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Impact Write-Up (April 5th, 2010): Are We Knockouts or Are We Divas?

Wow, I don’t even know how to start off this Write-Up. First, I guess, we all got a surprise last night when the 8-Knockout Tag Team match that was announced was mysteriously changed into this hot mess of a match with rules that were more confusing than a episode of Lost. If you want an in-depth explanation of what went down, please go and listen to the Post Raw and Impact Show or just watch this video of Christy explaining what’s going to happen with the Knockouts tonight.

So there you have it. The Beautiful People kick off the live Impact after Christy explains the rules and what’s at stake. Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne are looking adorable with their pink outfits and tag titles, but Lacey is missing in action interestingly enough. Velvet starts off by saying that the Knockouts continue to revolutionize this business and tonight the Beautiful People will own three of the four lock boxes. She claims they’re going to get the spider and squash it like they should have done ages ago. Then she says they’re going to get the open contract so they can dominate whoever they want, and last but not least, they’ll get the TNA Knockout Championship, which is apparently the highest honor for women in wrestling today. Madison takes her turn speaking next. She agrees with “Vel Vel” and says tonight the Beautiful People will get it all; everything they deserve and everything they are owed. While she’s talking, Lacey von Erich walks out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a smile and a fuzzy white towel. She takes front and center and says no one will ever forget the night they saw Lacey von Erich strutting around in her bra and panties.

LVE: “Tonight, everybody wins.”

Oh boy.

With the Knockouts basically spread through out the entire show, it’s awhile before we get another segment, but when we do, it’s Christy Hemme standing with Team Tara. Team Tara is comprised of soon-to-be former champ, Tara, Angelina Love, ODB, and Hamada.

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Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne

Filling in for Cryssi, as it were, I’m bringing you all TNA’s latest webmatch, featuring former running mates Angelina Love and Madison Rayne, sans her fellow Beautiful People. Watch the match below:

The first thing I notice is that Angelina Love seems to be taking a page out of Mickie James’s book and wearing jeans to wrestle. I sincerely hope this isn’t some blossoming trend, because, in my opinion, it’s an awful look. It just doesn’t look like proper wrestling gear to me, and God almighty, they look like they’d be uncomfortable to wrestle in. It makes me feel like I’m about to watch an impromptu streetfight rather than a regular match. But, whatever float her boat, I guess.

The match starts amongst a chorus of “AN-GEL-I-NA” chants and, being the regular Raw columnist, I can’t help but feel a sense of awe at the fans showing such enthusiasm for a Knockout. I mean, of course, their venue at Universal is much smaller than the WWE’s average arena, but it’s been a long time since we’ve heard that kind of reaction from a WWE crowd for a Diva. Hell, at this point, the most we can hope for during a Diva match is anything but dead silence. But, I guess that has more to do with the WWE’s booking of their Divas that prevents them from getting over with the fans (and 15-second matches sure as hell aren’t accomplishing that) than it does the Divas themselves.

But anyways, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Angelina and Madison start with a collar-and-elbow tie-up, Madison gaining control. Angelina hits an arm drag and latches Madison into an arm bar, eventually standing up and hitting a leg drop on the prone arm. Both get to their feet and Angelina tries to wrench that same arm, but gets a boot to the stomach. Madison gets her in a side headlock, whipping her to the mat with a takedown and keeping the headlock applied on the mat.

Angelina’s shoulder hit the mat and the referee gets a 1-count. Angelina manages to power out, latching her legs around Madison’s neck and applying a headscissors. Madison repeatedly tries to kip-up out of the hold and Angelina eventually relents. When they both get to their feet, Angelina keeps control, hitting a forearm and an irish-whip, sending Madison into the ropes and hitting a hip toss on the return. She continues her offensive streak into a powerslam. Madison cowers in the corner and tricks Angelina into coming over, pulling her face-first into the turnbuckle. She uses her boot to choke Angelina on the bottom rope, the referee eventually getting her to stop.

Angelina tries to power back with a few shots to Madison’s midsection, but Madison keeps her down. She runs Angelina head-first into another turnbuckle, then choking her against that as well. She brings Angelina to the center of the ring, going for a suplex that she blocks, reversing the momentum into a small package pin. She gets a 2-count.

