Welcome to yet another edition of the SmackDown Redux. As always it is written by yours truly and proudly sponsored by ClickWrestle dot com. Wait, this isn’t an audio show. It’s been a long week, what can I say? And honestly, speaking of long weeks, it’s a few long weeks since we last got a chance to see Beth Phoenix in action on SmackDown. This week, the Glamazon returned to the Blue Brand, teaming with her former Raw running budding, Rosa Mendes. They took on the team of former co-Diva Champions, Michelle McCool and Layla. How did the match go? Well lets take a look, shall we?
The team of Beth and Rosa make their way to the ring first. Brings back memories of Rosa being Beth’s sidekick doesn’t it? Beth is wearing her awful red Glamasuit (sorry David, but it’s an eyesore) and Rosa is wearing silver-gray and black. They pose for the fans once they’re in the ring and Lay-Cool’s theme music begins to play. Michelle and Layla, both in their eye sore outfits, do their usual shtick on the stage before they go to the ring. A video recapping Rosa’s shock win over Layla last week is shown and the dissension between Lay-Cool is teased despite the fact Michael Cole insisting everything is fine now. We switch back to the ring and Lay-Cool can’t seem to decide who will begin the match. Michelle finally takes the initiative and the bell rings. Beth and Michelle (hurt foot and all) lock up and the Glamazon is quick to get behind Michelle, lock her arms around her waist, and take her down to the mat. Beth hops up and grabs the injured foot much to Michelle’s horror. The ex-schoolteacher starts screaming and pleading, but Beth shows no mercy and slams her fist right into that boot. Michelle screams like she just got stabbed with a rusty butcher knife and while she’s withering around in pain, Beth tags in the Freakin’ Costa Rican, Rosa!
Rosa follows up on Beth’s progress by taking Michelle’s foot and slamming it into the mat. Michelle continues to shriek and she realizes she needs to make a tag. Layla urges her on, but Rosa tries to prevent the tag. Luckily for Michelle she’s able to push Rosa away and get her bestie into the match. Rosa is game and helps Layla into the ring… by the hair. She tosses the Brit across the ring by the hair, actually, and Layla lumbers back to her feet. Rosa takes her down again and she heads for the ropes. Michelle is waiting which distracts the gorgeous Latina and she whips around to confront the FSU alumni. She takes a wild swing at Michelle, who ducks and bends to get out of the way, and Layla capitalizes by kicking Rosa in the stomach and leveling her with a huge forearm. Rosa gets kneed in the gut and Layla brings her to the corner and tags in Michelle.
As Michelle gets in, Rosa pushes Layla away. She ends up crashing into Michelle, who doesn’t take to kindly to the shove. She shoves Layla into the corner and screams that her foot hurts, and she turns around to go and get Rosa. Rosa has almost gotten to Beth at this point to make the tag, but Michelle keeps it from happening by throwing Rosa to the opposite side of the ring. She drops down and begins to pound on her. The referee breaks it up because Michelle has shoved Rosa underneath the ropes, but Michelle goes back to work. She gets Rosa in position to go for a sick kick with that loaded boot but Rosa moves and Michelle viciously kicks the ropes instead. Michelle crumbles in pain and begins to roll towards Layla to make the tag. Meanwhile, Rosa has made the tag to Beth!
Beth and Layla come in simultaneously but it’s all Glamazon. She takes Layla down with a shoulder block, as well as a clothesline, and she just takes her to school for lack of a better term. Beth kicks Layla in the stomach and whips her into the corner. Layla does her best to block this and tries to leap over Beth, but the lovely Buffalo, New York native catches her much smaller opponent and slams her down into the mat. She goes for a cover but Michelle flies in and breaks it up. That brings Rosa into the ring and Michelle gets the heck away from her. She wants none of Rosa at the moment! The referee restrains the dark-haired beauty and forces her out of the ring, and Beth goes to pick Layla up for a Glam Slam. Michelle seizes the moment to jump up and nail Beth in the side of the head with her boot, and Layla goes for the cover. Team Lay-Cool pick up a big win!
Lay-Cool fall into each other’s arms and praise Michelle’s foot which is bedazzled with the word “Flawless” on it. They celebrate their win and Beth’s return to SmackDown has resulted in a cheap loss.
Is it just me, or does this whole “loaded boot” thing give off Bob Orton vibes? I can totally see Michelle and Layla as a modern day Cowboy Bob and Roddy Piper type of combo. And I promise that this is really Cryssi writing. David hasn’t suddenly taken over the SD Redux and made it old. Bad joke. But seriously, I love the fact Michelle used her boot to knock out Beth and get a cheap win for her team. Orton used to do it all the time. I’m fairly certain he didn’t have a broken arm for a million years. I really want to see Michelle get more wins like this because we’ve never really seen a Diva compete while injured. I find it fascinating that Michelle could use her protective foot as a weapon and honestly, I would love to see her keep this up for awhile. It just added a whole new dynamic to the match in my opinion.
As far as the Lay-Cool tension goes, it is what it is. Don’t expect to see a break-up happen until after Wrestlemania, if at all. I think it’s a shame because a Layla versus Michelle WM match could have been pretty amazing. It definitely would have deserved a big stage after all the work these two ladies have put in this year.
Beth and Rosa as a team was interesting. I can’t pick it apart and I can’t really praise it because it really didn’t do anything. It just seemed like a random Diva pairing and I wish the commentators would have put over the fact Beth and Rosa have a history together. Beth getting pinned didn’t really bother me. Her loss was cheap and doesn’t really hurt. Didn’t see enough of Rosa this week to judge her ring skills. She didn’t look bad though so that’s a good thing and I know her fans are just excited to have her on TV for the second week in a row.
The match itself was good. I liked it and that’s because of interesting ending. I would say SmackDown was pretty good again this week and I look forward to next Friday, like usual.
