The identity of another new TNA Knockout currently seen with on screen with Orlando Jordan is independent worker, Santana G. Santana is based in Orlando where she is currently part of the ‘I Believe in Wrestling’ promotion. She is also a second generation star, her father is TNT Kenny G, a promoter in St. Louis. … Read more
As we tweeted last night, former Diva Brooke Adams made her TNA debut last night as a personal assistant to Eric Bischoff. It’s not a role that Adams is unfamiliar with as she played a similar character to our very own Kristin Astara while they were in WWE’s developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling. Kristin was, … Read more
Twenty-four hours after Daffney and Tara wowed us with their impressive match at Destination X, the Knockouts were back in action live on Impact with an 8-Knockout Tag Team match that had a scary Diva feel to it in a sense that they were trying to cram as many Knockouts into one segment as possible. The team of Knockout Champion, Tara, Angelina Love, Sarita, and Taylor Wilde took on Team Beautiful People (Lacey von Erich, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne) and Daffney.
The Knockouts had the privilege of being the opening match this week and the Beautiful People were the first ones out. Madison and Velvet had matching outfits on again while Lacey stuck out like a sore thumb as usual. That said, the von Erich spawn looked gorgeous. Madison and Velvet had their tag team titles strapped around their waists and on a personal note, I love seeing these girls with titles. Their tag team partner, from Sybil, Texas, Daffney came out next in the same outfit from Destination X. She’s proudly carrying Tara’s kidnapped pet and the Beautiful, who have high tailed it to the outside of the ring, are freaking out over the gross little critter. Daffney is showing off the tarantula when Tara comes storming down to the ring. She gets inside before Daffney sits the spider cage thing down and threatens to stomp on it. Tara begs her not to do it, and that gives those sneaky Beautiful People a chance to sleek into the ring and start stomping and beating on Tara. For the second week in a row, Daffney and TBP work together and Tara is the victim of a four-on-one beatdown until Saritaylor come running to the ring to make the save in their horrendous, circus freak matching outfits. Angelina isn’t far behind them. Shit hits the proverbial fan and we have an eight woman brawl which has really gotten the crowd going.
After getting snubbed last month, the TNA Knockouts were finally allowed back on pay-per-view in the form of Tara and Daffney, and the match was for the Knockouts Championship. Over the past month or so, we’ve all sat and watched the evolution of Daffney. She’s gone from having a supporting role in matches to starring in her own and it’s been refreshing and rewarding for everyone involved and for everyone who has watched. A lot of people have been waiting for Daffney to finally get her chance at some Knockout gold. Just how successful was Daffney in her quest to rectify the fact she’s the only Knockout on the roster to never hold gold?
The Knockouts match is the first TNA title match of the night and probably the best one, and before the two heated rivals make their way to the ring we’re given the briefest of recaps about their history with one another. Mike Tenay and Taz run down a few things and they speculate that this could be the night of the zombie …hot. (Thanks for the title, TNA!)
Daffney makes her way to the ring first in a nice red outfit and tiny little hat. She has an extremely sexy entrance and once she rolls to the middle of the ring she lets out an ear piercing shriek that gets the fans popping. Tara’s music hits and the fans go crazy for her as well. She looks so pumped and focused for this match and she strides to the ring with a purpose. Once Tara gets into the ring she sits Poison and the title in her corner and goes right for Daffney. The women begin exchanging blows and after going back and forth, Tara finally gets the upperhand by knocking Daffney to the mat and then following it up suplex. Tara rips her T-shirt off, much to the delight of the fans, and hits her trademark standing moonsault. She goes for a quick pin but Daffney kicks out. This match is far from over! Daffney gets to the corner and lures Tara into her clutches. Tara’s face connects with the middle turnbuckle pad and Daffney begins jumping off the ropes and onto Tara’s back, painfully almost compressing the champ’s spine. It just looks terrible to take that abuse and for the opening minutes of the match it’s pretty insane to see. To add insult to injury, Daffney lifts Tara up by the legs and kicks her in the vajayjay. Here’s hoping Tara didn’t want to start a family anytime soon.
