JoeDirt

MATCH ONE: Monsta Mack vs. CJ O'Doyle: Mack comes out to RVD's old ECW music for some reason. Mack gets a "you fat fuck" chant from the Philly fans. He gets on the mic and says "I may be fat, but you're ugly, and I can get skinny, buddy." Brawl to start, and O'Doyle hits an edge-o-matic type move for 2. He goes up top, but Mack catches him with a big clothesline. and does a COCKY PIN for 2. He snapmares O'Doyle and chops the back of his neck. O'Doyle fights back, but can't knock the big man down. Chinlock by Mack, and then a backbreaker. Mack goes to a surfboard. O'Doyle fights back with a weird chinbreaker that does nothing for him. Mack takes off the forearm pad and lariats O'Doyle for 2. Mack heads up and hits a TEN STAR FROG SPLASH, but picks up O'Doyle before the three count. He heads up top, going for a VAN TERMINATOR...but falls on the ropes. O'Doyle heads up top but Low Ki runs out and crotches O'Doyle and hooks the Dragon Clutch on O'Doyle for the DQ at 5:40. This all happened because they needed to but Ki on early so he could get to Ring of Honor by the end of the night. Match was alright but blah. * Ki calls out Jerry Lynn to do their match RIGHT NOW. MATCH TWO: Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn: Lynn comes out saying he's not ready to wrestle yet...but cleanly shaved! Lynn ties up his boots in the ring but Ki jumps him, kicking and choking him. They go to the floor and trade chops. Lynn sends Ki into the guard rail, but Ki returns the favor. Lynn then backdrops Ki onto the guard rail chest first. They trade more chops. Ki rolls Lynn in, but gets caught with Lynn's leg drop in the ropes move while Ki is on the apron. Irish whip, and Ki pretends to blow out his knee, which nobody buys. He catches Lynn with a springboard kick to the head. He chokes Lynn out in the ropes. Lynn tries a sunset flip, but Ki blocks and comes off the ropes with an elbow. Ki hits some kicks to Jerry's face. Ki hooks Lynn in the dragon clutch while in the ropes, using all of his five count. Ki goes to a chinlock/sleeper move as they rest. Lynn fights back and hits his springboard sunset slip powerbomb for 2 on Ki. Ki misses a kick and Lynn hits a clothesline. Lynn floats over on a suplex with his inverted DDT for 2. GREAT counter by Ki out of the cradle piledriver into an armbar submission on Lynn. He goes for a dragon clutch, but Lynn rolls him up for 2. Great near fall. Ki hits another springboard kick and then the Tidal Crush kick on Lynn in the corner. Ki Krusher countered into a rollup for 2. They trade a bunch of two counts and Ki uses the ropes so the ref kicks his hand free and Lynn gets the rollup for the win at 9:56. Kind of disappointing they only got ten minutes. The first six or so were them just going through the motions, but it picked up a bit at the end, even though the match had absolutely no psychology. They've had much better matches before. **1/2 MATCH THREE: Rob Eckos and Strikerman vs. Double Trouble (Jack Victory and Rockin' Rebel): Matt Striker does a gimmick where he acts like a different wrestler from the past at each show. This show he comes out as a Sandman ripoff, and does a pretty funny job with it, carrying out a Singapore cane and a case of Budweiser. He chugs some beer and dumps beer on some of the fans. He does the "crush the beer can on his head" bit, except with a full can, and knocks himself out. His partner Eckos gets mad, so Striker pours beer on him. From what I've heard, Striker has easily been the showstealer at 3PW shows recently. Victory and Rebel are announced as "weighing 1000 pounds counting their egos." Rebel does the New Age Outlaws "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls..." opening, which is sort of funny. FINALLY the match starts. Rebel locks up with Eckos and heels it up to start. Striker tags in and light up a cigarette. He blows smoke in the face of Rebel, who oversells it like crazy. Victory tags in and gets a smoke from Striker. Victory takes Striker's beer, so they trade arm wringers to fight over the beer, while puffing on cigarettes at the same time. If you haven't noticed by now, this is a total comedy match. Striker pulls out some "weed" and rolls himself a joint. Victory tosses his cigarette and steals a puff of the joint, and then Rebel comes in and smokes some too. Eckos comes in and everyone tries to get him to smoke up, but he puts out the joint on the turnbuckle so everyone beats him down! The announcer: "Is that a heel turn?" The ref steals the bag of weed and pockets it. Something resembling a match starts. Eckos gets a flying cross body on Rebel for 2. Striker takes off his wig and shirt revealing a Dudleys-like shirt. He puts on some glasses and heads to the top rope, hitting a WAZZUP headbutt to the groin of Rebel. He tells Eckos to get the tables, but all they can find is a little dinner tray table. Double Trouble turns the tables (pun intended) and 3D's Striker through the tiny table (kind of) but Eckos breaks up the pin. That's just classic. Striker puts his Sandman attire back on and dishes out some Singapore