Spoilers for this Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars are below, this week’s show goes to SmackDown. Show airs at 8pm on WGN America. Click the ‘+’ to read:
Thoughts after the cut:
The Diva Dirt Watch List 2009
The Diva Dirt team including the expert opinion of our newest team member, Krissy Vaine, has compiled our first annual Watch List. The Watch List gathers the five women, not currently at a national level, who we feel could be breakout stars in the industry in the future. The Watch List, we hope will be an annual event, as we scout new faces & new talents on a regular basis. The five women chosen for the Class of 2009, we feel, represent the brightest young prospects that could breakthrough within the next year or in the not too distant future.
ANGELA FONG
Age: 24
Hometown: Vancouver, BC Canada
Trained By: Steve Keirn and FCW staff
Currently under contract to WWE, Angela is working under developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling in Tampa, FL. Fong is perhaps the most unique female, developmental in quite some time — already well known amongst Internet fans and has created quite a following before even being called up to the main WWE roster. Since joining FCW in 2008, Fong has already been heavily praised for lending herself to the craft so quickly and was dubbed “the best worker in FCW.” Krissy says: “Angela is a fast learner & has nice outfits! She has lots of charisma, she’s athletic and ‘bendy’.”
More after the cut:
Raw Redux (August 31st, 2009) – Happy Beth-day, Mickie!
Check your local weather forecast for flying pigs, folks! We’ve seen the occasional ‘two Divas matches in one night’ on SmackDown, more common we see two Knockouts matches on any given episode of Impact but Raw? Raw?! Following last week’s Vince birthday debacle, this week it was the Divas Champion’s birthday. I wonder what she wished for… Better yet, neither match was a three minute wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am affair either! Cloudy with a chance of Divas.
First up was a six Diva battle royal to determine who faced the birthday girl, Mickie James, l ater on in the night. Rather than the standard clusterf*ck we usually see, they did a good job of getting the dead weight out of the ring early and letting the ‘wrestler girls’ do what they do best.
First, the entrance — so the Divas finally get their own entrances for one of these battle royals and Gail Kim decides: “Oh no, not me… I want to be ~suppressed~ by this turgid Diva lifestyle. I have been taken away from my beloved Knockouts and have to work here just for the money. But I shan’t enjoy it! Woe is me.” So what does a girl do? She hijacks Kelly Kelly‘s entrance. It definitely looked like a miscue to me, I guess she accidentally walked out and realised she made a mistake because Kelly didn’t even see her behind her, Gail had to tap her on the shoulder. And you’ll even notice a pause from announcer, Lilian Garcia, possibly because she was surprised to see Gail come out with Kelly. “Introducing first…” Pause. “Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim.” Also interesting to note that Beth Phoenix, arguably the top heel on Raw came out second while Alicia Fox came out last. The last spot is usually reserved for the top Divas/Superstars. Maybe Gail was supposed to come out after Alicia?
Anyway that over with, let’s skip to the match: We kick off with three different matches going on at once, Beth-Kelly, Gail-Rosa, Alicia-Jillian. Kind of hard to keep track of all of this. I noticed Rosa attempting to hit some awful looking slaps Gail’s way, before being pushed into the Glamazon. Despite being her former protege, Beth is having none of that — and Rosa & her weave go flying over the top rope. After this, we see some work between Gail and Beth which is always an enticing prospect, while Kelly hits a few forearms to Jillian and Alicia. Ms Fierce kicks Kelly in the stomach and delivers a really nice ace kick, delivered much better than the one on Mickie last week. Unfortunately our girl Foxy isn’t long for this match as she’s next eliminated by Gail Kim. She’s followed by Kelly, who’s dropped out of the ring by Beth who picks her up almost as if she’s cradling a baby. In the ring, Gail and Jillian ‘hit it off’, you could say, with Jillian launching Gail into the turnbuckle, Gail moves out of the way and Jillian eats ring post. Beth attacks next, but Gail manages to fight back and has Beth against the ropes, she falls out of the ring but manages to hold on thankfully for her. Beth teeters off the apron, I like this, it reminds me of those Royal Rumble matches when people are trying to eliminate the Big Show for example and the ‘big man’ kinda teases he’s about to fall. I guess Beth is our Diva equivalent of that.
