Why IMPACT Wrestling's Knockouts Division May Still Be Leading the Women's Evolution
Lengthy matches, backstage brawls, multiple segments and bouts in one night, Impact Wrestling was working its female talent to the best of their abilities before a women’s evolution became a trend in the world of pro wrestling. Before the WWE gave Ironman matches to Sasha Banks, Bayley and Charlotte Flair the Knockouts division were competing in cages, last woman standing matches and intense rivalries and while the rise of women’s wrestling has taken over and the WWE have greatly improved what we see from its female talent the impact zone continues to elevate it’s women’s roster and world wrestling entertainment still has plenty to learn and take from its biggest rival in Impact.
THIS POST WAS PRE POSTED SEVERAL MONTHS BACK
Diversity in characters is something I love seeing when watching pro wrestling shows and Impact have always done a solid job at providing diverse characters within its knockouts division epically more so over the past couple of years. While the “crazy girl” charter is something that is used across the wrestling scene Impact have used the likes of Rosemary and Su Yung to take that to the next level and break down the stereotypes. Instead of “going crazy” after a breakup or a series of lost matches the company introduces these stars as unhinged from the get-go and it works. Both Rosemary and Su Yung have provided haunting characters with twisted stories and backgrounds that have taken their induvial storylines to new heights. Rosemary, of course, has been a part of the company for far longer than Yung but throughout her Impact career we have seen Rosemary grow and the company haven’t at any point made her character feel overused, stale or boring and in fact only more and better things have come from Rosemary and this is something we see often here.
Take Ally, for example, her character growth has been insane. She went from being the rather annoying assistant to the badass champion who will do anything and go as far as she has to to prove a point, show her loyalty and remain champion. She may now have dropped the title to Su Yung but the story alone between these three knockouts has been a standout of the year so far. Yung is an intense character who performs at a hundred percent every single time she is on screen and with so much still to come from the rivalry here this an exciting and thrilling part of Impact Wrestling we can still only dream to see in the WWE. An area World Wrestling Entertainment seems to continue to fail at is providing more dramatic and theatrical characters in its women’s division. While the men have the likes of Bray Wyatt, Eric Young, and Woken Matt the women are lacking the haunting, intense, and crazy character that’s needed and it’s a shame the company made such huge changes to Crazy Mary Dobson who of course now works under the ring name Sarah Logan and a very different character.
Su Yung, of course, isn’t the only newcomer we have seen arrive in Impact Wrestling and more recently it's hot current indie talents including Kiera Hogan and Tessa Blanchard who are stealing the spotlight. With Kiera, only twenty-three and Blanchard only twenty-two Impact have snapped up two of the youngest rising stars on the wrestling scene today and both have been making just that since their arrival… an impact. While Hogan is yet to get her hands-on gold she is standing out regularly for not only her striking look but her athletic and skilled in-ring performances. She’s a talent to keep a close eye on but how the company has used her has been interesting. They haven’t given her a monster push or set her off at the bottom of the roster but instead building her up as one to watch. She’s collided with some of the best and shown clear improvement and with a mini-rivalry kick starting with fellow newcomer in Tessa Blanchard things are looking even more interesting.
Now, matches between Blanchard and Kiera will make for must-sees provided they are given enough time to showcase what they can really do but let’s not forget that Blanchard has also been involved in a well-executed feud with Maddison Rayne. A true Knockouts veteran, Rayne recently returned to in-ring competition after spending time on the sidelines as a commentator. Frustrated at the actions of the cocky, arrogant and brash Blanchard Rayne confronted the newest knockout on the scene and the pair collided in a one on one contest where Maddison, in this case, picked up the upset victory. Calling a match between a veteran and a newcomer an upset when the veteran wins is a huge testament to Tessa Blanchard and with the announce team really focusing on that it only emphasizes the type of star impact are molding Blanchard into. Rivalries between veterans and newcomers have been something the IMPACT zone has pretty much always done better than the WWE. With top talents including Natalya on their roster, it’s a shame we don’t see this kind of booking and storytelling in the WWE Women’s division especially considering they have the names. However, what we are also seeing here is multiple stories going for one star at a time and this is something we also do not see enough of.
Something we see far too often is a one on one rivalry shoved down our throats for weeks if not months and very quickly fans lose interest and grow bored of what they are seeing. However, a prime example of why and how things should be shaken up is what we are seeing from Blanchard and her booking. While feuding with Rayne she continues to target other stars in the division and a well done backstage segment between herself and Kiera Hogan eased a new mini-feud between the two setting up a match there while also creating space for Blanchard vs Rayne to develop even more. If we can give stars both male and female the chance to work multiple stories/feuds in one go, we won’t see fans bored and uninterested as much as we unfortunately do.
And finally, we must take a look at the roles women play in Impact wrestling compared to the WWE. We have only recently seen all female factions used in the WWE but when we compare the Riott Squad to the Beautiful People, for example, the scale is very different. Ruby, Liv, and Sarah haven’t made the impact or grabbed the attention of fans the way Angelina, Velvet Sky, and Madison did. Of course, sex sold back when the Beautiful people were booked but the fact these women created an almost legendary faction speaks volumes and fans for years to come will compare female factions to the beautiful people.
We also have the likes of Diamante who bring an edge to the division and upon her return, it’s a growing story between herself, LAX, and King to really keep an eye on as the weeks go by.
Of course, as fans, we have seen a huge change in how women are used in the world of pro wrestling. Their roles have changed, the stories have changed and the characters are evolving but the Impact Knockouts division has been on fire from the get-go and with the future looks bright for these stars and the division as a whole the WWE and other promotions should most certainly be looking and the impact zone for guidance and inspiration.
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