In the Saturday Supplement, the Diva Dirt team will aim to discuss a news story, a televised event or other relevant and current topics. The objective, like the average weekend newspaper, is to offer more indepth and lengthy discussion.
Since its inception, the TNA Knockouts division has been a burst of fresh air to many who have been soured to the world of women’s wrestling. Over the past years, the TNA Knockouts have opened many eyes to what an ideal women’s division could look like during a time when its popularity was not as its highest. A growing fanbase, a 2-hour syndication, a women’s championship, and a locker room of talented women would seem like the ideal formula for success. However, to every victor goes the spoils, and with the spoils often comes hindrances. TNA has not been without faults over the years, especially when it comes to the Knockouts, yet the company still manages to redeem itself and reserve its spot for quality wrestling. So, does TNA’s booking do more harm than good or do the Knockouts still remain at the top of the food chain?
TNA has always appeared allegedly ‘high’ on its women’s division. In a recent interview, TNA President Dixie Carter released this statement:
I’m very proud of the Knockouts. As a woman, it’s important to me that these ladies be represented properly. They are the best in the business, and the recent addition of new Knockouts, such as Tara and Sarita, will only further strengthen this division.
While the Knockouts could be blindly conceived as the proverbial “apple of TNA’s eye,” that is not necessarily the case. TNA has made some drastic faux pas in dealing with its talent. With the Knockouts delivering the some of the highest rated segments on air, that puts into question if TNA is even aware just where its strengths lie. Due to its advantage of a growing female roster, TNA typically provides longer and more frequent matches for its Knockouts. The indie superstar initiative (comprising the likes of Sarita and Ayako Hamada) has sprung new life into the Knockouts division, but has also caused the roster to become a bit crowded. A locker room full of women may be convenient for the usual battle royale, but it also means less face time for some of the Knockouts. Understandably, the weekly 2-hour program can only feature so many wrestlers at a time. So, TNA tries to rectify this rolling admission with multiple feuds. Unfortunately, having too many rivalries jeopardizes the development that is required of a successful feud week in and week out.
With so much investment as the face of the division, losing Gail Kim was a tremendous blow to TNA. Her loss had the company scrambling for a way to recreate the magic that made the division as popular as it has become. Thus, Victoria‘s arrival to the company was met with red hot anticipation and excitement. What would inevitably be channeled into a title opportunity, her rapidly swelling momentum was soon swerved against her. Well, so much for ‘Victory‘! Victoria winning and losing the title in a matter of a couple weeks was irresponsible booking on TNA’s part. Instead of drawing out the feud, TNA opts to move on with Victoria as a whole. Now, there lies a total disregard for the history between Victoria and Angelina Love. With not so much as a rematch for Victoria, both females branch off into separate feuds with Awesome Kong and ODB respectively. Now, with the announcement of a title opportunity at Hard Justice, this leaves fans questioning the point of Victoria’s title win in the first place. This type of topsy-turvy booking desensitizes the prestige of the title as well as the talent involved. Alas, TNA managed to turn its own investment against itself. And with the horrid scandal that was Jenna ‘Jennagate‘ Morasca, at some point, you have to take a moment and rethink: this is the same division that was receiving so much praise just a couple years ago? Instead of progressing, TNA seemed to be taking one step forward and three steps back.
In what could be perceived as a desperate attempt, TNA has also recently rummaged through a pile of WWE’s leftovers. This time, in a form of a Playboy pictorial featuring the original Knockout, Traci Brooks. While the potential success of this development is still vague, it vastly contradicts the tagline of “No Divas here” in a way that sheds a hypocritical light on the Knockouts.
As a product of bad booking, over-exposure, and negligence, does this leave the Knockouts division at a complete loss? Well, no.
TNA has all the talent in the world. With a collection of accomplished wrestlers and creative clairvoyance at its disposal, TNA continues to impress. The implementation of new on-air personalities such as Sarita, Alissa Flash, and Ayako Hamada has produced hope for a stronger division that has all the tools to break new ground. The first encounter between newcomers Sarita and Alissa Flash reminded us of a women’s division that we all could be proud of. The fast-paced, nonstop action elicited many “oohs and ahhs” from Knockout and Diva fans alike. “Gail Kim…who? Diva’s Championship what?” With the assistance of those two women as well as the continued effort of the talented women of the TNA roster, Impact has slowly begun to become a mirror of itself in 2007, if not better.
Hungry for fresh meat, there is still a staple to succeed that protects established aspects of the division that are successful. The Beautiful People, the ever-popular crooked alliance that has gone strong for almost two years now, still continues to dominate and entertain on Impact with Angelina Love as the rightful Knockouts Champion. The cunning ex-champion Victoria has now found herself injected into a struggle with Awesome Kong which could be the opportunity she needs to recover from the blow she suffered at Victory Road. Moreover, TNA has been boosting Traci’s Playboy deal in an already far more interesting manner than we’ve seen in WWE.
So what can this do for the morale of the TNA Knockouts? Well, for every con there are a few pros to accommodate TNA’s faults. Forgiving the Victory Road incident, TNA has been pretty decent with separating the wrestlers from the squire. Now, stars are being made and being given the chance to fully shine. All signs indicate that the Knockouts will continue to outdo themselves and further push women’s wrestling into magnate status. So, the ball is in your court, TNA. With all of these credentials, how can you really lose?
