IMPACT Wrestling's Knockouts Division has always given women a proper platform, says its Knockouts Champion.
IMPACT Wrestling's current Knockouts Champion, Taya Valkyrie recently spoke to Fightful's Denise Salcedo and praised the history of the Knockouts division and the greats who paved the way. According to Taya, her performance is for a lot more than just herself.
"It's an honor, honestly, because the Knockouts since the beginning of TNA have always been given that opportunity to shine and that platform, and been given matches that are more than two minutes long and been shown respect," said Taya. "I'm so honored to represent years of hard work you know from Awesome Kong, to ODB, to The Beautiful People, to everybody that came before me, you know, that made this possible for us to be where we are right now and it's really an honor to represent all those women and the women that we have right now."
Taya also spoke commented on the depth of the current female roster and the attention given to every women's wrestler on the team, "On IMPACT, you'll notice everything a woman has a story," she stated with pride. "Everyone is being used and in a fun creative way from Tessa doing the intergender [wrestling], from me being Knockouts Champion, to the undead realm, to Su [Yung] and Havok. You know, there's just so many crazy stories and we're being presented properly and I love that. You know, the 'locker room leader' Madison Rayne, to the 'blue flame' (Kiera Hogan), you know we're all different and we all are getting a chance to shine and I'm very proud to be representing the Knockouts."
Taya also spoke fondly about the move to AXS TV, saying that IMPACT has always been putting on great matches and will now have the audience it deserves. According to Taya, the importance of maximizing creative was highlighted and pointed to as a crucial aspect of the appeal of IMPACT.
When pressed on the subject, a popular moniker that we heard from Sami Callihan also was reiterated.
"I mean we've always been there. We've always been the Little Engine That Could," she said. "We are literally like, I compare us to, you know, the misfit toys that were rejected. We all have a story, we all have layers, were all like these different [people] from people backstage, to all the performers in the ring. We all just want to do our best work. And I think it's very evident and organic and unique and the passion that we have for impact is so evident when you turn that TV on and see us, and that's where we fit in."
Taya Valkyrie will defend her Knockouts Championship against Tenille Dashwood at Bound For Glory on October 20, 2019.