Cane shots, and then hits the White Russian leg sweep on Rebel. He then hits Eckos by mistake. Rebel covers, and Striker just shrugs and drinks some beer, and Rebel and Victory win. Well...can't really rate it as a match, but it was some good comedy if you have some sort of a sense of humor and aren't just some completely jaded, pissed off, bitter Smart Mark. No rating. After the match, Eckos is pissed and Striker, doing the whole "you never take anything seriously" thing, saying Striker has one more chance to take things seriously or else they won't be friends anymore. Striker dumps beer on a really big girls chest as he leaves. Now we get a wet t-shirt contest with April Hunter, Jasmine St. Clair, and Talia. It's kind of funny, since the last segment showed lots of kids in the crowd. "Um, Grandpa? I'm going to the bathroom now and I won't be back for a while." Talia and Jasmine get in a catfight and Gary Wolf comes in and gives Talia a DVD. MATCH FOUR: Damian Adams vs. Ruckus: As the match is about to start, the 3PW champ Joey Matthews comes out and does some pretty good heel mic work. He says he's going to give a world title shot next month to the winner of this match. Obviously after Lynn got hurt and Ki cancelled, that didn't end up happening. Ruckus hits a handspring twisting something to start, and then a handspring move into the corner right into a Rocker Dropper for 2. Ruckus misses a move off the top, and Adams hits an overhead belly to belly. Adams hits a back drop suplex for 2. Adams hits an enzuigiri for 2. Ruckus back flips and hits a cool swinging neckbreaker. Back up, and he gets a back body drop and dropkick on Adams for 2. Ruckus hits a swinging reverse bulldog-type move for 2. Ruckus tries a slingshot in the corner but Adams catches him and slams him for 2. Adams gets a chair, but the ref steals it away from him. Adams tries to use a chain but Ruckus ducks and hits a backflip kick. Ruckus hits a twisting senton move off the top (no idea what he calls it) for the pin at 6:30. Nothing going on here, folks. Some of Ruckus' spots are nice, but Adams wasn't very good at all. * MATCH FIVE: Pitbulls 2004 (Gary Wolf and Mike Kruel) w/Jasmine St. Clair vs. Roadkill and the Blue Meanie: Brawl to start, and the heels get clotheslined out. Meanie and Kruel go at it in the ring, with Meanie getting an inverted atomic drop and bulldog for 2. Roadkill tags in, and they hit a double slam and double headbutt for 2. Roadkill catches Kruel on a cross body and slams him, and then hits a pump splash/elbow for 2. Meanie tags in, and Jasmine trips him up, allowing the heels to take advantage. Typical heel tag team stuff ensues, none of it very exciting. Kruel comes off the top with an elbow to the back of Meanie for 2, but then goes right to a LONG chinlock sequence. Meanie counters a whip and hits his DDT. Good thing, too, because he looks really blown up. Roadkill tags in and hits some body slams and then a double clothesline off the second rope. Sideslam/leg drop combo by Roadkill and Meanie gets 2. Roadkill splashes both Pitbulls in the corner. Meanie and Roadkill both head up top, but Roadkill gets shoved off and goes through a table (!) and Meanie misses his moonsault. The Pitbulls try to hit a double team blockbuster on the Meanie, but Wolf can't hold Meanie up and they botch the move HORRIBLY. The crowd boos, but that's the end at 8:15. REALLY slow formulaic tag match here. One or two nice spots, but really not very good at all...not that you'd really expect it to be. *1/4 MATCH SIX: Joey Matthews vs. Slyk Wagner Brown w/April Hunter (3PW title match): Tie up, and Matthews gets a quick rollup for 2, and then taunts and stalls. He's a pretty good heel, really. The criss cross, and Slyk gets a hip toss and then clotheslines Joey out. Matthews spits at Slyk and gets him to chase him, and then beats him down when Slyk slides back inside the ring. Slyk hits his press slam and moonsault combo for 2. Matthews dumps Slyk outside and whips him into the guard rail. Back in, and Joey hits a clothesline off the top for 2. Wagner catches Joey on a boot to the face try, and flips him into a leg submission, but Joey gets the ropes. Joey guillotines Slyk on the ropes and clotheslines him for 2. Joey works over Slyk, but Slyk gets a quick cradle for 2. Slyk hits a few clotheslines and then a big DDT on Joey for 2. Slyk hits his swinging sitdown uranage for 2. Leg lariat for 2. Matthews tries something, but Slyk hits a sitdown powerbomb for 2. They fight on the top rope, and Slyk shoves Matthews off, but Matthews shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch Slyk, and Matthews gets a hurricanrana off the top for 2. Joey gets a chair, but April Hunter fights with him over it, and Slyk accidentally hits a baseball slide kick on her. Joey BASHES Slyk with a chairshot on the outside. He rolls him inside and only gets a 2 count. Matthews then hits a double arm DDT for the three count at 15:00. They tried to make this a great match, but their was no psychology and only one or two good nearfalls. Still, better than