The start of the KO's: Why it succeeded, & why it fell off
Sept 12, 2019 3:29:59 GMT
Big Pete, 🤯, and 1 more like this
Post by dex on Sept 12, 2019 3:29:59 GMT
Looking back at the start of the division with hindsight it is amazing the division took off and performed as well as it did for the 11 or so months it had before Gal left.
Just looking at the talent they signed for the first couple months of the division , the roster was pretty top heavy in terms of pure wrestling talent. Also what is curious about the division was outside of Kong ( from what I remember not a lot of people knew who she was when she first appeared though), Roxxi and maybe Velvet none of the signees were talked about indy names. In fact when they did bring in some bigger indy names they were either used as managers and just occasional wrestlers (Melissa), short term characters (Rain), or one offs (Daisee Haze)
Gail, Kong, and Roxxi were elite level talents.
Angelina was very good but had no real hype behind her when she was signed and I see as someone who held herself back from being as good as she could be, Jacqueline was still very good but was getting older, and wasn't really given too many singles match opportunities ( which was a mistake imo, I really liked the suplex and submission style she was experimenting with in the few non-gimmick match opportunities she got or in the brief skirmishes she got with Gail in the gauntlet matches. Suffice to say she should have been used more).
ODB was solid especially if she was in the ring with someone who could make up for her less innovative and flashy ring style ( see Gail).
Traci was competent I guess, but nowhere near the top talents of the division .
Velvet was passable
While finally Christy ( I know people use to think she was decent but her TNA stuff has not aged well, especially her work as a face), Shelly Martinez,, and Rhaka Khan were all abysmal wrestlers.
Of the roster of 11, 6 of them were solid or better in-ring workers , but only 4 of them were pushed seriously and given long big match opportunities.
Despite the lack of big name indy talents on the roster, the division was able to thrive. I mainly credit that to three things.
1. Gail and Kong were elite level workers who made the likes of Velevt, and ODB look better than actually were.
2. The match layouts were really creative and fun ( The Destination x 2008 triple threat and the Hardcore Justice six women tag match are good examples of this).
3. The women were given things to do outside of the title feuds, and even outside the division which allowed them to get their characters over.
4. The Gail vs Kong feud was one of the better feuds in NA women's wrestling history and really carried the division for most of it's first year.
Now despite all of these positive elements why did the KO division falter so quickly once Gail left?
Well for starters I think they did the Gail vs Kong feuds way too quickly in hindsight. That feud was great but a longer reign for Gail as the first champ where she got to elevate the new talent with singles title matches would have been better for the division as a whole .Like instead of doing the fatal four way at genesis like they did with Angelina, ODB, and Roxxi vs Gail, they should have broken that up into three singles matches . I would have really liked to see Gail vs Roxxi (they had really good chemistry with the matches they did get together, that ladder match for example was far too short but was a very good glimpse at what they could do)in a longer singles match, and Gail vs face/tweener Angelina. While Gail was defending her title and building the division's credibility you could have had Kong destroying people in the background working her way up to Gail. I would have really liked to see a Jackie vs Kong mini-feud for example Regardless because they went to the Gail vs Kong fud so quickly and made it such a big part of the division, many of the other talents in the division were not established as serious competitors well enough making the division lacking in credible talents once Gail left, outside of Kong ad ODB.
Secondly I feel TNA's peculiar talent picking strategy for who they signed and how they used the talent they signed came back to bite them. Looking at the talent TNA signed in the second year of the division for more than a short stint the list is not super impressive. You had Taylor who was a good signing but who was super rusty at the time she was signed and was probably not ready for a super push right off the bat. You had Rhaka Khan who I have no idea how she appeared on TNA's radar as someone who they should sign, you also had Josie/Sojo Bolt who was another weird signing who had no hype and who wasn't very good. Finally you had the signing of Melissa to be a manager/ occasional wrestler to take the falls for Kong making use of her weakest attribute and not nearly using her talents to their fullest capabilities. Imagine if you will that they signed Daizee after her well received match with Melissa on impact and had her take Taylor's spot vs Kong, while having Taylor debut as an up and comer who slowly rose through the ranks giving her less pressure and scrutiny, and to add to that if they had Melissa start her Alissa character a year sooner than when they actually did. Gail leaving was a big hit but they could have lessened the effects by making better talent acquisition, and utilization choices. The Christy Hemme push was another bad example of bad talent utilization choices.
Finally I also think the division kind of fell apart after Gail left because the match layouts got worse. The ODB vs Kong matches got less exciting, and the Taylor vs Angelina No Surrender 2008 was a total snooze-fest that was super disappointing. Even the BFG 2008 triple threat while better felt rushed and disjointed.
