If you consider the fact that the rivalry between Mickie James and Tara has roots in their time in the WWE, this feud has been going on for a long time. In between these phantom WWE issues and now, there have been countless brawls and a match that ended in a double DQ. It’s inevitable that Mickie will eventually move on to challenge Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Championship, but is tonight really the last stop on the runaway freight train that has been Mickie vs. Tara? Yes, I know runaway trains don’t stop–don’t let that ruin my metaphor. Let’s just watch the events unfold and see if these Knockouts are really ready to move on:
We start with Knockouts champ Madison Rayne being interviewed by Christy Hemme. Madison says there’s no way Mickie’s getting to her or her championship, because she has to get through Tara first, an that’s not going to happen. I can appreciate that they’re not trying to hide the direction in which this feud is headed. Also, is it just me (I mentioned this on Twitter), or does Madison’s dark hair make her resemble Mickie a bit? Do I smell a “long lost sister” Maury-esque twist coming up in this storyline? No? Just me? Anywho, she continues to play up Tara, saying that she’s here to “protect the princess”. Is Madison right–will Tara really protect her, or will she simply be paved into Mickie’s road to Madison?
We’re shown a video package chronicling this feud. Lots of upturned tables and uncomfortable fighting attire. With all the brawling and disqualifications that have come from this feud, this Falls Count Anywhere stipulation really is the best fit. Tara’s out first on her hog, and Mickie follows. Tara exits the ring, gets Mickie to follow, and the match starts on the outside. They trade blows, and Tara tries to climb over the barricade, but gets crotched on it. Whether you’re a lady or a gent, that does not feel good. Mickie goes for the first pin attempt of the match, but Tara kicks out. Mickie continues to beat on Tara, alternating between face smashes on the barricade and face smashes on the ring apron. She tosses Tara back into the ring, climbs the turnbuckle, and takes down Tara with a flying dropkick. She goes for another pin, but Tara wraps her legs around the ropes and forces a rope break.
Out of the pin Tara takes control, choking Mickie in the corner. Mickie soon turns the tables, attempting a corner hurricanrana, but gets tossed onto the apron. Tara slams Mickie’s head into the turnbuckle, and she falls to the mat outside. Mickie then pulls a Bella/Hornswoggle and slips under the ring skirt, disappearing. Tara is confused, but given how many times she was screwed over by the Bella Switch™, you’d think she’d just sit still and wait for Mickie to come out instead of risking an ambush. Mickie, of course, emerges on the other side and dropkicks Tara off of the ropes she’s perched on, knocking her out of the ring. A baseball slide knocks Tara to the floor again, and Mickie joins her outside the ring.
They trade blows a bit, and Tara whips Mickie into the barricade before dragging her to the other corner and tossing over her that section of barricade. The match spills out into the crowd. Tara slams Mickie into some steel chairs and goes for a pin, but Mickie kicks out at 2. Mickie whips Tara into some giant piece of the building’s infrastructure, and Tara starts to crawl, seeking refuge in the back area of the building. Maybe she’s just magnetically drawn to the catering area, since that seems to be their prime fightin’ place. Mickie shoves Tara into the wall and chokes her up against it. They fight further back into the building, and Tara tosses Mickie into a line of wheelchairs. The battle continues until they reach a food stand (not catering, but close enough), and Mickie squirts some water into Tara’s eyes. Not a particularly painful attack, but a bit blinding, I suppose.
The fight moves on, with cardboard signs and chainlink fences coming into play before Mickie eventually reverses a powerbomb into a back body drop onto the concrete. Mickie goes for the pin, but only gets a 2-count. They end up by the garbage cans, taking turns tossing each other at them, and Mickie rolls Tara up for another pin attempt. Tara kicks out and regains control and drags Mickie by the hair before Mickie turns the tables and hits a flying Lou Thesz press onto the concrete. Another pin attempt, another kick out. Tara takes Mickie by the hair and takes her to the restrooms. She opts to take them into the men’s restroom instead of the ladies’, for whatever reason. Brawling inside, a few men run out, with a lone straggler struggling out with his pants down. Meanwhile, Mickie takes Tara into a stall and gives her a swirly, middle-school style. They continue to battle until an occupied stall opens and sprays Mickie with…… a fire extinguisher! Okay, that was lewd. I apologize.
