User blog:CEDJunior/Victoria/Tara: Face or Heel?

In my latest "Face or Heel?" blog, I've decided to profile a former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout who, I believe, is destined for the Hall of Fame some day. This week's subject is Lisa Marie Varon who held the WWE Women's Championship twice as Victoria, and is a five-time TNA Knockouts Champion and a former TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion as Tara.

Face Victoria/Tara:  Combined, Varon has had three stints as a babyface, with her only stint in WWE taking place between 2003 and 2005. Despite having a moderate run as a fan favorite, the only real shining moment that Victoria had was when she captured the Women's Championship in February 2004 by defeating Molly Holly, Jazz, and Lita. Her reign included a successful title defense at WrestleMania XX, which led to Victoria shaving Molly's head. After Victoria lost the title to Trish Stratus, her babyface run didn't really have much pop left. She had about two more title opportunities in the year that passed, but she was unsuccessful both times.

As Tara, she started her Knockouts career as a babyface; going right after the villainous Angelina Love and the rest of The Beautiful People. Incredibly, Tara had three runs as Knockouts Champion within her first year, with her victories coming at the expense of Angelina and the heel-turned ODB. She also engaged in a violent feud with Daffney, which not only involved the Knockouts Championship, but Tara's pet spider as well.

I loved Tara's second stint as a babyface Knockout, which saw her as a mentor/tag team partner for Brooke Tessmacher for the better part of a year between 2011 and 2012. During her role, Tara and Tessmacher, who collectively went under the name TnT, captured the Knockouts Tag Team Championship by defeating Sarita and Rosita in May of 2011 and held on to tthe belts until they were defeated by Gail Kim and Madison Rayne in November. Even after the title loss, Tara continued to serve as a mentor for Brooke entering 2012, even while Brooke rose to the Knockouts Championship during that summer.

Heel Victoria/Tara:  In her combined WWE and TNA career, Varon has been a villainess on four occasions; two in each promotion. Her first stint as a heel Diva remains her most memorable one; portraying a psychotic woman bent on destroying Trish Stratus in her first year in WWE. It was in this role that Victoria captured her first Women's Championship by defeating Trish in a Hardcore Match at Survivor Series. She continued her heel role heading into 2003, continuously going after Trish and Lita on several occasions.

It was on Memorial Day in 2005 that Victoria's heel side returned when she attacked all of the participants of a bikini contest, saving most of her venom for Christy Hemme, who she would defeat in a grudge match at Vengeance. After her feud with Christy ended, the evil VIctoria aligned with newly turned villains Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle to form Vince's Devils, which lasted until March of 2006. Victoria would spend the rest of her WWE career as a heel, which included pursuing the Women's Championship in the latter half of 2006, and bringing back a bit of her classic psycho character during her chase. It also included being moved to SmackDown in 2007 (a move I still find questionable) and feuding with former ally Torrie Wilson and the debuting Bella Twins, among others.

In TNA, Tara (IMO) was on the verge of turning heel after she lost the Knockouts Championship to Angelina Love in the Lockbox Challenge in March of 2010. They were set to team against The Beautiful People in a match for all of the titles, but it was clear that Tara was bitter over losing the title to Angelina, especially since it wasn't in an actual match. Angelina and Tara lost to the BPs at Lockdown, with Madison Rayne pinning Tara to become the new Knockouts Champion. After the match ended, Tara officially became a villainous Knockout when she attacked Angelina in the caged ring, and she gave a psychotic shriek and snarled evilly at Angelina after the attack, which I loved!

Tara put her career on the line against Madison Rayne at Sacrifice, but she was unsuccessful. Months later, she resurfaced in a sexy leather outfit and a biker helmet; serving as Madison's evil henchwoman for several months. The only problem I had was that TNA tried to keep it hidden that it was Tara, but I did enjoy seeing her compete in an actual mask during that gimmick. Of course, the "big secret" would be revealed on September 2, when Tara unmasked after she and Madison beat Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. Despite basically working for Madison, the evil Tara captured the Knockouts Championship at Bound For Glory, but under Madison's orders, Tara laid down and surrendered the title to her just days later on Impact. Despite that, Tara continued her alliance with Madison until May of 2011.

As I stated earlier, Tara's tag team partner, Brooke Tessmacher, became Knockouts Champion in 2012, and Tara herself became #1 Contender by defeating her protégé in a non-title match. Tara lost at No Surrender, and I figured that a heel turn was on the horizon. Four days later, Tara turned into a villainess and attacked Brooke after pretending to congratulate her. In one of my favorite moments, Tara explained her heel turn a week later by claming that Brooke used her for attention and to become champion, and even threatened to attack ring announcer Christy Hemme (it always goes back to Christy, does it?). It made their rematch at Bound For Glory much better, because it was the rising student competing against her evil teacher, and in the end, Tara captured her fifth Knockouts Championship, and revealed her new "Hollywood boyfriend" as  Jesse Godderz. Tara spent the rest of her time in TNA as a villainess, which included feuds with Brooke, ODB, and Velvet Sky (who knocked her off last February).

As to which side of Victoria/Tara I prefer, I'd have to go with her heel side, but that's by a very, very slim margin. I missed out on the Psycho Victoria gimmick, but from what I've seen online, it was pretty good. Her second heel Diva stint would have been good if WWE hadn't reduced her to being comic relief. As for her runs as an evil Knockout, Tara's first run was great, but I really loved her second run. When Tara was a villainess in her last few months in TNA, she was more arrogant, more vicious, and more venomous than ever. I think she really got to show off a pure heel persona during that period. I do love Babyface Victoria/Tara as well, especially her run after she was freed from Madison Rayne's control and was mentoring Brooke Tessmacher. Seriously, a Hall of Fame induction should be inevitable for her.

Face Victoria/Tara or Heel Victoria/Tara? Which do you prefer?