WCW Pro
Date: March 7, 1992
Location: Civic Center, Columbus, Georgia
Attendance: 3,000
Commentator: Tony Schiavone

This is another show I’ve never looked at before but it’s the equivalent of probably Main Event today, not to be confused with WCW Main Event which is an entirely different show. We’re a few days past SuperBrawl which means Sting finally won the world title back from Lex Luger, who is on his way out of the company now, not be to be seen again for over three years. I’m not sure what to expect from this one so let’s get to it.

We open with Rude talking about how he’s beaten Sting before and he can do it again.

P.N. News vs. Fred Avery

News is a 400lb white rapper who is as stupid as he sounds. Avery weighs about 300lb himself and is from Wyoming of all places. News pounds away and dropkicks (kind of) Avery down. A clothesline puts Avery down again as does a fireman’s carry/Samoan Drop. News pounds away very slowly and hits a side slam before strolling around even more. Off to a reverse chinlock for a bit as this is dragging already. A belly to belly puts Avery down and a top rope splash ends this. News’ music was playing before the splash even hit.

Rating: D. News was as fat a fat slob that ever entered the ring this side of say Loch Ness. This was slow and plodding with News walking around the ring, likely in search of a Twinkie to prevent collapsing. He feuded with Steve Austin of all people at this time because when you have Austin, you put him in a feud with a fat tub of goo like News who can barely move an inch.

The new World Champion Sting talks about a title defense against Rude in Chicago.

Terry Taylor vs. Larry Santo

Taylor gets things going by sending Santo into the corner and dropping him with a jawbreaker. Santo is sent to the floor as we hear about Taylor taking Marcus Bagwell under his wing, only to turn on him in an attempt to destroy him. Taylor drops some knees on the back of the head and puts on a Boston Crab which goes nowhere. Taylor won’t even cover off a sitout powerbomb or a powerslam. The Five Arm (a forearm with a semi-clever name) puts Santo out of his misery.

Rating: D+. Not that this was good but it was better than the drek we sat through before this. Taylor though is one of the guys that I never have cared for no matter what he did, primarily because of his lame gimmicks. At this point he was the Taylor Made Man which meant he wore nice clothes. Seriously, that’s it.

Danny Wilson vs. Abdullah the Butcher

Butch is a guy who will run over everyone in sight and doesn’t care about rules at all, making this a more intense than usual squash. That’s what I can’t stand about these old shows: there’s nothing to say about them because it’s the same stuff over and over again. It’s the same destruction over and over again and there’s nothing to say here. Wilson is thrown to the floor and run over with a shoulder block back inside. Two big running 400lb elbows end this.

Rating: F+. Again, what do you want me to say here? Thankfully Butcher didn’t stab anyone in the head or main Wilson this time which is a step in the right direction for him. I’ve never been a fan of the guy as he’s in that camp that thinks bleeding everywhere and dropping an elbow or two makes you a wrestler. Now granted he’s done different stuff before, but his WCW stuff was dreadful.

We get a video from Jesse Ventura at the post-SuperBrawl party. Sting shows up for an impromptu press conference. He says he’ll face anyone who wants to face him and he’d love to defend it in Japan. Sting talks about how strong Luger (the guy he beat) was before Jesse asks what the trash talk was about. Apparently they were saying this is it and they were asking each other if they were ready. Sting doesn’t know who his next opponent will be but here’s the Dangerous Alliance, headed by Rick Rude.

He’s very happy about Sting being champion and offers Sting a drink. Sting says he has no reason to drink with Sting so there’s a drink to the face. Sting is ready to fight right now and it’s on with Rude getting a front facelock and riding Sting down with ease. The rest of the Alliance shows up and Sting is WAY outnumbered until security makes the save.

We get a segment called the Brickhouse Bonus which is an editorial from Jack Brickhouse, a legendary Chicago sportscaster. This is the Chicago version of WCW Pro, which is the same from a content perspective, but has stuff like that thrown in, along with ads for Chicago shows.

Young Pistol Steve vs. Ricky Steamboat

Steve is Steve Armstrong of the Armstrong Family. Feeling out process to start with Ricky carefully taking him into the corner. Steve heads to the apron as we’re over two minutes into this with barely any contact so far. A few shoulders put Steve down before Steamboat slaps him for no apparent reason. Ricky wants a test of strength but Armstrong stays in the corner. Armstrong grabs a headlock takeover out of the corner as they’ve got a lot of time to use here.

Another headlock takeover puts Ricky down again but Steamboat counters into a top wristlock. They go to the mat for some chain wrestling until Armstrong goes to the hair to keep him down. They get back up again with Steamboat taking over via a clothesline and a chop. Out to the floor now for nothing of note so we head back in for Steamboat to keep control. Armstrong goes into the corner a few times but he sends Ricky’s head into it instead to take over again.

