JoeDirt

--Gabe Sapolsky of ROH and Jimmy Hart were both backstage at the TNA show. Sapolsky was to have a meeting to work out a deal where ROH can continue to use Christopher Daniels, A.J. Styles, Chris Sabin and other TNA contracted wrestlers. We don't have details other than everything appears to have been worked out. --Hart is one of the conduits with Fox Sports Net. Others involved with the deal were also there, so there are still talks. Last we heard was June for a target start date, but until the deal is completed and announced, nothing is official. --The X division tournament for next week with the final three matches of Team Mexico vs. Team U.K. was said from those live to have been pretty bad. Nothing close to the previous X tourney shows. Credit: Meltzer

From PWI: "Ring of Honor booker Gabe Sapolsky posted the following on ROH's message board this afternoon in regard to his meeting with NWA:TNA's Jeff Jarrett and Bob Ryder: "I just walked in the door from the Nashville trip. First off, I want to thank everyone at TNA for giving me first class treatment from the moment I touched ground in Nashville. We had a very positive meeting yesterday and are very close to resolving this issue. This is my only comment on it." I have heard that many of the wrestlers were receptive to Sapolsky being at the show and there were several TNA regulars who inquired about possible work with Ring of Honor down the line as well. The feeling among the boys that it was just a matter of time before the situation was settled and everything would be status quo again."

Yes, I think everyone has been clamoring for the return of Kamala!

He used to be entertaining in the ring. He was like Benoit where he could get over just by wrestling well. The only problem was he wasn't near the worker Benoit was/is. He was good, but not good enough to just wrestle and be revered. I can't think of 5 ****+ Storm matches from his whole career. In ECW he quickly fell into contrived spots and quick sequences, you know, that all flash and no substance stuff. In WCW he had some decent matches but I wouldn't consider any of them "great." And as for around the world elsewhere I'll admit I haven't seen much of that, but if he had any mic work or the working boots of Kawada like some of you insinuate here, then he left them both in Japan. It's not *****, but Booker vs. Storm for the title in WCW on Nitro is Denver was a fantastic match. And let's face it, Storm deserves a job more than John Heidenreich or plenty others.

If anyone's watching, feel free to post thoughts here during the show...

How did Warrior come back in WCW to feud with Hogan? And why did he decide to do so and then leave right after he jobbed at Havoc 98?

The weird thing is that they gave him mic time before he got squashed.

"Jeff Jarrett is still trying to get Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall to all come in and work for TNA. He has apparently told them that they don't have the money they once had, but that they would be given great merchandise deals. At this point, Hogan and Nash feel that the show looks minor league."

What's your favorite angle involving a mask? Maybe Chris Jericho taking all the luchadores masks in WCW? Or Dean Malenko dressing as Ciclope in that battle royal? Or maybe Undertaker disguising as Kane, or maybe DDP dressing as La Parka and beating Randy Savage? What made you mark out the most at the time?

From 1wrestling... "David Arquette has apologized to those he offended for his WCW Title run. "The fact of the matter is it really upset a lot of people and I’m sorry for that. I don’t write the storylines. If it’s sports entertainment and entertainment is what it’s all about, then what’s the big deal? I got so much shit. It was ridiculous, hearing on the radio these morons tearing me apart." The interview during which Arquette discussed his ill-fated tenure n professional wrestling is posted at MoviePoopShoot.com."

Could someone fill me in on how bit torrent works?

3 more RAW's until Backlash. So far I think it's a safe bet that: Benoit vs. HBK (world title) Orton vs. Foley Christian vs. Jericho But after that? What the hell is going to be on this card? Victoria vs. Molly again? Flair/Batista vs. Dudleys again? Edge vs. Kane or some other heel? Shelton Benjamin vs. somebody? Any other ideas?

Hey, if anyone has WCW Fall Brawl 1997 (and/or Great American Bash 1998) and would like to trade/sell, send me a message. Thanks.

I'm lookin' for recent TNA shows. I doubt I'll find it, either. -=Mike Ditto.

They're going to need to enforce the 30 day rule on Jarrett, too.

So is Harris vs. Raven next week on the taped show, or in two weeks?

