Hola Knockout fans and welcome to this week’s Impact Write-Up: Genesis style! The time has come to pull out those Monsters Ball invitations from the Impact to witness the collision between Rosemary and Jade! The prize in all this, of course, is the Knockouts Championship! We also get a bonus invitation to a date from new lovers (?) Braxton Sutter and Laurel Van Ness.
We first find Braxton and Laurel at an undisclosed restaurant for their date night. Laurel seems all too happy to have Braxton all to herself while Braxton looks as though he would rather be anywhere else than with Laurel. As the couple wait to be seated, Laurel they take selfies and talk about how good Laurel looks tonight. Bring out the wine folks, its going to be a long night for these two!
From the restaurant lobby to the dinner table, Laurel continues to dominate the conversation by talking all about herself. She tells Braxton that things between them have turned for the better… given their unfortunate date back at Thanksgiving. She quickly name drops Allie and blames her for being a constant third wheel between them. Poor Braxton drowns in a bottle of wine just to get through this date. Let’s check back with these two a little later…
In the meantime, it’s time for our Monsters Ball Knockouts Title match:
The challenger makes hers entrance first, taking a sneak peek at some of the weapons inside a nearby trash can before heading to the ring. As for our champion, she doesn’t even make it to the ring, as Jade takes her down with a suicide dive! Jade hits several forearms but Rosemary is able throw in an offense of her own after ducking a clothesline from Jade to hit one of her own.
Rosemary tosses Jade back to the ring, along with an arsenal of weapons. The champion introduces the first weapon to this Monsters Ball match by striking Jade’s back with a trash can lid. After adding a kendo stick blow to Jade’s back, Rosemary goes for the pin, earning a two count.
Now, this wouldn’t be a Monsters Ball match if there weren’t any tacks right? Rosemary channels in her inner Abyss and retrieves the small black bag of tacks from under the ring! She opens up the bag and spreads the dangerous spikes at a corner. Rosemary goes after Jade and attempts to suplex the War Queen to the tacks but Jade is able to fight through Rosemary’s grasp.
Jade brings down the champion with a dropkick, unbuckles her belt to whip the back of the Demon Assassin! Jade then uses a kendo stick to inflict more pain onto Rosemary but Rosemary manages to throw Jade off her tracks with the use of a trash can.
When Rosemary goes for a high flying attack, Jade knocks her off the rope with the same trash can and quickly grabs Rosemary from behind to hit a German Suplex onto the tacks! Ouch!
Jade goes for the cover but Rosemary stays alive. Rosemary goes for a mist attack but Jade shields herself with a trash can lid, which she tosses to Rosemary’s direction to land a quick kick to face!
Jade brings in a table to the match but doesn’t get a chance to set it up as Rosemary strikes from behind and hits a snap suplex. Instead of setting up the table already inside the ring, Rosemary fetches a barb wired table that is conveniently located on the outside ring and places it in the middle of the ring.
Rosemary scoops up Jade and attempts to throw Blue to the barbwire table but Jade counters with an STO, sending Red to more spikes again! Jade goes for another cover but once again, Rosemary kicks out just in time. Still making the most of the barbwire table, Jade places the board over Rosemary and runs the ropes to land a springboard moonsault to Rosemary!
The spot momentarily paralyzes Rosemary, giving Jade some time to set up the table which she had initially brought in. With the table now in place, Jade throws Rosemary onto the table and climbs the top rope. The champion slides off the table before Jade can take flight and counters off Jade with a super suplex through the table for the three…. or four count?
After this brutal match, Gail Kim comes down the ring to check in on Jade but gets hit with a Red Mist attack from Rosemary, who goes on to cackle from the outside ring.
After her successful title defense, Rosemary runs into Brandi Rhodes backstage. Brandi had just gotten off the phone with her husband Cody to assure him everything is going all right. Rosemary proposes that Brandi join her hive but Brandi politely declines the offer. Hmmm…..?
And we close out Impact with the final minutes between Laurel and Braxton’s dinner date. As usual, Laurel talks all about herself but before any post dinners plans can be made, Braxton excuses him from the table by stating he is going to pay for dinner. While Braxton is away, Laurel calls Maria Kanellis to dish out on how well the date has gone. Well, at least one of them had a good time.
Thoughts: HATS OFF TO ROSEMARY AND JADE! That Monsters Ball match was as brutal as they come!
Its pretty surreal to see that just a year ago, Rosemary was debuting as a manager/leader to a dark TNA stable while Jade was still playing second fiddle as a Dollhouse doll. Since then, Rosemary has climbed her way to top of the Knockouts division while Jade has been able to tap into her inner War Queen! Rosemary showed that she can endure some pretty sick bumps that Jade can throw her way.
Even though this match was cut short, both women told a story of wanting to do as much damage as they could to one another, all in the sake for the Knockouts title. The Knockouts division is starting to really rebuild itself, all while elevating the belt after a hard 2016.
The Gail Kim appearance match was an interesting touch. This certainly sets up for an eventual showdown between Rosemary and Gail, while giving some extra heat to Rosemary but I’ve been enjoying what we’ve seeing from Jade/Rosemary so far. I’m not sure when Gail will be making her return but I hope that creative can find someway to bring her back.
I wasn’t too crazy about the Braxton/Laurel segments. They felt a bit cheesy for my taste. Still, they did serve as character development for Laurel – that being a spoiled and conceited persona while also demonstrating the kind of blackmail Maria has over Braxton.
I also wish Allie was somehow incorporated to this date, aside from a name mention. One scenario being Allie walking in and on the date to further question why Braxton has suddenly rejected her. This is all going back to being about Allie after all.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Impact? Did you enjoy the Braxton/Laurel dating segments? How would you book Gail Kim’s return? Let us know in the comments below!
