Kim/Kong Get Mainstream Press

[The Portable Stove]

By then we had all heard of what Lita was doing, and even though they had both put on a fantastic match, no one was behind the woman they were SUPPOSED to be behind. Except Edge.

Also, I have to shamefully admit that I missed Kong vs. Kim, but it's amazing that TNA has once again, found something that makes it stand out from the rest. The only problem is that nothing lasts forever, and I fear that somewhere down the line, the Knockouts Division is going to end up being a joke. After all, the X-Division was what made TNA stand out before. Look at it now. We get good matches, but it's not really worth anything anymore.

[Tim]

notmyproblem said:

By then we had all heard of what Lita was doing, and even though they had both put on a fantastic match, no one was behind the woman they were SUPPOSED to be behind. Except Edge.

IIRC, the Trish/Lita main event was at the tail end of 04, and the Edge/Lita thing didn't come out till around Spring 05.

[The Portable Stove]

tim said:

notmyproblem said:

By then we had all heard of what Lita was doing, and even though they had both put on a fantastic match, no one was behind the woman they were SUPPOSED to be behind. Except Edge.

IIRC, the Trish/Lita main event was at the tail end of 04, and the Edge/Lita thing didn't come out till around Spring 05.

Really?

Huh. Well, my face is red. ...wait, that's not red, that's pink!

[Deleted]

tim said:

notmyproblem said:

By then we had all heard of what Lita was doing, and even though they had both put on a fantastic match, no one was behind the woman they were SUPPOSED to be behind. Except Edge.

IIRC, the Trish/Lita main event was at the tail end of 04, and the Edge/Lita thing didn't come out till around Spring 05.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're correct.

[The Portable Stove]

Then again, when I look at it, WWE doesn't really get that much press, unless it's for a storyline related to a celebrity or... something bad happens.

Good matches (or wrestlers) NEVER get publicity, and sure, I admit, I can't defend why there was no Trish/Lita article.

[Deleted]

It was just in the Chicago paper. The columnist is a mark for women in wrestling, and is always printing photos of various females in wrestling, be it WWE or TNA or indies. He's given several big plugs with photos to SHIMMER too (see below). This is more a case of the writer being a women's wrestling fan than TNA going out of their way to get press.

[Danimal]

x said:

...not to be a buzzkiller but TNA isn't the first company to put on non-sexist Women's wrestling.

SHIMMER anyone? People act all shocked like TNA is doing something that no one else ever has done when there is an entire company based around what they are doing.

I don't think folks here are blind that womens' wrestling has been done well before. Of course it has, but in other countries or indie-feds. Not by a major American wrestling promotion. WWE, WCW, NWA, AWA, WCCW? None of those have had a womens' division they really tried to make something out of.

Among major promotions in this country TNA is the first to do that.

[Sephiroth]

Women's wrestling is nothing new in America, that is for certain. Nor is the idea of good women's wrestling anything new. In the past, we have had strong female rosters with truly talented female champions. With that said, we have been lacking that for more than a decade now. WWE's women's division is largely treated as a novelty act right now. They have some talented women who know their way around the ring, for sure. But yet just as often, these gifted workers have to bounce around the ring in lingerie matches, bikini contests, and are subjected to over-sexed storylines. And in between all that, there have been bouts of it really just being a prop for a joke-take for example, the reigns of Harvey Whippleman/"Harvina," Stephanie/Nipple H, and Debra. The previously mentioned Trish/Lita match was good, no doubt about it. But such matches have really become the rarity, rather than the rule.

That is what has made TNA's women's division so big in such a short amount of time. To see women's wrestling treated as just about equal to the men, to see a woman's title treated as prestigious and valuable, and to see such a diverse roster of female performers is much different than what we have seen for a long time, and it makes a big impression. And TNA seems genuinely intent on stacking its women's roster with truly talented female workers-they have yet to pull in an ex-fitness model or bikini contest winner and try to make her into a wrestler. They have picked women with real ring experience, who know how to put on a match. And they seem to want to bring in more-the recent addition of Shelly Martinez being the best example. I actually would not mind seeing TNA bring in some former SHIMMER stars, to be honest, as long as they gave them the treatment they have given the rest so far.

But with that said, I am trying to keep my expectations low, as many others seem to. I do fear the women's roster being over-gimmicked and booked into oblivion. But I hope they can keep up the good job they have done so far. But with Russo at the helm, it is all too easy to fear the worst.