5 -- FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. AMAZING RED -- X Title match Good action early, but it was missing something to take it to the next level. Red hit one nice dive to the floor at 5:30. Late in the match, Red avoided Kazarian's "Back to the Future" finisher and then turned it one of those moves you can't tell who was supposed to be hurt. Kazarian followed up with a fluid slingshot DDT on Red. He scored a two count, the latest in a series of two counts that was beginning to frustrate him. Red fired back with a sunset flip-type slam for a very near fall. Red missed his Red Star and Kazarian rolled him up for a three count. After the match Kazarian got in Sabin's face at ringside. He slapped Sabin. Sonjay Dutt attacked Kazarian. Jerry Lynn and Elix Skipper ran out too, taking turns punching away at Kazarian. Sabin even hobbled into the ring and helped send Kazarian fleeing to the back. WINNER: Kazaraian at 9:02 to become X Champion. STAR RATING: **1/4 -Hudson interviewed 3 Live Krew. Killings said he is ready for the main event four-way match. Konnan encouraged some barking from the fans. He told Killings he and James had his back covered like a car seat. James concluded by talking about Vinnie Ru, who has been conspicuous by the absense of non-stop mentions of his name this week, much less promo time. -Tenay and West talked about next week's America's Cup tournament. West plugged NWATNA.com and actually got the URL correct this week. He plugged the Apr. 12-13 TNA wrestling school tryouts. Again, they should tape footage from that weekend. It would make for good first-episode of American Idol type entertainment. They also plugged that Kid Kash "and his family member" would be in action. David Taylor, formerly partners with Steven William Regal in WCW, led his UK wrestlers out onto the stage. He demanded the fans show some respect for the UK flag. I'm not sure that there's a lot of natural built-in heat for the UK flag right now. It's too bad they fell back on that tired flag-waving bit as their only hype for next week's show. There are 100 ideas they could gone with that would have better hyped next week's show than thinking fans are going to order to boo the UK flag. -Hudson hyped the main event. Sting walked in and shouted, "It's showtime!" Clips then aired of Sting's promo last week. -Speaking of Mr. Low Profile, soft-spoken and reformed Vince Russo joined Tenay and West at ringside to comment on the main event. 6 -- RON "THE TRUTH" KILLINGS vs. ABYSS vs. RAVEN vs. A.J. STYLES They showed Jeff Jarrett watching the match from the back. Russo said the last person he had to prove that he was a changed man to was Styles. Styles took a nasty bump on the back of his head when he slipped on a springboard attempt. Nothing really came out of the first five minutes storyline-wise. The opening minutes featured good, non-stop action with all four. Raven took a cheapshot at Sting at ringside with a lame punch that Sting didn't sell at all. Raven and Sting went at it. Raven brawled with Sting into the ring. Abyss helped Raven punch away at Sting. Killings and Styles agreed to dive onto Abyss and Raven at ringside in stereo at 6:30. Fans chanted "TNA, TNA." Killings chaired Abyss at ringside. Styles then chopped Killings and those two battled one-on-one in the ring. Raven returned to the ring with a chair. They went into a series of near falls with various wrestlers breaking up pin attempts. When Styles had Raven down for a pin, Jarrett interfered. Sting intervened. They brawled att ringside. Russo then ordered Jarrrett to return to the back. Jarrett threw Russo's white towel in the ring. Styles thought Russo threw it into the ring. When he turned to protest to Russo, Raven finished off Styles with a low blow and a DDT for the win. WINNER: Raven at 11:22 to earn a future NWA World Title match. STAR RATING: **3/4 -- Okay main event. I hope they don't pretend that Styles doesn't have access to a replay of what really happened. It will be really stupid if they play this out in two weeks as if Styles still doesn't trust Russo because he thinks he threw in the white towel when everone knows it's so easily shown not to be true.

Raven won the main event.

Kazarian wins the X-title.

I'm not watching the show, just following online...but I read somewhere that the woman with the English accent was Goldylocks with black hair? Amazing Red = .2 in ratings every week? ...