The TNA Knockouts Championship is on the line tonight when Tara defends against Daffney. Who will walk out as the champion? We weigh in: Cryssi: No one should win this match if TNA wants to continue this feud. It’s incredibly hot and everyone seems to love both women involved in it. I would enjoy seeing … Read more
TNA has removed the ‘First Blood Match’ stipulation to this Sunday’s Knockouts Championship match between Daffney and Tara. Earlier today, the company’s website uploaded a graphic which had the match labelled as such despite the stipulation not being mentioned on last night’s episode of Impact. It looks as though the stipulation has been dropped as … Read more
In something of a dream match for Knockouts fans, Tara will defend the Knockouts Championship against Daffney this Sunday at the Destination X pay per view. At least one promotion gets the March pay per view right this year… EDIT: This match is now a ‘First Blood Match’.
This week on Impact we were treated to a slight change of pace. Instead of more Tara/Daffney build-up we got a video package, backstage fight, and in-ring segment all featuring the Beautiful People and Miss Angelina Love. Ever since Angelina made her return to TNA, the Beautiful People have gone after full force and this week was no different. The backstage beatdown was pretty intense but what happened in the ring was even better. Lets get down to business.
Skip to 4:46
The video package starts to play and it highlights everything that has happened between Angelina and TBP so far. We’ve already seen the highlights of all these incidents so they’re not really worth reviewing. Once the highlight reel is over, we’re told that earlier in the evening, Angelina Love was in a photoshoot that was interrupted by the Beautiful People. The Canadian Knockout starts swinging as soon as Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich arrive on the scene. Madison gets knocked back thanks to a stiff looking shot to her face and Lacey suffers the same fate. An official tries to hold Madison back but she shoves him to the ground and goes after Angelina. The two-on-one situation eventually overtakes Angelina and she’s forced into submission. Madison and Lacey beat the hell out of Angelina and throw her into a random steel barricade that is sitting backstage. Lacey grabs Angelina’s arm and pulls her through the railing, trapping her and leaving her as an easy piece of prey for Velvet Sky who finally gets in on this.
When Velvet shows up she has a hot pink belt in her hands. She starts screaming at Angelina like some kind of psycho and then begins whipping her. It’s pretty intense segment. Lacey tries to calm Velvet down and tells her “that’s enough” but Vel Vel’s not having that. She marches behind the barricade, gets right in Lacey’s face, and screams at her that “it’s only enough when I say it’s enough.” A meek Lacey can do nothing but agree with Velvet and Velvet gets in one last good, hard lick. She slams the belt down and declares “now it’s enough” and she stalks off in a fit of rage. Madison and Lacey gulp and stare at each other quickly before leaving the beaten Angelina down on the ground and hurrying off after their teammate.
The TNA Knockouts used to be dominant fixtures on Impact with multiple matches and segments. They ushered in a brand new televised era of women’s wrestling that we haven’t seen since the Attitude Era and it was refreshing. They didn’t focus on the looks of their girls. They focused purely on their butt-kicking abilities and the fans in the Impact Zone, and at home, just ate it up. It gave all of us female wrestling fans many reasons to be proud. Unfortunately, things have changed thanks to the transition period TNA is going through via the Hogan/Bischoff era but that said, a noticeable bright spot as emerged. The shining light I’m referring to is none other than Daffney.
The woman born Shannon Spruill has become one of the most respected and loved female wrestlers in the United States. Ever since her days in WCW, Daffney has enjoyed a loyal fanbase that have followed her career and supported her every step of the way. A lot people were disappointed when Daffney and WCW parted ways. She had proven herself as a tremendous talent but luckily she stayed in wrestling and kept improving. Fast forward nine years later and Daffney makes her mainstream return to TNA. Some of the most amazing Knockout moments in recent memory have involved “Zombie Hot”. Daffney has more than overcome her lackluster start in TNA and has solidified herself as not only a serious competitor, but someone who could potentially become the next Knockouts Champion.
On last week’s Impact we got the start of a potential feud between the crazy, off-the-wall Daffney, and TNA Knockouts Champion, Tara. This week, that upcoming feud was acknowledged and Daffney was in action yet again as she took on former Knockouts Champion, ODB. With two unique and alternative wrestling personalities clashing in the ring, memorable moments were sure to be made. Did these two ladies deliver? Well keep reading to find out!
