Layla El

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Layla El
An image of Layla El.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Layla
Billed height 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Billed weight 54 kg (120 lb/8.5 st)
Born June 25, 1978 (1978-06-25) (age 29)
London, England
Resides Los Angeles, California
Billed from Miami, Florida
Trained by PWA staff[citation needed]
Debut July 10, 2006

Layla El (born June 25, 1978) is a British dancer, model and professional wrestler of North African heritage,[1] currently residing in the United States. She is employed by World Wrestling Entertainment as a WWE Diva, and appears on the ECW brand.[2]

Before joining WWE in 2006, Layla El was a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines,[3] the Miami Heat franchise of the NBA,[1] and has also danced for Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards.[4]

Contents

World Wrestling Entertainment

Diva Search

Layla El first got in to the world of professional wrestling after her trainer suggested she try out for the $250,000 WWE Diva Search contest in 2006.[5] During the contest she won a week's worth of "immunity" on the July 14 (taped July 10) edition of SmackDown! after winning Sgt. Slaughter's "Diva Boot Camp" obstacle course[6]—despite having jumped over several tires in the tire hop section of the course[7] and not having both of her feet cross the finish line due to her doing a split. She won another competition, the "Diva Search Talent Show," on the August 11 SmackDown!, when she danced dressed as a police officer.[8] She won the entire Diva Search, beating out Jen England in the finals on August 16.[5]

2006

She made her first "official" WWE appearance at the 2006 SummerSlam pay-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" of sorts. Afterwards they dragged her into the showers, fully clothed, where they proceeded to spank her while laughing.[9][10]

The week after SummerSlam, El made her debut as a member of the SmackDown! brand in an interview with Mike "The Miz" Mizanin—although he didn't allow her the chance to say much, spending most of the time talking about himself.[11]view After this she wasn't seen on WWE TV for weeks, reappearing during the September 22 SmackDown! and getting into confrontations with both Kristal and Jillian Hall.[12] She again went missing for a number of weeks after this, resurfacing at October's No Mercy event and embarrassing the Miz by tricking him into getting a lap dance from Big Dick Johnson while he was blindfolded and expecting it to be from her as a birthday gift.[13]

Layla made her official in-ring debut, a "Diva Trick-or-Treat Battle Royal" on October 24. The match ended in controversial fashion when she was pulled from the ring apron by The Miz, causing her to lose.[14] This led to Miz and Kristal briefly teaming in a feud against Layla and the Boogeyman.

2007-2008

On January 23, Layla was moved to the ECW brand.[15] On ECW she joined up with Brooke and Kelly Kelly as Extreme Exposé, performing a weekly dance segment with the group. Extreme Exposé danced weekly on the ECW show for months[16] until the Miz was also placed on the brand, at which point all three ladies began actively pursuing him.[17] When Kelly shifted her attentions towards the much more slovenly looking Balls Mahoney,[18] Layla, Brooke, and Miz openly mocked her. On November 1, Brooke was released from WWE,[19] and Extreme Exposé dissolved as a group leaving Kelly and Layla to enter an ongoing rivalry with more active in-ring roles.

In wrestling

  • Entrance themes
    • "Move Along" - All American Rejects (Diva Search)
    • Production Theme ("Groove")
    • "Holla" - Desiree Jackson (During Extreme Expose)
    • "Nasty Girl" - Production Theme

Championships and accomplishments

Other media

Since winning the Diva Search contest El has also done some modeling work. She has been featured in the magazines King,[20] JET,[21] Smooth,[22] and was the cover-girl for the first ever issue of Liquid.[23][24] She also posed for FHM with the other members of Extreme Exposé.[25] She appeared on the digital cover along with Brooke and Kelly[26]

In April 2007, Layla, along with Kelly Kelly, Brooke, Torrie Wilson, Ashley and Maryse, were filmed for Timbaland's music video "Throw It On Me" featuring The Hives.[27]

During the week of November 5, 2007, Layla appeared on an episode of Family Feud with Ric Flair, Batista, Mr. Kennedy, Jonathan Coachman, King Booker, Queen Sharmell, Maria, Michelle McCool and Candice Michelle.

On February 6, 2008 she, along with Maria, Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, Kristal Marshall, and Michelle McCool appeared on Project Runway.[28]

On April 13, 2008 she along with Mickie James, Melina ,and Kelly Kelly appeared in an episode of Celebrity Fit Club Boot Camp.

Personal

She has a tattoo of a star on her lower back.[29]

Currently owns a Range Rover.[30]

She has two dogs named Tyson and Kai. [31]

References

  1. ^ a b HEAT Dancer 2005: Layla. NBA.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  2. ^ Profile. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  3. ^ Eckinger, Helen. Hot moves: Heat dancers' hopes for stardom. The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. “Layla, who preferred not to give her age, has been with the Heat Dancers for two years. Formerly a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines”
  4. ^ Superstars > Divas > Diva Search > Layla El > Profile. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  5. ^ a b c Cohen, Eric. Interview With Layla El, Winner of the 2006 Diva Search. About.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  6. ^ Zeigler, Zach. Layla earns immunity. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  7. ^ SmackDown! Results - July 14, 2006. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. “Layla El [...] was next [...]She screwed up the tires again and looked to have skipped some.”
  8. ^ Medalis, Kara. Divas show their talents. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  9. ^ PWI Staff (2007). "Wrestling’s historical cards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts: 121. Kappa Publishing Group. 
  10. ^ Girls of FHM - Extreme Exposé's Layla. FHMOnline.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  11. ^ Tello, Craig. Friday knightmare. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-25.
  12. ^ SmackDown! results - September 22, 2006. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  13. ^ PWI Staff (2007). "Wrestling’s historical cards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts: 122. Kappa Publishing Group. 
  14. ^ DiFino, Lennie. Mutiny. WWE. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
  15. ^ Tello, Craig. Premature rumblings. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.
  16. ^ Online World of Wrestling profile. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
  17. ^ ECW results - June 19, 2007. Online World of Wresting. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  18. ^ ECW results - August 7, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  19. ^ Brooke released. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-11-01.
  20. ^ Layla El - King Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  21. ^ JET Beauty of the Week - Layla El. ebonyjet.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  22. ^ Kara A. Medalis. Layla gets ‘Smooth’ and sexy. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  23. ^ LIQUID Magazine main page. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  24. ^ Medalis, Kara A.. Layla is LIQUID's premiere cover girl. WWE. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
  25. ^ Medalis, Kara A.; Craig Tello and Zack Zeigler. Diva Dish: FHM goes Extreme. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  26. ^ Extreme Expose FHM Cover - Layla El. fhmonline.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
  27. ^ Medalis, Kara A.. The Sexiest Women in L.A.. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  28. ^ Medalis, Kara A.; Zack Zeigler. Diva Dish: 'Runway' Divas. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  29. ^ Divas dish on their ink. WWE.
  30. ^ Medalis, Kara A.; Zack Zeigler. Cool rides, hot Divas, part two. Diva Dish. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  31. ^ Medalis, Kara A.. Diva Dish: South of the Border.. Diva Dish. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.

External links