3 -- SABU vs. MONTY BROWN Brown attacked Sabu at the start. I looked away from the screen for a second and Tenay commented on Brown having just "marked his territory on the rope." I'm not sure what I missed; I'm not sure I want to. Sabu made a comeback in the first minute including a springboard flip legdrop leading to a two count. Sabu then put Brown in an upperbody chinlock at 1:00. TNA has not made any type of attempt to get Sabu over. He hasn't been defined at all as a character to their audience. He's just the mute who stands around Raven backstage. There's so much history to Sabu that Tenay could be adding to his commentary to help establish his character. Or forget history and just define what his purpose and goals are now. They haven't addressed why he doesn't talk. Sabu went after Brown at ringside with a chair at 4:00. He then pulled out a table. Tenay should point out that Sabu incorporated tables into his matches before the Dudleys because most TNA viewers probably see Sabu is a copycat of the Dudleys. Brown fended off Sabu and the action returned to the ring. Brown made some of his signature "difficult bowel movement" facial expressions during his comeback. Brown jumped onto a table and was going to leap onto Sabu, but he postured to the crowd, so Sabu got up and shoved him into the ringside barrier. Sabu then put Brown on the table, but side of the legs gave out. Sabu springboarded off a chair over the top rope with a legdrop onto Brown, breaking the table underneath him. Brown set up Sabu for a running powerslam, but Sabu blocked it and powered Brown to the mat for a two count at 7:30. Brown knocked Sabu off the top rope and leaped off the ring apron with a double axe handle onto Sabu. He then whipped Sabu into the security railing, then threw him into the crowd. They brawled into the upper deck for a minute, then worked their way back down the floor. Sabu tried to climb to the top of the TNA Dancers cage, but couldn't figure out how to get to the top, so he dropped that idea. Finally the ref called for the bell and ruled it a no contest. Apparently there is a 200 second countout rule in TNA. WINNER: No contest at 10:13. STAR RATING: **1/4 -- It had all the faults you'd expect with a match between these two, including awkward transitions between offense and selling, but it was all-action with good intensity and a variety of highspots and brawling. -Hudson interviewed Glenn Gilberti & David Young. Hudson called Young "sport," which would cause me if I were a wrestler to slap him for real because that's just inappropriately condescending. Hudson said Young has a losing streak going of 0-17 since October. Gilberti told Young this is his last chance to become a winner. Young promised he'd step up, but he couldn't believe the record Hudson cited. -Hudson interviewed Shane Douglas (w/Tracy) and Michael Shane. M.S. said he won't let anything stand in the way of what he wants. 4 -- SIMON DIAMOND & SONNY SIAKI vs. SHANE DOUGLAS (w/Tracy) & MICHAEL SHANE vs. GLENN GILBERTI & DAVID YOUNG vs. D-LO BROWN & APOLO Tenay explained that even though these four teams had been eliminated from the tag tournament in the first round, like American Idol, if they won this "Wildcard" match, they'd get a chance at the eventual winners of the NWA Tag Team Tournament. Mr. X unmasked as Apolo and was introduced as Apolo. Gee, the great idea of having him come in under a mask didn't double buyrates? Tenay said he is "returning to his roots" and wrestling again as Apolo. He's got a great face for wrestling, so the idea of masking him in the first place was pretty suspect. He looks like a star without the mask. Lots of tags and inconsequential action in the early minutes. Young tagged in D-Lo, which upset Gilberti who didn't want to give anyone else a chance to score a pin. Douglas and M.S. got into another argment, leading to them returning to the back and abandoning their opportunity at a tag title shot. Back in the ring at 8:30, Young worked over D-Lo. Diamond tagged in and gave Young a backdrop and a series of three vertical suplexes ("The Simon Series"). He superkicked Gilberti when he tried to interfere. Johnny Swinger interfered out of nowhere with a chairshot to Diamond's head. Young draped his arm over Diamond, but Siaki broke up the pin attempt. Back in the ring Apolo gave Young a TKO for the win. WINNERS: D-Lo & Apolo at 9:55 to earn an NWA Tag Title shot. STAR RATING: ** -Hudson attempted to interview Abyss backstage. A woman with an English acccent told him he is concentrating on his match. Hudson asked her who she is. She wouldn't say. He asked if they had met before. She said, "Have we, Mr. Hudson?" -A video aired of Amazing Red's highspots. If WWE hired him and got behind him with their production and hype machine, they'd add 0.2 to Smackdown's ratings because he'd add a dimension that Rey Mysterio is ten years past being able to do - providing an youthful enthusiasm and charisma mixed with an incredible graceful highspot athleticism unmatched by anyone else in WWE. But for now, TNA has the right idea by pushing him as something special. -Chris Sabin walked out on crutchees wearing the X Title that he has been stripped of. Tenay said the bad news is he is being stripped of the title, but the good news is his knee doesn't need surgery. Tenay said TNA executives wanted him to FedEx the belt back to them, but he said Sabin insisted on presenting the belt himself. He handed it over to the referee. 5 -- FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. AMAZING RED -- X Title match