Now it’s time for what I felt was some good work between Gail Kim and veteran, Jillian. They do a little exchange, which Gail gets the best of, tossing Jillian out of the ring but again — she hangs on this time. Gail tries to finish the job, but gets tossed out herself by Jillian before sliding back in through Jilly’s legs and almost going for a rollup, err… Anyway then she misses another crossbody but good news folks! She doesn’t knock herself loopy this time. Risky move going for it in the first place though, Gail. Jillian goes for a handspring elbow but meets Gail’s knees, Jillian stumbles to the canvas and crawls around like a retarded cat. Jillian grabs hold of Gail trying to throw her over the top rope, but Gail fights back, leading into a really awkward, awful looking hurricanrana that turned into a butt bump. I don’t even…
Did Michael Cole really just call Gail ‘dead weight’? Jillian tosses Gail over the top but in HBK-esque fashion, Gail skins the cat as they say [I don’t know why]. Another amazing observation from the amazing Michael Cole: “Jillian surprised that Gail’s still alive.” That is just… wow. Gail uses her legs to hit a legscissors on Jillian who falls out of the ring… finally! Unfortunately for Gail, Beth is still in this thing and with a stiff kick, eliminates Gail and takes the win!
Good battle royal, I felt. I enjoyed the work between Jillian and Gail minus a few glaring awkward moments.
This leads to…
Double Knockouts History Guaranteed [Contains Spoilers]
Several of the TNA Knockouts are in line to make Knockouts history in the near future, possibly at this month’s No Surrender pay per view on September 20th.
This post contains spoilers for upcoming episodes of Impact, therefore I’ll put the full details after the cut:
Raw Response: August 31st, 2009
Discuss tonight’s episode of Raw as it happens in this post!
Tonight’s Raw is hosted by the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. I wonder how they can turn that into a Divas’ gimmick match?
Exclusive: First Images of Roxxi’s TNA Return
Our Impact Zone source, Camden has sent us the first exclusive pictures of Roxxi‘s TNA return. Check them out below. As expected, Roxxi was Madison Rayne‘s tag team partner in her first round Tag Team Championship tournament match:
[nggallery id=323]
Click here to read the spoilers for this Thursday’s show.
Impact Spoilers for Thursday Night: September 3rd, 2009
Spoilers for this week’s show are now out, courtesy of our new TNA tapings correspondent Camden! From now on, Diva Dirt will be your first stop for TNA spoilers, as we’ll have them before anywhere else. We’ll also have more match detail than any other site–no simple, single-lined results here! The show airs September 3rd on Spike. Click the ‘+’ to read:
EDIT: More spoilers added.
Thoughts after the cut:
Roundtable (August 31st, 2009) | Krissy Vaine’s WWE Journey: Real Reason She Left, DSW, Bellas, Natalya, Angelina, Torrie, McCool, Tara, Vince & More
This week on the Roundtable: The Diva Dirt Roundtable has moved to it’s brand new home of Mondays here at Diva Dirt, and this week we have a special episode dedicated entirely to our newest team member and former WWE Diva, Krissy Vaine.
In a candid interview with the Diva Dirt team, Krissy speaks for the first time on the real reason she left WWE. You may think you know, but two years later, Krissy is able to speak freely about it for the first time — no diplomatic answers here, just straight, honest truth.
As well as her WWE journey, Krissy talks about working in developmental including: Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling; which current WWE Diva didn’t like her; what it was like working with girls such as Angelina Love, the Bella Twins, Taylor Wilde & Natalya; the story behind her SmackDown debut; working with Torrie Wilson and the former Victoria, Tara; Krissy even comments on that awful outfit she wore! No topic is off limits and Krissy tells us what it was like working with Stephanie and Vince McMahon as well as her future plans… including here at Diva Dirt!
When all was said and done, the new five-person team had been talking for nearly 2 hours! I can attest for the rest of us that Krissy is so sweet, charming and just an incredibly down to earth, fun person. But don’t take our word for it — listen to the Roundtable yourself!
» Add Krissy as a MySpace friend
» Krissy’s staff page biography
To listen to the Roundtable directly on the website, just click on the play button below. You can also download the Diva Dirt Roundtable via iTunes to put on your iPod/iPhone or download the MP3 file from a third party website.