Right out of the pin, Madison lays her out with a clothesline. She then sets up an unorthodox move (one where you spend a few seconds thinking “What are you going for here?”), climbing onto a seated Angelina’s shoulders and flipping it, pounding her face-first onto the mat in some weird bucking motion. The crowd and Tazz (keep it under control, buddy) obviously go bug-eyed at it. She goes for the pin and Angelina kicks out at 2. She gets Angelina in a sleeper hold (at least this one can’t be construed as sexual..), and the crowd rallies behind Angelina as she slowly gets to her feet. A few well-placed elbows to Madison’s midsection get her free.

Angelina runs the ropes, ducking a clothesline from Madison and hitting one of her own. She goes on another offensive streak, sending Madison into the corner and hitting a bulldog when she staggers back to the center of the ring. She goes for the pin, and gets a 2-count. Angelina grabs Madison, but Madison gains control, grabbing Angelina’s head over her shoulder, but Angelina shoves her into the ropes, nailing a bicycle kick on the return, pinning Madison for the 3-count and the win.

That was a decent little match, and served to tell an interesting story, as it seems to be that Angelina is looking to take out one Beautiful Person at a time. I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s in an untelevised match. Still, Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich remain, and something tells me that matches with either of them won’t be as entertaining as the one we just saw. Madison, in my opinion, is the best worker of the three, and Angelina is fantastic herself. This was the best combination, and it’s a shame that it didn’t get air time on the main broadcast. Still, I’m glad to see and and I really enjoyed it, especially after being inundated with the crappy excuses for matches that the WWE has been serving up as of late. I could do without the face-pounding humping move, but beggars can’t be choosers. Wow, did I just write that sentence?

 

Impact Write-Up (March 23rd, 2010): WWE Take Notes: It is Possible to Use All Girls in a Match

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.

So of course, TNA goes to commercial break.

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A Supersized Unwrapped: Eye Candy for the Week of March 15th, 2010

Welcome to this week’s edition of Unwrapped! As always, we will be grading all of the new photoshoots (or “eye candy”, as we like to call them) from the week gone by, judging them like so:

Sweet (Great)Bland (Iffy)Sour (Awful)

You, the reader, will also get the chance to grade the “eye candy” yourself by giving your opinion on each shoot and voting for your favorite out of the whole bunch. Now, dive in!

Angelina Love‘s Going It Alone
Grade: Sour. Those of us hoping for a more refined look from Angelina upon her TNA return were sadly mistaken when she returned with the same messy style that she had prior. The choker around the neck, the boobs bursting out of the top and the ripped pants look are all clashing and just doesn’t look good at all. The poses offer no variety either with Angelina basically just changing her angles rather than her poses.
Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Christy Hemme‘s Fire & Water
Grade: Sweet. Not even going to beat around the bush — this may just be the best Knockouts photoshoot in TNA history. These TNA photoshoots are usually just taken against a white background and then overly saturated in Photoshop but this one, this fights all that and makes me want to see more. Christy comes across so seductive, tempting and gorgeous. Her red, fiery hair is coiffed to perfection in some of the shots and then we have the shots where she’s been doused in water — offering some extra edge. I can’t quite put my finger on why I like it, but Christy did a great job.
Click to see the rest of the photoshoot.

Read more to see the rest of this week’s photoshoots.

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Impact Write-Up (March 15th, 2010): Wash, Rinse, Repeat

To follow the trend of recent weeks, TNA recycled their Knockouts’ storylines and twisted them into a pretzel to make both seem original. Was there progression? Did the it all make sense? Are we actually going to get a title match on pay-per-view this month? All these questions and more will be answered… after the break! Just kidding about the break! This isn’t American Idol and I am not Ryan Seacrest. If you do want answers, then you must continue reading.

The part of Impact worth watching begins with an amazing promo by Angelina Love. Christy asks Angelina how she feels seeing the group she founded walk away with the Knockouts Tag Team Championships. Angelina gets a great look on her face that’s a mix of disgust and annoyance that her ex-best friends are actually champions and she starts to vent about it. Angelina flat out admits that it sucks to see the group with the titles and that it made her mad. She claims she is going to do something about it and issues an open challenge to any member of the Beautiful People to meet her in the ring tonight. She says she doesn’t care which member it is because all of them have been ducking her for weeks and as far as she is concerned, they’re all trying to be like her. Angelina is an original, and she adds that she is going to start cleansing TNA one Beautiful person at a time.

