TNA: TKO Ep. #12

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, Ep. #11
-----


COLD OPEN: Winter & Sarita arrive at the arena. JB says tonight they make their first tag team title defense against the Beautiful People.


OPENING VIDEO


The show begins with a video package about how Winter & Sarita screwed Angelina out of the tag team titles, chronicling their entire elaborate deception.


BACKSTAGE: The Beautiful People are watching this video on a monitor. Livid, Angelina Love grabs the monitor and throws it against the wall, destroying it. Velvet Sky thinks she really needs to calm down, but Angelina is too worked up. Angelina says after they end those 2 bitches tonight and take back the tag titles, then she'll calm down. Velvet reminds her that Winter & Sarita are sure to have a game plan and, as much as it hurts to admit, her and Angelina's respective track records against them have been pretty miserable.

Angelina insists this doesn't matter because Winter & Sarita have never had to face the 2 of them together. And like she said weeks ago, when they're together, they're the best there is in this company. They know each other better than anyone, and when they're in synch, no one can measure up to them.

"Yeah," Velvet mutters half-heartedly.


iMPACT ZONE: The ring is covered with a giant tarp. The announcers don't know what's going on, noting that Madison Rayne was working on some big production when they arrived at the studio this morning.

Madison's music plays and she comes out with a mic. She says tonight is a very important night for the fans, but even more important for one very special person. She signals the stage hands in the rafters -- they lift the tarp off the ring revealing it to be covered with Tara posters, Tara merchandise, cutouts from magazines featuring Tara, a mannequin in Tara's likeness. The ring is practically a shrine to Tara.

"Welcome to Tara Appreciation Night!" Madison exclaims giddily.

Madison goes around the ring, using the memorabilia to chronicle Tara's entire career -- her beginnings as a sports model, her debut in WWE, her feuds with Trish Stratus and others, becoming to 2-time Women's champion, her debut in TNA, becoming a 4-time Knockouts champion, her tragic forced retirement (she conveniently leaves out the fact that she was the one who retired Tara) and her triumphant return.

Finally, Madison introduces, "...the guest of honor, and my best friend... TARA!"

Tara walks out from the back, looking about as suspicious as anyone would be. Madison explains that she's prepared one more surprise for tonight; she directs everyone's attention to the video screen and tells the monkeys in the production truck to play the video. An extended Tara promotional video plays which makes Tara look like a million bucks. Afterward, Madison tries to start a "Tara" chant in the crowd.

Tara gets a mic from SoCal Val. Before she can says anything, Madison cuts her off. Madison says she understands that she's been a bad friend to Tara recently. She's taken Tara for granted, but all that's going to change. She vows to be a better person, and together, the 2 of them are going to take back their rightful place and they will both be the queens of this show!

JB & West remark that she's laying it on pretty thick.

Tara studies Madison shrewdly. "Looks like Tara isn't really buying this," says JB. "Would you?" asks West.

Finally, Tara says that it looks like Madison put a lot of work into this. She thanks Madison and thanks the fans for their support. Madison hugs her. Tara hugs Madison back, but it's clear from her face that she sees through Madison's facade. She knows Madison is full of shit, but she's playing along for now.


BACKSTAGE: In the locker room, Jennifer Blade is watching this on a monitor, disgusted. She says it's a @#$%ing joke and turns the monitor off.

Serafina and Trina Diaz are there as well. The 3 of them discuss their 6-woman tag match tonight. They agree that they all stand to gain a lot from getting this win. Jennifer is happy to have another shot at Tara. Serafina & Trina see this as their shot at getting into the title picture, since Tara & Madison are an established team and a win over them could score them a future tag title match.

Also, Serafina is excited about getting in the ring with Daffney for the first time -- she says Daffney was someone she patterned herself after when she was breaking into the business. She was always a big fan because Daffney was different from every other woman in the business and didn't care what anyone thought about it.

Bitterly, Jennifer tells her that she felt the same way about Tara and was given a pretty rude awakening. She advises Serafina to not get her hopes up.

We cut to Angelina and Christy Hemme. Angelina says never in her life was she more humiliated than after what Winter & Sarita did to her 2 weeks ago. She hasn't been able to eat, she hasn't been able to sleep. All she's thought about ever since is what she's going to do when she finally gets her hands on them tonight. She acknowledges that she hasn't given them enough credit -- clearly they're more dangerous than she thought if they were able to set all this up, "...but I'm pretty dangerous too," she says. "There's a reason why I'm the most decorated woman who's ever set foot in a TNA ring. And tonight those bitches are going to find out real fast exactly why that is when I take all 6 of those championships I've won and shove them up their fat asses!" Angelina says she's about to add a 7th title to her collection and promises that she and Velvet are going to make this the worst night of Winter & Sarita's lives.

Noticing she's conspicuous by her absence, Christy asks where Velvet is right now. Angelina doesn't have an answer.

