TNA: TKO Ep. #11

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

ROSTER: Angelina Love, Brooke Tessmacher, Daffney, Jennifer Blade (Jennifer Blake), Madison Rayne, Mickie James, Sarita, Serafina (Christina Von Eerie), Tara, Trina Diaz (Divina Fly/Rosita), Velvet Sky, Winter

BROADCAST TEAM: Jeremy Borash & Don West

RING ANNOUNCER: SoCal Val

INTERVIEWER: Christy Hemme

DIRECTOR OF AUTHORITY: Traci Brooks

ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR OF AUTHORITY: Cookie

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, Ep. #1, Ep. #2, Ep. #3, Ep. #4, Ep. #5, Ep. #6, Ep. #7, Ep. #8, Ep. #9, Ep. #10
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COLD OPEN: We see the iMPACT Zone with the house lights off. 2 spotlights are aimed down at the ring, illuminating 2 stools. A caption reads 'Tonight, An Evening With Winter & Sarita'.


OPENING VIDEO


The show begins with a video package chronicling 2 separate storylines: the friction between Angelina/Winter/Velvet, and Sarita's obsession with regaining the tag titles and claims of having some new mystery partner, leading up to Winter screwing Angelina out of the title match the previous week and revealing Sarita's partner to be herself.


iMPACT ZONE: SoCal Val introduces the new Knockout tag team champions, Sarita & Winter, who then come out with new music and a new entrance with lights, lasers, etc. They enter the ring and take a seat on the stools.

Sarita says that the entire locker room and all the fans have had the wool pulled over their eyes for months. Contrary to what people have been lead to believe, Winter is one of her best friends and has been for years. What happened last week was the culmination of a 6 month plan, but it goes back a lot further than that. She points to the video screen and we see a series of clips chronicling the lengthy period in 2010 in which the entire Knockout division essentially revolved around the Beautiful People (past and present members).

"You know what all those clips have in common?" Sarita asks the audience. "I'm not in any one of them." She explains that when she first came to TNA promises were made to her that she would be given the ball, and no one can say she didn't run with it. Hell, her debut match was voted the Knockout MOTY in 2009! And a few months later she made history, becoming the first woman to ever hold the Knockout tag team titles. But then everything started to change. Hogan & Bischoff showed up, and suddenly, one by one, the women who made this division what it was started disappearing, the biggest victim in that group being Sarita herself.

Sarita claims that she delivered everything she said she would when she came here. And her reward was getting benched for 5 months while this division turned into a joke. Week after week, she had to sit backstage and watch while a bunch of no-talent models were paraded out to the ring, embarrassing themselves, having matches she wouldn't wipe her ass with. Finally, she'd had all she could take of this and decided to do something about it. "So I ditched my lame duck tag team partner," she says, grinning, "And I called my new one."

Winter says that she and Sarita met years ago during a tour of the UK, and hit it off immediately because each was the only person who could keep up with the other. They became friends because they realized that the 2 of them were better than everyone else. So when Sarita called her, she didn't even think twice about it.

Sarita knew there was only one way she could change this situation and break the status quo once and for all. She had to take out the reason for her becoming an afterthought; she had to destroy the Beautiful People. So she pulled a few strings, got Winter her contract, and the 2 of them started laying the groundwork for their masterpiece.

They point to the video screen again and we see clips of Winter showing up in TNA for the first time and immediately starting to dig her hooks into Angelina Love on the very same night that Velvet Sky's issues with being unable to beat Sarita began. Laughing, they ask if anyone honestly thought that was a coincidence.

They show clips of that backstage brawl from several months ago in which Sarita was attacking Angelina only to be stopped by Winter, and another clip of when Angelina attacked Sarita after her match with Velvet, but Sarita got the better of her, only to be stopped by Winter again. Both times, Winter proved herself to be Angelina's ally and Sarita's enemy, "...without ever laying a finger on her." Winter says she was very proud of her acting performance. Sarita remarks that she was snubbed at the Oscars.

They show how Sarita took out Velvet in the locker room the night of the tag title match, which allowed Winter to take her place and become tag champions with Angelina. They say they were laughing about that at the bar afterward.

They move the clock forward a few months to when TKO first began. Sarita vs. Winter is the main event of the debut show -- Winter flat out says that she laid down for Sarita and she was so convincing that no one even knew it. A few weeks later, Winter & Angelina regain the tag titles by defeating Sarita & Trina Diaz. The clip shows Winter knocking Sarita off the apron and pinning Trina. Sarita says she let Winter knock her off the apron and win that match. All of it was done in an effort to sell the illusion. No one ever thought for a second that the 2 of them could actually be friends after that.

