NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #58

 

August 20, 2003

Your hosts are Don West and Mike Tenay

The show starts with Raven and The Gathering, including the returning CM Punk, brawling with the New Church, which has now replaced Brian Lee with Sinn. Raven calls out the mystery man then the lights go off and when they come back on, Raven is bleeding and is now being hung by the New Church. They are doing a tremendous job with Raven as a face.

Scott Hudson is backstage talking with Jerry Lynn. After Lynn talks about how he has never been a primadonna, he says is losing money because of Callis. Shortly after that, Callis interrupts and informs him that he will only fine him $5,000 then has Red-Shirt security remove him from the building.

 

 

Ultimate X Match for the X Division Title

Michael Shane vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Chris Sabin (Champion)

Sabin bails and the other two men chase him but end up running into each other. They start brawling for a bit then Sabin and Kazarian wind up in the ring. Sabin hits an enziguiri and tries to traverse across the wires but Shane pulls him down and hits a neckbreaker. He climbs then Kazarian pulls him down and hits a neckbreaker. Sabin roughs up Kazarian but Kazarian puts him on his shoulders and Shane, who is on the wires, takes him off with a rana. Kazarian tosses Sabin to the floor and Shane and Kazarian climb and meet in the middle but Sabin takes them down with a springboard dropkick. Sabin beats both men with a chair until Kazarian kicks it into his face. Shane is busted open on the floor then after Kazarian sets up the chair, Sabin puts him through it with a catatonic. Sabin goes after Shane who is now pouring out blood from his forehead. Sabin goes back to climb but Shane runs in and takes him down with a chairshot. The belt drops down as all three men are on the mat. The bell rings as they stop the match in order to re-hang the belt. All three men are now brawling on the floor as the ring crew hangs the belt. Sabin saves a botched spot as he as Shane in a fireman’s carry and Kazarian overshoots a sunset flip and Sabin holds on to Shane and drops him down as he hits Kazarian with a basement dropkick. Kazarian then drives Sabin’s head into the mat in a Canadian Destroyer of sorts. He climbs across the cable but Shane holds him up. Kazarian drops but Shane climbs and tries a rana but Sabin powerbombs him off in an insane spot that pops the crowd. Shane is covered in blood as Sabin climbs up again. Kazarian blows a springboard move then climbs up and spears Sabin off the cable and the belt falls yet again. They stop the match to hang it back up. Sabin and Kazarian meet in the middle and end up taking each other off. Shane is outside and on the floor after getting shoved off the top rope. Sabin and Kazarian climb back up and Kazarian kicks him off but Shane comes speeding over and grabs the belt as the fans go crazy (13:27) ****.

Thoughts: A fantastic match. Even the belt falling down twice couldn’t ruin this as all three men busted their ass. They also got over the new concept, which was a great thing for the promotion as they are trying to find their identity. They are trying to push Shane, which is fine, but they need to do more than constantly mention that Shawn Michaels is his cousin if they want to get him over.

 

In the parking lot, Scott Hudson interviews Sonny Siaki and Trinity, who show up in a hearse. Two men take out a casket that represents the career of D’Lo Brown. This is going nowhere.

 

Double Bullrope Match

Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger w/Glen Gilbertti vs. America’s Most Wanted

West lets us know that Dusty Rhodes is not here tonight. They start by brawling outside of the ring. In the ring, AMW hit Swinger with the Hart Attack but Diamond breaks up the pinfall. Harris hits Diamond with the catatonic but Gilbertti runs in and hit him with the Chartbuster. Diamond rolls on top but only gets two then starts firing away. Swinger is on the floor with Storm and lifts up the mat and suplexes him on the concrete. AMW are getting choked out as the camera goes back and forth between each man. Storm breaks up a double team move with a superkick on Diamond then fires away. AMW takes the advantage. Harris and Diamond spill outside and rams Harris into the post. Diamond then accidentally hits Swinger in the head with a chair and storm rolls him up but that only gets two. That looked brutal. As Diamond is on the apron, Harris runs through the ropes and spears him off. AMW sets up Swinger for the Death Sentence but Gilbertti knocks of Harris and slides the belt into Swinger and he hits Storm behind the ref’s back for the win (8:27) ***1/4. After the match, they beat on AMW until security clears the ring.

