Search - TNA: Knocked Out on DVD

Worth the money!

Marisa Hernandez | 09/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There is no doubt that over the past 12 months, TNA has taken women's wrestling to a whole new level with the addition of their Knockouts division and now the Knockout's story is told in the latest TNA DVD release "Knocked Out : Pro Wrestling's greatest women's division"

Knocked Out is a fitting title for this DVD because for once, TNA knocked it out of the park when it comes to a solid DVD package. A nearly 3 and a half hour main feature accompanied with a special bonus disc featuring "Gail Kim's Final TNA Interview" has finally taken TNA DVD production to another level.

The main feature offers interview segments with every member of the Knockout division , with the exception of Awesome Kong, who instead is covered by the other knockouts, each of them speak on their beginnings in the wrestling business, what the knockouts division has meant to them, why the knockouts division is better than the Divas, and even the personal stuff like their personal hobbies. Peppered throughout the interview segments is actual photo's and video footage of the knockouts from their pre TNA days, which is something that TNA has only included on their DVD's on the rare occasion. Another improvement is the natural progression of the feature, Often on previous TNA DVD's featuring interview segments you would be interrupted by a constantly repeating 5 seconds of music with a graphics board to introduce the next segment, this time however you have a smooth transition cutting with just a graphic board. For anyone who saw the original TNA Knockouts DVD from a few years ago this is no comparison as it blows the original out of the water and uses a very different format.

Also in the main feature is some of the best matches from the knockouts division over the past year, beginning with the obvious choice of the "match that started it all" the TNA knockouts battle royal from Bound For Glory 07 which crowned Gail Kim as the first ever Knockouts champion, Next up is Roxxi Laveaux vs Gail Kim vs Angel Williams vs ODB from Genesis 07, Then we have the two knockouts matches from Turning Point 07 in The Beautiful People vs Roxxi Laveaux/ODB, and the first battle between Awesome Kong & Gail Kim, which is followed up by their subsequent battles at Final Resolution and Impact in January of this year. The So Cal Val-Jay Lethal wedding from Slammiversary 08 is next up, followed by the Sacrifice 08 Knockouts Makeover Battle Royale in which the loser had her head shaved bald. The Lockdown Tag Team Grudge match between Gail Kim / ODB and Awesome Kong /Raisha Saeed as well as the Awesome Kong vs Taylor Wilde 25,000$ Challenge for the knockouts title from Impact wraps up the match lineup..

The DVD bonus disc features Gail Kim's final TNA Interview, which is an audio only interview set to photos and videos of the knockout which was recorded on August 21st 2008 at 4:30pm, Running 3 minutes in length, Kim expresses that she has been debating with one of the hardest decisions of her life and had made the tough choice to leave the company. She goes onto speak of her favorite memories of her run in the company. There is obviously no mention of the WWE and why she chose to leave, and when I got the DVD, I wondered why a bonus disc hyping her departure was included, obviously it was added late in production thus the need for it to be on a second disc. A bonus match is included on this disc as well as Gail Kim takes on Awesome Kong in a street fight on Impact. This would turn out to be her final match on television for TNA and keeping with wrestling tradition she goes out on her back, Whether or not she returns is unknown at this point but if she does depart to return to the WWE then this is a nice added touch to complete the package because the documentary portion does put over Kim often as a huge part of the success of the division and the impact she has had on those around her.

I'd definitely recommend picking this DVD up, its one of the best DVD's ive seen from TNA. Recently it was announced that TNA was near completion of it fully featured and dedicated production studio, and if this DVD was any indication of where they are going then TNA has finally "crossed the line" into a major player in the wrestling dvd market.
"

Not bad for their second DVD

D. Santos | Milwaukee, WI, USA | 02/05/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love the TNA Knockouts and for their second DVD it wasnt bad. my only complaint is they need to add something that makes their videos different from WWE's"

TNA Got It Right The Second Time

D.P. | California | 10/22/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"During a period where womens wrestling on a national level in the United States was more about barbie-like models being hired as "divas" because of how good they looked good in bikinis & Playboy photos more than the inring action, TNA stepped up & decided to go the other direction that resembled the a womens division of old where it was more about how you good of a WRESTLER you are and that division is showcased here.