After a promo featuring time wasters and a tag team match, the Beautiful People are seen backstage with their newly won titles discussing their options. They make plans as the show fades to commercial and after one more segment, we finally get our Knockout match of the night. Angelina comes to the ring first and her hair looks absolutely fabulous. Her ring entrance is short lived because as soon as Angelina gets into the ring, the Beautiful People’s theme song hits. Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne are carrying the titles on their shoulders while Lacey von Erich remains the sole possessor of the ugly stick. The three BP members are carrying themselves with a renewed sense of confidence this week and their smiles are so blinding white the Impact Zone doesn’t really need all those harsh lights while they’re around. Velvet has a microphone and she looks down to the ring with a sneer across her lovely face.

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Impact Write-Up (March 8th, 2010): Congratulations Beautiful People! You Now Have Accessories

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.

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Impact Write-Up (March 4th, 2010): Approved Change of Pace

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.

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Madison Rayne Praises Trish Stratus

TNA’s Madison Rayne has revealed that one of her role models is the 7-time WWE Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus. Speaking in an interview with TNAwrestling.com, she says: I loved her for so many reasons. She was beautiful, strong, and athletic and she was always a great role model for aspiring women wrestlers. She had a … Read more

Impact Write-Up (February 11th, 2010): Here’s To You, LVE

(** author’s note: To all the readers, I apologize profusely for this going up so late! My work schedule was nothing but mornings this week and it completely threw me through a loop! Hopefully the read is well worth the wait =D)

For the past few weeks, Impact has turned into the Beautiful People show and this week was no exception. As usual, Lacey Von Erich, Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, and ex-member Angelina Love took center stage. Joining them this week was special guest star, Knockout’s Champion Tara. What did the fabulous fivesome have up their sleeves for us this week? Click the video below to watch or just continue reading if you can’t be bothered.


Before the match begins, we’re treated to an interview with Angelina and Tara. Right off the bat, Christy brings up the past history between the two former rivals and Angelina is quick with a rebuttal. She flat out admits that she didn’t care for Tara when she (Tara) first arrived in TNA. Tara takes it in stride and Angelina continues on by saying the past is the past. She brings up last week and the amazing match the two women had, then gets disgusted because of how the Beautiful People interfered. Tara mumbles “welcome to my world” but Angelina brushes it off. She says that last week she and Tara had each others’ backs and that this week it would be no different.

Christy, who’s been nodding along all this time, turns her attention to Tara and asks her if there’s a special plan to take care of the Beautiful People tonight. Tara says something along the lines of “…the plan for tonight is quite simple. It’s going to get Ugly.” A confident Angelina takes the microphone, puts on her serious face, and adds “…real ugly.” Great promo by both.

After the interview, the terrible ring entrance by the Beautiful People takes place. I’m all about flashy entrances, but they completely kill me (and not in a good way). Madison and Velvet having matching outfits is completely adorable and I really like Lacey’s boots. Angelina walks out to the ring next wearing something slightly trashy but what else is new? The girl does the trash look well and manages to make it not look disgusting like it would on most people. Finally, Tara comes to the ring. All I can do is pray for no wardrobe malfunction this week. It takes a little longer than necessary to get everyone settled but when they finally do, Velvet bravely offers to being the match against Tara. It takes all of two seconds for Tara to tag in Angelina and once that happens, Velvet is off and running. She wants absolutely nothing to do with Angelina and I don’t blame her. Angelina is one fierce mamacita and Velvet stands no chance against her!

Velvet seems to be heading towards the ramp and Angelina continues to stalk her. When Velvet sees she has nowhere to go reality sinks in. She’s totally stuck. Angelina is almost to her when Lacey comes up from behind. This doesn’t faze Angelina because she slaps the stew out of her replacement. Angelina climbs back on the apron where Madison is waiting to confront her. Needless to say Angelina doesn’t care what Madison has to say because Madison Rayne gets a boot to the gut for her efforts. While all that goes on, Velvet gets back in the ring and she starts attacking Angelina. She gets her former bestie down on the mat and begins to work her over, gaining the clear upperhand. A small “You Can’t Wrestle” chant breaks out while Velvet is offense but if she actually cares, she doesn’t show it. She happily chokes Angelina Love with the woman’s own hair. When Velvet tires of the choking, she gets Angelina in a position to whip her into the ropes. I kid you not, someone from the crowd screams “TAG IN LACEY” but that doesn’t happen… yet. (Dun, dun, duuuunnnn!)  Velvet whips Angelina across the ring, but it does her no good. Angelina knows what’s coming and attempts to go on offense. Velvet anticipates this, falls flat on her backside, and rolls out of the ring.

