Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 43: Anarchy in the Asylum

[Guest TSMAdmin]

The Dames’ Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 43: Anarchy in the Asylum

 

 

Hello and welcome back to this week’s Diatribe on NWA:TNA. Before I get into it, I have a few things I’d like to say concerning this report as well as reveal some information that sheds some light on last week’s title defense by NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett.

 

Those of you who have been reading my material for quite some time now, know full well that I don’t have the greatest feelings towards my cable company, Cablevision. Last night, my feelings got so bad towards them that I went as far as looking into Direct TV before realizing that I can’t switch cable companies due to my poor location. (I live semi-underground, leaving satellite cable just a fantasy.)

 

Last night, at around 8pm, I readied my VCR to tape NWA:TNA Week 43. However, to my dismay, the program never came on…and neither did anything else on pay per view. I came to find out that since Cablevision is switching to digital, they’ve eliminated their PPV channels on the analog system, only allowing those with digital capability to order anything. This was done without even telling any of the analog subscribers…AND the fact that we haven’t been given the CHANCE to get digital boxes! Basically…they screwed me and everyone else in the area big time.

 

Thanks to reliable Bob Barron of 411wrestling.com, I’ve gotten a tape of last night’s events. I’m going to try and have the Diatribe up by Thursday night every week, if possible, so don’t worry. Ironically enough, I was going to state in this Diatribe that next weeks would be late because I’m going to a midnight showing of The Matrix Reloaded, but now, that’s irrelevant. Hopefully, I don’t lose any of my recapping gigs over this…but I’ll always be at my site, TheSmartMarks.com, incase something does happen. Speaking of that, we turned 1 this Monday and I wrote a reflective piece on it which you can find here.

 

Now, moving onto TNA and the Raven/Jarrett main event from last week.

 

Some interesting information has been released regarding possible reasons why Raven didn’t go over as most of the U.S. anticipated. I only mention the U.S. because I’ve received many e-mails in the past week from those in the U.K. and Australia who have pretty much agreed that they felt Jarrett would retain. The reason why is because a Jeff Jarrett/Sting title unification match in the WWA promotion is being heavily promoted and if Raven is champion…then this match doesn’t take place, right? Not bad reasoning, however, this was news to myself and most fans watching in the States as most people here were unaware of that upcoming match.

 

Another reason, which may be even more critical, as to why Raven didn’t win the title is because he refused to sign a long term contract with TNA. It seemed that last week was his last contractually obligated date that he had to fulfill and TNA management didn’t want to take the chance of putting the title on Raven without a contract. Why Raven didn’t want to sign, I’m not exactly sure. However, with Raven being an important TNA commodity (lets face it, last week’s title match brought in more buys than they ever had), I’m sure that things will work out eventually between the two parties.

Now, I’ve blabbed on long enough, so lets get to the show.

 

Many were disappointed with the way last week’s show ended and so tonight begins the “TNA Reconstruction”, as Bryan Staebell calls it, in order to retain the fans that were intrigued last week and try to build up another match just as big as last week’s Main Event. We start off with a LONG video package (7 minutes) and it’s clear that the production values have improved dramatically as they recap all of last week’s important twists and turns.

 

The SECTION~! is shown as West & Tenay greet the crowd in the middle of the ring to talk about the main event tonight, Anarchy at the Asylum. 11 out of 15 slots have been secured in the Asylum match and the other 4 men will be decided in 3 matches tonight.

 

AJ Styles & D’Lo Brown vs. Low-Ki & Elix Skipper – The Winners go to the Asylum Match

 

Match Background: AJ Styles & D’Lo Brown have been going up the S.E.X ladder in the past few weeks, defeating the team of Gilberti & Sanders and the team of Sonny Siaki and David Young in last week’s Match of the Night, in my opinion. This is due to the fact that both men were screwed out of the NWA World Title by the S.E.X. faction when they received their title shots against NWA Champion Jeff Jarrett. This week, they are facing another S.E.X. team, Triple X, as Low-Ki returns from another stint in Japan and teams up with Elix Skipper to take on AJ and D’Lo. The winners of this match both advance into tonight’s main event as well, as AJ and D’Lo have even more motivation to take out S.E.X. D’Lo is a relative newcomer in TNA and has yet to face these two, but when AJ Styles was the X-Division Champion last June/July, he defeated both Low-Ki and Elix Skipper in title defenses.

