As 2012 draws to a close, the Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by.
Today: Katelyn shares her best moment from 2012 — Brooke Tessmacher winning the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary in June.
I’m a sucker for a good underdog story, and this one is just as fantastic as any.
When Brooke Adams made her WWE debut on television all the way back in 2007, she was part of a fun dancer’s troupe named Extreme Exposé with Layla and Kelly Kelly. She made only scarce in-ring appearances, and so when she was released in November 2007, not many were shocked.
After a very lengthy hiatus from the world of wrestling, she debuted for TNA in March 2010 as Eric Bischoff’s personal assistant. Working under the name “Ms. Tessmacher”, she was put in charge of the Knockouts division as the Knockout’s Law. In October 2010, Bischoff fired her from the role (after the power had gone to her head); informing her that if she wanted to remain in TNA she would have to begin competing in the ring.
So, when Brooke started putting in the effort to become a professional wrestler, taking the time to carefully train and work on her craft, it came as a surprise to most. She took what she had been handed and ran with it. Over the next year or so, Brooke continued to work hard, train and hone her skills and her improvement was becoming exceedingly obvious. She could hold her own in the ring, and proved many doubters wrong when she managed to cleanly pin the then-Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim, on three separate occasions. Although she lost in her first title challenge against Gail at Sacrifice in May 2012, she was now hungry for the singles title and she wasn’t going to stop trying until she got it. After defeating Mickie James, Tara and Velvet Sky in a four-way match on the June 7 edition of Impact Wrestling, she earned herself another shot at the title.
That shot would come three days later at Slammiversary, held in Brooke’s hometown of Texas.
The crowd was hot for their hometown girl from the word go. The match was very back and forth, with neither girl wanting to give in, but Gail’s cockiness proved to be a factor of fault and she ultimately fell victim to a roll up that gave Brooke the shock victory in her home state, validating all her hard work.
Winning the Knockouts Championship for the first time is surely an amazing feeling (as evidenced by Tessmacher’s genuine tears post-match), but doing it in your hometown as well? “Truly epic.”
