Forgive me if I don’t seem too excited for the new Knockouts Champion, Tara after her win over ODB at Genesis last night. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for her but I just can’t help but feel as though we fans will need to keep looking over our shoulders in case she drops it again. Surely TNA wouldn’t make that mistake again?! I’d hope to think that last night was the end of the game of ‘championship hot potato’ [TNA’s words, not mine] and we can draw a line under the ridiculously often title switches that have plagued the belt since July last year. It’s time to bring some prestige back to the Knockouts Championship and I hope Tara’s current run will do just that.
Last night, she defeated ODB in a two out of three falls match in two straight falls in what we can only hope was the final death knell for this feud. Watch below:
Under Hulk Hogan’s new iniative to make TNA about the wrestling, the Knockouts got plenty of time for their two out of three falls bout and I hate to toot my own horn, but I had predicted that Tara would take the win in two straight falls. [Toot toot!] In all seriousness, I think both Knockouts used their time well and delivered the best match of their series of bouts, a [hopefully] fitting end to this feud.
It isn’t as though either Knockouts are green in the ring but the main complaint has been that they lack chemistry together, their matches haven’t lit up our screens in the past but I would argue that is also somewhat down to the lack of time they’ve had in their matches. Here, I think we got a perfect length bout between the two and I believe they had more chemistry here than they have shown in the past.
The first fall started slow but that is a given due to the nature of the match. Particular standouts in this fall included the exchange of chops between the similarly styled wrestlers, showboating their skills and Tara hits a beautiful enzugiri. The fall here is won by Tara with a small package.
I really liked the set up for the second fall as we had ODB, who lost the first fall, trying to catch up by turning up the aggression. I can’t say I think ODB is the most exciting wrestler to watch but I was really captured by her here, I think the hard, aggressive style suits her well when she puts the shtick away and just goes balls out. The spot on the outside was well done with ODB hitting a baseball slide on Tara, knocking her off the apron. It’s always nice to see the Knockouts go to the outside and given the two competitors in this match, perhaps they should have utilised this more. ODB drops Tara face first onto the side of the ring which looked great, but she then got back into the ring to break the 10-count. I would have liked to see more outside action, perhaps some brawling.
It was interesting to see ODB apply the body scissors grounding Tara, nice tactical maneuver but it went far too long. I think this whole spot was about a minute or two.
ODB hits a nice powerslam but Tara manages to come back really quickly, hitting the Widow’s Peak for the win. Nice way to end the match but the spot seemed a little rushed.
All in all however, I thought this was a step up over their previous bouts — not necessarily a great match but not a bad one either, and a good way to end this feud, assuming it is the end.
With all the title changes with the belt over the past several months, it’s time to rebuild the prestige of the Knockouts Title and the only way to do that is picking a champion and sticking to her. Tara’s blink-and-you’ll-miss title reigns have done no one any favours and have only made fans lose stock in the belt. Tara needs a lengthy run with the belt and needs some decent challengers to step up to the plate. I know I keep saying it, but I think Alissa Flash would be perfect for the spot of next challenger and I think putting on a series of matches between these two over the next couple of months will rebuild that prestige and get fans excited for the belt again.
Match Rating: 2.5/5