 

The Match: Low-Ki and D’Lo Brown start the match off as D’Lo uses his size and strength to his advantage against the former X Champion early on. AJ blind tags in and hits a GREAT springboard dropkick to Low-Ki as he bounces off the ropes and pops the crowd. AJ has the full advantage on ‘Ki until ‘Ki is able to get a somersault kick to take over. The crowd chants for Low-Ki as he tags in his partner, Elix, who goes after AJ with a few ground strikes…but Styles gets his nip up rana! He hasn’t done that move in quite a while. He follows it up with a running snap neckbreaker for a two count on Skipper before tagging in D’Lo and collaborating on another innovative double team maneuver. Low-Ki comes into the match and throws the ref down in order to distract D’Lo and blast him with a springboard kick to the head. Skipper comes back in and hits a double mule kick in the corner on D’Lo before Brown recovers with a suplex. D’Lo makes the tag to Styles comes who is a HOUSE…EN…FUEGO~! and brings the punishment to both ‘Ki and Skipper. D’Lo comes back in now, but gets thrown to the outside where Skipper is able to take the advantage again. Back in the ring, however, AJ and Low-Ki are tangling it up. AJ gets on the apron to deliver a springboard SOMETHING, but Elix holds on, allowing ‘Ki to get up and knock AJ down. ‘Ki and Skipper work over AJ in the corner with HARD kicks for a two count and Elix sets up Styles for the Play of the Day. It’s actually turned into a sit out powerbomb by Styles and both men are down! Styles gets up and makes the tag to D’Lo and now HE is the HOUSE…EN…FUEGO~! Styles sets up ‘Ki and Skipper next to each other, allowing D’Lo to hit a double Shaky Shaky Legdrop for two. D’Lo and Elix crash to the floor as Styles goes after ‘Ki, but Low-Ki awakens with another somersault kick! He sends AJ to the corner and goes for the cartwheel kick, but D’Lo gets back in the ring and cuts him off! SKY HIGH NECKBREAKER COMBO~! by AJ and D’Lo! ONE…TWO…THREE!

 

Winner: AJ Styles & D’Lo Brown

 

My Opinion: Excellent opener between the two teams. I missed Low-Ki and am very glad that he is back. Everyone was on tonight and everything they did was smooth and crisp. I wish this could have been given some more time to develop. There weren’t almost any near fall sequences towards the end of the match and the finish did catch me somewhat by surprise because of it. **3/4.

 

We go to the back where Goldylocks is with Glen Gilberti and the rest of S.E.X. He goes to address the troops…but this time, it isn’t a motivational speech. He says that tonight…it’s HIS opportunity to be the #1 contender and he expects his boys to make sure that it happens. He compliments them all on the work they’ve been doing (smart move) and then says that he’s going to show them how focused he is right now by going after Jeff Jarrett!

 

West and Tenay once again run down the card as the production crew shows off their new graphic match ups at the bottom of the screen. Not too shabby…

 

Glen Gilberti heads up the ramp and heads towards Jarrett’s locker room where he busts in and starts beating on the World Champion! Jarrett is on crutches and didn’t see it coming at all! Gilberti starts nailing him with the metal crutches while Jarrett is on the concrete floor! Jarrett has a protective brace on his leg during this beating, leaving him practically defenseless as Gilberti continues to attack Jarrett outside near the production trucks. Security finally arrives to take Gilberti away as some local indy talent, who just happen to be around, help Jarrett back to his feet.

 

Sabu vs. New Jack vs. Sandman – The Winner Advances to the Asylum Match

 

Match Background: Last week, when Team Extreme came out to assist ECW alumni Raven in his title shot against Jarrett, Sabu came in for the run in and attacked them. Being in ECW for so many years, Sabu was considered an ally of Team Extreme. I’m pretty sure that Sabu faced New Jack sometime in ECW, most likely in tag team matches, but I can’t recall any off hand. Sabu had a feud with the Sandman in ECW, the most notable match in that series being a Stairway to Hell match. In that match, Sabu actually broke his jaw on the guard rail and taped it back together, like always, to continue the match. Once again, the winner of this match will go on to the main event tonight as one of the last two slots remaining.

 

The Match: New Jack comes to the ring with a trashcan as Jeremy Borash can’t even look the man in the face, in a nice touch. Sandman’s music begins to play, but New Jack gets on THE STICK~! and starts talking. Actually, he starts cursing. “Yo…cut that shit off!” New Jack completely goes over everyone’s head as he starts saying that Sabu forgot about the times he spent in ECW with himself and Sandman taking pills and abusing midgets in ways they should have gone to jail for. No really, he said that. He goes off on Paul Heyman for bouncing checks and not getting paid for their action figures and says that Sabu turned his back on them after all that. Add about 5 curses in that last sentence too. He THEN says that Jeff Jarrett turned Sabu into a sheep by bringing him in and having him do his dirty work for him. New Jack even goes as far as to say that he’s going to “be like the Tennessee folk and do what they do to sheep, put it in them.” I’m speechless.

