Initially appearing on theSmackDownbrand, El moved toECW in January 2007. There, she formed theExtreme Exposé dance troupe withKelly Kelly andBrooke Adams. In 2008, she was drafted to theRaw brand, where she began managingWilliam Regal. The following year, she returned to SmackDown and formed an alliance withMichelle McCool known asLayCool. In May 2010, she won theWWE Women's Championship for the first time. She is the first British woman and the first Diva Search winner to hold the championship, and was the final champion when the title was retired in 2010. In April 2012, she won theWWE Divas Championship upon her return from a year-long absence due to injury, and held it until September that year. She then wrestled for the next three years until her retirement in 2015.
Layla El was born and raised inLondon, England[1] on 25 June 1977.[2] Her paternal grandparents were Spanish, and she is also ofMoroccan descent.[3] She attended a performing arts college in London.[4]
El's first foray intoprofessional wrestling occurred when hertrainer suggested she try out for the $250,000WWE Diva Search contest in 2006.[11] After a casting call, she was selected as one of the finalists.[5] During the contest, she won two individual competitions, an obstacle course and a talent competition, before winning the overall competition on 16 August.[12][13][14][15]
She made her first official WWE appearance at the2006 SummerSlampay-per-view in a backstage segment with several other Divas. During the segment, the other women initially taunted and teased her before revealing that "it was all in fun" and part of an "initiation".[10][16] The week after SummerSlam, El made her debut as a member of the SmackDown! brand in aninterview withMike "The Miz" Mizanin—although he did not allow her the chance to say much, spending most of the time talking about himself.[17] Subsequently, she did not appear on television for almost a month, reappearing on the 22 September episode ofSmackDown! and getting into a confrontation withKristal andJillian Hall.[18]
At October'sNo Mercy pay-per-view event, she embarrassed The Miz by tricking him into getting alap dance from Big Dick Johnson while he was blindfolded and expecting it to be from her as a birthday gift.[16] On 20 October, Layla participated in a dance contest with the other SmackDown! Divas, and was chosen as the winner by the judges,Nick andAaron Carter. Despite this, The Miz, who was acting asemcee, declared Kristal the winner.[19] The following week, Layla made her in-ring debut in a Diva'sbattle royal. The match ended incontroversial fashion when she was pulled from thering apron by The Miz, allowing Kristal to win.[20] The following week, Layla teamed withBig Vito in a loss to The Miz and Kristal in amixed tag team match.[21] Continuing tofeud with Kristal, Layla had hersingles match debut on the 1 December episode ofSmackDown!, when she lost to Kristal.[22] In her final match for the SmackDown! brand, Layla teamed withAshley to defeat Kristal and Jillian Hall in atag team match on 22 December.[23]
Extreme Exposé and managing William Regal (2007–2009)
The following month, Layla was moved to theECW brand, debuting on 23 January 2007. She joinedBrooke andKelly Kelly to formExtreme Exposé.[24] The trio performed a weekly dance segment onECW, choreographed by Layla, for the next several months.[1][25] In June 2007,The Miz was moved to the brand, prompting astoryline in which all three members of Extreme Exposé were attracted to him.[1][26][27]
When Kelly shifted her attentions towardsBalls Mahoney, Layla, Brooke, and Miz openly mocked her, turning Layla and Brooke intovillainous characters.[28][29][30] On 1 November, Brooke was released from her WWE contract, and Extreme Exposé dissolved as a group, leaving Kelly and Layla to enter an ongoing rivalry with more active in-ring roles.[1][31] They were on opposite sides of a 10-Diva tag team match atSurvivor Series, which Layla's team lost.[32] In December, Layla formed an alliance withVictoria, which expanded to includeLena Yada in January 2008, and the trio continued to feud with Kelly.[1][33][34] In April, Layla was part of the winning team in a six-on-six Divas match at theBacklash pay-per-view.[35]
As part of the2008 supplemental draft in late June, Layla was drafted to theRaw brand.[36] On the 7 July episode ofRaw, Layla made her debut in a tag team match with Jillian Hall, losing toMickie James and Kelly Kelly, the latter of whom had also moved to the Raw brand.[37] She soon entered a storyline withJamie Noble in which Noble attempted to impress her with his matches, only to be easily defeated by his opponents.[38][39] On 1 September, Noble was able to defeatWilliam Regal, which impressed Layla.[40] The following week, however, Layla chose to align herself with Regal, after he defeated Noble in a rematch.[41] On the following episode ofRaw, Layla reinforced her decision, telling Noble that she had finally found a worthy man in Regal.[42] Over the next few months, Layla competed only sporadically in matches, spending most of her timemanaging Regal, and was present at ringside when Regal defeatedSantino Marella on 10 November to win theWWE Intercontinental Championship.[1][43]