Sorry for the long rambling post, I was just thinking about the start of the KO division lately and wanted to make a post about it.
Just looking at the talent they signed for the first couple months of the division , the roster was pretty top heavy in terms of pure wrestling talent. Also what is curious about the division was outside of Kong ( from what I remember not a lot of people knew who she was when she first appeared though), Roxxi and maybe Velvet none of the signees were talked about indy names. In fact when they did bring in some bigger indy names they were either used as managers and just occasional wrestlers (Melissa), short term characters (Rain), or one offs (Daisee Haze)
Gail, Kong, and Roxxi were elite level talents.
Angelina was very good but had no real hype behind her when she was signed and I see as someone who held herself back from being as good as she could be, Jacqueline was still very good but was getting older, and wasn't really given too many singles match opportunities ( which was a mistake imo, I really liked the suplex and submission style she was experimenting with in the few non-gimmick match opportunities she got or in the brief skirmishes she got with Gail in the gauntlet matches. Suffice to say she should have been used more).
ODB was solid especially if she was in the ring with someone who could make up for her less innovative and flashy ring style ( see Gail).
Traci was competent I guess, but nowhere near the top talents of the division .
Velvet was passable
While finally Christy ( I know people use to think she was decent but her TNA stuff has not aged well, especially her work as a face), Shelly Martinez,, and Rhaka Khan were all abysmal wrestlers.
Of the roster of 11, 6 of them were solid or better in-ring workers , but only 4 of them were pushed seriously and given long big match opportunities.
Despite the lack of big name indy talents on the roster, the division was able to thrive. I mainly credit that to three things.
1. Gail and Kong were elite level workers who made the likes of Velevt, and ODB look better than actually were.
2. The match layouts were really creative and fun ( The Destination x 2008 triple threat and the Hardcore Justice six women tag match are good examples of this).
3. The women were given things to do outside of the title feuds, and even outside the division which allowed them to get their characters over.
4. The Gail vs Kong feud was one of the better feuds in NA women's wrestling history and really carried the division for most of it's first year.
Now despite all of these positive elements why did the KO division falter so quickly once Gail left?
Well for starters I think they did the Gail vs Kong feuds way too quickly in hindsight. That feud was great but a longer reign for Gail as the first champ where she got to elevate the new talent with singles title matches would have been better for the division as a whole .Like instead of doing the fatal four way at genesis like they did with Angelina, ODB, and Roxxi vs Gail, they should have broken that up into three singles matches . I would have really liked to see Gail vs Roxxi (they had really good chemistry with the matches they did get together, that ladder match for example was far too short but was a very good glimpse at what they could do)in a longer singles match, and Gail vs face/tweener Angelina. While Gail was defending her title and building the division's credibility you could have had Kong destroying people in the background working her way up to Gail. I would have really liked to see a Jackie vs Kong mini-feud for example Regardless because they went to the Gail vs Kong fud so quickly and made it such a big part of the division, many of the other talents in the division were not established as serious competitors well enough making the division lacking in credible talents once Gail left, outside of Kong ad ODB.
Secondly I feel TNA's peculiar talent picking strategy for who they signed and how they used the talent they signed came back to bite them. Looking at the talent TNA signed in the second year of the division for more than a short stint the list is not super impressive. You had Taylor who was a good signing but who was super rusty at the time she was signed and was probably not ready for a super push right off the bat. You had Rhaka Khan who I have no idea how she appeared on TNA's radar as someone who they should sign, you also had Josie/Sojo Bolt who was another weird signing who had no hype and who wasn't very good. Finally you had the signing of Melissa to be a manager/ occasional wrestler to take the falls for Kong making use of her weakest attribute and not nearly using her talents to their fullest capabilities. Imagine if you will that they signed Daizee after her well received match with Melissa on impact and had her take Taylor's spot vs Kong, while having Taylor debut as an up and comer who slowly rose through the ranks giving her less pressure and scrutiny, and to add to that if they had Melissa start her Alissa character a year sooner than when they actually did. Gail leaving was a big hit but they could have lessened the effects by making better talent acquisition, and utilization choices. The Christy Hemme push was another bad example of bad talent utilization choices.
Finally I also think the division kind of fell apart after Gail left because the match layouts got worse. The ODB vs Kong matches got less exciting, and the Taylor vs Angelina No Surrender 2008 was a total snooze-fest that was super disappointing. Even the BFG 2008 triple threat while better felt rushed and disjointed.
Sorry for the long rambling post, I was just thinking about the start of the KO division lately and wanted to make a post about it.