Throughout the presentation, you get to hear from all the current females on the roster (except Awesome Kong...the other Knockouts speak of her) completely out of character (except Raisha Saeed) talking about how they got into the business (which some providing footage from their early career on the independent scene), how they compare to the men, earning respect, what inspired them, hobbies, the future for themselves & the division, favorite/memorable moments, and what makes them better than the "divas." You'll hear some interesting facts throughout these profiles such as how Karen Angle was a wrestling fan before she ever met Kurt, how this isn't the first time Angelina Love wrestled for TNA, the list of injuries the Knockouts have gotten from Awesome Kong, which former World Champion Traci had her first crush on, how people get the wrong perception of how Jacqueline really is. You'll also hear some quick comments from TNA President Dixie Carter, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, and Jeff Jarrett along with getting a collection of TNA Knockout photos to finish out the program. Along with the original program came a bonus disc that was put together at the last min. featuring an audio interview with Gail Kim talking about why she decided to leave TNA, what she'll miss, and highlights of her career.

Matches Include:
Gauntlet Match to crown the first TNA Knockouts Champion: Gail Kim vs. O.D.B vs. Shelly Martinez (Salinas) vs. Traci Brooks vs. Angel Williams (Angelina Love) vs. Amazing Kong (Awesome Kong) vs. Jacqueline vs. Talia Madison (Velvet Sky) vs. Christy Hemme vs. Roxxi LaVeaux - This was an average match up as these guantlet's are usually crowed so not everyone has a chance to standout & make an impression. Some moments to look out for were Amazing Kong's domination including destroying Christy Hemme & the final moments between Gail Kim & Roxxi. Good match for what it was & for the record, Kong's "wardrobe malfunction" was edited out.
(Bound For Glory '07)

TNA Womens Champion Gail Kim vs. O.D.B. vs. Roxxi Laveaux vs. Angel Williams (Angelina Love) - Another solid matchup as you can tell these women worked hard & well together...if you can get past the one part in the beginning when Roxxi looked like she was trying to put a trance on the referee. The real standout was O.D.B. as she really had was connecting with the crowd.
(Genesis '07)

Angelina Love & Velvet Sky vs. O.D.B. & Roxxi Laveaux - Boy, O.D.B. was just over with the crowd from the start. Despite some of the "WWE divas" elements like the spanking between the knockouts & trying to get the referee involved, this was decent but nothing really memorable about it.
(Turning Point '07)

Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong - This was the beginning of the series that brought all the attention to the Knockouts divison as the story here was David vs. Goliath...except both of them are women as this was one of those "put a storyline over" matches. Kong for the most part dominated Gail Kim who was able to get in a few shots here & there with working on Kong's arm in the beginning & then taking to the air later in the match starting to gain some momentum before Kong recovered & just beat Kim down & refused to stop causing the DQ. The aftermath with Kong beating up the babyface knockouts, the referee, and powerbombing Gail on the chair heavily sold the fact that Kong is a monster. The result was to set up a rematch which a majority of people didn't mind.
(Turning Point '07)

No Disqualification Match: Womens Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong - They topped their match from the previous month as again, they used the "David vs. Goliath" formula but delivered a different match. Again, Kong dominated here & just kept overpowering Kim while Gail just kept fighting back. Chairs were used, they brawled on the floor & through the crowd, & even the referee wasn't safe as he got a powerbomb by Kong. Great match with a creative ending that was worth of the "TNA" chants from the crowd.
(Final Resolution '08)

Womens Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong - This marked the debut of Kong's manager, Raisha Saeed, and was another wild brawl that went all over the Impact Zone between both women that saw Kong crash through a wall at one point. They stuck with the "David vs. Goliath" formula here that was successful before and resulted in Kong becoming the Knockouts Champion after giving a series of three Awesome Bombs to Gail.
("Impact" Jan '08)

