TNA Releases Angelina Love

[MrHashasheen]

Five-time TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love just tweeted (@ActualALove) that she has been granted her release from the company. Her entire tweet is as follows:

"To all my wonderful fans, just want to let you know I have been granted my release from TNA. It was completely amicable parting of ways and I want to thank TNA and all of its employees for the wonderful journey I've had there over the years. Now I'm on to the next amazing chapter of my life! If you are looking to book me please contact John at [email protected] Thank you so much!"

http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/tna/TNA_releases_former_Knockouts_Champion.html

Can't say I'm surprised, she'd done pretty much everything she could do in TNA at this point and hasn't been utilized in an angle for months now. Kinda hoping they release Sabin and Velvet as well, make a clean sweep of MCMG & Beautiful People to the WWE, and continue freshening up the Tag Team/X and Women's Divisions.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I always liked Angelina Love. Never got all the hate she received for her body and stuff. Probably gonna be back within a year.

As far as the "clean sweep" comment, when are WWE fans going to wake up and realize that TNA individuals going to the WWE will be a disaster? When you say MCMG to WWE you think you'll see the TNA MCMG in WWE. You'll see Sabin and Shelley, same gear, same moves, exciting as fuck. When you think the BP you think you'll see either their heel or face version, the booty shaking, the promos, the gear. SWEET! Now they're in a bigger venue infront of more people doing what they do best!

... wrong. They'll be WWE'd. How do I know? Look at any other person in the last decade who came from the indy scene, TNA or ROH (who are still indy but you get my point). Hell, go beyond that. Look at what happened to Chris Harris or Low-Ki. Even GOLDBERG wasn't exactly Goldberg. Steiner wasn't exactly Steiner. Why would those small fries be? They NEVER preserved their gimmicks and what made them "them". At best they kept their names. Eventually WWE either stripped them off of everything they had up to that point or they altered it and fucked it up completely. And there's nothing wrong with altering someone. It's fine, it's your company, it has to fit your product. It becomes a problem when you ruin them and they're not fun anymore. Which is precisely why WWE does it, it has to fit the product which is not fun anymore. God forbid they broke the COMBO with someone who doesn't put people into a BS induced coma. Gotta write them Star Wars promos. That's what it's all about. Where them midgets at? Bring on the entertainment!

So you won't see the Motor City Machine Guns. You'll see The Detroit Pistols. You won't see Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, you'll see Alexander Stevenson and Kristopher Johnson. Followed by The Pretty Girls.

WWE already tried copying The Beatiful People with that horror "LayCool" and that shit flopped harder than Brock's return.

Wake the fuck up.

*Cue JJYanks responding to this with some self-righteous bullshit meant to stroke his own virtual dick that I won't read.

 

[Pera]

I have been watching TNA for three or four years and I actually couldn't remember who the hell Angelina Love was. I had to google image and then I knew who she was. I'm not a huge fan of the Knockouts and usually skip over all their segments so this is no real loss from my standpoint.

She was humble in her tweet, so I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Finally! I'll admit it, I'm not sad to see her go at all. She hasn't added anything to the TNA roster for quite some time, and there's enough legitimate talent in the Knockout's division that I think...and I'm just going out on a limb here...they'll bounce back. Call me sexist or a dick, but I also find her incredibly unattractive. She may have a hot body, but it's fake as hell and her "butterface" is off the charts (she's got a great body...butterface...).

I'm really hoping this leads to a heel turn for Mickie James, as she could be adding a lot more to the division than she has been. Velvet Sky and Brooke Tessmacher are more than enough to hold it up on the face end of things. I'm also a big fan of Gail Kim and Madison Rayne. TNA is never going to utilize more than four or five gals at a time, so sadly...don't let the door hit ya on the way out Ms. Love.

 

[Rayne]

About Angelina- I'm sure there are the requisite fans who will bemoan her loss, but women don't draw today. I think the last woman to put an ass in a seat was Lita. Professional wrestling clearly doesn't care much about their women's divisions today, so they can swap in another blonde with implants and move on. It's not that I have anything against Angelina Love, it's that there are hundreds of women who can fill her role. Because the role is so small today.

As far as the "clean sweep" comment, when are WWE fans going to wake up and realize that TNA individuals going to the WWE will be a disaster? When you say MCMG to WWE you think you'll see the TNA MCMG in WWE. You'll see Sabin and Shelley, same gear, same moves, exciting as fuck. When you think the BP you think you'll see either their heel or face version, the booty shaking, the promos, the gear. SWEET! Now they're in a bigger venue infront of more people doing what they do best!

