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The Possible Return of the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Titles

IMPACT Knockouts

During a discussion with a fan on Twitter, IMPACT Hall of Famer and 7x IMPACT Knockouts Champion Gail Kim was asked about her thoughts on the potential return of the IMPACT Wrestling‘s Knockouts Tag Team titles, a championship that ran during IMPACT’s days as Total Nonstop Action (TNA) from 2009 through 2013. Kim herself is a former IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Champion, capturing the titles in 2011 with Madison Rayne.

While Gail Kim shed no light on the possibility of the titles’ return, her mention of the very obvious pairings of many of the Knockouts in recent weeks and months on IMPACT television, definitely lends thought that something may be brewing in the Knockouts division as far as tag team wrestling is concerned. Let’s take a look at the pairings that have the potential to help reboot the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team division.

Tag Team Gold: The Possible Return of the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Titles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lHMPmXeEUo

The TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships were announced in August of 2009 and following a four-week tournament, the Canadian duo of Taylor Wilde and Sarita (aka Sarah Stock) won the inaugural belts at TNA No Surrender that September in the finals against The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Angelina Love). While no tag team won the titles more than once in their four-year history, Taylor Wilde, Ayoko Hamada, Sarita, and Madison Rayne all held the straps on two different occasions in two different tandems. The longest reign was also the final reign, as ODB and her on-screen partner, Eric Young defeated Gail Kim & Madison Rayne in March of 2012 and held the titles for 478-days. Oddly enough, it was on that 478th day that ODB & Young were stripped of the titles because Young was male. The titles were deactivated following the announcement, on June 27, 2013.

Taya Valkyrie & Rosemary

Former Knockouts Champions Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary have both had a rather strange alliance the past few months in IMPACT Wrestling, with John E. Bravo caught firmly in the middle. While both women are more eager to get back into the hunt for the IMPACT Knockouts Championship, their current union could provide a different opportunity for both to add even more hardware to their collections. With John E. Bravo watching over the dogs and demons, Taya and Rosemary would become an instant power duo in the hunt for the Knockouts Tag Team titles.

Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz

The pairing of Kiera Hogan alongside newcomer Tasha Steelz has been straight fire since its inception and these two have already become a tandem with undeniable chemistry, both inside and outside the ring. Attitude, athleticism, and skill are plentiful in this duo and they’re arguably the top choice to kick off as Knockouts Tag Team Champions, should the division return.

The Killer Death Machines (Jessicka Havok & Neveah)

While the pairing of Jessicka Havok and Neveah is only a few weeks old on IMPACT television, don’t let that fool you. These two have been tagging together for years in the indie scene as the Killer Death Machines. Since 2013, they’ve fought together in SHIMMER, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), AAW Pro, Rockstar Pro, Bar Wrestling, and Queens of Combat (QOC). They also compete on Women of Wrestling (WOW, as Havok & Hazard), and they’re currently the reigning Guardians of RISE Tag Team Champions in RISE Wrestling. And the duo already has their sights set on the team of Hogan & Steelz.

Kylie Rae & Susie

Oh sweet, sweet Kylie Rae. The sunshine of the IMPACT Knockouts division, she always sees the good in everyone. Which may actually prove to be her shortcomings if she’s not careful with her ally of lates. Kylie Rae has been a protector for the simple innocence of Susie of late, but she seems completely unaware that Susie is the vessel for a much darker spirit, the Undead Bride Su Yung. But so far the pair has been working well and their innocence has kept them together. Perhaps it could stretch a bit further and they can shed a little sunlight on a rebooted Knockouts Tag Team division.

Taylor Wilde & Sarita (Sarah Stock)

It’s interesting that Gail Kim would mention the inaugural TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions, as neither one is currently a part of IMPACT Wrestling. Taylor Wilde retired in 2011, while Sarah Stock also retired from in-ring competition in 2015 to become a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. But as they say in pro wrestling, “never say never”. Oddly enough, just days before Kim’s tweet, Taylor Wilde began teasing a comeback to the squared circle, and on April 15, 2020 – WWE’s Black Wednesday – Sarah Stock was laid off from WWE. Now that both are readily available again, could we see a return of the first champs to continue their legacy in the Knockouts Tag Team division?

While many may point fingers at WWE’s mostly-awful booking of its current Women’s Tag Team division as proof that women’s tag team wrestling not working out, you simply have to look to joshi companies like Stardom to see how effective women’s tag team wrestling can be. Not to mention, the TNA Knockouts Tag Team division provided extra opportunities for a loaded Knockouts division during the KOs breakout era. While all of these teams could be in contention for the Knockouts Tag Team titles, the current Knockouts roster is still strong enough to have names like Deonna Purrazzo, Tenille Dashwood, Madison Rayne, Kimber Lee, and Su Yung chasing Jordynne Grace‘s Knockouts title – and there’s plenty of room for members of said tag teams to want singles gold as well. So while we’ve yet to get any word from IMPACT on the state of the Knockouts Tag Team division returning, they’ve already set up its potential return better than WWE has booked the Women’s Tag Team division in the past year.

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world.  We provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can watch IMPACT every Tuesday on AXS-TV and see past episodes of IMPACT Wrestling on IMPACT+.

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