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11 Comments
Good piece but man Madison looks really really old in that picture.
Nice story Tiffany. The knockout division is by far the best women’s wrestling division that is on television today. There may be A LOT of talent, but it is TALENT nonetheless. Unlike the WWE, every single woman in TNA (minus Jenna and Sharmell) can put on an athletic show for their fans. However, I really don’t like the whole Traci Brooks Playboy deal– it’s just shifting the knockouts to a “divas” direction.
Great article, Tiffany! I really do think they’re squandering a bit of their potential. But hey, the WWE’s been doing that for years. Here’s hoping they don’t become notorious for it like the WWE has.
Good article, I agree on everything basically. TNA has way too many women right now and I think it’s going to start to show, with tag matches and battle royals, they might have to move on to two Knockout matches as standard on the card. Also, what’s with Traci Brooks doing Playboy?! That goes against everything the division used to stand for :/ and plus, she is probably the least attractive woman on the roster! Can’t believe they didn’t get one of the BP to do it.
However, with Mickie, Gail, Beth, Jillian, Katie, Natalya, Melina, and Michelle McCool with the WWE, all they have to do is start booking better and I feel their division could really get some legs. Their weakest links aren’t even that weak anymore seeing as Maryse, Kelly, the Bellas, Layla, Eve, and Alicia Fox have all shown that they can get the job done from time to time (especially Alicia). The only really bad women wrestlers the WWE has right now are Maria and Rosa Mendes, keep these two out of the ring!
I think that at the moment both WWE and TNA have great women on their roster (TNA having the best, in my opinion). WWE has Maria and Rosa has wrestling “weak links”, I feel like Maria is a lost cause and I think that Rosa will probably never be a great wrestler but I hope she improves a little more because I know she can do it. TNA has Jenna and Sharmell as managers, so I hope they don’t give Jenna any ring time, for Sharmell I don’t know, but I still think she was an hero for trying to sell those god awful slaps.
Great stuff. There’s definitely a double standard when it comes to Divas vs Knockouts but if we look beyond the surface, I think you’ll find the Knockouts are treated just the same as the Divas. They aren’t given the focus they deserve despite being the highest rated segment on Impact every week. Their booking is kinda shoddy too, all we have to look at is the ‘Tara 10 day reign’. Just because they have good wrestling, I don’t see how that placates their bad booking.
I don’t think anybody can deny that they have the talent. For me, the problem is the booking staff. People seem to think that Gail leaving was the HUGE blow, but in my eyes it was the release of KO agent, Scott D’amore. He’s the one that wrote the entire division in it’s early days, and he did an amazing job. Something that hasn’t been mentioned enough is that in these two last weeks, both Savio Vega and Dutch Mantel (two TNA writers who worked closely with the ladies) were released, too. So if anything, the next round of tapings will definitely prove to be their make or break point.
On paper, the Knockouts are fantastic – two iMPACT main events in as many years. Five cage matches in three years. Hell, they’ve even had numerous hardcore “bimbo brawls”, in essence, they’re giving the fans what they ant to see.
Maybe I’m completely biased ‘cos I don’t think the KOs have lost that much appeal.. but I do admit they’re not as gripping as they once were. Although I think that’s purely down to being in some ways desensitized or used to seeing what they can do. Awesome Kong powerbombing the hell out of somebody isn’t as cool as it once was simply because we’ve seen it too often.
On a positive note, I’ve always been glad that TNA’s company head is a woman. I often wonder how things might’ve been if Dixie was never there.
great job tiffany.The Knockouts division IMO is better then it was in 2007.In 2007,the only girls that wrestlered weekly were angelina,velvet,kong,gail,ODB,and Roxxi,that was pretty much it,the other girls like christy,jackie,salinas,and traci never wrestlered,they made an appearance in a wrestling match once every blue moon and looking at the division now,it’s obvious that TNA has better and more talent now.We have the beautiful people,kong,alissa flash,sarita,ayako hamada,daffney,sojo,traci,christy,taylor,ODB,and Tara
like tiffany and melanie said,it’s all about the bad booking,i mean giving Tara a 10-day reign really sucked prestige out of the KO title and knowing that angelina is a 2-time KO champion really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth
i’m so glad that the president of TNA is a woman because since she’s a girl,she’ll make sure that the knockouts are always treated equally(only wish WWE was like that)
i’ve been a TNA knockout fan since the division began in 2007 and when gail left,yes that was a BIG BLOW but now honestly,with all this new talent,they don’t need gail,the division has moved on and thats really nice to hear
i hope WWE starts getting serious about there divas division and they start pushing the real talent but I don’t see that happening
one more thing,with all this new talent in the TNA knockout division,i really hope TNA makes a show just for the knockouts.The division is growing week by week and there is no way all these girls will get on impact so TNA is left with 2 choices really,1 would be releasing some knockout(don’t reccommend that) and the other would be giving them there own show(thats what we all want)
I stopped liking the beautiful people as much when when madison joined.
it reminds me of the knockouts division.. they were almost perfect then one too many joined and now they’re mediocre.
I couldn’t agree more with Kaledrina. I’ve been saying the same thing on another forum about how much the loss of Scott D’amore has really made a huge impact on the K.O. Division. At the moment I think the K.O. and Divas are being booked the same way but of course the K.O. are putting on way better matches. There are also way too many feuds within the K.O. division and that’s going to hurt them.