Tonight was a historic night for wrestling as round two of the Monday Night Wars kicked off and in grand fashion for both the Divas and Knockouts in my opinion. Both shows featured tag team action but on Impact we got a treat. With Awesome Kong basically done in TNA, the question has remained: “What’s going to happen with the Knockouts Tag Team Championships?” We got our answer and in spectacular fashion. Missing in action Knockouts Taylor Wilde and Sarita returned to television to take on The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky) and the team of Angelina Love and Tara in a triple threat tag team match.
Before the match gets underway, we’re told that due to the champions not defending the titles, Hamada and Awesome Kong have been stripped of them. That’s unfortunate for Hamada because she’s an innocent victim in all of this but life goes on and Tenay tells us new champions will be crowned tonight in a triple-threat match. Taylor Wilde and Sarita sort of get an entrance in the fact it’s nearly half over when the camera cuts to the ring area. They’re in terrible matching outfits but the fact they bother to coordinate their outfits give you a sense that they’re a real team. As the inaugural Knockout Tag Champs, it’s been far to long since they’ve actually gotten to perform on a televised show. The audience loves them and they receive a nice reaction as they play to the crowd and pose in the ring. Their posing is short lived because the theme music of the Beautiful People started to play and those three devilish Knockouts walked onto the ramp. They do their usual posing and flirting with each other, before finally getting in the ring and settling down for business. They know what a huge opportunity this is and how winning tonight could solidify this version of the Beautiful People as the real deal. Team number three consists of our Knockouts Champion, Tara, and ex-TBP member Angelina Love. Angelina is basically foaming at the mouth at the chance to get in the ring against her haters and Tara just looks fierce like usual.
Upon entering the ring, Angelina makes a beeline right for her former friends. Velvet and Madison are quick to get the heck out of dodge but a sluggish Lacey von Erich nearly gets caught in the clutches of a furious blonde Canadian. TBP start screeching at Angelina and Tara, causing an annoying distraction, and that allows Saritaylor to quickly go for a roll-up pin on both. The bell rings but before a count can be made, Angelina and Tara both kick-out. Nice explosive start to the match. Thankfully it doesn’t take long for the chaos to get sorted out and each team of ladies take a corner. Taylor and Tara are the two who officially kick us off. Taylor hits a nice kick to bring Tara down to the mat and she immediately goes for a quick cover. Tara kicks out after a one count but that doesn’t stop Taylor’s effort. She uses the ropes for momentum and goes to leap over Tara, but Tara catches her, holds her for a second, then just brutally drops Taylor down to the mat on her chest. In obvious pain, Taylor makes the tag to her partner. Sarita comes in, ducks a clothesline attempt, and delivers a nice modified neckbreaker to Tara, sending the Champ staggering. Sarita goes flying to the ropes to get momentum for a crossbody and Velvet smartly tags herself in. Sarita is unable to go for the pin on Tara and Velvet takes over.
Miss Sky goes for the pin in Sarita’s place but Tara kicks out. This irritates Velvet who starts screaming in that awful shrill voice she’s been using recently. After pitching a fit, Velvet grabs Tara by the hair and lugs her over to TBP’s corner where Madison tags herself in. Madison and Velvet double team the crap out of Tara before Velvet removes herself from the action and Madison is allowed to show us what she can offer to this match. Madison snapmares Tara to the seat of her pants and follows it up with a nice looking knee right between the shoulders. She goes for the cover, but Tara powers out which leads to more screaming from Velvet. The match gets a little crazy at this point because Madison bullies Tara towards Velvet, and the latter makes a big deal of pointing to Angelina then slapping Tara across the face. This brings Angelina into the ring, as well as Velvet, causing the referee to take his eyes off Madison and Tara. He argues with Angelina which gives TBP ample opportunity to double team Tara. Madison goes for the pin, but Sarita and Taylor quickly stop that and we have a two on two situation between Saritaylor and TBP. The girls fight for position but Saritaylor go for a double whip across the ring. TBP reverse the move, send Saritaylor across to the ropes, and we get our first taste of Lacey von Erich tonight as she trips the ex-champs and they eat a face full of mat. Lacey feigns innocence and TBP hit gorgeous double drop kicks to Saritaylor, knocking them right out of the ring.
