We are mere days away from the biggest weekend in professional wrestling! These are exciting times ladies and gentlemen! But before we get into any of that, we first make a quick stop by TNA for our weekly dose of Knockouts action.
Last week, Jade became the new number one contender to Gail Kim‘s Knockouts Title by defeating former partners Marti Bell and Rebel in a “Death of the Dollhouse” Triple Threat match; a match orchestrated by mastermind Maria Kanellis. This week, a second number contender match takes place, as Gail manages to pull some string to book a match between Beautiful People team members Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky.
Up first on this week’s show are wrestling wives Maria Kanellis and Reby Sky, who each stand by their respective husbands, eyeing for a spot on the main event scene:
Things take an ugly when the women take it to the mic, as Reby Sky stands up to the Bennetts for disrespecting her husband’s moment. She calls Maria a fire crotch but Maria stays true to her First Lady attributes, calmly laughing off Reby’s insult.
Maria insists that Reby’s sort of attitude is proof that she knows nothing about being a proper lady and the doubt is enough for Reby to let loose! Reby begins to remove her earrings, readying for a fight but the Hardy clan holds her back. A “Let them fight!” chants sounds off in the Impact Zone but this catfight isn’t happening… yet.
We then head backstage to find Jeremy Borash conducting a quick interview with Knockouts champion Gail Kim:
He asks for Gail’s thoughts on Maria’s little switcheroo last week. Gail isn’t surprised by Maria evading another physical match up, after all this chasing around has been going on for two months now. Instead, Gail wishes new number one contender Jade the best of luck in their upcoming match but adds that there will be another number contender. She brings out Madison Rayne (who looks to have recovered well from her mysterious UK attack) and Velvet Sky. Both women thank Gail for arranging this friendly competition and shake hands as they head out to the ring.
We return from a break to find Velvet Sky making her entrance when suddenly, a new yet bland sounding theme song for Madison Rayne hits. I’m really going to miss the Killer Queen theme song. With both Knockouts now in the ring, the bell sounds off and Velvet quickly rolls Madison over to a pin cover. Madison kicks out and is taken aback by Velvet’s sudden desire to win. Velvet apologizes and extends her hand, symbolizing good sportsmanship between the two.
They tie up and it is now Madison who goes for the cover after taking Velvet down on the mat. Velvet kicks out and traps Madison in a headlock but the Queen Bee is able to reverse this to a headlock of her own. Velvet fights through by sending Madison to the ropes but a shoulder block takes Velvet down once more. A sequence of pin attempts follows next but neither woman is able to get a successful three count.
Both Beautiful People members meet in the middle for another handshake, which turns to be a bit more on the aggressive side. They take that aggression to a corner and rotate firing forearms with one another until Madison whips Velvet across the ring to land a running elbow shot. She goes for a cover but Velvet kicks out at two. Madison goes for a second pin cover after hitting a dropkick but still fails to put Velvet down for the three count. Madison goes for her third pin cover in a row, this time opting to use a Northern Lights suplex but the results of Velvet kicking out remain the same.
That fight in Velvet kicks in as she begins to build some momentum by hitting with a clothesline and back elbow combo to Madison. Velvet adds a triple kick combo, running neckbreaker and even a bulldog to her offense, in the hopes that it would be enough to get the three count but Madison manages to kick out in time. Velvet sets Madison up for the In Yo Face finisher after Madison collides with a corner pole but Madison reverses this into a jackknife pin to get a surprise three count win. Despite some tension during the match, Velvet raises Madison’s arm and hugs her friend post match, congratulating her on the win to become a new number one contender.
Thoughts: Not a whole lot to say about this week’s match other than it being a very straight forward one.
While this was another battle of teammates, there just wasn’t as much action or storytelling in the ring when comparing it last week’s Dollhouse triple threat match. It is part of what stigma that comes when putting two babyfaces against one another. Still, with this match, another number one contender has been crowned in Madison Rayne, who joins Jade for a future title shot.
Now that Angelina Love is gone from TNA and the uncertainty in the air of Velvet Sky’s future in TNA, this looks to be the time for Madison to shine as a solo performer again. Personally, I find Madison to be the best overall performer of the three so I am interested in seeing how she’ll venture off. Plus, it helps break off another female stable in the division, thus stretching more individuality and breaking off that habit of nonstop tag team matches that we’ve had to endure for months.
That’s it for this week Knockout fans, hasta luego!
