Layla El-Young (born 25 June 1977), simply known by her first name Layla, is a retired English dancer and professional wrestler, who worked with WWE from 2006 to 2015.
After some years as a South Florida dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines and the NBA's Miami Heat (her last year being the Heat's first championship season), she entered the 2006 WWE Diva Search and won the competition for the prize of a $250,000 contract with WWE. She became a mainstay of the Divas division and is a former WWE Divas Champion. She is most well-known for being one half of the heel duo LayCool.
On July 29, 2015, Layla announced in an interview with WWE.com that she was retiring from WWE. Shortly before her departure, she clocked nine years in the WWE, making her the longest tenured woman wrestler in the company. (Though Natalya Neidhart and Alicia Fox have since surpassed her).
In 2021, she announced she was working on an autobiography.
"Nasty Tropes":
- Aborted Arc: Layla and Kaitlyn showed signs of tension with Layla seemingly being jealous over Kaitlyn's title win and Kaitlyn not happy about Layla blind tagging herself into a match. It never went anywhere and they were back to being friends in a few weeks. Layla actually did turn heel on Kaitlyn months later but when Kaitlyn had already lost the Divas' Championship - so it didn't make much sense.
- Alpha Bitch: With Lena Yada against Kelly Kelly on ECWWE. To the entire division with Michelle McCool later, though she was more like the Beta Bitch then.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: In a bit of a possible Take That! at TNA's AJ Styles, Layla wore a hood during her entrance.
- Always Someone Better: Melina was presented this way up until Layla pinned her after Michelle McCool struck Melina with a crutch, she wouldn't get a clean win though for years to come. This was also the basis of her rivalry with junior diva search winner Eve Torres, whom Layla never did get a decisive win over, not even in arm wrestling or dance offs. It was one of her losses to Eve that actually broke up LayCool.
- Arch-Enemy: It was Summer Rae in early 2014, but the two later teamed up against their mutual enemy, Fandango.
- Ass Kicks You: "Booty Bump!"
- The Atoner: Post-LayCool. She apologised to all the other Divas before her Loser Leaves WWE match.
- Attention Whore: She ruined Kaitlyn's chances of regaining the Divas' Championship and sided with A.J. Lee because she wanted to be in the center of events. AJ being crazy and all, it did not last long.
- But Not Too Foreign: She was always billed from Miami, Florida. Even whenever WWE was in the UK. WWE rarely took notice of the fact that she was the first British Women's Champion.
- Catchphrase: LOL is her hashtag - it stands for "Lots of Layla"note - and it's also the name of one of her moves.
- Chickification: In 2010-2013 Layla Took a Level in Badass to become both Women's Champion and Divas' Champion, able to defeat the likes of Beth Phoenix and Natalya - as well as her kicks being able to knock people out. When she returned in 2014 after a brief hiatus, she was put as Fandango's dance partner, Cat Fighting a lot more and rarely winning matches on her own. She pretty much regressed into her status from 2008-2009.
- Cool Mask: She wore a Mardi Gras themed mask at WrestleMania 30. She wore it again for her entrance at Money In The Bank 2014.
- Dance Battler: As a face she would do incredibly silly dances to sucker her opponents in.
- Dark Action Girl: She had the fastest jump to actual, decent competition of any diva search winner, but did not really take off till she got nasty.
- David Versus Goliath: During LayCool vs Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Oddly, it was a heel David vs. face Goliaths. Played straight when face Layla defended her title against heel Beth in 2012.
- Dirty Coward: Often in her Lay-Cool days. She was prone to hide behind Michelle and/or Vickie.
- The Dog Bites Back: After getting dicked over by Fandango repeatedly (with Fandango having cheated on her with Summer and then usurping their spotlight in matches), Layla and Summer Rae turned on him and teamed up.
- Enemy Mine: Averted. After fighting over Fandango, Layla and Summer Rae decided to team up and generally ruin his day, but first they resolved their issues with each other and became friends, so they weren't enemies when they teamed up.
- Evil Brit: Though was more often billed from Florida, she was frequently referred as the first British women's champion and she was a heel during this time. Also when she turned down Jamie Noble, who was being uncharacteristically nice to her, for British bully William Regal.
- Evil Is Hammy: As a heel she would often throw over the top tantrums and scream over the simplest things. And her 2013 heel turn to Kaitlyn? She ended it by leaving the ring, skipping with AJ.
- Evil Wears Black: Layla donned a black evening gown on the night that she became a villainess and betrayed Kaitlyn.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: When she became a heel in 2007, she stopped wearing her hair curly and always had it straight. She gave herself bangs around the time she won the Women's Championship and was taken more seriously as a competitor. When she returned from injury as a Face her hair had grown to waist length, after her brief return in 2015 before her retirement, she cut it into a bob.
- Finishing Move: A back neck breaker she calls the Layout. She briefly added a flipping stunner from the turnbuckle called the Face Lift (which she stopped using after her face turn). During her title reign she won matches with a kick called the Bombshell.
- Five Moves of Doom: Flying clotheslines, spinning facebuster, LOL and often she'd throw a kick which the opponent would duck but she got them with a second kick.
- Friendship Moment: After Kaitlyn lost the Divas' Championship to AJ at Payback 2013, Kaitlyn could barely make it up the ramp while in tears. Layla came out and comforted her, helping her to the back.
