For the first time in what seems like years, the TNA Knockouts have been benched from tomorrow night’s Against All Odds pay per view. With so much change in TNA since Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan took over the reins in January, could this be a sign of the times?
The Knockouts have always had some presence on the monthly pay per views with a recurring trend of having two matches on the show last year. So how did we go from two to none? It could be said that the theme for tomorrow’s show, which will feature an eight-man tournament competed all in one night, is the reason why the Knockouts were left off as the card mainly concentrates on the tournament and of course, a World Championship match between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. But then again, we have — of all things — Team 3D versus The Nasty Boys, whose height of fame peaked at least a decade and a half ago.
There is a lot of uncertainty about the future of the Knockouts division; some girls are said to be unhappy, one has left the company already and the company’s Knockout centerpiece has been embroiled in backstage drama with TNA management. On television, the segments have gotten shorter, more sparse and there seems to be competition for screentime with Tara, Angelina Love and The Beautiful People dominating the Knockouts action for the past month. Where’s the diversity we once saw with the Saritas, Taylors, Tracis?
And now this. Perhaps the biggest, most glaring sign that the Knockouts division hasn’t got the same spotlight on it that it once had.
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45 Comments
i can see where your coming from but there is a point to that. the big tournament thats going on. the main event for lockdown is a lot more important than one women’s match. and what would the match for the card be? theres no storyline thats progressed enough to make it onto a PPV. and your wrong when you say that the knockouts are getting less time now. they got ten minutes this week and round about the same last week. i can remember when we were getting 3 minute matches before hogan came in…
that was for melanie btw.. im not trying to cause trouble im just saying btw(:
not a sign of the times…there was just no room…that tournament is going to take up the whole ppv besides the aj style vs joe match and the tag team match, it will take up 7 matches
If there wasn’t a tournament then they would have been a knockouts match on the ppv…no need to overreact
well nobody should be suprised. it was only a matter of time that the knockouts division was going to be screwd. this reminds me of a time when a show was moving to monday and competed with wwe for ratings. runned by hogan and eric( what ever is last name is). and no real womens division. if i could only rember. oh wait yeah wcw. sadly i think the divsion will be gone by the end f the year. maybe traci, awesome kong, and angelina will go to wwe. and tara could take her ass back to wwe. i would love to see what wwe will do with them. kong could feud with beth over who is more dominant. traci competes for the divas title. angelina makes a reject beautiful people with maryse. and tara competes for the womens title. other girls could go to shimmer. or wrestlicious. oh yeah roxxi defanintly needs to go to wwe. if wwe stops the pg bullshit. and release the bellas.
Chill they just dont have the time,
like the tourament on raw took all the time,
but the said sorry by giving maryse and gail a spot on the PPV
Melaine isnt overreacting , nor is she assuming that there are a sign of times. Im sure this article is her voiceing her opinion and saying what she thinks became of the Knockouts since Eric and Hogan arrived.
They probably don’t have the time and besides, the current storyline around the girls isn’t paper-view-quality. Hopefully this won’t happen in more paperviews
i think that if the kong stuff didn’t happen, and she didn’t get herself suspended, we’d be seeing a tag title rematch against taylor and sarita.
as it stands, it’s no big deal. although it’s going to happen again soon as they’re having an only x division ppv coming up.
i think i’d rather have no match, than something meaningless with no build up at all.
Yeah the PPV is being centered around the tournament but the Dudleys and the Nastys? Please.
Screw Dixie Carter. The woman who claims to be a big supporter of the Knockouts can’t get any time for them on the PPV?! She’s an A grade moron who LET Hogan and Bischoff run her company for her. It exposes her as weak and powerless.
Suddenly WWE has become a better place for women wrestlers. I’m sure if Gail Kim is following TNA she’s probably glad she’s in WWE now.
Another fine mess TNA makes, having long ruined the X-Division.
nt86, out of interest, what match would you have liked to see booked for the ppv? there’s been no solid build up to anything. unless you’d enjoy some random multi tag or meaningless battle royal?
as for the gail kim comment, the raw divas are lucky to be on ppv to begin with.
“Yeah the PPV is being centered around the tournament but the Dudleys and the Nastys?”
theres nothing wrong with 3d.. and that match has had a solid build up.. since january 4th!.. theres no knockout match that could be used for the PPV which wouldnt be meaningless and stupid for not just waiting.
