TNA: TKO Ep. #1

Welcome to TKO, the fictional, one hour a week, Knockout exclusive iMPACT spinoff.


ROSTER: Angelina Love, Brooke Tessmacher, Cookie, Daffney, Madison Rayne, Mickie James, Sarita, Tara, Velvet Sky, Winter

BROADCAST TEAM: Jeremy Borash & Don West

RING ANNOUNCER: SoCal Val

INTERVIEWER: Christy Hemme

DIRECTOR OF AUTHORITY: Traci Brooks

TKO abides by one rule: Absolutely nothing happens on the show that could not conceivably happen if it existed in real life.

Here's what happened last time: Setting the Stage
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COLD OPEN: Traci Brooks is backstage, heading towards the ring, flanked by 2 security guards. Christy Hemme catches up to her and asks her to shed some light on her actions at Against All Odds. Traci says she's going to explain everything, but she's going to do it in the ring.


OPENING VIDEO


iMPACT ZONE: JB & West welcome us to the show as Traci makes her entrance. The entire Knockout roster already surrounds the ring, sans Daffney and Cookie, who are conspicuous by their absence. Also, Karen Jarrett is there. Mickie James, looking angry, stands separate from the group. West comments that those security guards may be to protect Traci from Mickie.

Traci says she understands that a lot of people were confused by what she did at Against All Odds. She also understands that people were upset by it. She knows Angelina & Winter aren't happy and she can see from Mickie's face that she's not happy either, but there was a reason for it. She directs everyone's attention to the stage just to the side of the entrance ramp where SoCal Val stands next to something covered in a red sheet. Val pulls the sheet off and we see the Knockout singles and tag team championships locked in a glass display case.

Because this is a new show, Traci wants to start new and fresh. She has decided to hold up both championships. Over the next few weeks, 2 tournaments will be held to determine #1 contenders, who will then face the former title holders. The winners of those matches will become the new champions. Traci acknowledges that this may seem unfair to the former champions and that's why all 3 of them have been given a pass to the finals in the interest of fairness. Traci insists that this isn't about screwing anyone over, just about starting things off with a bang.

Traci then moves on to the next order of business and asks Karen Jarrett to join them in the ring. Karen looks very smug until Traci asks her what she's doing there. Karen says she knew Traci was going to need her help on this show, which is why she came. She says she's looking forward to working with Traci and whipping these women into shape. Traci doesn't recall asking for any help, in fact, she doesn't recall even inviting Karen in the first place. Karen says she's there because this is a Knockouts show, but Traci doesn't see how that applies to Karen. Traci explains that the Knockouts are the ones who wrestle and Karen doesn't wrestle. Come to think of it, Karen really doesn't do anything except suck up TV time.

Angry now, Karen says she has every right to be there, she can do anything she wants because her husband is the boss (or one of them at least). Traci retorts that Karen might have a point IF this were iMPACT, but this isn't iMPACT. This is Traci's show and her contract states that on TKO, she's the boss, not Jeff Jarrett, not anyone else. Traci explains that the security guards she brought with her are there to escort Karen from the building. As the guards drag Karen, kicking and screaming, out of the arena, Traci tells them to make sure she doesn't get back in.

With Karen gone, Traci happily announces that it's time to get this show started.


COMMERCIALS


BACKSTAGE: We open on a closeup of a copy of Eric Bischoff's book, Controversy Creates Cash, sitting on a desk. The camera zooms out to reveal that we are in Traci's office. Traci is on the phone with someone when Velvet Sky barges in. Velvet says she just checked the run sheet for tonight. She throws an oversized white t-shirt on the desk and demands to know if this is some kind of joke.

Traci says it's no joke, and she thought that, under the circumstances, Velvet would be grateful for Traci trying to find something for her to do. When Velvet responds with incredulity, Traci reminds her that she hasn't exactly been on a role lately and someone who hasn't been pulling her weight probably shouldn't piss off her new boss. She tells Velvet to just grit her teeth and do it -- it will only last for a minute. Velvet takes the t-shirt and leaves, looking outraged.

Before Traci can even sit down again, Mickie walks in. For a minute, she just glares at Traci, not saying a word, then she asks her what the hell is going on. Traci thought she explained everything in the ring. Mickie tells her to think again. Mickie is pissed off because she worked for months to win the title and before she even got to hold it, it was taken away from her. Traci says she'll get the championship back and her title reign will be reinstated; all she has to do is beat the winner of the tournament. It will be no different than if she were defending the title against her first challenger.

Mickie points out that if this is the case then there's really no reason why she had to strip the champions of the titles in the first place and insists that this makes no sense. Traci says it makes sense to her and that's all that matters. Irritated now, Traci adds that Mickie getting in her face about this is not going to improve her chances of getting the title back. Mickie tells Traci that she hasn't heard the last of this and leaves the office. The camera lingers on Traci. She doesn't look happy.

The announcers wonder what Traci is up to. West says there could be more to this than they think.


iMPACT ZONE: Angelina Love makes her entrance, looking like she's not messing around tonight. Winter accompanies her.

SoCal Val announces that the next participant is making her TNA debut and introduces new Knockout, Serafina (Christina Von Eerie). West remarks that she looks like Daffney's punkish little sister.


ROUND 1 TOURNAMENT MATCH
ANGELINA LOVE (w/ WINTER) vs. SERAFINA

During the match, Mickie comes out to watch from the stage.

