Former WWE star Layla has revealed that CM Punk unexpectedly came up with the name that would eventually define her successful partnership with Michelle McCool.

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Layla recalled how WWE officials had begun pushing for a formal name for the duo after they had been teaming together for some time. While she and McCool were struggling to come up with ideas backstage, Punk happened to walk by and offered a suggestion that immediately clicked.

“Yeah, he did. He wasn’t even part of the conversation. That’s what’s so funny about it. Because Johnny or somebody, I can’t remember, was like, ‘Guys, you need a name? You’ve been together too long now, it’s getting ridiculous. You need a name.’ Punk was hanging out at the arena, and he just was like, ‘What are you guys doing?’ We had a piece of paper, and we were trying to write something. We’re like, we’re trying to think of a name. And then we were Cool-Lay, it was so stupid. And then he’s like, ‘LayCool?’ Then we’re like, yeah, that’s it. Punk just happened to be there. We were just in the corridor, I don’t know, just happened.”

Layla also opened up about how the LayCool partnership almost never happened. According to her, the original plans for Michelle McCool involved other talent, and Layla was initially brought in simply as a temporary addition to storylines.

“Mickie was brought to SmackDown. Michelle and Mickie were going to go against each other; they first had Alicia Fox. If you noticed, she was out there doing matches with Michelle. They needed a filler, and they were like, Layla. So they would put me in there to be the filler so that they wouldn’t touch each other, and they’d save it for the pay-per-view. It just started like that. I was never supposed to be in LayCool, because I know that Stephanie McMahon wanted to do like a mean girl faction kind of thing, and I think it was definitely Michelle, and it was gonna be, I think, Alicia Fox, and then for some reason, me and Michelle working together, and just the chemistry, and just trust. She trusted me. She gave me so many opportunities.”

What began as a temporary pairing eventually became one of WWE's most memorable women's acts of its era, with Layla crediting her chemistry and trust with McCool as the key reasons the partnership evolved into a long-term success.

 

 

 

 

 

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