— Michelle McCool and Layla said tonight on Raw that they never got their Divas Championship rematch against Natalya and therefore are using it at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. WWE.com has specified that the match will be a 2-on-1 Handicap Match.
— Former WWE talent Tammy Sytch (a/k/a Sunny) is denying online reports claiming she will be inducted into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class in Atlanta, Georgia. She will be in the area WrestleMania weekend, but for scheduled appearances for Ring of Honor.
She wrote on her Facebook account: “FOR THE RECORD: (yes, websites may copy this): I HAVE NOT BEEN CONTACTED BY ANYONE IN THE WWE ABOUT ANY UPCOMING APPEARANCES FOR WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND.. I AM BOOKED TO APPEAR ON THE ROH SHOWS IN ATLANTA, AND THAT IS ALL. Please do ont fill my facebook wall with rumors….thanks.”
— The Raw live event on Feb. 24 has been moved to the Voltaire Paladines Polo Coliseum in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was originally scheduled to take place at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.
— The conclusion to last night’s Divas Tag Team Tables Match between Michelle McCool & Layla and Beth Phoenix & Natalya reportedly went as planned as the table used in the bout was tested beforehand to make sure that it would not break when the Divas Champion shoved Lay-Cool off the turnbuckle. Natalya then splashed them to break the table, giving her and Phoenix the win.
— WWE’s next special edition magazine will be a “Year in Photos” issue, featuring hundreds of photos from the past year.
— Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez worked under under a mask at Friday’s Florida Championship Wrestling Christmas Supershow in Fort Myers, Florida, losing to Richie Steamboat. He performed as Chimaera, a character he portrayed on the independent circuit before joining WWE.
— Last night on Raw, the anonymous General Manager arranged Lay-Cool vs. Beth Phoenix and Divas Champion Natalya for Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view in the first-ever Divas Tag Team Table Match. The match was concocted in response to Mickie James battling Tara in a Steel Cage Match last Thursday on TNA Wrestling’s iMPACT!.
— David Arquette was said to be a delight backstage at last night’s Raw. The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion spent time chatting with most everyone locker room, a stark contrast to numerous celebrities who solely acknowledge the top stars.
— The terms Slammys and David Arquette were trending worldwide on Twitter last night during Raw.
— Triple H is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Inside Wrestling.
— The current Diva-exclusive season of NXT — coupled with an ongoing recruitment drive by WWE officials to hire more models, which it can train as professional wrestlers — indicate that cuts will be made to the female roster in due time.
According to the UK based wrestling magazine, Power Slam, the list of females whose jobs are considered safe in the company is limited to Michelle McCool, Layla, Beth Phoenix, Maryse, Kelly Kelly, Melina, and “possibly” Natalya and Eve Torres.
Those not listed are considered expendable by officials.
— Maxine, who was eliminated from NXT on Tuesday’s show, commented on why she believes she was expelled from the contest in an interview with nxt.wwe.com.
“The WWE Universe doesn’t always warm up to the bad girl. I think it’s much easier to really like somebody that’s overly perky and nice,” she stated. “I feel like I’m more of a leader, I’m not a follower. I make my own path and I think that’s the way to go.”
— Besides a few people who viewed the script for Monday’s Raw, former talent Lita’s surprise appearance was kept a secret until she walked into the Nassau Coliseum. (source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— WWE officials are in talks with former talent Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson regarding a possible appearance to promote his latest feature film, Faster, which hits theaters on Nov. 24.
The WWE website is currently serving numerous banner ads promoting the action thriller drama.
— According to a fan in attendance at last night’s SmackDown live event in Belfast, Ireland, Layla acknowledged his sign putting over TNA Wrestling’s “Beautiful People” group by airing a disgusted look on her face once it was brought to her attention. The sign read “Beautiful People > Lay-cool.”
— The WWE Smackdown taping on February 8, 2011 will be held at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Tickets go on sale November 13, 2010.
— It was announced on Friday’s SmackDown that Lay-Cool member Layla would defend the Divas Championship against Natalya at Bragging Rights, as opposed to Michelle McCool. The WWE website has updated its preview page for the match to reflect the announcement, removing McCool’s image.
— WWE Studios’ much anticipated Knucklehead opens today in theaters for a “special limited engagement.” For a complete list of theater locations, click here.
— The promotional poster for Survivor Series has been updated to solely feature Wade Barrett. The previous poster featured the seven member slate of Nexus; two of which are inactive due to injury (Skip Sheffield and Michael Tarver), while Darren Young is no longer affiliated with the group. Check out the poster:
It was announced during this week’s episode of SmackDown, which has already aired overseas, that the member of Lay-Cool defending the WWE Divas Championship against Natalya at Sunday’s Bragging Rights pay-per-view is Layla.
Tonight’s SmackDown features a segment where Lay-Cool mocks Natalya’s family as Layla appears dressed up as Natalya’s father, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, while Michelle McCool comes out as Bret Hart. A match pitting Lay-Cool against Natalya and Kelly Kelly subsequently takes place, with the babyfaces coming out victorious.