Velvet wants none of what Angelina’s got, and that’s fine with the Canadian. She turns her attention to Madison and starts picking on her. The pastel blue attired member of TBP is pulled into the ring by her blonde and pink locks, and is forced to eat a face full of turnbuckle as a punishment. Angelina tags in Tara and the Knockout’s Champion gets her first taste of action in the match! Tara sunset flips in, goes for the cover on Madison, but only gets a two count. Madison gets up but is taken down twice with arm drags. She’s taken down again with a suplex and Tara rolls her over into a guillotine-like move. Tara does a great job of bullying Madison around the ring with various little moves and eventually Madison has to get out of the ring. Velvet and Lacey jump down from the apron and start to comfort their fellow BP member. The Beautiful People receive no sympathy for Tara and Angelina. Angelina gets into the ring with Tara and the two women bounce off the ropes and come flying at the backs of the BP with dropkicks. All three members go flying into the guardrail and I’ll let you guess which one took that bump awkwardly. Tara and Angelina celebrate their dominance as the match fades to a commercial break.

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Impact Write-Up (Feb. 4th, 2010): Tara and Angelina Do Work

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.

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Impact Write-Up (January 28th, 2010): Beautiful People Overload

All I have to say is thank God for the fast forward button. I thought I could be strong and sit through an entire episode of Impact tonight but man, was I ever wrong! It’s truly an excruciating show to watch and I literally watched the whole thing on fast forward until it came back from commercial break and we were treated to a shot of the Beautiful People backstage getting ready for their six woman tag team match. The brief segment (and when I say brief, it seemed less than thirty seconds!) was nothing more than two of the Beautiful People stretching each other out and the third standing in the middle looking like a little lost puppy. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out who is who. Mike Tenay mentions that the Beautiful People will be in action later on tonight against the Knockouts Champion and Tag Team Champions, so of course I’m forced to sit here and fast forward through more garbage; aka old men desperately clinging to one last shot at glory they do not deserve. Blah.

I’m not one who reads spoilers so I was surprised to see that the Beautiful People actually got an interview. Christy Hemme made mention of the match but instead of asking them about their opponents, she asked them about Angelina Love. Velvet Sky spoke first and said that Angelina makes her sick and she’s just so tired of hearing about her. Velvet basically ripped on her former BFF and claimed that Angelina just wasn’t cut out to be a BP so that’s why she got to steppin’. Unfortunately Madison Rayne decided to talk next and she made me LOL IRL. Apparently Angelina Love is so 2009 and the Beautiful People have moved on to bigger and better things. Kudos to Madison and Velvet for keeping straight faces through that preposterous comment. Madison talked about how the Beautiful People were aiming for gold and rubbed her waist to signal that’s where it would it up going. I absolutely refuse to repeat the rest of the segment because I firmly believe everytime Lacey Von Erich speaks God kills a kitten and I just don’t agree with animal abuse.

We finally get to the match and the Beautiful People are out to the ring first with a horrible choreographed ring entrance. As cute as their pink outfits are, their antics just aren’t this week. I hated von Erich’s awkward flip over the top rope and I when I went to pause the match to dissect the ring entrances, I paused on a shot of Velvet’s bottom which does absolutely nothing for me. Madison’s hair looks absolutely terrible and in my opinion, Velvet just doesn’t seem to have as much fun anymore. Awesome Kong and Hamada make their way out next and if this is truly Awesome Kong’s last match in TNA, I’m sure going to miss her. She’s got the best entrance music ever and it just scares me to see her stalking down towards the ring because I sure wouldn’t wanna face her! Tara gets a nice reaction from the crowd and I chuckled at seeing TBP freak out over the spider.

