Welcome to week five of the TNA World Title Series, Knockout fans. Hard to believe that it has already been over a month since the start of this World Title Series! During this month period, Group Knockouts have taken part in three qualifying group play matches that saw Brooke, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong each earning three points for a three way tie. As we reach the halfway point of this qualifying round, Madison Rayne trails behind in last place of Group Knockouts at zero points. This week, she looks to change all that in her match against Brooke this week. Let’s see how the Queen Bee did.
Our Knockouts match opens this week’s Impact and as Madison makes her way to the ring, we cut away to a pre-match video package. In this video package, Madison speaks of the important role the Knockouts have played in TNA throughout the years. She also acknowledges her current standing with the rest of Group Knockouts and the importance of getting a win this week in this “do or die” situation.
Cutting back to the Impact Zone, Brooke makes her entrance next and upon entering the six sided ring, she shakes the hand of her opponent, setting a friendly competitive tone for this match. Hmm, I suddenly wonder why TNA decided to edit out the small promo exchange that was mentioned in the spoilers for this match.
After the friendly gesture, the Knockouts tie up with one another. Brooke corners Madison to a turnbuckle and takes her down over her shoulder. Brooke tries to follows up with a speedy attack to Madison but the Queen Bee is anticipates this and counters with a takedown of her own. Brooke is impressed by this!
Things reset when both women meet in the center again to tie up. This time, Madison gets the better of Brooke and positions her in a headlock. Brooke quickly reverses this to headlock of her own but finds trouble in completing the submission hold when her injured hand gets in the way.
A listen from the commentary booth would reveal that Brooke suffered a few split on her hand during her match against Gail Kim. Madison goes for a second headlock hold but Brooke finds a way out of Madison’s grip, this time by sending Madison to the ropes and hitting her with a dropkick. Brooke goes for the pin but Madison is able to kick out.
Brooke looks to keep control of the match by throwing right forearms to Madison but the injured hand continues to slow Brooke down. She cries out in pain when one of her forearms looks to be too strong to handle and Madison quickly takes advantage with a clothesline to Brooke.
Madison follows up her offense with a combination of fists and chops to Brooke, managing to bring her down to the mat. With Brooke now down, Madison hits a running elbow drop and slides to the outside of the ring, looking to make the most of Brooke’s injury. From the ring apron, Madison targets Brooke’s right hand and goes for a dropkick when Brooke rests her hands on the second rope. Fortunately for Brooke, she escapes Madison’s dropkick just in time.
Even through the pain, Brooke begins to make a comeback, kicking Madison in the midsection and leaping to the second rope of the turnbuckle to hit a diving clothesline! Brooke goes for the pin but Madison stays alive, kicking out at two.
With the Impact Zone fully behind her, Brooke decides to seek higher ground and climbs to the top rope of a turnbuckle. The risk pays off as she manages to hit Madison with an elbow drop from the top! Brooke goes for the pin but Madison won’t stay down. In disbelief, Brooke goes for another immediate pin but Madison still manages to get the shoulder up before the three count.
Brooke tries to end things with the Tess Shocker but loses her placement before she can fully hit her finisher. After dodging a clothesline from Brooke, Madison hits Brooke with the Rayne Drop to pick up the win as well as the three points needed to stay alive in group play. Post match, Madison lends a hand to Brooke, helping her get back on her feet and raises her arm to in honor of good sportsmanship. A final look at the scoreboard displays an even tie between all four participating Knockouts.
Thoughts: There isn’t a whole lot to say from a Knockouts match that only lasted roughly four minutes. Still, perhaps the reason for this shorten match may have been from Brooke’s legit injury from her previous match with Gail, given that all these World Title Series matches were taped in a marathon like fashion. Still, both Madison and Brooke worked with what they could.
I do again wonder why the opening promo was cut out from this match. From the descriptions of the spoilers, Madison delivered a small promo telling Brooke it would be best for her to sit out of the match with her hand injured as she will stop at nothing to earn a victory. It would have told the audience from the start that Brooke was entering this match with an injured hand rather than having to wait midway through the match. I feel small promos such as those would have helped add some interest to the spirit of competition over most of these matches that, for the most part, feel empty handed. Granted, there was a Madison’s opening video package where she states what odds are going against her in this match but I would’ve liked for TNA to have
With all the Knockouts now tied with three points each, these final group play matches will now narrow down who will move on to the final sixteen elimination round. One of these final matches takes place next week as Madison Rayne returns to take on Gail Kim. Slowly but surely we will reach that point where the intergender matches will begin. Until next time, hasta luego Knockouts fans!