I’m not upset about there not being a PPV match,because like people have mentioned,I dont think there has been a soild build up for a propper match.
I’m more annoyed that we now have to have, at least another month of Angerlina & Tara vs TBP untill we get some kind of closure. Id rarther see some other people wrestle.
Love all the comments about overreacting and needing to chill. I was trying to create an argument, I wasn’t ranting or ‘overreacting’ as you put it. It’s a shame people take things so gutturally. I guess I should go take a Xanax before I overreact~ again.
Some people here want a KO match so its used as pee break for the tournament? Thats why Team3d/Nastys are in the PPV.
And also, like someone mentioned, AJ/Joe will eat a lot of time (30 min), and the tournament the rest of the time, and well the card its stacked, NO ONE wants to see Angelina/Velvet to be a 4 min match? Right?
totally agree with the article, i think it is a sign of the times. hogan and bischoff hate the knockouts!
Well, there is certainly concern about the long term future of the knockout division. But things have to be put in their context. The knockout division wasn’t doing so well in recent times, and doesn’t do so bad right now.
First, what is happening to the knockouts happens as well to the other parts of the tna roster. Before the Bischoff – Hogan era, the bookers strived to put as many people as possible on the cards and on tv. That’s how we got 9 matches ppv cards, most of the time rushed, impacts with 7 thrown-away matches all lasting 2-4 minutes crippled with run-ins, and that’s how we got luckily 2 knockout matches. But as a rule the shows lacked focus and were incredibly random and rushed. Apparently that’s not the trend they want to follow anymore.
TNA is only using 16 wrestlers out of 60 for this ppv. It’s not only the knockouts who are benched, but also the whole x division, most of the tag team division, the mid card, and even double J. It was also true for the impact shows leading to it. The knockout division did not stand worse than the tag division or the x-division tv time wise, rather better actually. As for the match Nastys – 3D, it has been included because it couldn’t be put on the Genesis card, I think. To sum it up, instead of trying to please everybody and doing nothing right at the end of things, TNA is trying to be more effective (and of course, wrestlers cannot be happy about this; business is cruel). I am not sure TNA is doing a good job of it and that Hogan & Bischoff, not to speak of Russo are even the right people for this, but this goal to me is praiseworthy.
With this policy, it’s clear though that their roster is too big for 2 hours per week.
As for the matches, ODB – Tara match at Genesis lasted almost 10 minutes, and the tag match at the 1/4 impact got a decent amount of time too. IIRC the last time a knockout single match lasted ten minutes was ODB – Kong FCA, 16 months ago. Meanwhile, we got tons of so-so 5 minutes title matches, even for bouts who could or should have been important. In the previous era, they didn’t even give ten minutes to Tara-Kong, for a cage match they had built for five full months. It’s a matter of taste, but I would take anytime a 10-minutes match, especially a title match, over two five-minutes matches randomly made.
The Beautiful People are shoved down our throats, true, hogging the spotlight while bringing down the division because of their lackluster ring work. But it’s absolutely nothing new, it has been going for two years. They were featured at nine consecutive ppvs last year at the expense of better workers as well. But the circumstances are what they are. It would be foolish not to use Angelina’s return in a big storyline, that would be an incredible waste of an opportunity. And whether we like it or not, TBP are a tv draw.
So we have now a single feud going, which looks shallow. But let’s look at the feuds from the last half of 2009. In August four new feuds started at the same time, dropping a previous one unresolved in the process, and only one got a ppv match this month. Then Hamada – Flash saw one match and got dropped. Sarita – Flash saw Flash jobbing countless times and the feud never led anywhere. Taylor – Traci and Traci – Flash never even started. Tara – Kong was very formulaic and not very interesting. Around Bound for Glory we got a champion without a feud for two months, so that she had to be put in other people’s feuds to be kept relevant. Maybe the knockouts were emphasized more then but the eventual result could only be called a trainwreck. Again, the current writing is trying to be more focussed and more to the point than it used to be. We got well done promos, nice videopackages and recaps, eg Tara – Angelina was hyped as an important match throughout impact and almost got the main event spot.