most of the stuff tonight. **1/4 MATCH SEVEN: Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (no time limits): The story here is that these two wrestled to a 30 minute draw back in May, and want to settle things now with no time limit...hence the title of the show, "No Limits". Quick rollup by Daniels for 2, then Styles gets a few two counts before Daniels clotheslines him down. They have a really quick opening sequence with Daniels getting hip tossed to the floor. Daniels stops Styles on a dive attempt, but then gets kicked down, and Styles hits a pescado to the floor. I like the quick start to the match. They brawl on the floor, trading shots. They almost get counted out, and both slide back into the ring. Styles arm drags Daniels and works the injured shoulder as the match finally slows down. Daniels keeps fighting out, but Styles keeps arm dragging him and going back to the shoulder. AJ really needs a little more variety to his arm work then just holding it in an arm bar. Daniels comes off the second rope, but gets arm dragged and Styles goes back to the arm again. At 9:00 Styles tries his springboard into a reverse DDT, but Daniels just shoves him off the ropes and to the floor. Daniels comes out and hits a uranage into a backbreaker on the floor. Daniels finally takes over and starts to work the back of Styles with really simple stuff, like body slams, a gutwrench suplex, a whip into the corner turnbuckles, and a back body drop. Daniels snapmares Styles and kicks him in the back a bunch. Styles fights out and hits the ropes, but Daniels hits a sidewalk slam for 2. Styles then gets caught coming out of the corner and Daniels hits a spinebuster for 2. A very WWE-styled match so far from these two, really. Daniels suplexes Styles a few times and then goes to a chinlock. Styles fights out but Daniels catches him and brings him to the top rope in a fireman's carry, but Styles slips out an hits a sunset flip powerbomb. Styles hits a discus clothesline and the springboard into a reverse DDT for 2. Styles hits a neckbreaker for 2. Daniels then ends up on the apron and they fight over a suplex, with Styles finally just kicking Daniels off the apron and to the floor. Styles then hits a CRAZY somersault plancha onto Daniels to a big "HOLY SHIT!" chant from the fans. Styles rolls Daniels back in and tries a springboard move, but Daniels pulls the ref in the way to keep Styles from doing the move, and then shoves Styles off the apron. He takes a GREAT bump off the apron into the guard rail. Daniels sets up two chairs and slams Styles onto them. Back in, and Daniels tries a suplex, but can't because of his shoulder, so he switches sides to use his other arm to suplex Styles. Cool stuff. Daniels tries another suplex, but AJ rolls him up for 2 and then gets a sunset flip for 2. Daniels then hits a big clothesline for 2. The Fallen Angel goes to a Boston Crab to keep working AJ's back over. AJ almost gets the ropes, so Daniels pulls him back and rolls him into a bow and arrow stretch. Awesome stuff. Daniels hits a fallaway slam on Styles for 2. He then sets AJ up top and tries a superplex, but AJ blocks and crotches Daniels on the top rope. Styles then hits a uranage off the top rope! Both men are down and out. Back up, and Styles hits a clothesline and a kick. They fight over a suplex, and AJ hits his cradle back suplex for 2. AJ hits a brainbuster for 2. Daniels uses Styles' moonsault into a reverse DDT move! Cool. It gets a 2 count. Daniels whips AJ to the ropes and hits a blue thunder driver for 2. Daniels hits a uranage and heads to the top rope for the BEST MOONSAULT EVER~! AJ rolls out of the way, but Daniels lands on his feet. They counter each other's finishers until AJ hits the ANGELS WINGS ON DANIELS FOR 2! The crowd is REALLY buzzing by this point. AJ goes for the Styles Clash but Daniels backdrops out of it and then hits the Last Rites...FOR 2! Daniels tries again, but AJ counters into a discus lariat. They fight back to their feet and trade shots. Daniels narrowly avoids the Styles Clash, and then rolls up Styles for the pin using the ropes at about 35:00. I really wish they had a better finish, but that was EASILY the best match of the night. The funny thing is that there was very little wrestling. However, the psychology was good (the only match of the night to have ANY), and the action and work in this match was terrific. ***3/4 Standing ovation for both guys after the match. Final thoughts: Well folks...this show wasn't very good. Low Ki/Lynn was rushed, only getting 10 minutes. The Styles/Daniels match was great, but they've had plenty of matches before you can watch on better shows. The Striker stuff was amusing, but not enough to carry the show. If I lived in Philly I wouldn't mind going to a 3PW show now and then...but I just can't see becoming a regular buyer of their tapes. Their last show's 4-way match was supposed to be very good, though, so we'll see where they go from there. But they really need to find their own identity and their own stars, especially in Philly's crowded wrestling scene.