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Project Diva: Get Michelle McCool’s LA Look
This is Project Diva! Consider me your own personal Heidi Klum as I guide you through the looks of your favourite Divas & Knockouts! As a former personal stylist, fashion is srs bsns when it comes to this here web-diva; I’ll teach you how you can emulate the look, offer alternative solutions & suggest the perfect accessories to polish it off.
This week: Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool‘s sizzling LA outfit last weekend during SummerSlam‘s Fan Axxess. A look so well put together, Tyra herself would squeal with excitement. It’s not just the outfit either; the perfectly moisturised, luscious long legs and kempt hairstyle without a single lock out of place.
Look Book
Cut-out sleeve off the shoulder top: Okay, so it’s not exactly the same as the sheath top Michelle’s wearing, but it’s the closest we could find. This cut-out sleeve top bears a colour resemblance to that of the Champ’s, without the need of wearing anything underneath! ASOS, £20 [out of stock]
Button side denim shorts: It’s amazing how expensive a pair of destroyed denim shorts are these days, especially when you can take a pair of scissors to an old pair of jeans yourself. This pair comes in at a decent $12.80, however minus the destroyed look. Again, take a pair of scissors and just knead out those seams to create the full effect! Forever21, $12.80
Peep-toe pumps: Pretty standard peep-toes here, you should be able to find them in most places. This pair comes from Glaze by Adi, at a respectable $29.99. Overstock, $29.99.
More after the cut:
Unwrapped: Eye Candy for the Week Ending August 29th, 2009
In order to consolidate our Eye Candy coverage, we’ve developed a new feature: Unwrapped! We’ll take all the new photoshoots from the week and grade (or “brand”) each based on the following criteria:
• Poses (are they versatile or just glorified statues?)
• Uniqueness (have we seen this photoshoot a billion times before?)
Grading scale: Sweet (Great)/Bland (Iffy)/Sour (Awful)
Alicia Fox‘s Foxy Diva
Appearance: I know a lot of you will hate the outfit, it being a tiny littler romper, but I think it’s adorable and retro. She looks like she’s dressed to hang out at the beach in the late 50s/early 60s. The studded belt kind of takes away from the vintage feel, but it doesn’t ruin the look. Neither do the black heels. I’d love to see a Diva adopt a more retro style–not too costumey, but unique enough to stand out amongst the sea of jean-wearing, halter top-sporting Divas.
Poses: She compliments the outfit by posing in a manner you’d see a 60s catalog model posing–cute, almost innocent. It’s not overtly sexy or suggestive, and I like that it corresponds with the look perfectly.
Uniqueness: The look itself is unique as can be. Not too many Divas are running around in vintage rompers. It’s cute and fun in a way that you don’t see many Divas dressing.
Grade: Sweet. I’m feeling the retro-ness of it all. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I definitely am. Maybe it has something to do with the Mad Men kick I’ve been on..
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.
Courtney Taylor‘s Diva Debut
Appearance: Courtney’s wearing a flowy, one-shoulder dress in a gorgeous purple color. She keeps the rest of the ensemble simple with black wedge heels, a black bracelet, silver earrings and a silver ring. Clearly, she’s only sticking to a simple color scheme. The one dominating color is the purple, and it’s beautiful enough to command the attention and carry the look on its own. The dress itself is loose and not too form-fitting, but still sexy in the way it falls on her frame.
Poses: She excudes a casual attitude through her poses, lying down and half-smiling. She looks comfortable and ready to assume her role as full-fledged Diva. I especially like that she’s not trying too hard, given that this is her first Diva photoshoot.
Uniqueness: Nothing particularly unique about it, as it’s your standard studio shoot. I guess the fact that it’s her first photoshoot makes it noteworthy, though.
Grade: Sweet. She’s just the right mix of cute and sexy. It’s certainly a great first impression.
• Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.
Follow the cut to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots.
Trish Stratus Confirmed for 9/14 Raw
It’s the confirmation we’ve been waiting for — the legend that is Trish Stratus has been confirmed as guest host for the September 14th episode of Raw hailing from Toronto.
It had been widely speculated over the past couple of months that Trish would host the show, given it’s in her hometown and despite many of you flooding our inbox with the rumours, we felt we needed to wait for more substantial news.
The gig has now been confirmed by the Air Canada Centre, which will play home to Raw that night. Three years ago, Trish ended her storybook career in that very arena.
