Bonjour, and welcome to another ultimate SmackDown Redux!~ In a week that as brought us such joy as seeing Eve make out with John Cena, Maxine going psycho on Kaitlyn, and the return of Cougar Town to television screens everywhere Tuesdays on ABC at 8:30/7:30 CT, could SmackDown possibly live up to the high standard set? We will have to see as the blue brand granted us some tag team action pitting Natalya and Beth Phoenix against Alicia Fox, and the Diva who could very well be Divas Champion this time next week, Tamina Snuka! Can Beth prove her dominance just before her big title defense Sunday? Or will Tamina show that she truly means business? Scroll on down!
We first open with a pretty awesome montage of video clips that highlight both Tamina, and her father Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka performing various moves and poses. After a slight commercial break, my new favorite theme of “TA-MI-NA” hits and out walk both she and the Fancy Fox Hood wearing Alicia Fox! The duo make their way down the ramp and into the ring, as they pose until the spine chilling theme of Beth Phoenix hits. The Divas of Doom walk out, but my eyes are immediately drawn to Alicia Fox as she begins to dance inside the ring to their theme! A match card highlights Phoenix and Snuka’s bout this Sunday for the Divas Title, as the bell sounds and we start things off.
Alicia and Beth begin the match with a lock up, as Beth takes control using a full nelson. Alicia slips out and proceeds to kick the Glamazon in the face, before taking the Divas Champion back with a drop kick. Natalya then blind tags herself in and interestingly informs Beth that it’s her turn. She (brilliantly) prances around the ring as she goes for a roll up on Fox, only Alicia holds onto the ropes and Nattie falls back on her head and kips up! She then skips backwards and screams out “Bravo”, as I begin to amuse myself with her positivity shining through in this match.
Natalya is then sent off the ropes and goes for a clothesline, but Alicia matrixes out to avoid it! From there, she leapfrogs a rebounding Neidhart, before slipping down and kicking Nattie over her. Alicia then smacks Natalya on the behind, as Nattie uses her veteran instinct to trick Alicia out of position and hit a sick facebuster for a two count. From there, Natalya chokes Alicia on the ropes and distracts the referee long enough for Beth to hit a sick kick to the chest of the Foxy one. Natalya slams Alicia’s head onto the ground and locks in a wrist stretching submission as Tamina gets the crowd behind Alicia. Fox then counters into an arm drag and tries to leapfrog over again, but Nattie catches her foot in mid air and trips her up! She then locks in the Sharpshooter, except the referee becomes distracted with a certain smell that has been going on the past few weeks.
Unfortunately, Natalya then ends up getting distracted herself, allowing Alicia to crawl behind her and tag in Tamina Snuka! Tamina steps in and proceeds to Samoan Drop the Hart Princess. She then signs that the end is near and ascends to the top rope, where she leaps off with the Superfly Splash for the win!
Her celebration is cut short, however, as Beth attempts to blindside her… except Tamina catches her with a SICK super kick to the jaw! The Samoan Goddess heads to the top rope again, looking to drop Beth with the deadly Superfly Splash, only Phoenix manages to roll out of the way and avoid it. She demands to be handed her title, as the two engage in a heated stare off to build their upcoming match this Sunday!
Also, since I’m covering the Redux this week and I believe you all should be treated to the greatness that is Rosa Mendes, Primo, Epico, and the Usos, please check out the following match:
Thoughts: I actually thought this was one of the better showings in quite some time for SmackDown. The match, and overall segment, felt much longer than what we’ve seen over the past few months, and I thought both Alicia and Natalya in particular were able to shine with their chemistry together. The only fault I had is that I wish Tamina would’ve gotten to do more than two moves, but in a way, it kind of makes me more excited for the pay per view because I’m not sure what else she has up her sleeve for a singles match.
The aftermath was also quite well done, and I think these stare offs actually give the feud more meaning than when DOD used to walk out and clap after Eve and Kelly matches because Beth has changed it up from show to show. Last week, she was happy in her reaction because Tamina was providing the competition she wanted, but tonight, Beth had a look of, “Oh crap, this girl can actually catch me off guard out of nowhere”. It’s nothing groundbreaking like some storylines of the past, but it’s the best thing we’ve had since Kharma‘s run about a year ago. Thumbs up from me!
