Joshi 11: TNA Xplosion, Daffney vs. Hamada

This match makes me, along with many other fans of women's wrestling, wonder why TNA Xplosion is a B-show, relegated to the United Kingdom and the internet and why, oh why, we only ever get matches involving the Beautiful People and Angelina Love on TNA Impact on Thursday nights. A short list of things I noted about the match:

1. They need to turn Taylor Wilde heel, like, yesterday. The girl cannot cut a face promo to save her life, and continually comes off as an unlikable little drip anytime she gets near a microphone and opens her mouth. From mocking Daffney a few weeks ago before their match, to her little 'talk to the hand' moments when discussing her feud with Sarita tonight, this girl was made to be a jerk. Funny thing is, too, that she doesn't really come off like that at all, in other venues like her twitter, but she seems like such a naturally snarky little machine on camera that I can't believe they don't run with that a little bit.

2. Daffney is hilarious. Her character work is almost perfect... the slurry voice, the sort of vague expression and the sense of 'wow, I really am a total psychopath... and I'm really happy with it!' make her totally engaging. I've been a fan of hers for years, since WCW, and don't even mind when I don't get a tweet back cause she gets so many and has had so many knocks on the head, and just don't understand why TNA won't push this girl to the moon as a manager, mouthpiece, wrestler... something. Her new teeny top hat and dress combo was nice, too... the blue, black, her very pale skin and her eye make-up mesh together and give her a sort of ethereal, unearthly look.

3. The match itself was good. Hamada looks as stiff as heck--how can somebody that adorable be that vicious?!?!--and Daffney sells like a champion. I really don't get why some reviewers said this was a terrible match, and am convinced that they are just somewhat prejudiced against women's wrestling or, perhaps, just don't watch the matches and grumble about them anyway.

4. Taz sounded drunk, like he usually does. He does a good job of selling the girls like they're made out of gold, but some of his lines are real groaners (and/or oinkers... I mean, jeez, dude). Although I will always love him for giving us the 'Zombie Hot' moniker, he often just sounds dumb. Don West wasn't much better, though, and either is miles better than most of what we get in WWE, so I won't complain too much.

5. Post match brawl was a little weak, due to time constraints, but I'd love it if this set up a little feud.

Joshi 9: Go Hamada! Go Taylor!

After a long-ish (for Impact, anyway) , hard fought match, Hamada-san and Taylor Wilde are the new TNA Knockouts tag-team champions! This match was excellent and Hamada-san's in ring skills are just as good as they were the last time I saw her on TNA TV what... six months ago? Seven? Gosh, it's been a while. I've really missed that fierce little apple cheeked Japanese queen of the ring. My only complaint tonight is that we didn't see her vicious Michinoku driver variation, the Hama-chan driver, but Taylor's German suplex always looks pretty good, and I'm glad to see new and different things happening in the Knockouts division. The only thing really missing is Daffney... I haven't seen her on Impact in several weeks! We need a tiny top hat infusion, STAT!

The Beautiful People segment tonight was good, too. Poor Lacey! She's just trying to be sweet and helpful, but forgot the important lesson that you should never, never, never get between two girls having a cat-fight over 1) a man or 2) a piece of jewelry. Considering TBP view the KO belts as big, shiny hunks of gold jewelry... well... you can see where the might lead to tragedy. I did like seeing Vel Vel run over to aid/comfort her after she got flattened, though, and am looking forward to seeing where this storyline might go in the near future.

TNA Impact 2: ECW reunion and Lacey is adorable

Okay, first things first... Sarita is downright awesome in the ring. She can move more crisply and brings more authority with her rolls and strikes than 95% of the male roster. I like her new outfit, too, and not just because--like Uncle Angelo--I'm a butt man (although... wow), but because it shows off her beautiful, dusky skin tone so well, and actually reminds us that Sarita is an Aztec princess and, yeah, we ought to pretty much be worshiping her. The match was pretty good and, although I'm not really an Angelina Love fan, I don't mind everybody being fed to her (I might as well not...) if it's not being done in matches that last 2 minutes, like what happened to poor Daffney a couple of weeks ago. It's good to see Sarita getting some screen time--especially in that outfit--and with a promised Hamada/Daffney showdown on Xplosion in a couple of weeks I can see wonderful things coming from the Knockouts division in the near future. Also... how freaking adorable is Lacey Von Erich? I didn't have that much love for her when I first started watching TNA, but as this storyline has developed I've really started getting into her sweet, very naive, gentle character. More of this Lacey, please! I adore her!