The match gets started pretty quickly with Hamada and Madison Rayne. There’s not a whole lot of messing around at the start of this like there was in last week’s match and that’s always good to see. Hamada takes Madison to the mat with a wicked kick and doesn’t let up on her offense by chopping the pink and blonde headed beautiful person. This continued for a few moments before Hamada decided to unleash her inner Undertaker and do his “Old School” type of move by walking on the top rope while hanging onto Madison’s arm. Hamada put her own twist on the move by flipping down and executing a weird looking arm drag to which Madison bounced back up from. Madison is able to make the tag to Velvet, who stayed in the match for approximately two point two seconds before tagging out to LVE.

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Impact Write-Up (January 21st, 2010): Knockout Action… Diva Style?

I suppose I should begin this by introducing myself. My name is Cryssi and I’m Diva Dirt‘s new TNA correspondent. It’s an honor to be here and I promise to bring my best each and every week with whatever I do here! I’m excited for this job. Part of the excitement stems from the fact I’ve been thrust into the middle of a train wreck of a show. TNA is a soap opera of revolving doors, pointless drama, and politics. At least that’s how I view it. With the departure of Alissa Flash and Awesome Kong’s request for her release, we’re left with some questions about the Knockouts division. None of them were answered on this week’s episode of Impact and we likely won’t know much until TNA returns for more tapings. Tara was absent from this show, as were Knockout Tag Champs, Awesome Kong and Hamada. The Beautiful People and Angelina Love were the only entertainment for us Knockout fans. So with all that being said, lets get on with my first ever Impact Write-Up!

We’re treated to a backstage shot of Angelina getting mentally ready for her match but that’s not all fans. We get a video package too! The history of Angelina’s break-up with the Beautiful People is rehashed, and I’m not going to lie; I still laugh whenever I see her beat the crap out of Velvet Sky. It’s hilarious. Madison Rayne comes out first and she doesn’t look half bad tonight. She’s improving week after week and her antics toward the crowd were pretty funny. I loved when she booed the fan that was booing her, and her overall attitude was great and spot on. She does her posing with the ropes and on the turnbuckles, and it surprised me to see that she came out sans Velvet and Lacey von Erich. Angelina comes out next, to her new music, and gets a hot face reaction. The crowd seemed really excited to see her and rightfully so. She’s one of the few women left in TNA now who can actually put on an amazing, legit match.

The bell rings and Angelina goes after Madison. The referee tries to stop it seeing as how Madison is backed into the corner, and to her credit Angelina backs off. Madison uses Angelina’s sportsmanship to her advantage and goes right after her former leader. She hits a few nice punches and gets Angelina to the mat. The Canadian does her best to defend herself, but Madison doesn’t really let up until she (Madison) gets back to her feet. Angelina is up as well and is met with a few stiff forearms to her jaw, then finds herself pressed against the ropes. Madison whips Angelina to the other side, but momentum switches and Angelina slams Madison down to the mat by her hair!

With Madison down, Angelina takes charge. She mounts her and begins to unleash her angst on her former lackey. Madison takes the abuse and then gets thrown into the corner. Okay, she doesn’t get thrown. Her face eats a mouthful of turnbuckle and it looks like it really hurts. Madison stumbles to the left and is “helped” to her feet by Angelina. Angelina goes for a whip, Madison reverses it, Angelina ducks a clotheslines, and Madison gets absolutely destroyed by a sick bicycle kick! Angelina goes for an arrogant cover and gets the victory.

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The Guide to Impact (January 14th, 2010): The Second Coming of Love

This week on TNA Impact, one of the biggest news stories of 2009 came full circle as former Knockouts Champion Angelina Love made her return to the company after being released in September due to visa issues. But before we get into that, Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne of The Beautiful People took on new Knockouts Tag Team Champions Awesome Kong and Hamada. Check out the match and Angelina’s return below:

The Beautiful People make their way to the ring first, sporting their new matching ring gear. I know she’s not actually wrestling, but would it kill them to pick up a trashy velour outfit for Lacey? She looks tragically out of place next to the newly coordinated Velvet and Madison. As the trio strut their stuff on the ramp, Velvet Sky spots a familiar face in the crowd. Is that… Ashley Massaro? No, it’s her old friend Angelina Love! Reunion Time! Velvet and Madison seem ecstatic to see their former teammate, but Lacey Von Erich doesn’t share the sentiment. In fact, she makes sure to give Angelina a good dose of stink-eye while greeting her. I love how TNA played up the tension between Lacey and Angelina. If I didn’t know any better, I would think Lacey genuinely disliked Angelina, because that fake ass smile she gave her was 100%, Grade A bitchy. I may not a fan of Lacey between the ropes, but it’s the little things like this that she excels in.

