Hello Knockout fans, and welcome to a belated edition of the Impact Write-Up! I’m filling in for Eleri this week, so put on your metaphorical seatbelts!
We start our action exactly where it should be: the ring. Brooke, ODB and Velvet Sky will be going head-to-head-to-head in a Triple Threat match for the #1 contendership to Gail Kim‘s Knockouts Title:
Before the match can start, the Knockouts play a game of one-upsmanship, Brooke starting with some booty shaking, Velvet countering her with rope-straddling entrance and ODB taking out Brooke with her own sizable assets.
She whips both Velvet and Brooke into the corner and hits them with the only move that I despise more than the Bronco Buster – the double Bronco Buster! She figures the humiliation is enough to put Velvet down for the count, and goes for an early pin. Velvet kicks out, of course.
ODB scoops up Velvet, and Brooke comes from behind to roll her up. ODB kicks out. Brooke rams Velvet into ODB, sending ODB to the outside while she wears down Velvet. She hits her with a few chops and forearms before whipping her into the ropes. On the rebound, Velvet counters the momentum and hits Brooke with a clothesline and goes on a offensive tear, capping it off with a neckbreaker. She goes for the pin, but ODB dives in to break it up.
ODB slams Velvet to the mat, but Brooke pounces, hitting her with a neckbreaker. She climbs to the top rope and goes for a diving elbow, but ODB moves out of the way, and Brooke gets nothing but mat. Talk about hitting your funny bone…
With all three Knockouts are recovering, Gail Kim appears on the ramp, Lei’D Tapa by her side. We head to commercial break as Gail saunters to ringside.
When we return, all three competitors are back on their feet, trading blows. ODB gets the best of it, taking Velvet out of the equation and locking Brooke into a single leg crab. Velvet decides to get in on the action, taking Brooke’s free leg and putting it in a crab of her own. ODB breaks the hold, figuring that if Brooke did tap, she probably wouldn’t get credit for it anyways.
Instead of jaw jacking, they trade chops, Velvet eventually taking a clothesline from ODB that stops her in her tracks. ODB then scoops up Brooke and slams her onto Velvet. She just then notices Gail at ringside and leaves the ring to confront her. Okay, ODB: 1. You have both of your opponents almost finished! 2. You really didn’t notice Gail until now? The ramp’s like two feet from the ring.
Anyways, ODB is now preoccupied with Gail, who has Tapa step up in front of her. Brooke takes this opportunity to kick ODB in the back of the head, sliding out of the ring to collect her. Velvet heads to the outside of the ring as well, coming around the corner to hit Brooke with an explosive clothesline! She tosses Brooke and ODB back into the ring and goes for the pin on Brooke, who kicks out. She then tries the same on ODB, who also kicks out.
Brooke takes down Velvet with a clothesline and climbs to the top rope, just as her opponents are getting to their feet. She flies and hits both with a double crossbody, but it seems to hurt her as much as them. As all of the Knockouts reel from this, Gail steps up to the ring apron. Tapa follows, and both get verrry close to the action as Brooke takes it to Velvet against the ropes.
Just as Velvet turns the tables an is about to hit Brooke with a finisher, Gail enters the ring and hits her from behind, bringing the match to an end. She hits Velvet with the Eat Defeat, then orders Tapa to take out the rest. Tapa hits Brooke with the TKO as ODB pops up out of nowhere to toss Gail out of the ring.
This brings Tapa face to face (or forehead to forehead) with ODB. ODB fights hard, nailing Tapa with a few blows, but it’s not enough, and she too succumbs to the TKO.
With everyone disposed of, Gail takes the microphone, saying that she’s beaten everyone and thus has no competition in this division.
With that in mind, she challenges any woman outside TNA to meet her in the ring. If they beat her, they then get a shot at the Knockouts Title. She caps off the promo by dubbing herself the “first ever, longest reigning and greatest” Knockouts Champion of all time.
Later, we spot our fearless leader Dixie Carter twice. Once in a backstage segment with her nephew Ethan Carter III and another where she spins the Wheel of Dixie™:
We get another shot of Velvet at the very end of the show, as she checks on Chris Sabin after he’s defeated by Jeff Hardy in a brutal “Full Metal Mayhem” match:
Thoughts: We really should have seen this “open challenge” thing coming! With the lack of depth in the Knockouts division, it only makes sense to open up to new blood through one of the open challenge tropes. I gotta give credit to TNA for making an effort to expand its division, because, as we’ve said countless times, it desperately needs it.
We’ve seen this open challenge thing jumpstart a TNA career a few times before, perhaps most memorably with Taylor Wilde. Maybe this will give a indy star or TNA developmental Knockout the chance to make the jump to TNA TV. I just hope this isn’t a string of one-off appearances, because that won’t do much to add depth to the division.
Clearly this won’t be just another Awesome Kong squash tour, since Gail will be using Tapa to get these wins. It will be different in that respect, with fans wondering how any challenger will be able to counter Tapa’s interference. Perhaps by bringing in backup of their own? Hannah and Holly Blossom, I’m looking at you! Then again, that just might add fuel to the “you’re ripping off AJ and Tamina” flames, so maybe not.
A lot of people tend to knock Gail for her mic work, but she did fabulously here, keeping it short and sweet and giving herself that nifty “first-ever, longest reigning and greatest” tag line.
Needless to say, I can’t wait to see who they bring in for this storyline! Let’s hope we get another Taylor Wilde out of it.
