The much-buzzed ‘Monday Night War’ experiment is over… at least for now, with TNA Impact going live last night for a three hour show up against WWE’s Raw. With two Knockouts matches announced prior to the show, I kind of knew what to expect — and I got just that. I knew the ODB vs Tara bout wouldn’t be great as their past matches haven’t lived up to the hype, and I knew that the Tag Team Championship match between Sarita, Taylor Wilde vs Awesome Kong and Hamada would be awesome given time. So in terms of that, I’m good.
What TNA proved last night however, is just how erratic their booking and writing can be. We have two Knockouts segments here that are on the complete opposite ends of the scale. One left me thinking “WTF?!” and enraged me to the point of praying for Maryse over on Raw, while the other reminded me just why I was looking forward TNA last night and just why I wanted the show to succeed — a true alternative to WWE’s diluted Divas division. TNA are very lucky that Tag Team Title match came on after the Knockouts Title match, because it helped redeem/overshadow the awful handling of Tara’s title loss.
Let’s kick off with the Knockouts Championship match:
As both ladies get into the ring, ODB [wearing a brand new outfit for the occasion] attacks Tara as she takes her shirt off, with a kick to the stomach and begins clubbing her across the back. With the referee’s back turned, ODB begins choking Tara with her own t-shirt and then does something rather unsavoury~ with it. Note to Tara if you’re reading: Burn that shirt, please don’t use it again for the love of babies and kittens!
Tara is propped in the corner and ODB runs at her but the champion counters with an elbow, Tara then uses the ropes to launch her into a dropkick of sorts on ODB and follows through with a clothesline. Things pick up as ODB and Tara, both tough women, trade blows — I really like this sort of ‘test of endurance’, something I think more of their matches should have been made up of. Tara begins kicking ODB with left and right legs, ODB catches one of her legs though but Tara follows through with a lovely enzuigiri. Powerslam by Tara followed by her patented standing moonsault. Tara goes for a pin but ODB kicks out. ODB throws Tara into the corner and runs at her, Tara uses the ropes to jump onto ODB’s back and goes over the top rope and applies the tarantula submission move. She follows through with another old favourite, the over-the-top-rope leg drop.
Tara looks to be setting up ODB for the Widow’s Peak but ODB backs her into the corner. She picks up the champion for perhaps a TKO or fallaway slam but Tara hops off ODB’s shoulders and kicks her in the gut setting up the Widow’s Peak again. It looks as though she’s about to hit it but ODB manages to slip away and rolls up Tara quickly, pulling her tights, for the pin. Cue collective gasp and face-reddening-with-anger.
After the match, Tara attacks ODB… finally hitting the Widow’s Peak on her and unleashing Poison onto a fallen new champion. Tara poses with the Knockouts Title.
Tara had survived this long in wrestling without a wardrobe malfunction [that I know of], until tonight. Sad times!
But in all seriousness, I don’t know what the fudge they were thinking here and I am thoroughly annoyed. I don’t know what it is that the new TNA regime sees in ODB that they felt the need to put the belt back on her so soon, but I’m guessing they have some sort of plans for her or Hogan is high on her and wants to do something with her. I honestly don’t know what it is. This is the second time that the Knockouts Championship has been ripped out of Tara’s hands just days after winning it and if you ask me, the credibility of the belt is shot to hell when you have it passed around like candy. The past 6 months have not been kind to the Knockouts Championship. It’s been passed around like a bong, been vacated and been a prop for a comedy character for the past three months. And just when you thought that was all behind us in 2009, 2010 kicks off with the same inane booking.
ODB has proven to be one of the least effective champions the belt has had, if not the least, so of course they’d award her another run. Her title reign did not resonate with the fans and it was only until she turned heel in her feud with Tara, that she showed some spark as champion but even then, I’d say most didn’t want to see her feud with Tara continue after she lost the belt. In fact, I didn’t even want to see this match, but when it was booked I had hoped it would end up being a blow-off, but with Tara’s actions after the match it seems as though they’re continuing with this feud.
Watching the match last night and again for this review, the crowd was very into Tara and it just shows that even after all that’s happened to her in WWE and even TNA, this is someone fans support and want to see done right by finally. I’m sure Tara will continue to do her job as she has done for many years, with total professionalism but I have to wonder if she, like us, is as frustrated. After the 10-day run back in July, it was inconceivable that they’d do that to her again and they did. I just don’t get it. Sure, being lucky enough to win a belt is prestigious in itself but this is extremely disappointing for not only fans of Tara, but fans of the Knockouts division. It’s hard to take a belt seriously when it’s treated so laxly. Say what you will about WWE, but the title reigns for the Divas are usually lengthy and in my book, that makes them more memorable and prestigious.