Earlier this year, we suggested Trish as our perfect guest host for Raw.
We can’t effin’ wait!!!
Renewed Interest in Knockouts TV Show
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson is reporting that there is some renewed interest in doing a Knockouts only TV show, which has been discussed several times in the past, including just last month.
Johnson reports that TNA’s new contract with Spike TV has something to do with. The company now has the right to shop potential TV series’ to networks other than Spike, which carries Impact. However the male-skewed network would have first refusal.
WWE Signs New Diva in Magic Dancer
WWE has reportedly signed Orlando Magic dancer, Trinity McCray to a contract. The official Twitter page for the Magic Dancers says that McCray is set to start training this coming Monday, presumably in FCW:
Don’t think I ever told u all where Trinity was going this yr! She’s now a WWE Diva Wrestler! Starts training on Mon!
McCray is 21 years old and resides in Orlando, Florida.
Saturday Supplement: What’s in a Name?
In the Saturday Supplement, the Diva Dirt team will aim to discuss a news story, a televised event or other relevant and current topics. The objective, like the average weekend newspaper, is to offer more indepth and lengthy discussion.
With last week’s debut of Courtney Taylor I thought, amongst other things, how awful that name was. But let’s be honest–for a girl that used to be named Wesley Holliday, you can only go “up” in the name department. That thought led me to think of how and why the WWE and TNA name their Divas and Knockouts the way that they do. Some names stick, some don’t, and others just boggle the mind with their awfulness. I’ll ponder that, and take a look at some of the aliases that have become some of the most recognizable names in business, as well as some that just don’t make a damn bit of sense.
Of course, a discussion on wrestling names wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Victoria, er.. Tara. The internet breathed a collective “Huh??” at the unveiling of the new name. After all, how would that sound on television? “Tara hits the Widow’s Peak!” Eh, not really feeling it. After having a name as fitting as Victoria, is was strange to see her suddenly have to change monikers. But let’s figure out why she had to do it: did the WWE have a trademark on the name? Probably, but WWE-to-TNA transfers have often found loopholes and ways to get around that. Christian Cage, anyone? After the recent debut of Lashley, who of course didn’t have to change his name from his recognizable WWE moniker, it makes me wonder if Victoria was forced into changing her name, and if so, why? She had a long, storied history with the WWE, and if any Knockout commanded respect right from the get-go, it was her. Unless I’m wrong and it was her idea to change names, I think it’s pretty crappy to make her switch from something she’s been associated with for so long. After all, don’t TNA love getting a rub from the WWE’s past successes? Why would they want to sever that mental tie to Tara’s success in the WWE by completely changing her name? And for the love of God, why Tara? It’s such an un-intimidating name (Yeah, I get the Tara-Terror connection), and just sounds silly in the context of a wrestling match. Maybe if she had a faux last name with it, it would be easier to digest. Though I will admit, it’s been growing on me after a while, but probably just because I’m getting more used to it.
But while we’re on the topic of TNA, that company has a pretty storied history of questionable Knockout names. ODB, for instance, stands for One Dirty Bitch, clearly a moniker fitting for her over-the-top character, but it’s so damn weird. All I think of when I hear it is the rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard, which probably isn’t too far fetched, since he often went by the initials ODB as well. Now, I can’t knock her for doing something out of the ordinary, but I personally wouldn’t name myself a bitch. I probably wouldn’t drink from a flask on my way to the ring either, so we’re probably not destined to see eye-to-eye on much.
Jeremy Borash Confirms Roxxi’s Return
As first reported here during the week, TNA’s Jeremy Borash has confirmed the return of Roxxi aka Nikki Roxx. The confirmation took place during a live video chat with fans on popular site, Ustream.
Given the brackets, one can assume that Roxxi will be returning to team with Madison Rayne in her opening tournament match with the Beautiful People.
That match, I expect, will air next Thursday given the tease this past week. Impact will be taping on Monday and Tuesday, so I expect we’ll have spoilers on Monday night.
McCool Says ‘Champions’ Was Favourite Match, Responds to Criticisms of Move Stealing and More
Say what you will about the Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool, but there is no denying that she has a good head on her shoulders. Despite being chalked up as a hate figure by Internet wrestling fans and even some ‘newz’ sites, McCool is quick to address and laugh off insults and criticism thrown her way. That’s my kinda gal!