Statement: Sonjay Dutt, after his upset win a few weeks back, should be pushed over Sabu in the feud with Raven.

Jimmy Hart came out to open the show. He introduced Jeremy Borash who came out with the TNA Girls. XPLOSION MATCHES (1) The 3 Live Kru beat Kid Kash & Dallas & Michael Shane. The finish came when Ron "The Truth" Killings hit the scissor kick. A solid and fun opening match. The 3 Live Kru definitely knows how to work the crowd. (2) A.J. Styles beat Alex Shelly. This was the match of night by far. This was just an awesome match and it's too bad that it wasn't on Impact. The finish saw Styles roll up Shelly for the win. Excellent match. Abyss ran out after the match and went after Styles but Styles got out of the ring before Abyss had a chance to do anything. This led to Goldylocks chewing out Abyss. IMPACT TAPINGS (1) "Wildcat" Chris Harris wrestled "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels to a time limit draw. Pretty good match with some nice work from both men. The crowd wasn't really into the match and the start but with solid effort by both men the crowd was pretty into it by the end. After time ran out Larry Zbyszko came out and said that it would be too difficult to declare a winner therefore next Wednesday it will be Triple X vs. America's Most Wanted vs. The Naturals. (2) The Amazing Red & Chris Sabin & Sonjay Dutt beat three local wrestlers. Another pretty good match that saw the end come when Sonjay Dutt hit a 450 splash. Sonjay Dutt looked really good tonight and had some very nice spots. (3) Team Canada beat Mikey Batts & Jerell Clark & Rod Steele & Bruce Steele. Rather short match that saw then end come when Petey Williams hit the Canadian Destroyer. Good match while it lasted. (4) Abyss defeated Sonny Siaki. The end came when Abyss hit the Black Hole Slam. Good match with Abyss being rather popular with the crowd. Abyss ended up taking out Shelly in the middle of the match which led to him getting chewed out afterwards by Goldylocks. The 6 Points of Impact aired. This week's guest is a NASCAR driver. (5) Jeff Jarrett beat Frankie Capone. Really short match the saw Capone get little to no offense. The end came when Jarrett hit the stroke. Not all that great of a match. (6) Jeff Hardy beat Kazarian. Jeff Hardy got the win with the Swanton Bomb after Michael Shane accidentally superkicked Kazarian. Solid match with Hardy being very popular with the ladies. Hardy seems to be making some improvements with his in-ring work. Show Notes: Really good show this week. Several really good match especially Styles versus Shelly. I really can't say enough about that match. Its not that it went so long, it only went about ten minutes, but it was excellent while it lasted. It had a little bit of everything and everything went perfectly. Match of the night by far. I'm tired of seeing a Jeff Jarrett one-minute squash every week. It just seems like a big waste of time to me. It does nothing to help his character like they seem to think it does. It just makes it look like he's not that good of a wrestler. Crowd Notes: Tonight was the biggest crowd that I have seen in a couple weeks. At least since Hurricane Charley came through. The crowd was also the loudest its ever been. I think that's because its starting to become more fans than tourists. For the first couple weeks it was mostly people from Universal Studios that just came because they had a free ticket not because they came to see wrestling. Now its mostly fans who came to see a wrestling event so they're loud and into the show and that always makes for a fun environment. Good show tonight

Rebuttal: Can Tomko cut a promo like Brown can? Besides, TNA is building up Brown properly, like a monster, whereas Tomko is doing nothing for the WWE. As a former football player, Brown can get them some main stream attention on shows like Cold Pizza and the Best Damn Sports Show. He's not super talented in the ring, but he has a lot more going for him than Tyson Tomko. Rebuttal on Michael Shane: He's not a great flashy worker, but he's solid and plays a decent heel. I don't see why there's not room for him, as long as he's not pushed down our throats. Statement: One of TNA's first few montly PPV's should be the second X-Cup.

