TNA Live Review: One Night Only - Knockouts Knockdown

TNA Live Review: One Night Only - Knockouts Knockdown

TNA's latest One Night Only PPV event was an all Knockout division affair and saw the return of some old faces, new talent and a final glimpse of some recently departed ones as well.

The concept was that the wining participants throughout the night's matches would progress to a 'gauntlet' style encounter, here they would battle it out for the title of 'Queen of TNA'.

Throughout the night we got to see some of the best highlights from the KO divisions glory days (when their matches often stole the show and proved to be real ratings winners) and recent high points too.

The returning Alissa Flash kicked things off against Gail Kim in a very decent opening scrap. The Shimmer Champion (better known as Cheerleader Melissa) fared well against Kim and put forth some great offence. Gail won with a 'eat defeat' to progress to the gauntlet main event.

Gut Check participants Lei'D Tapa and Ivelisse Velez had a hard act to follow and couldn't really pull it off unfortunately. Tapa won the short encounter with a slam.

The much-missed Tara was up next against Mia Yim. Yim worked hard here, but was never really allowed to shine. Veteran Tara nailed a 'widows peak' to advance after a spot of interference from her beau Jesse.

Miss Tessmacher may now be aligned with Aces & 8's, but here she was still an active KO roster member. Her opponent Santana Garrett tired her best, but lost this short TV style bout without impressing too much.

Trinity was a member of the division in its formative years and looked well for her age (42). The match against ODB was not as good looking though, ODB won with relative ease.

Veteran grappler Jackie Moore (TNA, USWA, WCW, WWE) faced off against newcomer Taryn Terrell put together a well-paced match next. Moore carrying the talented Terrell to a match that was an improvement over some that preceded it. Moore nailed the win after a dropkick.

British Bootcamp star Hannah Blossom showcased her talent well in a fast-paced three-way encounter next. Here she overcame the might of Sojo Bolt and Taeler Hendrix. This would ave been so much better with a few more minutes of time given to it.

The following battle really didn't impress I am afraid to say. Velvet Sky and former WWE star Jillian Hall could not gel and the match seemed to drag an awful lot. Sky's quick win was a godsend here.

Things picked up next as Mickie James stood toe-to-toe with the returning Serena Deeb. Here we had a crisp, well-paced and highly physical match, that perfectly highlighted what the KO division can achieve when talent is used correctly. The pair offered up a blistering series of exchanges before James pulled off the win.

The 'gauntlet' finale was a typical over-the-top affair, where the action slowed at times when too many bodies were in the ring. The start worked well and the finale between James and Kim worked very well indeed. Kim faked an injury to get a sneaky roll-up pin on James to be crowned 'Queen of TNA'.

Knockouts Knockdown was a PPV that promised so much, considering the talented female roster that are currently available (in TNA and on the indy scene). However the shortness of the matches and some sloppy efforts made it an event that felt more like a series of TV filler scraps. It was nice to see some old faces return to the fold and to see what may be the last in-ring appearances by Madison Rayne, Tara and Brooke Hogan as well. The One Night Only events suffer from being pre-recorded many months before transmission, but otherwise they are a welcome addition to TNA programming.

By Phil Allely