Every week, following WWE.com and ImpactWrestling.com’s photoshoot updates, we’ll take a look at the newest Diva and Knockout shoots and give you the opportunity to voice your opinions on them in a feature we lovingly call Unwrapped. Let’s unwrap this week’s eye candy, featuring Brie Bella, Beth Phoenix, Cookie, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella and Velvet Sky:
Note about TNA photoshoots: Many of the new photoshoots on ImpactWrestling.com only consist of 3 or fewer photos, which hardly lends enough material for an Unwrapped post. In order to make it worth your (and my) while, I’ll only cover ones with 3 or more photos to them. Please don’t leave comments asking about a missing photoshoot.
The Bella Twins
The Bellas always find interesting ways to pose next to one another, criss-crossing at the elbows and leaning on one another’s shoulder. They do this in practically every photoshoot together, but it still works. The main difference between this and their other shoots is their ring gear: the bright purple absolutely pops against the neutral background. While I kind of wish I could burn the floating pant legs (I only really liked them on Torrie Wilson, and even then they were hit or miss), I know its a lost cause and has been part of their signature look for a while now. So, while the poses aren’t groundbreaking, I still appreciate the photoshoot for what it is: a showcase for the pretty ring gear and another chance for the Bellas to perfect their chilly bad girl aura. This shoot accomplishes both.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Beth Phoenix
Beth looks like she could spit fire in this shoot, looking lively and firey throughout. She’s dressed in a way that kind of contradicts her friendly mood, wearing all black and an abundance of leather. Maybe a lighter color scheme would have fit the mood a bit better. Still, it’s hard to not like her poses: they’re fun and her mood is infectious. The arm flexing and air punching make for great photos. In the rest of the photos, she’s a bit more subdued, though no less cheery. The only photo that departs from that is a stunning full-face shot where Beth appears to be staring into your soul. Beth appears to be having a blast in this shoot, and I can’t help but feel a bit of that energy seep through the computer screen.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Cookie
If there’s any Knockout or Diva who can get away with a gimmicky photoshoot, it’s the woman with the biggest gimmick. That, undoubtedly, is Cookie, TNA’s answer to MTV’s popular (albiet fading) The Jersey Shore. She’s still dressed as a Snooki look-a-like, and fittingly she’s hamming it up for the camera, shrugging cutely and checking her phone mid-pose. I do like the photos where she’s simply smiling at the camera, though it mainly makes me wish she could do something that’s not a shadow of some future reality show has-been. As is, though, she’s making the most of it, and the photos are fun. I wonder how long this gimmick will last, given how The Jersey Shore‘s relevance seems to be fading fast.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Eve Torres
Maybe it’s the abundance of gold in her ring gear, but Eve seems to be positively glowing in this photoshoot. She looks great, keeping a friendly but serious disposition in the shoot that befits her in-ring attitude. Her poses are pretty simple, my favorites being the full shots with her spreading her arms and flexing an arm. Like the Bellas shoot above, this ring gear shoot reflects her in-ring persona quite well and gives an oppotunity for us to get a good look at her gear. The gold looks great with her skin tone and hair color, the only poor spot being her boots, which look a bit tarnished next to the rest of them, like they need to be given a once-over with some gold cleaner.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Velvet Sky
Velvet Sky’s making the most of her visit to Comic-Con, hitting several of the typical geeks touchstones: Stars Wars, superheroes and cult horror movies. She’s posing next to a R2-D2 replica, going so far as to give it a kiss in a cute photo. A Superman shirt is worn in a tattoo parlor, where she seems to be ready to give a lucky (or unlucky?) person some ink. The Freddy Krueger gloves are really cool, especially with their gold coloring. It’s a pretty stereotypical jaunt down geek lane, but Velvet looks like she’s having fun, and that’s what this is all about. Now, if she were to hop into a full character costume, that’d be one thing, but here she’s just a spectator. I guess she’s saving all the dress-up stuff for Halloween.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Which photoshoot did you like best? Vote in the poll below and speak your mind in the comments!