ODB is out first wearing a small pink dress and clashing red underwear. Her hair is a very vibrant blonde and she just totally kills me. I don’t even know if it’s in a good way anymore. “Zombie Hot” is out next and I approve of her sexy ring entrance. These two women don’t really screw around and that’s super great. Daffney tries to drive ODB back into the ring post but ODB gets the heck out of dodge and Daffney ends up driving her own shoulder into the post instead. ODB with her flask still in her hand, smacks Daffney on the bum and then turns her around and lays a vicious chop to the goth queen’s chest. She throws Daff across the ring and smacks her in the chest again. Pretty nice start for ODB and she capitalizes by slinging Daffney head first into a turnbuckle.
Now things are about to get confusing and I’m bothered. TNA decides to split the screen while simultaneously having Tara cut a promo. What this does is completely take away from the action in the ring. I’m all about giving Knockouts mic time, but was it really necessary to have this going on while the match was? Couldn’t Tara cut her promo before or after the match? Why couldn’t she just get involved? Why were we forced to pick between the match on the left side of the screen or the promo on the right side of the screen? I know I shouldn’t be bothered by little things like a split screen of a match and a promo but good grief. Would it have killed TNA to cut the time of one of their other 9572035879203987420948 segments in order to give the Knockouts separate segments? It probably would have to be fair because this is the company who doesn’t believe in elevating young talent and has turned itself into a retirement home, while giving the WWE free publicity all at the same time with their squabbles over Hogan’s Hall of Fame ring.
It’s no secret that the majority of us have a love/hate relationship with TNA and all things about it. It’s easy to bash the company and it’s management, and to be honest, it’s one of my hobbies these days it seems. It’s not that I do it intentionally, because I don’t. I really want to like TNA and I want to seem them push the envelope and elevate their product towards the top so they can compete with the WWE and force the ‘E to raise its quality. Sometimes I think it’s wishful thinking, but nonetheless here I am with another Impact Write-Up and this week it’s going to be a pretty happy one. The TNA love came into play tonight when the company finally gave us some diversity and featured *gasp* Daffney. With the whole Beautiful People/Angelina Love soap opera we’ve watched play out over the past few weeks, Daffney was seemingly one of the forgotten Knockouts who got stuck playing second fiddle to the pretty people of the company. On this week’s Impact, she took on Knockouts Champion, Tara!
Daffney is the first competitor to make her way to the ring for this non-title match up. Taz makes a comment about how nice it is to see zombie-hot Daffney and I totally agree with him. Daffney has one of the better female characters in all of wrestling right now and she has years and years of experience behind her as well. With the exception of the hat she’s wearing, her outfit is totally fabulous. I absolutely love it. She looks amazing. Tara is out next and she looks cute tonight as well. Her body is completely ripped and she can pull off the beanie, T-shirt, and little shorts look so well. Tara has certainly started looking better as she’s gotten older which is a true testament to her amazing workout routine and the fact TNA has seemingly given her a new lease on life.
The match begins with both women jockeying for position. Daffney forces Tara back against the ropes and takes a wild swing at her, but the crafty champion ducks and just totally floors Daffney with a huge right hand. Daffney hits the mat but she gets up, so Tara hits her again, and then a third time! Daffney doesn’t let this stop her, and she gets up once again. This time Tara slams her foot into Daffney’s gut, doubling over the gothic beauty. She shows off her strength and hoists Daffney onto her shoulders, then hits a nice looking slam. Tara goes for the cover and gets a two count. Tara’s not really happy about that and she lifts Daffney up and goes to work on the other woman’s arm. Daffney defends against this and hits Tara with a knee to the stomach, then a huge uppercut. Tara staggers back against the ropes, get chest chopped, and when Daffney goes for the whip, Tara is able to reverse it and send Daffney across the ring. Daffney bounces off the ropes, ducks a clothesline, and comes flying back at Tara. Tara is ready for this and lifts Daffney up, back body dropping her with ease.
