AJ & Layla

[Mustang Sally]

Their match was a boost for diva wrestling. They were wrestling, rather than performing. The two exchanged wrestling maneuvers rather than hitting a few prearranged spots and going home. Did you see it?

There were no Kelly Kelly tumbling runs, no LayCool preening and prancing in the ring during the match, no inept attempts at drop kicks or suplexes. Instead, they executed some timing moves and intricate holds and trip-ups. It was refreshing to see the gals being allowed to work that way.

The intrigue was there, too. Layla is now a good guy, yet her roots have featured her as a heel. Meanwhile, A.J. is the hottest diva going. We have no idea whether she's heel or face (too psycho to tell for sure).......and therefore no idea how to view her in a match against Layla.

I couldn't figure who was going to win. On the one hand, Layla is the champion and it probably wouldn't have served to have her defeated by A.J., unless the company is about ready to take the title belt off Layla. On the other hand, I didn't figure A.J. would win cleanly because she has too much on her plate now to also serve as the women's champion. (Was last night's match for the championship? I don't even know).

For sure, it usually doesn't matter which diva wins or loses, anyway. The company has never maintained continuity within the diva division and the girls spend so much time passing the title from one to the next that title changes have been almost meaningless.

Having Daniel Bryan turn the tables on A.J. was terrific character development by Creative. I was convinced he had become an afterthought in the saga of A.J. as a character; that Punk and Kane were commanding her full attention. Instead, those guys weren't even around last night and the show was left to A.J. and Bryan. Super stuff!

But, although it probably got lost in the after-match intrigue, the reason for this thread was the in-ring performance of A.J. and Layla. If the company allowed the girls to work that way more often (and if the other girls are even capable of wrestling a "real" match) it might restore interest in women's wrestling.

Here's hoping.

 

[JaceEvans]

I started getting interested in the women's matches after Layla retained against Beth, I guess because everyone thought Beth would win and face Karma. So after that it peaked my interest and the match last night didn't hurt. I still can't believe they opened with a women's match Vince must really be high on AJ. I think we have all been programed not to care about the women's division lately but hopefully this is a wake up call. good job lady's

 

[ReyStyle94]

Absolutely agree with both of you. Great match-up (wish it was longer!) and the fact that it started SmackDown was great. It's weird how there has basically been no Diva action for the past 2 months on SmackDown (and even RAW for that matter), but hey, it's never too late to try. Fantastic 'wrestling' match as OP said.

 

[mdj2010]

I have to say that it is so refreshing to see some respect thrown the way of the divas. These girls have been complaining about their lack of TV time and the crippling limits placed uponj how they are allowed to perform in the ring. Now that they have been guiven a chance, they need to be allowed to run with the ball. Now, whilst I HATE following in the 'WWE won;t do it right', 'Vince will lose patience' bandwagon, it does feel like AJ is the only reason for the sudden interest in the divas division. The girl is doing WWE proud right now. From the moment her music hits to the moment she dissapears behind the curtain, she just gets it right and clearly understands how to work the crowd.
Let's face it, the Divas division doesn;t equal big money, but at least do omething to make it more than just an opportunity for fans to gpo and grab a drink.

 

[TJ Matics]

Hopefully this match just wasn't an opportunity for Bryan to turn the table on Aj, this could mean alot more for the DD. AJ has obviously pleased the right suit in a way that's giving her more screen time than some males. So it would be great for her popularity to be used to get the DD a boost. The best thing in my oppinion is to have AJ when the championship, in a heel-ish fashion, because she'll still get a pop from the crowd. This would be a great way to turn Layla heel, and she can go on a tear calling the crowd hypocrites, maybe start a stable with other misused divas like Natalya and ... Who's left ?