Some punches to the face keep Steamboat down as Tony rambles about someone slapping someone else in the face. I would have more details about that but listening to Tony Schiavone makes my head hurt. A suplex puts Armstrong down but Armstrong hits one of his own on the Dragon. Ricky pops back up though and pounds away on Steve in the corner. Steamboat misses a clothesline and it’s off to a surfboard by Armstrong. A sunset flip gets one for Armstrong but Ricky rams him face first into the mat. Armstrong misses a charge and hits the ropes, allowing Ricky to go up top and finish with the cross body.

Rating: D+. This is one of those matches that was long for the sake of being long which doesn’t make it entertaining. At the end of the day, this was a former world champion against a lower midcard tag guy. This would be like Orton taking ten minutes to beat Epico. At the end of the day, it’s really hard to stay with a match that long when it’s just ok. Nothing to see here.

We run down the house show card again.

Rude says he’s going to show Chicago who the better man is between he and Sting.

Brian Pillman says don’t do steroids.

Overall Rating: D. This was your basic show from this era: a bunch of squashes and a feature match which didn’t work all that well. 1992 was decent at times, but you need more than this for a show to work. To be fair though this was the lower level show of the era which didn’t do it any favors. This was boring stuff, but at least it was relatively short.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

TNA Weekly PPV #11
Date: August 28, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

After last week’s show focusing mostly on Styles vs. Lynn, here’s another show with a lot of time spent on Styles vs. Lynn. In this case there’s also Low Ki involved in a triple threat ladder match with them for the X title though so at least they’re mixing it up a bit. Other than that we get the continuing adventures of Jarrett vs. the Armstrongs because TNA thinks that’s interesting for some idiotic reason. Let’s get to it.

Brian Lawler is in the parking lot about to reveal why he hates Jarrett when Jeff jumps him from behind. A big brawl ensues until referees break it up.

Amazing Red vs. Kid Kash

This is back when Kash could still be called Kid and it didn’t sound stupid. Feeling out process to start with neither guy being able to get an advantage going. Kash shoves him and gets slapped in the face as a result. Red takes him to the mat via a drop toehold and things speed up. They go into a sequence that belongs in a gymnastics class rather than a wrestling ring, finally coming back to wrestling with some armdrags.

Kash flips Red off so Red pounds and kicks away at him before sending Kash to the floor. There’s a BIG flip dive to take Kid out and they brawl a bit. Kash sends him into the barricade to take over and we head back inside where a flying clothesline takes Red down for two. Red gets put in something like a Liontamer which doesn’t go anywhere, so they head to the corner where Kash eats a boot. Well not literally but you get the idea.

Red goes up for I think a rana but has to come down because Kash is WAY out of position. A standing rana and a spinwheel kick get two instead and Kash is placed on the top rope. This goes badly for the placer (Red) as Kash comes back with a clothesline off the middle rope for two. A powerbomb attempt by Kash is countered into a sunset bomb and Red kicks him down again for two.

Red gets slammed off the top for two for Kash, followed by Red firing off kicks to the chest in the corner. A charge misses and Red crotches himself, allowing Kash to hit a slingshot legdrop for two more. Kash cross bodies him for two before running into an elbow to slow him down. Red goes up but Kash shoves the referee into the ropes (not a DQ for some reason) and hits a kind of MuscleBuster for the pin.

Rating: C-. I’m really not a fan of spotfests and I’m REALLY not a fan of matches where guys don’t sell almost anything. On top of that, they were missing a lot of spots in this or badly mistiming them. The crowd reacted to most of it, but the match just wasn’t that good and certainly wasn’t anything memorable. That’s most cruiserweight style matches though.

Sonny Siaki praises himself a lot.

Monty Brown vs. Sonny Siaki

Brown says he’ll take out Jarrett, despite Jarrett not doing anything to him that I can remember. Brown chops Siaki down and stomps on him a bit, as that is about the extent of his offensive abilities so far. We head to the floor but Brown misses a charge and goes face first into the barricade. Again the idea of selling doesn’t seem to exist as Brown shrugs it off and beats on Siaki some more as we head back inside.

A sideslam puts Siaki down for two and Brown keeps up the stomping. He really doesn’t wrestle like most faces do and it’s not exactly working for him here. Monty hits a splash in the corner and a pair of suplexes (butterfly and regular) get two each. More chops and punches follow before it’s off to a chinlock. It’s strange seeing a face in control for this long. After the hold is broken, Brown ducks his head like a schmuck and gets DDT’d for his efforts.

Siaki pops up and clotheslines Monty down again but Brown is like “screw this selling nonsense” and hits a fisherman’s suplex to put both guys right back down. Brown hits another butterfly suplex as it’s clear he’s running out of moves. Brown loads up the Alphabomb but here’s Jarrett for a distraction. Siaki hits Brown low and rolls him up for the cheap win.

