After Beth Phoenix picked up a victory for Team Vegetables on Raw this past Monday, Divas Champion Kelly Kelly evened the odds on SmackDown last night by picking up a point for Team Candy. That’s if you’re keeping score.
Check out the Divas Champ taking on Diva of Doom, Natalya, below:
Out first is Kelly Kelly, looking fabulous in blue (Note to Kelly: This is your color.) while Natalya is out in black, with Beth by her side.
As the Glamazon and Hart Dynasty Diva make their way to ringside, Beth gives a Kelly a very sinister glare. What ever could Beth be thinking?
In the ring, Kelly is unphased as she quickly turns up the sass, saying something inaudible to Natalya while looking rather pissed off.
As the bell rings, Nattie runs at Kelly, attempting to get a jump on things by attacking her but Kelly cleverly scouts this and moves out of dodge, leaving Nattie to eat ring rope. Kelly then fires away at Natalya with forearm shots and then hits her with a bulldog. Kelly tries to pin Natalya but the Diva of Doom kicks out at one.
Kelly then jumps up on Natalya’s shoulders and positions herself over the top rope, locking in a tarantula position a la Tajiri. The champion impressively manages to choke out Natalya until the referee reaches the five count, at which point she must break it up. As Kelly jumps up on the apron to get back in the ring, Natalya viciously knocks her off sending Kelly flying off the apron and onto the floor outside. Kelly really does take those bumps to the outside well!
As Kelly struggles to her feet, her opponent for Night of Champions perches herself on the steel ring steps watching the champion with a smug look. Oh, we love it!
Natalya, continuing her aggressive streak, launches at Kelly from behind axing her across the back and sending her back down to the floor as Beth looks on approvingly. Natalya then adds in a hard slap across the face, humiliating Kelly further, before rolling her into the ring.
Back in the ring, Natalya revels in her handiwork as Kelly struggles to catch her breath and rise to her feet, but she isn’t going to give her the chance to — Natalya lays in a big boot to the stomach and sends Kelly reeling. Natalya again is relishing in the pain she has caused. Nattie talks trash to Kelly, getting right in her face.
Natalya now shows off her technical prowess, locking in an abdominal stretch on K2 who screams in agony as only Kelly can. Kelly, however, finds a second wind and begins elbowing her way out of the move but Natala is one step ahead, slamming her against the mat by the hair. On the outside, Beth applauds her partner.
Pin attempt by Natalya but no three count. Natalya then applies a chin lock and backs K2 into the ropes where she talks smack directly in Kelly’s face trying to intimidate her.
However, the intimidation doesn’t work as Kelly begins to fight back with a big slap to the face. But before she can continue the momentum, Natalya hoists her over her shoulders and begins spinning on the spot before tossing K2 over the top rope, but Kelly manages to hang on to the apron. Kelly with a shoulder tackle through the ring ropes and then a sunset flip attempt but Natalya manages to roll through and is in perfect position for a Sharpshooter. But before Natalya can lock in her signature submission, Kelly manages to roll her up into a small package and takes the victory.
After Kelly gets the win, Beth runs into the ring and begins laying in some vicious strikes but Kelly manages to flee the ring to safety. Meanwhile, Natalya is furious with her loss.
Thoughts: Loved this match! Natalya and Kelly really do have great chemistry. Natalya’s viciousness in this match shows was very well done. She was just the perfect level of vicious to live up to the ‘Divas of Doom’ nickname. Like the Beth/Kelly match at SummerSlam, the logic here was solid, with Kelly playing the underdog and eventually taking the victory in a surprise outcome. I would love to see what these two Divas could do in a 10 minute pay per view match.
Big props to Beth also, who I think added a nice wrinkle to the match from the outside. She came across sinister and menacing on the outside, perching herself on the steel steps watching on and clapping at Natalya’s viciousness. That definitely worked also.
One concern I would raise, however, is that I truly hope Natalya and Beth are booked as equals in Divas of Doom and that Natalya isn’t just booked as Beth’s subordinate a la Layla and Michelle. Both of these Divas are incredible, and I think it would be a shame if they made Natalya the ‘weaker’ of the two. I would like to see Natalya vs Kelly for the title, perhaps.
What did you think of this week’s Divas match? Tell us below…
