WWE Night of Champions: Exploring the History of Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix

In recent months, former bikini model and current champion Kelly Kelly (or K2, as some fans have affectionately nicknamed her) has engaged in a deeply heated and increasingly personal feud with action girl 'The Glamazon' Beth Phoenix. An intriguing clash of personalities, this program has been vicious: sneak attacks, brutal beat downs, run-ins and nasty verbal shots.

It's also been a breath of fresh air for WWE's much-beleaguered women's division. Indeed, in a lukewarm division that has largely been met with fan indifference in recent times, these two girls (with the help of Eve and Natalya, who have served as capable supporting players) have helped make the division something worth watching again.

It has also greatly helped Kelly's status: she was stuck in a dire feud with Nikki and Brie Bella (culminating in an awful match with Brie at The Money in The Bank PPV) and was fast losing credibility with the fans before she started working with Phoenix.

Since then Kelly has drastically improved as a performer and, while no one is about to confuse her with Manami Toyota any time soon, churned out some respectable in-ring performances.

Now the girls are set to face each other for the Divas Championship at WWE's Night of Champions PPV on September 18 in Buffalo, New York, in what promises to be one of the most intense matches of the nights.

On paper, there are huge contrasts in the backgrounds of Phoenix and Kelly. WWE Head of Talent Relations Johnny Ace famously found Kelly in 2005 after he stumbled across some pictures of her looking gorgeous in a random bikini magazine.Kelly accepted the offer, despite knowing very little of wrestling (it's been alleged the only wrestling match she had ever seen prior to signing her contract was Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III) and was called up to roster in 2006 for a run in ECW.

While she always had the looks, no one expected her to become a competent in-ring performer, and she was relegated to the role of manager for the first few years. However she worked extremely hard and, as time went on, became one of the better performers out of WWE's crop of models-turned-wrestlers. Kelly still has many gaping flaws as a performer, but deserves commendation for making the effort instead of just coasting on her looks, which she could easily do.

Beth's story, on the other hand, could not be more different. A skilled amateur wrestler in high school, Phoenix started wrestling on the tough and low-paying indies (including a few stints in the all-woman promotion SHIMMER), determined to make improve as a wrestler and make it to WWE. Her hard work was eventually rewarded and she was given a WWE contract in 2004. Beth would later reveal in interviews that her signing was thanks to the recommendation of Molly Holly, who worked in the company at the time.

The backgrounds of the two girls are an interesting contrast, and one that has been featured heavily in the storyline. Indeed, the leading angle in WWE's divas division focuses on Beth and her new best friend Natalya set out to rid WWE's women's division of the models-turned-wrestlers whom they feel have ruined women's wrestling in the company. As genuine wrestlers who worked hard and paid their dues, these two feel marginalized by the current crop of divas that have gotten by mainly on their good looks.

The feud began when Beth viciously assaulted Kelly after winning a title shot for Kelly's championship in a battle royale on Raw in late July. Kelly, who had been on commentary watching the action, jumped into the ring after the match to congratulate Phoenix on her victory and the two shared a feel-good hug. S

hockingly, as soon as Kelly turned her back, Beth launched a hideous and violent assault on her, brutally beating her foe and cut a scathing promo on Kelly before storming off and leaving the injured champion a crumpled mess on the floor.

One thing was for sure: the friendship was over.

This all led to Kelly taking on Beth at Summerslam 2011 in a heated, lively bout, where Kelly worked incredibly hard and took some killer bumps. Undoubtedly, the far superior Beth carried the action, but Kelly should be given credit for allowing herself to be carried.

Surprisingly, after being brutally beaten and dominated for most of the bout, Kelly managed to sneak out the win courtesy of a cheeky role up after Beth attempted the GlamSalm. Beth was not happy, throwing a tantrum after the match, and it was all but assured their program would continue.

Notably, Kelly was accompanied to the match by Eve, while Phoenix had Smackdown diva Natalya in her corner. Neither got involved in the finish, but this established their roles in the Kelly-Phoenix feud (Beth and Natalya have now formed “The Divas of Doom” tag team and are promising to tear through the division).

Kelly and Beth have continued to clash in the weeks following Summerslam, with the other divas in the division, like Eve and Natalya, becoming embroiled in this intense rivalry, too. Indeed, this program has even seen Beth and Natalya attempt to rid themselves of their tomboy image and show up on recent Raw and Smackdowns clad in evening dresses and spiky high heels and caked in makeup.

Some have questioned the logic of this: if Beth and Natalya look down their noses at the models like has been claimed, why are they now attempting to look like models? Is it possible that the heels are secretly jealous of the gorgeous looks of Kelly and deep down inside want to models too? Knowing the WWE booking team and their sometimes insulting treatment of the divas in the past, this explanation actually wouldn't surprise me.

Maybe if Phoenix emerges victorious from her bout with Kelly, we'll get some sort of an explanation for this rather gaping loop hole. These inconsistencies aside, Kelly vs. Phoenix at Night of Champions is shaping up to be a cracking little match with an interesting history behind it.