JB hypes the 6-woman tag match as we go to a break.


COMMERCIALS


We see a video package of the Mickie James/Daffney title match from last week and Mickie collapsing afterward.


BACKSTAGE: Christy is standing by with Traci Brooks and Cookie. Christy asks if they have an update on Mickie's condition. Traci says that Mickie's head injury was aggravated during the title match with Daffney. For the time being, she's in the hospital under observation. The doctors expect her to make a full recovery, but they're not sure exactly when she'll be cleared to return. Preparations are being made in the event that Mickie has to be stripped of the Knockouts title. Christy asks what kind of preparations, but Traci won't elaborate.

We cut to Velvet, who is unenthusiastically warming up in the locker room. Winter & Sarita walk in. They tell Velvet not to get excited because they just came to talk. They say that they were looking forward to a real fight in their first title defense, but they couldn't help but notice Velvet's lack of enthusiasm about the whole thing. And that's puzzling because this was exactly what Velvet needed, wasn't it? Not only was she proven right about Winter, but she has a chance for payback against the 2 of them tonight, a shot at the tag team titles with her BFF and a new contract waiting for her, should they win... and yet she almost seems depressed about the whole thing.

Sarita tells Velvet that she should be happy. Sure, the singles thing didn't work out for her, but that just means she can go back where she belongs, back where she always goes, where everyone always knew she'd end up. It might not be very satisfying making a career out of propping up Angelina, but at least it's something that might keep her employed.

They tell Velvet to do herself a big favor and settle, to put away her dreams of being a successful singles competitor and settle for being Angelina's #2. "Because if nothing else, Velvet," says Sarita patronizingly, "You are a perfect #2."

They tell Velvet to think about it and leave the locker room. The camera lingers on Velvet, thinking...


iMPACT ZONE: Daffney, Madison and Tara make their entrances. Madison makes a big show of holding the ropes open for Tara. Tara looks amused, but still suspicious. Then Jennifer, Serafina and Trina make their entrances.

JB & West agree that the faces really have their work cut out for them as the heels have a huge experience edge, Tara is undefeated against Jennifer, Tara & Madison have been a team for months and Daffney just put the Knockouts champion in the hospital. Plus, the faces are all still technically rookies and this is the first time any of them have teamed together.


DAFFNEY, MADISON RAYNE & TARA vs. JENNIFER BLADE, SERAFINA & TRINA DIAZ

Toward the end of the match the action starts to break down and everyone pairs off. Jennifer and Tara are going at it with neither able to gain the upped hand, Daffney and Serafina are wailing on each other, both of them looking like they're having a lot of fun doing it. While those 4 are fighting around ringside, Madison is beating down Trina in the ring.

Tara manages to get the better of Jennifer, throwing her back into the ring. She signals Madison, who gets ready to nail Jennifer with a clothesline. Tara whips Jennifer into Madison, but Jennifer reverses it and sends Tara into Madison instead. The 2 heels collide. Jennifer superkicks Tara out of the ring and drops Madison with a spinebuster. Trina climbs the turnbuckle and finishes Madison with a moonsault.

WINNERS: Jennifer Blade, Serafina & Trina Diaz in 14:00

The faces celebrate on the ramp. The announcers call this a big upset. JB says Serafina & Trina just put themselves in line for a tag title shot and Jennifer made a good case for herself getting one more crack at Tara.

Madison sits in the ring in a state of shock. Slowly, that shock turns to anger; livid, furious anger. She turns her head from the faces to Tara, silently boring holes into Tara with her eyes. West says it looks like Madison's supposed change of heart regarding Tara may have come to an end already.

Tara looks from Madison to Jennifer. She and Jennifer stare each other down.

JB says the tag title match is still to come.


COMMERCIALS


BACKSTAGE: Velvet sits alone in a stairwell. She's deep in thought and looks conflicted about something. Then, slowly, something dawns on her. We see from her face that she's come to some kind of decision. She gets to her feet and heads off down the hallway.

They air a video package about the whole story that lead up to the tag team title match tonight.

We cut to Winter & Sarita with Christy. Sarita says that this tag title match is going to signify a long-overdue changing of the guard in the Knockout division. Winter reminds us that last week they said the final killing stroke would be delivered to the Beautiful People and that happens tonight.

From there we go back to Velvet entering the Beautiful People's dressing room to find Angelina pacing anxiously. Angelina says their match is about to start and asks where the hell Velvet has been. Velvet said she had some thinking to do, but that's done now. She admits that she's been in a funk for the last 2 weeks; she didn't feel excited about this match and wanted no part of it. She knows getting the win could save her job, but she thought it would also mean accepting the fact that she's not cut out to be a singles competitor. She really didn't want to do that, but something Sarita said to her made her think. So she thought, and she decided that she doesn't care about that anymore. What she cares about most is taking her anger out on someone who really deserves it. What she cares about most is this team. Because Angelina was right -- when the 2 of them are together, they're the best there is.

