NWA TNA Weekly PPV #6
Date: July 24, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

I would say things are picking up around here but that isn’t exactly accurate. There are some things going on but a good may of them aren’t good. With a focus on the weird Puppet stuff, whatever the Dupps are doing and Jeff Jarrett as a focal point, the show isn’t exactly thrilling content. Hopefully it improves here though so let’s get to it.

Here is last week’s show if you need a recap.

We open with Jeff Jarrett smashing a bunch of people with chairs (as he did to end last week’s show). He says the NWA World Title is his and he wants Ken Shamrock out here right now. Shamrock is in the back and yells at Bob Armstrong, saying he’s going to the ring. After heading towards the ring, Shamrock locks a door and has a rather muscular man stand guard. Bill Behrens comes to the ring instead and suspends Jarrett, who chairs him in the head. Now Shamrock gets in for the brawl but some wrestlers come out to break it up, allowing Jarrett to chair Shamrock in the head.

Commentary previews the show.

Amazing Red vs. Low Ki

Red snaps off some armdrags to start and then kicks Ki outside. Back in and a middle rope clothesline drops Ki but he’s right back with a hard kick for two of his own. A butterfly suplex into a double underhook crank has Red in trouble but he fights right back out. Red goes up top, where Ki pulls him into a hanging dragon sleeper for some rather painful cranking.

They trade kicks to the head until Red’s hat flies off, which has him so annoyed that he hits a quick standing shooting star press for two. The Code Red gets two more but Ki strikes away, only to get dropped with a spinwheel kick. Red’s corkscrew moonsault misses though and the Ki Krusher 99 finishes for Ki at 7:29.

Rating: B. This is how you make someone into a bigger deal as Red was in there hanging with someone who almost won the X-Division Title last week. The perk of a promotion still being this new is that people can still make an impact in a hurry. That’s what Red did here and it was a heck of a match as the show kicks off fast.

Jeff Jarrett tries to get back stage but is blocked by the rather muscular man.

Hot Shots vs. Chris Harris/James Storm

Earlier today, Harris told Storm that the cowboy stuff was stupid and he better not fire those cap guns. The fight starts on the floor and we settle down to Storm headscissoring Stevens. Harris comes in with a spear and a belly to belly, but O’Reilly sends him outside. A drop onto the barricade has Harris in trouble for a change though and a dropkick gives O’Reilly two back inside.

Stevens hits a handspring elbow for two of his own, only for O’Reilly to miss (meaning hits, but only because Harris didn’t roll away face enough) a moonsault. It’s back to Harris as everything breaks down, with Storm hitting a reverse tornado DDT. Harris’ northern lights suplex is enough for the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. This was the latest win for Harris and Storm, who are rising up the ranks rather quickly. Well as many ranks as you can have so soon in a company’s history. You can tell there is a chemistry there and that is something that can take them a rather long way. The match was nothing of note though, as the Hot Shots just didn’t have much going on.

Post match the Hot Shots jump them from behind for the beatdown.

Ken Shamrock wants Jeff Jarrett.

Apolo vs. Brian Lawler

Thankfully Lawler doesn’t get to talk before he slams Apolo go start. Apolo is back up with a slam of his own and Lawler is not pleased. A Sky High gives Apollo two so Lawler goes back to the Memphis playbook with a foreign object. Some choking on the ropes keeps Apolo in trouble and a middle rope dropkick makes it worse. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Apolo is back up with a running shoulder. The legdrop gives Apolo two but the TKO is countered into a reverse DDT. Lawler, with his mouth bleeding, stops to dance…and is promptly rolled up for the pin at 7:06.

Rating: C. Again, Lawler just isn’t much in the ring and that hasn’t changed no matter what he’s been doing. That kind of style works in a place like the old Memphis territory and there is nothing wrong with it, but it’s not working here. Throw in the fact that he was just Grandmaster Sexay about a year ago and still acts the same way and it’s not exactly clicking. At least he wasn’t ranting about Jerry Lawler for once, as that isn’t working in the slightest.

Post match Lawler beats up Don West because that’s what a villain should do. There is still no security but Lawler lets him go anyway.

Here is K-Krush and we get a montage of him hanging…well actually just Norman Smiley and Scott Hall. Back in the arena, Krush talks about how he doesn’t want to go by this name because THEY gave it to him. He is being held down by THEY in the back before talking about Allen Iverson (he’s wearing an Iverson jersey) and says that like Iverson, he’s the TRUTH.

After talking about Mike Tyson and OJ Simpson, Money Brown (to what would become Abyss’ music) interrupts to brag about his own football career. Krush can blame everyone he wants, but maybe he’s just not all that. The challenge is issued but Truth (seems to be his official name) isn’t interested. The brawl is on and Brown easily clears him out.

We recap the issues between AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn. They hate each other but work well together, which is why they’re still Tag Team Champions. A lot of brawling has ensued.

We get a sitdown interview between Styles and Lynn from earlier today and, after the video doesn’t work the first time, they talk about how they still don’t get along. Tonight, they have to get together to retain the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Jerry Lynn vs. Flying Elvises

The Elvises are challenging and Sonny Siaki is on commentary. Lynn and Estrada trade arm control to start until until Lynn elbows him in the face and grabs a running headscissors. Styles adds a running knee to the face and a legdrop gets two. An elbow to the jaw gives Styles two more but Estrada gets in a slam, allowing the rather necessary tag off to Yang.

Lynn comes back in to knock Yang into the corner, setting up a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. What looks like a top rope cutter from Styles…just kind of crashes down and Yang sends him outside for a heck of a clothesline. Back in and a Koji Clutch keeps Styles in trouble, setting up Estrada’s knee to the ribs for two. The banged up ribs are dropped over the top rope for two and a Lionsault connects for the same.

Another rather slow motion knee drop into a slingshot hilo gets two next two, followed by the logical abdominal stretch. Styles tries to fight back but Lynn gets knocked off the apron so the beating can continue. A kick to the face gets Styles out of trouble though and it’s back to Lynn to clean house. Lynn dives onto Estrada but Styles accidentally takes Lynn out with a dive of his own. Lynn is VERY busted open but he’s fine enough to come back with the slingshot Fameasser over the ropes. That’s enough to pin Estrada, even as Styles is on top for the Spiral Tap, and retain at 15:24.

Rating: B. Well hokey smoke, a wrestling match broke out on this show. It really shouldn’t be any surprise that Styles and Lynn work this well together as they’re incredibly talented but at the same time the Elvises are right there with him to make their side work. This was a rather good match and one of the better things the promotion has produced so far.

And now, Glenn Gilbertti has a talk show. After referencing Joey Maggs, Gilbertti talks about how much success he has had, all while commentary WILL NOT SHUT UP about how Gilbertti isn’t a star, continuing to completely undermine the entire joke. Anyway, Gilbertti is help AJ Styles be more athletic, show Ken Shamrock how to be charismatic, and Tennessee how to be smart. Next week, it’s the debut of Jive Talkin. Just in case we didn’t have enough comedy acts.

Ken Shamrock and the muscular guy….are cut off by a camera cut.

Simon Diamond/Johnny Swinger vs. Monty Brown/Elix Skipper

Skipper kicks away at Diamond to start and it’s off to brown for a Flip, Flop And Fly of all things. Swinger gets a clothesline from the apron to take over on Skipper and some rolling suplexes into a gordbuster gets two. Skipper gets in a shot to the face though and it’s Brown coming in to clean house. Diamond drops Brown from behind but a quick Alpha Bomb gives Brown the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C. Yeah I think they know what they have here with Brown, as he’s such a ball of charisma and an athletic freak on top of that. You don’t get someone like that very often and TNA would be smart to push him even harder. Other than that, Diamond and Swinger are good choices to put out there as designated victims as they work well together.

Post match The Truth comes in to jump Brown and choke him out.

The Dupps don’t have a match tonight but intentionally bump into Goldilocks, which is supposed to set up a match. Instead Bo goes after the muscular guy and a match is made.

Bo Dupp vs. Ian Harrison

Stan Dupp is on commentary as the rather big Harrison powers Bo into the corner. A suplex gives Bo a breather but Harrison easily slams him down. Some forearms just annoy Harrison, who comes back with a powerslam for the pin….despite the referee looking confused, at 2:59. Or was it a DQ when Stan ran in? Not that it matters as the Dupps are done for the night and that’s a good thing.