In an interview with our friends at MichelleMcCool.net, the history-making Diva talks about all sorts of topics including picking her Night of Champions match with Melina as her favourite match so far. And we are inclined to agree:
Melina has been great to work with and our NOC match is by far my all time favorite. I am very proud of that match and what we were able to do….work wise, psychology wise, everything! :) It was great to put our minds together and go, “What could we do that hasn’t been done before?” It was actually nice because even a few of the guys said, “Man, I wish I would have thought of that!” :) We don’t always get opportunities, so we wanted to take full advantage of it.
The Women’s Champ continues about what she’d like to see in the women’s division, validating what fans would like to see too:
Things have definitely changed, and continue to, as far as the role of divas in wrestling. It’s just refreshing when you receive a lot of praise and appreciation for an actual wresting match. I would give anything to have a no DQ match, a street fight, something. I can promise you this….it’d be one you wouldn’t forget! Blood sweat and tears…it’d all be left in the arena!!!
Things turn a little darker, as McCool turns her attention to the whirlpool of criticism, not least extending to claims that she stole AJ Styles’ [though he isn’t named] finisher, the Styles Clash — known as the ‘Faith Breaker’ in WWE:
Yeah, that seems to be the hot topic with some Twitter “fans!” 99% of the time I move on. Sometimes, and normally only when people are out of line with their message, I answer to entertain myself. Regardless, the answer is always the same. From headlocks to rollups, it’s all been done before – yadayadayada. Plus, it works! Why would I not want to do it?
It’s not as though Ms McCool isn’t aware of her ‘status’, shall we say, on the Internet and I find it even more heartening that she’s able to brush it off. Never has there been a Diva quite as Boleyn-esque in fans’ attempts to plot her downfall. Most recently ‘reports’ of the situation Michelle touches on above, with the implication that she has heat in a company that she doesn’t even work for. Considering the source’s history [Victoria-Benoit], it’s not something that we were in a rush to report. I’m glad to see the Champ has a tougher skin than most & rolls with the punches — even throwing some of her own. She’s certainly gonna need that thick hide with people jumping at the opportunity to proverbiabally behead her, a la Anne Boleyn.
Read the full interview by clicking here. Michelle discusses lots of other interesting & insightful topics including Torrie Wilson, how the WWE.com photoshoots work and more.
ABC News Piece on Wrestlicious
The folks at Wrestlicious, the upcoming all-female promotion, directed us to this video clip highlighting Wrestlicious and owner, JV Rich on last night’s ABC News. That can be seen after the cut. Note: The video autoplays.
Additionally, in response to a recent report from one major news site that Wrestlicious hasn’t locked a TV deal of yet, the company assures fans that they are due to launch in late fall as planned.
Watch the ABC News piece:
A Celebration of Maria Kanellis
On this, the month of the inception of Diva Dirt two years ago, we felt we needed to take some time out to celebrate one of the Divas that has given us endless amounts of material to write about.
Oh Maria, we’ve had our ups and downs haven’t we? We may not always like what you’re wearing [okay, all the time!], we may not think you’re the best wrestler, nor will we ever understand your obsession with animal print. But truth be told Ms Kanellis, we wouldn’t have you any other way! The fact that you grace us with your ~followage~ on Twitter suggests that you, yourself, don’t take our words to heart and accept that you can’t win ’em all. C’est la vie, as B*Witched used to say…
It shows us that you have a sense of humor and don’t take yourself too seriously, where some of our readers [read: your fans] may jump on us. We are not ~srs bsns~ and we thank you for being who you are, doing what you do and giving us lots to write about each and every week!
We hope your choice of wardrobe continues to perplex us for many moons to come; after all what fun would it be if we didn’t try to solve a problem like Maria?
Let us take this moment to celebrate the life, times and fashion mishaps of Maria! We salute you!
Roundtable Discussion: Questions for Krissy Vaine
The Diva Dirt Roundtable returns on Monday when we will be joined by our newest team member and former WWE Diva, Krissy Vaine for a View-style interview! Krissy will be talking about, for the first time, the real reasons why she left WWE as well as much more!
Now is your chance to put a question to our new staffer! Submit your questions in this post and check back on Monday for an all new Roundtable!