Credit: Wrestlingobserver.com On April 9th, 2004 TNA pulled its signed wrestlers from Ring Of Honor, because Cary Silkin would not sign a document that would make him "personally liable" if Rob Feinstein was really still with the company. The TNA story was that they felt a relationship with a company owned by Feinstein would hurt their business. Doug Gentry signed, Silkin didn't, so the TNA stars were pulled. Fast forward to late June, Cary Silkin buys Rob's portion of Ring Of Honor, and severs all ties with RF Video. Everyone started to think about the potential returns of AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels to Ring Of Honor. Bill Behrens told Gabe Sapolsky it would be no problem once the split was finalized. Ring Of Honor sent all the paperwork to TNA, as requested, shortly after the split was finalized. Fast forward again to today, a week from a show in Boston, and 3 weeks out from Elizabeth: Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles are still not back in Ring Of Honor. Alex Shelley, despite being signed by TNA, can work Ring Of Honor. Chad Collyer can too. TNA has offered ROH other minor names too, but they will not allow AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, or anyone they percieve to be a big name to work ROH. This may or may not include Chris Sabin, not that Sapolsky wants him back anyway. Current word is that Red may be allowed back, since TNA doesn't see him as much of a star anymore. It looks as though the debate that raged in April has been settled. Those of us aware of TNA's long-standing paranoia about ROH believed this was all a fraud when it went down, and that this was just a great excuse to hurt a company they saw as a force taking away their thunder. They had earlier asked AJ Styles and Chris Daniels to split ways with ROH voluntarily, and both said no, so they came up with the contract. Shortly after TNA pulled its talent from Ring Of Honor, Jeff Jarrett had a long meeting with AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels, where he promised they could return if Cary Silkin would sign that contract, and/or legally prove Feinstein was gone. Well, Rob is gone now for sure, and those guys aren't back. In the week leading up to the 7/17 Rexplex ROH show, Gabe put in multiple calls to TNA, but Jarrett returned none of them. It was around this time that everyone started realizing that maybe it wasn't going to be so easy after all. Chris Daniels cleared his schedule for ROH 8/7, and told people privately that he expected to return to ROH on that day. All the way up until that day, ROH tried to get him cleared to work their show, and TNA wouldn't do it. Bob Ryder said on his website in April that if ROH would ever sign that document in the future, all the TNA guys could come back. Does that deal still hold up? No, it doesn't, because the contract was a red herring all along. Their justification is that Gabe lied. Yes, you read that right. Because they think Gabe lied to them, they want him to admit he knew Feinstein was there all along, and was complicit in hiding his involvement. Reality is quite different, as Gabe/Cary were clearly moving towards a split with Feinstein after Gabe found out what was going on, and at worst told white lies to keep the company afloat while trying to remove Feinstein. If Gabe really knew all along, and was masterminding a grand conspiracy to allow Rob to continue profiting, why was he adamant about a complete split after the April emails where Rob said he was still involved? Are we really to believe that Gabe was complicit in protecting a man that forced him to cancel his wedding and almost killed ROH, even though they had been on bad terms for months? The story doesn't check out. To ban your workers from working for any wrestling promoter that has lied is completely absurd, given the fact that all wrestling promoters have told lies, big or small. The results and impact this has on the workers is even worse. Christopher Daniels now has nowhere to work on August 28th, because his H2 booking (which TNA signed him up for without asking him) was canceled, and TNA won't let him work the ROH show. When TNA was created, the whole idea was that they were offering 4 mid-week bookings on top of whatever you could do on the indies. Now workers like Daniels and Styles find themselves unable to work the indy that paid them best, all because of a one-sided dick waving contest. The new TNA standard for guys who can or can't work ROH really has nothing to do with starpower in TNA, either. Chris Daniels is part of a midcard tag team with an extremely green partner. He has been in one major program, and he had his legs cut out from under him. He is nothing more than a middle-of-the-show Impact guy. If Alex Shelley gets to work ROH, Chris Daniels should too, but it's really all about hurting ROH, where Daniels is a big star. On top of this, TNA continues to slash dates, and may even slash dates down to 3 per month. How sad is it that the supposed #2 in this country is so worried about an independent with no television? These people think they are going to compete with Vince? The workers that badly want to come back are powerless, and while it is certainly TNA's right to do what they're doing, they should come out and say what we all know is true: They jumped on the Feinstein situation because it was an opportunity to take the air out of Ring Of Honor, who they have been jealous of since day 1. It had nothing to do with a cable deal, public image, Silkin's signature, or any of that nonsense. ================ Interesting stuff...what do you guys think?