 

Sandman circles the Asylum, drinking with the fans as Sabu makes his way down the ring. New Jack goes after Sabu as he gets into the ring, but Sabu recovers and uses a spike on Jack. Jack is already bleeding as Sandman comes in and it becomes Sandman and his cane vs. Sabu and a trashcan. Sabu wins that battle and nails him with it. We go to a split screen and eventually cut away from the match as Gilberti is STILL attacking Jeff Jarrett in the back! He go back into the ring as Sabu nails both Sandman and New Jack with trashcans. Sabu hangs Sandman in the Tree of Woe, places a lid on his face and then throws a can at the lid. Sabu then heads over to New Jack to distribute the extreme punishment evenly, but New Jack foils those plans with a STAPLE TO THE HEAD. New Jack takes over on Sabu as Jack jabs him in the head with a fork as Sandman readies a table. Sabu retaliates and throws a chair at New Jack before going to the outside and setting him up on a table. Sabu , back in the ring now, goes to jump over the ropes onto New Jack, but gets caned by Sandman on the apron, knocking him back down into the ring. That gets a “Holy Shit” chant by the crowd as Sandman actually puts a smile on his face and NAILS Sabu with a cane shot. Jack and Sandman start walking towards the back with Sabu as Goldylocks gives us an update on Jeff Jarrett. Apparently, Double J has reinjured his hip and knee that he originally injured in last week’s match. West and Tenay call for a figurehead again as New Jack sets up Sabu on a table and gets on a scissor lift. Sandman heads up to the balcony and argues with New Jack about who’s going to jump off onto Sabu as they keep getting higher and higher! New Jack insists…and dives off onto Sabu, who moves out of the way! New Jack goes through the table KNEES FIRST and that does NOT look good for New Jack’s health! Sabu covers on New Jack (as Falls Count Anywhere all of a sudden) and gets the pinfall.

 

Winner: Sabu

 

My Opinion: VERY sloppy, uninteresting brawl with a predictable ending. I don’t think there was one wrestling move performed during this match whatsoever. New Jack looked really hurt from that table dive, but I doubt he’ll learn his lesson. ¼* for the one cane spot on the apron.

 

In the back, the attractive woman that attacked Lollipop and brawled with her yells at NWA representative Bill Behrens about being in the main event Asylum match tonight…or else she’ll sue for sexual harassment. The woman says that they need to be after all of the work they’ve put in and asks Goldylocks for approval. Goldy: “It does get a little old being the Chick holding THE STICK~!” Ok, well, she didn’t say it with that much emphasis or a tilde bang, but she did say “the stick”. The woman hits on Behrens until he gives in and Behrens walks away by telling Goldylocks “why can’t you be more like that?”.

 

A video package is shown detailing the friction between Americas Most Wanted.

 

We head straight to the back where Goldylocks is with James Storm and Chris Harris, ready to go out and face each other one on one for the first time in NWA:TNA. Storm just wants to know what side Chris Harris is on, but Harris says that he’s still on the same side he’s been on the whole time…AMW’s side. Harris then goes on to say that tonight, however, it’s all business and the big picture is the NWA World Title. He offers a handshake, which Storm accepts….but Storm says that he’ll also shake his hand AFTER the match as well, regardless of the results.

 

Chris Harris vs. James Storm – The Winner Advances to the Asylum Match

 

Match Background: About a month ago, Chris Harris was seen in the SEX locker room, which enraged his partner, James Storm. When confronted about it, Harris told him that he was simply lobbying for a tag title shot, although it looked like they were just hanging out together. A couple of weeks before that incident, Harris demanded to have a few singles matches, leading Storm to believe that Harris wanted to dump him and be with S.E.X. They had a sit down interview with Mike Tenay, attempting to talk through their problems, but nothing was resolved. A few weeks ago, Americas Most Wanted finally was able to receive a tag title shot against the champions, Triple X, but lost when Harris was pinned by Skipper. Storm helped Harris to his feet, but then walked away in disgust. Last week, AMW were also pinned after Storm and Harris collided, resulting in even more friction between the two. This week, they’ll be facing each other one on one to see who goes on to the Anarchy in the Asylum match, but to Storm and Harris, it means more to them than just that.