Serafina is in control of the match until she's distracted by Winter at ringside, leading to Angelina hitting the botox injection. Angelina doesn't notice Winter's involvement.

WINNER: Angelina Love in 7:43

The announcers put over Serafina's effort. They agree that she looked to be closing in on an upset victory until Winter got involved.


BACKSTAGE: Velvet Sky is changing. JB says to stay tuned for the debut of a new segment coming up after the break.


COMMERCIALS


BACKSTAGE: We're met with a graphic: 60 Seconds of Fan Service With Velvet Sky

Velvet is wearing the t-shirt from earlier. A 60 second timer appears in the corner of the screen. It starts counting down and 2 men wearing tuxedos begin spraying Velvet with hoses. She shrieks about the water being freezing cold while, off screen, a woman's voice taunts her with insults and catcalls. When the timer reaches zero, the hoses stop. Velvet looks humiliated. She storms off and passes the woman who was teasing her. It's Sarita.

Laughing, Sarita says Velvet is really earning that paycheck and sarcastically asks how Velvet's wrestling career is going. Angry, Velvet says she'd be happy to show her in the ring, but Sarita is unimpressed. As fun as kicking Velvet's ass for the 50th time in a row sounds, Sarita already has a match tonight. She'd suggest Velvet save her energy for the tournament if Velvet were entered in it, but she's not. She'd suggest that Velvet do what she always does and run back to prop up Angelina, but it looks like Angelina has found someone better for that. Sarita says not to worry, she'll take care of Winter tonight, since Velvet obviously can't do it herself.

Velvet just stands there as Sarita leaves, joking that Velvet has been outsourced.

We go to an interview with Tara. She's excited to be included in the tournament, glad to finally be back in the title hunt. Christy informs her that her qualifying match will be next week, and it's against Madison Rayne. Momentarily losing her composure, Tara insists that her and Madison are BFFs, but they understand that only one woman can be champion, and ultimately, it's all about the title.

Christy asks what she's going to do in the match. Tara doesn't understand. Christy reminds her of the iMPACT after Bound for Glory when Tara was the champion and laid down for Madison, basically handing her the title. This sets Tara off. Suddenly angry, she grabs Christy by the neck and slams her into a wall. Struggling to breathe, Christy chokes out that she's just saying what Tara did. Tara yells at her to shut her mouth; she says she knows what she did. She lets Christy go and stalks off, kicking over a trash can on her way.


iMPACT ZONE: Madison Rayne makes her entrance as the announcers speculate on Tara's frame of mind. They agree that Tara wasn't as at peace with the night she laid down for Madison as they thought she was.

Madison says that despite anything Mickie and Traci have done, she is still the champion and winning the tournament is just a technicality. She says everyone knows it's a foregone conclusion that she will have the title again very soon. But in preparation for her match next week, she needs a warm up, and challenges anyone in the locker room to come out and face her.

Brooke Tessmacher comes out. Madison laughs, not taking her seriously.


MADISON RAYNE vs. BROOKE TESSMACHER

BTW, the loaded glove gimmick is gone. It's just gone.

Madison acts very cocky, making arrogant covers, acting like Brooke is almost beneath her notice. Brooke gets a hope spot at the end, she looks like she has Madison on the ropes for a second until Tara runs out and nails her from outside the ring.

WINNER: Madison Rayne in 2:30

Tara raises Madison's hand as Madison celebrates like she won the Superbowl. Tara looks conflicted.

The announcers hype up Sarita vs. Winter.


COMMERCIALS


BACKSTAGE: Velvet enters the Beautiful People's dressing room where Angelina is helping Winter get ready for her match. There are 2 matching seats with their names embroidered on them and Winter is sitting in Velvet's. Angelina asks why Velvet is all wet, but she avoids the question.

Angelina takes Velvet aside and says, quietly, that she knows Velvet doesn't trust Winter, but for the time being they need to be on the same page. She says Winter is going to take Sarita out of the tournament tonight and she hopes Velvet can be on board with that at least. Velvet says nothing, but nods half-heartedly.

In the background, Winter watches them like a hungry lioness.


iMPACT ZONE: Again, Mickie comes out to watch the match from the stage. The announcers discuss the possibility of Winter facing Angelina in the 2nd round if she wins tonight.


ROUND 1 TOURNAMENT MATCH
SARITA vs. WINTER (w/ ANGELINA LOVE)

Sarita is back to wrestling her fast-paced, high flying style as her matches were better when she worked like that IMO.

During the match, we cut to backstage where Velvet is watching on a monitor. West wonder what's going through Velvet's mind since she probably doesn't want either woman to win this match.

WINNER: Sarita in 9:36

Sarita celebrates. She stands on the turnbuckle and points to Mickie on the stage, taunting her. Mickie slowly approaches. Sarita yells at her to bring it. Mickie hits the ring and they start brawling. Mickie tries to whip Sarita into the ropes, but Sarita reverses and sends Mickie crashing into Winter. Angry, Winter nails Mickie and both women start attacking her.

Angelina jumps into the ring to join the fight. Then Tara runs down the ramp to get involved. Then Madison. Then Velvet. Then Serafina. Then Brooke. It breaks down into a huge brawl! The women are fighting all over the ring!

Traci arrives with security guards to restore order. The guards try to pull the women apart on the floor, but Sarita climbs the ropes and dives off the turnbuckle onto everyone. It's a huge melee and security can do nothing to stop it!

As the entire Knockout roster continues tearing into each other, we...


FADE OUT