The Jay Lethal/So Cal Val Wedding - Holy SummerSlam '91 Batman! Seriously, this entire storyline has been done very similar to the Randy/Liz storyline from the proposal, "Oh Yeah!" acceptance by Val, and even Lethal dressing in the same type of outfit Savage did at the SummerSlam wedding. However, anyone who watched TNA over the past couple of months (including those who edit the video packages together) knew what was coming when the best man Sonjay Dutt stopped the wedding & turned heel on Lethal before getting his own beating by the groomsmen. The heel turn was great but for him to get laid out by the legends right afterwards killed it & turned this turned into a wrestlecrap segment. At least you got to see old school legends & names from the past like Kamala, Jake "The Snake" Roberts (complete with snake), Koko B. Ware, and George "The Animal" Steele who of course munched on his favorite snack...the turnbuckle.
(Slammiversary '08)

Makerover Battle Royal/Ladder Match - All the knockouts (except Kong & Saeed) are in the battle royal & the final two will wrestle in a Ladder Match with the winner getting a title shot while the loser gets her head shaved...except for Gail Kim who won immunity so if she loses then the last knockout eliminated in the battle royal would get her shaved. Just like any time TNA has a multiperson match that has more than one stage (ala "Queen Of The Cage" at Lockdown), they got the first stage over with pretty quickly as the only thing noteworthy in the battle royal was Khan tossing Hemme out but instead of going straight to the floor, Hemme hit the apron hip first on the way down. The Ladder Match was between Gail & Roxxi with Angelina Love being the one who should get shaved if Gail loses so she constantly kept interfearing with Velvet Sky getting involved as well. The battle royal part wasn't anything special as it was just a way to shove all the knockouts onto the PPV but the Ladder Match wasn't as good as it could have been because of the constant interference from "The Beautiful People." The crowd was chanting "Fire Russo" afterwards during the headshaving but with the booking of this match, you could see why as the only real highlight was Roxxi getting her head busted open which you clearly saw how bad it was when she got her haircut (the blood on her head resembled the time Raven got sheered by James Mitchell years ago).
(Sacrifice '08)

Six Sides Of Steel Cage Match: Gail Kim & O.D.B. vs. Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed - Kong was suffering from a minor back injury while I don't recall Saeed wrestling in TNA before this match so this didn't live up to the expectations that the series between Kong & both O.D.B. & Gail had in the previous months but it should be noteworthy that Saeed did add a different taste of submission moves & mat wrestling here.
(Lockdown '08)

$25,000 Challenge Match: Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong vs. Taylor Wilde - For a few weeks, Awesome Kong delivered open challenges to any female to try to beat her and if they did, they would win the Knockouts Championship & $25,000...this was Taylor's third attempt at trying to beat Kong and even had Roxxi in her corner for moral support. Kong throughout the match kept beating on her & punishing her but Wilde wouldn't give up and eventually got a quick upset pin on Kong to win the championship.
("Impact" July '08)

Bonus Match:
Street Fight Match: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong - This turned out to be Gail Kim's final TNA match & she went out with a bang as they kept the old "David vs. Goliath" formula here along with brawling through the crowd and even incorporating weapons like the kendo stick & a chair. It was the right match with the right person that delievered the right result for Gail to leave TNA on.

The only real complaints I have here is that the Val/Lethal wedding should have been left off & that TNA completely ignored all of the buildup & womens wrestling that they were doing before they brought in the Knockouts championship like the Gail Kim vs. Jacqueline series of matches they did like their cage match from Lockdown '07 & their street fight from Impact shortly afterwards in which Jacqueline had her front teeth knocked out...both of those matches were better quality than half the matches on here. But besides that, this is a huge improvement from their last Knockouts DVD (which was a piss poor attempt at a "WWE Divas" like presentation) and did a perfect job in showcasing not just an alternative to what WWE has to offer but also adding in the personality profiles so you could get to know the current womens lineup more. This is definately worth going out of your way to take a look at, I recommend.
"

Better than the first release!!!

Chad Carpenter | Kentucky United States | 10/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just got this awesome dvd today. After seeing the first tna women's dvd a few years ago, I have to say this one packs a punch. If you are a fan of tna, wwe and or a fan of pro. wrestling, I highly recommend owning this dvd."