NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #26

January 8, 2003

 

 

The show starts off with a black-and-white recap recapping Vince Russo’s debut on TNA and the emergence of SEX, along with his feud against Jarrett. It’s a lengthy video, lasting several minutes. It did a fine job of helping the viewer catch-up on the product though.

 

 

Your hosts are Don West and Mike Tenay

 

Mike Tenay is in the ring, with Jerry Lynn, Ron Killings, and America’s Most Wanted. He also has old-timers Sara Lee, Corsica Joe, and promoter Eddie Marlin, who is the grandfather of Jeff Jarrett, stand outside of the ring. He introduces us to our “future,” two of the security guys, Rick Santel and Chris Vaughn. It is laughable to think that those two would be future prospects. He introduces us to the men in the ring, calling Lynn and AMW the MVP’s of their divisions. Tenay wants to see the progression of wrestling and re-tells a story of how in a production meeting while in WCW, he was sitting next to Bobby Heenan and listened to Russo say how he can make anyone a wrestler, naming off Judy Bagwell and David Arquette. He pleads with the wrestling fans to go on nwatna.com and support them in ridding Russo from the company. Music hits and Russo comes out through the crowd with SEX. A “Russo sucks” chant breaks out and he tells them that he loves them too. Russo says he will not rant and rave then says his own music played because he has friends in management. Russo tells Tenay he will stick his foot up his “Eddie Munster ass” and yells that he is here to save “this business.” Tenay asks why the business is down and Russo says its because people like Tenay are allowed to run their mouths. That does not seem like a legitimate reason t me. He says when he was in charge, ratings were at an all-time high. He says no one walked into “this shithole” until he came here as the crowd starts another Russo sucks chant. He asks Lynn how will he take care of his daughter when wrestling goes under. He asks Storm if he will go back to “shoveling cow shit in Texas” when the business goes under in six months. He calls Harris a “fruitcake” and says he will probably model men’s underwear before sarcastically asking Killings if he will rap his way to the top before saying African-American rappers are a dime a dozen and half of them suck anyway. He calls Santel and Vaughn “jackoffs” and calls the old-timers “dinosaurs”. He tries to be funny with insults but he has a subpar delivery and the material is lame. It comes across as a sad attempt to appear edgy. Sara Lee comes in and slaps Russo, who grabs her and a brawl ensues. SEX quickly gains the advantage until Jarrett and the Road Warriors run out and clear the ring. SEX retreats through the crowd. The storyline makes sense and Tenay showed a lot of emotion here but Russo’s insults are really pathetic.

 

 

The camera shows Desire tossing two of the TNA dancers out of the locker room and SEX takes over the women’s locker room.

 

 

EZ Money & Kid Kash vs. Tony Mamaluke & David Young

 

The new TNA logo is shown at the entrance ramp. It is much improved. Tenay brings up the rivalry between Money and Kash in ECW. Young and Mamaluke attack their opponents before the bell. Kash and Money quickly gain the advantage. Kash and Mamaluke are now in the ring. Kash gets an armdrag then slides underneath Young and pulls him off the apron. He slingshots out and hits Young with a rana as Money clotheslines Mamaluke. Kash and Money hits some really sloppy looking double-team moves on Mamaluke, including an embarrassing spot where they hook Mamaluke’s leg and try to flip him over but completely fail. Money catches Mamaluke with a spinning wheel kick for two. He hits a crappy looking running blockbuster for two. Tag to Kash and he gets an assisted DDT for two. Mamaluke makes a blind tag to Young and he catches Kash with a swinging facebuster. Young looks intense as West puts him over as being a new person since coming back to TNA. He spears Kash and tags Mamaluke. They hit a drop toehold/running necksnap combo which gets two. Mamaluke eats boot on a charge and Kash comes back with a senton for two. Kash runs into clothesline and that gets two. Tag to Young and he kicks Kash in the face before hitting a backbreaker. He gets Kash in a bearhug as Tenay is still putting over Santel and Vaughn as the future of this business. Mamaluke tags and tries a hug but Kash tags to Money. He hits a standing moonsault on both men and the crowd stays silent. That will happen when you haven’t established Kash or Money as a face or heel. All four men are brawling as Kash and Mamaluke climb up opposite turnbuckles and leap, only to have their opponents sidestep the attacks. EZ catches Young with a superkick and goes up top and gets a frog splash, getting two as Mamaluke breaks it up. Kash hits Young with a double springboard rana and gets two off a tornado DDT. Young catches Kash with a sitout powerbomb and EZ breaks that up. Mamaluke hits Kash with a back suplex and EZ tries for the Money Clip but is caught by Young but dropped as they blew the spot. Young whips EZ then catches him with a spinebuster for the win (7:42) *.

