Layla and Michelle McCool formed a partnership during the Divas Era in WWE. They were known as LayCool on WWE television. Layla and McCool started teaming up in 2009, but they didn’t have a name for their tag team until the next year.
The 48-year-old recently appeared on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast, where one of the things she revealed was how LayCool became the official name for her tag team with McCool.
Layla Says CM Punk Came Up With LayCool
She says that someone backstage mentioned that she and McCool didn’t have a tag team name. They were writing down potential names for their team when CM Punk walked up to them and asked what they were doing. One of the names they came up with was CoolLay.
They talked with Punk, and he suggested “LayCool,” which they ended up being called on WWE programming.
Here’s what Layla said:
“He wasn’t even part of the conversation. That’s what’s so funny about it. Because Johnny or somebody were a writer, I can’t remember. It was like, ‘Guys, you need a name? You’ve been together too long now, it’s getting ridiculous. You need a name.’ And Punk was hanging over the hampers. There was hampers, I don’t know, at the arena. He just was like, ‘What are you guys doing?’
We had like a piece of paper, and we were trying to write something. And we’re like, ‘We’re trying to think of a name. Then we were like, CoolLay. It was so stupid. No, they were just… it was so stupid. Then he’s like, ‘LayCool?’ Then we’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ Yeah, Punk just happened to be there. Like we were just in the corridor. I don’t know, it just happened.”
It’s been over a decade since Layla worked a wrestling match. She last wrestled Paige during a WWE live event in 2015, before leaving the business.
During the interview with Chris Van Vliet, Layla said she’s too old to wrestle now but wouldn’t rule out a chance to work with Michelle McCool as part of LayCool again. But she’s not actively trying to have another match.
For more on CM Punk, Layla, Michelle McCool, and pro wrestling (WWE, AEW, etc.), you can check out this page. If you’re new to watching wrestling, check out our WWE streaming guide, which is updated for 2026.
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Wrestling news reporter.