Former TNA Knockouts Champion, Tara has CONFIRMED that is leaving TNA next month on her MySpace page. The blog comes after a report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealing that Tara — real name Lisa Marie Varon — may be leaving at the end of her contract, which expires on May 21st.
The Observer went on to claim that Varon had been complaining about her fellow Knockouts working stiff, amongst other things, hence this blog. Tara writes:
It appears that I’m winding down at TNA. Unfortunately some organizations “leak” information to wrestling websites to put their spin on a situation, to make sure they come out in the best light. Not me. I’m gonna say it. I’m gonna put my name on it. And I’m going to stand behind it.
I came to TNA last year because I still had a lot of wrestling left in me. I was paid a fraction of what I thought I deserved. But I wanted to show I was still at the top of my game. Now my contract is up in May. I want a modest pay increase. They don’t want to pay me what I think is fair. I have no problem going my own way.
But about 12 hours after the conversation where we didn’t agree on pay, unnamed sources claim that I am hard to work with and that I don’t give my best effort. My only response is that TNA made an aggressive effort to re-sign me, among other things saying that they want to build the women’s division around me. And I think wrestling fans see, both on TV and at live events, that I always give 100%. I take pride in that. Smearing me on the way out the door is an act of second rate character.
I take pride in making my best effort to elevate my own wrestling and the entire TNA Women’s Division. If people were rubbed the wrong way in the process, I stand behind my work and my positive intentions.
In closing I will say this. In the few weeks that I have left in TNA, I will be the same wrestler that you have seen for the past ten years. After that, I haven’t decided if I will stay in wrestling, or finally make the jump to MMA. I do have a lot of irons in the fire. We’ll see where life takes me. But wherever that is, there’s gonna be competition, and I’m gonna give it my all.
As always, Tara is a consummate professional and she knows that she has our love and respect. Good luck, Lisa.
RSS
Email
Twitter
Tumblr
Facebook
YouTube
91 Comments
Well, this sucks. I’m genuinelly shocked, and I hope whatever she does, she’s happy doing. She’ll be missed in TNA, as the fans really seemed to respond to her.
RIP TNA’S Women Division.
Thank you for everything you try to do for the Women’s Divison of both WWE and TNA, Victara. I wished that you were more used in WWE, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
So it’s confirmed. I can’t believe how quickly Hogan has destroyed TNA, tearing down the once proud Knockouts division and halving the ratings (actually, almost “third”-ing the ratings for this time of year).
I mean, if news came out tomorrow that he was paid by certain outside powers to eliminate the competition, would anyone be surprised?
Wow. She makes a good point about something: why are we only hearing bad things about her attitude backstage now? It was a good thing that TNA picked her up after she left The E. She proved to alot of people that she still has what it takes in the ring and go toe to toe with any 20 year old bubble head. Good for her for standing her ground and choosing to leave on her own terms. I am proud of her for raising herself back up again after being so horribly mistreated by The E. I really hope we get to see her on our screens again soon. Love you, Lisa. Thanks for the memories.
After the way TNA has been treating the women, I’m not surprised Tara is leaving.
I’ll miss her, I really will. She’s one of the few reasons I watched TNA, and now she’s going to be gone. It’s too sad.
Damn, Hogan sucks. =X
Gail Kim, Shelly Martinez, Kong, Tara. This can’t be a coincidence that so many knockouts are leaving because of financial reasons.
Matt: There’s a portuguese saying like this: “The friends get mad, the truths come out”. (Zangam-se as comadres, descobrem-se as verdades) In this case it might be just resentment. This happens a lot of time. A worker goes away, they start spreading rumors about them in order for them to look good and the worker to look like the bad guy.
Even since Hogan & Eric took over, the knockouts addition went down hill :|
Whatever happens with Lisa Marie i will be proud of her and follow her, i <3 you Lisa 'Victoria.Tara' Marie x
I hope they give this true legend of wrestling a good send of ( in a perfect world she would retire as KO champ) but tna will probably screw her like the wwe did and have her lose to some one talentless like velvet sky , well this for sure means tna’s womens diviison is dead (shelly martinez,roxxi,rhakkah,alissa flash,gail kim,awesome kong,christy hemme,traci brooks,jacqueline,possibly taylor wilde mickie knuckles and sojo bolt) THEY ONLY HAVE angelina,dafney,sarita,hamada and odb left who are actual good workers then they have the beuatifull who have become nothing more than generic time hoggers, and for a compnay with two titles and only 7 women to compete for them things are looking even bleeker than the wwe
This isn’t a huge blow at all. Her work in TNA has been ‘meh’ and she’s done nothing memorable for herself at all. 3 title reigns and I can hardly remember any of them. She worked with some of the divisions best and managed to put on below average matches with them that meant nothing.