Hermie’s Stiff, Wooden Hotseat with Sarita
TNA’s highflying new Knockout, Sarita joins Hermie Sadler on the latest episode of Hermie’s Hotseat, which we have affectionately dubbed ‘Stiff, Wooden Hotseat’. Get your mind out of the gutter! We were talking about his interviewing style! Regardez:
I’ve always thought Sarita was supermodel-esque beautiful but her ring gear just doesn’t do her justice. Here, her femininity and beauty is very apparent. Is this girl the total package or what? Amazing wrestler and gorgeous looks.
Stacy 2.0… Er, Courtney Taylor Profiled
You know that Beyonce song where she’s talking all about deja vu? That’s what I experienced when I first saw new ECW Diva, Courtney Taylor‘s – real name Beverly Mullins’ – photoshoot for WWE.com. Girlfriend is giving off serious Stacy Keibler vibes.
Now now, that ain’t necessarily a bad thing — the Keib was 42 inches of luscious blonde goddess and I think Courtney is just as pretty. It would be eerily uncanny if they had Courtney & Kelly Kelly do a photoshoot together as an homage to Stacy and gal pal, Torrie Wilson.
Watch out for Erin’s review of Courtney’s photoshoot in Sunday’s Unwrapped. Until then, check out Taylor’s new WWE.com profile by clicking here.
Brief Footage of SummerSlam Battle Royal
Some handheld camera footage of the Divas battle royal from last Sunday’s SummerSlam pay per view was discovered on YouTube. It’s only 40 seconds but better than nothing, right? Watch below:
SmackDown Redux (August 28th, 2009) – The Acting May Suck, But the Understudy Still Shines
Last time on SmackDown: Michelle made her return, sitting at ringside as Melina & Maria defeated Layla & Natalya. No physicality form Michelle other than a shove onto the keister by Melina.
This week: Will Michelle step up into a more physical role, or is she still sidelined? Will the WWE even acknowledge her injury? Will Maria grace us with another mind-blowing in-ring performance? Let’s dive in and see!
This week’s Diva action starts off much like it has in the past few weeks (the “Michelle-less weeks”, as I like to call them). Even though Michelle’s back and we have an actual wrestling storyline to promote, Maria is still having problems with Dolph, the part-time wrestler, part-time C-Grade porn star. Melina mentions something about “going around in circles”, and I think that describes this storyline pretty well–it’s like a dog chasing its tail, always with some sliver of a harebrained goal, but never quite reaching it. But even the dog gives up eventually, so we’ll have to wait and see if this actually plays out.
Okay, enough with the mixed metaphors. Maria seems pretty frustrated with Melina, asking her why she can’t just be happy for her. Maybe because, with this Dolph thing, you’re fixing to drive into a brick wall? Maybe Melina should just say “Bon voyage!” and send you on your way. Melina explains that she saw Dolph with another woman after SummerSlam. (Are you sure he wasn’t just looking into a mirror? Dude’s pretty feminine-looking.) Maria pulls out the old “Mean Girls” argument, telling Melina that she’s probably just jealous of her. Melina tells her she’s sorry and splits, just as Dolph comes up. He tells Maria that the woman he was with was his sister. (OMG, maybe she looks exactly like him but with a longer blonde wig. I’d pay to see that.) Maria believes it, of course, and we’re set for another few weeks of captivating drama. UNTIL NEXT WEEK, on “The Young & the Shitty Wrestlers”.
Watch the segment below, then skip to 4:40 to see the subsequent match:
Now that we’ve got the backstage portion of the show out of the way, we have an actual match to get to (Please excuse the male match in between on the video–don’t they know that all male matches are glorified piss breaks? They’re not even real wrestlers!) Michelle has made her way to the ring and she’s on crutches! Shit. She takes the microphone and explains that due to Melina’s brutal attack last week, she’s got an injured knee. What a coincidence! She says she’s not medically cleared to wrestle and shouldn’t even be standing on it (Probably shouldn’t be wearing sky-high heels either.. Just sayin’.) She says that Melina ruined the night. Thanks a lot, Melina! God, what a bitch!
