Hola Knockout fans and welcome to this week’s Impact Write-Up! Yup, much like the company itself, we’re dropping all of the GFW references that once came with Impact Wrestling. Seriously though, I ask again: Why the hell would you announce the merging of two companies without first finalizing things!? Ugh! But we’ll leave the identity crisis rant for another time.
Anyway, this week’s episode of Impact is pretty much the go home show to next week’s Victory Road special. On the card to said special event is a Knockouts tag match featuring the team of the Knockouts Champion Sienna, Taya Valkyrie and Taryn Terrell taking on the team of Gail Kim, Rosemary and Allie. So how exactly did this tag team match come together? Let’s find out.
It all started with Taya taking on Ava Storie. Much like last week’s Knockouts match, this one is a squash. Taya whips Storie to a corner and lands a running clothesline. Taya adds in a high kick and takes Storie down with a snapmare followed by a kick to the back. Taya throws Storie to a corner and then takes the rookie Knockout to the center of the ring to hit her newly named finisher Road to Valhalla for the three count win. Taya’s Lucha Royalty entrance to this match felt longer than the actual match to be quite honest.
Post match is where some of the fun begins to take place.
Taya takes to the mic to address the Knockouts division. She introduces herself as Lucha Royalty and says the one reason she came to Impact – for the Knockouts Championship. Taya continues by calling out Ms. Karen, advising that the Boss Lady not waste her time. Rosemary’s music hit and the Demon Assassin is already looking for some payback after Taya’s blindside attack from a few weeks ago.
Rosemary starts off the face-to-face confrontation by laughing at Taya’s demand for a shot at the Knockouts Title. Rosemary says that if anyone deserves a shot at the Knockouts Title it should her, arguing that had it not been for the interference of KM from a few weeks ago, Sienna wouldn’t even be the Knockouts Champion.
Taya responds to Rosemary with a shove and a brawl breaks out between the two. This leads to Sienna coming out to attack Rosemary and have a brief argument with Taya as to who still carries the Knockouts Championship.
In the midst of the two on one attack, Allie comes to the rescue of her Demon Friend but Taryn Terrell follows suit and the heels are in control. Gail Kim comes down last to even up the playing field and help clear the the ring of the heels to end our segment.
We later find #TeamNinjaDemonBunny backstage vowing to do a lot more to their rivals during their next encounter.
On the other side of things, Sienna, Taya and Taryn march into Karen Jarrett’s office to demand a match at Victory Road against Allie, Gail Kim & Rosemary. Under normal circumstances, Karen wouldn’t think of doing a favor for the women standing in front of her but since she’ll enjoy seeing their asses get kicked, she books the requested Knockouts tag match.
.@ImChelseaGreen is taking that breakup with @gradowrestling… pretty well, all things considered! #LaurelIsFine #IMPACTonPOP pic.twitter.com/Btgxy686wB
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 22, 2017
Oh and we also check in with Laurel Van Ness this week who is tending to her breakup from Grado by living it up with fans from the Impact Zone. Is Hot Mess Laurel back already?
Thoughts: There isn’t too much to say about this week’s Knockouts match that wasn’t already said last week. An average squash match help elevate Taya as the new force to be reckon with in the Knockouts division. I mean, I’m not sure if defeating the likes of Ava Storie and Amber Nova in under two minutes is saying much but it’s the formula we’ve grown accustomed to at this point. Perhaps Impact can help elevate these women (and the rest of their newer names) with more character post Bound for Glory. Even if they are jobbers, give them some character that they can work with.
Things can get clustered whenever multiple women are thrown into one segment. I felt that here during the all out Knockouts brawl – sort of just waiting for motions of names running down to the ring until Gail made the ultimate save. Putting that to the side, I will say that I enjoyed the little mic exchange between Taya and Rosemary. While there was mention as to who should be the one getting a shot at the Knockouts Championship, these two can certainly work a feud outside the title picture based on their different personas.
Other positives during the brawl was seeing Allie showcase a more fierce and competitive side as well the animosity still floating around between Sienna and Taya. Just because both women are heels doesn’t mean they have to suddenly get along. They just have to be willing to work together for the sake of taking on the good guys and then deal with one another.
Both backstage segments were fun in their own ways, especially the ending to the Heels meeting Karen Jarrett. Overall, the build to Victory Road next week felt there and I’m looking forward to this tag match. Let’s hope with the amount of women involved, there is time given to this match so that everyone can get a chance to shine.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling? Are you excited for next week’s Victory Road? Do you think Laurel will ever find her happily ever after? Let us know in the comments below!