With Mickie and Katie more than likely coming in, the division will be fine.
litafan: I strongly believe they should end the Tag titles or hire a good tag team. Those titles just don’t make sense anymore because there isn’t a true tag team division.
Good for Lisa! She’s such a beautiful and professional woman. Professionalism is hard to find in this business it seems… I’m glad she’s leaving, I think she’s bigger and better than TNA. For the past couple months i’ve felt Tara was to good for them. Just like Kong! Best of luck to all of them!
I came here to say what MikeChrisH said so… seconding that.
I also wonder just how much she felt she was worth considering she was regularly getting jobbed out to every diva and her mother before leaving WWE. She also chose to work for a “fraction” of what she felt she was worth, so if they already weren’t ready to pay her what she felt her going rate was why should she be surprised they weren’t going to negotiate in the future? This seems especially true considering I agree with MCH that her work has been “meh” on a good day.
Whoa! Wasn’t expecting this, well looking on the bright side guess its time TNA gave someone else a chance because Tara has basically been on TV every week since she came to TNA. I’m really hoping this will lead to a Sarita or Hamada push. Please not ODB though.
@Mike i dont see Mickie going back to TNA tbh i see her back in WWE before back in TNA katie maybe but not MIckie
@litafan christy’s still there she just doesnt wrestle anymore
Pretty big ego for somebody that will only be remembered for her feud with Trish. She’s not a draw at all. This is no big loss at all. They will just replace her with Mickie James. Mickie is not a huge draw either, but no doubt is more popular than Tara ever was.
Oh yeah, I doubt MMA will want her. Nobody outside of wrestling fans know who she is. But if she does go there, she will be embarassed. She would be wise to reconsider. WWE won’t take her back either. Might be time to retire.
Wow, shocking! WWE gets rid of their top Diva in Mickie James last week, and now Tara is leaving TNA next month. I hope she has a nice farewell speech like she did in WWE. That would be nice!
If Lisa is looking to have more time off on the road, there’s no way she will go back to WWE. Unless they are willing to pay her an offer she can’t refuse! I wish Lisa the best. I’ve always been a fan and will continue to support her!
Normally when I have a hunch it’s 75% right so i’m taken my hunch on this. I have a BIG feeling Kong, Victoria, and Shantelle are coming to the E. Reason are this. Kong has 2 backers from the E both Stone Cold and Jim Ross are telling her to go to the E. Maria, Mickie, Katie, Shelton, Mike Knox, and others have just been released ie opens up A LOT of money to offer them, mainly Victoria who has been in the E before. Now I know i’m going to get a your over reading or jumping the gun message, BUT I just find it very odd and strange that all these releases happened right around this time, as well as The Kong backing latly and Victoria’s blog saying she has to decide wether she’ll stay in wrestling meaning she’s in talks with the E again.
@ justbringit – I don’t see Mickie going to TNA anytime soon. Her no-complete clause is up at the end of July (same with Katie) and by then I think WWE will want her back seeing how big of a mistake they made by letting her go.
Katie Lea on the other hand, could very well be on her way to TNA around August/September. She stated on Twitter that she’s not done with professional wrestling.
Roqqsz: She might not be talking with WWE. She might be talking with independent promotions. That would be good for her. She would still wrestle, yet she would have more time to do other things. But I hope she’s really talking to WWE.
They need a “Veteran” Diva over there. Sure she jobbed against the Bellas, but she was probably way more payed and by having matches with girls like that, she helped them improve, which is what WWE needs now.
I also hopped they would hire Melissa Anderson. She was always an amazing talented that could do wonders for a division. WWE needs to refresh and go back to the time where even two unexperienced women had great rivalries and good matches (like the Steph/Trish feud…They were newbies back then).
So i think that WWE needs: Kong, Melissa, Tara, Nikki Roxx and even Shantelle to bright up the Women’s Division. A Molly Holly return would also be great. However I doubt ALL this girls would get a contract, even with the releases.
About TNA…well, maybe they’ll hire Mickie or Katie, but it won’t be enough for them to be what they were a few months ago.