The culprit is Madison, of course, laying in wait. She hits Mickie with the Knockouts Title and leaves Tara to cover her, yelling for the referee, who for some reason was hanging out outside and therefore did not see the attack, to come back in and count the pin. He returns, counts the pin, and Tara wins the match. Mickie lays prone on the bathroom floor while Tara and Madison celebrate. Someone should put that “wet floor” sign in the doorway and give Mickie some privacy while she regains her wits.
The match felt like a fitting culmination for this feud, given how this rivalry was built around all-out brawls instead of actual wrestling. Still, it wasn’t much more than what we’ve seen from them already, though I’ll admit that the bathroom brawl was something new. On the whole the match was exciting, and I can always appreciate a match that bends the boundaries for women’s wrestling a bit. Still, I don’t feel they did as much as they could. It mostly amounted to Mickie and Tara tossing each other into structures–the back body drop and Lous Thesz press were impressive and I’m sure they smarted, but more big-time spots would’ve made this stand out amongst the countless similar brawls these two have already had. When a feud is build on a foundation of scrappy brawls, you’ve got to up the stakes in order to have a big “blow off” match. I don’t think they did that.
I definitely didn’t see the Madison attack coming, though, and Tara’s win was unexpected. The question is, though, whether or not this Tara/Mickie feud will go to round 3 or if Madison’s attack will lead to Mickie shifting her focus to her instead of Tara. We won’t know until later tonight, when Impact is taped, but I’ll wager a guess and say that it’s Madison/Mickie now. The end of the match was all about creating animosity between those two. Personally, leaving me unconscious on the floor of a filthy mens’ bathroom is enough to build some animosity in me. Only time will tell if it’s enough to make Mickie change her dance partner.
Match rating: 2.5/5
43 Comments
at
i liked the match it was very well done (all except the bathroom part could of had it in the ladies room where madison could of been waiting.
at
2.5? Really? You’re being biased here. The match was entertaining and fun and was one of the better stuff we got lately.
at
dont get me wrong, i liked the match but ii agree with the rating, we see this pretty much every week on impact for the last 2-3 weeks, them fighting all over the place, I wish they could just have a good ole fashion singles match because it would be amazing, both are good wrestlers. and everything, and plus i didnt like the madison interference it was out of no were, and plus i though she was kinda feuding with Sarita or someone else.
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They was building up the match with the brawls on Impact my god people.
Melanie Reply:
December 6th, 2010 at
And here we go. You don’t agree so it must be biased. Someone inform the authorities.
at
Hey considering most other sites wouldn’t even give it one star, be grateful Erin gave it 2.5 rating. Speaking for myself, I would give the match a 7.5 out of 10 because of some of the moves that Mickie while they were fighting out in the back. Plus the bumps that Mickie and Tara were crazy. I know we wouldn’t see this match in the WWE. I love it when Mickie hit the Thesz press on Tara. I think that they should another match between Mickie and Tara with one of these options.
A. Steel Cage Match
B. Iron Women’s Match.
C. Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match (Mickie has been two of them)
B. Last Women’s Standing Match
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Can you review the part where Cookie is in the shark cage and then gets stunnered by shark boy..?
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My god @SherriShepherdWWE. Everytime i read any of your posts on any of the Knockouts matches, it is always about the negatives that you find. Geez, can’t you just sit back and enjoy the good stuff. I get Erin or Melanie or whoever wrote this article being critical because it is their job but you are just a fan. Can’t you just watch wrestling as a fan and not a critic. I have been doing that lately and i am having one hell of a time. I find the WWE & the divas more enjoyable now that I am watching them as a fan & not a critic. Also, Final Resolution was awesome. The 3 matches of the night were:
1. MCMG vs Generation Me
2. Douglas Williams vs A.J. Styles
3. Tara vs Mickie James
at
i think it was a pretty good bout. loved most of the brawling, even if we have sort of seen it already. the ending was even better as it was so unexpected and so often we do get matches here the outcomes are predictable from the get-go. i don’t know how to describe it other than it truly feels like these ladies do hate eachother in real life and i love it lol.
it’ll be interesting seeing where it goes from here, though. most people if not everybody was certain mickie would be picking up the ko gold right away after signing with tna. i love that she’s not gone after it yet, but with saita seemingly unofficially earning #1 contendership through her victories, mickie officially winning #1 contendership and angelina stating before her match on xplosion vs tara that she’ll be going through her to get back her title from madison… aah, it’s very confusing and i just hope tna can pull whatever they have planned off without a hitch.
looking forward to the tapings tonight =)
at
@ecwroh, i dont think i was begin negative, i was just saying how i wished TNA would have booked them different let them have a singles match, because like i said they are both good wrestlers
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@SherriShepherdWWE: Okay.