Rating: D. Monty Brown is not very good and that’s all there is to it. At this point he’s incredibly green and can’t work a five minute match, let alone a ten minute one where he’s on offense for the majority of the time. Siaki was the heel and got beaten down for almost the entire time, which is a very strange dynamic for a match. This didn’t work at all for the most part.

Armstrong and the Bullet pop up as Brown and Lawler beat up Jarrett. What’s Brown’s issue with Jarrett again? Oh yeah no one knows. That’s right.

Slash is in the back and introduces his brother Kobain, who is OVW legend Flash. Nothing of note here.

Backseat Boyz vs. Slash/Kobain vs. Hotshots vs. James Storm/Chris Harris

Elimination rules to fill more time and the winners get to be the final team in a gauntlet match for the titles next week. The Hotshots are Cassidy O’Reilly and Chase Stevens and the Boyz are Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid. O’Reilly chops Kashmere a bit to start but walks into a spinebuster. Cassidy slaps Johnny a bit and it’s off to Acid to face his partner. We get a kind of recital as they know each other so well, culminating in a high five and hug. Well that makes sense I guess.

Slash gets dropkicked off the apron by the Boyz as everything breaks down. Acid “hits” a Mafia Kick on Cassidy which the camera shows missing by a good bit. Eh it’s basically indy level stuff here anyway so it’s not surprising. The Boyz beat up Stevens for a bit before we get a BIG double moonsault from Acid and O’Reilly to take out everyone else. Kashmere and Stevens hit dives of their own until it settles down for Stevens vs. Acid who are somehow legal. In the melee, Stevens tags in Slash and a neckbreaker takes out Acid, eliminating the Boys.

It’s Slash vs. Stevens now with Stevens being knocked to the mat immediately. Off to Kobain for some double teaming but Harris tags himself in. Not sure why he did that but who am I to doubt Braden Walker. O’Reilly comes in sans tag for a double dropkick for two on Harris but Storm makes the save. O’Reilly and Harris trade chops with no one winning, so Cassidy hits Harris low. They’re REALLY lax about DQ’s in this company.

O’Reilly’s Lionsault hits Harris’ knees and there’s a tag off to Kobain. Before the new guy can do anything though, Storm tags himself in and goes up, only to get crotched by Cassidy. A top rope rana is countered and Storm hits a reverse tornado DDT to pin O’Reilly and get us down to two teams. We start with Slash vs. Storm with Slash hammering away and hitting the move Storm would name the Eye of the Storm for two.

Off to Kobain who sends Storm to the floor for a BIG flip dive to take out both guys. Brian Lee and Ron Harris come out to complain about not being in the match. Why are these guys still getting TV time? Since the camera was on them, we don’t see how Storm took Slash down, but who cares because Harris comes in and cleans house.

Everything breaks down and Kobain drills his own partner with an elbow. Storm superkicks Slash down for two for Harris as Kobain tries a tornado DDT, only to get superkicked down as well. Slash counters the reverse tornado DDT from Storm and hits a neckbreaker for two. Ron Harris and Lee head to the ring as Chris Harris hits the Catatonic on Slash for the pin and victory.

Rating: C. This one took a long time to get going but once we got down to the final two teams, it was a lot better. That being said, the stuff before then wasn’t so good for the most part with the Boyz and the Hotshots really just being warm bodies to fill in some spots. Either way, this finally gets AMW closer to the tag titles, which they’ve been deserving for weeks now.

Post match Lee and Ron Harris clear the ring and beat everyone down.

Jarrett wants a title shot and says he’ll beat up the surprise and then Armstrong as well.

Miss TNA: Bruce vs. April Hunter

Bruce is a guy and defending and Hunter is a fitness model. The fans tell Bruce that he’s a homosexual and he thinks all the men want him. If April wins, she wins five grand as well. April starts chopping away and hits a head scissors to send Bruce flying. Hunter gets thrown down by the hair and Bruce takes over. April comes back a bit and things speed up but Bruce hits her in the back to stop the momentum cold. A powerbomb ends Hunter pretty easily.

Rating: D. This wasn’t horrible but it’s still a waste of time and very stupid. Hunter couldn’t be around again for about four months and thankfully the Miss TNA thing would be over soon. It comes off like they’re trying to push the envelope for the sake of pushing the envelope, but it’s much more stupid than interesting or shocking.

Post match Bruce tries to take April’s top off but April’s boyfriend Sylk Wagner Brown makes the save.

Sonny Siaki takes a jab at Hulk Hogan for no apparent reason as Estrada and Yang kind of stare at him.

Flying Elvises vs. S.A.T.