The Beautiful People start taunting everybody, turning their backs on Angelina Love. At this point Angelina is pretty disgusted and she comes into the ring despite the fact she’s not even the legal woman and starts taking down Velvet Sky. Madison does her best to help out but she’s disposed off and the referee starts ripping into Angelina once again. He forces her back to the corner but Tara has come to her senses and has grabbed Madison for the Widow’s Peak. Tara gets Madison set up but unbeknown to her DAFFNEY has literally come out of nowhere, grabbed the Knockouts Championship, and has gotten into the ring. As Tara turns around with Madison in the air, Daffney takes the title and knocks her right in the side of the head with it. Tara goes down like a ton of bricks and Madison falls on top of her. The referee finally turns around and sees the unintentional pinning attempt so of course he goes to count. By the time anyone else catches what’s going on it’s too late and the bell has started too ring. The Beautiful People start to mark out and begin jumping around and celebrating while Angelina and Tara are in total disbelief. We cut to a few shots of Daffney who is absolutely beside her with happiness that she just pulled one over on Tara. Absolute brilliance on the part of TNA.
Wow!
I absolutely adored everything about this match/segment. It wasn’t the best Knockout action wrestling wise but it certainly delivered for everything it was supposed too. I guess I’ll start with the obvious and congratulate the Beautiful People on finally winning the Knockout Tag Championships. This has been a long time coming because I believe these titles were made specifically for this faction. If the drama with Angelina hadn’t happened, then she and Velvet could very well still be champions but now we have the team of Madison and Velvet carrying the belts. There are several directions TNA can take this storyline and I’m excited to see where it can go. Will any combination of two of the three defend the belt? Personally I would like to see Lacey end up left out. It’s not because of her limited wrestling skills or anything like that, it’s because Velvet is such a dominant personality and overbearing, and Madison is just… well she’s Madison. Together those two make a formidable team. They’re bound to overshadow Lacey, who should really do nothing more than valet for them. It would be interesting to watch the title win go to the heads of Madison and Velvet, and they could start to take Lacey for granted. Lacey could turn into the Madison of this incarnation of TBP because Madison was never a star until Angelina Love left. Lacey doesn’t seem like the type of girl that would enjoy taking that abuse. Since LVE has the least amount of history with the group, I’d like to see her eventually get fed up with the antics of Velvet and Madison, and turn on them. With Lacey’s family history she could eventually turn into a great babyface. If she actually develops some wrestling skills, throw the woman in a ring. There’s endless possibilities for this scenario! The Beautiful People winning the tag belts are the best thing to happen to the belts because now we have champions who will be there and who will be pushed, and we’ll be left guessing as to which way this title run will go.
It was nice to see Taylor Wilde and Sarita return to our television screens. If TNA is truly going in a superficial direction with their Knockouts then they need more Sarita in their lives. That woman is one of the most gorgeous people in wrestling right now and what makes Sarita so fantastic is she can actually wrestle, and wrestle great. Sarita has star quality and TNA would have to be blind to not see that. With proper booking, Sarita could get way over and I would love to see her and Taylor form a small faction with Angelina. That’s the best possible scenario for Saritaylor right now. They can get back into the tag title picture this way and Angelina needs allies. We can’t keep seeing Angelina try and fend off three-on-one attacks on a nightly basis. Judging from the way the match ended, Tara is now going to have her hands full with Daffney, so Angelina is going to have to start scrambling. If she partners with Saritaylor not only do the ex-champs get back in the title hunt, but Angelina has two strong partners who won’t back away from TBP. Wrestling in general doesn’t have enough stables/factions, so having two feuding female ones would be a treat to all women wrestling fans.
