A2Z Analysiz: TNA – Knockouts: The Ladies of TNA Wrestling Volume 2

Wrestling DVDs

Knockouts Vol 2

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DVD Release Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2015

~MATCH #1: TNA iMPACT, 12.6.10~
Mickie James defeats Tara in a Steel Cage Match at 11:08. Tara tries to stall so James meets her on the floor and the brawl begins. They make it into the cage and take it to each other. Mickie gets in a bit of offense but Tara uses her power and aggression to control the bulk of the contest. The match is still going on as iMPACT goes off the air, so it continues on Reaction. Remember Reaction? Anyway, the pace stays fast and the aggression is there. Tara injures her elbow on the ring apron, and it looks nasty. Mickie climbs to the top of the cage and flies down with a Thesz Press to get the pin. That was awesome, but she may have injured herself coming down. This was a tremendous fight between two women without the title on the line, which is rare for TNA. They pulled off a big finish too, so everything just clicked between these two here.
Rating: ***½

~MATCH #2: IMPACT Wrestling, 2.21.13~
Velvet Sky defeats Gail Kim, Miss Tessmacher, and TNA Knockouts Champion Tara in a Four Way Elimination Match to win the title at 8:45. Tara has been the Champion since 10.14.12, and this is her fifth defense. Tara has been beaten by all three challengers over the last three weeks, and they have all been Knockouts Champion before. All four women are in the ring at the same time, which is a lot for referee Taryn Terrell to handle. Tara and Kim work together to start, but they turn on each other in pretty short order. Amidst all the action, Tara hits Tessmacher with a moonsault, and as she gets up Sky plants her with In Yo’ Face. Kim tosses Sky out and steals the pin to eliminate the Champion. Tessmacher tries an O’Connor Roll on Sky, but Sky reverses it and holds Tessmacher down for the second elimination. Kim tries to use the ropes, which should mean a rope break, but for some reason Terrell forces Kim off the ropes. That’s just the dumbest spot of all time and I hate it hate it hate it so much. Sky hits Kim with In Yo’ Face to eliminate her and win the title. The London crowds are always hot for TNA and that helped this match for sure. All four wrestlers worked hard, and outside of the lame finish this was pretty good stuff.
Rating: ***

~MATCH #3: IMPACT Wrestling, 4.10.14~
Angelina Love (w/ Velvet Sky) defeats Brittany, Gail Kim, and ODB in a Four Way Number One Contender’s Match at 4:36. All four Knockouts are in the ring at once, with Love paired off with ODB and Brittany battling Kim. The referee has trouble keeping up with everything, as there’s a lot going on. In fact, the ref misses Sky spraying Kim in the eyes with hairspray from the floor, allowing Love to hit the Botox Injection and score the pin. Love has earned the title shot. This was short but they packed a ton of action in. The finish was played though, which knocks the rating down a little bit.
Rating: **¼

~MATCH #4: Lockdown, 3.9.14~
TNA Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne defeats Gail Kim (w/ Lei’D Tapa) at 8:55 in a Steel Cage Match to retain the title. Rayne has been the Champion since 1.16.14, and this is her first defense. Momentum swings back and forth between these two familiar rivals. Kim beats on the Rayne with a variety of offense, and she looks pretty confident about regaining her title. Towards the end they fight on the top rope and Kim slams Rayne’s face into the cage, and then brings her down with a super neckbreaker! That only gets two. Kim tries to escape out the door but can’t make it out. She instead uses her momentum to send Rayne crashing into the cage for two. Kim climbs up and Rayne joins her. Rayne drops Kim onto the top rope, and then even kicks Tapa off the side of the cage. She goes over to the top rope and comes down with a spear to get the pin. These two have wrestled in TNA at least 3.5 million times, and they’re all about the same. At least they worked hard, and the finish was cool.
Rating: **½

