Good morning, afternoon, or evening, ladies and gents! (Circle whichever applies to the time you read this.) Welcome to another shining edition of the Impact Write-Up with yours truly giving his candid thoughts on all things Knockout related that he can locate on YouTube to include in video form. This week, we first had a really well put together video package where Gail Kim recollected her thoughts on becoming the first Knockouts Champion back at Bound for Glory 2007, and then what followed was a segment where Tara, that wonderful, sometimes mentally unstable Knockout of ours, wanted to officially cement Brooke Tessmacher as the Knockouts Champion following her upset victory over the woman who basically helped bring her up the ranks of the entire division. What followed may not have been exactly what Brooke had in mind, but it’s what I craved to see, so let us begin before I begin twitching in true psychotic form… or while sprouting out the phrase “Mind ya bidness… that’s all, just mind ya bidness” in true Fresh Prince of Bel-Air form for all three of you that understand the reference!
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Following a stellar video on Gail Kim’s historic title win where she became the inaugural Knockouts Champion back at Bound for Glory 2007, we are granted the entrance of the Widow’s Peak Freak, Tara! She climbs into the ring and announces to us all that she wants to take a moment to congratulate her best friend, the Knockouts Champion… Miss Tessmacher! Out comes the Knockouts Champ who smiles at her BFF and poses with some fan signs. Her appearance on Sports Illustrated’s website is nicely plugged, but back to business. Tara reminds us all that student did beat the teacher at No Surrender. She was partly upset with the loss, but also proud and happy for Brooke because it meant that she taught her well. Tara just wants to take a second to present Brooke with her title, because she proved Sunday that she is the best when she took down the teacher.
Tara then takes the belt from Brooke and proceeds to strap it around her waist. She announces her best friend, Miss Tessmacher as the official Knockouts Champion! From there, Brooke takes some time to pose on the ring apron as Tara applauds from ringside and Brooke’s music joins her posing. Brooke then decides to step over towards the farthest turnbuckle, and as she turns around… BAM! Tara nails her with a huge clothesline! She then kicks her square in the jaw and proceeds to set up for the Widow’s Peak! She hoists Brooke in the air and drills her right to the canvas, complete with the title around her abdomen. This new mean spirited version of Tara then pats the title and kicks the dust from her boots onto her (former) BFF!
Thoughts: I wish to assemble a church choir and conduct them in a ceremonious hymn to show my love and admiration for this segment. Finally, a Knockouts feud that has some story behind it, more than just champion vs. contender. I’m not sure how to properly explain it, but I just really liked everything about it tonight. Tara really played up the best friend role to the point where I was beginning to think… okay, is she going to turn or not?! Especially when Brooke was posing and Tara was on the outside clapping, I thought the segment was just going to end there… but alas the big BAM moment comes when Tara lays out her “BFF” with the Widow’s Peak (completely doing it with the title strapped around Brooke’s waist)! It reminded me of those moments like when Mickie James turned on Trish Stratus, or relating back to when Victoria turned on Molly Holly in 2003. It came off excellent, in my opinion, especially with Tara’s facial expressions after the big swerve and Brooke looking completely dazed after the clothesline. Not only that, but Brooke’s music playing as she posed was probably the best touch of all because it truly made me think we weren’t getting anything extra and just going to the next segment or commercial. Had it not played, I’d have been like, “Alright, it’s obvious that something’s about to go down”, so kudos to whoever added that because it made a world of difference for me.
Tara had her title shot at No Surrender and Brooke pinned her fair and square, so I feel like it’s way more believable for her to snap now while it’s still fresh on her mind as opposed to three or four weeks down the road (although I’d have been fine with whenever it happened). This is the type of stuff I’ve missed in the Knockouts division, and love that they’re doing more of at the moment. Whether or not people think it happened too quickly, or was wasted being on Impact as opposed to No Surrender, I’m just happy it happened period. TNA is no stranger to dropping Knockouts feuds month to month and going with someone different, so the fact that not only is this being built up around the same two women leading into their biggest event of the year, but that there’s a story behind it… and a good one at that, complete with the past of TNT’s rise as Tag Champions, ultimately to Brooke’s rise as Knockouts Champ while Tara sat on the sidelines cheering her on, it’s exactly what I wanted and I’m getting pretty excited for what more we could see.
Now I’m not sure if their segment ultimately did get cut short or not considering both were in their ring gear, and I heard Taryn was also backstage in her referee attire. To be honest, though, if the match was Brooke taking on Tara again, I’m fine with this being the only thing we got because I don’t feel them facing again would have added anything more, and it also keeps them away from one another until Bound for Glory where I’m guessing they will meet one on one. Everything I’ve asked for this story to take has happened so far, but for the next few weeks I definitely hope we get some promos. I would love an interview with Tara where she acts all badass saying that Brooke took her opportunities, and her spotlight. She’s just a rookie after all, and she should have granted Tara a match from the start of her reign as a thank you, not force Tara to earn one by beating her at the last Open Fight Night. There are so many possibilities, especially since Bound for Glory is still a long ways away. To be honest, as long as we get some promos with them and maybe even a crazy brawl around the arena or two, I would be completely satisfied. Job well done so far, keep it up!