Post match the Dupps go after Harrison, who clears them out with ease. Harrison was every generic monster power wrestler you can imagine. Great physique, but nothing that is going to seem interesting.

With Harrison in the ring, Ken Shamrock and Jeff Jarrett can finally brawl. It’s broken up just as fast.

We get a pretty long recap of Sabu beating Malice in a ladder match to become the new #1 contender.

NWA World Title: Ken Shamrock vs. Sabu

Shamrock is defending and hits him in the face to start. Commentary explains that to even this out, it is Ladder vs. Submission, which means Shamrock has to win by submission and Sabu has to win by climbing a ladder to get the belt (because of course they have to make this more complicated). Sabu grabs a kneebar, suggesting that he can win by submission as well, only for Shamrock to fight out and kick him in the head.

Shamrock is back with a kneebar of his own as we’re told that Ricky Steamboat will be in charge next week. Sabu’s armbar is reversed into a kneebar, with Sabu getting to the ropes. Sabu gets knocked outside where he grabs a ladder, which is kicked into his face. They fight up to the stage for a few seconds before Shamrock is sent through the barricade.

Shamrock is laid onto a table but Sabu takes too long setting up a dive, meaning he only hits table. Now Shamrock gets to go up (as Ladder vs. Submission is already getting confusing) and grabs the belt…but the lights go out. Cue Malice to chokeslam Shamrock off the ladder and grab the belt, which makes the bell ring at 9:31.

Rating: D. They had some hard hitting stuff in there, but when commentary can’t explain the rules, it might be proof that they don’t nee to be there. The idea of ladder vs. submission only makes so much sense in the first place, as there was no reason to change it from being anything other than a regular match. And then the ending is someone pulling the title down because…I have no idea what is going on in this whole thing.

Overall Rating: C+. Things might be inching in the right direction here as there was enough focus on the better, more interesting things. At the same time, there are still enough bad things (submission vs. ladder, the Dupps, Gilbertti’s talk show, anything with Lawler and more) to hold it down. I’m certainly not optimistic, but things could be a lot worse.

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NWA TNA Weekly PPV #5
Date: July 17, 2002
Location: Nashville Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

We’re back for another batch of these things and the promotion is not in good shape. Save for the X-Division, the shows are just not very good and there isn’t much of a way around it. Ken Shamrock isn’t an interesting World Champion and Brian Christopher is still getting a lot of attention for whatever reason. Then there’s Jeff Jarrett, and I mean a lot of Jeff Jarrett, on top of everything else. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Jeff Jarrett going all nuts and attacking Ken Shamrock with a chair last week.

Shamrock doesn’t have any comment but he’s ready to show how mad he is.

Opening sequence.

Scott Hall and Jeff Jarrett, the latter of whom is ready to be in a ladder match for the #1 contendership to the World Title, brawl in the back and fight outside. The fight is broken up and executive Bill Behrens says Jarrett has forfeited his spot in the match.

Here is Malice (Jarrett’s scheduled opponent) with Father James Mitchell, so it’s open challenge time for the #1 contenders ladder match. The lights go out and….let’s get this over with as fast as we can.

Malice vs. Sabu

Ladder match for the #1 contenders match and Sabu starts fast with a tornado DDT. Malice isn’t having that and chokes him down before grabbing a chair. A backbreaker plants Sabu again and Malice sends him face first into a chair in the corner. It’s time to get the ladder, which Sabu dropkicks into Malice’s face. The triple jump dive to the floor drops Malice again before bridging the ladder between the apron and the barricade.

That takes way too long though and Malice drops him onto the ladder, followed by a World’s Strongest Slam onto it as well. Naturally Sabu is right back up with a springboard leg lariat into the ladder into Malice for another knockdown. It’s way too early to get the contract though as Malice powerbombs him down, followed by a nasty overhead belly to belly into the ladder.

Malice goes up but Sabu dropkicks the ladder out and chairs him in the head. Sabu kind of bulldogs the ladder down onto Malice, who is right back with a spinebuster. Malice’s climb up the ladder is cut off with a shove through a table, allowing Sabu to pull down the contract and win at 13:29.

Rating: C+. This could have been worse, as Sabu could still move and fits in far better with this kind of carnage than a regular match. If nothing else it adds a bit of a spark, as Sabu is a big enough name to be slotted into the World Title scene, even if it is for the short term. Besides, Malice’s time in the title scene has already been wrapped up so it is time to see someone new get a shot.

Post match the Disciples of the New Church come in to beat on Sabu and a super chokeslam puts him through a table.

Jeff Jarrett and Scott Hall are still being held apart and Jarrett is ejected.

Here’s AJ Styles for an unscheduled chat. Styles calls out Jerry Lynn, who storms to the ring and says Styles must want to know why Lynn jumped him last week. Lynn says he’s been wrestling for fourteen years and done more in this business than Styles has done in his lifetime.

Styles hasn’t done anything or even had to sleep in his car eating peanut butter sandwiches. Lynn gave him a chance when they teamed up and he isn’t going to stand for the disrespect. Styles lays him out and hits the Styles Clash. This was fine and to the point, but commentary responding to EVERYTHING either of them said took away a lot of the impact.

We look back at Jasmin St. Clair stripping for Jeremy Borash and Ed Ferrara making sure it happened in a funny bit.

Francine jumps St. Clair in the back and throws her in the shower.

K-Krush vs. Norman Smiley

Before the match, Krush brags about star power (he even SMELLS like a star). Why did the NWA put him in the ring with a NASCAR driver? They were afraid he was going to become something they couldn’t control and then they would have to sell his t-shirts. He’s been treated as a second class citizen despite being better than everyone. It’s because he’s a Black man, and he’s the truth.

With that out of the way, Krush knocks Smiley down into the corner but Smiley is back with the swinging slam. The Big Wiggle into a faceplant plants Krush again but he hits a spinning forearm to cut that off. Back up and a Russian legsweep gets Smiley out of trouble but Krush plants him with a sitout gordbuster for the win at 3:25.

Rating: C-. This really didn’t work, mainly because they went from a rather serious promo from Krush into something totally goofy, which is all Smiley did at this point. Smiley did have some status, but you probably shouldn’t be having the Big Wiggle after someone went on a rant about how he was being held back because of his face. Krush should have squashed him, but maybe don’t let Smiley get in that much goofy stuff.

Post match Krush takes off his belt and whips Smiley before hanging him over the top. Smiley’s wife comes out for the save and gets choked as well. This isn’t going to go well and it wasn’t exactly comfortable stuff anyway.

Puppet is in a trashcan and all annoyed about his match with Meatball. It’s implied that he is, uh, doing something rather personal with his hand.

The Dupps are all weird and make inappropriate comments about Goldilocks.

Flying Elvises vs. Christopher Daniels/Elix Skipper

Estrada is sent outside to start and Skipper hits a quick dive. Back in and Siaki takes over on Skipper before it’s back to Estrada for a butterfly suplex. Siaki joins commentary for a second to brag about how awesome he is before stomping away back inside. Estrada comes in with a double springboard moonsault but Skipper gets over for the tag to Daniels.

A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Estrada but Siaki’s cheap shot from the floor lets Estrada get in a quick knockdown. Skipper comes back in as everything breaks down, with Estrada hitting a springboard moonsault. Daniels hits a much less springboardy but far better moonsault for two of his own. Siaki and Daniels fight to the floor, meaning there’s no count off Skipper’s Play Of The Day. Instead Siaki comes back in for a rolling cutter to finish Skipper at 9:50.

Rating: C+. This was a fast paced tag match with the Elvises stealing the win over the rather talented Daniels/Skipper team. The tag division is still coming together and it is kind of hard to make that work. Putting teams together work though and this is the kind of match you have to use to make that work.

Post match the Dupps run in to take out the Elvises.

Scott Hall jumps K-Krush and leaves him laying without much trouble.

Meatball vs. Puppet

Hardcore match and Puppet jumps him to start, setting up a ram into a trashcan. Meatball knocks him to the floor though and it’s an ax handle from the apron. The fight heads up towards the entrance, where Meatball pulls some food from a shopping cart to mess Puppet up a bit. A dropkick sends a chair into Meatball’s face and a DDT gives Puppet two. Puppet hits a middle rope Fameasser onto a chair and a Vader Bomb onto a chair onto Meatball is good for the pin at 6:16.