Next out is the Tag Team Champions Awesome and Hamada looking surly as usual. I couldn’t help but notice that Hamada seems to still be having trouble with that ankle of hers. Props to her for working matches essentially on one foot.

The bell rings and it looks like it’ll be Hamada and Velvet kicking things off. Velvet starts the match on a sour note, striking a Karate Kid crane pose. That’s not offensive at all, right? The two lock up and Hamada forces Velvet to the ropes prompting a not-so-clean break by Hamada. Hamada unwisely turns her back to Velvet, who jumps at the opportunity to take her down by the hair. Velvet mounts Hamada and hits a few rights, followed by a splash in the corner and her trademark bulldog. She goes for the pin, but it’s not enough to keep Hamada down.

Velvet and Madison exchange quick tags, keeping control of the champion. The duo take a bit too much time executing a double Russian Legsweep and Hamada capitalizes, tripping both girls and tagging in Kong. Kong snatches both girls down to the mat by the hair, before stacking them up in the corner for a splash of her own. Finally, she grabs Madison, the official sacrificial lamb for The Beautiful People, and hits the Awesome Bomb for the three count.

As we said on last night’s Post-Impact Show, the match was just fraction of what it could have been. It seemed to drag on and it didn’t help that the majority of the match was worked by Velvet Sky, who is definitely the weaker link wrestling wise. Furthermore, where were Sarita and Taylor Wilde? If anything, they deserve first crack at Kong and Hamada. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them next week on Impact.

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Year-End Awards 2009: Best Newcomer

2009 is now over and we are celebrating with our second annual Year-End Awards. This year, we have had thousands of votes as you have voted for the top Divas, Knockouts, matches and moments of 2009!And now it’s time to reveal the winners.

BEST NEWCOMER

The nominees are:

* Alicia Fox
* Alissa Flash
* Hamada
* Madison Rayne
* Sarita

Continue for the result:

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Year-End Awards 2009: Best Gimmick

2009 is now over and we are celebrating with our second annual Year-End Awards. This year, we have had thousands of votes as you have voted for the top Divas, Knockouts, matches and moments of 2009!And now it’s time to reveal the winners.

BEST GIMMICK

The nominees are:

* Alissa Flash
* The Beautiful People
* Daffney
* Maryse
* ODB

Continue for the result:

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The Tiffany Guide to Impact: This is a Joke, Right?

Often imitated but never duplicated, it’s the Tiffany Guide to Impact.  This week, TNA’s creative team takes a nap.  Meanwhile, this week’s episode of TNA Impact is laced with a boost of testosterone that could only be matched by that of Tiger Woods.  First off, we’ll go right ahead and expunge the pink elephant in the room: The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky vs. Lacey Von Erich ft. Madison Rayne) in a mud wrestling match.

I’m on the fence about this “match” purely because any way I go about it, someone’s going to have some reason to complain. Whatever. For what it’s worth, this was a five minute erm… exhibition that went against the grain of most Knockout matches.  Was it raunchy?  Sure.  Is it degrading?  Eh perhaps, for some.  The way I see it: it was a goofy segment that’s better suited to just disappear into the depths of pro-wrestling history.  With the decent overhaul of Knockout action we we’ve been blessed with recently, this one silly Beautiful People segment gets a pass (and a well-received “yawn”).  As long as it doesn’t become a usual occurrence, all should be forgotten soon enough.  It’s not often that Velvet Sky wins a match single-handedly, so it’s best to just enjoy it while it lasts.

Next up, Hamada challenges the TNA Global Champion, Eric Young.

