Formerly known as TNA, Impact Wrestling can boast a number of notable heel groups in its two-decade history, including Main Event Mafia, Christian’s Coalition, LAX, and more recent examples like Violent By Design and Bullet Club. But the Knockouts division — typically a standout section of the promotion — had its own major faction in The Beautiful People.
Initially composed of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, The Beautiful People’s membership also included Lacey Von Erich and Madison Rayne at different times. Despite being one of Impact’s most enduring gimmicks, fans might not be as aware of The Beautiful People as they should be.
10 Started As Velvet Love Entertainment
Angel Williams and Talia Madison were part of the Knockouts when the division was originally established in 2007, but would soon experience renames and be given the respective monikers of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. The duo hated their new ring names because it made them sound like porn stars, but the two decided to lean into it, forming a tag team that they wanted to name Velvet Love Entertainment. Their idea was to play off of films like Mean Girls and the popularity of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.
9 Named By Vince Russo
Love and Sky successfully pitched the idea to Vince Russo, who headed Impact creative at the time. Russo loved the idea, but the one area where he took exception was the name. The duo were referred to as Velvet Love Entertainment on at least one occasion on TV, but Russo insisted on The Beautiful People, so they went with that instead. Russo, as many fans know, is a controversial figure in the wrestling business, but Love and Angelina have praised him due to their working experience.
8 Gave Makeovers To Their Enemies
One surprising aspect of The Beautiful People is that Angelina Love and Velvet Sky were initially presented as babyfaces when the duo formed. Despite that presentation, fans were quick to boo them, which helped when they actually turned heel.
The angle that led to their villainous turn involved forgotten Knockout roster member Roxxie Laveaux. After a misunderstanding, Love and Sky offered Laveaux a makeover as an apology, but snapped when she proved to be an unwilling recipient. From there, the two were established as image-obsessed mean girls who sought to give babyface demeaning “makeovers.”
7 Billy Gunn Was Their Bodyguard
When the former Billy Gunn came to Impact in 2005, he eventually adopted the name Kip James, rekindling his tag team with the former Road Dogg, B.G. James. In 2008, however after losing a feud with his partner, Kip James found a new role as part of the Beautiful People. Renamed Cute Kip, the group’s “image consultant” and bodyguard often carried a makeup box that Love and Sky could use as an illegal foreign object. The following year, however, Cute Kip became a backstage road agent, so he disappeared from the group, only returning to be fired on screen.
6 Added Madison Rayne To The Group
The Beautiful People’s first female addition to the group would be Madison Rayne, who initially tagged with Taylor Wilde until she turned on Wilde and pledged to join the group. A series of hazings ensued, but Rayne would be a full-fledged member of the group and a central one after Angelina Love departed the group. However, Love would return, resulting in a schism to the point where she would feud with Angelina Love and Velvet Sky for the rights to the Beautiful People name, which Love and Sky would win.
5 Decorated Champions
The Beautiful People weren’t just heels in the Knockouts division — they were also successful heels. Angelina Love, Madison Rayne, and Velvet Sky were all multi-time Knockouts Champions over the course of their careers, but as members of The Beautiful People, Love would hold the belt four times while Rayne would hold it twice. As a group, Rayne and Sky would also win the Knockouts Tag Team Championship, with Lacey Von Erich as a co-champion thanks to the Freebird Rule.
4 Babyface Turn
The aforementioned schism would have an effect on the alignment of The Beautiful People, with Madison Rayne becoming a heel and Love and Sky becoming babyfaces. After regaining the rights to the Beautiful People name, Lacey Von Erich temporarily rejoined them, but ended up leaving Impact shortly after.
One of the big storylines for The Beautiful People during this heroic era involved Winter, a witchy addition to the Knockouts roster, who ended up drugging and brainwashing Love into turning on Velvet Sky. This would result in the official breakup of The Beautiful People.
3 Reunited In 2014
After some time away from Impact, Angelina Love returned to the company in the spring of 2014, making a bid to reunite with Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne as The Beautiful People. Rayne turned down the offer, resulting in Sky and Love turning on Rayne and re-establishing the team as heels. Several matches against Rayne and various tag team partners would ensue, and eventually Madison Rayne would lose the Knockouts Championship to Angelina Love.
2 Final Feud
After another breakup in early 2015, a feud between Velvet Sky and Angelina Love would ensue halfway through the year. By this time, a new villainous faction would emerge in the Knockouts division: The Dollhouse, featuring Jade (a.k.a. Mia Yim), Marti Bell, and Rebel. Later in the year, the trio would attack Sky, prompting a save by Love and Rayne and a subsequent babyface revival of The Beautiful People. The two groups would clash in several matches, but Angelina Love and Velvet Sky would leave Impact Wrestling a few months into 2016.
1 Revived As The Allüre
WrestleMania Weekend in 2019 marked the New Japan Pro-Wrestling/Ring of Honor show G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden, during which Kelly Klein defeated Mayu Iwatani to become the new Women of Honor World Champion. After the match, however, Klein was attacked by Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Mandy Leon, who would form what was basically a reboot of The Beautiful People, now known as The Allüre. The group would wrestle a handful of matches over the following couple of years, but it was during this run that Angelina Love actually beat Kelly Klein for the Women of Honor Championship, holding it for 15 days before Klein won it back.