All Dolled Up

NXT has been praised for its booking of female wrestlers for a while wow. Rightly so. The women's division of the WWE developmental league is significantly better than the Divas division of the main roster, featuring better matches fought between more over performers with better defined characters. But while NXT remains the wrestling TV show of choice for women's wrestling (and wrestling in general, for that matter) TNA have recently tried to steal some of its thunder.

The March 24 episode of Impact was advertised as being built around the Knockouts division. As things turned out this was a lie but only a minor one. The all important opening and closing segments both featured Kurt Angle, Austin Aries and Eric Young and there didn't seem to be any fewer lads matches than normal. But although the KOs didn't receive top billing or get either of the big star slots they were granted plenty of time on the show.

The first of the three women's matches to take place was a four-way between Gail Kim, Madison Rayne, Brooke Nosurnameallowed, and Angelina Love. Although it wasn't as long as it could have been the four made excellent use of what time they had and pumped out a very good match. It was pretty much a case of the writing team slinging some bodies into a match because they had nothing else for them to do but they made it work. If nothing else this match served as a reminder that the Knockouts can have great matches when given the opportunity.

Sadly the debut of the Doll House faction didn't go as smoothly. Considering they were making their first appearance this segment should have had a fair bit of attention paid to it to ensure that members Jade and Marti Bell looked as strong as possible. That Jade lost by disqualification to a woman being presented as a jobber and only got her heat back by bullying Christie Hemme indicates that the writing team's attention was elsewhere.

The spark the Knockout division's been needing? Maybe.

Thankfully there was more planned for the Doll House later in the show which helped them to make the impression they deserved. During a no DQ match for the Knockouts championship Jade and Marti returned to the ring and helped champ Taryn Terrell power bomb challenger Awesome Kong through a table (sort of), allowing her to retain her gold. They celebrated with the champion afterwards as she took a microphone and confirmed that she was a member of the faction.

None of this is the most imaginative wrestling writing ever. But it is a promising sign from the frequently frustrating TNA. Jade, more commonly known as Mia Yim, is a good-looking, talented wrestler, exactly the sort of woman TNA should be signing for their depleted division. I'm less familiar with Marti Bell but from what I've seen she's solid enough in the ring. The heel turn of Taryn was good in that it was unexpected and gives her a chance to do something new, although the downside is that she seemed to be quite liked by TNA fans and worked well as an overmatched babyface. It also leaves the Knockouts division bare on the babyface front, with Gail Kim and Kong being the only performers left not playing baddies.

But these negatives aren't catastrophic or beyond fixing. Terrell can switch to wrestling interference-heavy matches now that she's the head of a stable, disguising her limitations in a different way. One or two women could be turned face to even things up a bit and the already popular Rebel could have her in-ring role increased (although not before she's improved as a wrestler, ideally).

TNA deserves credit for doing something to change up their Knockouts division because it's one of the areas in which they can upstage WWE. If the league did more with its Knockouts and the X Division lads its shows would more readily feel different to those of WWE which would allow TNA to more successfully position itself as the alternative brand it's so desperate to be. The Night of Knockouts may have featured a duff debut but the match quality was strong. Imagine how good the Knockouts division could get if the writers were as good at their job as the wrestlers are at theirs. But then that's true for TNA in general.

The Menagerie

From 2012 to 2013 Knux was a member of Aces and Eights. For those who don't remember (lucky them) that was a card-loving biker gang set up by Bully Ray to bring about the end of TNA.

For a while the group achieved moderate success as a lead heel faction. It will not be remembered as one of the greatest units ever but then very few things in TNA fall into greatest ever category. It did as well as could be expected before meeting its inevitable uninspired end. The breakup was slow and undramatic. Much like the average episode of Impact.

Since the group went their separate ways the only member that's remained a constant presence on Impact is Bully Ray. Which makes sense. Not only was he the group's biggest star but he was also the only member left at the end who had had a TNA contract before the group formed. It was easy enough to assume that everyone else had gone because they didn't have contracts while TNA were legally stuck with 'Calfzilla'.

Instead of doing the smart thing and taking the opportunity to cut ties with the useless lump that is Knux TNA decided to keep him around for reintroduction later on. A recent series of vignettes have shown him shambling around small town America reconnecting with his roots. Those are not his real life roots though. No, those are kayfabe roots, which have revealed that Knux is actually descended from circus folk.

TNA will be reintroducing Knux to television as the head of his very own faction, The Menagerie. If we're being honest Knux’s leadership alone practically dooms it from the start. A second rate member of a second rate group whose most memorable contribution to WWE before he got cut was being the possessive boyfriend of Kelly Kelly. If this man is the leader, the best the faction has to offer and the man all other members take direction from, then it doesn’t say much about the group’s other members.

Beyond that there is the more obvious problem that this is TNA's latest WWE knockoff. The group seems poised to be presented as a gaggle of misfits from backwater America flocking around a charismatic leader who gives their lives meaning. It doesn’t seem possible to read The Menagerie as anything other than TNA's answer to The Wyatt Family.

The main difference is that we’ve had what comic book fans would dub an origin story with this group, whilst the means by which Bray Wyatt convinced Luke Harper and Erick Rowan has remained a mystery. Which is for the best. It adds to the group’s air of mystery. That’s something TNA failed to grasp when cobbling together their version.

They've shown a fair amount of restraint holding off on copying the Wyatt approach for as long as they have. The Bray Wyatt character debuted on NXT in July 2012 and introduced Harper in November. Perhaps Lagana and the crew thought The Wyatt Family should become a success before they lifted it for Impact.

The Menagerie seems like it doesn’t have a chance before it even shows up. Even if the other wrestlers involved have talent (and I'm in no way saying they don't) they're going to suffer comparisons to a very successful gimmick in a rival company. TNA's track record indicates the group will be mishandled or, perhaps worse, be openly modelled on said other group.

This is exactly what TNA needs to move away from if it is to increase its audience and remain in business. It needs its own voice and its own fresh ideas to be taken seriously and be seen as a company worth watching by anyone but TNA die-hards. No matter what small successes it may find, and I don't doubt it may find some, The Menagerie is not the solution to any major problems in TNA, nor can it contribute to solving any.