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Report: TNA Agents High on Madison Rayne, Down on Lacey VE

The Beautiful People’s Madison Rayne is supposedly receiving great reviews from TNA’s road agents, with the feeling that she is improving rapidly — moreso than any other Knockout, reports the Wrestling Observer. On the other hand, they are not too fond of Lacey Von Erich. It’s definitely nice to see Madison getting the recognition she … Read more

The Tiffany Guide to Impact: The Knockouts Go Cold Turkey

With the quality you’ve come to expect and the enthusiasm you’ve come to enjoy, the Tiffany Guide to Impact helps you come down from your cramp-inducing turkey high: with a steaming plate of reheated Knockout action, and a side of stale competition.  In perhaps the greatest Knockout tradition of all, this TNA Knockout battle royale … Read more

The Tiffany Guide to Turning Point: A Means to an End

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Setting women’s relations back faster than Tila Tequila and the Home Shopping Network, the Tiffany Guide returns just in time for yet another TNA PPV!  With the same quality you’ve come to expect, and the unbridled TNA commentary you’ve come to enjoy.

Good appeared to conquer all evil last Sunday night at Turning Point.  First in Knockout action sought the Beautiful People (Madison Rayne/Velvet Sky/Lacey Von Erich) vs. ODB, Sarita, and Taylor Wilde with all titles at stake.  Of course, what would a TNA match be without some complicated stipulations?  If ODB is defeated she loses her title; if Saritaylor is defeated they lose their titles.  Simple enough, right? I suppose this is the part where I go “TNA rulez!  WWE droolz!” or something to that effect…

The Beautiful People make their way to the ring looking very shiny and, erm… accessible. Before the sound of the bell, we are treated to even more gratuitous ass shots courtesy of Mi Pi Sexy – to bring even more credibility to this bout, of course.

Taylor Wilde and Velvet Sky kick off the match with a lock-up.  The referee tries his best to cop a feel while Velvet takes her aggression out on the Wilde one.  The ever-confident Velvet is distracted long enough for Taylor to trip her and drag her to the opposing side.  Tags alternate among the babyfaces as they all seem to take particular interest in Velvet’s nether regions.  ODB mounts her opponent, but Velvet says neigh.  Velvet powers out and leads ODB into her corner, tagging in her partner Madison Rayne.

Madison takes a break to indulge in a bit of self-admiration.  As per usual, Madison proves her salt personality-wise.  There is a way to be cleverly gimmicky without being overly gratuitous, and Madison masters that quite brilliantly.  Her beautiful partners should take note.

Madison’s exhibition buys ODB enough time to recharge and tag in Sarita.  Sarita outsmarts Madison with a series of flashy predicaments.  She then makes the tag out to Taylor, who she then assists into a moonsault onto Madison (rather flawlessly, if I may add).  However, Madison kicks out at 2.  Taylor draws her into a clutch and sends her down with a springboard arm drag.  Before she can even begin to capitalize on said move, Lacey Von Erich blindsights her with a clothesline.  Cue a very convenient wide-angled shot of a fan in the front row holding a “Lacey Von Botch” sign.

Madison regains control of the match with a swinging neckbreaker onto Taylor Wilde, but Taylor kicks out at 2.  Velvet Sky requests a tag and makes the assist into a double reverse DDT.  Taylor attempts to escape, but Velvet mounts her with a few punches and a very suggestive cover.  Taking a moment to tease her competition, Velvet flattens Taylor with a stiff kick to the back and a running front dropkick.  Taylor kicks out yet again.

There it is: the moment we all awaited with bated breath… Lacey Von Erich gets tagged into the match. Less than 5 seconds transpire before Lacey is subjected to the thoughts of the mass majority of TNA fans (and perhaps that of even Lacey herself) in the form of “You can’t wrestle” chants.  Lacey quickly exits the ring; the scent of defeat is almost too rancid to ignore.

Velvet gets her second chance in on the action by which she traps Taylor in an Octopus stretch.  Meanwhile, she bites the trapped arm out of the referee’s line of sight.  When Velvet attempts to shift the maneuver a sunset flip, Taylor runs (or rather trips) into Velvet’s face.  Hilarity ensues.

Both ladies make the hot tag.  ODB charges into the ring, taking out the legal woman Madison.  She also takes down Lacey Von Erich, which gets a rather positive reception from the audience.  Leading Velvet into the ropes, ODB catches her in mid-air and drops her with the fallaway slam followed by a kip-up.  ODB goes for a cover, but Lacey breaks up the pin.  Sarita and Taylor take exception.  However, in their effort to clear the ring of the excess plastic, they are sent out to the floor.  This gives the Beautiful People an opportunity to set ODB up for a potential double team move.  Instead, ODB overpowers their advances and takes Madison Rayne out with the TKO for the 3-count.

