Greetings everybody, and welcome to another Impact Write-Up. While I don’t think I can ever enjoy the program the same way as I once did without the beaming presence of my god, Miss Karen, tonight was an all around great showing for the ladies of TNA. We got not only one, but TWO matches with the first being Velvet Sky taking on Madison Rayne. Later on in the show, Knockouts Champ, Gail Kim also took the fight to Mickie James in what is sure to rival their past fantastic showings. ODB was also present throughout the night as well, so let’s get this started!
First up, we head backstage to see Madison Rayne and Gail Kim arguing with one another about last week’s title loss. They begin screaming, until coming across Sting asking for the other to get a match tonight to improve on last week’s actions. Sting claims they picked the wrong night to do this, as tonight, Gail will wrestle Mickie James and Madison will face Velvet Sky! Sting walks off, as the two continue to fight with one another down the hallway.
We head out to the ring where Christy Hemme introduces the KILLLEERRRRRR QUEEEEEENNNNN, Madison Rayne for her upcoming singles bout. Madison walks by all of her adorning fans doing her patented pageant wave until being cut off by skirt wearing Velvet Sky. Velvet climbs up onto the ring apron and attempts to let the pigeons loose, but it proves to just be a cover up as she quickly jolts into the ring and spears Madison as the bell sounds and we get things underway. She pounds Madison with fists and relentless beating until Rayne gets up and falls into the corner.
Velvet does not let up in this vicious assault, running forth with a clothesline and then dragging the Killer Queen all the way to the other side of the ring for continuous agony. Sky has to be physically restrained by the referee, as she snapmares Rayne, kicks her in the back, and then runs off the ropes with a dropkick for a two count. From there, Madison begins to take control until Sky hits a boot to the face. She goes for a repeat of the move, but Rayne catches her by the legs, throws her feet over the second rope and slams her down by the hair. Madison with a boot to the head for a near fall as the crowd tries to get behind the plucky underdog. Rayne applies a cravate, but Velvet fights out. She runs off the ropes, but Madison simply shoves her to the outside and knees her in the stomach.
Rayne with a sick rope drop neckbreaker, but does not attain the three count desired. Madison then applies a headlock as Mike Tenay begins discussing some other program during the match, likely being that it will be the highest rated segment of the show. Sky fights out with a jawbreaker and falls into the bottom of a nearby corner. She fights out of Madison’s attack and sends her off the ropes. A clothesline/elbow combo follows, concluding with a bulldog! Sky goes for her neckflip type move, but Madison counters and goes for the Rayne Drop. Velvet flips out of that and attempts a running bridge roll up, but Madison rolls through and grabs the tights for the win! Sky can not believe what has happened, as Madison instructs the referee to leave her alone.
In what’s sure to please Taz, we get a pan up shot of Christy Hemme to greet us back to the ring as HARRRRRDCURRRRRRR COUNNNNTREEHHHHH blares over the sound system. Out skips our resident cowgirl, Mickie James slaps some hands and poses in the ring to her loyal fanbase. Suddenly, she is cut off by the STILL addicting theme of our Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim! Kim walks out looking beautiful, yet deadly, a trait I also see in Nikita (airing Fridays aka tonight at 8/7c on The CW!). Gail doesn’t seem as happy as usual, and after last week, I wouldn’t be either. Nonetheless, she poses with her remaining title belt as the bell sounds and we get started with a lock up.
Gail scores with a side headlock takeover that Mickie reverses into a leg choke of sorts. Kim leaps into a jacknife cover, but James bridges up and reverses that into a backslide attempt. Gail does not fall though, which sparks James to change her game plan and snapmare. From there, she runs off the ropes and connects with a dropkick for a near fall as Kim then takes advantage by taking Mickie into the corner. She goes for the elastic type move, but James moves and Gail falls to the outside where she grabs her title belt and tries to use it on MJ. James blasts her in the stomach, thus knocking the title to the floor, and flips her into the ring where she hits a flurry of punches.
Mickie goes for the Mick-A-Rana but Gail counters into an amazing leg breaker. She continues to scout the leg as we get a sense of what her plan will be tonight. Kim blasts the knee right into the mat with a smile on her face, as it looks like Mickie won’t have a leg to stand on tonight (ba-dum-dum). Mickie tries to fight out, but it’s to no avail as Gail just continues this public beatdown with a neat submission hold. The crowd tries to get behind Hardcore Country, as more plugging during the high rated segments commence! Kim with a leg drop DDT type move, before locking in another submission to add more pain.
James is now on one leg and counters into a quick, yet awesome, roll up for a near fall. Mickie proceeds to score with the arm trap neckbreaker, but both women are down and no cover can be made. A kip up by Lady Hardcore, before she ascends to the middle rope and hits a Thesz Press for a two count. James then baseball slides Gail to the outside, as she sneakily grabs the championship and whacks Mickie in the face while the referee isn’t in sight. Gail then hooks both legs and gets the victory! She celebrates her win, as we question if the same can happen this Sunday at Victory Road.
You can also check out a segment between ODB and her partner here:
Thoughts: A top notch night for the Knockouts. Getting two matches, both with good time allowed too, is pretty unheard of in today’s mainstream wrestling but they managed to accomplish it to perfection. Madison and Velvet took a unique spin, having Sky the one who dominates only for Madison to sneak the win at the end, and I liked it! Velvet had a right to be upset because essentially, this would be her in Rayne’s position if she hadn’t snuck into the battle royal a few weeks ago and tossed Velvet over. I also was hoping Madison and Gail both stayed heel during this feud, and I’m very glad they took it that way.
Gail and Mickie also put on a fun match, although I still hold their Impact main event to be my favorite between the two. I absolutely loved the legbreaker spot as it was so unique and I wasn’t expecting it. I love when wrestlers can do different variations of a move, so that when you expect one thing, you get surprised by seeing something different. I expected Gail to do the face plant once she had James in that position, but alas I was surprised, and in a good way. I like that they had both women cheat to win their showings, albeit in different ways as it continues to set them apart, but reiterate that they are still heels. The Knockouts division is shining again, and I HOPE that when Gail does eventually lose the title, more women are able to have reigns like this. Ccough Velvet Sky cough*
All in all, a great night to be a Knockout!