 

The Match: As Storm and Harris lock up, West talks about a match Storm had with Harris on an NWA show that took place before TNA started and how they became a team afterwards due to the respect they had for one another. Their lock up ends with a clean break in the corner, but upon the second lock up, both men counter each other a few times…go to dropkick each other and do…YOU GUESSED IT…the Indy Applause Stance. At least they weren’t completely over the top with their fighting stances, unlike some other people out there…like Bubba Ray Dudley. Upon the third lock up, Storm gets the advantage after backdropping Harris over the top to the floor and allows Harris to come back into the ring. Harris comes in and shoves Storm…and Storm shoves back. Harris tosses Storm over the top, but Storm skins the cat back in. Harris clotheslines Storm over the top…and Storm comes back in only to get into a second shoving match with Harris. They begin brawling to very little reaction until Harris hits the Lou Thesz press on Storm Sadly, West and Tenay aren’t even paying attention to the match at hand as they found out that the women’s match booked for later on tonight (Trinity vs. Desire vs. Tracy a.k.a. Lollipop’s attacker) will also be for a spot in the Anarchy in the Asylum match. I wonder who’s supposedly being thrown out of the match in order to make room for the women. Tenay says that he’s totally against this, but West disagrees as Storm goes for a superkick on Harris which is blocked. Storm IS able to get an enziguiri though and heads to the top, but Harris crotches him and gets a superplex! Harris gets a two count over this and heads to the top himself and drops an elbow for a second two count. Harris picks Storm up and goes for the Catatonic, but Storm lands on his feet and sets Harris up for the Eight Second Ride. Harris gets out of that and exchange clothesline attempts until Storm is able to get a dropkick on his partner for ONE…TWO…NO. Harris sets up Storm in the turnbuckle and misses a charge allowing Storm to attempt the Swinging Noose, but it’s blocked and Harris gets a running Diamond Cutter! ONE…TWO…NO! Harris drops Storm down with a DDT and heads back towards the top for a second elbow, but Storm moves out of the way. EIGHT SECOND RIDE~! By Storm! ONE…TWO…NO! Storm gets up and he is FURIOUS! He DEMANDS his partner to get up, but gets tripped up and catapulted into the corner! Storm puts on the brakes though and dives at Harris…only to get SPEARED in midair! ONE…TWO…NO! They begin a slugfest in the middle of the ring as they’re selling exhaustion and Harris goes for a sunset flip. Storm hooks Harris’s legs and goes for the cover!!! ONE..TWO…THREE!

 

Winner: James Storm

 

Storm offers his hand to Harris…but Harris walks out of the ring. Harris comes back into the ring a few seconds later and they shake hands and hug.

 

My Opinion: The beginning of the match was very weak to me as they tried to put over the fact that both men know each other so well by doing the same Indy Applause Stance sequence that everyone puts on with very little differentiation. The reversals of their finishers was done a little too quick to my liking, but after that point, the match was decent. I did like the fact that Harris kicked out of Storm’s Eight Second Ride only because Storm ended up going over in the end clean without a finisher as it still puts Harris over as well. Storm is the better worker anyway and the right choice to put into the main event. AMW hugging at the end of the match was done well as well, but I don’t believe the issue between these two is done anytime soon. **1/4

 

In the back, Goldylocks is with Eric Watts who is WEEPING. He’s sad that he wasn’t able to be there for Jarrett to save him from Gilberti…even though he was stood up by Jeff today. He calls him “Jeffy Jeff” and the NWA Title the “Belty Belt” as he gets a phone call from someone. He stops crying and says that “Eric from WCW when I was there” is on his way to TNA. I really hope they aren’t trying to say that Bischoff is coming in because that just SCREAMS two-bit operation…or WCW. Watts gets off the phone and becomes sad again before asking Goldy for a moment of silence for Jarrett. He hits on her before walking out to find Jarrett apparently…

 

Trinity vs. Desire (w/Sonny Siaki and David Young) vs. Tracy – The Winner Advances into Anarchy in the Asylum.

 

Match Background: Trinity and Desire have a history in TNA as they got involved when their respective wrestlers, Kid Kash and Sonny Siaki were feuding over the X Division Title. They faced each other once in a singles match with Trinity coming out on top. Since then, Desire has largely stayed out of the ring while Trinity has gotten into a feud with Kid Kash himself. Two weeks ago, Kid Kash beat the HELL out of her before losing after S.E.X. interference on the part of Mike Sanders and the Harris Brothers. Due to Trinity’s insubordination to Kid Kash, he suspended her last week and he lost the X Title while he was gone due to the masked luchador that had been interfering a lot lately in Jerry Lynn and Red’s matches. The masked luchador looked female last week though…

 

Tracy is the X factor in this match as she appeared last week from out of nowhere, attacking Lollipop so she could act as a TNA dancer. This week, she’s in this match for some reason and used her “powers of persuasion” as well as the threat of a sexual harassment lawsuit to turn this match into a Anarchy in the Asylum qualifier.