Rating: D-. Oh come on. This was stupid, it wasn’t funny, the whole thing went on too long and this whole deal feels like such a waste of time. I’m sure someone gets a kick out of this but it’s just not working, with the gag of Puppet being a hardcore wrestler having lost the charm which barely existed in the first place. Just find something else to fill in the time.

Here is a damaged Jasmin St. Clair to call out Francine.

Francine vs. Jasmin St. Clair

It’s a brawl to start, they both lose clothes, Blue Meanie comes in to DDT Francine for the DQ at 1:25. This was all about the clothes and nothing more.

Meanie carries St. Clair off and Francine is taken out on a stretcher.

We look at some of Low Ki’s and AJ Styles’ signature moves.

X-Division Title: AJ Styles vs. Low Ki

Ki is challenging and they wrestle to the mat to start. Back up and they chop it out to a standoff until Ki takes him down. Ki strikes away as fans look at someone holding a sign, with security seemingly going after him. Styles gets in a slam and a flipping splash but Ki knees him to the apron.

Ki misses an Asai moonsault but he’s able to kick Styles in the face to cut off a dive. They slug it out on the apron until Ki gets a dragon sleeper in the ropes. Styles uses said ropes to escape and grabs a brainbuster for two. The Spiral Tap misses but Styles reverses a fireman’s carry into a Death Valley Driver for a needed breather. It’s Ki going up but he dives into the Styles Clash to retain Styles’ title at 10:36.

Rating: B-. These two work well together and that shouldn’t be a surprise given how well they have done in previous matches. It wasn’t exactly an epic showdown or a classic match, but they were working hard and it didn’t feel like two old rejects from WCW. Styles continues to be the breakout star around here and that is likely to continue if he’s going to keep doing this well.

Post match Jerry Lynn spears Styles down and gives him he piledriver. A ladder is brought in and Lynn suplexes him into it for the nasty crash.

Scott Hall vs. Brian Lawler

Before the match, Lawler rants about how stupid people have to be to be Jerry Lawler fans. The challenge is issued again and Brian throws in some Jim Ross insults for a bonus. Hall sneaks up behind him and after even more ranting from Brian, Hall finally punches him down to get going. Some right hands send Brian outside and even more knock him off th announcers’ table.

The beating goes around ringside until Brian gets in a shot of his own to take over. Back in and Brian hammers away as there are an awful lot of empty seats on camera. A suplex gives Brian two and, after insulting the fans some more, he goes up but gets slammed off the top. Hall’s belly to back superplex connects and, after taking out K-Krush, the Outsider’s Edge finishes Brian at 8:43.

Rating: C-. At the end of the day, these matches just aren’t very good. They’re a bunch of punching, a few other moves, and then the finish. It doesn’t help when Brian is doing basic heel stuff straight out of the Memphis playbook, but that is only going to do so much to get him around the fact that he’s Brian Lawler and won’t shut up about his dad. Hall didn’t do much more than his signature stuff, which is only so good at this point.

Post match Brian and Krush beat Hall down and hang him over the ropes.  Hall goes out on a stretcher but Jeff Jarrett runs in with a chair and wrecks Hall and pretty much everyone not named Lawler or Krush.

Overall Rating: C. There is some passable stuff on here but the bad is dragging it all the way down. Other than that, the good stuff, which is mainly centered around the less goofy people, is watchable enough. In other words, as has been the case, there is a decent show here if you get rid of the terrible parts. The problem is there is quite a bit of terrible and a lot of it is getting the focus. Fix that and this goes up in value, but it isn’t looking likely anytime soon. Ultimately, the biggest issue is that I have no idea what the biggest story is supposed to be around here and I don’t think the company does either.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #4
Date: July 10, 2002
Location: Nashville Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

The promotion is still getting started and still in search of a top story. We have Brian Christopher turning on Scott Hall so Jeff Jarrett could b a bigger villain, Ken Shamrock doing whatever he has going on and AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn being partners who can’t stand each other. That makes for a bit of a mixed bag around here, but odds are we’ll be seeing a bunch of dumb ideas to go with those. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We recap how AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn won the Tag Team Titles in their first match as a team (minus Low Ki that is).

Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Jerry Lynn vs. Disciples Of The New Church

The Disciples (Slash/Tempest, with James Mitchell) are challenging. Slash shoulders Lynn down to start but a powerslam is escaped. Lynn runs the corner for a bulldog and Styles comes in for a running flipping splash to the back. Tempest (better known as Crowbar) comes in and gets his arm cranked, followed by a kick to the face for a bonus. Back up and Tempest runs him over, only to be sent outside. That doesn’t last long as Tempest is back in to take over, including an anklescissors out of the corner.

Styles gets backdropped to the apron but comes back in with a springboard missile dropkick, allowing the tag back to Lynn. Everything breaks down and the Disciples pull a diving Styles out of the air. Lynn makes a quick save and Styles adds a Lionsault for two on Tempest. Back up and Tempest’s Death Valley Driver gets two on Styles so Slash can come back in for some rams into the buckle.

What would become James Storm’s Eye of the Storm sends Styles flying but he’s fine enough to catapult Slash into the corner. Lynn comes back in to start the comeback, including a sitout bulldog for two on Tempest. Another Death Valley Driver is broken up and Lynn hits the cradle piledriver, only for Slash to kick him in the face. Styles tags himself back in and (kind of) hits the Spiral Tap to retain at 10:37.

Rating: C+. This was a way to show that the champions who don’t quite get along can get along well enough to retain the titles, even if they were still having issues. It’s still probably the top story in the promotion at the moment, or at least the most interesting, though I’m not sure how much ground that is covering. The New Church is already looking like a bunch of losers and odds are that is going to continue without much to make it better.

Post match a bunch of pyro goes off, which seems like quite the celebration for a title defense. Lynn isn’t pleased with Styles’ celebration and walks out.

Commentary shows us the end of last week’s show, with Brian Christopher turning on Scott Hall, leading to a big Jeff Jarrett beatdown. Hall calls in and swears vengeance, with the audio from the replay drowning out his interview, because this promotion doesn’t know what it’s doing.

Here is Christopher to say it’s time for his to transition from a child to a man. For his entire life, he has been known as Jerry Lawler’s son and now, screw Jerry. His dad was a terrible father and last week, Christopher took Hall out. He tells Jerry to go to h*** and goes on a rant about how Jerry was never there so now it’s time to be his own man. From now on, it’s all about Brian LAWLER. So Jerry shows up soon for a fight right? Otherwise, that would be a pretty big waste of a promo.

Brian Lawler vs. Norman Smiley

Lawler jumps him to start but Smiley gets in a shot of his own and stops to dance. The Big Wiggle ensues so Lawler plants him down to cut that off. A running shoulder in the corner has Smiley in more trouble but he avoids another one, with Lawler going shoulder first into the post. Smiley hammers away in the corner, only for Lawler to get in a low blow. The Hip Hop Drop (he does at least take off the goggles) finishes Smiley at 4:48.

Rating: C. It’s a heel turn, but unfortunately it’s a heel turn for Brian Lawler. You’re just only going to get so much out of that and I’m thinking we’ve already seen the peak of the whole thing. The Jerry promo was just weird and the match itself was just ok.

Post match Lawler calls out Scott Hall, who is next on his list.

Jeff Jarrett is told that he doesn’t have a World Title shot. He shoves Bill Behrens (How many authority figures does this show need?) and gets suspended before storming off. As this goes on, we can hear James Mitchell yelling at the New Church but the door is shut before we see anything.

K-Krush vs. Hermie Sadler

Before the match, Krush threatens the fans for liking NASCAR too much. They yell at each other to start before Krush hammers away, only to be sent outside. Sadler gets in a few shots and then rains down some right hands inside for two but Krush is back with the ax kick for an arrogant near fall of his own. A suplex gives Krush two more and a powerslam gets the same (with one finger). The Figure Four goes on but Sadler turns it over for the break, because he knows how to do that. Krush dives into a sitout powerbomb but Krush rolls him up with feet on the ropes for the pin at 5:06.