... wrong. They'll be WWE'd. How do I know? Look at any other person in the last decade who came from the indy scene, TNA or ROH (who are still indy but you get my point). They NEVER kept their gimmicks. At best they kept their names. Eventually WWE either stripped them off of everything they had up to that point or they altered it and fucked it up completely.

So you won't see the Motor City Machine Guns. You'll see The Detroit Pistols. You won't see Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, you'll see Alexander Stevenson and Kristopher Johnson. Followed by The Pretty Girls.

Of course you won't see the Motor City Machine Guns or The Beautiful People. That's copyright protected.

A lot of people here seem to think that because a guy gets over in a house of less than a thousand every week in Orlando, that he's going to be a huge hit on a 200+ day per year road tour in front of thousands every night; so much so that if he isn't, it can only be because of a WWE conspiracy to cost themselves money. The WWE is a bigger ballpark than TNA/IW. If something gets "WWE'd", it's typically expected to draw three times the viewers. Why is the WWE going to take something that fits in with a 1.0 package and cram it into their 3.0 package?

WWE already tried copying The Beatiful People with that horror "LayCool" and that shit flopped harder than Brock's return.

1) Two girls being catty has been a gimmick in theater since Shakespeare. It's much older than the Beautiful People, which is just the most recent successful incarnation of the gimmick.
2) Brock Lesnar's return was one of the most bought PPV's this year (under WrestleMania of course), we all know he has very limited dates which are best used for big PPV's, and people are still itching to jump all over his jock once SummerSlam rolls around. The only way you could possibly consider this a 'flop' was if you were expecting Brock to return to being a regular weekly character, or if you're a rabid fanboi who attacks everything the WWE does.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Clean sweep snip

1. I'm a TNA fan more than a WWE fan. Impact Wrestling + NuNXT are my wrestling shows
2. TNA has it's own originals, and WWE usually fuck up the imports. Nobody disputes that. But you can't keep the originals around forever, you've got to let new blood shine and develop. Angelina, Velvet, MCMG have pretty much done it all besides the World Heavyweight Championship in TNA. So them going to ROH, or Japan or WWE is a fresh start for them, and let's some new talent take their spot. (cue complaint about how TNA is already pushing plenty of fresh talent)
3. I wouldn't mind seeing both the Beautiful People + MCMG in WWE if only to see what they could do and the feuds they could have.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

I don't normally speak out on things like this, low-priority releases and such, but if I was TNA I would have tried to keep her.

I saw her as one of only a few women on the TNA knockouts roster who were truly versatile, by which I mean they could wrestle well, they could talk well, and they could play a heel or a face well also. The others would be Tara, Mickie James...... and that's more or less it.

On top of that, she was a home-grown talent and rose to the level that she was at quickly and very successfully, the Beautiful people whilst she was at the helm were one of the best and most successful women orientated stories in the last 10 years.

I know the detractors will say that women's wrestling doesn't draw and that she wasn'd doing anything much anyway so it's no big deal. But to that I would say:

- She should have been doing something. She got landed with the poor Winter story which didn't work for her because it was never about her, only about getting Winter over, and when it all just collapsed slowly obviously she was never going to benefit from what it gave her, because it gave her nothing. Before that, her provious face run when Madison Rayne had just started to turn heel was very successful, and before that as top heel and leader of the BP's she was also a top contender. I think she was majorly under-utilised for how good she is, and how much good she can do.

- I personally don't care about whether other people like to watch the women compete. What draws me to wrestling is generally compelling people, and compelling stories. You can have both with either men or women. If the knockouts are going well, I and other people will watch it. Use that cage match between Mickie James and Tara which main evented iMPACT as an example. People were really digging it, backstage noticed and put them on last. I think she could have continued to be part of interesting developments in the knockout division which I would have continued to watch had she been around and used properly.

That's it really. I'm not distraught, I just feel TNA missed the boat. Whilst we had to sit through that awful, awful title reign of Gail Kim for the last however many months, we could have been getting so much better from Angelina. We have got better from her in the past, and she's got the skill and experience to have repeated that procedure.

 

[Skinsley]

The woman is not bad in the ring, and she is absolutely gorgeous, if only she ate a bit more food (way too thin).
I dont know if the WWE have decided to bring back a competative Divas division now they have the extra hour, NXT or maybe the network. But if she does indeed go to WWE, then in the current state WWE is in, she would be there for the large paycheque and probably not to wrestle live on TV.

And Sabin is good, but he also has no place in WWE.....unless ofcourse he is part of this cruiserweight project they are apparently working on.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I am actually quite surprised by this.

Angelina Love is a very solid wrestler, she just has not been utilised well at all since the break-up of the Beautiful People, who were the best heel women I have seen in a long time.

