Pay-per-view air date: October 9, 2021
Combined with the NWA EmPowerrr pay-per-view on August 28, Impact Wrestling’s all-women Knockouts Knockdown has continued making 2021 a strong year for women’s wrestling across the industry. They knew EmPowerrr set a high bar for them to match, and I felt they did.
KO Knockdown featured a tournament to decide a challenger for the Knockouts title. The winner would be next in line for the winner of the Deonna Purrazzo/Mickie James match at Bound For Glory on October 23. James was a guest color commentator, working alongside Veda Scott. Both did a good job in my opinion.
They opened with a ten bell salute and moment of silence to the recently passed Shannon Spruill, professionally known as Daffney. This was very touching as all the competitors on the card and the male competitors on the roster all took part. It was a nice touch to have a short promo segment for each competitor before their respective bouts.
Rachael Ellering defeated Lady Frost
In the first match of the first round of the tournament, Rachael Ellering defeated Lady Frost in a very good match. Strong way to start the tournament and an excellent pacesetter. Easily Frost’s best showing since doing dates with Impact, and Ellering’s best solo outing since she entered the company.
Chelsea Green defeated Renee Michelle
Chelsea Green advanced to the second round, defeating Renee Michelle. It was okay. Michelle’s a decent wrestler but still developing and growing and she and Green had a few moments where they seemed to not be gelling. Not a bad match, but it wasn’t great and it had the bad timing of having to follow Ellering-Frost.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Brandi Lauren
Mercedes Martinez steamrolled Brandi Lauren. Big chops and shots with Martinez finishing Lauren in around 2 minutes with the OG Drop face front twisting suplex. Established Martinez as a favorite quickly.
Tasha Steelz defeated Jamie Senegal
Tasha Steelz won her first-round match over Jamie Senegal, making her Impact Wrestling debut (a historic debut with Senegal being the first trans woman to work for the company). Started off a little awkward but once Sengal’s nerves seemed to settle. Steelz took over, it became a very good match that had the live audience chanting for both women. Steelz won with a Crucifix Bomb, a move I’m not fond of since the user rarely has good leverage to legitimately pull their opponent over with force.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Marsha Slamovich
As punishment for her brazen attack on James in her own home, Impact management allowed James to book a Pick Your Poison match for Knockouts champion Purrazzo, where she picked Purrazzo’s opponent. Her pick was Masha Slamovich, one of the hottest names on the independent scene today.
Great match, at this point, the best match on the show. Purrazzo is on fire right now as a performer. She was able to force Slamovich to submit to her Venus Di Milo double armbar after Slamovich was able to fight off both an earlier single armbar and a cross arm breaker. Both women shined brightly in this. The crowd chanted “Thank you, Masha!” after the match.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Rachael Ellering
Ellering fell to Martinez in their second-round bout. Hard fought battle with Ellering coming very close to pinning Martinez several times before being forced to submit to a guillotine choke with her own legs grapevined.
Tasha Steelz defeated Chelsea Green
Just as I’m set to crown Ellering “MVP” of this pay-per-view, Steelz beats Green in their second-round bout, a much better and smoother match for both with Green kicking out of Steelz’ Crucifix Bomb and Steelz kicking out of Green’s Unprettier finish. Green went for an Unprettier off the top rope but Steelz shook her off and finished her with a splash from the top.
Very good match.
Awesome Kong to be Inducted IMPACT Wresting Hall of Fame
Former TNA announcer and former KO Christy Hemme announced the latest inductee into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame: former KO and KO tag champion, Awesome Kong. Kong gave a good speech but quickly turned it to her friend, Daffney. Nearly as emotional as her retirement speech at EmPowerrr. You want to see something funny? Go watch how Kong used to do Hemme any time they were in the ring together in their TNA days.
Savannah Evans defeated Kimber Lee, Alisha, and Jordynne Grace
In a Monster’s Ball Match
I know they dedicated the Monster’s Ball match to Daffney, one of the first women to ever take part in a Monster’s Ball match (the other was her opponent, Taylor Wilde) but considering it was a match that injured Daffney, I was uncomfortable with it.
Brutal match that included Kimber Lee, Alisha, Savannah Evans, and Jordynne Grace. All four women put in work and took some hard shots with Lee taking a beating and blood running down her face early from a strong attack from Alisha, looking for revenge for Lee and Su Yung “claiming” one of her fellow Swingerellas. Big, big win for Evans in her first-ever MB match, as she dropped Alisha with a full nelson bomb.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Tasha Steelz
Martinez defeated Steelz in the finale, winning the tournament and a title shot at the winner of the Bound For Glory KO title match. Steelz had her third impressive showing of the night, coming close but ultimately falling short, being pinned after the OG Drop. Steelz was my MVP of the show.
Main Event: Decay (c) defeated The Influence
For the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship
The main event saw Decay–Rosemary and Havok with Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus at ringside–beat The Influence–Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood with Kaleb With a K, successfully defending their KO tag titles. Good, almost old school tag match with The Influence relying heavily on heel tactics and nearly winning the match before Rayne fell to the Russian leg sweep/spear combination move from Decay.
Good match, but I think it would have clicked even better to close with the tournament final, the superior of the two final matches. This was a great show.
I would advise any and everyone to watch the Tag Me In PSA video that aired. Awesome video for the TMI mental health initiative.
Thanks for reading! Tell us what you thought about KO Knockdown 2021 in the comment section below or on any DDT Divas social media platform. Use the hashtags #DDTDivas and #ReviewsByDave