 

The Match: Tracy comes out to the ring…and did I mention that she is mind bogglingly HOT? She’s got the whole busty school girl thing going (complete with glasses) and she’s melted my heart already. After the other two participants are in the ring, Kid Kash comes down the ramp and into the ring. He has THE STICK~! with him and directs some comments towards Trinity. He says that she should have learned her lesson after her one week suspension and refocused herself on pleasing and helping Kid Kash instead of trying to be a wrestler herself. This earns him a “You Suck” chant by the crowd. Kash responds with “If you think I stuck, you should see this chick (Trinity) in action.” He then tells her that because of her actions, he’s issuing an ultimatum. Kash shows her that he’s handcuffed on one hand and says that her first option is to get beaten down and cuffed to Kash so he can drag her back to where she belongs. The second option consists of her kneeling down to Kid Kash and apologizing to him. The crowd chants “Whoop his ass” at Kash as Trinity takes the mic from him. She smugly says that she chooses the first option and Kash SLAPS HER AGAIN! The other girls and the ref are just watching as Kash takes her down and cuffs her to him. He picks her up and SLAPS her across the chest before leading her up the ramp by her hair and slamming her down on the ramp! Even Desire seems disgusted by that one as security tries to calm Kash down. Sonny Siaki joins West and Tenay and when asked for her opinion, he responds like a true heel. “I believe Trinity deserves everything she’s getting right now.”

 

Tracy turns around after staring up the ramp all this time and Desire hits an enziguiri sending her to the outside. Desire attempts to dive through the ropes but gets caught in what will most likely be the blown spot of the night unless Sabu can pull out something worse. Desire throws Tracy into the guardrail as West and Tenay ask Siaki about David Young. Siaki tells them that Young is NOT a part of S.E.X.! He’s simply a personal assistant. Desire jumps off of the steel steps, clotheslining Tracy and following it up by dropping her onto the guard rail before throwing her into the ring. Desire goes for the cover and only gets two. Desire gets a couple of chops in the corner before whipping Tracy into the corner where she charges and EATS a Tracy Boot. Tracy comes out of the corner with a left arm clothesline! Tracy spears Desire and heads up to the top and gets a Lou Thesz press! She goes for the cover, but Sonny Siaki gets on the ring apron and distracts the ref! David Young also gets on the apron and gets Tracy’s attention, allowing Desire to get up and put a full nelson on her. Young comes into the ring and goes to nail her, but she ducks and Desire goes down! Siaki is no longer distracting the official….ONE…TWO…THREE!

 

Winner: Tracy

 

As Tracy goes up the ramp, Siaki and Young check on Desire. Well, more Young than Siaki. Siaki actually tells Young to hurry up and go as he’s in a rush and doesn’t seem to care that his girl is down. Young carries her to the back.

 

My Opinion: Not a good match at all, but at least they did more moves than the ECW Three Way from earlier. Tracy is hot…that’s all that’s really needed to say about this. Oh, Kash rules with his newfound heelness and I’m sure the match would have been a hell of a lot better with Trinity involved. TNA…please keep Tracy. ¼*

 

We go to an Interrogation segment, which they haven’t used in over a month or so, with the Harris Brothers.

 

The only things really worthy of mentioning here is that when asked an asinine question by Don West: “Clay Aiken or Ruben Studdard?” meaning: choose between the two American Idol finalists, they replied with “which one is the white guy”. Then when asked word association on Konnan and Ron “The Truth” Killings, they said “Street Thugs. The Brotherhood runs the streets, the Brotherhood runs the pen. Don’t forget that”. The Brotherhood that they’re talking about seems to refer to the Aryan Brotherhood, which IS real and isn’t something that was made up for HBO’s OZ. The Harris Brothers have tattoos supporting their beliefs as well so I’m guessing that those were legit comments. Either way, I thought they were VERY distasteful and The Harris Brothers aren’t NEARLY talented enough to let something like that slide. But, Russo has a soft spot for them, so don’t expect them to get pulled for comments like that.

 

A video package is shown about the team of Lynn & Red (I like to call them F’n Amazing) and their history with Triple X. They focus on Jerry Lynn’s new found attitude and last week’s match against Chris Daniels.

 

Goldylocks is with Lynn and Red (who’s holding both his X Title and his Tag Title with him) and compares the team to a teacher/student relationship with Lynn being the teacher and Red being the pupil. The MIC GOD that is Amazing Red sheepishly tells Goldylocks that he learned respect from Lynn and rebounded from being betrayed by the SAT’s to win Tag Gold and X Gold due to dedication and teamwork. Lynn says sarcastically that he’s happy that someone was able to learn from the “old man”, but that Red still hadn’t learned about honesty and integrity. He says that the old Jerry Lynn would have let the fact that Red won on Ron Killings interference go, but not now. He wants a shot at Red for the X Title, no hard feelings, after they defend their tag titles tonight.