Rating: D+. What is there to say about this? It’s been one of the worst parts of the company for the first four weeks and it was bad again here. Sadler isn’t a wrestler and isn’t interesting but he’s the closest thing to a celebrity that they have who can get in the ring. The match was pretty bad even by celebrity standards and the Krush just cheated to beat him. Nothing to this one and hopefully it’s over.

Then Krush hits Sadler after the match and the decision is reversed. Victory?

Takao Omori, the #1 contender to the World Title, pays Alicia off.

Hot Shots vs. Briscoes

That would be Cassidy O’Reilly/Chase Stevens vs. those Briscoes, the latter of whom don’t get entrances. Jay headscissors Stevens down to start and it’s off to Mark, who gets spinebustered down. Mark comes back in with a springboard missile dropkick to the back but gets backdropped hard to the floor. The Hot Shots hit stereo dives….and cue Malice of the New Church to jump Stevens for the DQ at 2:10. This was rather fast paced but just a bunch of moves until the quick ending.

Post match Malice wrecks everyone as James Mitchell and the New Church approve. Mitchell says they aren’t leaving until Ken Shamrock’s blood is on Malice’s hands. There is no Shamrock, so Mitchell has the Disciples beat up the timekeeper. Now Shamrock runs in but gets beaten down, with Takao Omori running in for the save before their title match later.

The Dupps are rather disgusting but are ready to beat up the Flying Elvises. If the shoe fits, it’s probably the right size.

We’re ready for a tag match but adult film star Jasmin St. Clair interrupts instead. She knows what the letters TNA really stand for so who wants to see the real thing tonight? A chair is thrown in and ring announcer Jeremy Borash (described as her “little sex toy”) is sat down for a dance (with his eyes bugging out in a hilarious visual. Bill Behrens comes in with a towel and Ed Ferrara runs in to spear him down (ok points for a funny bit). St. Clair is taken out with the towel anyway to end an unintentionally funny but stupid segment.

Flying Elvises vs. Dupps

Fluff is here with the Dupps. It’s a brawl to start and Siaki is put down with a spinebuster as Mortimer Plumtree comes out, because something has to happen in every single match. Estrada gets sent into the corner as Plumtree says the Johnsons needed discipline after last week. Stan’s Alabama Slam out of the corner doesn’t even get one due to a foot on the rope but Siaki fakes a tag and takes over on Bo. The split legged moonsault gives Siaki two but Bo plants him back down. Stan comes in as everything breaks down, with Estrada hitting a springboard spinning Swanton for the pin on Stan at 5:03.

Rating: C. I’m not sure if you could have Vince Russo’s fingerprints on a match more than this one. Not only do you have a lowest common denominator gimmick like the Dupps, but you have another goofy thing in the Elvises, plus someone walking out without having much to do with the match, which is not exactly great in the first place. It’s a case of too much going on and the stuff that is going on not being very good anyway. Much like a lot of this show.

Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles are brawling throughout the back, with Lynn sending him into the barricade and hitting a cradle piledriver onto an anvil case.

NWA World Title: Takao Omori vs. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock is defending and fires off some knees to the ribs to start. A figure four headscissors has Omori in more trouble as Harley Race is watching at ringside. That’s broken up and the bigger Omori fights out of the corner and hits a running spinwheel kick. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Omori whips him into the corner, where the spinwheel kick misses.

Shamrock chokes on the rope but Omori grabs a running neckbreaker (though he seemed to come in from the wrong direction for a weird visual). Omori shrugs off some kicks to the bad leg (as injured by the missed kick) and hits a clothesline for two. A kneebar has Omori in more trouble so he makes the rope, meaning the ankle lock goes on…and here is Jeff Jarrett to chair Shamrock for the DQ at 7:53.

Rating: C. Of course that’s how it ends. This was another good example of what’s going wrong with a lot of this show: who is Omori, why should I care about him, and is this going to lead anywhere for him? Omori was named (not shown) last week and suddenly gets a World Title shot based on his reputation in Japan. You could have had him do a squash match or something last week to show us even a glimpse, but instead he’s debuted and loses his focus in less than eight minutes. That doesn’t make me want to see more, but rather wondering why I’m supposed to be interested.

Post match Jarrett beats up both of them, plus security.

Jerry Lynn won’t talk about what he did to AJ Styles. James Mitchell and the Disciples of the New Church come in, looking for Jeff Jarrett and the sin he just committed. Did he try the ring? As in where Jarrett just was? Anyway, we cut over to Bill Behrens, having been bound and gagged with FU written on his stomach, just like Jim Miller last week.

Low Ki vs. Elix Skipper vs. Kid Romeo vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Tony Mamaluke

This is an elimination match to establish the X-Division rankings (the first wrestler eliminated is #6, the next is #5 and so on) and thank goodness there are tags. Romeo and Daniels start things off with Romeo working on the arm before switching to a headlock. A dropkick puts Daniels down again so it’s off to Skipper to kick him in the face. Mamaluke comes in to help double team Skipper down as commentary goes over some WCW history.

Skipper gets his leg dropkicked out to cut him off again but he hands it off to Lynn for a monkey flip. Ki comes in and kicks Mamaluke’s head off for two (that should have been an elimination) but Mamaluke is back with a suplex. It’s back to Romeo to chop away at Daniels until Lynn comes back in and sunset flips Romeo for two. A middle rope tornado DDT gives Lynn two more but Daniels monkey flips Lynn outside.

The Arabian moonsault drops Lynn again, setting up a big dive from Romeo. Ki and Skipper hit stereo flip dives of their own and everyone is down. Back in and Lynn hits his slingshot Fameasser over the ropes to Daniels, only to get crotched on top. Actually that’s it for Lynn, who is eliminated via….countout at about 10:15? That’s quite the stretch after EVERYONE WAS ON THE FLOOR JUST A FEW SECONDS AGO.

Anyway, Mamaluke gordbusters Daniels and grabs a Koji Clutch but Skipper comes back in with a running clothesline. The Play Of The Day gets rid of Mamaluke at 11:29 and we’re down to four. Ki comes in and stomps away on Skipper before sending him hard out to the floor. Back in and a Ki Crusher into the corner knocks Skipper silly for two, as these kickouts on Ki are a bit ridiculous. Skipper is back up with a backbreaker and a missile dropkick but it’s back to Daniels to slug away. Matt Hardy’s Ricochet drops Daniels and the Last Rites (something like Cross Rhodes) gets rid of Skipper at 14:54.

Romeo faceplants Daniels for two and dropkicks Ki off the apron, leaving Ki holding his arm. Daniels takes Romeo up top, only to get pulled into a super Air Raid Crash (that looked good) for the…not pin as Daniels’ foot was on the rope. Ki comes back in with the dragon sleeper to make Romeo tap at 17:03 and now we’re down to Ki vs. Daniels.

They trade chops in the corner until Daniels grabs a Downward Spiral for the double knockdown. The Best Moonsault Ever gives Daniels a delayed near fall and they trade cradles for two each. The dragon sleeper has Daniels in trouble again but he flips out in time. Daniels grabs an Iconoclasm (Fall From Grace) out of the corner for two more but a quick Ki Crusher gives Ki the win at 21:41.

Rating: B. Shockingly enough, this was the most entertaining match of the night, which probably comes from it getting more time and allowing the people involved to do their thing for a good while. I like the idea of having rankings in the division, but that isn’t going to matter if they don’t stick. It would not shock me at all to see Ki getting a shot and then Lynn jumping into a title match because of personal reasons, making most of the concept pointless, but at least they had a very fast paced match on the way there.

Post match the Flying Elvises run in to clean house because they wanted in the match (fair point). Tony Mamaluke and Kid Romeo run in for the save.

Commentary previews next week’s show….and here is Jeff Jarrett, who was suspended earlier tonight and it means nothing. He wants the World Title shot next week and yells at fans until going after some Tennessee Titans, who jump the barricade for the brawl. Cue the Disciples of the New Church, with Malice brawling with Jarrett into the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Believe it or not, the X-Division is carrying this show, but at the end of the day, there is only so much that you can get out of them when the rest of the show is pretty horrible. As has been the case, it doesn’t feel like there is much in the way of focus around here and the show feels all over the place as a result. There are stories going on, but they’re not exactly things that I want to keep watching. The Lawler stuff feels like it could get stupid in a hurry and Jarrett whining about wanting a title shot has already lost its appeal. There’s good stuff in there, but there is a lot of bad to sit through to find it.