Thoughts: These teams continue to have really good matches and the feud remains hot. AMW was really one of the best teams on the planet at this point.

 

Scott Hudson is with the Gathering. Julio is pissed at the New Church for attacking Raven and challenges them to a tag match. Shane Douglas interrupts but Julio attacks him then the New Church run out and they start brawling.

 

Sonny Siaki and Trinity are in the ring. Trinity is wearing a dress that barely covers her tits. Hey, anything to distract you from her face is a good thing. They wheel out the casket that represents D’Lo’s career as Siaki delivers a eulogy. This segment bombs as Siaki drones on then places flowers on top of the casket but D’Lo pops up and attacks Siaki. He ends up tossing both Siaki and Trinity in the casket and stands on top as the crowd chants for D’Lo. This was the loudest pop for D’Lo since he debuted in the company.

 

Hudson is with Christoher Daniels and Joe Legend. They run down their opponents for tonight, Jeff Jarrett and Erik Watts. Not much interesting took place here.

 

Slash & Sinn w/James Mitchell vs. Julio Dinero & CM Punk w/Alexis Laree

Both teams brawl to start. Punk takes out Sinn with a tope then Slash gets double-teamed in the ring. The New Church takes control and puts Punk in the Tree of Woe on the ropes then continue to hit him with double-team moves. Slash gets two off a vertical suplex. Punk fights back but gets double-teamed in the corner. Slash and Punk collide in the ring and both men are down but Punk makes the tag to Julio. He runs wild until Sinn catches him with a super kick. Punk goes up for a rana on Sinn but Slash throws powder in his face and Sinn takes him down with a super powerbomb but that only gets two. Julio puts Sinn on his shoulders and Punk takes him down with a blockbuster and that gets two. Mtichell tries to interfere but Alexis crotches him and hits Slash with a tornado DDT. Julio hits Slash with a full nelson slam but Shane Douglas runs in and hits Julio with a chain as the ref checks on Mitchell, then places Slash on top and he gets the win (7:07) **1/2. After the match, Douglas and the New Church continue their assault and end up cutting some of Alexis’s hair.

Thoughts: The match was all action. Sinn looked pretty bad but I do not think he was any worse than Lee, the guy he replaced. It’s weird seeing Punk be in a stable with Raven considering that they were feuding in RoH at the time. Slash was a really underrated worker and I wondered would have happened with his career if he didn’t team up with Jamie Dundee, who fucked up all their chances at a push while they were wrestling ass PG-13.

 

Mike Tenay does a sit-down interview with Erik Watts. He says that they don’t play politics in here, unlike the “people up North.” He then explains the difference between NWA and TNA in a convoluted manner that only makes sense to him and the half-wits who came up with this interview. He said that TNA runs the promotion and NWA runs the wrestling and this somehow resulted in Don Callis coming in the company. He is then asked about his relation with Jarrett and goes back to saying how he was held down by other promotions. This drags on some more and finishes eventually. A complete waste of time and one of the most pointless interviews that I have ever heard.

 

We are shown a video of AJ Styles and Vince Russo on vacation. The production values are shit and it seems like they at a Days Inn somewhere in a terrible neighborhood. AJ tells Watts that he will be there next week and removes his bathrobe and does a flip into the pool.

 

Joe Legend & Christopher Daniels vs. Erik Watts & Jeff Jarrett

Both teams start brawling on the floor. Watts leaps the rail and takes out Legend with a crossbody and they brawl in the crowd. In the ring, Daniels beats on Jarrett for a bit. Jarrett comes back with a flapjack and a dropkick but Legend comes in and Jarrett gets double-teamed. Legend nails Jarrett with a Yakuza kick then a clothesline. Daniels tags and puts Jarrett in a front facelock but Jarrett escapes and fights off both men and makes the tag but the ref did not see it and the heels go back to double-teaming Jarrett. He fights back again and tags and Watts goes wild and actually looks decent. He powerbmobs Legend on te turnbuckle and chokeslams Daniels but Legend breaks that up. Watts goes up top and hits a missile mule kick on Legend! Jarrett hits Daniels with the spinebuster and that gets two. Daniels comes back with an STO but misses the BME. Jarrett goes for the Stroke but Legend breaks that up with a super kick and that gets two. The match breaks down then Jarrett rolls up Legend for the win (8:18) ***. After the match, Jarrett gets assaulted but both securities run out then they start fighting. Jerry Lynn runs in and fights with Red-Shirt Security but gets dragged away. Then, two guys in Freddy and Jason masks run in and handcuff Watts to the railing and Jason hits Jarrett with a Styles Clash then reveals himself as AJ Styles then Freddy as Russo, who yells at Jarrett that he told him he gets no title shots and no gauntlet tonight. They set up a table as Russo calls Jarrett a piece of shit, and Jarrett gets triple-powerbombed. After that, they put Jarrett in the hearse