 

Christopher Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn & Red for the NWA Tag Team Titles

 

Match Background: F’n Amazing defeated XXX 2 weeks in a row to get a shot at the tag titles and win them. Lynn and Red then faced off the following week to see who would be the #1 contender for the X Title, a match that Red would win and who would ultimately win the X Title from Kid Kash last week. However, in that victory, while Red was on the outside, Ron “The Truth” Killings interfered and took out Jerry Lynn to make a statement. This incensed Jerry Lynn, who was tired of being attacked so that other guys could get put over and he said that he was going to change and no longer be the nice guy. Daniels then faced Lynn last week and made a challenge to ½ of the NWA Tag Title holders. He said that should Daniels win, F’n Amazing would face XXX 3 on 2 for the Tag Straps. Lynn upped the ante by declaring that if Lynn were to win, Lynn and Red would face ONE XXX member of their choosing. The match took place and Jerry Lynn’s new found attitude ended up giving him the advantage as he hit Daniels with a low blow and rolled him up for the win, leading to tonight’s two on one tag title match up.

 

The Match: Daniels and Lynn start the match off against each other, with Daniels attacking Lynn in the corner after a break, but Lynn reverses it and just goes all intense on Daniels, even pushing the ref aside to get more shots in! Daniels gets an atomic drop to come back, but Lynn just WAFFLES him with a clothesline and the tag team champions bounce the Fallen Angel around like a rag doll with alternating punches. Lynn with a GORGEOUS back suplex on Daniels before going corner to corner with clotheslines and dropkicks…and then a diving headbutt to the crotch! Daniels gets upset and gets a chair from the outside but gets legdropped on the back of the head by Lynn as he tries to get back into the ring. Red comes in now and hits a spinning wheel kick off the top onto Daniels as he’s on Lynn’s shoulders for two. Elix and Low-Ki arrive at ringside and Elix gets in the ref’s face as Low-Ki hands Daniels the chair. Red charges at Daniels with a kick, but Daniels blocks it with the chair, causing damage to Red’s leg. Daniels follows it up with a chair shot to the same leg and throws the chair to the outside. He falls back onto the canvas and begins selling when the ref turns around to make him think nothing fishy is going on as I revel in his cunning heelness. Daniels picks up Red with his bad leg and pancakes him, transitioning beautifully into a single leg crab which Red barely sells. Daniels spits at Lynn…who comes in and slaps the hell out of him for it, giving Red the separation he needed to get up, but Daniels gives him the mother of all Dragon Screw legwhips and Red does about 5 million rotations on the way down. Daniels for the Double Jump Moonsault, but misses allowing Red to hop up and hit a REALISTIC looking CODE RED~! He’s too injured to cover though and Red gets the tag to Lynn! Lynn comes in and goes nuts on Daniels. Lynn gets a spinning DDT for two and follows it up with a suplex attempt, which is reversed by Daniels. Daniels then goes for the Angels Wings which is then reversed into the TKO for a one count as Lynn gets off of Daniels to battle the rest of XXX on the apron. Lynn goes for the Cradle Piledriver, but Daniels is able to get out of it and throws Lynn into the ref, knocking him down. Red comes off the top and nails Daniels before heading to the top for the Infra Red! Low-Ki shoves him down to the floor though and Skipper comes into the ring with a chair! He aims at Lynn and misses as Jerry gets up and dropkicks him down to the floor. Daniels gets up and plants Lynn face first with a downward spiral. Daniels sets Lynn up in a catapult position and tells Low-Ki to come on it, but Lynn grabs the chair in that position and hits Daniels with it! A chair shot for Low-Ki as well! One for Skipper! The ref gets up as Lynn nails Daniels with the chair…and calls for the bell! The ref tells Jeremy Borash that he’s DQ’ing Lynn and Red and because of the NWA rules made a LONG time ago by Bullet Bob Armstrong…that means that Triple X are the new Tag Team Champions!

 

Winner and NEW Tag Team Champions: Christopher Daniels & XXX

 

My Opinion: Good match with a nicely booked finish, IMO. I was wondering when this rule would come into effect and it finally does when the babyfaces have the deck stacked against the heels here. Daniels and Lynn were very crisp in the ring, especially Lynn and he definitely was able to show a new found intensity in his work tonight. The finish of the match also makes a ton of sense as his new found attitude actually cost them the tag titles and will probably cause some friction between Red & Lynn. **1/2.

 

Anarchy in the Asylum

 

Match Background: The Anarchy in the Asylum match is a slight take off of their Gauntlet for the Gold match that TNA likes to use. Basically, it’s like a Royal Rumble as it has 2 men that start out and every 90 seconds another participant comes in. However, this is what makes it slightly different. It’s No DQ, Falls Count Anywhere, you can be eliminated by going over the top rope, submitted or being pinned. Also, the final two participants then compete immediately in a match with regular rules and the winner is the #1 contender to the NWA Title. According to Tenay and West, this match will be 15 men and 1 woman (Tracy) and most of the participants in this match are unknown except for AJ Styles, D’Lo Brown, Sabu, James Storm and Tracy.

