In 1996, it was modern-day shock/industrial rock revolutionist, Marilyn Manson, who released the mainstream hit, “The Beautiful People.” Eleven years later, on December 2, 2007, The Beautiful People had a face and an image to uphold to in the pro wrestling world, as its original starlights, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, commanded and conquered the TNA Knockouts division for nearly 16 years. Looking back on their humble yet elegant roots, Sky reflects on how one choice in character work could’ve changed the dynamic of their Hall of Fame status.
“When TNA first put Angelina and I together as the Beautiful People, they sent us out there as babyfaces, which is why one of our…first match coming out together…the crowd booed the s**t out of us,” Sky revealed in an interview on “Velvet Ropes.” “Well, their mentality was, you know, this was a Spike TV era. Spike TV was a men’s network. They figure the crowd of mostly men, they want to see happy, hot girls in short skirts. I don’t think they were thinking like, ‘Oh, they’re going to get booed.’ I think they were thinking like, ‘They look the way they do. They’re wearing short skirts, whatever. They’re going to appeal to the masses…Girls, just go down there and just shake hands, kiss babies, and slap hands. Just do it.'”
After seeing how their debut did not appeal to the masses, the TNA office then retreated to returning the two mean girls back to their heelish roots. Embracing vain and narcissistic prima donnas, it was Vince Russo who saw a lot of potential not just in them, but in the Knockouts division as a whole. Thanks to his vision – via what the ratings were saying – women like Sky and Love carried a legacy torch that remains unmatched in TNA to this day.
 “Vince was a total ratings guy. He was like, ‘The ratings are in. Who’s at the top of the list?’ And, you know, the Knockouts and the Beautiful People, we were always at…we were the ratings breakers,” Sky added. “We were told by Spike TV every week like, ‘Hey congrats, girls! Top of the ratings again.’ He was featuring the girls all over the show, and that’s why he saw the transition of so many Knockouts were on the show because of the ratings.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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