2/18/10 iMPACT
DAFFNEY vs. TARA (c). DR. STEVIE PULLS DAFFNEY AWAY POST-MATCH
-Wow... that came out of nowhere. Seriously, what just happened? Daffney had long since been relegated to designated jobber status, most people probably can't even remember the last time she won a match, and now all of a sudden she's a badass? Not that it wasn't cool, but I'm genuinely confused here.
-The match was okay for the brief amount of time it lasted, but it's hard to gauge what kind of chemistry these two have when they seem to rush to the finish almost immediately. It would have done Daffney a lot more good if it had at least gone for a little while before the DQ.
-If this is the start of a push for Daffney, it's being executed all wrong. She's been jobbed out so often for so long that she's pretty much at the bottom of the ladder right now. No one's going to buy her as being dangerous enough to give Tara a hard time after she's been booked like a human pin cushion for months on end. Daffney needed to start at the bottom and be rebuilt in the undercard before something like this happened. I'll get behind a Daffney push in a heartbeat, but it has to be done intelligently and take the way she's been booked in the past into account in order for it to make sense. Nobody goes from being a loser one minute to a powerhouse the next -- that idiotic booking didn't work for Christy Hemme last year and it won't work for Daffney now.
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2/25/10 iMPACT
ODB vs. DAFFNEY. CONCURRENT TARA BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW. DR. STEVIE RESTRAINS DAFFNEY POST MATCH
-I believe I said in a previous Month in Review column about this time last year that ODB/Daffney didn't work well together and I was proven right with this match. It was pretty damn short and it wasn't very good while it lasted either.
-Is ODB a face again now, or should I just not ask those questions anymore?
-Again, I don't think this is the right way to push Daffney at all. I can easily buy her as a unstable lunatic, but not as a badass -- not after the way she's been booked for the last year.
-For some reason, there was an idiotic decision made to air Tara's backstage interview not before or after this match, but DURING the match via split screen. This was awful because one distracted from the other and the result was that you couldn't concentrate on either. I honestly can't remember what Tara said in her promo because I was trying to watch what was happening in the ring.
-I don't know if the Destination-X match is official yet, but I think the point was made that Daffney is setting her sights on the Knockouts title. Again, I'm totally in favor of a Daffney push, but it has to be done in a way that makes sense. It will make absolutely no sense if she gets a title shot right now because she hasn't won a match in a very long time.
-What happened to that ranking system Bischoff & Hogan said they were implementing? If the Knockouts are being ranked, then Daffney's win/loss record would put her at the bottom of the list. How does someone who has to be ranked lowest on the roster get a title shot?
-Instead of getting DQed for going crazy on ODB, a much more effective way for this to play out would have been for Daffney to get a clean win over ODB and then go crazy on her afterward which causes the referee to reverse the decision. At least Daffney would have an ounce of actual credibility that way.
-As it is, it still looks like Daffney can't win a match to save her life. Before it was because she was booked as enhancement talent and now it's because she suddenly cares more about hurting people than winning matches, but the end result is still the same: she can't win a match. And if she can't win a match, why is she getting a title shot when she's done nothing to earn it? These questions need to be asked!
-I really WANT to get on board with this Daffney push, but the writers are not putting any thought into this at all and it's really hurting the believability of this feud.
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3/04/10 iMPACT
-A few days ago, Awesome Kong tweeted that she thanked Dixie Carter for wishing her the best in her future endeavors. I really, REALLY hope this doesn't mean what it sounds like. I know tensions had been running high between Kong & TNA since the situation with that jackass, Bubba the Love Sponge, but reports said that things had been smoothed over and that TNA was NOT going to be releasing Kong because she was an important part of the Knockout division. As of right now, there has been no official announcement and Kong is still listed on the roster page. I hope and pray that she's just working people because the Knockout division would be screwed without Kong.
-News came out earlier today that Traci Brooks has been released from the company. Her pictures have been taken off the website and everything so this looks official. I don't necessarily disagree with this move, but still, it's kind of a shame. Traci has been with TNA a lot longer than any other woman on the roster, and while she wasn't incredible, she was a reliable hand in the ring. She had her uses as enhancement talent, or as a character if nothing else. I always thought that Knockout Law role for her had real possibilities. In the past, I assumed TNA would want to keep her around out of fear of screwing up their relationship with Kaz, but I guess that's not a factor anymore. It's too bad though. Having met Traci in person once, I know what a sweet person she is. Here's hoping she lands on her feet.
