8 Ups & 4 Downs From Impact Wrestling (Feb 11)

2. Doubters Proven Wrong

In a backstage interview with Gabby Loren, Taya Valkyrie made a fantastic point regarding her reign as the Knockouts Champion - every time she's been faced with a huge opportunity, she's walked straight through it, and came out the other side still as the Knockouts Champion.

No-one believed 'Wera Loca' would dethrone Tessa Blanchard at Homecoming last January, but she did. The same can be said for more or less any of her championship defences since spring, particularly the four way Monsters Ball at Slammiversary. There wasn't a soul that believed Taya would go on to become the longest-reigning Knockouts Champion in history, but there she was, 403 days into her reign.

This is the sort of attitude Taya should have been showing months ago, instead of getting herself intentionally counted out, or asking others for assistance in her championship defences. Those tactics made her look like nothing more than a coward champion, a moniker you don't want to have attached to the longest-reigning champion of a promotion. Thankfully, she finally showed the persona she needed all this time.

Just a shame that it came on the final night of her reign...