That’s Estrada/Yang vs. the Maximos if you couldn’t tell. It’s Estrada and Joel to start things off and just like the opening match, the opening sequence looks like something they’ve rehearsed for house before the match. Joel takes over with a headlock and a rana but a dropkick is casually avoided by Estrada. A powerslam puts Joel down for two and everything breaks down. The Maximos are sent to the floor and the Elvises live up to their name by flying over the top to take them both out.

Back in and it’s Estrada on I think Jose with a Lionsault getting two on the Maximo. Yang comes in for a leg lariat and a bunch of punches which seem out of place in this match. Off to Estrada who is immediately kicked in both the front and back of the head. A dropkick puts Jorge down and it’s off to Jose. The Maximos, who might be the heels in this but it’s really not clear, double team Estrada a bit and Jose hits a low dropkick to take him down.

Estrada comes back and puts Jose on top for a neckbreaker (remember what I was saying about no selling?) and it’s back to Yang for that figure four necklock of his. That goes nowhere so Yang grabs Jose’s head and puts on a front facelock. Back to Jorge with a slingshot hilo and a clothesline for two each. Estrada goes up again but Jose pops up and kicks him down almost immediately. They slug it out with Estrada hitting a neckbreaker to put both guys down.

It’s a hot tag to Joel who beats up Yang like he owes him money. The Maximos try to double team Estrada but Yang hits a double dropkick to take the brothers down. While Yang beats up Joel, Jose sneaks up from behind and slams Jimmy down, setting up a guillotine legdrop for two. Estrada DDT’s Joel down and hits a springboard backsplash for two.

Joel comes back with a pair of suplexes for four on Estrada followed by a missile dropkick for two by Jose. Yang finally comes back in and makes the save with a leg lariat. He goes up but gets crotches as the SAT loads up the Spanish Fly (double C4 off the top) but Siaki comes out and breaks it up. Yang hits Yangtime on Joel who doesn’t even stay down for a cover so Yang hits a neckbreaker kind of thing for the pin.

Rating: C+. This is another one of those matches that was fun but not exactly good. The Maximos were your standard luchador tag team who did their high spots and not much more. The Elvises story continues to change a bit but it’s only somewhat interesting. Not much to see here and going fifteen minutes was a bad idea for a match like this one.

Here’s Goldilocks to find out what Lawler hates Jarrett for. Lawler comes out and talks about how worthless Goldilocks is and throws her out of his ring. Does Lawler know if he’s a face or a heel? I’m really not sure at this point. Lawler gives Jarrett a five count to get to the ring but at the count of five, here’s Truth to interrupt him again. Lawler backs off from Truth because of the chair shot last week and beats up the photographer taking pictures of Lawler’s girlfriend. Lawler and the girlfriend leave up the ramp. What in the world was the point to this?

Jeff Jarrett vs. The Bullet

The Bullet is a masked guy who gets jumped by Jeff almost immediately and we head to the floor. Jarrett pounds away on Bullet with chairs and sends him into the crowd for a second before going back into the ring. Back in and Bullet escapes an Irish whip and takes Jeff down. There’s a Road Dogg (Armstrong’s real life son) shaky knee drop followed by an atomic drop. A pumphandle slam (another Dogg move) is escaped and Jeff hits him low to take over. Jarrett pulls out a pair of cuffs to tie Bullet to the ropes for a DQ. I’m not even going to bother rating this as it was barely even a match.

Post match Jarrett says he’s going for the mask but Bob Armstrong comes in to jump Jarrett. Keep in mind that Bob is about 62 years old. Jeff hits Bob with the chair and goes for the Bullet, only to have security stop him from taking the mask off. Is there a point to this story at all and I’m just missing it?

Next week is an X-Division Special which should be fun.

We get some highlights of the 2/3 falls series from last week.

X-Division Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki vs. AJ Styles

This is a ladder match with Ki defending. They circle each other for a bit until Styles drops down and grabs a ladder. Both other guys slide to the floor as well with Styles hitting Jerry with the ladder, only to have Low Ki kick the ladder back into AJ. They head back inside where Low Ki kicks Lynn off the apron. A handspring kick takes Styles down as well as Jerry comes back in.

Lynn hits a sweet spinning tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to take the champ down before pounding on Styles in the corner. Low Ki gets put in a surfboard but Styles breaks it up and stomps on Low Ki a bit. Jerry suplexes AJ down and puts him in a Liontamer, only to have Low Ki fire off kicks to break it up. Lynn won’t let it go and shouts to kick him harder. Low Ki is fine with that and kicks Lynn hard enough to break up the hold.

A running kick in the corner takes Styles down again before loading him into the Ki Crusher. Instead of dropping him though, Low Ki rams him into Jerry in the corner to put both guys down. The champ goes to get the ladder but Jerry baseball slides it back into Low Ki to take over again. Styles heads to the floor as well to kick the champ in the head before dropping Lynn face first onto the apron.

