Greetings and salutations Knockout fans! Welcome to another edition of TNA Throwback Thursday, where we take a look back at some of the classic moments to come from the Knockouts division throughout the years.
This week, we take a look back at the December 3, 2009 edition of TNA Impact, a Knockout-filled night that included some trash talk, blind attacks and a short but sweet match between two very talented women.
Our first Knockouts sighting comes from The Beautiful People (the Madison Rayne, Lacey Von Erich and Velvet Sky edition) who are on their way to film their latest backstage episode of “Meanest Girls” series.
The trio are stopped by Christopher Daniels, who offers them a propositional scheme for their upcoming episode, a scheme he would like to discuss with them privately. Hmm…
From the mysterious plotting to cutting right to the chase, TNA Knockouts Champion ODB invites her Final Resolution opponent, Tara, to join her on her “Trash Talking” show.
Tara says she’s grateful for ODB’s invitation to her show and that she cannot wait for their match. Host ODB stops Tara there, wanting to stop any phoniness that may came out of her mouth. Seemingly breaking the fourth wall, ODB gets real and name drops Tara’s previous employer, the WWE. ODB lashes out at Tara, claiming she isn’t entitled to any special treatment just because she was a Diva. ODB and the rest of the Knockouts worked hard for years to fully establish their women’s division.
Getting a chance to defend herself, Tara reassures to ODB that she came into TNA with the upmost respect for the Knockouts division. After all, she did break two years into her contract to join the company. She recalls being mocked and a joke towards the end of her WWE run, wanting a second chance to prove to her fans that she is still that great athlete that competes in street fights an hardcore matches.
ODB takes then, apologizes but then smacks the taste out of Tara, still not convinced on Tara’s sincerity. Security breaks this brawl up before things get any uglier.
From one former WWE Diva to another, Kristal Lashley and husband Bobby Lashley make their way to the Impact Zone to address the weeks harassment Scott Steiner has put them through
While Lashley doesn’t have much to say, his wife Kristal has plenty of words. She calls Steiner an obsessive, disrespectful weirdo and at Final Resolution, Lashley would make Steiner pay for his actions. Ultimately, whenever Kristal speaks, Lashley bites!
Following his little get together with The Beautiful People, Christopher Daniels, as per his request, is interviewed by Lauren Brooke before his match against the monster Abyss.
He takes this chance to call out AJ Styles, asking him to pay close attention to what will be a preview to their match at Final Resolution. Lauren proposes that he should pay more attention to his match against Abyss instead of worrying about AJ. Charmed by Lauren’s concern, Daniels says that she and Abyss really do deserve each other.
In his match against the monster, Daniels looks close to being defeated as Abyss prepares to deliver a choke slam. Before he can, Daniels points Abyss’ attention to the wrestling screen. On the screen, The Beautiful People are seen assaulting Abyss’ crush Lauren from a bathroom. Concern and distracted, Daniels manages to take this opportunity to low blow Abyss and steal a win, filling in the plot holes from earlier of the night.
Finally it is time for the Knockouts match of he night. Having one win already over one half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions Taylor Wilde, Hamada looks to continue her winning streak with a second win one the other half, Sarita.
The two meet in the middle in of the ring and start the match with a tie up with Hamada taking Sarita down. She goes for a second takedown but this time Sarita manages to land on her feet and counters with an arm drag. Sarita follows up with a clothesline but Hamada manages to dodge it, runs to the second rope and takes down Sarita down with an flying arm drag. Both women then have the same idea in mind and each go for a drop kick to one another.
Back on their feet at the same time, the two Knockouts return to where they started, in the center of the ring, for a test of strength. Hamada kicks Sarita in the abdominal and hits a pattern of chops and headbutts. Hamada runs the ropes and escapes Sarita’s knee assault.
With Hamada down, it’s Sarita’s turn to run the ropes, landing on top of Hamada’s to hit a sick hurricanrana! Sarita’s momentum is stopped when Hamada hits Sarita with a kick to face. She goes for the cover but only gets a two count.
Hamada then climbs the turnbuckle, to hit a dropkick but even that isn’t enough to put Sarita away. Frustrated, Hamada prepare Sarita for the Hamada Driver but Sarita reverses this to a roll up pin that Hamada manages kicks out of.
Changing up her strategy, Sarita locks Hamada into a leg lock submission hold but it doesn’t take long for Hamada to make her way out of it, reversing Sarita’s submission with a crucifix pin.
Sarita manages to kick out in before the three count but is immediately hit with not one but two round kicks to the head from Hamada. With her opponent groggy, Hamada manages to successfully hit her Hamada Driver for the three count pin! With that win, Hamada has gone to defeat both members of tag team champions Taylor Wilde and Sarita in singles competition.
As we would later find out, Hamada would team up Awesome Kong and capture the Knockouts Tag Team titles from Taylor Wilde and Sarita. Still, it always feels like that TNA really missed the opportunity to do more with their feud and the entire Knockouts Tag Team titles all together. All four certainly ranked highly in terms of their talents but with only one show, maybe there just wasn’t enough time to showcase it all.
With the word of TNA’s second show “TNA Unlocked” coming in the new year, this hopefully gives the company a second platform and time to really try and tap into the fullest potential that is in the Knockouts division, be it with their new ranking system and new never before seen clips.
