Tara Released from TNA

It looks like Impact Wrestling has lost another Knockout, with the company announcing the release of Tara, AKA Lisa Marie Varon.

Over at the promotion's official account, the following message was posted earlier this evening.

Varon joined Impact Wrestling in May of 2009 having parted ways with WWE four months earlier.

During her time in America's No. 2 promotion Varon, who is widely considered to be one of the best female wrestlers North America has ever seen, churned out great matches with the likes of Angelina Love and Awesome Kong.

Indeed, it was partly thanks to her that TNA managed to far surpass its rival in terms of quality women's wrestling. 

While this move may be a disappointment to Tara fans, it's not really a surprise. Tara had only been used sparingly in the past few months as she focused on the opening and running of her new wrestling-themed restaurant, The Square Circle, in her home town of Chicago. 

The Knockout's release comes hot on the heels of a spate of other exits from the company. Madison Rayne, Christian York, Joey Ryan, Taeler Hendrix and Saw Shaw were released on July 3rd, apparently due to cost cutting, according to PWInsider via WrestlingInc. Matt Morgan parted ways with the company soon after.

Many may wonder if a return to WWE is possible for the former Knockout Champion, but it seems unlikely.

The company wasn't exactly keen to use her in the last few years of her stint (management preferred to focus on Diva Search girls like Layla El, Eve Torres and Michelle McCool). So why would the bookers have new ideas for her now?

Besides, she is 42 years old. Considering how WWE seems to overwhelmingly prefer featuring younger women, this probably rules her out too.