With the ladder bridged between the ring and the barricade, all three guys stand on top of it and slug it out before a big headbutt sends all three guys to the ground. Lynn is up first and sends a ladder into the ring which is dropkicked into AJ’s ribs and chest on the mat. Low Ki is up again and starts setting up the ladder, only to have AJ deck him from behind. The ladder is leaning against the ropes as AJ GOES OFF on the champ, only to walk into a punch from Jerry.

Lynn and Styles launch Low Ki into the ladder in a double hiptoss and it’s one on one. AJ does a Daniel Bryan backflip off the ladder and tries a tornado DDT, only to have Lynn counter and hit a northern lights suplex to send AJ back first into the ladder. Ki is back in and kicks Jerry down but realizes he can’t pin him. A charge in the corner is caught by Lynn but he ranas Jerry into the ladder to put all three guys down again.

It’s AJ back up first to ram the champ with the ladder before he tries to climb, only to get kicked by Low Ki. AJ is hung in a Tree of Woe in the ladder where Low Ki fires off kicks to the chest. Now Low Ki climbs but Jerry makes the save and suplexes him down off the ladder to put everyone down again. AJ gets up and hits the moonsault DDT on Low Ki to pop the crowd again. Jerry pounds on Styles and catches a jumping champion in a running Liger Bomb to take over yet again.

There’s a second ladder in the ring now as Styles brings in another one. Low Ki slides out and brings in a third as this could get very messy in a hurry. The challengers stop fighting long enough to make a save of Low Ki as Styles and Low Ki fight on top. Low Ki hooks a Dragon Sleeper on top of the ladder (grab the title you dolt) but here’s Lynn again and all three are on a ladder.

In a pretty awesome move, Low Ki has his ladder shoved down but he gets his foot on the top rope and shoves himself and the ladder back to an upright position. AJ gets shoved to the floor and it’s Lynn vs. Low Ki. Jerry is like DIE YOU KICKING SPOT MONKEY and cradle piledrives him off the ladder. Lynn climbs up and wins the title to end the show.

Rating: B+. Solid, solid match here with all three guys beating the tar out of each other. It’s not on the level of one of the TLC matches, but for what we had here, this was one of the better ladder matches you’ll see in awhile. I’d have preferred just Lynn and AJ because I’m not a fan of Low Ki at all, but the shove back off the rope was good enough for me to overlook him. Solid stuff.

Overall Rating: C. The main event is very good but other than that, there’s not much going on at the moment. The big angle wouldn’t begin for a few months, so at this point we’re stuck with just Jarrett and Armstrong, which is getting NO reaction from the fans at all because no one cares about Bob Armstrong. Even in his heyday he was a territory guy at best, and Tennessee wasn’t part of that territory. Therefore, let’s make sure he and Jarrett are the focus of the show, right? Not a terrible show but they’re kind of treading water at this point.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

TNA Weekly PPV #10
Date: August 21, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

We finally hit the two number mark and it’s a two out of three falls match tonight with AJ vs. Lynn to unfortunately get us closer to the end of their feud. On top of that we’ve got Truth defending against Monty Brown and the usual stuff other than that. After the backers left after last week, it should be interesting to see where things go now. Let’s get to it.

AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn

This is the falls count anywhere match which is the first of three between the two tonight. AJ tries a baseball slide as Lynn comes in because he’s all evil at the moment. Lynn pounds on AJ and we head into the crowd which is fine here as the fall can end there. That’s what got old about ECW: the brawling was worthless because the match couldn’t end out there. After nothing in the crowd, they chop it out around ringside and Lynn crotches AJ on the railing.

We head back into the crowd but since the production values have to be lower now, we can barely see what’s going on. I guess it’s more like ECW than I thought. AJ throws him into a barricade and hits a backsplash for two. Back to ringside we go with Lynn suplexing AJ onto the floor for two and we head back inside. AJ tries the springboard moonsault but Lynn jawbreakers (is that a word?) him to counter. This isn’t going as fast paced as you would likely expect, but it’s the first of three ten minute matches they’re doing tonight.

The Cradle Piledriver is broken up by something like an X-Factor and both guys are down. AJ tries a suplex but gets countered into a neckbreaker before we head back outside where Styles gets two off a rana. An enziguri puts Lynn down and they head up the ramp. Lynn hits a spear of all things and bulldogs Styles off the stage onto a well placed platform. Back up to the stage and Lynn counters a Styles Clash into the piledriver to win the first match.

Rating: C+. Like I said, they’re doing thirty minutes in total tonight so them going a bit below their usual speed is acceptable. The ending was nothing special here but being on the stage made the piledriver look much better. AJ as a heel worked well at first, but once he turned face he was going to be a big deal and everyone knew it. Solid opener here though.