-Hudson interviewed "Alpha Male" Monty Brown. He promo'd his match against Sabu later. His intensity on interviews rivals Ultimate Warrior. He seems to be jacked up on ten Red Bulls. He's not polished, but he's trying really hard and already his promos stand out as believable. 3 -- SABU vs. MONTY BROWN Brown attacked Sabu at the start. I looked away from the screen for a second and Tenay commented on Brown having just "marked his territory on the rope." I'm not sure what I missed; I'm not sure I want to. Sabu made a comeback in the first minute including a springboard flip legdrop leading to a two count. Sabu then put Brown in an upperbody chinlock at 1:00. TNA has not made any type of attempt to get Sabu over. He hasn't been defined at all as a character to their audience. He's just the mute who stands around Raven backstage. There's so much history to Sabu that Tenay could be adding to his commentary to help establish his character. Or forget history and just define what his purpose and goals are now. They haven't addressed why he doesn't talk. Sabu went after Brown at ringside with a chair at 4:00. He then pulled out a table. Tenay should point out that Sabu incorporated tables into his matches before the Dudleys because most TNA viewers probably see Sabu is a copycat of the Dudleys. Brown fended off Sabu and the action returned to the ring. Brown made some of his signature "difficult bowel movement" facial expressions during his comeback. Brown jumped onto a table and was going to leap onto Sabu, but he postured to the crowd, so Sabu got up and shoved him into the ringside barrier. Sabu then put Brown on the table, but side of the legs gave out. Sabu springboarded off a chair over the top rope with a legdrop onto Brown, breaking the table underneath him. Brown set up Sabu for a running powerslam, but Sabu blocked it and powered Brown to the mat for a two count at 7:30. Brown knocked Sabu off the top rope and leaped off the ring apron with a double axe handle onto Sabu. He then whipped Sabu into the security railing, then threw him into the crowd. They brawled into the upper deck.

-Scott Hudson interviewed Kid Kash and Dallas. Kash called Hudson "Scotty Not So Hotty" and told him not to ask him questions. Kash then told Johnny Swinger to go find himself a new partner. He said he and his new partner Dallas (who looks the love child of Kevin Nash and Al Snow). They keep calling Dallas a "family member" of Kash without specifying how they're related? Are they cousins and brothers? Are they married? What's the story? 2 -- KID KASH & DALLAS vs. SLASH & SYNN -- NWA Tag Team Tournament semi-finals Slash, formerly Wolfie D of the PG13 tag team based out of Memphis, prevented Kash from tagging out to his "family member" Dallas. TNA isn't big on original names, are they? Dallas... Mr. X... El Leon... Maybe they can give Jerry Lynn a mask and name him Mr. J.L. Kash DDT'd Daniels and hot-tagged Dallas, who didn't particularly know what to do with a hot tag. He set up both Synn and Slash for a double chokeslam. Synn and Slash escaped. Kash interfered. Four-way action broke out at 7:15. Kash springboarded and flipped across the ring into Synn's crotch with a kick. Dallas went after Synn and gave him a sitout powerbomb where he flipped Synn over his head in the process. WINNER: Dallas & Kash at 8:43 to advance to the NWA Tag Tourney finals STAR RATING: *1/4 -- Dallas is really green, but Kash worked the majority of the match. Pretty forgettable match overall. -Tenay and West discussed the NWA tag tourney finals. Then they went to footage of Jeff Jarrett wrestling in front of 18,000 in Mexico City against Latin Lover at AAA's "King of King's" event. Unfortunately, they didn't show anything from the match other than Jarrrett's finisher. The screen graphic stated afterward that Jarrett needed a police escort afterward to get out of the arena. It's a smart move to build up the "World Defenses" of Jarrett, though, because it does add credibility and prestige to the title. Then they went to footage of Jarrrett training at a Gold's Gym trash-talking his list of top contenders. -In mid-ring, Tenay introduced Chris Harris and James Storm with a nice build-up. When they walked out, Jarrett blindsided Storm with a guitar shot. He brawled with Chris Harris to the ring. Harris blocked The Stroke, and then hit his Catatonic finisher. Referees, meanwhile, tended to Storm on the stage. Harrris then set up a guitar shot on Jarrett with a spare guitar, but Raven stopped him and attacked Harris. Raven got in Jarrrett's face and said he wanted a match with him. A.J. Styles then ran out and came off the top rope onto both Jarrett and Raven. Styles chased Raven up the aisle where they brawled. Jarrett stood up and grabbed the spare guitar and bashed Harris over the head with it. TNA officials ran to the ring to tend to Harris. Jarrett stood on the second rope and gloated to the crowd.

I thought that match would be good.

I wouldn't care that I haven't heard of them if the matches were at least good...oh well... Maybe the tag/elimination matches tonight will make the show worth ordering. And there will be the Harris vs. whoever match supposedly as well.