Daffney grips her lower back in pain and Tara starts to rally the crowd behind her. How does she do this? By being a diva of course and ripping her shirt off! At least there’s another top under her wrestling shirt this week, so we’re not subjected to any wardrobe malfunctions. Daffney has been recovering in a corner throughout all this and when Tara goes after her, Daffney unleashes a spinning heel kick that no doubt catches the Californian off guard. Tara goes down like a ton of bricks but Daffney is to hurt to go at her right away. Tara manages to slowly get to her feet and Daffney has enough instincts to go after her and make her stay down. This seems to give Daffney a bit of a second wind and she suddenly starts to remember why she’s such a sadistic you know what! She repeatedly snapmares Tara to the mat using only the woman’s hair (… and for you tender headed people out there that’s pretty cringe worthy). To make matters worse, Daffney has began taunting Tara and the referee for that matter, and she kicks Tara right in the chest. Daffney continues kicking the crap out of her opponent and finally just pushes her right out of the ring.
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 … Read more
This week for the Impact Write-Up, I’m going to try something different. Instead of the usual match review with my comments thrown in there, I’m going to do just a plain review of the actual match itself and what led up to it, then at the end I’m going to list the things I enjoyed about Impact, and the things I didn’t. I hope this column turns out a lot neater and more informative than my two previous ones.
The Knockout portion of Impact started with an interview from both champion and later on, the challenger. Both put over the match and touched on issues that were impacting them at the moment, no pun intended. Angelina Love had a great line during hers; it was something along the lines of “I taught the Beautiful People everything they know, but I didn’t teach them everything I know.” Perhaps that foreshadows something to come?
After patiently waiting all night for the match, it finally rolls around as the main event of the evening. A video package starts us off highlighting Angelina’s ongoing feud with the Beautiful People. That leads into Angelina’s ring entrance and she’s looking pretty amazing tonight, in my opinion. She plays to the crowd, who clearly love her, and gets in the ring looking confident and relaxed about this match-up. Tara comes out second, with her championship strapped around her waist and her spider with her, of course! The match gets underway after the referee lets us know this match is indeed a championship bout. The two old rivals and new frenemies lock up and start jostling back and forth for position. Tara gets Angelina in a headlock and takes her down to the mat. She doesn’t let up on this but Angelina uses her strength to muscle Tara into a pinning position, but she barely gets a two count. The two women start moving around on the mat and Angelina gets Tara in a headscissors. What follows is a nice little series of wrestling between these two talented women. Tara rolls out of the headscissors and flips over Angelina, going for the pin. She gets a two count before Angelina bridges up. A few reversals happen and then Angelina executes a backslide and gets a two count before Tara wiggles out of it. The two women continue to actually wrestle before we’re interrupted by a far too long commercial break.
The match returns and we’re treated to even more chain wrestling from Angelina and Tara. Angelina takes the advantage for the most part of this, but Tara does a cutesy cartwheel thing and gets her upperhand back. It doesn’t last long before Angelina gets Tara into a pinning position and gets another two count. After Tara kicks out, Angelina gets her up and forces the Californian to eat a face full of turnbuckle. The blonde Canadian attempts to make Tara eat the opposite one, but the crafty Tara reverses it and Angelina finds herself in a world of hurt. Tara whips Angelina into the corner and charges, but Angelina lifts up and then rolls down Tara! She rolls her up for a pin but only gets yet another two count. Tara quickly gets up and gets Angelina in position for a nice sidewalk slam. She now tries to get a pin but Angelina powers out after a two count. Angelina is slow to get up and she’s gripping her lower back, but when she does make it to her feet she throws a few shots at Tara’s face then sends her into the ropes. She misses a kick and Tara catches her. She sets Angelina up for the Widow’s Peak but the crafty Angelina slides down and gets Tara in a pinning position. Tara rolls out of it and gets her entire body weight on top of Angelina, pinning her flat to the mat. Tara finally… FINALLY gets the W in a most amazing match-up.
