IMPACT’s first pay-per-view of the year, Hard to Kill, was a shining spot for the Knockouts Division.
Between opening the show with the first-ever Ultimate X match for the women to being the first event to have the Knockouts World Title in the main event, the buzz was incredible. In that main event, Mickie James defeated Deonna Purrazzo to retain the Knockouts gold in a Texas Death Match.
On the most recent episode of GAW TV, the Executive Vice President of IMPACT!, Scott D’Amore, was the guest and he discussed the Hard to Kill event. The hype around this rematch certainly has been the best thing going for IMPACT! regardless of gender and D’Amore wanted to highlight that.
“HERstory, I think we’ve done a lot of that in IMPACT Wrestling and I think we have a lot more to come with our Knockouts and female athletes. To me, one of the cool things there, I got the sense that there was so much support from the women and men for the Knockouts taking the main event slot, but I also, like all of us, if you’re in this thing and don’t want to be World Champion, you don’t belong in this business. I think there were some egos that were a little bit knocked down and little bit bruised because the Knockouts took a slot that I think, for far too long, our men’s World Title has always felt that was their slot. I’ve seen it happen over the years when a tag match or X-Division match went there. I think we saw a little bit of that. Everybody, in general, stands back and looks at it and says, ‘hey, it’s great, they deserve it,’ but there is also the ‘why isn’t it me?’ That gives a great bit of kick in the ass. You want that spot? That’s not necessarily your spot. Go there and earn it,” he stated.
D’Amore continued by saying, “The fact that Mickie and Deonna, two amazing athletes, from really two generations that are crossing over, there is no question that was the strongest story, no question it’s two of the very best going out there. [Mickie and Deonna] deserve to be in that spot. It wasn’t, ‘this would be cool because…’ and that’s one of the reasons we didn’t want to talk about it ahead of time. We didn’t want to make it seem like a ‘Hey, look, the Knockouts…’ like using it as a marketing tool. We’ve been very matter of fact. It’s the main event because it should be the main event. It shouldn’t be that big of news that the Knockouts World Title was in the main event because it’s two of the very best competitors in the world going out there and have had an amazing build up and deserve to be there. That doesn’t take anything away from the men’s World Title that went out there and killed it. Everybody, regardless of male or female, need to go out there, kick ass, work hard, and if you earn it, you’re gonna get that opportunity.” [h/t – Fightful]
James now has a new rivalry set to start as Tasha Steelz became the winner of the Ultimate X match granting her a future championship opportunity. The date of their match hasn’t been confirmed but it will most likely be after WWE’s Royal Rumble at the end of the month. James is entering a WWE event as the Knockouts Champion.
Now that Purrazzo has lost her rematch, she now has her sights set on the ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C. The two do battle on this evening’s IMPACT! in a Winner Take All match. Purrazzo is the current AAA Reina de Reinas Champion.
You can catch the full interview with Scott D’Amore on GAW TV below.
Check back in with Diva Dirt tonight to join the Discussion Post for IMPACT to talk about all of your favorite Knockouts.