Love can work a decent match with pretty much any one of the other Knockout's, she can play both heel and face very well, and she would have still been of value to TNA had she been used right. They are obviously focusing on Velvet, Tessmacher, Gail and Mickie right now, and all I can remember Angelina doing in the last year or so was that crappy storyline with Winter, which went nowhere.

I am not sure whether we will see her in WWE, but I would like to see that happen. She would be a good addition to the divas roster for sure. I am disappointed that we will not see a BP reunion, but Velvet has progressed far beyond her former partner now, and if TNA have no plans to do anything with Love, then maybe its best for both parties for her to find pastures new.

 

[Lowdown]

I'm not sure if Love's departure will make a huge impact on the KO division. I agree that she was solid in the ring, but fell victim to a bad storyline. I wouldn't be surprised if Winter is next to be released. Angelina hasn't been seen on TV for several months, and chances are you see other KO's like Tara on a consistent week to week basis. She'll be missed by some fans, but I think it's no big loss.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Really not too much of a loss if you ask me. She was hardly being used at all for whatever reason, and her utilization over her last few months of activity was pretty lackluster.

I don't see her heading to the WWE, she just doesn't seem to have the look or the style of wrestling that would interest them. Plus, she doesn't seem to have interest in heading there either. Personally, I have no interest in seeing her there. I would imagine she'll take a year or so off, probably use the time off to gain a little weight, and I would imagine we'll see her back in TNA at some point in the future.

Now Velvet, on the other hand, now there's someone I would love to see in a WWE ring.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Fact is, you can't call anything a "loss" if the performer hasn't even been on screen, let alone in a prominent role, in months/years.

Was Angelina Love a good wrestler? Sure. Was she good in TNA? Yup. Will she be missed? Absolutely. Will it actually hurt the company? Highly doubtful.

This is just like the Shelley story — a performer the fans really love who leaves, for whatever reason, and the fans try to justify it out of anger by saying TNA will suffer for it as a result.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I'm saddened by this news. Angelina was one of my favorite Knockouts and she will be missed. It isn't as big of a loss as it could have been, she hasn't been doing anything important onscreen in a while so had this happened longer ago it would have been a bigger deal. The other question on my mind is who will break her record of 5 TNA Knockout Championship reigns? Tara has held the title 4 times, so she only needs 2 more. Madison and ODB both have 3 Knockout Championship title reigns to brag about. I'd like to see Madison break the record, honestly, as she is in my opinion the best TNA have at the moment, and Angelina was 2 years ago when she set the record.

The division will be fine without her but she should have been used more and deserved a better ending to her TNA run. At least they still have girls like Madison Rayne, Tessmacher, Sarita, Velvet Sky, Winter, and Mickie James. While the division is in no significant danger without her, I'll definitely miss Angelina. Hope she finds another federation to move on to soon! A WWE run could be cool.... She had a memorable run being a part of the Beautiful People stable and winning the TNA Knockout Championship a record setting 5 times.

 

[IT Factor]

To be honest, I never saw anything noteworthy in Angelina Love. She wasn't all that attractive to me and there are women wrestlers better than her. She hadn't been involved in anything major since the whole Winter storyline, which flopped big time.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Hasn't been on television lately, this is hardly like losing a Main Event star or a huge member of the division. She hasn't been of use for awhile, Winter is what kept her interesting for months on-screen. Not exactly a phenomenal wrestling talent either, after The Beautiful People split, Angelina had served her purpose and was just litter floating in the wind. This was coming sooner or later, it just happened now.

Wasn't really a fan. Didn't see what she added. And she looks hideous to me as well, despite the fact I'm more interested in what a wrestler can do in the ring and on the microphone.

As for someone bringing up the possibility of her returning to WWE, I highly hope not. She certainly doesn't look much of a "Diva" to begin with, plus for anyone who touched on them touching her character, what character? Without Winter she went back to being another Canadian female wrestler, WWE already have that in Natalya.

 

[Sting's Stinger]

its not the first time shes been let go. (back in 2009 i wanna say) but from her character standpoint their really wasnt much for her to do in tna since shes done it all. For womens wrestlers time is much shorter because most of them retire around the ages of 33-40 due to them wanting to start having children. Shes 30 but she still has a good 5 plus years in her)

But thats the thing we all seen her on tv for the last 5 years. and her character seem to have gotten stale a little bit (with exception of the winter angle but that evenally let to no where for her except have winter gain 2 title regins)

Im down for her being in WWE. shes a good worker (character not the strongest) but she can help put over divas their if wwe allows it.

so ya im not too dissapointed heck itll might be time that even knockouts such as Mickie James and tara to head out if if their lookin for retirement

 

[RazMansReality]