~MATCH #5: Sacrifice, 4.27.14~
Angelina Love (w/ Velvet Sky) defeats TNA Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne at 8:08 to win the title. Rayne has been the Champion since 1.16.14, and this is her second defense. These two know each other very well from their days together as The Beautiful People. Love is able to control most of the early going, keeping Rayne grounded. When Rayne makes her comeback Love tries to rest on the floor with Sky, but Rayne takes them both out with a dive from the apron. Back in the ring Rayne hits the Rayne Drop but it only gets two. Rayne misses a charge in the corner and Love hits the Botox Injection for two. Sky interference helps Love roll Rayne up to get the pin and win the title for the sixth time. The match was okay enough, but that finish has been done many times before. It’s played.
Rating: **¼

~MATCH #6: Slammiversary XII, 6.15.14~
TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love (w/ Velvet Sky defeats Gail Kim at 6:43 to retain the title. Love has been the Champion since 4.27.14, and this is her third defense. Nothing against either of these two, but TNA has put them against each other roughly 4,855 times so they don’t have a lot of tricks left up their sleeves. Late in the match Sky sprays hairspray in Kim’s eyes right in front of Referee Stiffler but he doesn’t call for the DQ. That annoys referee Earl Hebner, who comes out and takes over the match. That’s unprecedented, and kind of stupid. Then when Hebner gets knocked out, Stiffler won’t count when Kim has a cover, but is more than happy to when Love covers and she gets the pin with an O’Connor Roll. Ugh, who cares about any of this? Dull match, terrible finish.
Rating: *

~MATCH #7: IMPACT Wrestling, 7.10.14~
TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim defeats Angelina Love (w/ Velvet Sky), Brittany, and Madison Rayne in a Four Way Match at 6:32 to retain the title. Kim has been the Champion since 7.3.14, and this is her first defense. This one starts outside the ring and all four women are fired up for this title match. Love convinces Brittany to work together, and that goes pretty well for them, albeit briefly. The parade of finishers begins and Kim wins that battle with Eat Defeat on Love to get the pin and retain the title. That was a fine little TV match.
Rating: **

~MATCH #8: IMPACT Wrestling, 8.14.14~
TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim defeats Angelina Love, Taryn Terrell, and Velvet Sky in a Four Way Match at 4:55 to retain the title. Kim has been the Champion since 7.3.14, and this is her fourth defense. Love and Sky work together against Terrell and Kim, turning this into a cage match of sorts. Eventually the Beautiful People turn on each other and now it’s truly a free-for-all. Kim is able to divide and conquer enough to catch Sky with Eat Defeat to get the pin. They had less than five minutes to put a match together, and they did the best they could.
Rating: *¾

~MATCH #9: One Night Only: X-Travaganza 3, 5.6.15~
Taryn Terrell defeats Angelina Love, Brooke, Gail Kim and Madison Rayne at 7:17 in a Five Way Ladder Match. The winner of the match gets a future shot at the TNA Knockouts Title. Josh Mathews immediately proves how terrible he is on commentary, by trying to say that Angelina Love has held the Knockouts Title more than anyone else, but says X Division Title, and then tries to correct himself by saying that Low Ki has held the X Division Title more than anyone. Not only is that not true, but Mathews then congratulates himself. Worst. All five knockouts are letting it all hang out right from the get-go, utilizing ladders as offensive weapons. Things are going all well and good until the end, when Brooke traps Gail inside the ladder and goes up for the contract opposite Taryn. Brooke goes up and knocks the contract down to the mat and then gets dumped herself. Gail escapes, and she and Taryn now fight over the contract on the mat and Taryn grabs it to win. Unlike most One Night Only matches, they seemed to really be trying here, so I’m not going to give them too much flak for the finish.
Rating: ***

~MATCH #10: IMPACT Wrestling, 3.20.15~
TNA Knockouts Champion Taryn Terrell defeats Awesome Kong and Gail Kim in a Three Way Match at 6:16 to retain the title. Terrell has been the Champion since 11.19.14, and this is her fifth defense. Gail and Taryn work together to try and wear Kong down. Kong uses her size and power to fight off her smaller opponents. Gail gets dumped to the floor, leaving the Champ alone with Kong. Taryn is able to avoid a splash and hit an Ace Crusher for a near-fall. She dropkicks Kong to the floor and Gail takes Kong out with a dive from the top rope. Back in the ring Gail goes for Eat Defeat but Taryn reverses it to a rollup to get the pin. Good, fast-paced action there from all three wrestlers. That also leaves the door open for Kong to get another shot.
Rating: **¾

