As 2011 draws to a close, the Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by.
Today: Cryssi shares her best moment from 2011 — Kelly Kelly defending the World Heavyweight Championship in a main event match on SmackDown with LayCool, Dolph Ziggler and Edge.
My moment of the year should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone. The February 2, 2011 edition of SmackDown will be forever etched in my wrestling memory as my favorite television show episode of wrestling, ever. I’m not saying that it won’t ever be topped, but it’s going to take something of sheer perfection to match what went down in the early part of 2011. For weeks hot, rising star Dolph Ziggler had been on a quest to gain the elusive World Heavyweight Championship, which at that time, was strapped securely around the sexy waist of blond, tall, and handsome Edge. It seemed that no matter what Dolph tried to do it wasn’t enough, and it didn’t even matter that his seductive partner in crime, Vickie Guerrero, was doing everything in her power to help as well. After failing to capture the title at the Royal Rumble, Dolph seemed to grow desperate and Vickie took matters into her own hands. She went to her friends, the sassy duo known as LayCool, who had ran over the entire Divas division, and booked them in a match alongside Dolph for the World Heavyweight Champion. Vickie didn’t leave Edge without a partner though, oh no. She teamed the well respected veteran with arguably the most popular Diva on the roster, Miss Kelly Kelly. It was a move that left Dolph, Michelle McCool and Layla smirking and a move that left Edge weary and unsure.
The night kicked off with an in-ring segment, which basically set the tone for how the entire episode was set to play out.
Throughout the course of the night, everyone seemed to doubt Kelly, including her own partner, not that he said it in so many words.
At that point, Kelly hadn’t accomplished anything in her career and no one gave her a snowball’s chance in hell of helping Edge keep his title. Michelle and Layla had all the accolades. They were the queens of the Divas division. They had beaten everyone. Vickie knew what she was doing, and that was giving her man the best possible chance to finally get his greedy, strong hands (that I want on myself) on that title.
When it came time for the match, much to my delight, the men proved to be a mere afterthought. Once Vickie banned Edge from using the spear, you just had a feeling. It was the girls who put on the show, and ultimately Kelly Kelly who stole the spotlight. She took a beating at the hands of Michelle and Layla, and what stands out most in my mind is the shot on the outside to the barricade. It was an absolute sick looking bump and as a fan watching it I didn’t see how she could possibly go on. Kelly did go on. She fought with everything inside of her. And when the chips were down, her partner rallied behind her. Edge got the crowd behind Kelly and somewhere deep inside of her she found the strength to go on. On the opposite side, Michelle and Dolph encouraged Layla and berated the fans. The last thing they wanted was for Kelly to find her second wind. At one point towards the end, Kelly finally made that tag to Edge. But it proved to be pointless. Dolph had distracted the referee and he’d never even saw it. Layla scurried towards Kelly to continue the beatdown and things quickly fell apart.
Edge basically decided to take matters in his own hands. He forced his way past the referee and took out Dolph. Their brawl spilled to the outside of the ring. Michelle came into the ring to help her bestie double team Kelly. Layla got Kelly to her feet and Michelle got sick to deliver one of her vicious kicks to the blond’s head. But Kelly moved. Layla ate the stiff looking shot and went down like a ton of bricks. Michelle was stunned and that allowed to Kelly to get rid of ‘Cool. It came down to just Kelly and Layla, and the crowd was roar was pretty deafening. Edge was back in his corner, while Kelly managed to pull herself up. He called for the spear, and guess what, the crowd did too. With tears in her eyes, Kelly set herself up and delivered a devastating spear. She threw herself on top of Layla and got the pin.
She seriously defended the World Heavyweight Championship.
Edge ran inside the ring and took Kelly in his arms. The two celebrated while cheers rained down on them from all corners of the arena. Vickie was sick to her stomach on the outside and everywhere, people were stunned at what had just transpired. The celebration for Edge and Kelly was short-lived, however. Vickie climbed into the ring and she took matters into her own hands… again! She fired Kelly from SmackDown and sent her packing, and she put another one over on Edge. She gave her man a rematch for next week for the title and announced herself as the special guest referee. SmackDown ended with Vickie laughing hysterically as Dolph laid Edge out with his finisher, the Zig-Zag.
This match is everything a Diva match should be and more. It was filled with edge-of-you-seat action, heart wrenching emotion, and a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. The babyface was the classic underdog. The heel was the evil, dominant force. The men, as prominent as they are, took a backseat to Kelly, Layla, and Michelle. The girls were given a chance to prove how mainevent worthy they were and no one can say that this match was “awful.” The match itself was flawless, as were the segments and the aftermath. The greatest thing, in my opinion, is how both Edge and Dolph reacted to what was going on. Both are two of the absolute best at their craft and you can’t deny that singles match between the two would have been an instant classic, but they sat back and just watched. Their reactions to what was going on helped the match feel as important as it was. They didn’t have to react to everything. They didn’t have to care. But they did. They emotionally invested themselves into these women and what they were doing and we got a match where everything went off without a hitch.
Kelly came of age, to me, in this match. She proved that she’s the total package when it comes to being a babyface. My heart hurt for her when everyone doubted her, including Edge. And I clapped out loud when she nailed that spear and pinned Layla to the mat. It was the turning point in her career and what helped launch her into Diva stardom, more so than she already was. Getting fired from SmackDown sent her to Raw where she would go on to eventually become the best Diva’s Champion of the year.
The match also furthered the other storylines that took place inside of it. Michelle and Layla began to show cracks in their friendship. Vickie continued to abuse her power as SmackDown’s assistant general manager, something that would land her in hot water later on in the year. Dolph and Edge continued doing what they do best, and as a life-long Edge fan, it gave me another special moment to appreciate. People say Beth versus Eve at Vengeance was the Divas Match of the Year, and maybe it was, but in my humble opinion, Kelly and Edge versus Lay-Cool and Dolph Ziggler was Divas Match of the Year. It was everything and more, and it ties Punk/Cena at Extreme Rules and Punk/Ziggler on Raw as my overall Match of the Year.
— Follow Cryssi on Twitter at @HeelCRYSSI.
What are your memories of this moment?