 

[haning13]

The D-Bryan, CM Punk, Kane, and AJ story line is a perfect example of how WWE Divas can be relevant. I'm sorry to all the WWE Divas who think that they themselves can ramp up the Diva division if they got more tv wrestling time but it is and has always been their involvement in the male storylines that have boosted their popularity. Ex. Mero/Sable/Jacqueline. Or even a little more relevant Trish's start with TNA and Lita's rise with the Hardy Boyz. The one unique aspect about this storyline is that CM Punk the WWE Champion isn't even the central aspect of the storyline, It is AJ. Also the storyline involves multiple people so there are endless creative directions to go with in terms of storylines and backstage promos. This storyline also keeps the entire show or even both shows for that matter intriguing since WWE has chosen to have some superstars cross over.

All in All, AJ is taking this opportunity and is brilliantly playing her character which in turn has obviously increased her popularity. Notice how her cheers are actually audible when her theme song hits or when she is shown in a promo. And for a divas match, her match against Layla wasn't bad either.

 

[SuperKick36]

The D-Bryan, CM Punk, Kane, and AJ story line is a perfect example of how WWE Divas can be relevant. I'm sorry to all the WWE Divas who think that they themselves can ramp up the Diva division if they got more tv wrestling time but it is and has always been their involvement in the male storylines that have boosted their popularity. Ex. Mero/Sable/Jacqueline. Or even a little more relevant Trish's start with TNA and Lita's rise with the Hardy Boyz. The one unique aspect about this storyline is that CM Punk the WWE Champion isn't even the central aspect of the storyline, It is AJ. Also the storyline involves multiple people so there are endless creative directions to go with in terms of storylines and backstage promos. This storyline also keeps the entire show or even both shows for that matter intriguing since WWE has chosen to have some superstars cross over.

All in All, AJ is taking this opportunity and is brilliantly playing her character which in turn has obviously increased her popularity. Notice how her cheers are actually audible when her theme song hits or when she is shown in a promo. And for a divas match, her match against Layla wasn't bad either.

The thing is, women's wrestling can be extremely entertaining. Some of my favorite matches of all time are between Trish and Lita... who could actually perform.

haning13 is right though. The divas are only relevant when they are involved in story lines.

Eve and her involvement with Cena/Ryder, then getting hired as the GM assistant.

This storyline with AJ is extremely entertaining, and AJ is also getting a push in the diva's division BECAUSE of it, and people are now paying attention during the diva's matches when she's involved.

 

[ccotreau1]

I honestly enjoyed last nights match between AJ and Layla, for the sole reason that we got to see Daniel Bryan turn the tables on AJ, who since Mania has been built great in my opinion...I am glad that WWE Creative has put so much effort into a diva, especially one that is not the champion.

 

[JaceEvans]

I actually hope that they make this a habit of starting the show with the divas match, here me out. Ever since Lita and Trish has retired I have been bored watching the divas matches so i started just fast forwarding them (I work friday nights) or if it's Raw I'll go out for a smoke. But since the divas match started off Smackdown I actually sat and watched! the whole darn thing! lol and reading other people's post they did too. So to reverse all the bad female wrestling that immediately followed trish and lita they should have more Diva's start the show, heck next week on smackdown have Layla defend against AJ since I dont think there last match was for the title. Hopefully after people actually see that girls can do more then be pretty faces the divas matches will be watched and people can use Ryback's matches for there "break".

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It was certainly better than what we've been getting for a while. I was expecting something along the lines of AJ just kind of "snapping" and attacking Layla relentlessly before getting disqualified about 20 seconds in. I was a little surprised to see them get an actual match.

The match itself was entertaining while it lasted. Layla has come a long way in recent years and AJ has also very much improved. A year ago, she seemed as though she could hardly do much of anything except just look cute. While it wasn't an all time classic or anything along those lines, it was fun and made me want to see them go at it again with more time given to them. I'd say it'll happen because AJ is easily the most interesting and/or relevant of the Divas in general to come along since Kelly Kelly & Kharma, which means we won't be able to hear crickets chirp during her matches.