During an interview with Brian Fritz of Fanhouse.com, TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Angelina Love was asked about the similarities between The Beautiful People and World Wrestling Entertainment’s Lay-Cool — Michelle McCool and Layla. Love, however, cut him off quickly and would not discuss the matter.
“I don’t see it. I haven’t seen it. I’ve heard about it.”
She also discussed her relationship with Velvet Sky and how long it took them to gel as a unit, as well as tonight’s Four Corners Knockouts Match for the Women’s Knockout Championship at Bound for Glory.
– WWE’s website is now referring to the women’s title as the Unified Divas Championship. The title history section lists Michelle McCool as the new Divas Champion and the last recognized Women’s Champion is Layla, who originally won the belt that Michelle defended last night. It appears WWE will be continuing the Divas Title history with the new Unified Divas Championship.
— WWE Studios’ Legendary, starring John Cena, will be released on DVD exclusively at Wal-Mart retail stores on Tuesday, September 28.
— WWE will return to the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, December 26 for a live event beginning at 5:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, October 30.
This week’s episode of TNA Wrestling’s new behind the scenes program ReACTION saw the recently reunited pairing of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky slam those who have attempted to imitate The Beautful People stable over the years.
Love charged during the pseudo-shoot program, “We created a group that has been like no other for women in professional wrestling. People have tried to be like this. People wanted to join us. No can do.”
Sky added, “And for all you wannabe Beautiful People girls out there… you know exactly who I’m talking about, get a life. You will never be us.”
Angelina then cryptically noted, “And you’re not cool by the way. You’re not cool.”
Some have interpreted their message as a thinly veiled potshot towards WWE Diva alliance Lay-Cool — Michelle McCool and Women’s Champion Layla. Both have directed similar remarks towards rival performers in the past, with Love recently stating the following on her Facebook account while watching television: “So this is what I get for quickly flipping thru the channels on a friday night……a blonde & a brunette blatantly ripping something off……..BRUTAL!!!”
Apparently in response to the TNA Knockouts’ most recent remarks, Layla said the following on Twitter yesterday:
“Living the dream & so blessed!!
1 thing I know when u r attacked u have 2 decide if it’s worth the time & effort to retaliate
Not worth the press
Plus don’t deserve the press we get even tho they want it & need it :-)
Real talk”
It was reported this past June in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the Lay-Cool act was concocted due to WWE’s creative department being embarrassed by The Beautiful People making their female performers look second-rate by comparison.
To view The Beautiful Peoples’ ReACTION promo, click here.
— Seven wrestlers released by World Wrestling Entertainment on April 22, 2010 are now free to join TNA Wrestling (or any wrestling promotion for that matter) as their respective 90-day no-compete clauses have expired. Among those let go that fateful day were Mickie James, Shelton Benjamin, Katie Lea Burchill, Jimmy Wang Yang, Slam Master J, Kung Fu Naki and Mike Knox.
The contractual clause was put in place to prohibit wrestlers from immediately competing with nationally televised promotions following their release.
— It was announced during Friday’s episode of SmackDown that Layla would be defending her Women’s Championship against Tiffany on this week’s show.
— World Heavyweight Champion Kane tops WWE.com’s latest POWER 25 chart. He is trailed by Sheamus and Randy Orton, among others.
sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com
— WWE’s creative team is said to be pleased with the Diva pairing of Michelle McCool and Layla, known as “Lay-Cool.” Some within the company previously felt TNA’s “Beautiful People” concept made their women’s division look second rate by comparison, but now feel they’ve beaten the rival promotion at their own game.
Layla recently refuted fans’ allegations that “Lay-Cool” is copying “The Beautiful People,” writing on Twitter: “Cuz all of the tweets about this subject, For the Record, I do not watch TNA. So copy cat thing…kinda NOT!! This is All I will say. Done.!!”
Reportedly, the inspiration behind the “Lay-Cool” gimmick was due to creative watching “The Beautiful People” on TNA programming.
— Tuesday’s episode of NXT garnered a 0.93 cable rating for Syfy, an increase from last week’s 0.80 number. With that being said, viewership was actually down, from 1.21 million viewers to 1.05 (1,048,000). The all-time record viewership figure is 1.00 million viewers, which was scored on May 4.
— Today is Cody Rhodes’ birthday, who turns 25 years old.
– While no television outlet has been announced, WWE plans on holding a third season of NXT. The current season ends in late August, and they have the Syfy slot at least until the end of September.
– WWE is working on a DVD set entitled 100 Craziest Moments in WWE History, which is due out in December. A “Best of Friday SmackDown” 2010 DVD set has also been planned.
– The WWE SmackDown taping on September 7th, 2010 will be held at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. Tickets go on sale July 17th, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– Today is WWE Women’s Champion Layla’s birthday, who turns 32 years old.
(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com)
Posted June 25th, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Layla.
— Apparently in reference to WWE’s Lay-Cool act, an upset Angelina Love wrote the following on her Facebook account Friday night while watching television: “So this is what I get for quickly flipping thru the channels on a friday night……a blonde & a brunette blatantly ripping something off……..BRUTAL!!!”
