Smark Out Moment

Each week, DIVAS DEBRIEF runs down the events that transpired in women's professional wrestling from the past couple of days. From the WWE Divas to the TNA Knockouts, Smark Out Moment attempts to keep you up to date on all things going on with the ladies of the ring.

This week, the Bella feud picks up steam, a new Diva makes her debut on NXT, and Havok continue to be wrought on the knockouts of TNA.



Bound for Glory had a mix of TNA and Wrestle-1 talent battle at the PPV, but the Knockouts contest was an all-TNA affair. Havok has been given a monster push since her debut a month ago, destroying every woman on the roster, culminating with the demolition of Gail Kim for the Knockouts title on a recent episode of Impact. At Bound for Glory, she took on Velvet Sky, one half of the Beautiful People. This was interesting to see, as both are portrayed as heels. But it was clear that Sky was given the role of the plucky face for this match, and behaved accordingly. They also had the honor of being the final title match of the entire PPV, which is some rub for both Knockouts.

As far as the match goes, it was okay, but nothing special. Obviously Havok's appeal is regarding her size and strength, but she doesn't seem to have much special or unique about her beyond that. She's okay in the ring, but still is lacking a wow factor. Sky was good as a contender, playing off her opponent's strength by keeping to strikes and flying moves. She also tried to demonstrate elements of the Japanese strong style, which got the crowd strongly behind her. In the end, it was a serviceable match, and did its job on the card well. It won't live long in the memory, but quite frankly the entire PPV will suffer from that.


RAW featured the continuation of the decidedly tepid feud between Divas Champion AJ Lee and her challenger Paige. It is a good job that their in-ring chemistry has improved greatly since their first match, as this is seriously lacking any direction beyond both divas being crazy. Last week, AJ did nothing to improve her relationship with the rest of the divas locker room by abandoning Emma in their tag team match, leaving her with few allies against the combined force of Paige and her BFF Alicia Fox, another 'crazy' lady. Her partner this week was the experienced Layla, who AJ claimed to hate the least out of the rest of the division. Comforting words indeed.

The majority of the match was contested by AJ and Fox, with Paige only entering the ring with her rival downed or to mock her behavior for the twentieth consecutive match. There's only so many times I can see Paige skipping around the ring before I start to hope for this feud to end so she can perform like she did on NXT. In the end, Layla ducked out of tagging AJ, mirroring the actions of last week, but instead of falling like Emma did, AJ scored the victory over Fox with a Shining Wizard. Post-match, she chased after the British diva, throwing her hard against the barricades, asserting her dominance over the rest of the roster. A forgettable match in a story that is becoming more and more forgettable. Hopefully a strong match at Hell in a Cell can reignite some passion into it.

The final divas match of the evening was a six-diva tag team match featuring a number of the Total Divas. Brie Bella, Natalya and Naomi took on Nikki Bella, Summer Rae and Cameron. And to top it off, NeNe Leakes was the special guest at ringside. No, I don't know either. However, the hottest story going into this was the personal rivalry between the Bella Twins. The action was fairly standard, Natalya taking the brunt of abuse from the heel team. Lack of time limited this though, as the star of this bout was undoubtedly Brie. She got the hot tag and actually got the crowd behind her, some feat in today's WWE. Nikki made a hard tag on Summer to get her hands on Brie, but as she set up for the Rack-Attack, Brie acrobatically escaped by bouncing off the ropes. Brie then hits the Bella Buster to get one over on her devious sister.

Later in the night in a backstage interview, Nikki confronted Brie and let her know that her good friend Stephanie McMahon had scheduled the long-awaited singles match between the two for Hell in a Cell. Fortunately this won't take place in the Cell, but both ladies have been vastly improved in the ring, which should make for a heated match if the crowd give it a chance. But, the stipulation is the most interesting aspect, as the loser of the match has to be the winner's personal assistant for a month. That leads me to suspect that Nikki will get the first victory over her sister, in order to build some more bitterness between the sisters, and have Brie ride a wave of crowd empathy.