-With Traci gone and Kong possibly leaving (please don't go, Kong!) it opens up another big hole in the Knockout roster that will need to be filled. Unfortunately, I really don't see that happening. All indications are that Hogan & Bischoff don't really care about the Knockout division as it's been heavily deemphasized since they showed up. If Kong really is leaving, the void that creates could be capably filled by someone like Sara Del Rey (or Alissa Flash if she were still there), but to be honest, I really don't think Hogan & Bischoff even care enough to fix the problems that will develop from this situation. Frankly, I don't expect them to bring in any new talent to pick up the slack. Most likely, they'll just kill the Knockout tag team titles and continue on with the reduced women's roster. Sure, it won't be nearly as good, but sadly, I don't think that matters to them.
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ATTACK ANGELINA LOVE BACKSTAGE
-Decent segment, I suppose. It was effective enough for what it had to do, but the Knockouts have had much better backstage brawls than this. Remember when Angelina & Velvet beat the hell out of Daffney while cussing like sailors last year? That was far better than this was.
-Velvet Sky is one of the better performers on the roster, but she's wasting her time trying to act like a badass. She has the acting chops to pull it off, but then she tries to sell it physically and she just can't do it. And it certainly didn't help matters any that Lacey was involved. Yeah, Lacey still sucks.
ANGELINA LOVE CALLS OUT VELVET SKY. MADISON RAYNE & LACEY VON ERICH ATTACK ANGELINA
-Velvet seems to oscillate between being terrified of Angelina when she's on her own to trying to act like a badass when she's got Madison & Lacey with her. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground there. It's weird.
-The only ugly thing about TBP is their offense. Seriously, Velvet, Lacey, just stop trying. I'm begging you...
-Good, if predictable segment. The crowd is reacting well to Angelina. She can take out TBP one at a time, but they overwhelm her with the numbers advantage. She clearly needs a partner, so it's strange that Tara has apparently been removed from this feud now. Not that I'm complaining about that; Tara never belonged in this feud in the first place.
-The really unfortunate part about this storyline is that it seems to either be building up to Angelina vs. Velvet or Angelina vs. Lacey, both of which are likely to be pretty damn bad. Plus, they already threw away Angelina vs. Madison in a quick squash a few weeks ago, which was by far the best match up that could be made from this program. There just doesn't seem to be anywhere for this feud to go due TBP's shortcomings in the ring. This is a problem with pretty much every feud TBP are involved in, which really makes me wonder why the hell they're constantly getting pushed.
-Angelina & Roxxi against TBP will make more sense than Angelina & Tara did. Angelina & Roxxi is a much more dynamic pairing given that they actually have a ton of history as rivals as opposed to the "history" between Angelina & Tara that was largely manufactured and artificial. Roxxi will be making her in-ring return from her leg injury at an indie show on March 6th, so if she's good to go, then I expect her to show up on the March 8th show to even the odds for Angelina... if any of these women are even on the March 8th show, that is. Before the new regime, the Knockouts were getting around two segments devoted to them each week, but since Hogan & Bischoff showed up, the Knockouts are lucky if they get half a segment on any given show, so I'm not too optimistic.
-And as one final 'Fuck you!' to Awesome Kong, Bubba the Love Sponge was back on TV this week. I think I'm going to puke....
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3/08/10 iMPACT
-Roxxi was released last week. For Christ's sake... what the hell is wrong with this company? With Awesome Kong leaving, why would they want to get rid of ANOTHER one of the women who is both very over and a good worker? Especially when they had a ready-made feud for her when she returned from her injury. What sense does that make? Then again, I suppose it's fitting that they would cut her after she broke her leg in a match because screwing this woman over instead of rewarding her for her sacrifices has apparently been one of TNA management's favorite pass-times for the last few years. Real classy, TNA, real classy.
-Geez... Kong, Roxxi and Traci all in one week. Hogan & Bischoff are really gutting the Knockout division. I knew the women were going to take a hit with those two in charge, but I didn't think it was going to be this bad.
