Hello Diva fans and welcome to this week’s edition of the SmackDown Redux! This week on the blue brand, three women competing at SummerSlam this Sunday, take part in a tag team Diva match. Divas Champion AJ Lee and her BFF, Layla face off against Kaitlyn and Total Diva Natalya. Can Nattie and Kaitlyn pick up some more momentum going into their respective matches this Sunday, or will the tandem of Lay-J be too much for them to overcome? Check out the match below:
The team of Kaitlyn and Natalya are out first and we are treated to a graphic hyping Kaitlyn and ‘Honorary Diva’ Dolph Ziggler vs AJ and ‘My Gear is Way Too Small’ Big E. Langston. While it is mentioned, Natalya vs Brie Bella does not get the graphic treatment. Rude…
Lay-J is out next and we cut to a pointless crane shot. Ok… The official signals for the bell and out match is underway with Layla and Natalya kicking things off for their teams.
Layla taunts Natalya right off the bat, but Nattie keeps her eyes on the prize and takes her to the mat with a headlock takeover. Layla manages to reverse the hold, but gets another headlock for trouble. After some quick chain wrestling and a nearfall from Nattie, she shoots Layla off the ropes, who attempts her Infinity pinning combination. Unfortunately for Layla, Natalya reverses the pin for another nearfall.
Nattie quickly goes for the Sharpshooter, but Layla fights out and kicks her towards and screeching AJ. Nattie takes a swing at the champ and that’s all Layla needs to turn her match in her favor. Layla pummels Nattie in the cornr wih strikes, prompting the referee to intervene. With the official’s back turned, AJ nails Natalya with a spinning kick to the back of the head.
With the advantage in their favor, Team Lay-J goes on the attack, singling out Natalya. Layla makes the tag to AJ, and chokes Natalya out, while AJ nails her with kicks to the midsection, before lockin in a rear naked chokehold. Nattie tries to power her way to her corner, but AJ takes her down with a handful of hair, levels Kaitlyn with a forearm and goes right back to choking Natalya.
After a bit of struggling, Nattie manages to pry off of her back and makes the hot tag to Kaitlyn, who comes in on fire. Kaitlyn goes on the attack with a flurry of strikes, followed by a backbreaker for two count an AJ. AJ tries to mount a comeback, but gets wrecked by a gutbuster from Kaitlyn, for another nearfall, due to interference from Layla. Nattie tries to attack Layla, but the referee stops her and semds her back to her corner. Using the distraction to their advantage, Layla and AJ double-team Kaitlyn with a kick to the knee(Layla)/Shining Wizard (AJ) combo to pick up the win.
Thoughts: Not a bad match by any means and a great way for the Divas who are involved at SummerSlam to gain some momentum going into their matches this Sunday. That said, there is one thing that just doesn’t fit in here and her name is Layla.
I was going that turning Layla heel and teaming her up with AJ would revitalize her character, but WWE dropped the ball (as expected) and turned her without giving any reason as to why she turned on Kaitlyn (Perhaps Kaitlyn ruined all her favorite outfits with tear stains?). And with AJ and Kaitlyn deep within their own storyline with Dolph and Big E., Layla is often seen as an afterthought.
Hopefully after SummerSlam, the AJ/Kaitlyn rivalry will come to a close and we’ll get to see Team Lay-J act like more of a team. I really think this pairing has a lot of potential if done right, but as of right now, it seems to be dead in the water.
Well that’s it for this week! Enjoy SummerSlam weekend and our TWO Divas matches. (THANKS TOTAL DIVAS!) Until next week!
