Report: Big Changes Coming to the Knockouts

[It's Damn Real!]

http://www.tnainsider.com/view/tna-news/rumor-big-changes-coming-to-the-knockouts-division-r422

This from TNAInsider via The Wrestling Observer:

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that TNA producer John “Big” Gaburick plans to revamp TNA’s Knockouts division.

The report goes on to say that Gaburick sees the division as something that used to set TNA apart from WWE and has been marginalized recently.

Gaburick is said to have given Christy Hemme some authority in handling talent relations for the Knockouts. Hemme has been scouting new talent and is said to be answering directly to Gaburick. Christy has received high marks for how she has handled the new role so far.

--

Between the release of Brooke Hogan and the exit and seemingly non-return-anytime-soon of Mickie James, the timing is probably perfect for this, especially if you couple it with the story line TNA is running that seems to border on what so many fans have been complaining about regarding TNA's product the last three years.

I'm not sure what experience Hemme has in this, or who she knows or even who she's scouting, but my bet is if they're looking for big changes, they're likely to return the Knockouts to what set them apart in the first place — having the greatest collection of female wrestlers in the business, not just the best looking group.

Thoughts?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The Knockout Division, in my eyes, hasn't been all that much to speak of for years now. In the grand scheme of things, it's still been more relevant overall and better than the Divas of WWE but that's not exactly saying much, nor does it alter the steady downward spiral of the Knockout Division for the past 3.5 years or so. After all, it's only been during the course of the summer that WWE has made any strides whatsoever in improving the Divas. There's a TON of work that needs to be done, but at least there's some coherent storylines going on rather than just random match pairings week in & week out.

As far as Christy Hemme goes, I'm not sure what sort of real experience she has in this role. On the surface, it's almost as easy to dismiss Christy Hemme as Brooke Hogan. She's not exactly remembered for feats of greatness during her wrestling career, but at least she's someone whose at least been involved in pro wrestling one way or another for close to a decade instead of getting the job because of her daddy.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The Knockout Division, in my eyes, hasn't been all that much to speak of for years now. In the grand scheme of things, it's still been more relevant overall and better than the Divas of WWE but that's not exactly saying much, nor does it alter the steady downward spiral of the Knockout Division for the past 3.5 years or so. After all, it's only been during the course of the summer that WWE has made any strides whatsoever in improving the Divas. There's a TON of work that needs to be done, but at least there's some coherent storylines going on rather than just random match pairings week in & week out.

As far as Christy Hemme goes, I'm not sure what sort of real experience she has in this role. On the surface, it's almost as easy to dismiss Christy Hemme as Brooke Hogan. She's not exactly remembered for feats of greatness during her wrestling career, but at least she's someone whose at least been involved in pro wrestling one way or another for close to a decade instead of getting the job because of her daddy.

The one real thing you can say about Hemme is that she has an absolutely genuine adoration and appreciation for TNA. Now, maybe that's because she's paid a ton if you buy into the reports that she's still the highest paid Knockout from when she was initially signed by the company, but if you listen to the IMPACT Wrestling podcast every week, her enthusiasm absolutely shines, and she is always speaking up and about the Knockouts.

My bet, and it's all conjecture of course, is that Hemme is far more respected and appreciated to the Knockouts room than Hogan ever was.

 

[Lowdown]

I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I'm not holding my breath with this. I do want the division revamped, and I also feel tha TNA has good intentions. The way I see it, with money issues still mounting (I'm asuming), it looks like TNA could be bringing up talent from OVW or indy promotions, maybe even female talent currently overseas. I think they should really try to get Mickie back and maybe Tara in order to accoplish this goal though.

 

[hatehabsforever]

My knee jerk reaction to this is, if you have to depend upon a revamped Knockouts division to set yourself apart and to become a integral part of your company, perhaps your problems run a little deeper than I thought. I'm not sure if the female division in either company draws a dime and I'm not sure if revamping either division is going to mean diddly squat. We have all read the comments on here about the Knockouts or the Divas: piss break, chance to go get a snack, letting the excitement of the previous match settle down before the next anticipated match (as if they are nothing more than a buffer zone).

Upon a little more thought, I guess nothing ventured nothing gained. It's unfortunate that this light bulb decided to come on after the division was gutted to include just 3-5 women. Personally I think it will be difficult to revamp the division based upon new female talent from elsewhere without a significant core of talent already there. And I'm not overwhelmingly confident that I would put the fate of the division in the hands of Christy Hemme.

