The Rayne of Queen Madison

What I'm about to say may not be popular in some circles, it may even be controversial in others but I need to say it... I love Madison Rayne. I love her as a character, I love her as a wrestler and I love the fact that she is a TNA Knockout. In my opinion, Madison Rayne has received way too much criticism from certain portions of the TNA fan base (some of whom write and comment on this site). I'll be honest, I just don't get it. Is it the fact that Madison has worked hard to develop a character that draws legit heat? Is it the fact that she has proven to be a reliable performer whom the company can depend on? Hell, maybe it’s just because she changed from being a blonde to being a brunette. No matter the cause, I've heard people rag on the Queen Bee too often and I'm a little tired of it.

Debuting in TNA on January 8, 2009, the petite blonde got off to a slow start at the hands of a defeat to Awesome Kong. Over the next few months, Madison made very little impact as the quiet, nondescript newcomer and I vividly recall thinking, why did TNA hire this girl? In her initial performances, there was nothing about Madison that stood out to suggest that this girl was going to be a major player in the future of the Knockouts division. I'm glad to say I was wrong about that, and an alliance with the two hottest blondes (figuratively and literally) in the wrestling business was about to change the fortunes of Madison Rayne.

Presented as the bullied apprentice of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, Madison's role in the Beautiful People was being the one who carried out the dirty work of her superiors and the one who took the verbal abuse if things didn't go the way of the Beauties. After being temporarily kicked out of the Beautiful People after accidently costing Angelina the Knockouts title, Madison was eventually welcomed back into the group after assisting Love and Sky in their goal of reaching the finals of the tournament to crown the first ever Knockout Tag Team Champions. This would prove to be a great career move because once visa issues forced Angelina Love out of TNA before the tournament finals; Madison was promoted to take her place as a full-fledged member of the Beautiful People.

With Lacey Von Erich added to the group, Madison and Velvet would eventually go on to capture the Knockouts tag belts and it was during this time that I first started to notice Madison stepping up her game. It was as if, with Angelina out, Madison saw an opportunity to step up and become the work horse of the group and in my opinion, she did just that. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed because at Lockdown 2010, Madison Rayne was given the go ahead from TNA management to lift her first Knockouts singles title, making her the first woman in TNA to hold both the Knockouts title and Knockouts tag title at the same time. Things were looking up for the former Ashley Lane.

The best was yet to come and for me, the best was the "Queen Bee" character that Madison began to develop over the following months. Honestly, the spoilt, obnoxious and bitchy princess gimmick was a million miles away from the bland, good girl persona Madison had originally debuted just over a year earlier. Cranking up the brattish elements of her gimmick, along with cranking up her screaming on the mic, Madison went on a tear through the Knockouts division over the ensuing months and was involved in feuds with Angelina Love, Tara, Mickie James and others. The long and the short of it was that Madison Rayne was a performer the company believed in, and her title reigns during that period said it all.

Even after booking control changed from Vince Russo to Bruce Prichard, Madison Rayne remained a prominently featured Knockout while other Russo favourites were disregarded in Prichard’s new "one champion/one challenger" approach to booking. People may disagree with this, and probably will, but I'm of the opinion that one of the reasons why Madison was shown so much support from both the Russo and Prichard creative regimes is that, she had a clearly defined character and she was confident in her own abilities to be able to go out there and make people boo her and draw heat no matter who she was facing. Performers like that are always worth keeping in a good position because they can always be relied on. The next time you hear some criticize Madison Rayne, take the time to think about how good of a grasp she has on her own character and then compare it to other women in the business. Almost every Diva in WWE has no real character to speak of. Some TNA Knockouts are like that too. Madison Rayne has her character down to a fine detail. These things are important.

Am I being the Devil's advocate here? Maybe. Is Madison the best women’s wrestler ever? No. Is she the best female character TNA has right now? Yes. Is she still young enough to improve and grow even more? Absolutely. Would I sign her for my women’s division if I had one? In an f'n hearbeat.

The fact that Madison Rayne is a former 4-time Knockouts Champion and former 2-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion, coupled with the fact that she is only 26 years old, is one of the things that gives me hope for the Knockouts division. She has carried the division before and is experienced enough but still young enough to do it again.

Haters, lay off the Queen Bee….. Because Madison is alright by me.