Greetings Knockouts fans!
Welcome to a special Impact Write-Up! No, not special in a sense that we’re getting another paradox “Free PPV” episode from TNA this week but rather this being the first Impact Write-Up by the newest Diva Dirt team member, yours truly, Josue. As an avid TNA (and more importantly Knockouts) fan, I look forward to bringing you guys the weekly review for the women of TNA and hope that you guys will enjoy reading them as well. Now that we’ve gotten past the introductions, let’s jump right into the action!
This week, we have a Knockouts Battle Royal to determine who will be the new number one contender to face Gail Kim for the Knockouts Championship. Madison Rayne, Taryn Terell, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Rebel, Brittany and TNA’s newest Knockout Havok all want this same opportunity for the gold and waste little time fighting one another for it once the bell rings.
The Knockouts start off by each taking a different corner in the six sided ring with The Beautiful People double teaming Rebel, Brittany squaring off with Taryn and Havok starting things off with Madison. After choking out Madison to the ground, Havok decides to make her way around her fellow competitors and quickly delivers back shots to Angelina Love and Velvet Sky as they attempted to eliminate Rebel who too would receive a shot from Havok’s forearm.
Still not satisfied by the number of bodies she took down, Havok then sets her eyes on golden girl Taryn and takes her down with a blow to the face. Havok’s interruption allows Brittany to bide a few seconds to stay in the match but it isn’t enough to save her from Havok’s hit list as Havok would pick her up and slam her down to the mat in quick fashion.
Proudly having taking all her opponents down, Havok takes this opportunity to embrace her dominance by taunting them in the center the ring. Shortly after getting back on her feet, 2015 calendar cover girl, Velvet Sky signals to the rest of the Knockouts to unite and attack the common enemy! In an instant moment, Havok is surrounded by united force and brought to the ground!
The strategy is short lived, as it wouldn’t take long for Havok to break this circle of Knockouts by brushing them off her and shoving them out of her way. Jaded into a corner, Madison attempts a kick to Havok but gets her left leg caught at the hands of Havok who swings her over the top rope and attacks midsection for the first elimination of the match. Following Madison’s elimination, Taryn takes the opportunity for a sneak attack from behind by jumping on Havok’s back. Unable to get a hold of Taryn, Havok would use the ring ropes to sway her off and delivers the finishing strike for the second elimination. Brittany takes a different approach when confronting Havok and attacks her head on but Havok manages to stay on her feet. With no luck to bring Havok down, Brittany runs the ropes only to be hit by a clothesline and from Havok for her troubles. Havok then drags Brittany by the hair to a corner to inflict more damage by choking Brittany while she is down with her boot. Ambushed to a corner, Brittany leaps from Havok as she runs towards her and attempts to eliminate Havok using her legs but Havok is one step ahead and reverses one of Brittany’s punches with her own for Havok’s third elimination of the match.
Down to the final four, The Beautiful People continue their attacks towards Rebel; who has been fighting the duo solo thus far. After a running clothesline from Velvet to Rebel, Angelina takes her try at it but is eliminated when Rebel dodges it and lowers the top ropes sending Angelina outside the ring.
Suddenly without her partner, Velvet takes her turn against Havok but is quickly brought down. The underdog, Rebel, would then try her own sneak attack, similar to that of Taryn’s, jumping on Havok’s back. Havok manages to shake Rebel off and go straight for an attack but Rebel quickly evades Havok’s clutches by pulling out a split matrix dodge. Following an elbow connection, Rebel goes high risk but is punished when Havok stops her and vigorously tosses Rebel outside thing and onto the steel steps!
Narrowing down to the final two, Velvet strikes as many hits as she can; kicks, punches and all but to no avail. Instead, Havok chokes Velvet onto the corner and goes for the Air Raid Crash. Velvet is able to counter and goes for a sleeper hold but Havok’s size difference is enough to wear off Velvet’s hold. After managing to rid of Velvet’s hold, Havok goes for a leg drop but Velvet moves out of harms way just in time to run the ropes for a cross body. Havok catches Velvet in mid air and scoops her out the ring for the final elimination leaving HAVOKKKKKKKKK (in my Christy Hemme‘s voice) your new number one contender for the Knockouts Title!
Later in the show, we catch up with the champion herself, Gail Kim, for thoughts on Havok’s victory:
Gail assures us she has no problem facing Havok as she’s never backed down from anyone that’s ever challenged her for the title. She says her real issue is Havok’s approach in harming people such as herself and Taryn Terrell. Gail concludes by reminding us that’s she’s never been afraid to get in the ring with anyone and Havok is no different.
Thoughts: Given how Havok has been booked since her debut a few weeks ago, it was pretty much a given that Havok was going to win this Battle Royal. I thought the match served it’s purpose in TNA continuing to build Havok’s dominance as she nearly eliminated everyone in this match except for Angelina, who was surprisingly eliminated by Rebel.
Speaking of Rebel, while I find her to be a fast learner, I’m still not sure if she’s ready to be wrestling full time just yet. Yes she was injured in this match because of her landing on to the steel steps but I’ve also noticed parts during the match where she wasn’t selling properly. Maybe I’m just being picky but I see tons of potential in Rebel so I really want her to craft as much of her work as she can. She spent most of the match against The Beautiful People so perhaps we’ll see them continue to feud with one another.
Gail’s promo just reminds my why I’ve always loved her as a fighting face champion and I cannot wait for her match against Havok!
That’ll do it for this week Knockouts fans! Hasta Luego!
