Greetings and salutations loyal Knockout fans! We have reached a new month, which means it’s time for a new TNA One Night Only PPV recap. For the month of April, TNA are relighting an old feud between two Knockouts who have some unfinished business with one another, as Gail Kim takes on Havok in a Street Fight! Sure, the last time these two battled, Awesome Kong got in the way but this time there is no Kong and there isn’t even a Knockouts Championship in the picture and as suggested by the Hardcore Justice heading, there will also be no rules!
We open this contest with Havok making her way to the ring first, coming down the entrance ramp and by passing some of the stop signs and street barricades being provided for this style of match. As the Ohio native makes her ring entrance, climbing a corner turnbuckle and removing her signature gas mask, Gail Kim music hits as she is out next. The fan favorite is all smiles for what is expected to be brutal match. She high fives the Impact Zone fans, takes a peek at a close by trash can full of weapon goodies and assembles to the ring all while over at commentary, Jeremy Borash suggests the idea that Gail Kim be the first Knockout inducted to the TNA HOF. (Fingers crossed!)
The bell sounds off and Havok goes charging right after her enemy but Gail avoids this with an evasive dodge, rolling right under her Havok’s clutches. Still on the hunt, Havok quickly turns around and tries to land a clothesline but Gail proves too quick once again as she dodges Havok’s second attack and finds some safety in a corner.
Keeping close eye on her prey, Havok runs to Gail’s shelter of a corner but Gail times this and ducks out the way as Havok only manages to hit the turnbuckle. With Havok now in the corner, Gail lands her first offense of the match with some hard right forearms from the corner and to the middle of the ring. Once in the center of the ring, Gail runs the ropes but only returns for a shoulder block from Havok. Not letting a shoulder block slow her down, Gail runs the ropes once more and this time gets caught mid attack as Havok grabs a hold of Gail.
Finally able to get Gail in her hands, Havok looks to begin her physical harm by slamming Gail but the fighting Gail escapes yet again and sends Havok to another corner, following it up with a beautiful dropkick sending Havok down. With Havok down and adjacent to a steel post, Gail looks to make the most of the no DQ stipulation by stepping outside and grabbing a hold of Havok’s leg for a figure four leg lock from the post but Havok only kicks Gail off. As Gail tries to regain composure, Havok steps outside to the ring and takes Gail down shortly after with a strong clothesline.
The fans of the Impact Zone begin to pester Havok as she tosses Gail back to the ring. To hush these half hearten fans, Havok snarls at them (able to get some reaction from them) and then focuses her attention on the very same trash can Gail peeked in earlier. Havok pulls out a kendo stick as the first weapon to be used in this street fight. Kendo stick at hand, Havok smacks it first to ground then targets Gail but the staff never touches Gail as she manages to kick Havok’s arm in time causing Havok to drop the weapon.
Gail takes new ownership of the kendo stick by picking it up from the ground and swings it in the air, signaling a hit to Havok but isn’t able to follow through as Havok’s strength enable her to take back the kendo stick. This isn’t an upset for Gail, as she releases the kendo stick to make her forearms and kicks her weapon of choice to fight Havok. Gail then climbs the second rope for a high flying attack but only gets punished for her risk when she is stuck with the very same kendo stick by Havok.
As Gail tries to recover from the mid section sting, Havok keeps the punishment coming by begining a beat total down to Gail, attacking her back with the very same kendo stick. As Gail becomes paralyzed with no where to go, Havok scoops Gail up and postions her body in an upside fashion at a corner turnbuckle. With Gail completely defenseless, Havok batters up and swings her kendo stick right in the mid section to Gail, bringing out a “one more time” chant from the audience. Havok obeys and strikes yet again to an open Gail and it’s not until the third strike that Gail becomes out and is in searing pain.
Still showing no mercy, Havok tosses Gail’s face first to the mat and applies a camel clutch choke with the help of the kendo stick still in play leaving Gail to whimper in pain and Havok screeching in superiority. As Havok releases her hold, Gail begins to fight back only to find herself trapped in yet another submission hold from Havok, this time a lifted full nelson one. To add some damage, Havok hurls Gail off to the mat and smashes her face to go for the cover. Gail kicks out at two, leading an astonished Havok shreik a loud “NO!!!” in disbelief.
Seeing as how the kendo stick didn’t lead to a victory, Havok draws back to the garbage can outside the ring in search of a new weapon. She passes off a steel chair and a garbage lid before becoming satisfied with the actual garbage can itself. Just as Havok is finding her way back to ring with her new instument of choice, Gail is back on her feet and dropkicks Havok’s garbage can right to her face, bringing down Havok. Gail isn’t done just yet, as she soars from the ring apron and lands a crossbody to Havok.
Looking for a win, Gail tosses Havok back into the ring and goes for a quick cover but only manages to get a two count. This doesn’t discourage Gail, as she brings in the unwanted steel chair Havok threw out from the outside and places it to one of the six side corners. Gail’s stratergy backfires, as Havok manages to power out Gail and give her a seat in very same chair that Gail had set up.
As Gail unwillingly sits down, Havok lands two big boots to Gail’s skull. When Havok goes for a third big boot, Gail overturns it by bringing Havok head first to steel chair and rolls her up from behind for a pin. Gail’s fighting spirit takes over, as she lands a fury of forearms to Havok, adding on a running clotheline and finishing it up with a quick crossbody from the top rope and into another pin. The referee only counts at two and a disappointed Gail is in awe.
Gail spots the steel chair she provided in the match close by and picks it up with the intensions of harming Havok. Instead, it would be Havok who would provide the chair damage, as Havok would kick Gail’s chair right back at her. With the chair still close by, Havok sets it up in the middle of the ring, aiming to hit Gail with the Harlot Slayer chokeslam onto to the chair sitting in the middle of the ring. Gail manages to counter this upon take off with a DDT onto the chair and, just for good measures, hits the Eat Defeat, going for a cover and gets the three count victory!
Thoughts: Another One Night Only PPV and another chance for the Knockouts to perform under a themed like kind of match; in this case, a no DQ street fight.
Much like her match against Taryn Terrell over on Xplosion a few weeks ago, it’s nice to see that Havok is still making these reemerging appearances on TNA. It allows her to feel like she has a place in TNA without having to get to involved with what is going on the main Impact Wrestling show and I really think having a match against Gail Kim was a nice reminder of that. The two already have some history with one another what with their fued from late last year, so there was already some story available to be told in the ring.
The match was pretty physical given the stipulation, which allowed for more optional spots that weren’t used during their initial feud; one in particular being when Havok trapped Gail to a corner and kept swinging her kendo stick to Gail’s mid section as well as the combination from Gail Kim to close the match. Havok’s dominance shined through when she was able to inflict more damage with these weapons that were around her, in the same way Gail Kim was able to fight off Havok’s destructive nature with whatever weapons she could find.
The commentary sounded a lot better than most of the regular commentary (although that may no longer be a problem with Taz now gone) that we’ve heard on a regular Impact show but the Impact Zone crowd being cold at some times took a bit from the match in my opinion. Still, it was a solid match regardless and it really just showed that there can be some dig to these special One Night Only PPVs.
So with Havok getting the first win against Gail on Impact Wrestling and Gail Kim scoring a win on Hardcore Justice, is there a chance for a best two out of three? Perhaps on a future episode of Impact, Xplosion or another One Night Only PPV affair? Only time will well!