AMW is in the back (they need to be officially named already) and Harris is annoyed at Storm doing the cowboy gimmick too much. That’s the reason why they’re not on TV as much apparently. It’s so hilarious to hear Chris Harris giving James Storm career advice. Ron Harris and Brian Lee, their opponents tonight, come up and cowboy jokes are made.

Chris Harris/James Storm vs. Ron Harris/Brian Lee

You might remember Lee from ECW. He and Storm start things off with the Cowboy getting pounded down in the corner. Well it was a very different time for him so this isn’t a big surprise. Storm avoids a charge and fires off some forearms to take over. Everything breaks down for a minute before it’s off to Harris vs. Harris. Great now I can’t use that name anymore. Ron is immediately armdragged out to the floor and things reset again.

Back in and the Harris Brother (that’s Ron by the way) hits a bunch of clotheslines before being clotheslined down himself. Wildcat (Chris Harris) sends Ron to the floor via a backdrop so Storm dives on both guys in a nice spot that you occasionally see him do to this day. Back in and it’s Lee vs. Wildcat with the former hitting a Tombstone to take over. Well he was the fake Undertaker in 1995 so that’s very fitting.

We enter the formula part of the match as Harris gets beaten down through various big power man offense. This is one of those matches that is basically there to fill time, because there’s no reason to believe that AMW is going to lose given how they’ve been pushed lately. Chris comes back with a Thesz Press on Lee but gets hit low to slow him right back down.

We head to the floor for nothing of note and it’s back to Ron. After an arrogant heel cover, James hits a bulldog which is enough for the hot tag to Storm. Everything breaks down quickly and Lee is knocked to the floor. A plant gets in a fight with him as Storm rolls up Ron for the pin.

Rating: D+. Like I said, it’s hard to buy into the makeshift big man team as a threat to a pair that hasn’t lost yet I don’t believe. They’ll be named soon enough and the rest will be history after that. Anyway, not much here but that’s the case for a lot of this show as it’s basically just filling in time until we get to the stuff that actually matters.

We run down the rest of the card to fill in some time.

Jimmy Yang vs. Sonni Siaki

This is 2/3 falls and the fight starts on the stage. Yang kicks him down and sends Siaki into the barricade before dancing a bit. This is I guess the blowoff of the Flying Elvises deal. Yang dances a bit and shows off a Yang Time sign from the crowd. Yang gets two off a dropkick and hits a charging Siaki with an elbow to the face. A Figure Four necklock across the top rope has Siaki in even more trouble and a missile dropkick gets two. We hit the chinlock so Tenay can talk about some card in Japan. Siaki comes back with a quick Cutter but Yang neckbreaks him down and Yang Time (Phoenix Splash) gives him the first fall.

Yang tries that neck lock thing again but Siaki sends him to the floor. They head into the crowd where Siaki immediately suplexes Jimmy back to ringside. This is a much more physical brawl than I was expecting. Back in and a spinning neckbreaker gets two for Siaki and it’s off to a chinlock. After some chops it’s a pumphandle slam for two for Siaki and a legdrop gets the same.

Siaki hooks a surfboard and the fans are getting WAY into Yang here which is kind of surprising. Honestly I can’t even remember who the third Elvis was at this point but apparently the right two were picked for this match. The hold is broken but Siaki immediately takes him right back down with a lariat for another two count. Yang finally gets a boot up in the corner to break the momentum and a top rope spinwheel kick gets two. A suplex from Yang doesn’t work though and a neckbreaker (called the Money Clip) ties things up at a fall apiece.

Siaki immediately keeps going with a shoulderbreaker, followed by a not exactly Storm-level half crab by Yang. After some quick leg work by Jimmy, Siaki loads up a superplex which is basically no sold by Yang. A Shining Wizard puts Siaki back down as Tenay is overdoing the commentary as he also does. A pair of clotheslines get two for Yang as does a moonsault kick out of the corner.

Yang pounds away in the corner but Siaki drops him face first on the buckle in a nice counter. They head up again with Yang coming off with a top rope swinging neckbreaker for no cover. Jorge Estrada (that’s the third Elvis. I seriously didn’t remember him until now) gets on the apron, allowing Siaki to roll up Yang with the ropes for the pin. I’m not sure whose side Estrada was on there.

Rating: C-. This kind of went on forever and I really didn’t see the need for this to be two out of three falls. Siaki was a solid choice for a midcard heel but he needed to get away from the Elvises before he could really go anywhere. Yang would go on to WWE soon after this as one of Tajiri’s henchmen. Not a terrible match but not great here either as Yang’s selling was barely there.

As soon as Siaki’s music hits, here’s Jeff Jarrett. He wants to talk to Bob Armstrong right now and doesn’t care about whatever surprise Armstrong has planned. Brian Lawler jumps Jarrett and a brawl breaks out before it’s quickly broken up by security. Goldilock has Lawler about to say what his problem is with Jarret but Slash jumps Lawler from behind and we have an impromptu match.

