Rachael Ellering and Brandi Lauren Complete the Knockouts Knockdown Tournament Field

Impact Wrestling's first Knockouts Knockdown event since 2017 is just a few days away. In the countdown to the event, the details about Knockouts Knockdown have been announced piece-by-piece, with the details including the participants in the eight-woman tournament. Six of the women have already been unveiled: Mercedes Martinez, Lady Frost, Renee Michelle, Chelsea Green, Tasha Steelz, and Jamie Senegal. Two spots remained, and one of those spots went to Rachael Ellering.

The name Ellering is a familiar one; Rachael Ellering is the daughter of legendary manager Paul Ellering. Even so, Rachael has done an amazing job making a name for herself in the near six years she has competed. One of three Knockouts trained by Lance Storm (Tenille Dashwood and Chelsea Green being the others), Rachael competed in various indie promotions before making appearances on WWE's NXT under two different names: Rachael Evers and Rachael Fazio. Her WWE tenure included participating in both Mae Young Classics, reaching the 2nd round in 2017, but losing to a villainous Hiroyo Matsumoto in 2018. Rachael was signed in 2019, but she ended up sidelined for a year due to an ACL tear, and was released in 2020.

It was after her appearances for All Elite Wrestling that Rachael debuted for Impact as Jordynne Grace's partner against then-Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire n Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz). The pair won the titles at Rebellion, but lost them weeks later, after which the pair fought against any and all friction between them and remained a unit.

I've always wanted a heel turn from Rachael Ellering. The closest I've come to seeing an evil Rachael was a few years back when she competed at an indie event against Celeste Bonin, who we WWE fans know as Kaitlyn. It started out typical, but it would see Rachael become a bit more vicious against Kaitlyn, who ended up winning. The fact that Rachael is in this tournament but Jordynne isn't, is quite interesting. I want to say Jordynne will be part of the Monster's Ball Match, but I can't see that happening either. That only leaves one other possibility: Rachael ends up on the receiving end of a verbal and physical attack by a jealous and evil Jordynne, and with Bound for Glory closing in, I wouldn't rule that out.

The eighth and final slot in the Knockouts Knockdown tournament went to Brandi Lauren, who I have seen plenty over prior to her current run in Impact. I vividly remember seeing Brandi at Shine Wrestling, where she acted as a very snobby heel, and prior to that, she had been appearing for Impact under the name Ava Storie. Brandi was signed by WWE back in 2018, and I remember being eager to see her on WWE TV, but that would not be the case. As Skylar Story, Brandi was relegated to live events up to her May 2020 release.

Brandi returned to Impact in August of this year, doing so as Melina's first Impact Zone opponent. About a week later, we see Brandi in an interview segment, where she is abducted by Su Yung and Kimber Lee, and a few weeks later, Brandi shown as an undead minion of Su Yung, as the pair, along with Kimber, search for more souls to obtain. What development! And we get to see this Brandi in action at Knockouts Knockdown! This will be epic!

So the Elite Eight is complete. The winner of the tournament will have a future shot at the Knockouts Championship, which will also be on the line at the event. Havok and Rosemary will defend the Knockouts Tag Team Championship against The Influence (Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood), and a Women's Monster's Ball match will take place. Knockouts Knockdown will take place on October 9

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