"So let's go out there and prove it," she says. "Let's end those bitches."

Smiling, Angelina says she knew Velvet would come around. Velvet admits that she wasn't so sure for a while because Angelina casts a pretty big shadow, but she realized that she's not going to be in Angelina's shadow because she's always been the pretty one in this partnership anyway.

Angelina laughs. They joke about which one of them is more beautiful.


iMPACT ZONE: SoCal Val announces that it's time for the main event.


BACKSTAGE: Winter & Sarita stand ready in the hallway. Their music plays in the arena. They begin their walk to the ring. The camera follows.


iMPACT ZONE: Winter & Sarita make their entrance.

JB says the main event begins after the final break of the evening.


COMMERCIALS


Winter & Sarita get mics from ringside. They say they hate to break it to the fans, but they don't think this match is going to happen. They were supposed to face the Beautiful People tonight, but they had a chat with Velvet earlier and it seems like her heart just isn't in it anymore. "Velvet is feeling a bit demoralized these days," Winter says mockingly. "So much so that she got handed a golden opportunity, the best chance she'd ever get to save her career... and the poor thing just doesn't think she can do it."

"So Velvet's going to take her ball and go home," Sarita continues, "And we're going to stay here. We're going to mow down every woman in that locker room, we're going to dominate this division from now on. And if any of you bitches backstage think you can stop us, you can't. So just do yourselves a big favor -- do what Velvet Sky did. Just quit. Because you can't beat us and you never will."

The Beautiful People's music hits the loudspeaker. Winter & Sarita are shocked.

Velvet & Angelina appear on the stage, doing their full entrance, now with pyro, and looking pretty smug.

"Looks like Winter & Sarita didn't expect this!" says JB. "You're not kidding!" remarks West. "They can't believe it! They thought they cut the heart out of the Beautiful People, but it's still beating!"


KNOCKOUT TAG TITLE MATCH
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE vs. WINTER (c) & SARITA (c)

Angelina insists that Velvet start the match for their team. Velvet goes to work on Sarita, quickly gaining the upper hand. Sarita can't seem to make anything happen against the newly invigorated Velvet.

"Looks like Velvet finally got that monkey off her back," says JB. "Well, she was so angry and frustrated for months, what with all the abuse from Sarita and Winter trying to come between her and her friend," West explains. "But now that it's all out in the open, think what a difference that must make. Velvet's finally thinking clearly again."

Velvet can't be stopped. Sarita has been thrown off her game and is getting no offense at all. Finally she makes a desperation tag to Winter. Likewise, Velvet tags in Angelina. In turn, Angelina starts kicking Winter's ass.

West remarks how surreal this is. It's been months since the Beautiful People have worked together as a team. And after all the crap they had to go through, after getting conned out of the tag titles, here they are, back again, as strong as they ever were. Winter & Sarita wanted to destroy the Beautiful People, but their plan failed, and as a final humiliation, it looks like they could very well lose the tag team titles tonight.

Angelina is a house of fire and Winter can't even slow her down. The heels are getting flat out embarrassed.

"It looks like the Beautiful People are about to finish this!" JB exclaims.

Angelina makes a pin attempt, but lets up at the count of 2. She shakes her head, grinning. She points to Velvet.

"Talk about just desserts!" says West. "Velvet's been waiting for this for months!"

Winter is defenseless. Velvet reaches out her hand. Angelina moves to tag her...

Velvet pulls her hand away.

Velvet steps off the ring apron, leaving Angelina alone in the ring.

Angelina is stunned. "What the hell are you doing?" she yells.

Velvet's face is full of conflicting emotions: anger, guilt, jealousy, regret, anxiety, relief. And shock. Even Velvet herself can't believe what she's doing. But she doesn't stop. She backs slowly up the ramp, eyes locked with Angelina.

With Angelina distracted, Winter tags in Sarita. When Angelina finally turns back to the match, both of the tag team champions are standing in front of her. They grin wickedly at her... and then attack!

The match changes in an instant. The heels start dominating Angelina, making quick tags, constantly double teaming her. Angelina can do nothing to stop them; she's helpless.

Finally, the heels lock Angelina in a double team Boston crab/camel clutch submission hold.

Angelina reaches her hand out for Velvet. She's practically begging Velvet to come back and help her.

Velvet just stands on the stage and watches. She's getting emotional now, but still does nothing to help Angelina.

Angelina has nowhere to go and no one to help her. She taps out.

WINNERS AND STILL KNOCKOUT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: Winter & Sarita in 7:31

The killing stroke is delivered.

Winter & Sarita celebrate.

Angelina looks to Velvet one last time.

Velvet's face has become very dark. She turns her back on her friend and walks off the stage.


FADE OUT