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NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #1
Date: June 19, 2002
Location: Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West, Ed Ferrara

I’ve tried to do this series more than once and it has never quite worked but I might as well try it again. I’ve done the first 18 before but since it’s been so many years and I can’t even remember what happened, we’ll just start from the beginning. This is of course the new Jerry Jarrett promotion that was designed to fill in the gap left by WCW and it went…well yeah. Let’s get to it.

Commentary gets their entrances and we get an intro to the company, as well as the rules for tonight’s Gauntlet For The Gold (basically a Royal Rumble with a singles match at the end) for the World Title.

We open with an in-ring legends ceremony, with some big names included:

Harley Race
Dory Funk Jr.
Jackie Fargo
Bob Armstrong
Corsica Joe
Bill Behrens
Ricky Steamboat

Steamboat has the World Title and talks about how important the belt is to him and everyone else in the ring. Tonight you will see the Gauntlet For The Gold for the title and Steamboat will be the guest referee when it gets down to two. Cue Jeff Jarrett to interrupt and he hates the whole idea. Fargo doesn’t want to hear it and puts Jarrett in the Gauntlet at #1. Cue Ken Shamrock to say he doesn’t like this either, but Jarrett isn’t beating him up. Cue Scott Hall through the crowd (fresh off being thrown out of WWE) to say quit crying about the match because that’s how it’s going to go.

Puppet the Psycho Dwarf thinks his match should start the show because he’s the real star.

AJ Styles/Low Ki/Jerry Lynn vs. Flying Elvises

The Elvises would be Sonny Siaki/Jorge Estrada/Jimmy Yang and they jump the other three to start. Lynn is right up for a dive onto Siaki as Styles powerslams Yang. Lynn comes in with a backbreaker for two on Yang as this is all action to start. Back up and Yang sends Lynn into the corner for the step up moonsault kick too the chest. It’s off to Siaki, who gets sent into the corner so Ki can come in to strike away. An over the shoulder backbreaker plants Ki before a Samoan drop into a moonsault gets two.

A neckbreaker out of the corner into a running shooting star press gets two on Ki but he’s back with a heck of a kick to the head. It’s back to Styles for the springboard moonsault into the reverse DDT for two as everything breaks down. Lynn Cradle Piledrives Estrada but walks into a fisherman’s neckbreaker from Siaki. Ki kicks Styles by mistake though and Yang Time (twisting moonsault) is good for the pin on Styles at 6:27.

Rating: B-. And that’s how TNA starts. They weren’t kidding with the “total nonstop action” part as they had all six people going nuts out there and cramming in as much stuff as they could in about six and a half minutes. That isn’t much time to work with but Styles looked like a star and Lynn looked like the established veteran while Ki was the hard striker. Throw in a kind of awesome gimmick like the Flying Elvises and how can you go wrong?

Teo vs. Hollywood

It’s a midget match and Teo, the World’s Smallest Extreme Athlete, jumps him to start and hammers away in the corner. Tenay talks about how Rey Mysterio was asked to be a midget wrestler when he started. Ferrara: “And what happened?” Tenay: “Obviously he didn’t.” Thanks for that Mike. They trade rollups for two each until Hollywood knocks him down and hits a top rope splash for two. Teo comes back with a Russian legsweep into a top rope twisting Swanton for the pin at 2:49. Short and pretty much what you would expect here.

Apparently Teo stands for Totally (Totally E) Outstanding.  That’s….eh it’s kind of clever.

Ferrara gets in the ring and announces next week’s lingerie battle royal, with Ferrara and West bringing out various women who will be included, such as Francine, Shannon (Daphne), Alexis Laree (Mickie James), Elektra (from ECW) and more. Francine says none of these women can compare to her but Elektra doesn’t want to hear about extreme. The brawl is on and clothes are ripped off.  This was what you would think it would be.

Mortimer Plumtree, a rather nerdy manager who carries a paddle, brags about the force of his rather obedient tag team: the Johnsons.

Johnsons vs. Psicosis/James Storm

That’s quite a team to face off against the guys in flesh colored outfits meant to resemble a certain body part. Storm is a cowboy of course but looks more like a flasher in a cowboy hat. He does at least have some cap guns to make it more authentic. Richard sends Psicosis hard into the corner to start and snaps off a suplex for two. The Johnsons are sent into each other though and Storm dropkicks Rod down.

Cue Alicia (Ryan Shamrock) to watch, with commentary being glad for the camera to pan out and show the rest of her. Psicosis comes back in for a basement dropkick but the Johnsons plant him with a double flapjack. A t-bone suplex drops Psicosis again as commentary makes rather lame jokes. Psicosis faceplants his way out of a powerbomb attempt but the Johnsons snap off stereo suplexes. Everything breaks down and a sloppy TKO finishes Storm at 4:54.

Rating: C-. For a match that was all about making various awful jokes over one idea as many times as possible, this was surprisingly dull. Psicosis and Storm are as thrown together as you can find and while the Johnsons were a decent power team, they couldn’t be more one joke if they tried. It’s designed to make the writers laugh and if they have to go for a joke on the first show, so it be I guess.

Post match Alicia talks to the referee, who pays her.

The Dupps (Stan, better known as Trevor Murdoch, and Bo) go to have beers with their cousin Fluff but they aren’t allowed to wrestle.

Here are NASCAR drivers Hermie Sadler and Sterling Marlin for a chat. Marlin is the current season points leader and is ready to go race in California this week. Cue K-Krush (R-Truth) who is sick of hearing about race car drivers. He’s a real athlete instead of someone who drives around in a circle.

Sadler mocks Krush’s look and says this place is full of NASCAR fans. Krush isn’t interested but Brian Lawler (Grandmaster Sexay) runs in for the save. The drivers get to beat Krush up and Lawler issues the challenge for next week. Seems to be on. Commentary going back and forth between Brian Christopher and Brian Lawler isn’t a good sign.

Jeff Jarrett is choking Jackie Fargo.

Christian York/Joey Matthews vs. Dupps

The Dupps, with Fluff (the cousin AND girlfriend), are as stereotypical of a hillbilly team as you could get. York gets dropped to start but Matthews comes in with a double springboard dropkick. Bo strikes away on Matthews and hits a standing splash for two. Back up and Matthews clotheslines his way to freedom, allowing York to come in and clean house. Everything breaks down and York hits a tornado DDT but Fluff breaks up something off the top, allowing Stan to get the pin at 3:42.

Rating: C. York and Matthews are a good team for a pair of young, athletic stars but there is only so much you can get when you have a one note comedy act. The Dupps are about as dumb of a team as you can get, save for the team that we saw in the previous match. One team showed potential while the other was awful, so guess which team won.

Here’s the video for Toby Keith’s How Do You Like Me Now. He’s no Hardcore Holly.

Here is Keith to sing Courtesy Of The Red White And Blue live and, after quite a lengthy performance, Jeff Jarrett interrupts. Jarrett: “How do you like ME now?” Keith is held back.

NWA World Title: Gauntlet For The Gold

The title is vacant coming in (as Dan Severn was stripped of the title due to not defending it here), there are twenty entrants with ninety second intervals and it’s a battle royal until the final two entrants. Jeff Jarrett is in at #1 and Buff Bagwell is in at #2 to slug away and hit the running neckbreaker. The Blockbuster connects but a charging Bagwell is sent out with a backdrop. Lash Leroux is in at #3 And they both head outside (not eliminated) to slug it out.

Back in and the Stroke connects, with Leroux being easily tossed. Norman Smiley is in at #4 as the remaining time is skipped if there is only one person in the ring. Good for fans, totally unfair to the lone wrestler. Jarrett blocks the Big Wiggle and tosses Smiley without much trouble. Apollo (a rather big and muscular wrestler from Puerto Rico) is in at #5 and manages to send Jarrett to the apron for some stomping but can’t get him out. K-Krush is in at #6 and saves Jarrett from a gorilla press, setting up an ax kick to Apollo. Slash, with James Mitchell, is in at #7 as Apollo fights up.

Jarrett saves Slash for no logical reason and the villains hammer on Apollo again. Del Rios is in at #8 as the ring is starting to fill up. The rather large Justice (soon to be known as Abyss) is in at #9 and hits the yet to be named Black Hole Slam on Del Rios. Slash adds a reverse DDT to Del Rios and it’s Konnan in at #10 to pick up the pace.

