With just three days to go until Bound for Glory and the big four-way Knockouts Title match, the Knockouts got a brief respite from competing in the ring and instead were asked to bring their A-game on the microphone. Yay! It’s time for a good old fashioned promo to help sell this match. Nice call.
Let’s see how it all went down…
Out first is the hotly tipped favorite to win the four-way match, Velvet Sky. Will the underdog finally have her day at Bound for Glory? She’s closely followed by the former champion, Mickie James… and then rather unusually, out come Angelina Love and current champion Winter. Where’s Madison Rayne? There she is! On the arm of VP of Knockouts, Karen Jarrett, with Traci closely following. That’s a lot of Knockouts in one ring. No good can come of this.
Karen gets on the mic and tells the ladies that they’re only on the card at Bound for Glory because she got them on there, because no one wanted them there. Um, that’s as opposed to every other pay per view where there’s always a Knockouts match?
And there’s our first bitch/slut/ho comment of the evening courtesy of Karen. “I’m talking about you, Velvet”, she continues. Velvet wants to know what Karen’s problem is and tells her “Enough, already”. I guess Velvet is the Kelly to Karen’s Vickie. Karen continues to scold Velvet telling her that she’ll say when it’s enough, while Madison, Karen’s favorite new play toy, screams at Velvet also. Karen then pulls out Sable‘s old line (or, well close to it) about women wanting to be her and men wanting to see her. Karen says the crowd that Velvet draws is the “scum of the earth” amongst other things – ouch!
Velvet speaks out next, telling Karen that there will be a time when Karen will respect her. Velvet declares that she’ll be the next Knockouts Champion. “Over my dead body!” cries Karen. Meanwhile, Traci has positioned herself on all fours behind Karen and Velvet pushes her over. The two Knockouts take delight in Karen’s fall from grace, if you will. Madison and Winter defend Karen’s honor by attacking Velvet and soon Mickie gets involved too, as does Angelina. Mickie quickly evacuates Angelina from the ring and now it’s just the four women in the Knockouts Championship match brawling. Security breaks things up as the segment comes to a close.
Has that whet your appetite for Bound for Glory? Perhaps if you’re a Velvet Sky fan. This segment was all about Velvet and Karen, and not about the Knockouts Title match. It’s a shame how little emphasis has been put on Winter in both of her title reigns and with the numbers against her on Sunday, I have a feeling she will lose the title again. Winter could have been built up far more as champion and should have been the one on the microphone tonight dissing all of her opponents and getting into their heads as only Winter does. Can you imagine if Velvet, Mickie and Madison were all in the ring and Winter cut a promo on them from the ramp and all of a sudden her patented red mist/blood came down on all three of her challengers?
It looks like this segment was a set-up to Velvet winning the Knockouts Championship this Sunday after four long years. Similar to Kelly, she was an underdog, rose through the ranks and could finally be getting her moment. It’s possible that Velvet might win and go on to feud with Madison with Karen in her corner, and eventually have a match with Karen.
I thought that Karen did a good job on the mic as always. She really is TNA’s answer to Vickie Guerrero. I’d love to see those two in a segment one day!
Also on Impact this week, we saw the debut of Toxxin, who aligned herself with Ink Inc — Jessie Neal and Shannon Moore — in their feud with Mexican America.
As Mexican America, Rosita and Sarita included, beat down Jesse and Shannon, out comes the spike-haired & tattooed Von Eerie — who looks unlike any other female wrestler on TV — and takes down Rosita & Sarita with a double clothesline. Von Eerie then hits a spear on Rosita. As Ink Inc clear house, Jesse gets on the mic and tells Mexican America that they can bring their women to Bound for Glory, and they’ll bring theirs.
Great debut for Christina (who will probably get a new name soon). I think the crowd was behind her and she has a very unique look which makes her stand out from all of the other Knockouts. That is something that the division was built around when it first launched and something that should be celebrated. Christina is able to appeal to those fans, both male and female, who have the whole punk look. I’m excited to see how she develops in TNA. Working with Sarita is a great start for her as she is a steady-handed veteran and could give her some great matches on Impact.
Overall, a solid week. Ready for Bound for Glory this Sunday? I am!
What did you think of this week’s Impact?
