With a growing Knockouts division, two sets of titles and multiple storylines at the same time, a two-hour time slot shared with the men is beginning to become a little bit cramped. Thinking back to the early days of the Knockouts division in 2007, there is a reason why the feud between Awesome Kong and Gail Kim is so highly regarded — it had time to grow by receiving ample amounts of attention and spanned two pay per views. The feud and matches between the two helped put the Knockouts division on the map and showed the mass audience what women’s wrestling could be. Fast forward to present day and it seems to me that the feuds in the division are often half-baked and nothing more than a series of matches or run-ins or backstage attacks. Where’s the scripting and storyline gone? Should TNA just be given a pass because they have good matches?
With more Knockouts utilised than ever before, it’s a competition for screen time and usually the slots given to the women on Impact are fought over. Thus, a lot of the times you’ll see feuds rotate from week to week but this doesn’t seem to be working. Going back to that earlier example, Kim vs Kong, at the time it was the sole storyline for the Knockouts and was able to have consistent time and effort put into it. Perhaps today, the TNA writers are trying to do too much despite having too little time. Many times, feuds have just come out of no where and ended abruptly — Alissa Flash vs Hamada is one example. But even then, the bigger feuds such as Kong vs Tara if you think back, was nothing more than a series of run-ins and attacks with little explanation for the animosity between them, and no real dialogue or emotions being told in storyline.
The launch of a second set of titles means that the Knockouts are stretched pretty thin for the TV time and though they are made good use of on Impact, it just doesn’t seem to be doing them any favours in the long term.
With the Hulk Hogan era now underway, it seems the time devoted to the girls may decrease while the numbers within the division continue to expand as TNA is always on the lookout for new talent. Is it time for a Knockouts-only TV show?
* Firstly, we really hope Melina has a speedy and/or miraculous recovery. If it is as serious as thought, Raw just won’t be the same without her.
The Bella Twins
Beth Phoenix
Former TNA Knockout, 
#10 – Mickie “Don’t Call Me Melina” James – Now face this; when Mickie James made her debut, a whole load of us had to do a double take. Was that Melina that just attacked Victoria, coming to the aid of Trish Stratus? The comparisons seem to have been endless on the Internet, which only added further flames to the fire in a much publicized backstage feud between the two. Ah, the good ole days when Melina’s Internet ignorance got the best of her with a shoot blog… and Mickie’s graphic Arby’s photoshoot first surfaced. Good times, I’m telling ya. So which side did you belong to? Team Mickie or Team Melina. Regardless of your preference, caught in-between was the thought: “That’s the best she could do with hair… DEBUT night?!” She has since come so far and has done so much… but I’m still thinkin’ Arby’s.
#09 – Awesome King Kong Braids – How do I even begin with this one? I get that Kong is supposed to be some ‘monster’ wrestler and the biggest threat to Women’s Wrestling, but really? With hair like that? To me, she’s just a seemingly robust woman with a speech impediment, and a really bad case of the braids – yeah, TNA means nothing to me, I don’t watch it. A shout out to all of our Clueless fans; remember when Dionne found that strand of “cheap polyester hair” in the back of Murray’s car… yep, looks like Kong gets her ‘hair did’ with the same slut. There’s nothing intimidating about braids, in fact, nothing good about braids either – NOTHING. Kong should grow out a fro ala Macy Gray, then she’d have the rest of us running like hell like we’re in pursuit of hair relaxer. Yikes!