 

Thoughts: Suprisingly bad match. Everyone was screwing up left and right. Young came out looking okay but the sloppy action hurt the match. Also hurting the match was the crowd, which was completely dead by the end of this match. It doesn’t help that TNA has yet to establish Kash, Money, or Mamaluke as a heel or face.

 

 

Immediately after the match, Low Ki, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper run in and destroy everyone. Skipper gets on the mic, runs down TNA for not wanting to give them contracts or plane tickets. He says the best part about SEX is XXX, which is the name for this trio. He says there is no X Division without them and offers a choice, either you are with them or against them and declares the arena as his house. Jeff Jarrett runs in and clears the ring. He runs them down and says that he will face each one of them one-on-one tonight in three separate matches. XXX accepts the challenge. Jarrett says after he beats them, he wants Russo to come out so he can put him through a table. He tells Skipper that this is not his house. The segment was fine and it does continue the feud.

 

 

Goldylocks is with Bob Armstrong. She asks him about Russo getting more power and Armstrong says he needs to hit a grand slam. Lynn and Killings tell Armstrong they will make a stand as Bob gets on the phone and tells the person that they will be getting picked up as the announcers speculate as to who will be coming.

 

 

X Division Championship Match

Jason Cross vs. Sonny Siaki (Champion) w/Desire

 

This gets the boxing style ring introductions. Siaki shoves Cross to the mat off a lockup. They engage in a lengthy reversal sequence that ends with Cross getting a few rollups. They stand off and the crowd is virtually silent. Siaki punches Cross but gets caught with a rana. Cross gets two off a leg lariat as West puts over Cross for winning the ten man gauntlet and drawing the first spot. Cross sends Siaki to the floor and hits him with a twisting plancha. Siaki rolls in the ring and Desire pulls Cross’s leg on a springboard attempt. The camera misses some of the action and Tenay tells us that Siaki hit Cross with a low blow. Siaki chops Cross hard in the corner. Cross fights back but Siaki gets a knee. Siaki charges and gets hit with a knee but Siaki send Cross in the corner with an overhead suplex, getting two. Cross comes back with a rollup then sends him to the floor with an enziguiri. He hits Siaki with a slingshot flip dive but Desire runs over and clotheslines him down. That actually looked good, believe it or not. Siaki swings Cross into the steps then rolls him back in the ring and covers, getting two. They fight over a backslide and Cross hits a DDT as both men are down. Cross is up first and fires away. He reverses a hiptoss attempt with a bulldog, getting two. Siaki gets him in a pumphandle but turns it into a Fire Thunder Driver as Cross gets his leg on the ropes. Siaki tries for the Siakalypse but Cross shoves him away, into the ref. Cross hits a brainbuster then he climbs up top and gets a beautiful looking Crossfire. The ref is still down and Desire crotches Cross against the post. Siaki rolls up Cross for the win (8:10) **1/4.

 

Thoughts: Some really nice moves took place in the match. However, these two did not have much chemistry together and the match was flat. Siaki is still not getting over, despite a new valet and the X Division belt. It really doesn’t even make sense for him to wrestle in the X Division to begin with, seeing as they had nothing in the heavyweight division and he is better in the ring than most of the wash-ups on the roster.

 

 

Immediately after the match, Bob Armstrong comes out and orders Desire to the back and demands the match be re-started. Russo comes out to tell Armstrong that they aren’t “starting shit” as BG and Don Harris come in the ring. Russo says the people are her to see SEX and calls Cross a “punk” saying that he is in no condition to start a match as Harris and BG kick his ass. Russo and Armstrong argue some more until Russo says he will let Bob’s son do his work for him. Before an answer is given, Lynn and Killings run out and beat on Harris and BG. Armstrong orders for the bell to ring as this is now a match.