Finally as said by many above, the current storyline doesn’t allow any worthwile ppv match right now. They’ve already done the 3 vs 2 handicap match on impact. Before the B-H era, they used to put those 6 women tag team matches on ppv, with almost the same knockouts used again and again (mostly ODB, Roxxi, Taylor, and of course TBP) : I counted more than 10 of them over the last 30 ppvs. If we strive for high standards, those matches are honestly not ppv material. The only match that would make sense right now is Angelina – Sky, and it’s not a worthy ppv match either. Right now I am under the impression they will redo Tara – Angelina at Lockdown, which would give a lengthy three months build to it. But maybe they will do Hamada – Kong vs Tara – Angelina down the line as well.
The knockouts division can never be dropped because they get the highest ratings on impact, the division could get terrible but TNA would never drop it.
The knockouts don’t draw when it comes to PPV. They draw very well on free TV impact but no TNA fan will not buy a PPV just because theirs no Knockout match and if they do, then they’re obviously more a womens wrestling fan then wrestling fan.
the reason the beautiful people are on every week is because they draw ratings, casuals fans don’t care about womens wrestling, they wanna see hot girls taking their clothes off and shaking their asses sadley. I believe thats the reason kong, hamada, sarita, taylor, and ODB have gotten the boot as of late
maybe they didnt have room for a match because theres no storylines tht developed enough to be seen on a ppv but on the other hand…i see tna is following -slowly- the foot steps of wwe so i wont be surprised if the women divison got screwed on tna too
Hogan and Bischoff have actually made money in this business. They didn’t do it by being bland, interchangeable wrestlers like A LOT of the Knockouts and X-Division people are. They did it because had reasons for people to care about them. And it wasn’t because of either them went out to do a bunch of moves.
Sarita and Taylor may be good workers, but Jebus if they aren’t boring to look or listen too. Hamada is still the random Japanese chick. And I guess since she is from Japan, we are suppose to bow to her stiff ways. Then you got a bunch of guys who don’t sell, can’t strike to knock down a cardboard cutout, and are as close to being the same wrestler as you can get without cloning. Wait.. Those guys are called the “X-Division”.
Velvet and Angelina may have the most potential for a feud that TNA has ever had for their women. You can’t just shoot that gun off before there’s a target!
it’s kinda sad, but if it was just some random match it would be odd, it would have been nice to see the KO tag team champions
I think when Roxxi returns, she will probably be added to the current Tara and Love/TBP feud to even out the numbers on the face side. Makes sense – she, like Tara, has history with them and was attacked by LVE during the NYE tournament and worked an injury for it.
ebmich, that comment is a fucking joke. They’re bland? Okay, then what are a majority of the diva’s? Please. Sarita and Taylor are boring? That must explain the huge amount of pops created in their match with Kong and Hamada (Who is supposedly boring as well). Then lets see Raw’s pops. Take Gail vs. Jillian from last week for example. I heard pin drops it was so dead. TNA has great diversity. I hate the promotion, but it’s undeniable they did a great job having girls with different and interesting personalities. Where’s WWE’s personalities? There’s Jillian’s singing (Which is barely existant anymore), Michelle and Layla being WWE’s take on The Beautiful People, and that’s about it.
And yes, the X division wrestlers are so incredibly alike. Because Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, AJ Styles, etc are practically clones.
The simple reason there isn’t a KO match at AAO is Kong was suspended, so they couldn’t build up a feud to have a title match at this PPV. With Kong reportedly showing up at AAO, there’s a slim possibility TNA might add a last minute tag title or at the very least a dark match involving Saritaylor, since they haven’t been on Impact for a month.
Yeah well ever since those two bafoons (Hogan and Bischoff) took over, TNA hasn’t been the same. The story lines have been inconsistent and increduluous. They pushed matches that would have been great in my opinion, especially the Knockouts, to make room for their out dated way of doing things. Its really a damn shame and sad that the Knockouts aren’t doing the pay per view. Hogan will be the DEATH of the Knockout division if this keeps up.
Does anybody really want to watch a ppv that’s headlined by the Nasty Boys? Yes, “headlined” because they’re Hogan’s buds. This ppv will be a trainwreck and the Knockouts can gladly say they had no part in it.
I like 3-D but the Nasty Boys? Give me a break. They look about ready to pop. I would rather watch a great Knockouts match that has no buildup than to watch that. I personally don’t need some kind of build up for a match–just get in the ring and freakin’ WRESTLE like you’re supposed to. Maybe I’m weird but sometimes I just don’t CARE about a storyline, I just want to see some quality storytelling in the ring–something which (if done right) could actually RESULT in a storyline or feud. It seems like the writers can only move in one direction with storylines. “What a ridiculous idea for a storyline to be created as the result of a match”, I guess the thinking is.