But let's face it, they have to try something as the same old same old simply is not working. Perhaps revamping the X-division in such a fashion might yield greater results, but it is nice to see them finally recognize that they have to try some sort of a new approach to get the job done.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

I think TNA knockouts is the most overrated "good thing" about TNA. What I mean by that is that, in my opinion, the Knockouts division was never really great. It was only these two things that were great about knockouts division:

-Awesome Kong / Gail Kim feud-
-The Beautiful People letting the pigeons loose-

Other than that, KO division was always mediocre.

Now with that being said, I prefer sizzle over substance. Meaning, I hope Christy Hemme hires attractive women who are marketable but happen to be poor workers. Instead of women with average looks but are excellent workers. That's how I feel.

 

[MWRedskins]

well it needs changes. they have good stories, but the problem is the amount of knockouts they have on the roster. fans dont want to see ODB vs. Gail Kim 1000 times, they want to see other feuds and as of now, we can only see 4 knockouts vs. each other in re-treaded feuds, so if Christy does a good job and they hire some much needed talent, then the change is a success, but if they dont add anymore knockouts, then it wont seem like much changed. the knockouts have been a good part of their show lately, but they need more to help this division out.

 

[Sweettre15]

Well from what I recall, back when the Gail Kim and Awesome Kong program was going it on, they actually drew solid enough numbers for SpikeTV to allegedly want a spinoff Knockouts show.

Don't know how true that was but that's what I heard. If it IS true then the Knockoute benefitted TNA more than some might think especially back during the days of Gail Kim and Awesome Kong along with the Beautiful people angle.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I can honestly say I am so glad I wasn't watching TNA back when Kong was around. that thing would be hard to watch. that's not what I want to see when I'm watching women on my TV.

I sometimes wonder why guys would prefer to watch these butch like ugly "women" rather than hot pieces of ass.
I don't think there are really more guys watching who would prefer to see great in ring wrestling from the women rather than hot women with average wrestling ability.

I'll wait and see who they can bring in.

 

[Sweettre15]

I can honestly say I am so glad I wasn't watching TNA back when Kong was around. that thing would be hard to watch. that's not what I want to see when I'm watching women on my TV.

I sometimes wonder why guys would prefer to watch these butch like ugly "women" rather than hot pieces of ass.
I don't think there are really more guys watching who would prefer to see great in ring wrestling from the women rather than hot women with average wrestling ability.

I'll wait and see who they can bring in.

Well Awesome Kong wasnt supposed to be hot, she was supposed to be the vicious top heel that runs roughshod over the divas and people wanted to see who could stop her. Which in that case was the gorgeous Gail Kim...as a face.

Attractive women that CAN wrestle never bothers me or atleast if they become crisp performers but if it's all hot pieces of ass with nothing to make them less interchangeable then it'll be no different than WWE. Different types of women with different types of looks = More interesting imo

 

[joeg]

Okay, what has Hemme even done that was beneficial in this so called "role" so far? Who has she brought in?

I don't get why people on here keep saying they should try to bring back so-and-so. TNA is just not a big enough company to make women want to be there forever. I don't remember any minor league players saying they want to win multiple championships for minor league teams. Any woman who used to be in the WWE would say that WWE is the place with higher expectations. After winning the KO title a couple times that's pretty much all there is to do in TNA, because they don't have money to offer them the same experience they got in WWE.

Tara however TNA released; she didn't leave on her own so why bring her back after you just gave her the boot?

The multiple departures in the KO division is a blessing in disguise for TNA. Many of these women are old, and more than not likely would they have all decided to retire around the same time. Now they have the right time & space to scout younger women that they can home-grow for less than what they paid their former talent.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I would love to see attractive women that could also put on a good wrestling match. but to my knowledge I don't know who is out there that can do that.
but if I had to choose between one or the other I would take being attractive who are below average wrestling than someone like Kong.
I'm probably not a good judge on wrestling ability anyway. I've never really watched for the wrestling. Velvet has been my favorite since I started watching in 2010. I also used to love Lacey Von Erich, who people said couldn't wrestle at all. I'd take her back in a heartbeat.
maybe women's wrestling is comparable to the old TV show Baywatch. guys weren't watching Baywatch for the actresses acting ability.

 

[Sweettre15]

I would love to see attractive women that could also put on a good wrestling match. but to my knowledge I don't know who is out there that can do that.
but if I had to choose between one or the other I would take being attractive who are below average wrestling than someone like Kong.
I'm probably not a good judge on wrestling ability anyway. I've never really watched for the wrestling. Velvet has been my favorite since I started watching in 2010. I also used to love Lacey Von Erich, who people said couldn't wrestle at all. I'd take her back in a heartbeat.
maybe women's wrestling is comparable to the old TV show Baywatch. guys weren't watching Baywatch for the actresses acting ability.