Reckon I saved the best part of Impact for last?
Personally, I was hoping for a Daffney appearance on Impact during the tag bout and my wish was granted. Not only did Daffney cost Tara and Angelina the tag titles, but her actions overshadowed the win by TBP. I said it last week in my article and my Write-Up that Daffney is basically the “it girl” for TNA right now and once again that was proven last night. Daffney’s presence and demeanor at the end of the match made it the best thing on television last night (unless you like old guys or Secret Life of the American Teenager) and as a fan it’s agonizing to me that I have to wait seven more days for another Daffney fill. I really, really, REALLY hope this is building towards a pay-per-view match for the Knockouts Championship between Zombie Hot and Tara. I know that it’ll be epic and I have a feeling that it will be done right if you know what I mean. The fact that Daffney’s interference was more of a big deal than the perennial pretty faces of TNA winning the vacant tag titles speaks volumes to me. I feel that TNA is 110% behind this Daffney push and that the best is yet to come for her.
Overall, I give tonight’s Knockout action one million thumbs up. A lot of people are going to slam it because of their disdain for the Beautiful People but I encourage everyone to look at it in a positive light. With those girls having the titles, it’s going to open a lot of doors. It could very well lead to the downfall of TBP. They’re not the best wrestlers on the roster, but heel champions are more beneficial because they don’t have to wrestle that much. They can bump and sell very well, and the babyfaces can shine. After two months of just “ehhh” Knockout action, last night proved that the division is still important to the fans. Things can only go up from here.
Agree? Disagree? Leave comments and storyline ideas because I’m curious to see what you readers want to see happen.
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22 Comments
Like I said before I don’t like TBP as champions at all. They are Maryse-like to me. Good characters but not so good wrestlers and I’m one of those who still believe that wrestling is more important than character. For me, Saritaylor should have been the champions. They’re better wrestlers and the crowd likes them. TBP should have remained in the Angelina feud angle, and just that.The only thing that almost calms me down in this is that they won because of Daffney.
Other thing was the stupid explanation for stripping Kongada of the titles. They had defended the title about 21 days ago against TBP.
We all know the problems with Kong. They didn’t need to make up this crap. The most fair thing to do was arranging a tag team partner for Hamada and allow her at least to defend the title. They could have put her with Daffney. It would also make sense for the storyline. Or even ODB. I don’t care. I just think Hamada should have been in the match.
Madison rayne has made HISTORY. She’s the 1st ever shimmer tag team champion and now she’s the only woman to hold the shimmer tag title and the TNA knockouts tag title. She’s also the only woman to hold a title in shimmer and in TNA, GO MADISON. She’s come such a long way, she started out as the shy third wheel of the beautiful people, she was the background piece that never talked and never got any recognition. Then once Angelina left, she blossomed into a real beautiful people member and became a huge part of that team. she carried her team in every match because she was the best wrestler and now look at her, she’s a champion. it’s well deserved
Lacey is not a champion, she wasn’t in the match, Madison and velvet were. Lacey can’t even wrestler so how would she defend the tag titles in a 2 on 2 match, her partner would do all the work. Has anyone noticed that Lacey only wrestlers when it’s a 6 knockout tag, she hasn’t even wrestlered in a regular tag match yet so this whole ‘freebird’ rule probably won’t happen
I agree with everything you said there, Cryssi.
I too am glad Saritaylor are back on our screens, and that Daffney was able to be brought in to this match to further her feud with Tara.
It is sad that Hamada was stripped of her title, she got a raw deal. But, hopefully, she’ll return to our screens soon too and maybe could go after the KO belt in a feud with Daffney. That’d be something.
i think it makes sense to give the beautiful people the gold, seeing as they were meant to be the first KO tag champs and madison is a good competitor (when they let her be) plus i like that the way it was done advanced Daffney vs Tara
I enjoyed the match iit could have been longer though. I dont mind Velvet & Rayne Champiions as long as LVE dosent have it. I also loved Daffeny inteference finally she is getting the work and time she deserves. I kant wait 2 see another match between her nd Tara. The Knockouts were good 2nite.
