In a very shocking turn of events TNA has released Angelina love from her contract late Thursday night. Angelina was a major part of the TNA Knockouts division and a former TNA Knockouts Champion. Love along with her partner Velvet Sky were set to take part in the finals of the TNA Knockouts Tag Title Tournament. It will be interesting to see how TNA will explain this.
Love is a Canadian citizen. She came to the U.S. to work for the WWE and got a work visa to be is this country. However, when she was let go from WWE in May 2007 the visa is deemed invalid. Basically, if you are not a legal citizen of the United States, you must apply for a new working visa each time you start work with a new employer. Seeing as how Love, real name, Lauren Williams, is a Canadian citizen working in the U.S., she falls under this category. The person applying must initiate the matter themselves by either having: enough money in the bank to support themselves; a U.S. sponsor; or a company confirming they will employ them in the U.S.
In September 2007, Love was contacted by TNA to appear at their annual October pay-per-view, Bound For Glory, TNA's version of Wrestlemania. For all of the debuting Knockouts, including Love, the 10-Knockout gauntlet to crown the first ever TNA Knockout Champion was a tryout match. She passed with flying colors and was contacted only days later to sign a contract with the company and became a regular television character. As a matter of fact Love with her partner Velvet Sky otherwise known as the Beautiful People are regularly one of the highest rated portions of TNA Impact on Spike. However this is where the problem first occurred.
From a legal standpoint, her work visa issues were supposed to be taken care of before she could sign a contract with TNA but Love did not do so. Likewise, company officials carelessly ignored the issue as well. Considering Love has been working without a visa for the past two years, both she and TNA could face serious legal ramifications should Federal agents become informed of the situation. As for a possible punishment, Love could be subject to deportation and banned from entering the U.S. for ten years. She may also be forced to pay back any money she garnered by working in the U.S. as an "illegal immigrant". It wasn't until recently that this situation was brought to the attention of TNA President, Dixie Carter, and Love was promptly released.
Hopefully this entire situation can somehow be worked out as Love was an intregal part of the Knockouts division and will certainly be missed by friends, fans and co-workers. Please enjoy the match below, Angelina Love vs. Tara at Victory Road 2009. And to Lauren Williams, if we do not see you again, thanks for the memories.
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