- Fun with Acronyms: Her Catchphrase is LOL - Lots of Layla (a Call-Back to the days when 'lol' used to stand for 'lots of love').
- Genki Girl: Always as a face. Sometimes as a heel, depending on whether she wanted to be an Alpha Bitch or a Large Ham.
- Genre Savvy: When she returned from injury, she was presented as much smarter than she had been before. She always countered Beth Phoenix's Glam Slam and didn't trust Eve Torres at all.
- Glass Cannon: Poor Layla probably spent more of her career on the shelf than in the ring.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Began wearing more purple gear, and having purple graphics and filters in her titantron video, around the same time she adopted the 'Simply Flawless' gimmick.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: During the feud with Summer Rae, it was sometimes unclear which of them was meant to be the face or the heel. Sometimes it seemed to switch every week. But when the Slayers formed they seemed to be faces - as they helped other face wrestlers get wins against Fandango. Further complicating matters was them facing AJ Lee and Paige who at the time were both tweeners. And they worked as faces for a 6-Diva tag on Raw - and the very next night they were heels against Rosa Mendes (who had been heel against them on Raw).
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Michelle McCool. To the point where when their relationship got rocky they went into couple's therapy.
- I Am Very British: Invoked this when she was paired with William Regal. Elsewhere averted - as she's lived in America for so long, her accent has simply faded.
- I Know Karate: She practices Muay Thai.
- Important Haircut: Cut her hair short in 2015, possibly foreshadowing her retirement.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: By the end of LayCool. Her desperate pleas for mercy whilst being crushed by Beth Phoenix/Natalya and her utter devotion to Michelle McCool got her over with the fans.
- Jerkass: Good God, yes. Especially as part of LayCool.
- Kick Chick: Was using a spinning martial arts kick as early as 2008. One of her kicks was reportedly so stiff it busted Eve open at Tribute To The Troops.
- Odd Friendship:
- She and McCool with the serious, no-nonsense Kaval, especially considering that they were heels while he was a face. Despite having him hold their Women's Championship belts and not treating him with much respect, they did care about him and were genuinely happy when he won NXT Season 2. Kaval reciprocated and was protective of them.
- When in the middle of the latest of a series of fights, Layla and Summer Rae seem to come to the simultaneous realization that Fandango is a spotlight-hogging jerkass who has wronged them both. After they team up to attack him, Summer wordlessly invites Layla to come dance with her in the ring, and they become fast friends, even forming a Tag Team.
- Older Hero Versus Younger Villain: In her 2012 storyline with Eve, Layla at that point was 37 and one of the oldest women on the roster. As a result, she was always suspicious of the younger Eve (who had just turned 28).
- Older Than They Look: She is nearly forty but still looks like she did in her twenties. As if to hammer it in, Layla, with the departures of Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix back in 2012, was the longest-tenured active diva on the roster, having been in the WWE since 2006, up until her retirement in 2015note . Yet she hasn't aged a day since she's first arrived in the WWE. Some say she looks even better
. How ironic is it that her last name is "Young" now that she's married? - Put on a Bus: Injured her knee (tore the ac and mc ligaments) in May 2011 during Extreme Rules, and was written off TV with an Implant Buster from Kharma. She returned a year later to win the Divas Championship.
- Retired Badass: She hung up the boots in 2015 and has been known to respond to questions about a return with a Blunt "No" and black heart emoji.
- Religious Bruiser: She mentions God frequently in her social media posts.
- Ricky Morton: Frequently as a face (except when she was champion). Presumably since she's one of the smaller Divas and is very good at selling.
- The Rival:
- She and Kelly Kelly were frequently on opposite sides of the ring for most of their careers. Notably when Layla tried to apologise to the face Divas after her own face turn, it was Kelly who spoke for them.
- Also, Aksana in 2012 and 2013. They faced each other in a lot of house show matches, complete with promos on Tout to hype them up. When Aksana was released, Layla tweeted "I had some of my fav and best matches with @WWEAksana that never made TV...blessed to have worked with you"
- The Runner-Up Takes It All: Subverted. Layla is one of the only two Diva Search winners who had any success in the company — the other being succeeding winner Eve Torres.
- Signature Move: An arm drag into a chain of holds she calls infinity (always ended in a pin but what kind of pin varied on how long she decided to keep it going), also a triple jump crossbody she called LOL (Lots Of Layla). A spinning facebuster once she turned face.
- Small Name, Big Ego: As a heel, especially when part of LayCool.
- Tag Team:
- Most famously with Michelle McCool, as LayCool.
- Later with Summer Rae as the SLayers.
- Trailers Always Lie: The promo for SummerSlam 2014 showed Layla playing with sparkles and blowing them at the viewer with a kiss. You'd think that that meant she would be a player at SummerSlam, or at least that she would show up at the event in some capacity at some point, right? Nope. Turned out that she didn't appear at all in the actual pay-per-view.
- Traitor Shot: Displayed during her Revealing Hug to Kaitlyn, before Layla turned heel and betrayed her.
- Twofer Token Minority: She's a woman of Moroccan and Spanish decent. She's also British, adding another flavour to the mix.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: For WWE's 2012 and 2013 tours to the UK, Layla wrestled in gear with the Union Jack pattern on it.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: She's English but has spent a considerable time living in the U.S., resulting in a hybrid accent of American, Cockney and RP.