 

 

BG James & Don Harris vs. Jerry Lynn & Ron “The Truth” Killings

 

Lynn hammers away on BG as Killings flies over the top rope and hits Harris with a sweet tope con hilo. BG gets backdropped onto the apron and Lynn hits his leg drop. Lynn then hits him with a pescado then we see Harris toss Killings into the guardrail. Lynn ducks a chairshot from BG and kicks it in his face. Harris beats on Killings in the crowd as Lynn and BG slug it out in the ring. BG hiits some dancing punches but Lynn ducks and gets a crossbody for two. The camera is showing the action everywhere, making it a bit distracting, as Lynn gets two off a bulldog. Harris cimbs on the apron and pulls Lynn down by his hair, allowing BG to get some mounted punches. Harris chokes out Lynn behind the ref’s back and tags. Big boot and Harris taunts the crowd. He beats on Lynn in the corner until Lynn comes back with a reverse rollup in a clunky looking spot. Lynn runs into another boot and tag to BG. Double elbow smash gets two. Lynn reverses a double suplex into a DDT and makes the tag to Killings. He runs wild until Harris cuts him off. Killings takes him down with a leg lariat and hits BG with a scissor kick. Gordbuster by Killings and he goes up top. He hits a 450 knee smash as he completely overshot BG but someone in street clothes runs in and attacks Killings for the DQ (6:29) ½*. It turns out to be Mike Sanders from WCW. Security runs out to stop the assault as Russo is seen in the crowd, flanked by Low Ki and Daniels. Sanders smiles as security checks on Lynn and Killings. 

 

Thoughts: The match was nothing and featured the typical TNA tag match formula where you start by brawling outside of the ring for a few minutes before entering the ring.

 

 

Tenay in a pre-taped interview is with Percy Pringle. He looks to weigh about 400 lbs. He talks about watching shows as a kid and putting up the ring. They talk about his start in Florida then his first major gig in Texas with Rick Rude. He stayed in World Class for 6 years and e talks about his 12 years in the WWF. Percy says it was mostly good and brings up him being a road agent and working with talent development. Tenay brings up his managing of the Undertaker before the Sports Entertainment vs. Traditional Wrestling. Percy says he has no opinion and is not sure. He says he was at ringside because he wanted to be. Tenay asks if Percy will be managing in TNA and he replies by saying he is not on board…yet. I can’t imagine anyone being in suspense for this land monster to make a decision about joining TNA. Without the Undertaker, he would have probably been phased out in the mid-90’s.

 

 

Tag-Team Championship Match

America’s Most Wanted vs. New Church (Champions) w/ James Mitchell & Belladonna

 

This is billed as the final showdown between both teams and Tenay says that the NWA will not allow a rematch clause. AMW cleans house to start and destroys the New Church outside the ring. Both teams go at it for a while then Slash suplexes Storm on the exposed concrete. Lee hits Harris with a chair off camera and they brawl up the ramp. Slash hits Storm with a Michinoku Driver then rolls him in the ring as Harris gets shoved into the steps. Helicopter Slam by Slash gets two. Tag to Lee and he gets a big boot and hits Harris, who was standing outside the ring. Lee hits a bunch of punches that showed a lot of air and stomps him in the corner. Tag to Slash and he gets two off of a clip. He bites Storm’s forehead then stops a brief comeback with a DDT. Lee tags back in and hits three elbow drops before tagging Slash and hitting a double elbow smash. Slash grabs a headlock as the crowd chants for Storm. He catches Slash with a kick and hits an enziguiri, knocking Slash into the ref. He tags Harris but the ref turns around and stops him, as he never saw the tag. As the ref is dealing with Harris, Storm gets tossed to the floor and Lee hits him with the title belt. He rolls him back in and Slash beats him in the corner. Lee tags and grabs a chinlock. New Church try a double suplex but Storm counters with a DDT and finally makes the tag. Harris goes nuts and clotheslines Lee out of the ring. Slash hits him with a neckbreaker but gets nailed with a super kick from Storm. Harris covers and gets two as Slash gets some powder in his hands. He accidentally throws it in the face of Lee and Harris spears him, getting two. Storm and Slash do an Irish Whip sequence, ending with Storm dodging a dropkick and locking on the Sharpshooter. Mitchell breaks that up with the spike and Slash whips Stmr with the belt. Harris takes the belt and whips Slash but Lee wraps his belt around his fist and hits Harris, getting two. Storm takes down Slash with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors but Lee catches him with the Tombstone, getting two as Harris breaks that up. He tries a tombstone on Harris but he reverses, nearly dropping him in the process, and hits it for two. Slash catapults Storm into the corner and into a chair and that gets two. Storm kicks Slash and hits a jawbreaker. He gets Slash up for the Death Sentence and Harris knocks Mitchell off the apron before hitting the move, getting the win and the belts (14:15) **3/4