That gives us a grouping of Jarrett, Apollo, K-Krush, Slash, Del Rios, Justice and Konnan, which is quite the collection. Here is Joel Gertner to limerick Bruce (better known as Kwee Wee in WCW) at #11. The entrance takes so long that almost nothing can happen before Rick Steiner is in at #12. Slash is eliminated and Justice follows him as Rick clears some of the ring. Malice (formerly known as The Wall in WCW and Slash’s partner in the Disciples Of The New Church) is in at #13 and throws out Bruce, K-Krush, Del Rios and Konnan before low bridging Steiner out. Apollo skins the cat to stay alive and it’s Scott Hall in at #14.

A superkick drops Malice and Hall hits the Razor’s Edge to plant Jarrett. Toby Keith is in at #15 (oh dear) and suplexes Jarrett (who can’t hide that he’s doing the work) before tossing him out. Keith walks out, seemingly eliminating himself, leaving us with Hall, Apollo and Malice. Chris Harris is in at #16 to pick up the pace but the Vampire Warrior (Gangrel) follows him and seems to be in as well. Devon Storm (formerly known as Crowbar) is in at #17 (I think?) and gets to hit some people but no one is tossed.

Steve Corino is in at #18 and seems rather happy to be here. Mitchell gets in a cheap shot to cut Corino off as Ken Shamrock is in at #19. Some rather hard striking abounds until Malice catches him with a chokeslam. Harris is sent to the apron but comes back in to hammer on the Warrior. Brian Christopher is in at #20, giving us a final grouping of Hall, Apollo, Malice, Harris, Warrior, Storm, Corino, Shamrock and Christopher.

Harris, Storm and the Warrior are out in a hurry and Christopher knocks Corino out as well. Shamrock kicks Christopher down and throws him out before Malice does the same to Apollo. Hall is tossed as well and it’s Shamrock vs. Malice for the title, with Ricky Steamboat as referee.

Malice puts him down rather quickly and gets two off a side slam. Shamrock’s sunset flip is blocked but the chokeslam is countered into a cross armbreaker. Malice grabs the rope so Shamrock grabs the ankle lock, with Malice going to the rope again. For some reason Shamrock just pulls him back and doesn’t let go, so another rope has to be grabbed for the real break. Shamrock even yells at Steamboat (no one yells at Ricky Steamboat) before countering a chokeslam into a belly to belly suplex for the pin and the title at 37:37.

Rating: C+. There were definitely names involved here and it made the match feel more prestigious. A match like this is about setting the standard for the main event scene going forward and Shamrock is a good choice to start things off. Malice felt like a monster but there is only so much you can get out of that monsterness when Shamrock beats him in a few minutes. For now though, this is the right call and you know that Jarrett is going to have something to complain about.

Commentary talks about the night but here is Jeff Jarrett to yell at Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race and Bob Armstrong over how a World Title shouldn’t be decided in a battle royal. Jarrett drops Funk and Armstrong so here are Jackie Fargo and Toby Keith to yell. Fargo says he’ll get Scott Hall to fight Jarrett next week. Hall runs in and brawls with Jarrett to end the show. They’re the biggest stars in the company but it’s not a great idea to put them out there just after crowning a new World Champion.

Overall Rating: C-. Oh this was a rough start, with only a few bright spots. The main event was good enough and the opener worked, but the obsession with the country/southern stuff and the dumb “comedy” tag teams were just bad. It’s not a show I’d want to keep watching, but in theory they were going for the idea of having no alternatives to WWE. Call it a case of anything being better than nothing, but egads they have a lot of work to do.

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TNA Weekly PPV #18
Date: October 23, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Taney

The big match tonight is Lynn vs. Siaki in the showdown of a well built feud. Unfortunately it probably won’t get as much coverage as Jarrett/Lawler/Killings/Sadler because that’s the major story around here anymore. Not that it’s interesting or anything, but they’re the big stories and that’s what we’re getting. The good news though is things are starting to pick up a little big and is now up to boring instead of horrible. Let’s get to it.

There are graphics for the matches coming up later tonight. I don’t remember those on earlier shows.

Amazing Red vs. Kid Kash vs. Joel Maximo vs. Jose Maximo vs. Elix Skipper

Elimination rules and the winner gets an X Title shot next week. Skipper quickly dropkicks Jose out to the floor before Red dropkicks Skipper and Kash out to the floor. Red loads up a big dive but gets clotheslined down by Joel, who hits a big dive of his own. That’s fine with Red as he hits a dive onto all four of them to fire up the crowd in a hurry. Kash goes in and hits a dive of his own, with the wrestlers nice enough to look at him all the way down.

Joel has Kash in a Gory Special so Red gets in front of Joel like he’s in a Liontamer. Jose wraps Red’s neck up in some kind of a leg hold but Skipper puts Jose in a camel clutch for a five way submission. That’s…..really freaking stupid looking actually. Skipper finally lets go and dropkicks the whole pile down. Joel botches a headscissors on Skipper but gets two off a German suplex. Jose hits a bad looking hurricanrana on Kash before jumping into a dropkick to the chest. Kash tries a running hurricanrana to the top to the floor but mostly just lands on the back of his head. The botches are strong with this one.

Kid redeems himself a bit with a tornado DDT off the table to Joel as Red and Jose go into a somewhat insane countering sequence, culminating with Jose getting two off a sitout powerbomb. Skipper counters Jose’s tornado DDT before walking the top rope into a hurricanrana for an even closer two. Kash comes in off the top with a clothesline to Elix for another near fall but gets caught in a spinning powerbomb. Red breaks up the cover for no apparent reason before kicking Skipper in the face for no cover.

Kash runs the top rope on Red and hits a kind of top rope gorilla press of all things for no cover. Kid follows up by throwing Joel off the top for two but Jose breaks up the pin. Were the wrestlers not told this was elimination? Skipper hits a quick Play of the Day to eliminate Jose and thankfully keeping me from having to tell which Maximo was which. Skipper dives on Joel but gets kicked into an over the shoulder piledriver (Maximo Explosion) for the elimination. Kash takes Joel down with a top rope hurricanrana and hits the Money Maker for a pin.

We’re down to Red vs. Kash with Red hitting a spin kick to the face for two. West makes things confusing again by referring to Red as the kid. Kash comes back with something like a Whisper in the Wind for two followed by a pinfall reversal sequence for a series of near falls. The Bankroll (fisherman’s buster) gets two on Amazing and a BIG springboard cross body gets the same. Red fights out of a superplex attempt and hits Infrared (a very spinning flip dive) for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: C+. This was what you want for an opening match, especially with cruiserweights: let them fly around the ring like crazy for about twelve minutes and let the crowd get fired up. No the wrestling wasn’t much more than flips and dives and botches, but this wasn’t supposed to be Flair vs. Race.

Brian Christopher is looking for his girlfriend April because this story just won’t end.

Package on the Hotshots attacking Harris and Storm last week after AMW successfully defended the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Titles: Chris Harris/James Storm vs. Hotshots

Be AMW already. The Hotshots are Cassidy O’Reilly and Chase Stevens. The champs waste no time and start the brawl fast, easily sending the Hotshots to the floor. Harris sends Cassidy into the barricade as the announcers can’t remember if his last name has an O’ or not. Storm counters a Stevens dive into a powerbomb on the floor before planting him with a snap suplex. The timekeeper is thrown to the floor and there’s blood coming from someone.

The match finally settles down with Storm throwing Stevens around and Harris coming in with a running bulldog. Stevens accidentally knocks O’Reilly to the floor where he’s able to trip up Harris to take over. Storm is knocked off the apron so Cassidy can put Harris in a half crab. O’Reilly is no Lance Storm so the hold doesn’t do much good and it’s back to Chase for some stomping.

Chris nails the spear out of nowhere though, allowing for the hot tag to Storm. Everything breaks down with the champions taking over until Storm is sent outside. The Catatonic is broken up by a superkick for two and Storm grabs Stevens for a strange looking move called the 8 Second Ride (think White Noise but Storm spins him around very fast into a downward spiral) for the pin to retain.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but I don’t care for that finishing move from Storm. It’s more complicated than it needs to be for that payoff. The Hot Shots are a team that popped up in TNA for years to come but never meant anything at all. To be fair though, they had a pretty low ceiling with a generic name like the Hot Shots.

