Take Gail Kim in a fierce and sexy orange outfit and put her in the ring with Alicia Fox‘s fiery red mane. You’d be forgiven if you thought you were watching an ‘Inferno Match’.
In the first Divas match on Superstars in 2011, the Raw Divas went one-on-one hoping to build momentum going into a brand new year. Both have all the tools it takes to be a top Diva in WWE, but just can’t seem to get there. Could a victory here set the tone for the year ahead? Let’s find out…
Foxy is out first and while I loved her red hair when she first debuted it, it does not look good here. Next out is Gail Kim in show-stopping orange. She just gets finer with age, doesn’t she?
The match kicks off with a lock-up before Alicia takes control, wrenching Gail’s arm. The former Women’s Champ shows her experience, rolling through and kicking Fox off of her. They lock up again as Fox backs Gail into the corner and the referee tries to pry them apart. Using the distraction, Kim bolts through the ropes and Fox eats turnbuckle as she tries to lunge at Gail.
Gail hits Fox with a shoulder-block through the ropes and jumps over the top rope, rolling across Fox’s back, showing off her agility. Fox however counters with a kick to the stomach and hits her with a snapmare into a side headlock. Gail counters now by locking her into a leg-scissors. The two Divas get to their feet as Fox runs into a beautiful arm drag by Gail Kim.
It looks as though Fox has had enough, complaining to the referee but the veteran Kim shows no remorse, hitting her with a low-dropkick. Pin attempt but no dice. Gail then follows through with some forearm shots before being whipped into the corner. Gail once again shows off her athletic nature, jumping onto the middle turnbuckles and reversing it into a potential hurricanrana. Alicia, however, has other plans. She throws Kim’s legs into the air and hits her with a big kick to the stomach. Great spot.
Fox follows through by kicking her in the stomach again and keeping her grounded, stepping on her hair and lifting her body off the ground. She then takes a moment to preen to the crowd but it may have been ill-advised as Gail manages to hit her with a kick to the head. As Gail gets to her feet, Fox picks her up for what seems to be her patented tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but instead she lands Gail front-first over her knee. Nice!
Fox next tries to keep Gail down, clubbing her across the back and locking in an abdominal stretch — adding a knee into her side for extra effect. The crowd tries to will Gail back into the match but Fox sets up what looks like a pump-handle slam but instead, Gail uses her body weight to land atop of Fox in a pin position. She manages to get a two count before Fox kicks out.
The two Divas rise to their feet and it’s Fox who hits the first move: a kick to the stomach. Fox goes for her tilt-a-whirl move again but this time Gail counters, landing on her feet and hitting a clothesline on Fox. Fox goes for a kick but Gail blocks it and hits her with kicks of her own. Gail then sets up Fox in the corner for her patented shoulder-tackle through the ropes and connects. She then follows through with a great missile dropkick from the top rope. Near-fall but no three count for Kim.
Fox tackles Gail into the corner, but Gail uses the ropes to jump over Fox and into the open space. She turns Fox around and nails her with the Eat Defeat for the 1, 2, 3.
Thoughts: A solid, entertaining match and a great victory for Gail Kim. Several times in this match Josh Mathews referred to Gail as ‘underrated’ and that she most certainly is. Hopefully this is the start of a stronger 2011 for Kim. Fingers crossed that she will find herself in pursuit of the Divas Championship at some point this year.
As for Fox, I wonder if she read my last Redux? In her match with Eve, I critiqued her on a lack of growth in the ring, relying on the same combo of moves and not adding new moves to her arsenal. Here we saw her mix it up a little — the tilt-a-whirl which usually results in a backbreaker, ended up being front first this time which is a nice variation. Also the abdominal stretch and attempted pump-handle slam were nice to see.