 

Thoughts: It picked up a lot at the end but the first half was the same as every other match these two teams have had. Storm did a great job playing the face-in-peril role

 

 

Immediately after the match, the camera cuts backstage to Goldylocks. She is with Bob Armstrong, who says he does not have time for her. Good thing they cut off AMW celebrating for this informative segment.

 

 

Curt Hennig comes out for an interview before his match, wearing jeans and a muscle shirt. He says he is sick of people talking about why he got fired. He then says he has a saying in the wrestling business and he spoofs the old Mastercard commercials. His saying is: “Paying your dues in the wrestling business, $141 million, being the greatest athlete in Professional Wrestling, $67 million, and taking down Brock Lesnar at 35,000 feet, priceless.” Hennig comes across as pathetic and bitter with his Lesnar stuff. He points at the axe handle on a pole and says he will make history tonight by wrestling Flair. He says that it’s in Flair’s blood to “not show” and says he ran his dad out of the WWF as Flair runs in from behind carrying a burlap sack but misses an attack.

 

 

Axe Handle on a Pole Match

Curt Hennig vs. David Flair

 

Hennig lands some shots in the corner. Flair rolls outside and Hennig removes his shirt and delivers more chops. Flair tries to fight back and cant even get into the right position and the whole sequence looked like amateur hour. Hennig goes into the ring and tries to climb but looks either too drunk or uncomfortable, pausing forever. Flair tries to stop him but gets shoved to the floor. Flair reaches in the sack as Hennig tries to climb and cuts him off. He gets a snapmare and a necksnap. Flapjack by Flair, who delivers some stomps then yells “Who’s Mr. Perfect” and when a fan replied that he was, Flair came back with “I’m David Flair.” That was a bit funny, actually Flair climbs but Hennig takes him down with an electric chair drop. Chris Vaughn is called in by Hennig and climbs up and gets the handle. Hennig takes it and shoves Vaughn to the floor for reasons I cannot comprehend as the ref rings the bell, with Hennig declared the winner (2:39) -**. Hennig celebrates and looks gassed. Flair runs in and hits him with the sack. He chokes him out on the mat until a few refs runs in to break up the action. Flair takes the sack and leaves through the crowd. Hennig tosses the handle to the refs and leaves.

 

Thoughts: Flair is absolutely awful as a pro wrestler and Hennig was just an embarrassment at this point. Sadly, this is the last PPV match for Curt as he passed away a month after this show.

 

 

Goldy tries to interview Flair, who blew her off. She expresses her frustrations of not being able to get an interview from anyone as Desire comes out of the locker room, telling her to stay away from her “boys.” Goldy gets defensive and Desire slams her down and start choking her. Athena runs out and goes after Desire as Siaki comes out and pulls away Desire. Looks like we are getting a feud between Desire and Athena.

 

 

Don West sells next week’s show. He nearly has a heart attack when announcing that the Amazing Red will take on Siaki for the X Division belt as the camera then shows Mike Sanders make his way through the crowd to the announcers table. He grabs the mic from Tenay and calls him a “piece of shit.” He grabs his shirt and calls his interviews “bullshit” and that he will offer Tenay and chance to interview Vince Russo one-on-one next week and swears a few more times before leaving. Tenay looks pissed off and intense, promising to interview Russo next week. I couldn’t stand Sanders here. Just a lot of swearing and he came across as a bad actor. I have no idea why people were actually excited for him when he appeared in TNA as he was okay on the mic in WCW but he sucked as a wrestler.  