We recap Lynn vs. Siaki which is disrespect vs. experience.

Jerry says his knee is banged up but wrestlers don’t have an off season. Siaki isn’t going to use him to get a rub because this is what Jerry Lynn does. Brian Lawler gets in front of the camera, still looking for his girlfriend.

Jerry Lynn vs. Sonny Siaki

The fight starts on the floor as you would expect it to do. Jerry knocks him into the crowd but bangs up his knee on a dive over the barricade. Lynn limps around ringside before they get in the ring for the opening bell. Siaki wisely goes right for the knee and drops in some elbows but Jerry fights up again. Lynn hits his legdrop with Siaki’s neck over the ropes but it just injures the knee even worse.

Sonny is a smart villain and wraps the knee around the post a few times to take over even more. A clothesline to the back of Lynn’s head sets up a modified Indian deathlock followed by a very modified leglock while pulling on Lynn’s arms. When Jerry makes the ropes, Siaki just drives the bad knee into the mat. A figure four is broken by with Siaki being sent into the post shoulder first, allowing Lynn to grab a rollup for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: C. This was all about the story instead of the action but there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m sure we’ll get a rematch but there’s a good story here to carry it to the next stage. Old vs. new is an idea that is going to work most of the time, except for when Bischoff ran it every month or so.

Siaki puts Lynn in a half crab for awhile post match. Lynn is helped to the back by referees.

Video on Ron Killings vs. Curt Hennig from last week where Mr. Wrestling 3 interfered to help Killings win. They have a rematch tonight.

Here are BG James and Curt Hennig with something to say. Instead of talking about Killings, Hennig talks about Jeff Jarrett being a Curt Hennig wannabe. He beat Jarrett from one end of this building back when Jarrett was a rookie. Curt brings up the West Texas Rednecks and says the guitar was a ripoff from the band. That’s a bit of a stretch I’d think but it’s close. Curt wants a piece of Jarrett next week no matter what happens this week since he’s the guy that took down Brock Lesnar at 35,000 feet (a reference to the Plane Ride From Hell, a real incident that got Hennig fired from WWE).

Jarrett is seen in the back with Brian Lawler but Lawler says he can’t go out there with Jeff because he’s waiting on his April. BG James insults Lawler and says he wants a piece of him man to man anytime. We also get the Get It Got It Good catchphrase which really isn’t catching on.

Mike tells us about an auction on TNA’s website to benefit the families of the victims of the DC sniper.

Here’s an unexpected Scott Hall with something to say. He’s been trying to be a good boy since he got here and he’s tired of it. Now he’s going to do whatever he wants and that means he wants Jeff Jarrett now instead of waiting for later. Jeff comes to the ring and the match is on now.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Scott Hall

It’s Hall in control early on but they get into a chase on the floor with Jarrett getting in a cheap shot as they come back in. Hall comes back with the fall away slam and Jeff tries to leave. They fight around the set and into the dark with Jarrett hitting him with a trashcan. Scott one ups him with a chair to the back and they head to ringside again. The Edge is countered with a backdrop over the top rope and Hall is in trouble again.

Jarrett loads up the steps but does nothing with them, instead sending Hall back into the ring. Jeff hammers away in the corner and hits the running crotch attack on the ropes. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Scott and we hit the sleeper. Hall finally fights up with a belly to back suplex to put both guys down. Back up and Jarrett clotheslines the referee down, allowing Jarrett to blast Scott in the head with a chair.

Hennig runs in for the save but there go the lights. They couldn’t even pay the bills back then? Truth pops up on screen and says he’ll be in Curt’s business like a rectal thermometer. The lights come back on and Brian Lawler jumps Hennig. This brings out BG James to chase Lawler off as Hennig hits Jarrett low. The Edge is enough for Hall to pin Jarrett.

Rating: D+. The brawling wasn’t bad but man alive this multi-man main event scene is driving me crazy. It’s just not all that interesting as Lawler’s issues with his girlfriend are ridiculously dull and the whole thing is just a big fight that goes on and on. We need to get to a story soon and hopefully over the title.

We see a few seconds of Lawler vs. James last week.

BG James vs. Brian Lawler

Of course it’s a brawl to start with Lawler getting the better of it. Almost as I type that, Lawler misses a charge and falls out to the floor. The brawl heads to the ramp and Lawler is crotched on the barricade. BG pulls on his leg and Lawler of course freaks out because he’s uncomfortable with any male doing anything to his crotch. They head to the announce table and Lawler looks around for April, allowing BG to hit him a few times with a chair. West: “We have got to move this table somewhere else next week.”

Lawler whips him into the steps to take over before stealing a chair out of the crowd. That goes badly though as BG takes it away and hits Lawler in the head. Brian looks…..confused by the head shot and they head back inside for the shaky punches. Lawler comes back with right hand of his own but Syxx-Pac is on the apron kissing Lawler’s girlfriend. He falls off the top and crotches himself, allowing BG to get the easy pin.

Rating: D. Now please let the story be over. This thing has been going on FAR too long now and the interest just isn’t there. I have no idea why I’m supposed to care about Lawler’s issues with his girlfriend but the story gets about five segments every week. It’s just not interesting but TNA keeps going with it over and over again.

The announcers talk about what we just saw.

We look at AJ Styles almost winning the X-Division Title last week with the help of his new manager Mortimer Plumtree but the match ended in a disqualification. They also have a rematch tonight.

X-Division Title: Syxx-Pac vs. AJ Styles

AJ is challenging. Before the match Pac gets the mic and says he thinks this should be No DQ so we don’t have the same ending as last week. He also warns Plumtree against interfering. Feeling out process to start with Styles being sent to the outside. A big flip dive takes the challenger down and a spinwheel kick back inside does the same. There’s a surfboard to AJ before he’s sent to the floor again and into the barricade.

Pac throws the steps at Styles but only hits more steps, allowing AJ to send him into the post. Back inside and the Spiral Tap connects for two. I don’t remember anyone kicking out of that before. AJ cranks on both of the champion’s arms followed by the moonsault into a reverse DDT for two. Pac comes back with the spinwheel kicks and a sitout powerbomb for two. A lot of smaller guys use that move for some reason.

The Bronco Buster connects but Pac spends too much time posing and gets powerbombed out of the corner for two. Pac grabs the X-Factor but Plumtree pulls the referee out of the ring. Styles hits Plumtree by mistake but is able to grab Pac in a German suplex for two. Pac gets to the ropes to escape the Clash but Brian Lawler (erg) comes out and blasts Pac in the head with I think a bottle, allowing Styles to hit the Clash for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here but man alive I am sick of Brian Lawler. He’s all over this show and stopped being interesting after about eighteen seconds on television. AJ being champion again makes sense as he’s far more important to the company’s future than Syxx-Pac and a win over Pac is a good thing for his status.

Pac raises Styles’ hand post match because it was No DQ so it wasn’t really cheating. Lawler hits Pac in the back of the head with the belt.

Jorge Estrada vs. Ace Steel

Steel takes him down to the mat and rides Estrada for a bit. Plumtree isn’t out here with Ace this week due to celebrating with AJ. Jorge counters a leapfrog into a powerslam for two before getting two off a suplex. This time it’s Steel countering a headscissors out of the corner into a side slam followed by a middle rope seated dropkick in a nice move.

Estrada tries to bail to the floor but gets caught by a suicide dive. Ace shoves Jorge’s chick Priscilla down, causing Estrada to come back with a running DDT on the floor. Back in and Ace gets two off a superplex. Neither guy can hit their finisher so Steel gets a pair of near falls off a pair of northern lights suplexes. Priscilla grabs Ace’s foot, giving Estrada a quick rollup for the pin.

Rating: C. This was fine but it’s nothing we haven’t seen done better multiple times before. Steel isn’t much to see but there are far worse talents on the roster. The match came off as filler, but at least there’s something to it with Plumtree switching over to Styles instead of being in Steel’s corner.

Post match Steel goes after Estrada, drawing in Priscilla for the save. This goes badly as Ace slams her down. Plumtree comes out as well but gets in a fight with Priscilla instead.