~MATCH #11: IMPACT Wrestling, 4.24.15~
Brooke defeats Angelina Love, Gail Kim, and Madison Rayne in a Four Way Number One Contender’s Match at 6:45. Rayne attacks Brooke during her entrance and all four women brawl on the floor as they go into a commercial break. When we come back all four women are in the ring fighting it out. Rayne and Love work together briefly, but obviously that partnership isn’t long for this match. The action is fast and furious, with lots of offense coming from every angle. Brooke is able to seize the advantage and hit Rayne with the Tess-Shocker to get the pin and earn a title shot. Like most of the TV matches it was short but they packed a lot of action in, and it did the trick.
Rating: **½

~MATCH #12: IMPACT Wrestling, 6.17.15~
Awesome Kong & Brooke defeat The Dollhouse (Jade & Marti Bell) at 6:30. The Dollhouse attacks Brooke before she can even get into the ring and before her partner is even out there. Kong makes her way down and starts dominating. Taryn, the current Knockouts Champion, tries to interfere but Kong more or less brushes her off. When the match settles in the ring, the Dollhouse takes control and they isolate Brooke in their part of the ring. Eventually the hot tag is made and Kong is a domicile aflame. The referee loses control and all four women are in the ring. Jade gets sent to the floor, and Brooke gets up on Kong’s shoulders and leaps off with an elbow drop onto Marti Bell to get the pin. Good formula tag stuff here to set up two challengers for Taryn Terrell, so it also served its purpose.
Rating: **½

~MATCH #13: IMPACT Wrestling: Turning Point, 8.19.15~
Gail Kim defeats The Dollhouse (Jade & Marti Bell) in a Steel Cage Match at 12:43. This is win by pinfall, submission, or escape the cage rules. Kim avoids her opponents briefly but it doesn’t take long for the numbers game to take effect. The Dollhouse mostly controls the action but Kim is tenacious and won’t give in. Kim unleashes some impressive offense to thwart the double-teaming, and even isolates both opponents long enough to hit Marti with Eat Defeat to get the pin. This was actually pretty well worked for a handicap match, but it’s always a little silly when one person can defeat two, especially when confined to a steel cage. Still, better than I expected it would be.
Rating: **½

~MATCH #14: IMPACT Wrestling, 9.30.15~
The Dollhouse (Jade, Marti Bell & Rebel) defeat The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne & Velvet Sky, w/ Angelina Love) at 6:40. Rayne and Sky charge down the aisle and get the brawl underway. Momentum swings back and forth between the two teams, as even though the Dollhouse has a numbers advantage it doesn’t really help them so much. The referee loses control and Rebel throws powder in Rayne’s eyes, allowing Marti to roll her up for the pin. That at least had plenty of energy, but it was pretty disjointed.
Rating: **

~MATCH #15: Bound for Glory, 10.4.15~
TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim defeats Awesome Kong at 10:05 to retain the title. Kim has been the Champion since 9.16.15, and this is her second defense. These two have wrestled each other many, many times. That familiarity allows the two competitors to trade control in the early going, with the Champion using her speed and the Challenger using her power. After their usual, the battle spills to the floor and Kim’s husband tries to stop Kong from using a steel chair. That doesn’t work, and Kong hits the Implant Buster onto two chairs, but back in the ring that’s not enough to get a three-count. Eventually Kim is able to get in position to hit a super Eat Defeat and she rolls that into an inside cradle to get the pin and retain the title. This just lacked the spark their earlier matches had, and felt like they were just going through the motions. For a pay-per-view (a real one, not those stupid One Night Only) shows) that’s just weird.
Rating: **

A2Z Analysiz
Of the fifteen matches here, only three of them reached three stars or higher, so there’s not a ton of really memorable matches. But as a single-disc release it’s actually not bad. Most of the matches are short and energetic, and as a whole it breezes right by. If you’re really into TNA or the Knockouts, this DVD will so right by you.

I grew up and now I write for Inside Pulse. Oh, and one time I saw a blimp!