page_title: Lisa Marie Varon
section_title: Debut and Knockouts Champion (2009–2010)
hierarchical_section_title: Lisa Marie Varon / Professional wrestling career / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Debut and Knockouts Champion (2009–2010)
caption_attribution_description: TNA knockout Tara/WWE Diva Victoria
context_page_description: Lisa Marie Varon is a retired American professional wrestler, fitness competitor, and bodybuilder best known for her time as a WWE Diva under the ring name Victoria and her time spent as an Impact Wrestling Knockout under the ring name Tara. Varon held both companies woman's championships on several occasions.
  Varon began competing in fitness competitions and won ESPN2's Fitness America Series in 1997. In 1999, she placed second at a fitness event in New York City to earn her International Federation of BodyBuilders Professional Fitness Card.
  Through a chance meeting, Varon met World Wrestling Federation performer Chyna, who encouraged her to become a professional wrestler. She trained in the WWF's developmental territories for three years before being moved to the main roster to compete full-time under the ring name Victoria. Her first television appearance came at WrestleMania 2000, where she portrayed one of The Godfather's "hos". She debuted in June 2002, and four months later she was pushed to win the WWE Women's Championship, a title she would go on to hold twice in her wrestling career. After leaving WWE in 2009, Varon debuted in TNA later that year as Tara.
context_section_description: On May 24, 2009, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) confirmed that Varon had signed a contract with the company. She debuted on the May 28, 2009 episode of TNA Impact!, under the ring name Tara, later revealed to be short for "Tarantula". She made her intentions known by attacking The Beautiful People (Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne) after Love's match with Sojournor Bolt, establishing herself as a fan favorite. On the June 11 episode of Impact!, Tara won her debut match against Madison Rayne. On the July 1 episode of Impact!, Tara began bringing her pet tarantula, named Poison, with her to the ring. After winning a tag team match against The Beautiful People, she put the spider on the unconscious body of Velvet Sky. On the July 9 episode of Impact!, after Tara threatened to put her spider on Sky once again, Angelina Love agreed to put her TNA Knockouts Championship on the line, which Tara ultimately won, only to lose the title back to Love two weeks later at Victory Road.
  On the September 24 episode of Impact!, Tara teamed with the new Knockouts Champion ODB to challenge Sarita and Taylor Wilde for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, but they lost after Awesome Kong interrupted and distracted her during the bout. During the following two weeks of Impact!, Tara and Kong both received one-on-one Knockouts Championship matches from ODB, but both of them ended up losing after the other interfered in the match. At Bound for Glory, ODB defeated both Tara and Kong in a three-way match to retain the title. During the match, Tara was confronted by mixed martial artist Kim Couture to set up an MMA fight between the two, which, however, never came to fruition. At Turning Point, Tara defeated Kong in a Six Sides of Steel match. On November 26, Tara won a ten-woman battle royal to earn a shot at the Knockouts Championship at Final Resolution. At the event, she defeated ODB to win the Knockouts Championship for the second time. On the January 4, 2010 episode of Impact!, Tara lost the title back to ODB. Two weeks later at Genesis, Tara defeated ODB in a two out of three falls match to regain the title, making her a three-time champion.
  On the February 18, 2010 episode of Impact!, Tara defeated Daffney by disqualification, after she hit Tara with a toolbox. At Destination X, Tara successfully defended her title against Daffney, who stole Poison the tarantula from her after the match. On the March 29 episode of Impact!, Tara retained her title against Daffney for a second time, this time in the first ever women's First Blood match in TNA. On the April 5 episode of Impact!, Tara was one of the four winners in an eight-Knockout Lockbox match. The box she opened contained her pet tarantula, Poison. At the same time, however, Tara lost the Knockouts Championship to Angelina Love, and began turning villainous due to her friction with Love heading into their match against The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky). At Lockdown, the villainous Tara attacked Love after losing a tag team steel cage match against Rayne and Sky, cementing Tara's heel turn.
caption: Varon signing autographs at the Chicago Comic Con in August 2009
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