This one made me laugh. I've learned that any women who doesn't want to take her clothes off for a big crowd is just an uptight bitch, and that it's COOL for girls to be slutty. I've also learned that you should never hand a chair/chain/sledgehammer/etc to somebody you trust to finish your opponent off, because they'll always turn on you.

I was last a mark in 1999. At the time, I thought the Greater Power angle was AWESOME, though was slightly disappointed when Vince was revealed. I told my friends that I couldn't wait for a match between Undertaker and Big Show, because that would be an AWESOME match. Why? Because both guys were big and dominating and won all the time...so why WOULDN'T it be awesome, right? That's how a mark thinks! I rooted like hell for Test to beat Shane MacMahon at Summerslam. I talked to my friend, who told me I needed to see WCW Starcade 1998 to see the match between Goldberg and Kevin Nash, which he called "really short, but one of the best matches ever." But then after Summerslam 1999 I started reading stuff by Scott Keith and Herb Kunze and reading about star ratings...and then about match psychology. And I started seeing more old wrestling, and was able to see the difference between that and 1999 WWF. So that was it for me...but what about you? When were you last a mark?

Another one before Summerslam 1999...Test is doing an interview about how he's taking out all the Mean Street Posse and is coming for Shane, and calls all the MSP "buttsniffers". That just seemed so odd everyone in the room I was watching the show with just burst out laughing.

I see them going around ten minutes...I also see them doing some sort of draw, so we get a triple threat match next Wednesday.

LOL. THE STEEL MOP! HE HIT HIM RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES WITH THAT SOLID STEEL MOP!

It'd be really nice if the X-Division guys actually got some storyline or character development, too. But we have to make time for the Dusty/Russo angle, which will OBVIOUSLY lead to a great blowoff match.

What have you learned from watching wrestling for so many years? For me? If I'm ever in a fight with a Samoan, I'll know not to try to headbutt him. You?

Anyone else remember the Steve Blackman promo right before Summerslam 1999 where he stared at Terry Taylor the whole time? That made me laugh. "Shamrock...this has to end one way....[finally looks at the camera] ...OR ANOTHER!"

Just as a quick reminder...how good were the "44 Ways..." and "Rocktoberfest" shows? I seem to remember that Rocktoberfest was very good, but don't know anything about the other one.

Statement #1: The WWE should book Velocity and Heat like they used to book Heat back in 98-99, with at least one big match each show and even some occasional angle development or a big in-ring interview, instead of using it as a "squash match and clip show" show. Statement #2: The WWE writers give us no reason to care about 90% of the roster.

Maybe she got hurt by having to carry her gigantic funbags aroun-sorry, sorry, that was just too easy.

As a followup to the inital announcement of the IWA-MS 9/15 Evansville Armory card, a few additional matches have been confirmed. Here's your up to the minute lineup for that event... ***IWA World Heavyweight Title Match*** [Champion] PETEY WILLIAMS vs. CM PUNK ***Rematch From Simply The Best 5*** "The Phenomenal" AJ STYLES vs. MATT SYDAL ***Tables Match*** [2003 KOTDM] MAD MAN PONDO vs. [2002 KOTDM] THE NECRO BUTCHER Plus CHRIS HERO, DELIRIOUS, BJ WHITMER, DANNY DANIELS, CORPORAL ROBINSON, CASH FLO, DAIZEE HAZE, MICKIE KNUCKLES, and more stars to be added during the coming weeks. To clear up any questions concerning the situation between Ian Rotten and CCW in Evansville earlier this week, Ian would like the fans to know that this situation is by no means "part of the show," or setting up any sort of CCW vs. IWA event. Ian was informed via answering machine message on Tuesday that "it's time for a change" at CCW, and he was being let go as booker, but was invited to stay on as a wrestler. He decided that the fans of Evansville deserve the option of seeing the shows he can give to them as a booker, and at this point the only way to do that is to bring full fledged IWA-MS events to town. Fans who might have any further questions about the situation are more than welcome to ask Ian himself on 9/15, and he'd be happy to give everyone honest answers. IWA looks forward to adding Evansville, Indiana to its schedule, and providing a town with great wrestling history with the very best product possible. It all begins 9/15!