This is a real shame! Angelina Love is a great talent and if she goes to WWE they won't know how to use her! Unless of course AJ is a recent trend of female talent that can actually wrestle being utilized. (even though she's just played that psycho character and hasn't really wrestled I'm still hoping it's a sign of things to come.) I wish the best for her, The Beautiful People were my favorite women's tag team of all time! I had a bad feeling that this might happen once her and Winter both disappeared from television though

 

[Wrestlefan27]

This is one I don't understand. Why let a talented professional like her go? Every match I've ever seen with her, her timing was spot on, she sold well, and it was a good if not great match. The match between her and Mickie James was the best women's match I've ever seen. She plays her characters well, I've never heard anything about backstage heat, and she led and carried the most popular Knockout attraction the company has ever had. She was one of the top three female performers on the roster. I know it won't hurt the company to release her seeing as how she wasn't on tv for the last 6 months. , but it certainly won't help them get better either. I hope she ends up somewhere we can see her.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to say I was surprised by this. She hadn't been getting much TV time lately, but I always considered her one of the top knockouts. I always thought at some point we would see a Beautiful People Reunion. At the very least she could have remained a credible opponent to feud with the KO champ when the title was newly won. I don't think it will have much affect on the division as a whole, but I do think she was a talent they should have tried to keep.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The fact that she hasn't seen the light of day, as far as TV exposure goes, in months was a good indicator that she was all but gone.

Is it a mega loss for TNA? Not really. There aren't very many guys on the TNA roster that'd be considered a huge loss if they left, including former WWE guys. Let's face it, the former WWE guys don't draw, aren't drawing and haven't been drawing for TNA.

That's not to say that Angelina Love didn't have talent. In the ring, she was pretty decent. She & Velvet Sky helped put the Knockout Division on the map, there's no debating that. At one point, The Beautiful People were the best thing that TNA had going. It wasn't just because they were hot, but they had the personality & chemistry to pull it off. Her program with Winter was beyond awful, it truly was. It dragged on for so long and, in the process, it just hurt Angelina's career. Didn't do much for Winter's either.

It's a loss in the sense of Angelina being a long time veteran of TNA and someone that helped get the company further out there. For a while, she & Velvet were the Knockout Division in my eyes. They weren't the best wrestlers, in-ring wise, but they were the most interesting and are probably still the most interesting women to come out of TNA.

 

[JJYanks121]

I always liked Angelina Love. Never got all the hate she received for her body and stuff. Probably gonna be back within a year.

As far as the "clean sweep" comment, when are WWE fans going to wake up and realize that TNA individuals going to the WWE will be a disaster? When you say MCMG to WWE you think you'll see the TNA MCMG in WWE. You'll see Sabin and Shelley, same gear, same moves, exciting as fuck. When you think the BP you think you'll see either their heel or face version, the booty shaking, the promos, the gear. SWEET! Now they're in a bigger venue infront of more people doing what they do best!

... wrong. They'll be WWE'd. How do I know? Look at any other person in the last decade who came from the indy scene, TNA or ROH (who are still indy but you get my point). Hell, go beyond that. Look at what happened to Chris Harris or Low-Ki. Even GOLDBERG wasn't exactly Goldberg. Steiner wasn't exactly Steiner. Why would those small fries be? They NEVER preserved their gimmicks and what made them "them". At best they kept their names. Eventually WWE either stripped them off of everything they had up to that point or they altered it and fucked it up completely. And there's nothing wrong with altering someone. It's fine, it's your company, it has to fit your product. It becomes a problem when you ruin them and they're not fun anymore. Which is precisely why WWE does it, it has to fit the product which is not fun anymore. God forbid they broke the COMBO with someone who doesn't put people into a BS induced coma. Gotta write them Star Wars promos. That's what it's all about. Where them midgets at? Bring on the entertainment!

So you won't see the Motor City Machine Guns. You'll see The Detroit Pistols. You won't see Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, you'll see Alexander Stevenson and Kristopher Johnson. Followed by The Pretty Girls.

WWE already tried copying The Beatiful People with that horror "LayCool" and that shit flopped harder than Brock's return.

Wake the fuck up.

*Cue JJYanks responding to this with some self-righteous bullshit meant to stroke his own virtual dick that I won't read.

You had to tempt me, didn't you?

Sorry to disappoint you, but I've gotten used to your ridiculous train of thoughts that I won't dignify it with a line by line response. You and I both know how you feel about things and how that comes across. This posts simply fits right in with your delusions.

As for Angelina, she already failed with WWE (was in developmental and never got called up) and since then she's lost like 50 pounds. She needs to take this time off to eat something so that maybe we can look at her without wanting to call the bulimia hotline. It's gotten to the point of gross and I wasn't at all upset when she started losing TV time to begin with.

In the end, it's a knockout. Just one less card in Miss Hogan's deck.