The TNA Knockout made similar remarks online last year after Maryse took a page out of “The Beautiful People” playbook by spraying Mickie James with hair spray during an episode of Monday Night Raw.
“You can try, but you cant and you never will be TBP!!!,” Love angrily typed on MySpace. “The Beautiful People- often imitated, NEVER duplicated!!”
Days before Love’s latest remark, Layla responded to those accusing her and Michelle McCool of ripping off TNA Wrestling’s “Beautiful People” act, writing on Twitter: “Cuz all of the tweets about this subject For the Record I do Not watch TNA So copy cat thing… kinda NOT!! This is All I will say Done!!”
— TNA Wrestling has launched a website solely promoting its live events tour. The website’s address is www.tnaliveevents.com.
— TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Madison Rayne squares off against Taylor Wilde in the following webmatch.
— Though Triple H’s current absence from television is in due part to filming the upcoming WWE Films project The Chaperone, the word is that he is more hurt than first thought. The extent to which the injuries will delay his planned return to the squared circle are unclear, but sources indicate a rumored SummerSlam feud between him and Edge has been scrapped.
Meanwhile, Edge is expected to miss some house shows during the month of August as he films WWE’s action-oriented comedy Chasing the Hawk.
— One soldier stationed in Iraq says Layla is by far the most popular WWE Superstar when the company goes overseas for its annual Tribute to the Troops event. Though her striking appearance probably doesn’t hurt, the feeling is her popularity is due to how friendly and caring she appears as she takes time to talk to most everyone, making them feel special in the process.
“When she talks to you, she makes you feel like the most important person in the world at that moment, and that there’s no one she’d rather be talking to,” the soldier said.
— As a result of Chicago White Sox baseball, tonight’s episode of WWE Superstars will air at 10:00 p.m. EST instead of its usual 8:00 p.m. time slot. The replay is still scheduled to air at midnight.
Matches taking place on tonight’s episode are as follows:
* Kofi Kingston vs. Trent Baretta
* Yoshi Tatsu vs. Primo
* Mark Henry and Goldust vs. Jey and Jimmy Uso
— Apparently in response to accusations of Lay-Cool copying TNA act “The Beautiful People,” WWE Women’s Champion Layla remarked the following on Twitter: “Cuz all of the tweets about this subject For the Record I do Not watch TNA So copy cat thing… kinda NOT!! This is All I will say Done!!”
Meanwhile, Vickie Guerrero made the following remark concerning TNA on her own Twitter account: “TNA – no way will I watch or support it…enough said!”
— John Cena is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. You can view the cover here.
— Big Show briefly appears in a rap video/advertisement promoting USA’s hit medical drama Royal Pains. You can view the video here. Mark Feuerstein will guest host next week’s episode of Raw taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina.
— A Divas segment taped last Tuesday was edited off Friday’s SmackDown broadcast. The segment featured Michelle McCool and Layla interrupting a conversation Kelly Kelly and Tiffany were having backstage. Lay-Cool took credit for getting rid of “Piggie James” and “The Glamazon,” telling the two SmackDown Divas they were next.
— WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel, Melina and Beth Phoenix will be taking part in tonight’s Raw Live Chat on WWE.com.
— On Twitter, Melina indicated she has two months of physical therapy left before she can return to the ring. She also asked her fans what the “latest gossip” is on her comeback, to which they replied she was being advertised for the Jun. 5 Monday Night Raw taping in Miami. She said she was unaware of any such appearance as no one in WWE told her about it, writing:
“You never know, maybe I can be there for that Raw show… I surely can walk, talk and slap some people. :D I could still be there! But I haven’t heard from anyone though. :( so who knows if I’m supposed to be in Raw or SD. I’m in the dark like all of you. Maybe more so :p”
– Though Layla and Michelle McCool came to the ring wearing matching Women’s Titles on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, according to WWE.com, they are merely “self-proclaimed” co-Women’s Champions. Officially, Layla is the WWE Women’s Champion. McCool is not an official holder of the belt.
– Speaking of Melina, she will be appearing on tonight’s Over The Limit live chat on WWEUniverse.com. Tonight is “Divas Night” as the winner of the Divas Championship Match between Eve Torres and Maryse will appear during the session. Also scheduled to appear is former Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix. Click here for more information.
— In light of Beth Phoenix’ removal from television as a result of a torn ACL, there is talk of splitting up Lay-Cool — Michelle McCool and Layla — and having them feud with each other. It’s also been said that Melina may return to SmackDown once she’s cleared to wrestle, which is expected to take place in June. (source: PWInsider.com)
— In an interview with WWE Magazine, Ted DiBiase is asked what he won’t miss from his days in The Legacy, to which he replied playing with G.I. Joe action figures. He then relays a bizarre story of Rhodes once seriously asking him to play with said toys.
“Well, he wanted to play “War,” and I thought it was some video game or card game. Then he pulled all these dolls out of his bag. He lined them up and started making noises like, “Pow! Pow! Boom!” It was just bad,” DiBiase said. “I thought it was a joke, but he told me I needed to take it more seriously. I felt inclined to play along because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Never again.”
— WWE was the No. 2 trending topic on Yahoo.com yesterday.