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the match was great dont agree with the ratings
at
not watched match yet, judging from the wrtie up (great job btw) it sounds pretty decent.
i dont understand how Erin is biased however… if the match consisted of what she writes then I would agree, in terms of wrestling it would deserve that grade, I mean even non wrestlers can get tossed from one wall to another =/
and Melanie, please dont make me laugh whilst drinking! Im terrified by laptop is water damaged now! lol
at
bahahah i loved Madison’s promo before the match. Yes, Madison, you were looking exceptionally perfect!!
AWSOME match!! It was as physcial as I thought it would be! These women put their bodies on the line for our entertainment. Major props to these women. LOL, absolutely hilarious that they ended up in the men’s bathroom, and there were dudes in there! Madison’s interferece was great, and it really made sense. Can’t wait for Mickie vs. Tara round 3!
Looking foward to the iMPACT tapings!!
Don’t agree with the rating, but whatever. Everyone’s going to look at it diffrent. I give it a 4/5. These women really put their bodies on the line here and put on one hell of a match.
at
Why would the book the match as a singles match when we saw on the previous PPV that they couldn’t keep to the rules?
As to the original rating, I think it’s quite harsh especially given that a recent review on here of the TLC Divas match was given a rating of 4. If I was to pick out any issues I had with the FCA then I would have liked to have seen just a couple more weapon spots such as a broom over the back or a trashcan etc. The finish wasn’t exactly great either, I thought it was a bit shitty (pun intended) that we had to have a TNA special of a run in or interference
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i want title matches tag and ko’s enough said
at
The Match Was Good , It wasnt any OMG … There were some Key Moments Though. But I do think This is The end Of Mickie & Tara. There would really be no point on continuing this fued , really tbh . I can no see Mickie heading into a fued with Madison. What I would do is. I would have Madison retain her title against Mickie , by having Sarita interfere ( since she wants a shot herself) then leading into a Mickie vs Sarita vs Madsion fued….
at
LOL @ Melanie “call the authorities”
at
2.5?? Yesss
I want a real match. The match just…lagged if you can say that. Throwing opponent to hard surfaces and hitting their faces and stomachs. BORINGGG. Bathroom bit was funny but just couldn’t help this match. Madison always gets the last laugh huh?? lol
at
I gave my reasoning for the rating. Feel free to disagree, but I’m hardly being biased.
Like I said, I wished they had upped the stakes a bit. In my opinion, this was a longer version of the brawls we’ve already seen–nothing spectacular.
Dale – Everyone has their own scale that they’re rating matches on, so the rating for the TLC match, which was given by Melanie, doesn’t really compare, since she and I don’t judge matches the exact same way. You can’t really compare how she rates a match to how I rated this match.
at
I dont necessarily agree with 2.5 Rating because the Knockouts had a awesome brawl and a whole 15 minutes in a PPV devoted to them but I see and agree with your points on how the match lagged. I think they could of elimanated some of the outside brawling stuff and do some in-ring work but whats done is done and I enjoyed the PPV as a while, including the Knockouts stuff. Roll-up on the sewer. LOL
at
I thought the match was third best match of the night also and would give it a 3.5 or a 4/5 i mean like said Mickie and Tara put their bodies on the line with the bumps those walls at Universal are hard and could do damage.
at
normally i wouldn’t comment when i disagree with someone but seriousl 2.5 rating???
that has reallly pissed me of.. if anyone can remember at the royal rumble – mickie vs michelle the match wasnt even a minute long and it got 4/5 stars? and this was a great match and got 2.5, very very biased in my opinion.
someone please seriously explain how the royal rumble ‘match’ got a higher rating than this?
at
Maby not a 2.5 but a 3 or 3.5 i think. And great write up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The match was good but probbaly should have been in the womens restroom. some good spots, could have been more tho.
at
@ Erin
You and the other writers at Diva-Dirt shouldn’t rate matches if it’s just going to cause people to be all..b*tchy about it… haha… Maybe you should just do “Rate The Match Out Of Ten” and then they can argue amongst themselves and not you guys. haha.. It’s just a thought.
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melina prez
i completely agree with everything you just said:)