FanPost

Why TNA Knockouts Are My Jam

via www.impactwrestling.com

Some say that you have to choose between beauty and skills. Fortunately, we have the TNA Knockouts to prove that that just is not the case. You can see that especially well when comparing them against the WWE Divas division. But maybe I'm just a sucker for quality.

When looking at the recent Raw angle wherein Stephanie tricked Brie into attacking a non-wrestler, I was very disappointed. I mean, McMahons are vengeful, but I expect them to be demented too, or at least creative. Someone like Stephanie shouldn’t resort to a petty humiliation like getting a woman to accuse Daniel Bryan of infidelity. The stakes were not upped by that, nor was our thirst for seeing Stephanie get put in a Yes! Lock. The only stakes that were increased by that segment was my likelihood of snapping if I ever heard the name Megan Miller again.

Stephanie is a powerful and respectable woman, though I understand that everyone has their own types of humor. She’s a McMahon, and I highly doubt that she would ever have to do a segment like Monday’s if she were opposed to it. Whatevs. It just made me impatient to see some "lady wrestlers" with substance, and for that, I go to TNA (or NXT, for that matter).

But as far as main rosters go, the TNA Knockouts are my preference for five – count 'em – five reasons. You can read them all below for [decided against another $9.99 joke].

5. Storylines

Who cares about some hokey story where Daniel Bryan cheated on one of the most beautiful women in the industry? Anyway, John Cena actually cheated on his wife, so there’s that.

Thankfully, things like that haven’t mattered in TNA for a long time. Admittedly, I haven’t been watching TNA since the early days, but I know they’ve previously been very…creative with their female performers, often to our chagrin. But they have actual storylines, not just temporary catfights and two-minute matches.

I remember watching just last year as Mickie James had Velvet Sky removed from championship contention by releasing her medical records to whatever imaginary board or committee TNA has. It turned out that Velvet was working hurt, and they had her removed from active duty. That was different. It was creative, even if it wasn't the most captivating stuff. It was so cowardly and heelish that it made me truly want to hate her. And Mickie James is a really difficult person to hate.

The stuff that happened with Chris Sabin's last angle in the company doesn't count against any of what I just said. She might have been in a lame position where she was just the manipulated girlfriend of the former Heavyweight Champion, but that wasn't her story. It was the story between Aries and Sabin that mattered there. I honestly don't remember how she turned heel after that or if it were just because of the return of Angelina Love, but whatevs. I dug the bit part she played in her angle with Sabin. It wasn't cringeworthy.

4. TNA’s Desperation

Quite simply, because of TNA’s ever-desperate situation, they typically push their women onto you in one way or another, whether it be something positive or lurid. Fortunately, TNA isn’t in a financial position where they would be able to ignore their talented women the way that WWE does. Look at Maryse. If Maryse had been in TNA, you know they would’ve played up the fact that she’s a freaking black belt. A. Black. Belt. That’s no small deal, but you wouldn’t know it due to the crutch of sexiness that WWE often employs.

Though to be fair, it is very possible that if TNA had Maryse and knew that she were a black belt, they would probably give her a ninja gimmick and/or her own Sakamoto. At least it would be something other than making her crazy.

3. Mic Skills and Personality

They can be grating sometimes, but I overall enjoy hearing the TNA Knockouts on the mic. I’m not cowering in fear of a botched line like I am with Brie Bella, and Brie’s a former Divas champion…or at least one of them is. I get lost in the twin magic stuff.

When I can see an Angelina love tear at someone, play with their heads, and get some great cheap heat, I’m satisfied. Sure, she’s had her cosmetic surgeries, and she probably shouldn’t be endorsed as a role model, but that honestly doesn’t matter in today’s culture. Same goes for her tattoos. Regardless of all that, she can actually get a point across on the mic.

I can accurately describe the personalities and motivations of people like Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Taryn Terrell, and The Beautiful People without stretching or needing to be too creative. Fortunately, their personalities cannot be expressed in one word because they have complexity. Their individual qualities come across when they take the mic in hand, and that’s something that simply can’t be said about the WWE Dvias.