Are they just on cruise control until 9/8? Or until the 11/7 PPV? I was telling a friend the other day how I KNEW the AMW vs. XXX match would be a no contest with interference by the Naturals. It's lack of creativity by the TNA booking team that amazes me. Remember when Kazarian and Shane had their ladder match to see who would face Chris Sabin for the X-title and Sabin interfered for a no contest (which set up Ultimate X1)? I mean come on...use some CREATIVITY here, people!

With this show, the TPI, the PWG show on 9/4, ROH and CZW on 9/11, September is going to be a GREAT month for indy wrestling.

5 -- ERIC YOUNG & JOHNNY DEVINE & SCOTT D'AMORE vs. KONNAN & B.G. JAMES They've set this up as being a huge disadvantage for Konnan and James without having Dusty with them, but considering the partner of Young and Devine is D'Amore, a chubby ex-wrestler big mouth manager, how exactly does having the opportunity to isolate him in the match and pin him count as a disadvantage for Konnan and James? If I were a baseball coach, and my opposing team added a retired, chubby ex-baseball player as a tenth man in the batting order, that'd hardly be considered a disadvantage. It would instead be a "sure out" every time that guy stepped up to the plate. So either D'Amore never tags in, in which case it's two-on-two, or he tags in and is a big step down from the actual wrestlers he manages, in which case Konnan and James get to beat him up instead actual current wrestlers. Tenay and West must get a headache having to act so absolutely stupid when reacting to each of these dumbed-down angles. I hate to be so negative, but there's no point in sugarcoating a product that is so half-assed because you want to be "supportive of the industry." It doesn't do the industry any good to have a legitimate contender to be a no. 2 promotion that employs dozens of wrestlers full time with a dream money backer funding it week after week be putting out such a shoddy product, blowing such a great opportunity, and turning away potential fans who check out the product for the first time each week. I can only hope when the schedule slows down, they are able to catch their breath in September and October and produce a more intelligent, compelling product once a month starting in November. If they think this shallow booking makes no difference, they're limiting themselves to fans who don't notice or care about the product making any sense. That's a smaller audience than the majority of potential customers who want to be drawn emotionally into a well-told story, but won't settle for nonsense like this. With James beat down at 6:00, D'Amore tagged in and took some cheap shots, then tagged Young back in. That hardly constitutes a "major advantage" for James and Konnan. At 8:40 Konnan hot-tagged into the match and worked over Young and Devine at the same time with a double-clothesline. Then they shoved D'Amore into the ropes, but he bailed out of the ring. Konnan tossed young out of the ring. Dusty made his way to ringside through the crowd. He went after D'Amore as he threatened to hit James with a hockey stick. Dusty gave him a series of bionic elbows. James then gave Young a pump handle slam for the three count. Vince Russo then came to ringside and reversed the decision due to outside interference. Tenay said that was the first time he could recall Russo overturning a decision by a referee. Russo then yelled at Dusty as Dusty was about to drive away. Dusty said, "This is not over." Russo said, "Don't show up at Impact on Friday. You're suspended." WINNERS: Team Canada via reversed decision at 10:15. STAR RATING: *1/4 -A brief vignette aired plugging Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy on Sept. 8. This feud has been so undeveloped, also. They have been promoting it for a month and you couldn't even write ten sentences detailing any depth to the storyline. It comes down to this: "Jeff Hardy was in the WWF, he has charisma, and he's cool to watch; he won a no. 1 contender's match and now gets a title shot. Jeff Jarrett doesn't want to defend against him because he isn't a fighting champion, but he spend as much time bad-mouthing Monty Brown. Jeff Hardy wants the title, or so we assume based on him talking about his destiny. Hardy also hangs around the Asylum and runs in on brawls at the end of shows he isn't even scheduled to wrestle on." That's about five sentences. Am I missing anything? And how much of those five sentences wasn't established three or four weeks ago? What's happened since then to add layers to the hype and build to a crescendo? Nothing. -Tenay and West got in their weekly ringside plugs for the website and the announced matches for the next two weeks. -Hudson interviewed Monty Brown who gave an intense promo vowing that he's in line for a title match against the winner of the Sept. 8 match. Jeff Jarrett interrupted and told Brown that he isn't standing in his way of a World Title shot because he'd give him a shot any day of the week. He said Jeff Hardy is the one standing in his way. Jarrett tried to trick Brown into taking out Hardy so he can have his title shot. Brown said it all sounded good, "but you look like a liar, you smell like a liar, and the Alpha Male doesn't trust you one bit," he said. Jarrett said he doesn't trust anyone in the arena, let alone the wrestling business. He said they do share a common enemy, Vince Russo. He wished him luck later.