They show more clips of Velvet being increasingly pissed off about Angelina's partnership with Winter. Sarita explains that she made sure to make that whole thing worse for Velvet by never letting her forget it. She wasn't taunting Velvet just to be a bitch; she knew exactly what she was doing the whole time and it came together just as she knew it would. Angelina's rise back to prominence coinciding with Velvet's downward spiral, Velvet being unable to win a match due to frustrations Sarita & Winter orchestrated, Angelina always winning with Winter, but never when Velvet was there with her too... all of it part of the plan.

They knew that if they pressed the situation long enough and hard enough, eventually something or someone would break, but even they couldn't have predicted how Angelina reacted to it.

Winter says that when Angelina decided to end their partnership in a match with both tag titles at stake, it was like divine intervention, like the gods were actually conspiring against her, and they couldn't have scripted it any better. After that, it was child's play.

"Ironically," Winter states, "the only one who ever suspected me was the biggest fool on this roster. Velvet said I was going to screw over Angelina, and she was right." Winter admits that at first she was concerned that Velvet might blow it for them. The warning signs were there in the beginning, but once Angelina had some gold around her waist, she turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to Velvet's protestations, proving that the bond between the Beautiful People wasn't as strong as everyone thought, even the Beautiful People themselves.

And now that they have the tag team titles, now that they've left Angelina & Velvet shamed and humiliated, it's time for them to do what all great hunters do, and move in for the kill. Because the final phase of this plan wasn't the tag titles. That was check, but checkmate will be when the killing stroke is delivered to the Beautiful People, and they are ended, once and for all.

At this moment, Angelina explodes out of the entranceway. She hits the ring and attacks Winter & Sarita like a bat out of hell. For a minute, she's a house of fire, but the double team quickly becomes too much for her. Winter & Sarita start beating her down. This goes on for a minute. Finally, Velvet shows up with a steel chair and wards them off, pulling Angelina out of the ring.

Traci Brooks appears on the stage. She congratulates the tag team champions on fooling everyone, including her. She admits that it was really impressive what they pulled off. But if they want to destroy the Beautiful People, they may find that's not so easy when they put their titles on the line against them next week.

Wasting no time, Angelina immediately tries to jump back into the ring. Winter & Sarita taunt her as Velvet holds her back.


COMMERCIALS


BACKSTAGE: A caption reads 'During the break'. We see the Beautiful People (mostly Angelina) being separated from Winter & Sarita by security and escorted backstage.

We cut the Beautiful People's dressing room. Angelina is swearing and throwing things while Velvet stands calmly off to the side. JB says she looks like she's going to murder someone. West remarks that Winter & Sarita made Angelina look like a fool. In fact, they played everyone for fools, but Angelina got the worst of it. He says he wouldn't want to be in their shoes when Angelina gets her hands on them next week.

We cut to Daffney in the backstage area. Daffney is playing with a toy horse and a cowgirl doll (signifying Mickie). She puts them on the floor and smashes them to pieces with a hammer. JB says she has another chance to become the Knockouts champion by defeating Mickie James tonight.

From there we cut to the locker room. Christy Hemme is with Jennifer Blade as she gets warmed up. Christy asks her who she thinks will win the title match tonight. Jennifer says Mickie is down right now, but she's not out. And when someone's back is against the wall, you find out what they're really made of.

Madison Rayne enters, interrupting her. Madison says it sickens her that she's wasted any time whatsoever being preoccupied with some newby, but Jennifer just isn't smart enough to know when to quit. Jennifer may have gotten lucky a few times recently, but that's all going to end tonight because she's instructed Tara to give her the beating of a lifetime for embarrassing Madison.

Unimpressed, Jennifer says that Madison is in no position to be making threats. By her count, she's kicked Madison's ass 3 times in a row, and just because she's got Tara under her thumb, that's not going to help her. "I did my homework. I've got Tara figured out now. And after I beat her tonight, maybe she'll get her balls back and realize it's not me that's been wasting her time; it's you."

Angry, Madison attacks Jennifer, but Jennifer overpowers her and slams her into a locker. Jennifer calls Madison a midget who's been believing her own hype for way too long. The truth is, when you remove Tara, on her own, Madison's not as good as she thinks she is, and Jennifer's already proven that. She warns Madison not to make her prove it again unless she wants to be spitting teeth.