Brian Lawler vs. Slash

Apparently this is a scheduled match for later but we’re getting it now instead. Slash knocks him to the floor and throws Lawler into the barricade before peeling back the mats. He loads up a piledriver on the floor but Lawler backdrops him down to prevent presumably death. Lawler knocks Slash down and we head up the ramp for a bulldog on the ramp by Lawler. Brian tries to get a chair from a fan but the fan won’t give it up.

Back in and Slash grabs a superplex for two, followed by what we would call the Eye of the Storm. Lawler comes back with a floatover DDT but stops to dance instead of covering. There’s an enziguri from Brian and there’s even more dancing. Both guys hit the other low (in front of the referee who is cool with this I guess) before Slash puts Lawler on top. Brian knocks him down and hits the guillotine legdrop for the pin.

Rating: D. This didn’t quite work because Lawler is really hard to care about. I have no idea if he’s a face or if he’s a heel here and the lack of clarity is really annoying after awhile. Also, the dancing thing is dead but he keeps doing it anyway because it used to work a few years ago. Slash and the Disciples of the New Church continue their free fall as well.

X-Division Title: Low Ki vs. Jose Maximo vs. Joel Maximo vs. Amazing Red

Elimination rules here and Low Ki is defending. Apparently the three men form a team called the S.A.T.’s. I think I remember hearing that before. Didn’t we basically do the same thing last week with the Elvises? They all go after Low Ki to start but he, say it with me, kicks them all down. Both of the Maximos get hard kicks in the head and apparently they have to tag.

Red and the Maximos get in a fight before it gets down to Red vs. Ki with the champ hitting a hard elbow for two. The Ki Crusher 99 is broken up and Red fires off a kick to the back to take over. Off to let’s say Jose who has a tornado DDT countered and the champ fires off some chops in the corner. The Maximos double team Low Ki a bit to take him down and Joel gets two off a clothesline.

Ki comes off the ropes with a pretty sloppy springboard rana to take Joel down and then kicks the tar out of both brothers at the same time. Red tags himself in and tries to pin Joel off a standing shooting star but only gets two. We get some overly complicated triple teaming from the SAT’s before Red turns on Jose with a rana. Joel drops Ki with something like Wasteland but he pops up (selling? What’s that?) and hits a spinning springboard kick to Red who is dropped from WAY in the air by Joel.

Ki gets sent to the floor so the three guys in the ring get to flip around a bit. Red hits a bunch of kicks to send the brothers to the outside followed by a rana to Jose off the apron to send him into Joel on the floor. Red loads up a dive onto Ki but the champ kicks him in the head on the way. Ki loads up the Crusher but instead throws Red over the top onto the brothers to take them out again. A big twisting dive takes out the Maximos and everyone is down.

Back in and Jose hits a powerbomb into a facebuster on Red for two. Joel hits a sitout Pedigree on Jose for a fast elimination and Ki rips off kicks to the face of the remaining Maximo. A springboard tornado DDT takes Joel down and the Infra-Red (spinning corkscrew “splash”) gets us down to Ki vs. Red. Ki slams Red into the corner a few times before trying a Ki Crusher out of the corner. Red escapes to avoid death but Ki hits it anyway for the pin to retain.

Rating: C+. The more I see of these kind of matches, the less I care about them at all. They’re all over the place and have a ton of botches throughout them. Also the idea of selling ANYTHING is totally foreign. As for the match itself, was there ever any doubt as to who the final two were going to be? The fans liked it but it’s just nothing of note at all other than some decent high spots.

Truth says he set the African American sports entertainers free like Lincoln did with the slaves. Brown has to kill him to take the title.

April Hunter, an adult star, has accepted Bruce’s challenge for next week. Ok then.

NWA World Title: Ron Killings vs. Monty Brown

Truth is defending if that’s not clear. Brown shoves him around and they slug it out a bit with Brown taking over. A bunch of shoulder blocks get two on the champ but Truth low bridges him to send Brown to the floor. Truth dives onto Brown on the ramp before sending him into the steps and stomping away.

The champ gets on the announce table but Brown fights back. The Alpha Bomb through the table is blocked and they keep slugging it out. Brown hits a release overhead belly to belly, sending Truch onto his head. FREAKING OW MAN. Back in and Brown pounds away but walks into a Downward Spiral for two. Truth hooks a chinlock but Brown fights up and hits a sunset flip for two.

Brown grabs a suplex and after some LOUD spot calling, a snap suplex puts both guys down. A powerslam puts Truth down and a splash gets two for Monty. Truth does his signature backflip into the splits into the side kick sequence but Brown ducks away, only to get caught by the ax kick. That gets two and Brown has the Alpha Bomb countered into….I think that’s supposed to be a sunset flip by Truth for the pin to retain.