On 15 April 2009, Layla was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of theSupplemental Draft.[44] She began a feud withEve Torres, and lost both a dance contest and an arm wrestling match, before losing a match to her on the 29 May episode ofSmackDown.[45][46][47] The rivalry ended after Torres defeated Layla again onWWE Superstars on 18 June.[48]
She then formed an alliance with Michelle McCool, later calledLayCool. They began a scripted feud with Mickie James in October, mocking of her weight and vowing to make her leave SmackDown.[1][49][50] At theSurvivor Series pay-per-view, McCool's team lost to James' team.[51] AtTLC, Layla interfered in theWWE Women's Championship match between McCool and James and helped McCool retain the title.[52] In January 2010, atRoyal Rumble, Layla came out in afatsuit, mocking James prior to the title match between McCool and James; however, the mockery backfired, as James attacked Layla and used that as a distraction to quickly defeat McCool to win the championship.[53] On the 12 February episode ofSmackDown, Layla and McCool defeated James in a handicap match made by Official SmackDown ConsultantVickie Guerrero, who had been accidentally humiliated by James backstage.[54] Guerrero then began managing LayCool, accompanying them to the ring and regularly interfering in their matches.[1] At theElimination Chamber pay-per-view, Layla and McCool defeated Raw'sGail Kim andMaryse in an inter-brand Divas tag team match.[55] AtWrestleMania XXVI she was on the winning team in a 10-Diva tag team match.[56]
LayCool faced the WWE Women's ChampionBeth Phoenix in a two-on-onehandicap match on the 14 May episode ofSmackDown. Layla pinned Phoenix to win the Women's Championship for the first time, becoming the first British woman to hold the title.[57][58] She is also the firstDiva Search winner to have won the championship.[citation needed] Following her win, LayCool began calling themselves the co-Women's Champions.[59] On 18 July, Layla had her first title defense when she defeatedKelly Kelly at theMoney in the Bank pay-per-view.[60] On 30 July, SmackDown General ManagerTheodore Long informed LayCool there was only one Women's Champion, and they had a week to decide who it would be.[61] The following week, LayCool revealed that they had cut the title belt into two, turning it into a friendship charm and circumventing Long's orders.[62] In September, Layla and McCool challengedWWE Divas ChampionMelina to achampionship unification match atNight of Champions. McCool participated in the match and won, with Layla's help, to unify both titles into theWWE Unified Divas Championship.[63][64] Layla unofficially became the co-champion, and defended the title against Melina the following night onRaw.[65] After both members of LayCool had successfully defended the title againstNatalya, they faced her in a two-on-one handicap match atSurvivor Series, which Natalya won to become the new Divas Champion.[66] Following Survivor Series, Natalya and Phoenix formed an alliance to continue the feud with LayCool, and at theTLC in December, LayCool lost to them in the first Diva's tag teamtables match in WWE.[67][68] LayCool invoked their rematch clause in January 2011, prompting the scheduling of a two-on-one handicap match for theRoyal Rumble. At the event however, the anonymous Raw General Manager altered the match to a fatal four-way, also involving Eve Torres who went on to win the title.[69]
Dissension between Layla and McCool began to show following the loss of the Divas Championship, and the two appeared in a series ofvignettes in which they were attending couples therapy.[70][71][72] On the 22 April episode ofSmackDown, McCool attacked Layla during one of their storyline therapy sessions.[73] During the2011 WWE Draft on 25 April, Layla lost a match to Eve and was attacked afterward by McCool, but was able to fight her off.[74] On 29 April, the pair faced each other in a match, which ended in a doublecountout.[75] As a result, the pair faced each other in ano countout,no disqualification,loser leaves WWE match atExtreme Rules on 1 May, which Layla won.[76]
Layla announced that she had suffered a knee injury at Extreme Rules onSmackDown on 13 May, and was interrupted and attacked byKharma to write her off television.[77] Later that month, it was confirmed that Layla hadlegitimately torn both herAnterior cruciate andMedial collateral ligaments, and required surgery.[78]
Divas Champion, various feuds and retirement (2012–2015)
Layla made her in-ring return at aFlorida Championship Wrestling event on 22 March 2012.[79] She made her return to the main WWE roster at theExtreme Rules pay-per-view on 29 April, replacing Beth Phoenix, who was not medically cleared to compete, in a match for theWWE Divas Championship. Despite interference fromBrie Bella, Layla defeatedNikki Bella to win the WWE Divas Championship for the first time.[80][81] Her victory made her the firstDiva Search winner to have won both the Divas and the Women's championship.[82] The following night onRaw, she successfully defended the championship against bothBella Twins in atriple threat match, and retained twice against Beth Phoenix at theOver the Limit andNo Way Out pay-per-views in May and June respectively.[83][84][85] On the 20 August episode ofRaw,Kaitlyn won abattle royal to become the number one contender to Layla's Divas Championship.[86] AtNight of Champions, Kaitlyn was removed from the championship match following a storyline injury and replaced with Eve Torres. Torres defeated Layla to win the championship, ending her reign at 140 days.[87]
Layla defeated Torres in a non-title match onSuperstars to earn a title match.[88] She unsuccessfully challenged for the championship on 15 October, and failed again to regain the championship in a three-way match atHell in a Cell, which also involved Kaitlyn.[89][90] On 12 November, onRaw, Layla was defeated by Kaitlyn in a number one contenders match for the championship.[91] On 16 December at theTables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Layla competed in a number one contender's "Santa's Little Helpers" battle royal to face Torres for the championship, but was unsuccessful.[92] In early 2013, Layla briefly developed a feud withTamina Snuka, losing to her in singles matches before defeating her in a tag team match.[93][94][95] As part of the feud, Layla allied herself with Kaitlyn, and began accompanying her to ringside.[96] On the 2 August episode ofSmackDown, Layla stopped Kaitlyn from spearingAJ Lee, costing Kaitlyn both the match and the Divas Championship, and left with AJ, turning heel in the process.[97] Layla went on to defeat Kaitlyn in singles competition and in a tag team match with AJ as her partner.[98][99] In late 2013, Layla took a hiatus from WWE. She returned at anon-televised event on 14 March 2014, and made her television return the following week on an episode ofMain Event, where she andAlicia Fox lost toThe Funkadactyls (Naomi andCameron).[100][101] Layla participated in the Divas Invitational match for the WWE Divas Championship atWrestleMania XXX which was won by AJ.[102]
The following week, she replacedSummer Rae asFandango's dancer and valet, and quickly became embroiled in a feud withEmma and Santino Marella.[103][104][105] In May, Layla entered a tournament to determine the newNXT Women's Champion, but lost to Natalya in the first round.[106] Rae returned on 19 May, attacking Layla.[107] Competing over Fandango's affections, Layla and Rae repeatedly attacked each other, prompting a match atMoney in the Bank with Fandango as thespecial guest referee; Layla won the match.[108][109] During a rematch in July onSmackDown, Layla and Rae attacked Fandango, before dancing with each other.[110] Starting atBattleground, the pair formed an alliance, distracting Fandango during his matches and causing him to lose.[111][112] In their first match as a team, Layla and Rae, now calling themselves the Slayers, lost toPaige and AJ Lee on the 18 July episode ofSmackDown.[113] The Slayers won their first match as a team onMain Event on 2 September, where they defeatedRosa Mendes and Natalya.[114] The Slayers were part of Team Paige atSurvivor Series in November, but both were eliminated and their team lost the match.[115]
Layla El in 2015
In January 2015, El underwent surgery for unknown reasons.[116] Layla returned on the 14 April episode ofMain Event, where she defeated Emma in a singles match.[117] This would turn out to be her retirement match, as on 29 July, WWE announced that Layla had decided to retire from professional wrestling.[82]
Since winning the Diva Search contest El has also done somemodelling work. She has been featured in the magazinesKing,Smooth, and was the cover-girl for the first issue ofLiquid.[3][118][119] She also posed forFHM with the other members of Extreme Exposé.[120] Layla, along withBeth Phoenix andCandice Michelle, appeared in the February 2009 issue ofFlex Magazine.[25][121]
In April 2007, El and several other WWE Divas appeared in the music video for "Throw It On Me" byTimbaland andThe Hives.[122] During the week of 5 November 2007, she appeared on five episodes ofFamily Feud with other WWE wrestlers.[25] On 6 February 2008 she appeared onProject Runway with several WWE Divas as part of the week's challenge.[123] El also appeared on the 13 April 2008 episode ofCelebrity Fit Club Boot Camp as a trainer.[25] She appeared as a guest judge on an episode ofCupcake Wars alongside Alicia Fox.[124]
El's mother died in August 2008, at the age of 48, ofbreast cancer,[139] after suffering from it three times in two decades. In October 2012, El appeared in a commercial from the WWE andSusan G. Komen for the Cure to promote awareness for finding a cure for breast cancer.[140] She incorporatedinfinity symbols on her wrestling attire as a tribute to her mother.[141]
^"SmackDown! Results – July 14, 2006". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved15 April 2007.Layla El [...] was next [...]She screwed up the tires again and looked to have skipped some.