We cut to the returning Serafina and Trina Diaz at catering. They're discussing the Winter/Sarita reveal from last week. Serafina says she shouldn't have been so surprised because it only makes sense that the 2 biggest bitches on the roster would do something like this. Trina still wants to get some payback on Sarita, and if she's partners with Winter now, then you can throw her in there too -- it's just a shame the Beautiful People are getting the first crack at them. Serafina isn't so sure Velvet & Angelina are going to win next week, but while that's going on, maybe her and Trina should explore this tag team idea they had.

Christy walks in and asks them who their picks are in the title match tonight. Trina picks Mickie because Mickie's the underdog right now and you should never underestimate an underdog. Serafina picks Daffney because, "...she was a big influence on me."

We cut back to Madison who is standing by the entranceway. Tara appears and tosses her a bottle of water. "There's your precious Evian," she says. "Happy?" Madison throws the bottle down and shrieks that she's not happy! Jennifer Blade just disrespected her and put her hands on her, and you don't do that to the queen of this show! Madison says that if Tara knows what's good for her, she'll destroy Blade tonight. Tara's been useless for everything, but this is the one thing she seems to be good for, and she'd better do it, or else.

Fed up, Tara gets in Madison's face. "Listen to me. You helped me get my job back here, and I appreciate that. I'll gladly help you out with a lot of things, but I'm not your slave. I'll take care of Blade tonight, but because I want to. And once I finish her off..." She picks up the bottle and shoves it back into Madison's hand. "...you can start getting your own damn water."

Tara's music begins to play and she hits the entranceway, leaving Madison there, shocked.


iMPACT ZONE: Tara makes her entrance, followed by Jennifer.


TARA vs. JENNIFER BLADE

West wonders what's going through Madison's head right now. She doesn't want Jennifer to win, but she does want to keep Tara subservient to her. Tara's been showing signs of growing beyond her control lately and beating Jennifer again might just add to that. While he explains this, we see Madison watching intently on a monitor backstage.

This match is much more back and forth than their previous 2. Jennifer can't seem to get the advantage, but for the first time since their rivalry started, Tara can't get the advantage either.

JB says Jennifer definitely looks to have grown in confidence since their last 2 encounters. West likens it to Matt Hughes & Georges St. Pierre -- the first time they fought, GSP was full of hero-worship and it messed him up, but when they fought again the hero-worship was gone and he kicked Hughes' ass. He sees the same thing starting to happen here.

Tara tries for the widow's peak, which she used to beat Jennifer in their first match. Jennifer reverses it into a pin attempt. Tara tries the submission hold that she won their second match with. Jennifer powers out of it. Tara starts arguing with the referee. JB says she's looking really frustrated because nothing in her arsenal is working against Jennifer anymore.

With Tara distracted, Jennifer nails her with a superkick, knocking her into the referee. With the ref down, Tara rolls out of the ring. Jennifer attacks her with a renewed intensity and she finally has Tara reeling. West says Jennifer might just pull this off; Tara doesn't seem to have an answer for her this time.

Then Madison runs out and nails Jennifer with a steel chair. She throws Jennifer back into the ring and tells Tara to pin her. Tara looks back and forth between Madison and Jennifer, conflicted. Madison yells at her to make the pin. Finally, with the referee coming to, Tara covers her.

Jennifer kicks out.

Tara is shocked. So is Madison. JB says Jennifer was operating on pure gut instinct right there. Tara locks in a new submission hold. Jennifer is groggy from the chair shot, but she tries to make it to the ropes. She almost makes it, but Madison pulls the ropes out of her grasp. Tara yells at Madison to cut it out as she pulls Jennifer back to the center of the ring. Jennifer refuses to tap, but she's got nowhere to go. Finally, she passes out from the pain and the referee gives the win to Tara.

WINNER: Tara in 10:49

Madison immediately jumps into the ring and raises Tara's hand. She plays to the crowd, trying to get them to cheer for Tara. JB says that she's making an awfully big show of this. West remarks that it might be overkill, noting that Tara didn't seem to appreciate her interference, though she did still take the victory, tainted or not.

Tara has words with Madison in the ring, saying that she didn't need her help. Madison plays innocent.


BACKSTAGE: Mickie James is getting her head rebandaged by a trainer.

JB hypes Mickie vs. Daffney as we cut to a break.


COMMERCIALS


BACKSTAGE: In the Beautiful People's dressing room, Angelina is pacing back and forth, swearing, still livid about what happened at the start of the show. Velvet tells her to calm down, but Angelina yells that she won't, grabbing a makeup case and throwing it into the mirror, breaking it. She says she will never calm down about this and, in fact, she can't believe Velvet is being so calm about it.