After the cut, the Knockouts Tag Team Championship match:
I predicted that given the time, these four women could blow the whole show out of the water. For me, this was the match of the night. Styles vs Angle may have been great, but the tag match was more meaningful for me not necessarily due to the wrestling, though that’s definitely a big part of it, but in terms of emotional response also. Allowing the women to go out onto television and put on a match like this, truly showing what women’s wrestling can be for casual viewers, provide a real alternative to the Divas, I think that this accomplished a lot more on the larger scale.
We kick off in the ring with Hamada and Sarita, awesome! Lockup followed by an exchange of armdrags. Sarita gains control with a nice float-over DDT on Hamada before tagging out to Wilde. Taylor goes up top and jumps off hitting a nice arm drag on Hamada — don’t see that everyday. Hamada knees Taylor in the stomach and begins working her over and look at that, of course we are distracted by something that is going on backstage!
In the ring, Taylor has tagged in Sarita, they both lock hands with Hamada who runs at the rope for a plancha into a double armdrag. Hamada tags in Kong, Sarita tries to go for a crucifix while Taylor runs at her, Kong boots Taylor and hits a Samoan drop on Sarita. Meanwhile, Hamada runs at Taylor who manages to throw her over the top rope onto the apron and delivers a beautiful kick followed by front dropkicks on Kong but to no avail. Sarita then joins in and the two hit her with a double dropkick, finally taking Kong off her feet. Hamada & Kong are now both on the outside. Taylor goes up top and hits a crossbody on Kong while Sarita launches through the ropes with a suicide dive on Hamada. Great spot!
Following a commercial break we see that Kongada [yes, it's now official!] are now in control as Kong holds Taylor as Hamada hits a low dropkick on her. They show what happened during the break, we see Sarita help Taylor hit a moonsault of sorts on Kong & also Taylor running at Kong who flicks her away with great ease. Back into the real time action, near pin by Hamada. Taylor begins mounting a comeback but Hamada puts a stop to it with a kick to the stomach followed by a headbutt. Hamada keeps Taylor out of her corner and away from Sarita, taunting her by slapping her hand away. Kong tags in and goes for a power bomb but Taylor slides over her shoulder and lands on her feet before following through with a Chris Jericho-like knee smash/codebreaker.
Taylor finally makes it to her corner to tag in the fresh Sarita. Sarita uses the middle rope to springboard herself into a dropkick that takes Kong off her feet. Hamada gets in the ring and blindsides Sarita with a kick to the face. Kongada try to double team Sarita, throwing her into the corner but Sarita finds her feet and again uses the ring as a springboard — climbing up the turnbuckles and turning into a crossbody on the challengers. Unfortunately for her, she’s caught by Kong and Hamada who then drop her. Taylor now back on her feet, hits a hurricanrana on Hamada and Sarita tries to do the same on Kong… err, why? Kong catches Sarita, Sarita goes for a sunset flip but Kong sits down on top of her. Ouch! Kong pins Sarita but Taylor breaks it up with a low dropkick.
Sarita tries to work over Kong, who hits a spinning back fast to Sarita’s knee, taking her off her feet. Outside the ring, we see Hamada throw Taylor into the side of the ring taking her out. In the ring, Kong sets up the Awesome Bomb and with Sarita perched on her shoulders, Hamada goes up top for a missile dropkick. Kong pins Sarita to become the new Knockouts Tag Team Champions.
This was an incredibly hard fought bout with fantastic performances from all four ladies involved. I am so ecstatic that we got to see the more talented of the Knockouts showcased on this particular show — be it by chance. Kong and Hamada really worked well together and showed a chemistry that I think will make them great champions and I cannot wait to see what they do with them. I’d like this to be booked as a “Who can stop this unstoppable alliance?” type situation. Perhaps even give the duo a mouthpiece to give them that extra dynamic. I actually had a little think about this a couple of weeks ago and my pick would be bringing in Missy Hyatt. I know she’s a huge fan of Kong’s work, so there’s an extra advantage there.
Sarita and Taylor were fantastic champions also, I have to hand it to them. They are fresh, fun and exciting to watch in the ring. This was easily their best match as a tag team.
I hope we get a rematch at the Genesis pay per view in a couple of weeks. I’d love to see another bout in this series and maybe even a third, fourth and fifth.
This match helped vindicate the earlier title switch and on the larger scale, in terms of the ‘Monday Night War’, it won the battle between the Knockouts and Divas for last night. There were a lot of casual fans tuning into both shows last night, some of whom have never watched TNA before or watched little of it — TNA’s goal was to attract those fans by delivering an alternative to what they could see on Raw at the same time, and on the proverbial checklist, they can definitely tick off “women’s wrestling.” The Knockouts did their part, I just hope the larger audience took notice of it.
