Welcome one and all to another thrilling, gripping, exciting, riveting Impact Write-Up by yours truly. This week proved to be a rather interesting night for the ladies of TNA, as we were treated to not one, but two solid matches from the Knockouts. First up, we, of course, can not ignore the presence of the Mother Teresa in a sea full of “bitches” and “prostitutes”, Miss Karen! But aside from that brilliance, we also had the woman who could leave this Sunday with some new gold around her waist, Mickie James, as she took on the Killllllerrrrrr Quuueeennnnnnn, Madison Rayne in singles action. Added onto that, we got to witness the Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim, face off against our one and only, Aunt Traci! I felt like a proud nephew, but enough about me… let’s get right into this Knockouts Action!
Skip to 4:02
We open this week’s Impact with a segment involving Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, and the Queen of the Mountain, Miss Karen! Our VP of the Knockouts division can be heard stating that ODB did not do the job they wanted her to do last week, and that tonight she is relying on Madison to take Mickie down tonight. She says that this is no time for her to suck up for her; saying that it’s time for Madison to tear Mickie apart. She ends it by saying that she’s relying on her to get the job done, before turning her attention to Gail and informing her that she also has a match tonight, and it’s against… AUNT TRACI! Gail tries to get out of it, but Miss Karen tells Gail to calm down and attempts to explain the matter after closing the door on the camera man!
Skip to 2:06
Backstage, we spot the trio of Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, and Miss Karen walking towards the ring for Madison’s upcoming match, as her opponent, Mickie James, can be seen making her way out to the squared circle as well. After a brief commercial break, we return to the ring where Madison Rayne makes her grand entrance before all her loyal fans in the Impact Zone. She removes her coveted tiara, as out skips Miss Hardcore Country herself, Mickie James! Fresh off her street fight victory, Mickie slides into the ring and goes for her pose on the turnbuckle, only Madison quickly attacks from behind.
Madison puts the boot straight to the throat in her ambush, before sending Mickie into the opposing corner. She follows up with some stiff head bashing, followed by a running hip to the abdomen. Madison runs off the ropes with a brutal facebuster and hooks the leg for a brief two count. Rayne just continues to tear Mickie apart from her earlier attack, as the crowd tries to get behind their country gal.
Rayne locks in a headlock to attempt choking Mickie out, as the fans continue to will Mickie on. James gets to her feet and finally goes to fight out of it, only Madison leaps onto her back with a sleeper. James falls backwards and jams Madison into the corner, but Rayne runs back and jumps onto her back again. (Side note: Madison Rayne is getting a little too into some piggy back rides right now.) Mickie finally snapmares her over and gets some momentum on her side with a few clotheslines and a flapjack!
A nice kip up follows, as James heads to the top rope and leaps off with an attempted Lou Thesz, only Madison moves out of the way and lays Mickie out. Boot to the head gets her a two count, as she seems to be in shock. The crowd gets behind Mickie, as Madison begins shoving her head all over the canvas. Rayne places James’ head on the second rope and goes to choke her out, following it over with a suplex/neckbreaker mash up for a two count. Madison then goes for the Rayne Drop, but Mickie counters with an arm drag and then drills her with the Mickie-DT for the victory! As she celebrates, Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim, walks out onto the stage to engage in a stare down with her future opponent.
As we head back out to the arena, Christy Hemme can be seen announcing the presence of our one and only Aunt Traci! She makes her way out from the back as I sit on the edge of my seat watching her get ready to take care of bidniss in the ring. Traci steps into the ring and prepares for her return to the Impact ring, as out comes her opponent, multi-champion, Gail Kim! (Side note: I oddly really like this theme song.) Gail walks out looking great with both her titles upon her shoulders, before posing on the ring apron and stepping into the ring with Aunt Traci.
The bell sounds, as Gail readies for Aunt Traci to lay down and take the fall for her to get a quick victory. Traci does as told, but as Gail hooks the leg, Aunt Traci kicks out at a two count! The crowd goes absolutely nuts, as she drops Gail and begins relentlessly beating the crap out of her. A few shoulder blocks follow, as Traci charges forth to Gail in the corner and begins blasting her in the abdomen. She slams Gail’s head into the turnbuckle, as I scream in cheer at the sight of Aunt Traci back in the ring where she belongs! Aunt Traci tosses Kim down by the hair and garners a two count, before the two begin trading shots with one another.
Traci gets the upper hand and continues her beatdown on the Knockouts Champ, which is complete with a running knee to the back & clothesline combo! Traci fires the crowd up before DRILLING Gail with a sick spear. Wait… what is this?! Out of nowhere comes TNA’s shining saint, Miss Karen! She screams at Aunt Traci, questioning what she thinks she’s doing right now! This distracts beloved Aunt Traci from the match, and allows Madison Rayne to nail her from behind with the Knockouts Tag Team Title belt. Gail takes advantage of this, and rolls Aunt Traci up for the victory as the trio then celebrates Traci’s defeat.
Thoughts: Another solid night for the Knockouts! I thought both matches were awesome for different reasons. In Mickie/Madison, I thought it was one of their better matches together and I loved Madison’s aggression at the start as she tried to obey Miss Karen’s orders. I also enjoyed Mickie’s comeback at the end, and how Madison kept hopping on her back to try to destroy her as ordered. In Traci/Gail, it was all about the story and how Aunt Traci’s anger that she’s been bottling up inside was finally able to come out. The crowd was really into her, and it made the match come off so well. I really hope to see more of her in the ring for future shows.