Paige is crazy, AJ Lee is volatile, Alicia is batcrap insane…wow, that’s a pattern. Emma is delusional. She thinks she’s a great dancer, basically making her the new Jillian, except none of that comes across on WWE TV. Eva’s pretty much a grump that wants to make a name for herself, but we haven’t seen that come across; the same goes for Cameron, who they have recently dressed in schoolgirl clothes. Natalya is always pretty bland.

What I find most odd is that the only current main-roster WWE Diva I can actually enjoy in this department – Layla’s LayCool character notwithstanding – is Naomi. She shows that she has something more than blind rage, mental disabilities, or blandness. That wasn't always the case, but recently, I enjoyed seeing her buck against Cameron when she was trying to beat Paige down. That shows certain redeeming qualities.

The Bellas, Layla currently, and Summer Rae? Nikki’s the only one that approaches having a storyline not based on a man.

Poor Tamina and Rosa.

I say all that to say this: Let TNA work with the Divas that are talented at wrestling, and they would easily put out material that you would pay to see.

2. My Favorites Are There

Gail Kim and ODB. What more can I say?

I guess I should at least throw out there that Gail Kim is quite simply the most talented and experienced female wrestler that either of the top two companies can offer. How WWE could ever let her go is beyond me, especially after they trained her and all. Plus I'm a big Food Network fan, so I find it especially awesome that she married Chef Robert Irvine.

ODB has a personality unlike any other, and you can see that any time she’s on Impact or Xplosion. She’s a realistic woman, one that can joke about her big breats without it being a huge deal or being for seductive reasons. She can drink a beer without it being a big deal. Her character is an organic one. You know that even if her ring name is simply "One Dirty Broad," she embraces it fully and completely.

1. Knockouts are Treated Better (most of the time)

Admittedly, the company does have blunders every so often as far as backstage situations go. We can go into stuff with Madison Rayne or any number of situations, but I'll just mention a few here.

Dixie Carter reportedly called Taeler Hendrix fat and fired her for it. That’s absolutely crazy. For 5’7", being around 120 pounds is not at all fat or unconditioned. And honestly, I don’t think anyone minded it at all.

They did push Rosie Lottalove, basically making her whole gimmick being the fact that she was plus-sized. That’s something that was hopefully avoided with another anti-prototypical performer like Awesome Kong/Kharma, but I missed her time in TNA. But hey, hiring someone and exploiting a quality in an acceptable manner is much better than just passing on the chance to hire them. Unfortunately, TNA has a long history of playing up all the wrong qualities of a person, like exploiting their orientation to illicit a crowd response.

Thankfully, they’ve been doing a lot better in the last year, especially with their Knockouts (though the division was pretty thin for a while). Between just Gail Kim, Taryn Terrell, and the Beautiful People, the contest between the Divas and Knockouts is already over. Add in names like Madison Rayne and Santana (Brittany, but her indy name is cooler.) and the Knockouts are the clear winners when it comes to talented women on the main roster.

Plus, the name of their division is the Knockouts division. Props to whoever came up with that. I find it way more creative and intriguing than the "Divas" division or the "Nitro Girls," in the case of WCW.

Because of that and because of the great matches that the Knockouts put on, I would say that it’s really the audience that comes out the winner. I’m just happy to say that when I watch TNA, there are no expectations to see anything akin to the talented AJ Lee picking on the equally-talented (or almost) Kaitlyn for being what she called "mannish." It ain’t often that TNA takes the high ground, but this is one thing that they’ve done right for a very long time.

And for that, I thank TNA.

Thanks for Reading

Those are just my opinions, but hey this is the internet. More so, this is Cageside Seats, where people are free to express their opinions proudly, so if you agree or disagree, I'd love to see some comments below. Or whatever. I mean, it's not like I would cry or anything if I didn't get a response. At least, not much.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.