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43 Comments
I know this site is pretty much anti-ODB (I’m personally indifferent), but the fans love her. That’s why the belt is on her, she get’s the biggest reaction whether she’s heel or face.
Incredible tag team match from the girls in TNA. Impressive to say the least.
Hamada/Kong vs Sarita/Taylor was a AMAZING match.
@michael – i don’t think this site is anti-odb…i think we are all sick of this storyline…we would be frustrated no matter who it was…odb is only getting hated on because of her participation in the storyline…having tara beat odb, have odb win a tournament for a rematch (even though she could have just envoked her rematch clause), and beating tara is a crap storyline…we are also frustrated that tara can’t get more than a week and a half with the belt…
I wasn’t a fan of seeing the belt change hands again. It loses credibility and this switch felt pretty pointless.
That tag team match was phenomenal! I honestly haven’t been that into a match in a while. All of the women in the match were superb. I can’t think of anything negative to be said about the work in this one. Definite match of the year candidate already!
I don’t comment much here, but (for once) I’ve got something to say:
I’m starting to think there’s something about Lisa Marie’s face that just makes bookers want to screw her over. She doesn’t deserve these blink-and-you’ve-missed-it title reigns.
Oh, and Saritaylor vs. Kongmada was epic. But we all knew it would be.
The Tag Team titles are already more worthy than the Knockout title.
Awesome job on the Tag Team match and boooooooo at the singles match.
I agree that the constant title changes just diminish the belt. I was hoping to see Tara retain and then both she and ODB moving on. Instead, we’re getting more of this tired feud. Well, at least the Impact crowd loves it. LOL
the single match is good but the result is so WTF
i dont understand whts wrong with tara no company wanna belive in her althugh she is great
the tag match was gr8
HamaKong>SariTaylor
i loved seeing tna cut away from tara’s ass shot, yet mere minutes later decide to show a strip poker game.
as i mentioned on last night’s post, my only problem with kongada being champs, is there are no faces they can be in matches against other than saritaylor and traci. i like the idea of them dominating like crazy, though. maybe give the ko tag belts a kong twist and go back to doing the open invitational challenge stuff? could be a way of keeping the division fresh as well as scouting new talent at the same time. it’s probably pathetic on my behalf, and as much as i enjoy hamada, i can’t help but feel melissa (as saeed) got sort of screwed out of a title reign.
Saritaylor vs Amazing Kong and Hamada was the MOTN! And that’s for both shows.
I see what TNA is trying to do with Tara and ODB. They’re trying to turn her into a solid main event heel. TNA wants zero cheers for her and by everybody’s reaction the plan seems to be working.
i’d really like to see tara bring a few new moves to the plate, too. i liked how gail kim almost reinvented herself movewise in wwe, whereas tara has just stuck to the same old. bust out some mma submissions or something, ya know?
I think they made Tara lose because it was a WWE vs TNA night and they wanted TNA to look better.. That’s why I’m so pizzed.
Plus ODB is an undeserving bitch who shouldn’t be near the KO belt, her gimmick is lame, just a few months ago she wasn’t wrestling because no one wanted to see her, then her contract was about to expire and she threatened to go to WWE (as if they’d want her) now they’re shoving that ugly bitch down our throats and I’m sick of it. I can’t wait for Angelina to reclaim her spot as the top heel Knockout and ODB goes back to lame back stage segments.
Sorry had to vent.. lol
Melanie Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
No need to call anyone a bitch, Evan.
I have to admit, before ODB became champion, I thought she was great. She was exciting, fun, different. She had this cool thing about her, but the moment she won the belt of Angelina, who should’ve been in a rivalry with Tara in the first place it all went to shit and I got sick of her. Tara is a deserving champion and the more TNA screws her around the less we are going to appreciate ODB. Tara needed an extended reign and an interesting feud! We were all dreaming of champion Tara vs returning Angelina Love and now we’re getting put off.
that tag match was AMAZING
incredible finish!
And already we have a ‘match of the year’ candidate…
A lot of nice spots in this match, though Hamada did look genuinely hurt a few times.
1.5 rating, about what most people expected. No word on WWE’s ratings yet, but probably they will stick slightly above 3.0 as always.
i love it when the crowd chants “this is awesome” in a knockout match
makes me so proud of them
Kong/Hamada vs Sarita/Taylor was probably one of the best matches in a wile
Tara vs ODB was OK, the ending sucked tho,
will Tara ever hold a title for a decent amount of time?
@melanie well technically hes calling her by her name.
