Last week on SmackDown, the Divas got a rare chance to stare alongside some of their male counterparts in various forms of backstage or ring segments. Everyone who was showcased got a chance to act and work on their character and all of them passed with flying colors. This week we were back to tag team action with Kelly Kelly teaming up with Rosa Mendes (sans jump rope) to take on Team Laycool aka Layla and Michelle McCool. Kelly and Rosa were joined by Kelly’s NXT rookie, Naomi, and Laycool were accompanied to the ring by Kaval. After the match, Laycool participated in a backstage segment that revealed which member of the team would face Melina come Sunday at Night of Champions.
Kelly, Rosa, and Naomi are the first trio to make their way to the ring. All are smiley and happy, like good little babyfaces, and once they get settled in the ring with Naomi on the outside, Team Lay-Kav-Ool walk out. Michelle and Layla place their belt halves on Kaval’s shoulders and merrily make their way to the ring. The cameras cut away from their entrance and a match graphic hyping Sunday’s unification match is aired. Striker talks about it. When the ring action is shown again, Laycool are harassing Naomi on the outside. The NXT favorite is shoved into the barricade and doesn’t get a chance to fight back because Kellosa (see what I did there… ) come to the rescue. Rosa takes Layla and slams her head first into the ring apron. Meanwhile, Kelly shows off her aggressive side by slamming Michelle into those damn barricades! Kelly rolls Michelle into the ring and that’s a sign that the match is now official.
Michelle isn’t to happy about being caught off guard and she demands a time out while backing up towards her corner. She yells at the referee to keep Kelly away from her. Kelly is bucking up across from Michelle. Home girl wants to throw down. Michelle is yelling and freaking out. She says she can’t do it. The smell is killing her. She turns to Layla who coaxes her bestie to just breathe. Michelle takes a few deep breathes despite the so-called wretched stench in the ring and finally Kelly snaps. She leaps across Michelle’s back and takes out Layla, then she starts screaming at her. Kaval tells Layla to get up and fight, and Michelle sneaks up behind Kelly. She starts to attack her and oh wait, there’s the bell.
Really?
Kelly fights back and sends Michelle staggering back. Then she follows up her offense with a wicked hair mare (assuming that’s an actual move here… ) that sends Michelle’s skull bouncing off the mat. Michelle gets to her knees and crawls the wrong way, and she’s screaming for Layla. A rabid Kelly starts shrieking and she begins to slam Michelle’s forehead into the mat now. Michelle is dazed and confuse, and Kelly yanks her up and whips her into the ropes. Michelle manages to hang on and tag Layla, exclaiming that she just can’t do it. She just can’t.
Layla jumps in the ring and reminds Michelle to breathe, and thanks to their antics, both are on the receiving end of a brutal double clothesline that would make JBL cream in his pants just a little bit (yeah, I got in that JBL reference!). Layla suddenly finds herself whipped into the enemy corner and Kelly starts stomping a mud hold in her. When Kelly bores of this superhuman display of offense she tags in Rosa.
Rosa tosses Layla to the mat by the hair then helps her up so she can deliver some forearm shots to the face. She tries to whip Layla into the ropes, but Lay is able to reverse it and Rosa goes inside. Michelle slaps her in the back and then endures the wrath of the Costa Rican Diva. Rosa swings wildly at Michelle, but the FSU alumni ducks and Layla comes up from behind. Rosa whirls around and Layla kicks her in the gut, then jerks her down by the hair. With Rosa down, Layla looks at the referee and claims that she’s bothered by something. That distracts the referee long enough for Michelle to choke Rosa basically out with her foot. Layla goes for a pin but Rosa manages to kick out.
Layla keeps on by applying a side head lock to Rosa but eventually, Rosa fights her way to her feet and starts to elbow Layla in the stomach. Layla’s not really bothered. She simply slams Rosa to the mat. Rosa’s not out of it yet. When Layla bends down, Rosa kicks her in the head and that sends the champ reeling. Layla scrambles towards her corner but she doesn’t make a tag. She gets up, runs towards Kelly, and knocks her off the apron. Layla goes back to Rosa but it’s Rosa who hooks her and she tries to go for a finisher. Kelly comes running into the ring to get revenge on Layla, but referee is there to pull her back. Michelle sneaks in, kicks Rosa in the back, and Rosa drops down to her knees. Layla seizes the opportunity to hit the Layout Neckbreaker on Rosa and she gets the pin! Laycool pick up a big win heading into Night of Champions.
Observations: Oy vey! Where to start? Firstly, I want to call out Naomi. As fierce as she looked tonight, she was wearing white. And that is a big NO after Labor Day! I don’t want to see any Diva, Superstar, or rookie wearing white, pastels, or anything else “summer” until after Easter. Then and only then will it be acceptable. Nude, tan, beige, and cream are acceptable colors and nice substitutes for white.
The match itself was super annoying but at least Night of Champions was actually mentioned. No one even mentioned the unification match on Raw. I’m not sold on Kelly Kelly as an aggressive, in-your-face tough girl. It’s not believable. Kelly doesn’t even look like she could squash a bug without feeling bad, let alone kick someone’s ass. I miss Tiffany Tiffany.
It was nice to see Layla get the victory tonight. Layla wins are few and far between because it always seems like Michelle does the bulk of the team work. Layla is pretty darn good in the ring.
Rosa on the other hand is awful. She’s a worst seller than the door to door salesman who came to my house the other night and tried to get me to buy meat off the back of his truck. As if. I don’t really ever care to see Rosa in the ring again. I never thought I’d say this but… Jump Roping Rosa > Wrestling Rosa. BAM!
After the match, we had a backstage segment featuring Lay-Kav-Ool and it was finally announced which member of Laycool would face Melina at the pay-per-view.
Laycool say hey to Melina and then call her Lady Waa-Waa again. They say that they know she’s watching (because everybody watches them) and that Melina is probably curious as to who her Night of Champions’ opponent is going to be. Laycool say they have a brilliant plan. Cue Michelle who explains that when she was packing her suitcase she found a really awesome hat and inside that hat are slips of paper with the names “Layla” and “Michelle” written on them. They are going to draw for Melina’s opponent and nominate Kaval to do it for them.
Kaval pulls out Michelle’s name.
Michelle jumps up and down, gets super excited, and starts hugging Layla. The actual champ is NOT amused. Michelle says she will win for both of them and skips off saying she has to go pack. Layla is standing there disgusted. Kaval has bent down to riffle through the slips of paper and he makes a shocking discovery. Michelle’s name has been written on every slip of paper. Layla is furious and says that come Sunday, Michelle is on her own. She storms off.
Observations: Interesting how this is working out. I don’t buy for one second that Laycool are mad at each other. I think it’s all part of an elaborate hoax. With Michelle wrestling, and Melina potentially winning, Laycool have an argument against Melina. Melina would not have pinned the rightful champ, therefore she will not be the unified champion. I think that’s the angle this is going to go. I could sit here and speculate all night, but we’ll just have to wait until Sunday!
Personally, this SmackDown was just okay. I’m glad to see NOC get buildup since the ball was dropped horribly on the gross red brand. I do think it’s telling that Laycool have been the stars in this. They’ve been booked strong going into the show and Melina hasn’t even sneezed on television, let alone been seen on television as the Divas’ Champion. It’s a very awkward build to a PPV, but then again this show, Night of CHAMPIONS, does have CM Punk versus Big Show on the card. It is what it is.
What can ya do?
PS.. Rosa, you need new gear!
