Greetings to all you men and women. You’ve been summoned here today for one purpose, and that’s to witness a match tonight between The Anvilette… The Dungeon Diva… The Lover of Louboutins, Natalya… and the woman who’s so insatiable and can’t get enough, that she carries around a pink emblazoned butterfly title and carries it well… Layla! These two are no strangers to each other, even here on Superstars, but can they exceed the quality of their past showing against one another?! There’s only one way to find out, and that’s to do none other than scroll down and find out by the power of our eyes and ears (unless you, personally lack one or the other, in which case, just use the function that operates properly).
Oh yeah, let’s get on our feet and dance like I’m sure Layla will do during this match. Our Divas Champion, described as spunky, a trait we FINALLY got to see this week on Raw (hallelujah!) steps out from the back and up towards the ring. Josh Matthews plugs her upcoming pay per view bout with Kaitlyn that still fills me with joy to this day and will continue to do so for the remaining weeks. Layla poses on the ropes a little, as her opponent then steps out from the back. This depresses me because it reminds me how I’ve still not been able to track down any sort of photo/video evidence from her house show match with one of my other favorites, Naomi. (Seriously, I love Natalya, but her thirty billion matches with Alicia Fox and Kelly can have HD Youtube videos every time, but no one in the crowd that night could snap a photo?! I’d even settle for a blurry one where I can barely see which is Naomi and which is Natalya!)
Okay, now that I’ve had time to regroup myself, I return to Natalya, as she removes her cape and now I think of all the good times to make up for that Naomi situation above. Nattie was on the last few weeks of my one true wrestling love, NXT Redemption after all, so there’s no way I can stay upset! She poses in the ring as the bell sounds and Natalya teases Layla a bit. They go for a roll through, but Natalya counters it into a leg lock for a brief moment, as the two exchange holds and Nattie kips up. They have a shove off, before Layla connects with her bridge roll up for a near fall. Layla with a kick, as she sends Natalya into the corner. Nattie leaps over, allowing Layla to kick her in the stomach and connect with the springboard crossbody!
Natalya ends up rolling through it and hoisting Layla up, but before she can carry the Divas Champion to the corner, Layla slips out and they proceed to go through a roll up exchange that I oddly love because i’ve never really seen one done like that before. Natalya finally gets the better, but Layla kicks out and scores with a baseball dropkick. Then, it’s like fate that Matt Striker dubs Layla a wonderful role model for young girls at the EXACT moment she begins to shake her derriere around. I know the connotation he was referring to, but I still love how it could appear. Natalya doesn’t seem to like the dancing, nor does she like our commentators laughing at it. She slides outside the ring and reprimands them for their approval, but what she doesn’t see is Layla sneak up from behind and smack her on the bottom!
Layla tosses her right back in, but before she can enter herself, Nattie takes control with a head to the abdomen, as she brutally drops Layla with a mat slam on the ring apron! Natalya transitions into a Canadian Backbreaker, but Layla escapes… only to meet her maker with a discus clothesline for a two count. Nattie Irish Whips Layla into the corner, before connecting with a backbreaker across the knee. She stretches the Divas Champion out, but Layla eventually scores with a few knees and a snap suplex for a two count. Natalya is not happy with this, but before she can make a move, Layla fights back! Not for long though, as Natalya scores with an elbow. She tries to capitalize, but Layla hits a kick combo for the win. Our Divas Champ celebrates, as Natalya throws an (amazing) fit outside the ring.
Thoughts: The match between Layla and Natalya was again, one of the better Divas matches we’ve seen as of late in my opinion. I don’t think it tops their last Superstars encounter for me, but it definitely ranks a solid second. I want to talk about Natalya a little bit because in this match, I really noticed the extra steps she does to not just blend in with a crowd and I love them. She’s so vocal in her battles, which is one of the things I miss about Maxine and also love about Paige. Unlike them though, her vocal nature isn’t a serious type, but a more fun, humorous kind. I don’t really like seeing people just sort of go through the motions in their matches, and Natalya is probably the Diva who strays away from that the most. She isn’t afraid to be animated, and it really adds something when you watch her compete. She doesn’t just tweet about her dislike of women like Kaitlyn, Alicia, and Layla, she shows it in her matches by for instance screaming “I HATE YOU” and throwing temper tantrums. Yes, she doesn’t get a microphone that often to vent her frustrations with the other women, but that doesn’t stop her from letting us see it. I love her over the top reactions to certain things like the commentators laughing and when she lost at the end to the point where she threw a fit outside. They’re really entertaining to me and I hope they continue in every match she has. (Oh, and of course I still think she’s the best actual wrestler they have signed, but in the words of Alberto Del Rio, I’m sure you already knew that.)
Now Layla… I like Layla. I think she’s improved so much since she came back and after the hell she endured with that injury, I don’t think many people realize how huge it is for her to be competing again. I just wish so badly that her reign had been handled better than it has, but there’s nothing I can do about it except judge her based on her matches opposed to her title reign. I will say though that the one thing that kind of still is not working for me with Layla is that I don’t feel like we know who she is since she stepped away from LayCool. I’m glad she had those few segments before she had to leave for surgery, because that’s at least some sort of explanation as to why she’s become all nice and smiley. More of what I mean is the little things, like why does she wear infinity symbols on her gear? Is she a big fan of hit ABC show, Revenge? This may have been answered already and I missed it, but she’s just sort of there in terms of the womens division… which is fine to say if you’re a Diva in the background. But when you’re the champion, you should at least be able to command some sort of attention and be front & center.
Layla is doing everything she can whenever she has a moment, such as incorporating the dancing and shining on commentary during Raw, and I’m not saying the way I feel is at all her fault because she can’t exactly just walk out one Raw, hijack a microphone, and start talking about whatever she wants. I love the emphasis on Kaitlyn and Eve into the main scene for the females, and I’m really enjoying the unpredictability of it all, but what does it say when the Divas Champion feels like the third wheel in a storyline between them? Especially when Eve isn’t even in the match at Night of Champions and Kaitlyn just lost on Raw. It’s a little odd, but I like that Layla is trying any way she can to not just fall by the wayside (and trust me, I am in no way complaining about the story going on with she, Kaitlyn and Eve because I’m actually really enjoying it.)
You can tell how hard she’s striving to continue upping her game, but there’s only so much she can do on her own without getting what someone like Eve is being able to receive on TV each week. It almost makes me wish Layla became Booker’s assistant, or AJ’s assistant. Something to give us more of the Layla we got in the LayCool type days, only not the cruel version… if that makes sense. It’s late and I may be rambling a little, but hopefully you all understand what I’m meaning! Oh, and I also miss the LayOut. Not feeling the kicks personally, but this one looked pretty sick so I can get behind it (figuratively… not literally!)