 

 

“Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. Jeff Jarrett

 

Jarrett pulls up on a dropkick and slingshots Daniels to the floor. He re-enters and beats on Jarrett. He hits a leg lariat and poses as Tenay puts over Jarrett’s international matches. Daniels gets in some kicks and floats over on a suplex attempt and hits a neckbreaker. He stomps Jarrett and chokes him out in the corner. Jarrett baseball slides under Daniels and hits a clothesline. He takes Daniels down and puts on the Figure Four but its quickly reversed. Jarrett grabs the ropes and Daniels hammers away. He hits a jawbreaker then an enziguiri and gets two. Kneedrop then a necksnap gets two. Slingshot leg drop gets two. Jarrett ducks a clothesline and fights back but gets caught in a STO. Jarrett rolls away from the BME then gets his knee up on a charge before hitting Daniels with the Stroke (4:45) *1/2.

 

Thoughts: Fine for what it was. With Jarrett wrestling three straight matches, he isn’t going to go all out in the first one.

 

 

“Primetime” Elix Skipper vs. Jeff Jarrett

 

Skipper runs right in immediately after the match. He beats on Jarrett as BG James joins the booth. He tells West that he sucks as Skipper continue his assault. Skipper trips up Jarrett and hits a twisting slingshot splash before tossing him to the floor. BG tells West and Tenay in scathing fashion that they have the chemistry of a “third grade chemist” as Skipper tries the spot where you run and flip over the ropes, landing on the apron and lands on his neck. He rolls out and beats on Jarrett then they go through the crowd. Skipper kicks him in the face and slams his head off a chair. Jarrett fights back and hits Skipper with a chair. They go through the crowd as Skipper hits a spin kick as BG annoys on commentary. Back in the ring, Skipper locks on a sleeper. Eventually, Jarrett fights out and beats on Skipper. The crowd is dead as Skipper hits a German Suplex. Low Ki comes on the apron but accidentally hits Skipper with a springboard clothesline and Jarrett tosses Ki before covering, getting the win (5:56) *1/4.

 

Thoughts: Not a good match. Skipper had a rough time and nothing he did looked crisp.

 

 

Low Ki vs. Jeff Jarrett

 

Ki slides in and chokes out Jarrett with his foot as Scott Armstrong escorts Daniels and Skipper away. Jarrett fights back but Ki blocks the Stroke with a kick. Twisting elbow drop gets two then he goes for the figure-four necklock as BG continues to ramble on commentary. Ki beats on Jarrett in the corner then puts on a headlock, using the ropes for leverage as Tenay asks BG how he could turn his back on his father. Jarrett fights out as it appears that BGs mic goes out. Jarrett blocks the hanging Dragon attempt and takes Ki outside. He whips him into the guardrail then off of the announcers table repeatedly. Ki hits a low low and then a chairshot on Jarrett. Ki slingshots in and puts the Dragon Clutch on Jarrett. He breaks and Ki connects with several kicks and knee strikes. Jarrett catches Ki’s leg and tries for the figure four but Ki blocks that. Jarrett gets a low kick and then a backdrop. He knocks the returning Daniels and Skipper off of the apron but is caught with a basement dropkick by Ki. The ref deals with Skipper and Jarrett goes low then hits the Stroke. Jarrett covers but Daniels and Skipper run in and the ref rings the bell for the DQ (6:51) **1/4. XXX continues to beat on Jarrett until the Road Warriors run in for the save. They hit Daniels with the Doomsday Device but AJ Styles runs in and attacks the Road Warriors. SEX runs out and they assault Jarrett and the Road Warriors. Russo comes out and congratulates AJ with BG, but he blows them off and walks away, pissing off BG. They grab a table and hold Jarrett down as XXX are on the same turnbuckle but Dusty Rhodes comes out and hits a few bionic elbows as SEX retreats and the show goes off the air.

 

Thoughts: Easily the best match of the three but once again, this was designed to further along the SEX vs. “Traditonal Wrestling” feud. It really seemed to get going before the DQ ending. In regards to Dusty as the big surprise, the crowd loved it but it doesn’t feel like it is helpful in the long run. With AJ interfering and blowing off SEX, it seems like he will eventually get a shot against Jarrett for the title down the road.

 

 

Final Thoughts: The main storyline is at least coherent. Also, the production values are much improved. However, SEX doesn’t have a star to carry the group and just about every match has them running in and interfering. The wrestling this week was not that good either as a lot of the guys had off nights in the ring. They ended the New Church/AMW feud so AMW will have to find new opponents. They seem to have broken AJ away from Plumtree and the X Division and with the Road Warriors and Dusty, they are bringing in stars from the 80’s to fight for traditional wrestling.