Somewhere during the 3-on-1 attack against ODB, a few of Lacey’s hair extensions fall out.  One piece even finds its way into the hand of a lucky fan in the front row, who takes the liberty of twirling it around like a prize.  Lacey then does something that will possibly put her my good graces for all of eternity.  She stuffs a piece of her lost extensions down her trousers and does a little hoe down.  From what we’ve seen in the past, Lacey is a master at not taking herself too seriously and being able to laugh at herself.  As embarrassing as weave-tragedies can be, that purely awesome act alone almost defuncts any and all of my criticisms of Miss Lacey.  Key word: almost.

While the outcome was predictable, all in all, I thought this was an impressive match.  If an MVP had to be chosen, my pick would definitely belong to Madison Rayne.  Madison has come leaps and bounds since her first run with the Beautiful People.  Ever since the departure of Angelina Love, Madison has been able to exude personality and charisma. Ever since Angelina left, people supposed the leader position would fall under Velvet Sky or even Lacey Von Erich.  However, I think Madison stands out as the one with the best balance between wrestling ability and temperament.  That being said, I don’t imagine it will be over between the Beautiful People and Saritaylor.  Velvet and Madison don’t strike me as the type that will rest until the belts are finally around their “pretty little waists.”  As for Lacey?  Well… between the Kong hug attempt and the weave fiasco, it’s safe to say that she is entertaining in her own right.  Just keep her in the background, and I will be content. After all, we’re overdue for another Botchamania.

Next up, in the long-awaited steel cage match, we see an end to World War III aka Tara vs. Awesome Kong.

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TNA Turning Point Predictions

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TNA returns to pay per view tonight with two huge matches. ODB and Saritaylor will defend their gold in a six-Knockout tag team match against The Beautiful People. Then in what could be the biggest Knockouts match in history, Awesome Kong and Tara will battle in a Six Sides of Steel match. Who will win? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…

ODB & Saritaylor vs The Beautiful People

Erin: There’s no way in hell that Lacey’s winning the Knockouts Championship, and that’s the only way I see it going if her team won. Maybe they’d pull some strings and give it to Velvet or Madison, but it’d still be a travesty. All my inclinations are pointing me toward ODB and Saritaylor, and I realllly hope I’m right on this one.

Melanie: No chance in hell The Beautiful People will win this match. If they do, there’s something seriously wrong with TNA and we should all boycott. By no means do ANY of the TBP members deserve the Knockouts Championship and it would just make the so-called prestigious title a complete and utter joke. ODB and Saritaylor have to win this one. There’s no other option otherwise I’m done with TNA.

Steven: As I said on the Roundtable last week, this match is a train wreck waiting to happen. With the limited ring work of The Beautiful People, I doubt TNA will put all the gold around their waists. Expect ODB and Saritaylor to retain at Turning Point. If they don’t, I’ll be staying far away from Spike TV for next few weeks.

Tiffany: I’m going to go out on a limb and call this one out in The Beautiful People‘s favor.  The Knockouts title has been needing a change of scenery, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the team of Madison and Velvet hold tag team gold.  Lacey Von Erich as the Knockouts Champion would grind a few gears, and that’s enough to root for her.  She’d already a shoe-in for being a more credible champion than Cody Deaner.

Kong vs Tara after the cut:

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The Tiffany Guide to Impact: Business Just Picked Up…Kinda

With Knockouts pushed into the headlines and into the unemployment line this week, this has proven to be a rather dim past several days for TNA.  In an effort to boost the Knockouts’ morale, the Tiffany Guide makes its long-awaited return – still finding a way into your hearts via a computer screen and still … Read more

Two Huge Knockouts Matches Announced for Turning Point!

TNA has announced two huge matches for it’s November 15th Turning Point pay per view. For the first time in history, both the Knockouts Title and the Knockouts Tag Titles will be on the line in the same match. ODB and Saritaylor will defend their gold in a six-Knockouts tag team match against The Beautiful … Read more