NWA TNA Weekly PPV #4 (2024 Redo): Feel The Fingerprints
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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