On the November 18 episode of "Impact!" James defeated Angelina Love to become the number one contender to the championship. At Final Resolution, James was defeated by Tara in a Falls Count Anywhere match, following interference from Madison Rayne after she sprayed a fire extinguisher and hit James with the Knockouts title belt. On the following episode of "Impact!", James defeated Tara in a steel cage match. On January 9, 2011 at Genesis, James lost her match against Rayne for the Knockouts Championship due to interference from Tara. The following month at Against All Odds, James once again failed to win the Knockouts Championship, this time losing to Rayne in a Last Knockout Standing match, after another interference by Tara. On the March 17 episode of "Impact!", Rayne agreed to give James another title match at Lockdown, with the added stipulation that should James fail to win the title, she would have to shave her hair off. On March 18, James legitimately separated her shoulder at a TNA house show in Jacksonville, Florida. James's injury was put into a storyline, where it was caused by Rayne and Tara running over her with Tara's motorcycle.