ODB stands for old dirty bitch XD
Melanie Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
That’s not the context the word was used in.
What is wrong with TNA? Do they not know the rules of a tag match? Not just in this match, in every damn tag match. Only once you are tagged in, may you double team, with only a 5 count to work with. I didn’t notice this was a tornado tag match. It was a good match, but I didn’t get what happened when they caught Sarita, they could’ve done something while they were holding on to her.
It’s actuallly One Dirty Bitch.
Can’t help it, I “dislike” ODB so much maybe I’m “marking”
After seeing that KO Title, I’m more annoyed Tara lost the title. That match was as bad as Maryse/Brie.
Evan marking is when you appreciate someone, not hate them
Man the KO title changes hands like the WWE’s world championships!
i have a feeling they gave the title back to ODB so Angelina can come in as face and take the title
or its going to be a triple threat deal with Tara in the mix
The women’s tag match was great!!! Did anypne else notice the crowd chanting “THIS IS WRESTLING”? I loved that moment!
ODB/Tara was in the first hour of show in which everything in that hour was supposed to be bad, until Bischoff got the format and threw it to the crowd, then he came with a new format, and what happened next? we got the awesome tag team match between SariTaylor and Hamada/Kong
Hogan is high on Kong, no wonder she and Hamada got the straps.
And that finish that Hamada and Kong did, it reminds me of something the Legion of Doom would do. Like I said before, Great match!
TNA has done a very good job of sucking the prestiage out of the KO title, eventually no one will care whole the champion is, WHY ON EARTH DID THEY GIVE TARA the title if she was going to drop it back to ODB 15 days later,it’s the angelina situation all over again
also ODB is not a 3-time champion,her 1st title reign where she was announced as the new chanpion when cody deaner pinned velvet didn’t count because the title was later vacated.ODB is a 2-time champion, her first reign was when she beat cody deaner at no surrender
taylor wilde sold that face into steel post PERFECTLY,she didn’t move an inch after that blow,she deserves an award. congrates to hamada and kong but I seriously dont see anyone disthrowning them, there like the ultimate team
*who the champion is,not whole*
so are sarita and taylor still a team team or are they singles wrestlers now???
ODB is a hot mess and i feel so bad for tara i mean 2 weeks thats ridiculous.
ReyStyle94 wrote:
“What is wrong with TNA? Do they not know the rules of a tag match? Not just in this match, in every damn tag match. Only once you are tagged in, may you double team, with only a 5 count to work with”
In Japan and Mexico they dont take that rule very serious, so maybe they forgot to tell Sarita, Kong and Hamada about that rule ;-)
I like Tara but I don’t mind that OBD won. I agree with theregoeskitty. After ODB got the belt I felt that they wanted to take if off of Tara so that they can do something with Angelina. I’m not going to jump into a huff just because it happened. I’m just waiting to see what’s going to happen next. Wrestling conspiracy theories kill me; they really do. :) There’s always a reason.
Hmmm Poor Tara! She gets screwed over by WWE and now it starting to happen in TNA!
Good match not long at all…Bad Ending Tara should of retained!
Tag Team match was awesome! Good start to 20010 TNA!!!
great night for the knockouts but i hated that tara lost
Tara vs ODB was good but quite similar to Final Resolutiuon, it was too short but sweet
Taylor Sarita vs Kong Hamada absolutely amazing shame about the result though i really liked saritaylor and i cant help but feel we wont see them team up as much now, and wat were they thinking putting a face and a heel as tag champs, unless one of them turns
Really good match, but again, I said earlier about Kong overshadowing Hamada and whether in 50 years time anyone will remember who Hamada was in TNA, I mean if you look at the entrance it was Awesome Kong who came out to her music and everything, even though she played a minimal part in the storyline, she storms out and Hamada is tagging along behind her almost upstaged. I think something needs to be done as a team to show them as a team, rather than two skilled indidviduals, I must say though Sarita did really well in the match, I wish they’d focus her on a singles aspect, I’d seriously rather see her climb the ranks than Tara leap frog the division for nano second reigns, just because it (for a short whike) pleases the viewers.
I quite enjoyed the knockouts title match even though it was way too short and the ending enraged me. I don’t think it was a good ending and honestly I can’t tell if ODB is supposed to be a heel or face. I thought Tara was great in the match and was very impressed with her during the match. I think the match would have been a whole lot better if only they had given them more time and had Tara retain. It’s way too early to strip her of the title, but hopefully Angelina will come back next week and win it off ODB. *Fingers crossed*. On the other hand the tag match was great and I was so proud to hear the crowd really get behind all the girls. I was blown away by the match as a whole and it was great to watch. Thank you so much for posting.