And for the “Saritaylor are boring” sentiment (and that stuff about the X-Division), I respectfully (notice this word) and wholeheartedly disagree, as well as with everything else that was said in that post. :)
I hate how Hogan and Bischoff are ruining everything. Fair enough, bring them in for the exposure but why put them in charge?
I worry that in many ways it could be a sign of the times; or rather, I’m rather worried about the state of things in TNA in general (and no, this is not to rant or complain). I just really hope they get a show that focuses on the X-Division and the Knockouts, since there are many people who want to see more of them.
Hogan and Bishoff are destroying the knockouts division.
Kaledrina:
Yes you are right there was no real build up. But thats also a sign that Knockouts are getting on Diva standards.
Not Really, The Tourny is 7 matches, AJ/Joe and the Tag match are time consuming. Plus what match could they possibly have, theres no build toward any possible matches. I bet we’ll see TBP and Angelina in some form, even in a backstage segment.
A bit of a over-reaction there.
Dan Stfu.
The Beautiful People are not the original “mean girls”.
Example Vince’s Devils where the same concept as the beautiful people. The Beautiful People are just a rip off.
Hopefully when Roxxi’s cleared from injury she’ll be put into this feud with Love and Tara and when Kong serves her suspension and things calm down between herself and management, things will start to pick up.
Maybe I was a bit hasty in my first post in this thread, but hopefully the division will get back on its feet.
And start a second show once Impact goes to Monday’s. Let Impact be for the washed up lard balls like the Nasty Boys and nobodies like Orlando Jordan. A second show could be on Thursday night or something. That could hasve more emphasis on other areas of the product like the Knockouts.
Does anyone know what i mean when i say this but TNA Knockouts division has become more abondened since Hogan and Eric came around?
Seems as if Knockouts are being shoved aside? anyone think this?
Im starting to wonder now with new people in TNA maybe their wont be A knockout show… :(
Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan aren’t big on women’s wrestling. Back in the WCW days the women’s division was one of the first things Bischoff phased out. And during his “State of TNA” address, he tagged Lacey Von Erich as the woman he wanted to give a big push, adding that she was “good in the ring.” (Hogan corrected him, so Hogan at least watches the women) I fear Bischoff sees the knockouts more as eye candy than serious wrestlers. Plus, they already got rid of Melissa and probably will lose Kong. That was 2 of their top 3 talents IMO. (The other is Hamada, who is no where to be seen lately.) I have no reason to be optimistic.
Bischoff and Hogan would be overruled by Spike TV if they want to get rid of the Knockouts. The ratings clearly show the girls have the highest ratings on Impact, so Hogan would be forced to keep them on. Don’t buy into Hulk’s claims that he has final say on everything.
“ebmich, that comment is a fucking joke. They’re bland? …. Please. Sarita and Taylor are boring? That must explain the huge amount of pops created in their match with Kong and Hamada (Who is supposedly boring as well). …. TNA has great diversity. I hate the promotion, but it’s undeniable they did a great job having girls with different and interesting personalities.
And yes, the X division wrestlers are so incredibly alike. Because Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, AJ Styles, etc are practically clones.”
Sarita and Taylor have that same personality of “she can wrestle and she’s happy to wrestle!” only difference is where they are billed from. And what separates Hamada from the other chicks? Oh, she’s Japanese.
And I guess people totally ignore the fact that the TNA crowd are bribed into reacting the way they do. They have seen the same stuff for the last 5 and a half years. There’s no way in hell they still have it in them to chant. And the live PPV shows prove that.
I didn’t bring up the Divas. That point is irrelevant anyway in a Knockouts post. lol
And as far as that X-Division comment.. They are the same. Outside of Jay Lethal’s Macho Man gimmick that alters his move set, all of them would much rather do organized gymnastics than put on a wrestling match. Heck, most of them haven’t matches since Hogan and Bischoff came in because of that. As someone who watched WCW, I can tell you that it seemed like they didn’t mind the luchas or cruiserweights because they always had matches and segments on the show. The X-Division is nothing more seeing how many flips you can do in a match.