Here’s Syxx-Pac with something to say. He talks about being out here several times tonight so he’ll make this quick. There are a few reasons he lost the X Title tonight but the biggest of them all is that AJ Styles is a world class wrestler and he won the match. On top of that though, he was worried about messing with Brian Lawler in a rib and it cost him. The truth is that April is hot but he wants to fix things with Lawler right now, winner gets April.

Here’s a stressed out Lawler who says he doesn’t want April anymore because she’s damaged goods. April comes out and says she loves Brian and that Pac forced her to kiss him. Brian whines like a 13 year old girl and the fight is on until security comes out to ruin all the Brian Lawler fun.

Don West hypes up next week’s show.

NWA World Title: Ron Killings vs. Curt Hennig

Curt is challenging and takes it to Truth to start before it heads outside. Killings sends him into the barricade and loads up the side kick, only to crotch himself on the steel. Curt chops away but gets choked with a camera cable. We get a pelvic thrust at the crowd from the champion followed by a middle rope legdrop from Truth for two. The ax kick connects but Truth doesn’t cover, instead hitting a middle rope fist to the head. Still no cover as the champion takes him into the corner for some eye raking.

A wheelbarrow slam is good for two on Hennig but Curt comes back with some more chops. Curt puts on an ankle lock of all things when the chops get old. Truth is quickly in the ropes so Curt kicks him low and backdrops Truth down for no cover. Mr. Wrestling 3 tries to interfere but gets taken down by a knee lift from Hennig. Curt goes for the mask but Truth hits Hennig in the back of the head with brass knuckles to retain the title.

Rating: D+. This was way better than last week as it was at least a match. It still wasn’t all that great or anything though as Hennig just didn’t have all that much in the ring at this point. Truth didn’t do much to help his cause either as he was mainly all talk and a bunch of kicks. He needed the right kind of opponent and an old southern guy like Hennig wasn’t it.

Overall Rating: D. This wasn’t their worst show by far but the stupid main event storylines are still dragging this show into the ground with Brian Lawler being the top culprit. The story with he and April is just horrible as I have no reason to care about either of them. If those stories with Jarrett and Hennig and Lawler etc are going to dominate the company, then the title needs to be involved as well. There’s stuff here, but it needs a few more edits before it gets good.

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TNA Weekly PPV #17
Date: October 16, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

We open with a much needed recap. Jorge Estrada issued a challenge to Sonny Siaki and they square off tonight.

Chris and Rick Michaels get a World Tag Team Titles match tonight after beating one of the Harris Brothers/Sonny Siaki last week.

David Young vs. Brian Lawler

In an old Memphis tactic, Lawler gets the referee looking at the crowd and hits David low. Young comes back by loading Brian up for an Alabama Slam but instead spins around and drops him face first on the mat. A DDT gets two for David but he misses a moonsault. Brian misses his top rope legdrop as well so David climbs the ropes again, only to have April wave at him, allowing Brian to hit a middle rope Russian legsweep for the pin.

We recap Sonny Siaki and AJ Styles attacking an injured Jerry Lynn a few weeks and costing him a match against Ron Killings. The beating continued in the back until Jerry was locked in a case. Jerry wanted revenge the next week but was sent through a barricade, forcing him to vacate the X-Division Title.

Sonny Siaki vs. Jorge Estrada

Jorge charges to the ring and the fight is on fast. A kick to the ribs hunches Siaki over, allowing Jorge to hit a spinning springboard Fameasser for two. Sonny throws him into the corner but gets caught with a springboard moonsault for another near fall. A suplex puts Estrada on the floor and a pumphandle slam keeps him down.

Jerry Lynn comes out and goes after Siaki until officials run out to break up the big brawl.

Derek Wylde vs. Ace Steel

Bruce/Jeff Jarrett vs. Hermie Sadler/BG James

Jarrett lays out Bruce with the Stroke post match.

Norman Smiley vs. Ron Harris

Ron goes after Norman again post match but Smiley fights back. Don Harris makes the save but stops Ron from attacking Smiley anymore.

Tag Team Titles: Chris Harris/James Storm vs. Rick Michaels/Chris Michaels

For the save of clarity, only Chris Michaels will be referred to as Chris. Harris and Storm are defending and undefeated. Storm runs over Rick with a shoulder to start before sending him out to the floor. Rick goes outside as well before Harris backdrops Storm onto both of them. Harris dives over the ropes to take both Michaels out in a nice dive of his own.

Back in and the challengers take over with some double teaming to Storm with kicks and whips into the corner. A nice dropkick gets two for Rick but Storm escapes over to the corner for the hot tag to Harris. Everything breaks down again with Harris getting two off a cross body.

The Hot Shots attack the champions post match to set up some new challengers. Rick and Chris help with the beatdown as this goes on too long.

X-Division Title: AJ Styles vs. Syxx-Pac

Back in and we hit another chinlock until AJ gets two off a Fameasser. Spiral Tap (called a twisting move by Tenay) misses and Pac nails some big spinwheel kicks to the face. Pac goes up but gets dropkicked out of the air for two. Styles tries his own Bronco Buster but gets kicked to the floor in a nice counter.

NWA World Title: Ron Killings vs. Curt Hennig

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nbebd|var|u0026u|referrer|kindi||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Weekly PPV #13
Date: September 25, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

We open in the back with Siaki and Lynn brawling due to Sonny costing Lynn the world title last week.

Tenay and West run down the card.

Sonny Siaki vs. Jerry Lynn

Tag Titles: James Storm/Chris Harris vs. Brian Lee/Ron Harris

In the parking lot, Bruce gets into a fight with a handicapped woman named Sara the Ticket Lady. Can we please end this character already?

James talks about a posse in his pants and their time back in the WWF where James stood up for Truth with the boys in the back. They go back and forth with stupid lines and the brawl is on with BG taking over. BG says that just unlike Demi Moore and Tom Cruise, he can handle the Truth. Next.

AJ Styles vs. Low Ki

The second fall begins with Low Ki being sent throat first into the middle rope and clotheslined down for two. A delayed suplex puts Ki down and AJ pounds away. Styles hits a standing enziguri to put Low on the floor, but as he heads out, Low Ki kicks Styles in the head. AJ slams him down onto the ramp to break another Dragon Sleeper before we head back inside. A sunset bomb is countered by Low Ki but AJ keeps rolling into a sunset flip for the pin and the second fall.

Elix Skipper/Brian Lawler vs. Scott Hall/Syxx-Pac

Post match Jarrett runs out to beat down Hall and Pac.

AJ implies that he wants a ladder match for the title.

Kid Kash vs. Jorge Estrada

Jorge goes up but Kash shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch him down. A top rope rana brings Estrada down but Kash charges into an elbow in the corner. Kash pokes him in the eye and hits a DDT for two, only to have his rana countered into a powerbomb for two for Jorge. Estrada busts out the TCB (Taking Care of Business), a big flippy dive for the pin.

Estrada demands his suit back and we see Siaki burning it in a barrel.

We recap Siaki costing Lynn the world title last week.

X-Division Title: Ron Killings vs. Jerry Lynn

Back in and the challenger gets two off a backbreaker and the same from a powerslam. That works so well that Truth hits another one before putting on a front facelock with his feet on the ropes. Lynn comes back with a reverse DDT and a powerbomb for two more but Truth stops him cold with a low blow. Low Ki is annoyed and yells at Killings, so Jerry rams them together and hits a TKO to retain the title.

West hypes up the show for next week.

BG James vs. Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett gets in some chair shots of his own to take over and we go back to ringside. Jeff slams him into the announce table and pounds on the back and face with the chair some more. Back inside we go for the running crotch again in 619 position and a sleeper by Jeff. James fights up after two arm drops and puts on a sleeper of his own, only to be suplexed down by Jarrett.

Both guys are down now which is likely a good thing given the ample gut that Road Dogg has on him at the moment. Back up and James takes over with right hands but the referee takes a shot to the head. Jeff wedges a chair between the ropes but goes face first into it instead, giving James two. Elix Skipper and Brian Lawler come out to help Jarrett but Jeff nails Lawler by mistake, giving BG two more. The referee gets rid of the cronies so Jeff can hit James with a chair for a near fall. BG hits the anal rape pumphandle for two, only to have Skipper and Lawler run in for a DQ.

Post match Hall and Syxx-Pac come out for the big brawl but Truth evens the odds and Jarrett and company stand tall to end the show.