This evening, the ladies of Global Force Wrestling took questions from the media as part of GFW’s weekly teleconferences and RealSport was on hand to ask the question that has been burning in the minds of IMPACT Wrestling fans since the TNA Knockouts Championship and GFW Women’s Championship were unified at Slammiversary… what is the rationale for keeping the Knockouts name and branding for the Women’s Division, given that other companies have dropped the gimmicky names?
In her answer, GFW Executive Director, Karen Jarrett focussed on the fact that the other divisions in the company are all named too. She remarked, “We have a X-Division, a Tag Team Division and there’s a Knockouts Division. I think that every division of the company should have their own name and should be showcased in a different way.”
Sienna, who stated that she had been driven crazy by fans asking her this question on Twitter, continued Karen’s thought by adding that she was unhappy with the “feudal feminism” she sees within fan interaction on the internet. She explained, “Fans feel like they need to jump on board with women’s rights but really they just want to tell us what we should and shouldn’t be offended by.” The GFW Knockouts Champion went on to discuss that she, as representative of the division, was in no way offended by the name. As far as she is concerned, Sienna does not believe the word Knockout has the same negative connotations that the word Divas did in WWE and therefore there’s no need to change it. She closed her thought explaining how she enjoys the word play of the Knockout name. “It’s cool that it has a double meaning. Yeah we’re Knockouts because we’re sexy but we’re also Knockouts because we can knock you out.”
Laurel Van Ness agreed with Sienna and confirmed that she was asked the question a lot on Twitter, also. Echoing the champion’s sentiment, Van Ness stated that she wasn’t in any way offended by the name and liked the fact that it differenciated them from the other women’s wrestlers in other companies. She added, “The Knockouts, that’s our group. It’s like a girl band.”
Stay tuned to RealSport for the full Q&A with Karen Jarrett, Sienna and Laurel Van Ness, where they discuss the past and present of the Knockouts, dream opponents and the potential of a Karen Jarrett in-ring debut.
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