Hopping over to TNA once again while we still can, the opening match of this week's Impact was a Knockouts Title match. Madison Rayne won a Triple Threat match against Angelina Love and Taryn Terrell. However, she fled at the first sign of Havok when she appeared after the match, as the new champion demolished the feisty Terrell as Rayne lived to fight another day. The match told a good story, as Havok was a dominant force against the brief flurries of the wily Rayne. Rayne was limited to high-flying offense and quick hits, as any attempt at suplexes, slams and even roll-ups were ineffective against the powerful champ. Havok concentrated her attacks on the back of Rayne, and consisted of a number of slams and backbreakers which slowed Rayne effectively. In the end, a final Chokeslam was enough to finally end Rayne's chances, and the champion continues her dominant start against the roster.


A second match involved the Knockouts division, as Angelina Love teamed with Jesse Godderz and DJ Z, with Velvet Sky in tow, against The Menagerie of Knux, Crazy Steve and Rebel. Rebel's flexibility in her entrance is certainly something to be admired, and it's clear DJ Z felt the same way, as he took the opportunity to take a slap on her backside, allowing Love to get the first hit on her opponent. The Knockouts were sidelined for most of the match, until Rebel got the hot tag and performed a cool splits avoiding maneuver to dodge an onrushing Love. A series of athletic kicks follow, until DJ Z once again tries to distract the Menagerie member, only to get a slap for his trouble. The two Knockouts then took each other down with a clothesline. In the end, Love almost suffered the greatest indignity when Crazy Steve threatened a lip-lock, but still lost as the Menagerie took the victory.


The NXT women's division continues to boast some of the most polished and exciting ladies in professional wrestling today. Top of the pile at the moment is Charlotte, daughter of the legendary Ric Flair and current NXT Women's Champion. She was in action on Thursday against another talented lady in the form of fiery Becky Lynch. Lynch has yet to get many wins to her name in NXT, but her performances have certainly caught the eye. These two certainly didn't disappoint, and this was one of the best matches of the night. The athleticism and technique of both Charlotte and Lynch is something the WWE divas could learn from, as the chain wrestling at the start was both captivating and sound. Lynch was hugely impressive, and Charlotte flourishes as the champion. Charlotte picked up the win in this excellent bout with Natural Selection, but when she makes the highly-anticipated move to the main roster, Lynch will be there to step up in her absence.

In other news the NXT women's division became inflated by one when Carmella made her debut. The former hairdresser and friend of the charismatic Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady certainly is easy on the eye, but whether she can make a name for herself in this competitive field is yet to be answered. Though she is friends with the popular Jersey boys, her look and behavior is more befitting a heel, which could confuse her debut. Her opening match was against independent wrestler Leva Bates, who was lovingly afforded the moniker 'Blue Pants' for the duration of the match, even having that chanted during this short bout. But, Carmella got a win on the board with a headlock/yoga stretch combo. It's an okay start, but she'll have to show a lot more to get noticed among these talented ladies.



SmackDown was a continuation of the feuds that were featured on RAW, with the Divas Championship and the Bella drama the leading lights of the divas division. Champion AJ Lee went head-to-head with the woman who abandoned her on Monday Night, Layla. Both divas are experienced and talented in the ring, and with Paige and Alicia Fox at ringside, the threat of interference abounded. This was a good match for the time it was afforded, both divas applying their range of kicks and pace to make an interesting contest. Paige on commentary was also very good, and I will always take an interest in hearing a compatriot on WWE TV. Post-match, Alicia Fox interfered only to be taken down by AJ, before Paige connected with the Ram-Paige to leave the champion a crumpled heap on the mat. Their rematch must be on the horizon, and hopefully this is as aggressive an affair as possible to add fire to the feud.

The Bella feud ended the week in women's wrestling, as Nikki took on Naomi attempting to build momentum before her important bout with her sister at Hell in a Cell. The styles contrasted well, the power of Nikki battling the athletic quickness of Naomi. But, though Nikki continues to improve, from a wrestling standpoint Naomi is in a different league. She seems more versatile and exciting to watch than many others in the division, and has shown on numerous occasions she can do things in the ring that others can't aspire to. But, Nikki is the diva in the spotlight at the moment, and she duly gets the victory with the Rack-Attack.


So there you have it, the breakdown for the week in women's wrestling. What were some of your favorite and least favorite moments from these women? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!