly fine with that as well. Regardless, I feel whoever is next in line to challenge Layla will be the one to dethrone her due to a severe lack of heel options so let’s hope it’s someone who will get a worthwhile run with the belt!