I agree with Mickiefan and Roqqsz i kind of think Kong is gonna go too also i could see Taylor going but not so much Tara but i wouldnt put anything past Vincent Kennedy Mcmahon he’s done other miraculous things so
WWE doesn’t “make mistakes”. They make financially responsible decisions. If they weren’t getting what they wanted from Mickie a few weeks ago, they’re not going to get it from her in July. That’s just my opinion, of course, but realistically…
Roqqsz wrote: “I just find it very odd and strange that all these releases happened right around this time”
It’s the annual spring cleaning. WWE does it every year, right after Wrestlemania. There is no plan behind it, it’s just coincidence that TNA also releases a lot of people at the same time. Although in TNA’s case they are probably cleaning up to free up money to sign ex-WWE guys.
so much for the knockouts division. victoria brought them back up to where they were when gail kim left. when hogan and bichoff came in the ko’s truly died but i will try to keep up with lisa marie varon as much as i could
Like i said before I dont mind Tara leaving , Victoria/Tara has been wrestling for what 10yrs now. Its tyme to hang up the boots , just like Trish & Lita did yeah we are their fans nd they worked their asses offf to show us why we loved them. There comes a tyme in ur life when u say its tyme to stop.
TNA lost Gail , Kong ,Alissa , Sojo …nd whoever else , yeah it was a big blow but tNA has nobody else to blame but them selfs….Now I can just see they r not gonna know what to do with the Knockouts Titles…TBP will still regin , surpreme nd they might throw in Sarita when Tara leaves as Angelina partner…Unless Mickie & Katie come in which i dobut….I dobut any of them will go to TNA….
@Mikas I know very well about the spring cleaning that happens in the E, I’ve been watching them since 85. What I was eluding too is this, Vince knows when other companies contracts are done ie how he got Jericho and Big Show and the others from WCW, so I’m using my hunch on him wanting to bring Victoria back as well as Kong and Taylor in to freshen it up, get rid of 3 hire 3. It was mentioned how Vince wants to take the girls serious again, so this might just be the step he needs/will probably make. Because he wouldn’t just up and get rid of bigger names like that if he wasn’t going to shell out the big bucks he’ll have in return for big name people Like Victoria and Kong.
@Ana_Nattie_rules The indies wouldn’t pay her a fraction of what she made in TNA nor 75% of what she made in the WWE. Don’t forget she is a business owner so she’s going to need to go where the money is for her to survive and keep afloat. I see her already in talks with Vince I wouldn’t be surprised if by May 22nd you see her back on the alumni page, and then around sept or Oct with Smackdown big move and premiere they bring her in.
Im gutted because being in TNA made me realise how good she is at wrestling…..the knockouts division may be in trouble as she is the top knockout and always in the title picture…she will be missed :(
@ Justbringit- Are you a follower of MMA? Have you seen her in MMA? How do know that she will emberassed? Do you have a crystal ball that no-one else knows about? She had a large following in both WWE and TNA. So yes, she does have some drawing power. As her ego, she worked damn hard to be where she is today. She feels that she is entitled to a reward. You dont have to like her, but how about showing a little for a woman who fought hard to make it in an industry that is less than kind to women.
@redhotvixen i couldnt have said it better myself
RedHotVixen: I agree with what you said, but I also agree with Justbringit about the MMA part. Why? Simple.
The MMA community and even MMA fighters have a lot of disrespect for wrestlers, especially ones who graced the WWE rings before. To a lot of them, Wrestling is a joke, and wrestlers who try to be MMA performers are lame wannabe’s. The Best example of this is Brock Lesnar. He was really criticized at first and he wasn’t taken seriously. Fortunately, Brock shut them up. However Brock was in his late 20′s when he entered the MMA world. He was young. Lisa is almost 40. Sure she was still a good wrestler. But MMA isn’t wrestling. MMA is way more rough than wrestling and does way more damage to the body. Dana White himself said he doesn’t want his fighters to continue this past their forties, so, it will be extremely hard for Lisa to be big in MMA.
“It was mentioned how Vince wants to take the girls serious again, so this might just be the step he needs/will probably make.”
How long ago was this mentioned? I’m not trying to start anything, just genuinely curious about where and when you heard that. Because JR just went on record as saying, and I quote: “I hate to break the news to you die hards of this specific genre but unless the decision makers change their philosophy, and my money is on them not doing so, women’s wrestling is essentially going to remain a supplement to the overall product that will remain positioned to appease to the male demo by providing sex appeal.”
@ Ana_Nattie_rules- I get that MMA is probably a long shot for her. But she has been training hard for this. It might or might not work out. None of us know. What pissed me off was Justbrinits complete lack of respect for her. Who knows, like Brock Lesnar, Lisa may just shut her critics up. To assume that she will fall flat on her face before we even see what she can do is just obnoxious.
Yeah, I get that. I believe its highly improbable, yet it isn’t impossible. Who knows?
Like I said lossing Tara isn’t that big of a loss.