Statement: It's been over 10 years since being a tag team champion meant anything in the WWF/E.

Keller ripping on TNA is kinda funny. Seems like an "eh" show so far.

From PWTorch: NA PPV REPORT AUGUST 25, 2004 LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN. -Frankie Kazarian, Michael Shane, and Traci told viewers not to steal cable. I still can't over the sheer stupidity of having heels tell viewers not to steal cable. I can't over the sheer counterproductiveness of drawing attention to cable theft in the first place. It just tells everyone who paid that they're paying on an "honor system" and if they didn't know already, there's a way to get the shows for free. InDemand should order TNA to stop drawing attention to the issue. -A highlight package aired of recent angles and feuds. -They went backstage live to Scott D'Amore demanding to Larry Zbyszko that Dusty Rhodes get banned. D'Amore compained about getting banned from ringside. He said everyone should be treated equally. Zbyszko said he needs to talk to Vince Russo. D'Amore said he thought Zbyszko would help, but if he needs to he'll go find Russo himself. 1 -- FRANKIE KAZARIAN & MICHAEL SHANE (w/Traci) vs. PSICOSIS & LA PARK Tenay said the Asylum was jam-packed with fans. Word must be spreading that TNA is moving out of that building next month. At 4:00 when La Parka tagged in, he got too cute with a dance giving Kazarian a chance to take control. La Parka came back quickly and dove onto Kazarian at ringside. Shane hit La Parka from behind with a chair at ringside as Traci distracted him. Shane and Kazarian dominated for several minutes and finished off Psicosis thanks to Traci distracted La Parka by hitting the leg sweep/superkick combo. WINNER: Shane & Kazarian at 9:23 when Shane pinned Psicosis. STAR RATING: *3/4 -- Nice opening ten minute match. -D'Amore and Team Canada charged to the ring and demanded to speak to Russo or they wouldn't leave the ring. Russo told D'Amore to set up an appointment to see him, not demand to see him on live TV. When he tried to leave the ring, Team Canada stopped him. Russo told D'Amore if he bumped into him again, it's be the last time he bumped into anyone. Oh, goodie, an executive acting like a tough guy on TV. Eventually Konnan, B.G. James, and Dusty Rhodes came to the ring. Russo got in Dusty's face and said he's going to instill a riot in the people if he keeps up his "shenanegans." "As much as this kills me," Russo said, "you have been out of control and given me no choice. As of tonight you are suspended and banned from this building." Team Canada celebrated on the rampway and began singing the Canadian National Anthem. Tenay and West wondered about the implications of that suspension on the six-man tag match scheduled for later with Dusty. West said Russo has been taking things too personally. Russo told Dusty the decision was made and it was time to accept it and get out of the ring.

IWA-MS manager and co owner Jim Fannin posted on another board: "CCW runs in the Coliseum in Evansville. The same building that USWA runs. CCW fired Ian supposedly because he wasn't a good trainer and IWA didn't acknowledge CCW's existence even though we had a title change there and had posts about them on our message board. It will be nice to put them under just like USWA and KCW didn't survive in Louisville going head to head against us. Good Day."

It looks like it's good old fashioned territory wars time, folks. Ian Rotten, who had been booking CCW, was let go by CCW officials so they could have someone else book. Rotten has responded by scheduling a show for 9/15, right before the TPI, CCW's home base, Evansville, Indiana. Not positive, but I think CCW has a show that night. Here's the official announcement: ===================================================== IWA Mid-South Wrestling, in association with NWA Midwest, debuts at the National Guard Armory (3300 Division Street) in Evansville, Indiana on Wednesday night, September 15th with "A Phenomenal Invasion." Bell time is 7:30pm. All seats $15. Already signed for the event is former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and TNA X Division Champion "The Phenomenal" AJ STYLES taking on MATT SYDAL in a rematch of one of the most talked about bouts in IWA during 2004, plus PETEY WILLIAMS to defend the IWA World Heavyweight Title. Also on the card: CHRIS HERO, BJ WHITMER, DELIRIOUS, DANNY DANIELS, CORPORAL ROBINSON, CASH FLO, DAIZEE HAZE, MICKIE KNUCKLES, and more of your IWA-MS favorites in action. IWA heads to Evansville with a fully loaded lineup of stars on 9/15! More card information will me made available during the coming weeks. IWA's Evansville debut will be just two days prior to IWA Mid-South's 5th annual Sweet Science technical wrestling tournament, "The 2004 Ted Petty Invitational." Mark your calendars for what is shaping up to be a huge week of IWA-MS action!