But seriously, Michelle’s mic work is definitely improving–she works the crowd, and plays the arrogant heel role pretty well. All she needs to work on is her lack of inflection due to her strong southern accent. She goes on to introduce Melina’s opponent for the night, whom she describes as a dear friend: Layla! As she makes her entrance, Todd describes her as Michelle’s “understudy” of sorts, and I have to admit that she’s not a terrible replacement–you could certainly do worse. Melina comes to the ring, and we can start the mach. They start with a tie-up, which Melina dominates into a pin attempt. No cigar, and Layla takes the advantage, tweaking Melina’s arm and kicking her in the gut for good measure, keeping a tight hold on the arm. Melina breaks free with a kick of her own, delivers an irish-whip that is reversed into the corner, and meets a charging Layla with two feet to the face. (Whoa, did the WWE pipe in that reaction? Damn.) Melina takes Layla down with a leap from the top rope, and sells her left ankle, which always seems to be giving her trouble.
The Tiffany Guide to Impact: The Birth of a New Knockout Era
This week on Impact initiated the first week of the Knockouts tag team tournament, as well as the anticipated debut of Hamada.
Traci Brooks and Sharmell, looking pretty snazzy in their matching MEM wear, hype up their impending encounter with Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed. Sharmell ever-so-graciously describes Awesome Kong as “elephant-like” in her endeavor to talk a big game. Say what you will about Sharmell’s “work-rate,” but she sure makes up in charisma what she lacks in ring ability.
At the start of the competition, Impact makes up for their lack of gratuitous shots of Velvet’s ass this week with some upclose shots of Traci’s… enhancements. Giggidy giggidy goo!
Traci dodges Kong and makes a quick tag to Sharmell. Kong tags out, and Sharmell takes the attitude to Raisha. Raisha pushes Sharmell down, who tags out. Raisha takes the fight to Traci and Irish whips her into the corner and hits her with a flying clothesline. Raisha follows up with a scoop slam and an elbow drop. Traci kicks out at two. Raisha takes Traci down with a suplex. Traci overcomes Raisha and whips her into Sharmell’s corner. Sharmell grabs hold of Raisha, but pays for her over-zealousness. Traci subsidizes on the distraction with a clothesline and a cover. When Raisha kicks out, Traci attempts to strangle her and choke her against the ropes. Traci takes a running start and then lands on Raisha mercilessly agains the ring ropes. Traci quickly goes for the cover, but Raisha kicks out at 2. Traci attempts to drag her opponent to the opposing corner, but Raisha powers out. She then retreats to her own corner and tags in Awesome Kong.
Kong takes Traci down with a series of clotheslines and smashes her in the corner. Kong sets her up for the Awesome Bomb, but Traci manages to scurry away. She runs the ropes, only to be tackled again with full force. Kong drags Traci into position, goes up the second rope, and dive-splashes all near 300 pounds of awesome on top of her with the Awesome Press. What surely would turn into a victory for Kong’s team, is interrupted by Sharmell who would prefer not to see her team lose in vain. While Kong is preoccupied with Sharmell, Raisha makes the blind tag and covers Traci for the 3-count. Once again, there seems to be trouble on the horizon looming between Kong and her sidekick. Looks like Raisha/Melissa won’t be doing double duty for much longer. Nonetheless, Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed are slotted for the second round of the tag team tournament.
Next up is the long awaited debut of Hamada.
Audio Bulletin: Looking at SHIMMER Volume 23
Yes, Audio Bulletins are back! For those unaware, our ‘Audio Bulletins’ are our version of an elite hotline or whatever but you don’t have to pay for ’em! Good deal, right?
It’s been a long time since we’ve done one of these but I thought I’d run down my thoughts on SHIMMER Vol. 23, which I just finished watching this week.
I forgot to add another valid point but I’ll write it out: The DVD runs for over three hours and includes an awesome bonus match between MsChif and Saral Del Rey from an ROH pay per view. Given the price tag, I don’t know how that isn’t value for money!
[audio:http://diva-dirt.com/download/bulletins/bulletinshimmer23.mp3]
[Download (Right click & ‘Save Target As’) | File size: 13.1mb]
Purchase SHIMMER Volume 23 by clicking here. You can also buy the most recent release, Volume 24, by clicking here. In the checkout type in the promo code: “bigten” for a 10% discount.
Impact Feedback: August 27th, 2009
Tonight on Impact:
– The beginning of the Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament
– The debut of Hamada
– Dixie Carter’s Impact debut
Discuss your thoughts!
EDIT: Watch the videos below!
Keep your eyes pealed for Tiffany’s Guide to Impact!