"That was a Dixie Carter invention" - Dutch Mantell gives former TNA boss massive credit (Exclusive)

Dixie Carter helmed TNA for several years as its president, and Dutch Mantell recently revealed she was responsible for coining the 'Knockouts" term.

To differentiate its women's roster from other companies, TNA's female stars compete in the "Knockouts" division, which was officially named in 2007 after Gail Kim won the TNA Knockouts World Championship for the first time.

As seen on the recent NXT episode, the reigning Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace appeared to confront Roxanne Perez, confirming the apparent partnership between WWE and TNA.

Dutch Mantell recalled his long tenure in TNA during the latest Smack Talk episode and revealed Dixie Carter's influence in setting up the Knockouts division. Mantell also stated that he was responsible for pushing women's wrestling in TNA long before WWE gave them more in-ring time.

"That was a Dixie Carter invention. She came up with the name; I'll give her credit for that. But whose idea was it to start the girls, me! And I met such pushback for that, nobody wanted to see the girls. I said, 'Na, I think, yeah, they may!' And Even Vince always had these crazy ideas, and some of them were pretty good, really. He wasn't biting on it. So, we started it, and about two months later, they were responsible for the high ratings on TNA, Impact at the time." [From 36:02 to 36:54]

Check out the video below:

Dutch Mantell on booking the first women's main event in TNA

While WWE takes the bulk of the credit for the changes in women's wrestling, Gail Kim and Awesome Kong's feud in TNA inarguably had a massive influence.

Dutch Mantell was always a proponent for the women to be involved in proper storylines and matches and he was instrumental in putting together the program between Kim and Kong.

Mantell stated that he put the two legendary wrestlers on the main event of a TNA show, and it was way before WWE had done it. Much to Dutch Mantell and TNA's surprise, the women drew one of the highest ratings ever for the company.

"I had Gail Kim on my podcast about two weeks ago, and I remember I work an angle with her and Amazing (Awesom) Kong. I put them in the main event before WWE did it, a girls' main event. For us, for TNA, they did a 3.4, which was massive back in the day. They went about 30 minutes in the main event, and I couldn't believe the rating they did." [From 36:56 to 37:33]

Pro wrestling is a better place with TNA around, and considering Grace's recent appearance for the WWE, fans should be ready for more high-profile collaborations.

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