Also glad to see Taylor & Sartia bak…in the ring.
RKOyou, aren’t you like obsessed with Lacey or something? Why degrade her wrestling skills? lmao XD
great impact so happy for the bp’s but i hope we see more sarita/taylor in future.
rkoyou……. wrestler = noun. wrestle = verb. people can’t “wrestler”. it’s “wrestle” or “wrestled”.
fantastic write-up, i agree with pretty much all of it.
i look forward to tbp’s tag belt reign.. there’s a lot of possibilities now. congratulations to them. it’s also great to see them continue with the daffney/tara feud.. a part of me was very uh-oh they’ll forget all about it as we have seen in the past with the likes of hamada, alissa, traci etc.
i must say, though, i do think people should wait at least a little while (if not longer than 24 hours!) before judging tbp and their championship reign. not liking them as champs when you’ve only seen a 3 minute backstage promo of them as champs is a bit weird.
Kalendrina: I don’t like them as champs, not because of what I see of their reign (or in this case, what I didn’t see yet) but because I think they aren’t good wrestlers. Madison is decent, but for me its not enough. Like I said, I value more the wrestling than the charisma. For me a Champion should have both qualities of course, but be more of a wrestler than an actor.
I will be honest, I haven’t been a very big fan of the Beautiful People since Angelina Love left, but I am not going to judge their championship reign less than 24 hours after it began. There are a thousand directions TNA could go with this, and I for one am just going to be excited to see where it goes.
I am also excited to see where this Daffney and Tara feud goes. I have said it before, but this has the potential to be feud of the year in my opinion. I can’t wait to see some crazy matches out of these two. I think that they could put on some good gimmick matches, and I would actually like to see at least one good gimmick match out of this feud, maybe something like a Monster’s Ball match.
The Knockouts are seemingly picking up again. I hope it continues, you could tell that the crowd was really into the match last night, and The Beautiful People were getting a lot of heat.
it was great to see Sarita and Taylor back on TV!! They’ve been missed.
and YESSS!!! TBP have FINALLY won the tag team championships!!
Madison deserves it the most! She works her ass off!
A bit of a come down from the ‘historic’ three falls match with ODB and Tara, but I suppose there’s only so many times TNA can milk the ‘historic’ events that seem to be happening. I don’t know, for me at the moment what happens backstage outshines the good, from what I’ve seen the booking looked very sporadic with Daniels demoted back down to X-Division and of course more Has-beens being beaten/threatened, almost remeniscent of the last ‘historic’ show.
I love how positive everyone’s been about the match, I guess I just thought there wasn’t much to be positive about. I agree TBP are brilliant characters, but bad wrestlers and as much as Madison’s improved, she lacks charisma for me, her mic work just isn’t as strong as her ring work, whilst Velvet and LVE are the opposite (Well Vel-Vel anyway) Tara somehow being booked despite holding a title? Hamada being snubbed despite doing nothing wrong and being one of the best on there? ODB being pushed to the max and dropped from a great height? Just seemed very convenient and no doubt TBP’s win was just convenient as they’re popular to the common casual viewer who thinks TNA stands for something else. One positive, at least the KO Tag titles will get storylines.
Another…Sarita and Taylor back, though I want to see Sarita go solo, I’d love for her to turn on Taylor just to give them both a chance to shine, but that’d involve taking the cameras away from anyone in a zimmer frame they can drag up with a past in WWE. Daffney being there was good, but if she’s in line for the title, why wasn’t she included in the match? I just hate the way TNA makes up such crap to gloss over the cracks, at least WWE are slightly humorous with Maryse’s seclusion.