 

The Match: Brian Lawler is the first participant, despite not being seen for a couple of weeks. D’Lo Brown is the next man in the match and Tenay puts over the fact that he’s already been in a match tonight and has to now outlast the other competitors because of his entrant position. D’Lo takes over quickly on Lawler and goes to work on him for about a minute until Lawler hits a low blow and a sit out powerbomb. Lawler heads to the top and comes off with the Hip Hop Drop legdrop and misses. D’Lo hits the Sudden Impact and goes for the cover as Sonny Siaki comes in and breaks it up. Siaki’s wearing short tights…weird. D’Lo takes over on Siaki but Lawler again low blows D’Lo. They try to double team him, but Brown gets a double clothesline. The numbers take over on Brown again though as James Storm is the next man in. He evens the sides as he helps Brown with Siaki and Lawler. David Young comes in…NOT a participant in the match and helps out Siaki by delivering a SNAP SPINEBUSTER~! on James Storm! Chris Harris runs down in street clothes and helps out Storm by brawling with Young and Siaki, but Sonny moves out of the way out of a Harris splash in the corner and Harris hits his own partner instead! Siaki then eliminates James Storm…who then looks at Harris with disdain. They argue up the ramp as Lawler and Siaki take over on D’Lo again. Kid Kash comes in to make it 3 on 1 on D’Lo. Some sloppy brawling take place as the heels take turns beating on him…but then turn on each other when going for the pin. RICK STEINER is the next man in and this is his first appearance since Week One. I wonder who’s the better Steiner now. Its sad that I have to even ask that question, isn’t it? He comes in and just clotheslines and throws around all of the heels….and D’Lo as well. Steiner powerslams Siaki out of a leapfrog position (one of his signature moves) and finishes the job by clotheslining Siaki over the top. Mike Awesome is the next man in and he brings a table with him and sets it up at ringside. He goes after Kid Kash before turning his attention to Rick Steiner. Pinfalls are broken up as it becomes one of those boring battle royals as time winds down. Justin Credible is next and he brings a cane with him. He canes Mike Awesome across the midsection as Awesome had Kid Kash ready for an awesome bomb, saving the former X Champ. Kid Kash is just laying there as Rick Steiner through the man somewhere. Mike Awesome and Justin Credible go out brawling in the crowd, going through the ropes and not over them. Ron “The Truth” Killings comes in and goes after D’Lo Brown! He hits the spinning scissors kick on Brown, but eats a Rick Steiner boot. D’Lo goes after The Truth, but Lawler AGAIN hits D’Lo low! Rick Steiner almost kills The Truth with a release German suplex as Justin Credible backdrops Mike Awesome on the concrete floor. Tracy comes into the ring now…without glasses and with her hair down and DAMN, this girl is FINE!!! As she makes her way down to the ring, Lollipop grabs her from behind and they begin brawling on the ramp. Kid Kash comes out and being the misogynistic bastard he is, throws Lollipop off and beats on Tracy himself. The rest of the guys in the ring don’t do anything as Kid Kash DEMANDS they all get out of the way so he can have her to himself…but Rick Steiner doesn’t listen and drives Kash into the turnbuckles. No one touches Stacy except for Kid Kash who gives her the MONEY MAKER~! Of all things and eliminates her. That son of a bitch. Oh yeah, Saturn came in during all of that. The masked luchador came into the ring and threw Kid Kash over the top, eliminating him! Glen Gilberti comes into the ring next and the Harris Brothers follow. Gilberti picks his spot when he gets in the ring, but Rick Steiner attacks him. The Harris come in and eliminate Rick Steiner for him and go on to beat up everyone else! They eliminate The Truth and Gilberti is alone in the ring with Brian Lawler while Saturn and D’Lo are on the outside brawling. The Harris’ go after Lawler for Gilberti as Justin Credible and Mike Awesome make their way back to the ring. Konnan comes into the ring and he goes after Gilberti leading to The Harris getting involved. Konnan holds his own against them and ends up brawling with Gilberti on the floor with Konnan getting the decisive advantage and brawling in the crowd. The Harris’ finally catch up to them and double chokeslam him onto the table…but it doesn’t break. A second attempt does the trick and Gilberti gets the pin. BUFF BAGWELL comes into the ring to apathy and gets a brief HOUSE…EN…FUEGO-ish type spurt on the heels. The Truth comes out to brawl with the Harris’ and defend Konnan on the outside but ends up on the opposite end of a beating. Buff gets the Blockbuster on Justin Credible and then eliminates Brian Lawler as Lawler charges at him and gets back body dropped over the top. Gilberti comes into the ring, hits the Stunner on Buff and clotheslines him over the top to a pop! AJ Styles is next and as he comes in to brawl with Saturn, Mike Awesome sets up Justin Credible for an Awesome Bomb. MIKE SANDERS~! (who should have been in this match instead of Buff Bagwell at the very least) comes in and superkicks Mike Awesome to the outside and through a table! Only Sabu is left to come in to this match now..