Well I can definitely name some for you if you like:

Velvet Sky has actually gotten better over time and her matches with Mickie James were good.

Miss Tessmacher can put on good matches with any Knockout now

Sarita and Rosita

Winter

Taeler Hendrix

Gail Kim

Taryn Terell can be carried and ring generaled into exciting matches

That's just a list of some attractive knockouts that can put on a good match to great match off the top of my head.

 

[shalliin]

I can honestly say I am so glad I wasn't watching TNA back when Kong was around. that thing would be hard to watch. that's not what I want to see when I'm watching women on my TV.

I sometimes wonder why guys would prefer to watch these butch like ugly "women" rather than hot pieces of ass.
I don't think there are really more guys watching who would prefer to see great in ring wrestling from the women rather than hot women with average wrestling ability.

I'll wait and see who they can bring in.

your attitude is completely ignorant and ridiculous in a supposedly equal society. Get your mind out of the 1920's and into 2013 dumbass. your idiotic attitude is why the wwe in a pg era is hiring models who can't wrestle instead of trying to make a really competitive division. Go back in history of womens wrestling and while there were a lot of attractive wrestlers, most were somewhat passable in appearance but highly skilled in actual wrestling. Moolah, Mae Young, Madusa/Alundra Blaze, Wendy Richter and so many others of best female wrestlers in history were attractive but the focus was on trying to showcase that they were just as athletic and skilled as the men.

I watch wrestling to see wrestling. I don't care if it's mens or womans wrestling, as long as the people in the ring can display and demonstrate some skill and talent in their work. I don't want to see mildly athletic beauty contestants slapfighting and botching moves left and right. If a woman happens to be beautiful and decent in the ring, great. If she's not beautiful but very good in the ring, just as good for me. It's wrestling you stupid fool. It's supposed to be about the action and athleticism, not a showcase for you to jerk off to. If you want that, there's tons of porn online for you to watch.

 

[ECPirate37]

I am sure they are going with low cost talent, but I would love to see Thea Trinidad aka "Rosita" back. As well as Sarita. I always thought Sarita should be a champ. I'd love to see Cheerleader Melissa back as well, in whatever form they use her, and Roxxi.

With low cost, they do have the twins from British Boot Camp, and they also can find a few women in the indys that are good looking, and good workers. I might be in the minority here, but I DO prefer great workers to hot pieces of tail. If I want to see hot women I can look at porn. When I watch wrestling, I want to watch... WRESTLING.

 

[Jstrike]

tna is probaly looking for past talent that will work cheap, and also new women.
i would suspect christy to reach out to traci brooks, sarita, awesome kong, daffeny, and even a love. but will they come back?
traci - Maybe she has done alot in tna and she is married to kaz.
sarita - maybe cause she dont have much plans anywhere else
awesome kong - probaly not unless she doesnt wanna work at wwe anymore.
daffeny - i hope so but i think she may have quit.
and a love - i think she may do it.

 

[joeg]

tna is probaly looking for past talent that will work cheap, and also new women.
i would suspect christy to reach out to traci brooks, sarita, awesome kong, daffeny, and even a love. but will they come back?
traci - Maybe she has done alot in tna and she is married to kaz.
sarita - maybe cause she dont have much plans anywhere else
awesome kong - probaly not unless she doesnt wanna work at wwe anymore.
daffeny - i hope so but i think she may have quit.
and a love - i think she may do it.

No, sadly they won't come back. If they don't want to return for a 1NO Reunion PPV, what makes people think they want their jobs back?

Traci is raising a family back at home, and I think she would only return if TNA were still at the Impact Zone.

Daffney sued TNA with worker's comp. Why would she want to be back to the place that screwed her?

Sarita. She said in an interview with ESPN Deportes that she wanted to try out for WWE, this was before that her contract expired. Even in TNA she was left off TV for several months. Can she trust them that it won't happen again?

Kharma has said multiple times that her time in TNA is over. She also recently said in a shoot interview "No disrespect to WWE because I want my job back, but the Divas Title has to go."

And Angelina had all year to return but has not. Why would she leave TNA for over a year & then decide to return to work for less money than before? She doesn't want to be known as a marketable wrestler who stayed in a small promotion her whole career, like AJ Styles.