This just in from the SHIMMER Twitter feed, former TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion Sarita and current TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion Hamada will be making their returns to SHIMMER action at this April’s two day tapings. Competing as Sarah Stock, Sarita made her debut in the tournament to crown the first SHIMMER Champion on … Read more
Check out this bonus match between Daffney and Tara that was filmed in early January [before Tara won the Knockouts Title]. It has finally leaked to YouTube. Watch below:
From the ‘better late than never’ files, check out this post-match interview with new Knockouts Champion, Tara from Sunday’s Genesis pay per view. Skip to the 0:57 mark
Forgive me if I don’t seem too excited for the new Knockouts Champion, Tara after her win over ODB at Genesis last night. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for her but I just can’t help but feel as though we fans will need to keep looking over our shoulders in case she drops it … Read more
Didn’t we just do this a month ago? Don’t worry, it’s not a repost from last month! Tara has earned her third reign as Knockouts Champion, defeating ODB in a two out of three falls match. Tara beat ODB in two straight falls, the first with a small package and the second with the Widow’s … Read more
Tonight’s Genesis pay per view will see ODB and Tara compete for the Knockouts Championship in a two out of three falls match. Who will walk out with the gold? Discuss the show as it happens in the comments!
The first pay per view of 2010 comes to us courtesy of TNA who present Genesis tonight. ODB and Tara battle over the Knockouts Championship in a best two out of three falls match. Who will leave as the Knockouts Champion? The Diva Dirt writers weigh in: Erin: This feud, in my opinion, hasn’t really … Read more
The ODB–Tara saga continues this Sunday in a two out of three falls match at TNA’s Genesis pay per view. Oh joy! Of all the feuds, right? I truly hope this is the blow-off for these two with Tara getting the title back and feuding with someone new. Alissa Flash, where you at, girl?
TNA writer, Vince Russo has talked about his respect for the Knockouts division on his Facebook page. When asked whether we’d be seeing any ‘bra and panties’ matches in TNA, he writes: I don’t think you’ll be seeing any bras and panties matches–I respect our Knockouts way to much. But you will see other creative … Read more
With a growing Knockouts division, two sets of titles and multiple storylines at the same time, a two-hour time slot shared with the men is beginning to become a little bit cramped. Thinking back to the early days of the Knockouts division in 2007, there is a reason why the feud between Awesome Kong and Gail Kim is so highly regarded — it had time to grow by receiving ample amounts of attention and spanned two pay per views. The feud and matches between the two helped put the Knockouts division on the map and showed the mass audience what women’s wrestling could be. Fast forward to present day and it seems to me that the feuds in the division are often half-baked and nothing more than a series of matches or run-ins or backstage attacks. Where’s the scripting and storyline gone? Should TNA just be given a pass because they have good matches?
With more Knockouts utilised than ever before, it’s a competition for screen time and usually the slots given to the women on Impact are fought over. Thus, a lot of the times you’ll see feuds rotate from week to week but this doesn’t seem to be working. Going back to that earlier example, Kim vs Kong, at the time it was the sole storyline for the Knockouts and was able to have consistent time and effort put into it. Perhaps today, the TNA writers are trying to do too much despite having too little time. Many times, feuds have just come out of no where and ended abruptly — Alissa Flash vs Hamada is one example. But even then, the bigger feuds such as Kong vs Tara if you think back, was nothing more than a series of run-ins and attacks with little explanation for the animosity between them, and no real dialogue or emotions being told in storyline.
The launch of a second set of titles means that the Knockouts are stretched pretty thin for the TV time and though they are made good use of on Impact, it just doesn’t seem to be doing them any favours in the long term.
With the Hulk Hogan era now underway, it seems the time devoted to the girls may decrease while the numbers within the division continue to expand as TNA is always on the lookout for new talent. Is it time for a Knockouts-only TV show?
In late breaking news overnight, the Wrestling Observer website reported that Angelina Love has been signed to a new TNA contract. Last month, it had been rumoured that Love would make her return on this coming Monday’s live three hour episode of Impact. According to PWInsider, word of Love’s return has been spread around the … Read more
Rather than edit this post, I figure I’d just make a brand new one. We have high quality videos! Spend a lazy Saturday catching up with Thursday night’s New Year’s Knockout Eve show! All 8 matches are below. Check them out and tell us what you think in the comments:
