Layla is a villainous professional wrestler best known for competing in WWE, where she is a former WWE Women's and Divas Champion. Layla has portrayed a villainess for the majority of her WWE career, which ended with her retirement in 2015.
Career
2007-2011
After winning the Diva Search in 2006, Layla served as one-third of the ECW dance trio known as Extreme Exposé, with Kelly Kelly and Brooke Adams. After Brooke's release from WWE in November 2007, Layla turned heel and feuded with Kelly Kelly for several weeks, and later aligned with Lena Yada and Victoria in her feud. Layla later moved to Raw and began toying with Jamie Noble before dumping him for William Regal.
Layla managed Regal until she was moved to SmackDown in 2009, where she engaged in a brief feud with Eve Torres. Later in the year, Layla aligned with Michelle McCool to form the LayCool tag team, which remains Layla's most known villainous role. During that time, the pair would torment and bully Mickie James, and later feuded with Beth Phoenix, while Layla would go on to capture the WWE Women's Championship in May 2010. Layla and Michelle also feuded with Melina and bullied Natalya throughout the rest of 2010 and the early months of 2011, Layla was on the losing end of a six-person tag team match at WrestleMania 27, and weeks later, she and Michelle split up.
2013-2015
Layla displaying her heel persona
Layla served as a hidden villainess in 2013 after Kaitlyn won the WWE Divas Championship; a title she once held in 2012. Layla's villainous motive was jealousy of Kaitlyn, and she would act obsessed with Kaitlyn's title, to the point where she would do anything to be near her in an attempt to make herself look superior to Kaitlyn. On March 8, Layla manipulated her way into being in Kaitlyn's corner and caused her to lose to Tamina Snuka, and also stole the spotlight from Kaitlyn when they were tag team partners against Aksana and Tamina on the following week. The angle was dropped on March 15, and after Kaitlyn lost the Divas Championship to AJ Lee at Payback in June, Layla appeared to console her, reigniting their alliance. However, on the August 2 edition of SmackDown, Layla turned villainous while being in Kaitlyn's corner for her Divas Championship match against AJ. During the match, the evil Layla betrayed Kaitlyn when she protected AJ from being harmed by Kaitlyn outside the ring. Layla later watched as AJ decimated Kaitlyn and went on to defeat her; doing so while showing little remorse for her actions. After the match ended, Layla gave an evil laugh as she left the ring with the victorious AJ. Just three days later, Layla revealed that she betrayed Kaitlyn just for attention, right before she defeated Kaitlyn with AJ's help.
Since her villainous turn, Layla has feuded with cast members of Total Divas, and joined fellow evil Divas Aksana and Alicia Fox in attacking the Total Divas during a match they were involved in. Layla currently serves as a dance partner/manager for Fandango, replacing Summer Rae in the role. Since Summer's return, Layla has continued to antagonize her on social media and on WWE TV. In one segment on Main Event, Layla attacked Summer and dumped milk and kitty litter all over her as revenge for Summer dumping milk on her on the previous night on Raw. Layla would defeat Summer Rae in a grudge match at Money In The Bank, but the July 11 edition of SmackDown, Layla and Summer Rae both attacked Fandango during what was supposed to be a rematch between the two. The two Divas later danced together in the ring, bringing Layla's second run as a villainess to an end.
Due to Summer Rae's Total Divas rivalry with Natalya, Layla became a villainess once again due to her alliance with Summer. Layla and Summer, known as "The Slayers," feuded with Natalya and Rosa Mendes beginning with the September 22 edition of Raw, where Summer was defeated by Natalya. Four nights later, Layla and Summer defeated Natalya and Rosa in tag team action, with Layla holding Rosa's tights for the victory. On the September 29 edition of Raw, Layla defeated Rosa once again in singles action, and both she and Summer competed against Brie Bella in a handicap match made by Brie's evil twin sister, Nikki Bella, the next night on Main Event, but they were defeated.
In January 2015, Layla took time off to undergo surgery for an injury. She returned in April and continued her villainous role in a winning effort against Emma on Main Event. On July 29, 2015, Layla announced her retirement from WWE.
As a villainess, Layla is catty and self-centered, and also very vicious in the ring. She has also shown herself to be self-serving and attention seeking, which was proven when she betrayed Kaitlyn in 2013.
Physical Attributes
Layla's most notable attributes are her English accent, her petite frame, and her long dark hair.
Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- Layla became the final Diva to hold the original WWE Women's Championship, and the last recognized WWE Women's Champion until the title was reinstated in 2016.
- The dropped angle between Layla and Kaitlyn in 2013 was supposed to lead to a Divas Championship match at WrestleMania 29, with Layla portraying the villainess in the feud.