3. Giving Up On The Knockouts
Very few things in all of TNAs history can be qualified as a success. The Knockouts Division for a brief time can be counted as one of those successes. During a time where the company had big names like Kurt Angle, Booker T and Kevin Nash under contract, it was the women who were drawing the highest ratings. They werent making the big money, and they werent booked in the main events, but more fans were interested in watching them than the WWE and WCW cast-offs. While WWE has been known for having their women wrestlers more closely resemble models than professional fighters, TNA was pushing their talent based on actual talent! The division had Gail Kimm, ODB, Angelina Love, Alissa Flash, Hamada, Daffney, Sarita and the fantastic Awesome Kong. It was Kong and Kimm especially who were putting on some of the best womens matches on a national scene in years. With Dutch Mantell (WWEs Zeb Colter) in charge of the division, he was making the division about character and athleticism and it was working. Fans were invested. Unfortunately, when Jeff Jarrett was ousted from power, Mantell went with him. Those left in charge didnt have the desire to push the Knockouts as seriously as they were before, and one by one the division was virtually dismantled. Instead of honest competition as the selling point, the women devolved into calling each other skanks. It was sexist and painful to watch. Sure, wrestlers like Mickie James and Tara were still coming in, but it wasnt the same. The magic was gone. You would think with a female at the top of the company, she would want to take womens wrestling a little more seriously. Instead, shes proven to be more enamored with the Nash's of the world as opposed to the Flash's.