TNA already has a ready made storyline … Angelina Love’s revenge and her goal to take the TNA Knockout’s Tag Team Championships from the Beautiful People. This would be a perfect time for TNA to start using Independent female wrestlers as her partner, however none of them are able to get the job done. It isn’t until later down the road that Angelina Love debuts a new partner that she is finally able to wrestle the Knockout’s Tag Team Championship away from the Beautiful People.
rosarocks- I know, I’m not an idiot. I didn’t proofread and I realized my mistakes after I posted it
Now all they need is LVE for KNOCKOUTS champ and its complete! :)
Hey y’all-
First I’m brand new to the site and amazed, feel like I’m home; congrats to Cryssi and the other people behind the site.
Velvet & Madison- I cannot give an unbiased view because they’re so ridiculously hot, by the time they’ve finished their butt shaking entrance, I’m not thinking clearly. They make Stacy Keibler’s old entrance’s seem tame; hell they out “hot” Francine & Beulah’s slutty entrances back in the day. But I think they can actually wrestle! Am I crazy? They paid their “Talia” & “Ashley” dues in the indies, TNA never let’s them develop finishers. Everyone else in that 3 way match is a wrestling level above them, especially Angelina- I get it. But TBP are not Angelina’s “Legacy” anymore and Velvet is finally acting like a leader, “When I say it’s enough Lacey!” The haters should cut them some slack- they’ve laid down for everyone else during their pushes; I would hate see Velvet & Madison Win-Loss record-remember Velvet losing 3 times in 5 minutes to Taylor? They’re due. Congrats to the champs.
Angelina- Do not get used to her baby face angle. It just doesn’t feel right. She’s the girl you all love to hate and I envision a heel turn later this year. Lacey isn’t a life long wrestler, and I predict an “original” TBP reunion/swerve will be part of some storyline in the future that leaves Lacey back stabbed. Remember when Angelina gave Tara a title shot (and the belt) to protect Velvet from a spider attack. It was a weird sweetness that would never be part of a boy storyline. Angelina & Velvet will reunite.
Daffney vs Tara-YAY TNA! Push, push, push Daffney. Who doesn’t love Daffney- hardcore bumps and super hot. 10 years after the fall of WCW she returns to national TV. Tara should channel some old school CRAZY Victoria for their upcoming feud, you know when Stevie Richards was ‘her” valet. Remember her Tatu entrance song?-”I think I’ve lost my mi-i-i-i-ind!” Will Daffney get the title in the end? I say yes. Tara’s title reigns are short & sweet.
Sarita & Taylor- Wait everyone is hot, this is a looks based division Cryssi. These girls are so talented I think they need to get back to single matches. I still don’t feel like I know Sarita much, how about Sarita vs the Daffney/Tara winner?
@ steve jabroni – Aww, that was so sweet when Angelina did that. I do hope her and Velvet get back together somewhere down the line, or at least make amends.
Until then, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich new tag team champs! Beautiful People FTW!
tbp era ftw
“does that mean I’m a champion?” Yes Lacey
Freebird rules
Holler!
@Looking Glass – You’re on point here. I agree with what you said.
I also agree that it wasn’t the best wrestling but I really liked it; everybody looked great and performed really well. Daffney was looking zombie hot and I loved her whole look tonight better than the usual dress attire! I also liked Madison/Velvet’s outfits as well as Angelina’s. I guess this means Daffney hates Tara more than TBP now.
@Ana_Nattie_rules – I also see your point.
Quite a short ‘Diva’s’ match in my eyes, you would have thought they would have gotten at least 6 minutes.. but barely even 3 is just awful!
Also just wondering, is my Gravatar appearing yet, i can’t see it D:<
The match felt really rushed, probably because it was but it was still not bad. TBP as champs isn’t bad yet it’s kind of random booking, seeing as though TNA obviously has no clue with the tag championships. There is no teams for TBP to face other than Saritaylor and then they are still in that fued with Angelina, so it’s all a bit of an unproperly explained mess.
However though on good notes, Daffney/Tara build was good and it was slotted in nicely even though there wasn’t much time at all. And Angelina finally ditched her TBP look with a proper wrestling attire, definitely distancing her from having that trashy TBP look. :)