KNOCKOUT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH
SARITA & TAYLOR WILDE vs. THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (w/ LACEY VON ERICH) vs. ANGELINA LOVE & TARA (c). DAFFNEY INTERFERES
-Apparently, TNA's excuse for this is that Kong & Hamada were stripped of the tag titles after not defending them for thirty days. Just out of curiosity, does anyone even remember the last time that rule was enforced? So on top of everything else, we get screwed out of one last Kong match. Sigh...
-The finish of this match couldn't have been more telegraphed. TBP were shown warming up during the commercial break, then Sarita & Taylor's entrance was cut out, then TBP came out with new matching ring gear with the announcers explaining how they thought the Knockout tag titles were tailor made for them, despite never having held the belts. Gee, TNA writers, I wonder what you could've possibly been hinting at? Whatever could it all mean? Sigh...
-The match was chaotic, too rushed and not long enough to be much good. When even Sarita doesn't get a chance to impress in a match, you know there's something wrong. Of course, this is pretty indicative of how the Knockouts have been booked since the new regime took over.
-Recently a report came out that the feeling in management was that when they put TBP in the ring the result wasn't very good. So if management acknowledges that TBP don't deliver in the ring, then WHY are they getting the tag titles?
-This is the kind of stuff TNA need to be doing more of with Daffney to get people interested in a Tara/Daffney feud. They still have a lot to do to make it work, but this was a step in the right direction. Daffney finally manages to do something to hurt her rival without getting DQed or causing herself to lose a match. Nice.
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
-Well, at least they got an interview celebrating their victory. That makes their title win look like it means something to someone at least. Though one can't help but wonder if this was just about someone in the writer's room wanting to see Velvet Sky pour champagne all over herself...
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3/15/10 iMPACT
-Once again, the Knockouts prove their drawing power. Their triple threat tag title match last week tied for highest rated segment of the night with a segment that featured Hogan, Sting and the debut of Rob Van Dam. Wow.
ANGELINA LOVE BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
-Angelina says she's going to cleanse TNA one beautiful person at a time. If only we could get rid of TBP. If only they could get depushed at the very least. Sadly, with Hogan & Bischoff in charge, I doubt that's going to happen.
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE PROMO and ANGELINA LOVE vs. DAFFNEY. TARA MAKES THE SAVE POST-MATCH
-So Daffney has no problems working with the TBP? Them cutting her hair off last year is forgiven now? Whatever...
-This segment was effective as far as cramming both feuds into one pretty short segment. The promo was fine and the post-match attack was good, but to actually call this a match would be a little too generous. The Knockouts are still getting completely screwed over on screen time. Seriously, would it have killed Hogan & Bischoff to give Angelina & Daffney at least a minute or two to wrestle before the inevitable DQ finish? Daffney desperately needs the credibility because she's getting a title shot when she hasn't won a match in a year. I love Daffney, but there's something very wrong about that.
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3/21/10 Destination-X
-The Knockouts scored the highest rated segment yet again last Monday. I'm starting to feel like a broken record saying this.
KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH
DAFFNEY vs. TARA (c)
-For all the effort Taz is putting into get "Zombie Hot" over as a catch phrase, I'm surprised it hasn't wound up on a tee shirt yet. Seriously, where is that shirt? People would totally buy that.
-Nothing out of the ordinary here, but a relatively solid, if unspectacular match, and I was very happy to see a clean finish.
-The crowd got into it at the end, but they weren't into the action for a lot of the match. Frankly, I expected as much, since Daffney has no credibility because... all together now... SHE HASN'T WON A MATCH IN A YEAR! The fans seem to want to get into Daffney, but they need a reason, they need to think she has a legit chance to win. They haven't been given that yet, but this match was a step in the right direction. Tara wins the match, but Daffney gets under her skin with the mind games at the end with the spidernapping of Poison. Daffney still doesn't really look like a viable contender to the title, but she will in the future if they continue to book her like they did tonight.
-This was literally the first time Daffney has gone bell-to-bell in a match since this push of hers began and she probably gained more credibility in simply having a competitive match and losing cleanly to Tara here than she did by getting herself DQed against ODB and Tara several weeks ago. Funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?
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