First, Sienna, the KO Champion, lost the title in a multi-woman match. Allie got the title. After that, Allie lost the title to Maria Kanellis. To top it all off, Gail Kim became #1 contender, so the title feud you have his Maria vs. Gail Kim.
Giving the title to Maria is the worst decision TNA has made for their women's division in a long time. She is not credible. This is not a respectable decision. And for TNA to do this at this time is also dumb. The WWE is hyping their women's division and treating it with more respect. While that is going on, TNA is collapsing almost to the level of a diva division. There was a time when TNA's women's division was a lot more respectable than the WWE's women's division. And TNA ran with that. It was one of their strengths. Giving the title to Maria isn't as terrible as the WWE giving Debra the Women's Championship back in the first dark age of the diva era, but it is not an answer to Sasha Banks and Charlotte trading the title. Maria has some wrestling training, but she is just not credible. She was liked in the WWE, but did not have the wrestling ability to deserve to be pushed as the centerpiece. She is not as beloved as she used to be and her wrestling ability has not improved that much.
TNA has given their title to eye-candy performers they took from the WWE before, but those women had better wrestling credibility than Maria. I am talking about Brooke Tessmacher and Taryn Terrell. Both had the look, showed charisma, and gained some real wrestling credibility. Either of them would have been great choices to build a diva-like women's division around. Maria does not fall in that category.
Of course, this is all for the sake of the feud between Maria and Gail Kim. TNA has sacrificed respectability for the sake of a storyline. As I have said before, they could have ran this feud without the title being involved. Maria puts her control of the division on the line and Gail Kim would retire if she lost to Maria. Of course, Gail Kim would win. Leave the title for other women to fight over. Maria should not be getting a title reign.
As for Gail Kim, she is being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. She deserves it. She helped to make TNA's women's division respectable. She is going to be 40 next year, but she still wrestles better than some female wrestlers younger than her. You can even argue she's the best in-ring worker in the KO division right now.
All that being said, TNA needs to move on from pushing her so hard in the title scene. If this is going to be her last title run, that is fine. She deserves it before retiring or taking on a different kind of role. But everything revolves around Gail Kim. TNA didn't always used to be like this. If Gail Kim was more popular than she is, then you might let it go. If those other women want her spot, they have to reach her level. But she's not that popular. That is why TNA should be opening up the playing field and trying to give these other women a chance to be made into stars.
You might bring up the counterargument that four women have held the KO title since Gail lost it earlier this year. And I would say none of those women have been pushed right to build them into stars. While they have held the title, it has still been Gail Kim's show. The main focus has still been on her. Even if TNA has not protected Gail Kim that much and has had her get pinned a number of times in the last few months, sometimes needlessly, the creative focus is still on her. And as long as the focus is on her and these other women are not getting featured nearly as well, no new stars are being built. TNA still has a bit of a periphery. Rosemary is doing her thing. But there are lot of women not being given a fair shot, even if they are getting title reigns. Gail Kim should take on a periphery role.
I don't follow wrestling in the indies that much, but I do know who Cherry Bomb (Allie) is. I have seen some clips and matches of her. The way TNA has used her is crappy. She has just been used as a cowardly sidekick. That is a waste of her skills. Someone like Maria would fit that role better. Obviously, the gimmick won't last. But how much faith do you have in TNA to properly keep the ball rolling on her? I think she has potential to be a star. But she needs to be featured a lot better.
TNA just has a lot of issues right now in their women's division. They have declining respectability, have not been featuring their KO Champions properly in the last few months, put the title on an eye-candy performer with no real credibility, are relying too much on a woman that is not that popular and nearing 40, and are not properly creating new stars for the future. I am not against shaking things up now and then. At any other time, someone like Maria winning the title and being pushed as she has been would be okay. But the WWE is making TNA look bad. TNA doesn't need any help to look bad. You would think TNA would try to lean on the respectability of their women's division at this time, not let a storyline trump respectability. And all their other mistakes might be overlooked if they had better star power in place. But they don't. They need to move on from Gail Kim and build new stars.
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