Velvet says it's not that she isn't upset, she just isn't surprised. She reminds Angelina that she thought Winter was going to screw her over months ago, but Angelina didn't listen. Angelina insists that doesn't matter now; all that matters is what happens next. And maybe it's a good thing that this happened because now they get to do this the right way -- no single person holding both belts, no one gets handed any titles. Next week they're going to destroy Winter & Sarita for what they did to her. And when they win those titles, it will be for the right reason: because they're the best damn tag team in this company.

Angelina tells the camera man to zoom in on her. She looks right into the camera and says she thought the Beautiful People needed 3 members and Velvet thought she needed to do this by herself, and they were both wrong.

Velvet frowns at this, but says nothing.

Angelina continues, saying that the real Beautiful People are back as of right now, and next week they're going to make those 2 bitches wish they'd never set foot in TNA.

Velvet appears less than enthusiastic about being part of this team again, but still says nothing.

They air a video package chronicling the Mickie/Daffney feud.

We cut to Christy and Mickie in the locker room. Mickie looks haggard and beaten up, and Christy points out that she's seen better days. Mickie admits that, between Tara, Madison, Traci and Daffney, she's never worked so hard to win a title or so hard to keep it. But at the end of the day, if she can still look herself in the mirror and say that it's all been worth it, that's the only validation she needs. She holds up the Knockouts title belt and says that having this means that it's all been worth it. She doesn't care how bad she's hurt; Daffney can hurt her all she wants because if Daffney really wants to take this title, she's going to have to kill her. And that's not going to happen.

We cut to Daffney alone in the backstage area. She says that everything she's done since she first appeared on TKO has lead up to this match. In a way, she feels pity for Mickie because of what she's about to do to her, but what she feels doesn't matter. She has promises to keep and nothing is going to stop her. Tonight she sacrifices Mickie James on the altar of the goth goddess.

Daffney's music plays in the arena and she begins her walk to the entranceway. The camera follows her.

JB says the title match will begin after the final break of the evening.


COMMERCIALS


iMPACT ZONE: Daffney makes her entrance. Offhandedly, West wonders what she meant about having "promises to keep".


BACKSTAGE: Mickie is psyching herself up. Her music plays in the arena and she beings her walk to the entranceway. The camera follows.


iMPACT ZONE: Mickie makes her entrance.

SoCal Val gives each woman a separate intro. But before the match begins, a stage hand runs out from the back and hands her a note. Val says she has just been informed of a last minute change in this match, and introduces the special guest referee... Cookie!

Cookie comes out and says this is an important match, so she appointed herself referee to make sure they get a real finish. Mickie isn't buying this at all and tries to protest. Then Traci Brooks appears on the video screen like Big Brother in 1984 and says that she personally approved the decision for Cookie to officiate this match. She tells Cookie to ring the bell and get this thing started.


NO DQ
KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH
DAFFNEY vs. MICKIE JAMES (c)

They brawl through ringside, they brawl through the crowd. The match goes all over the arena.

The story of the match is Daffney targeting Mickie's head and Mickie having to gut it out and fight through the aggravated injury. There are moments where it's teased that Cookie might screw Mickie over, but it doesn't happen. Cookie calls the match straight, though Mickie's suspicion of her is played up.

Toward the end, after numerous shots to the head and being unable to gain the advantage, Mickie headbuts Daffney out of sheer frustration, staggering her. "Well, that was thinking outside the box," West remarks as Mickie screams defiantly. "Daffney sure didn't see that one coming."

This move changes the momentum of the match. Finally, after a hard fought battle, Mickie hits her finisher and gets the decisive pin.

Cookie seems a bit hesitant to make the 3 count, but she does it anyway, and awards the match to Mickie.

WINNER AND STILL KNOCKOUTS CHAMPION: Mickie James in 13:25

West calls attention to Cookie and asks JB if he thought that 3 count was slow. It seemed kind of slow to West. JB says he isn't sure.

Cookie quickly heads to the back. She doesn't look thrilled with the outcome of the match, which West also points out.

Mickie celebrates with the title, using the ropes to pull herself to her feet, still selling her head injury. JB says she doesn't look very good. West says no one would look good after that many shots to the head, but finally settling her business with Daffney has to be a huge load off Mickie's mind.

Finally, Mickie rolls out of the ring and heads to the back.

While walking up the ramp, she stops abruptly. She wobbles, seeming suddenly disoriented.

Mickie drops the title belt. She puts a hand to her head... and then collapses.

She falls to the ground and doesn't get up.

The camera zooms in for a close up. Mickie is unconscious and blood is dripping from her mouth.

TNA medical staff rush out to tend to her. Traci emerges from the back and watches everything from the stage, her face unreadable.

As the trainers start lifting Mickie onto a stretcher, we...


FADE OUT