 

D’Lo and AJ start collaborating as the announcers put over the fact that D’Lo has been in the whole time. Sabu makes his way to the ring and goes after EVERYONE and eliminates Justin Credible quickly. D’Lo sets up Saturn for an AJ Springboard Dropkick, but Saturn moves out of the way and D’Lo goes flying over the top rope! D’Lo is GONE! Only Gilberti, Styles, Sabu and Saturn are left. Sabu hits a springboard DDT on Saturn and then goes for a flying head scissors sending BOTH of them to the outside! I KNEW Sabu would eliminate himself! TNA lets Sabu back into the match for some reason, making up some sort of B.S. about how it didn’t count because he initiated the move. My guess is that Sabu will end up being one of the final two and TNA just tried to cover their own ass. Gilberti, Styles and Sabu are in the ring and all three men go spilling to the outside. Sabu and AJ brawl in the crowd and AJ gets pasted with a Sabu chairshot. With AJ and Gilberti in the crowd, Sabu gets a chair and places it into the ring. He uses it to springboard himself to the outside…and misses! Sabu should have been eliminated TWICE. Glen Gilberti is busted open as Styles hits a rana in the ring and just goes INTENSE~! on him. Styles gets a few nearfalls on Gilberti and goes for the Styles Clash, but Gilberti back body drops him over the top! The final two men are Sabu and Glen Gilberti!

 

The match is now a singles match…and Sabu grabs the spike from his boot and starts stabbing Gilberti with it. So much for a regular singles match. Gilberti kicks out after the latest stabbing and Sabu goes for Poetry in Motion in the corner, but the ref is bumped. Sabu throws a chair at Gilberti and hits his springboard moonsault! RAVEN~! comes into the ring with a chair and nails Sabu with the chair! RAVEN EFFECT! Gilberti covers as the ref recovers and Glen Gilberti is the #1 Contender for the NWA Title!

 

Winner: Glen Gilberti

 

All of S.E.X. come in and help Gilberti celebrate his victory.

 

My Opinion: Once it was down to Gilberti and Sabu, it seemed rather obvious that Gilberti would be the one to win since he attacked Jarrett earlier and they have a feud starting. With Gilberti’s character developing quite nicely in the past couple of months, he’s lost a lot of the stigma that came with being the Disco Inferno, but will he be seen as a legitimate World Title contender? Raven’s interference was the only reason that Sabu was in the final two and Sabu simply made a mockery of the battle royal rules, eliminating himself twice and making TNA change the rules on the spot. He really made the company look bad with that. I hope that AJ Styles and D’Lo Brown don’t have any sort of falling out as they are really gelling as a tag team. This was a decent battle royal, but the rules being changed to convenience Sabu really bothered me. As did the fact that there were billions of run ins. Also, what was the point of Tracy even being in there? Putting Kid Kash over a heel some more? What was the point of having Rick Steiner or Buff Bagwell in there? PLEASE keep Tracy, TNA, I beg you. I don’t rate battle royals, but this one wasn’t worth the purchase.

 

Overall: If you ordered tonight’s PPV to see the fall out from Raven/Jarrett, there really wasn’t one. They didn’t cross paths AT ALL and Raven didn’t even show up until the last minute of the battle royal. Sadly, Raven is going to feud with Sabu for “costing” him the World Title but everyone who say the match (and thanks to TNA, the finish) knows that Sabu was long gone by the time Jarrett got the CLEAN pin on Raven. The opening tag match was a good opener and I can understand why it was kept short with D’Lo going over 20 minutes in the battle royal. Triple X winning the tag titles again doesn’t exactly do much for the tag division, but the WAY they won it gives Lynn and Red a different dynamic towards that partnership, which I look forward to. The Battle Royal was fun, but disappointing. I hope TNA can build up Glen Gilberti as a legitimate challenger to Jeff Jarrett’s title as I can definitely see the stigma of Disco Inferno: World Champion plague TNA if he’s not built up properly. It was a good show, but not nearly as good as last week’s. Find yourself a copy if you like battle royals.

 

‘Til next week…and I WILL be here next week,

 

The Dames, Damian Gonzalez

 

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