Greetings everyone and welcome to your official TNA Genesis recap extravaganza! Impact Wrestling rang in the new year with a pay per view last night and what a show it was. Knockouts-wise, we saw Gail Kim defend her Knockouts Championship against challenger, Mickie James, in a match that was sure to be top notch from the get go. Velvet Sky, however, did not let this go down like their previous showings which saw Madison Rayne hijack Mickie’s hopes and dreams of becoming a nine time champ. Just what did she have up her sleeve? Why scroll on down and have a gander before I sic some bitches and skanks on you.
We head backstage to see Jeremy Borash awaiting Sting’s arrival… until he is stopped by our very own Velvet Sky! She tells JB that she knows Sting is due here and she’s been looking for him all day. Velvet mentions that she would like to be the new Knockouts VP since she displays loyalty as a VP should as she’s been here, consistently, for five years now and never went away. Sting can’t seem to get a word in before Velvet turns the attention to Madison Rayne, and says that she sticks her dirty paws in all of the matches. Velvet claims that Mickie James needs to have a fair chance in tonight’s match, and that won’t happen with Madison Rayne standing behind Gail, therefore she’s come up with a brilliant plan to keep Madison away. Velvet then whispers it into Sting’s ear, but Sting says the crew could never pull it off in this short amount of time. Velvet understands and says that all she needed was his approval because she had it built earlier in the day. She then dubs it the “Velvet Touch”, as Sting agrees to support it and Velvet heads off!
Up first, we see a great video package highlighting the feud between Mickie and Gail, in which Gail calls herself “The Chosen One” and Mickie claims Gail has politicked her way through the division since she got here. Following a tale of the tape which basically summarizes points in their feud, we finally shoot to the arena and focus on a cage that I personally think Diva Dirt’s own Cryssi constructed, considering that it is covered with pink and white bars!
HAAAARRDDDDCURRRRR COUNNNTREHHHH then blasts over the sound system as the plaid lass, Mickie James, two steps her way on down to the ring and poses for the loud crowd. Following her entrance, the (still addicting) theme of Gail Kim hits, as she and Madison make their way out with all of their titles in hand.
They step around the ring as Gail poses on the apron with the belts. The referee tries to inform Madison that she must enter Velvet’s Touch, but she refuses! She demands the bell be rang, but then out comes the possible new Knockouts VP, Velvet Sky! Velvet basically backs Madison up near the cage, and once the referee opens it, she shoves Rayne inside. The referee locks the door as the cage begins to rise! Poor Madison shrieks for her life, as Velvet relishes in her torment. Finally, the bell sounds, as Gail and Mickie take control of the action. Gail shoves James back into the corner and applies her boot to the throat for a choke. She then runs forward with a nice clothesline, following it up with a sharp running knee to the back.
Kim taunts the fans a little as she goes for a clothesline that Mickie ducks. James with the bridging roll up for a close call, as she then slides under a kick attempt and snapmares Gail over. Running dropkick to the face gets the challenger a two count as Madison screams in fear. Mickie is sent into the corner, but elbows Gail in the face. She goes for the Mick-A-Rana, but Gail hoists her over the ropes and then drags her through them to slam her face down hard for a two count. The crowd begins to chant about 75% Mickie, 25% Gail, as Kim goes for her elastic type corner move, but Mickie gets out of dodge. Gail then snaps Mickie’s jaw off the ropes and begins to knee her in the stomach!
Gail sends Mickie flying and hits her elastic move after all. A few kicks to the back, as Gail flies towards the corner and catches herself on the second rope. She goes for a crossbody, but Mickie dropkicks her in the abdomen! Mickie then goes for another slide under the leg, but Gail drops her knee down. Velvet then starts to scream for Madison to shut up, as Mickie connects with a nice arm drag and begins to mount a come back with a pair of clotheslines. The crowd goes wild, as she connects with the flapjack into a kip up! Gail with a knee to the face, as she then runs forward into the Octopus Stretch. Mickie ends up dropping her into an awesome slam. Hook of the leg for a two count! Mickie goes for the Mickie-DT, but Gail shoves her back into the ropes. Gail charges, but Mickie moves and Gail is sent flying to the outside. Velvet Sky walks up to her, but Gail pushes her away and trips Mickie up.
Mickie kicks Gail in the face and connects with a nice Mick-A-Rana off the ring apron. James throws Kim back inside and goes to the top rope… can she? YES! Thesz Press into the split pin for a two count. James then goes for the arm trap neckbreaker, but Gail counters into a hair pull backbreaker (shades of my Knockout queen, Winter) and Madison drops a pair of brass knucks into the ring! The referee spots them before Gail unfortunately, and removes them from the equation. Madison then takes advantage to toss Gail another pair, but as she goes to hit Mickie, James kicks her in the stomach and DRILLS her in the face for the disqualification. The referee calls the bell, as Gail retains her title and a “bullshit” chant erupts. Gail and Madison relish in their victory, as Velvet and Mickie plan for another day.
Thoughts: I’m pretty torn on this ending. In one sense, I liked it because I didn’t see it coming. To be honest, I thought for sure when Mickie was outside, Velvet was going to screw her over and turn heel because Mickie basically invaded Velvet’s push without her even getting her rematch. I like when wrestling is unpredictable, so in that way, I kind of liked being surprised. On the other hand, I don’t think Mickie and Gail have had enough stuff happen in their feud for Mickie to say “screw it” and just beat her down with the brass knuckles. I could see Traci doing that and it would make sense, but the feud hasn’t really been about Mickie per say. For instance, the segment on Impact focused on Traci, and Traci shows that fire and aggression in the ring when she faces off with Gail. I could have easily seen Traci run down the ramp when the second pair of knucks came out and SHE wuould whack Gail causing the DQ, which would’ve been perfect in my opinion because it would’ve made more sense and Mickie/Traci could have some tension which could’ve developed into a triple threat to mix things up.
Actually, I don’t understand why Traci wasn’t given the role Velvet had tonight anyways considering she’s been lobbying to be VP since the storyline began, and Velvet hasn’t even been on TV in a month, but I really like Velvet so it was good to see her back. The match was solid though, and I’d rank it second or third of their past showings because I enjoyed the main event on Impact last week a little bit more, but it’s pretty close to their Final Resolution bout for me. I think there were too many distractions, but I loved that Gail retained because I want the title to have lengthy reigns. It seems like she is the person who they’ve put their stock into, so I’m glad that the hot potato games have stopped. I don’t know where they go from here, whether or not Mickie will continue to face Gail, or maybe Velvet will step up to the plate? Anything really can happen, but for now I’m just going to sit back and wait to see.
Match Rating: 3/5
