Celebrating 5 Years of the TNA Knockouts Championship…

Sorry for the delay, some things got in the way, but we are now back on track. The Knockouts championship is almost five years old and at TNA Bound for Glory 2012, we are about to get another historic moment. For the first time in TNA History, the Knockouts championship will be defended in a Singles Match. Five years ago the first Knockouts Champion was crowned in a Gauntlet match, the next two Knockouts Championship matches were defended in a triple threat match. The last two years the Knockouts Championship matches were 4-Way Matches. So this year it’s completely new territory when it comes to our current TNA Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher. Last time, I highlighted four Knockouts Matches, in which I think are some of TNA’s Best Matches in TNA Knockouts History. This week, I bring to you five more matches to continue the countdown. I have #16 to #12 for you all

#16: Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love – Victory Road 2008

There are many ups and down leading into this match. The bad was, Roxxi was tossed aside in favor of Gail Kim to take on The Beautiful People—after overcoming the odds at Lockdown. With the whole Sacrifice debacle where Roxxi got her head shaved, it only seemed right that Roxxi got her hands on Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. Seemed logical, but TNA decided to go with Gail Kim in the end, which funny enough would be her last one on one PPV match in TNA before her contract expired.

This was a match of innovation, The Beautiful People, were on the rise, coming off some major heel heat from Sacrifice, The Beautiful People were slowly establishing themselves as the top Heels while Awesome Kong and Taylor Wilde were going at it. This match featured so many little things we rarely saw from either women and to top it off, Angelina Love showed us a proper spinning Wheel kick, after Candice was botching it as her finisher all summer that summer long. But this was when the Beautiful People established themselves as the Top heels, Gail Kim may have gotten the win, but they got the final word and ultimately Gail Kim got the Brown Paper Bag Treatment, this would also lead to Angelina Love entering the title scene.

Well this was probably not their best match together. But there are so many special things that revolve around this match. You’d be shocked about what I found out. This would be the first time Taylor Wilde and Awesome Kong would wrestle each other in a singles match since Kong’s rematch on Impact on July 13th 2009. This would also mark their fourth ever Match one on one in TNA, but also it would be the last time ever in TNA history that Awesome Kong and Taylor Wilde wrestled each other one on one. They tag teamed, were on opposing tag teams, wrestled a handful of three-way matches after this match, but one on one, these two never wrestled ever again.

But also, this was the first time ever the Knockouts Championship changed hands on a Live Impact but also outside of Orlando Florida. Awesome Kong would also become the first Woman Ever to Win the Knockouts Championship for the second time. Aside from those little facts, this match was pretty darn awesome, not their best, but filled with innovation and nice spots that we rarely saw from either women. This would end, what I would call, a really successful reign from Taylor Wilde.

Okay, maybe I’m in the innovative portion of the countdown, but talk about bringing completely new things to the table. Roxxi and Hamada had a real battle in this match, we saw moves and tactics rarely seen by both women on Impact, they were really battling for a spot and they made it seem so believable that they really wanted to advance into the finals. Props to Hamada, she later battle ODB in a really competitive match later that same night. Roxxi looked great out there, as did Hamada. Win or lose, both women benefitted a lot from this match and sucks either women didn’t have a more lucrative TNA Career, because they always delivered whenever it was needed.

#13 Mickie James vs. Gail Kim (Impact)

So we had our worries, after that horrible Raw Match between Gail Kim and Mickie James, we had fear these two women just couldn’t work together. Then we got to see these two go one on one against each other at Final Resolution and it was a huge step up from their Raw Match but yet no masterpiece. What came next? Mickie James got another chance to wrestle Gail Kim one on one on Impact in the Main Event and as a result, we got this. This was a great match; both women gave it their all and worked out all their kinks from their previous two matches. They delivered when it was needed most which was in the Main Event being put center stage. This would also mark one of the better Knockouts Matches in the last year, which is such a rarity lately. Either way, Gail Kim and Mickie James brought their innovation and star power to show us, the Knockouts still could draw. Though the end once again proves, Madison Rayne is the glue that keeps this knockout Division together, making an appearance near the end.

This is a beautiful moment for Tara, she is the only woman in Wrestling history to wrestle in a cage in the WWE and now in TNA and she really wanted this. Tara wanted Awesome Kong, she wanted to wrestle Awesome Kong. It was a huge reason why she made the move to TNA. So now she got to be in a cage with Awesome Kong. Plus it was a while since we had a Cage Match on here, so it seemed fitting. With exception of ODB and Roxxi, Tara is the next woman in TNA who could physically take on Awesome Kong one on one, so it was another interesting factor. It wasn’t the usual high-flyer in the ring, it was a completely different vibe. Because Tara had some size to her, we even got to see the drop kick off of the second rope from Awesome Kong (yes, sensing an innovation trend here). In Cage Match fashion, we got the big “Top of the Cage” finish. This was a nice match and one of Tara’s better matches in TNA.

So that rounds out another group of matches, there is a whole lot more to come.

Until next time …