Rating: D-. This was AWFUL with both guys looking completely not ready for this level at all. Brown would get better when they just turned him into a monster that ran through people with the Pounce. This match sucked though, with both guys botching a ton of stuff, with the ending being an especially big eyesore. Nothing good at all from this one.

Post match Jarrett runs in and beats up Brown with a chair. Truth blocks a shot and slugs it out with Jarrett until Brian Lawler comes in to beat on Jarrett again. Lawler swings the chair but Jarrett pulls Truth in the way and the champ is out. Brown is like whatever man.

Lynn is in the back with Goldy when Styles jumps him, starting the second match in the series tonight.

AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn

This is No DQ. AJ beats on Jerry to send him down to ringside and then into the ring. Lynn gets sent to the apron but grabs AJ’s neck to guillotine him on the top to take over. We already have a table set up but Lynn’s sunset bomb through said table is blocked. AJ misses a splash and Lynn grabs a chair but Styles takes him down and legdrops the chair onto Jerry’s face. This is very fast paced so far.

The chair is placed between the top and middle ropes in the corner as Lynn tries a powerbomb on AJ, only to get countered into a sunset flip for two. AJ gets sent face first into the chair (following law #1 of wrestling: if you set it up, you get hurt by it) for two before being sent to the apron. Lynn hits his rotating legdrop to the back of Styles’ head but his tornado DDT through the table is countered. Still fast paced and really good stuff so far.

Back in and AJ clotheslines Lynn down before BADLY missing a springboard splash, drawing a rare derogatory chant at Styles. They clothesline each other down and it’s Lynn getting up first. He tries a sunset flip, only to get whacked in the head by a chair by AJ. Well that’s efficient. AJ loads up another chair shot but Lynn channels his inner RVD to dropkick it back into Styles’ face. That gets two so Lynn DDTs AJ off the top for another two.

The fans want tables (again) as Jerry gets kicked away from the ropes. That gets AJ nowhere as Lynn crotches him and hits a HUGE rana to send Styles through the table on the floor. Somehow that only gets two so Jerry takes the chair and goes up. A sunset bomb by AJ doesn’t work, but he hangs on and hits the Styles Clash onto the chair to knock Jerry out cold and get the pin to tie up the series.

Rating: B. REALLY fast paced match here but unlike the fourway, this one was, you know, good. This was the feud that got the company noticed, which is something Lynn was always good for: a solid performance that got someone else, be it Van Dam or AJ, over better than they ever could on their own. Good stuff here.

The third match, a ten minute Iron Man match, begins immediately.

AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn

AJ gets two quick falls on the unconscious Lynn inside of twenty seconds. A third attempt only gets two and Lynn fights back with a neckbreaker. Styles grabs a sleeper and pulls Lynn down by the long hair. Why would you ever be a face with long hair? It’s not going to end well for you. A chinlock goes nowhere so AJ tries a rana, only to get countered into an X-Factor from Lynn to make it 2-1. Jerry tries to do what AJ did and get a second pin really fast but Styles gets up at two.

We’re about four minutes in now as AJ counters the cradle piledriver with a backrdrop before missing a corner charge. That always happens for some reason. Jerry goes up top but gets caught in a crucifix and slammed face down onto the mat to make it 3-1 AJ. A spinwheel kick puts Jerry down again as we have Low Ki standing on the stage with a ladder for no apparent reason. Two minutes to go now and Jerry grabs a tombstone out of nowhere to make it 3-2.

Lynn loads up the cradle piledriver but AJ keeps blocking it. In a nice thinking move, Jerry shifts his legs and hooks AJ in a Styles Clash of all things to tie the match up again. That’s a Russo favorite but I don’t think he was around at this point yet. A backslide gets two for AJ and they fight to a draw in a slick pinfall reversal sequence.

Rating: C+. Not as good as the No DQ match but then again this was their third match of the night. This is one of those feuds that works well, so naturally TNA’s idea is to run it into the ground by doing the same match over and over again. Still though, good stuff here, really stupid ending aside.

Post match Low Ki kicks them both and says it’s a triple threat ladder match next week for the title.

Scott Armstrong begs his dad not to fight Jeff Jarrett. Oh yeah, Jarrett is closing the show. Did you expect anything different?

Jeff comes to the ring and wants the surprise revealed to him now, so here’s The Bullet, which is Bob Armstrong’s masked persona from the 80s. Jeff pounds on him but the unmasked Bob comes out to beat up Jeff to close the show.

Overall Rating: B-. See what happens when you don’t have stupid comedy? Granted it would be better if this happened because that’s the right way to go and not because they couldn’t afford the bigger names, but I’ll take what I can get. The problem with this show is mainly in the Jarrett stuff as the Armstrongs and Brian Lawler simply are not interesting people. Then again this is Jeff Jarrett so logic doesn’t matter much to him.

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