Thoughts: This is probably the best match ever that involved Erik Watts. He actually looked good in the ring too. The post-match angle with AJ and Russo was fine, even if I was obvious that those two were wearing the masks

 

A video airs that says “He is Coming” with Roddy Piper’s music playing.

 

Dusty Rhodes promises to give Glen Gilbertti the bionic elbow next week in their Bullrope Match. This was a taped promo.

 

West runs down next week’s show:

Gilbertti vs. Rhodes

Siaki vs. Brown
AJ Styles vs. winner of the Gauntlet for the Heavyweight Title
Michael Shane defends his title.

 

Gauntlet to Determine the Number One Contender for the Heavyweight Title

Wrestlers enter at 90 second intervals, with the last two men facing off in a singles match. Eliminations occur by either pinfall submission, or being thrown over the top rope. #1 is Kid Kash and #2 Ron Killings. They have a nice sequence of moves until Christopher Daniels enters at #3. He and Killings go at it as Kash watches from the corner. Killings gets double-teamed until BG James enters at #4. They 3LK work iron claws and continue to beat on Kash and Daniels. #5 is Sonny Siaki, who apparently escaped from the casket. He works on BG as nothing else of note happens. Jeff Jarrett’s music goes off at #6 but he isn’t here any longer. Siaki grabs the mic and says he will win the gauntlet. No matter how hard they try, Siaki will ever get over as a star. Not much happens until D’Lo enters at #7 and he cleans house. Mad Mikey then comes out and goes to the announcers table and rants about not being in the gauntlet then Siaki gets eliminated by D’Lo off camera. At least we get a replay. Abyss enters at #8 as Mikey continues to rant and harass Tenay. Abyss catches Killings and tosses him to the floor. He then eliminates BG with a big boot. #9 is the Sandman as Abyss eliminated Kid Kash. Mad Mkiey goes in the ring but Abyss tosses him too. Sandman tosses Abyss a beer then spits it in his face and hits him with a kendo stick a few times but runs into the Black Hole Slam. Legend enters at #10 and kicks Sandman in the face. Abyss hits D’Lo with the Black Hole Slam and has been booked like a huge monster and looks really good out there. #11 is Konnan and he goes after Legend and shows fire. Tenay lets us know that there are just two slots left as the Sandman gets eliminated. #12 is Shane Douglas and he goes after everyone. Konnan eliminates Legend as Tenay says that Raven was taking to the hospital and not here at the moment to take the last spot. D’Lo and Konnan double-team Douglas as Raven does in fact show up as the last entrant, covered in blood and a bandage over his forehead. Douglas looks terrified in the corner. Abyss grabs Raven but he turns a chokeslam attempt into a DDT then he eliminates Abyss by tossing him over the top rope. Daniels eliminates Konnan and D’Lo but Raven eliminated him with a catapult over the top rope. Douglas and Raven are the last two left and they both spill over the top rope. Raven takes Douglas off the apron with a jawbreaker but Douglas hits him with a chair. He covers but that only gets two. Douglas brings the chair in the ring but Raven sends him into it with a drop toehold and both men are down. Douglas gets a few nearfalls  and goes for the belly-to-belly but Raven headbutts out of that and hits the Raven Effect for the win (22:18) ***1/2. The crowd popped big for that finish.

Thoughts:  A great segment overall. This was one of the better battle royal matches that I have seen. The built up Abyss like a monster too but more importantly they put over the challenger strong.

 

Final Thoughts: One of the best shows TNA has produced at this point. Their main feuds are clicking and all the matches were solid too. TNA has strung together a few really good shows in a row and are gaining a bit of momentum. Next week’s main event for the title between Raven and Styles should be excellent.