Tell me what separates Red from Consequences Creed outside of the obvious “one dude is black and the other had a match on iMPACT! recently.” Why should we get behind Sabin and Shelly? Because they do the “cool thing” and admit that pro wrestling is fake?
I can’t say that I’m surprised. When they were with WCW, the women took a backseat there too. I predict we lose more Knockouts soon.
“I can’t say that I’m surprised. When they were with WCW, the women took a backseat there too. I predict we lose more Knockouts soon.”
They did try in WCW, but it was already too late. They send in a lot of women to the powerplant to train under Madusa+Molly, and even brought in people like Akira Hokuta. But there definately is a parallel with TNA right now. In WCW you had a HUGE roster, but 2/3 of the roster wasnt used on the show, and the same thing is happening right now in TNA, there are too many people to fill a 2 hour show.
They really need a 2nd show soon, or else they will run into problems again, with people leaving the company. Especially people like Jay Lethal and Eric Young will probably be very unhappy right now.
I’m a little worried about the Knockouts. I hate to say this, but I don’t think they are going to be able to use Tara as a center piece for the division. There really isn’t a heel in the division for her to face. Unless, they use The Beautiful People, which I don’t think is going to work as well as they want. We are complaining about the division being to big, but I think they need to expand. And, if they lose Kong they might need to hire a FEW women to replace her. I’m just not sure where they can go from here with her.
Im not going jump off the deep in yet, sometimes they decide to an angle with a selected few… there is an entire KO tag team division that @ some point have to be re-visited… the only problem with TNA is that they are no longer listening to the FANS like they did in the past.
Heres what a lot in the IWC don’t understand. The only reason at times (not always unlike people want to think) have the highest rated segment is because their male division has been so bad.
They haven’t had much of any good main eventers and Hogan and Bischoff understand that. When some 40 year old wwe reject and bland girls like Sarita and Taylor are considered on the echelon of your main eventers thats a major problem and shows why their ratings have been stuck at a 1.
The new managment understands they need a hot male angle or a really over new star how Goldberg was to turn the tide.
There isn’t really knockout that could show up in WWE right now without most fans saying who is this. Look how unover Gail still is.
I don’t think that there would suddenly be an influx of former Knockouts either, at least not with how things are now. I think that most WWE fans don’t watch women’s Indy matches or TNA for women’s wrestling so I agree that people would be like “who’s that?” Dang, no many times they mentioned Sheamus being on ECW, a ridiculous amount of people didn’t know that he existed b/c many only watch RAW and/or Smackdown (based on what people say) and they don’t watch indies, other promotions, OR wrestling from other countries. Most people are actually WWE fans and not fans of wrestling in general, so it’d be no wonder, and given this fact WWE can easily book a strong wrestler to job or do whatever else contrary to their former persona and most WWE fans would be none the wiser. And what I worry about is that all tese people jumping onto TNA now will only have been exposed to these current types of matches and not expect more, which may lead to Bischoff and them slowly minimizing the Knockouts more or focusing ont those they see as most recognizable or hottest (read: Tara and TBP). They ain’t the best or hottest to me. Daffney’s the hot ish!!! I’ve read too many comments from new TNA viewers who like things as they are now. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, per se…
dont the knockouts get some of the highest ratings>? the knockouts/divas deserve as much time as the men since their are more men then women i think they deserve it too…
TNA is working out their growing pains and if we keep supporting the KO’s everything will work out…
Not to put SALT on your point, however
WCW had a awesome women of wrestling…. remember they had divas like Torrie, Stacy (Ms. Hancock), The Nitro Girls, Midajah, Gorgeous George, Kimberley and Major Gunns….. mid carder like Paisley (Sharmel), Tygress, Major Gunns…. wrestlers like Miss Madness (Molly Holly), Jacquline (Jackie Moore), Luna, Madusa (Alandra Blaze), & Akira Hokuto (The Only WCW Women’s Champion)…. Legendary Vallet like Woman, Sister Sherri, and Miss Elizabeth not to mention Women a la Chyna (vs. Men Wrestlers) like Asya and the OH SO PROMISING MIDNIGHT (check youtube)…. All these women might have not been there at the same time but there was always a high volume of “diva”-presence in WCW…. and a guranteed training camp!!!!
You guys should revisit WCW and see if you can find some updates