So it was true? Well that sucks. .and one report I read in wrestlingepicenter says she feels she has one good run left in WWE. I’m not sure how acurrate that is, but if she does return…would they treat her any different? Or will she be more than jobber this time around? Honestly I’m not against her putting people over. That is the nature of the business, so that is understadable. I do have a problem with the way they go about it though.
For example: Victoria was used as fodder for Candice Michelle in 4 minute match. That’s bullshit if you ask me. Are we supposed to believe that a diva search reject can beat the woman who beat Lita in a cage match? A woman who handed Trish her @ss in two brutal hardcore matches? And all of a sudden she loses to a botchqueen? That pissed me right off. Had they done a surprise rollup or something similiar, it would have been more truthful to the characters ability. I mean let’s be honest. Is it too much to ask for them to atleast give their roles some consideration before they destroy their credibility? We watch the shows, we buy the dvds, we pay 60 dollars for their payperviews and they can’t even give us that? Its bullshit. So if Victoria does return, she should get another Womens Title with a proper story and sendoff.
If Tara is returning to WWE she won’t get a title reign for sure. She bashed WWE a lot of times in TNA. She will be a jobber again.
What did she say about WWE?
donnie – it was in a segment/interview.
She talked about how WWE wasn’t good for her and blablabla. I
This sucks :( TNA won’t be the same without her.. I really hope they don’t sign Mickie, they’re not worthy of her presence. Does anyone remember when Tara first signed and the ratings started to go up every week?
I hope this shows Mickie how much TNA “values” their women.
She doesn’t have to worry about Dana White, owner of UFC. They don’t have a women’s division. Strikeforce does.
Anyway, WWE could really rebuild their Diva division by having Lisa heading up Smackdown and Kong on Raw, or vice versa, depending on what feuds WWE would want.
Since TNA doesn’t have non-compete clauses in their contracts, unless you want an early release, Lisa could show up anytime after May 22. Hell, she could show up Raw that next Monday if she wanted. I think that she has a couple of good runs left. Besides, she always thought that she’d be a WWE lifer.
Well who hasn’t bad mouthed WWE(for good reason if you ask me)at some point? Goldberg, Sable, StoneCold, Chavo(recently to jabs at the writing team), RVD, and others. I’m sure the doors are open for Victoria to return. She’s nearing 40 but she looks younger and still wrestles amazingly well. I’m a fan and I wouldn’t mind seeing her return. The only thing that confuses me is that she had said that was the end of her WWE run?? Well whatever, as long as she’s happy.
if she were to go back to WWE i could see her having a simmilar apperance as gail did interrupting a big match and clearing the ring (if she comes back it has to be as a heel) id love to see her on raw
but i cant imgine how TNA are gonna faze her character out like they just started her in a fueud with angelina and angelinas out on injury so ae they just gonna drop the feud???
Now I think it is 100% confirmed Mickie WILL NOT work in TNA unless they offer her a large ass sum of money!
Firstly, what a WHIRLWIND two weeks its been for womens wrestling, with both major companies losing their top female draws in Mickie and Lisa. Unfortunatley I may be by myself but I dont see the WWE taking Tara back at all, she’s pushing 40 and while she’s still fantastic at what she does the WWE usually wont tread those waters.
TNA has Angelina, Sarita and Hamada who they can still build a decent programme around not to mention a wealth of talent within the Indies they could draw from. Mickie James is a HUGE possibility as well dont forget as she’s still only 30 . I see Katie Lea definitely jumping on board but between now and July expect alot of TBP and Angelina I suppose.
with Bischoff and Hogan running things they wont spend that kind of money on a KO
“if she were to go back to WWE i could see her having a simmilar apperance as gail did interrupting a big match and clearing the ring (if she comes back it has to be as a heel) id love to see her on raw ”
Because that push lasted all of… a couple of weeks and then Gail’s back into obscurity? I doubt anybody’s clamoring for that to happen again. It just leads to disappointment.
well i mean obviously id like for it to continue im just saying that that would be a better option as opposed to them being like “oh yeah by the way Victoria is back” whie shes standing in the ring having gotten no entrance
I’m sorry to see her go and hope things can still be resolved somehow. They do have almost a month after all. But whether they can or not, TNA for now needs to use what time is left with her to put over younger remaining talent within. Otherwise, it’s a *complete* loss.
It is a shame that Tara is leaving TNA. I just don’t know what will happen to the knockout divison once she does leave. Not only that but Taylor Wilde might leave. It just seems TNA is loosing their best atheletes. I really do fear for the knockout division. I really wish Dixie Carter never brought Hogan and Bischoff into Tna. Seems the knockout divison got even worse since then.