The Dames' Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 44

[Guest TSMAdmin]

The Dames’ Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 44

 

Well, last week I wasn’t able to watch TNA on Cablevision and this week was no different. However, thanks again to the recording skills of Bob Barron, I’m able to provide you with this weeks Diatribe as well as Judgment Day this Sunday, (exclusively to TheSmartMarks.com). In return for this generous exchange, I’ve got to fulfill one small obligation to Barron.

 

Bob Barron is a GODSEND.

 

I hope that pleases him. I’m actually required to say that two more times, so don’t be surprised if you see it pop up once in a while.

 

Let me finish my pimping really quick. Matrix mania is everywhere and TSM’s very own Dr. Tom caught a screening of The Matrix Reloaded Wednesday at 10 and wrote a great review of it which you can find on the main page. Also, new TSM writer Nik Johnson joined our staff with a great piece on “Why Winning and Losing Doesn’t Matter” in the WWE and I strongly suggest you check that out as well.

 

Last week, Glen Gilberti became the number one contender to the NWA World Title by winning the Anarchy in the Asylum battle royal and is now poised to face Jeff Jarrett.

 

Thanks to the recording GOD that is Bob Barron, the first 10 minutes of this week’s show is not on the tape, however, he assures me that it was just a long video package and the first few minutes of a Glen Gilberti in-ring promo. That sounds about right. We now return you to this week’s Diatribe, already in progress….

 

Gilberti is in the ring (along with the rest of S.E.X.) wearing a full suit and tie and is already verbally sparring with Team Extreme, who is standing on the ramp. Gilberti asks Sandman to have a one on one discussion, but New Jack tells Gilberti that there’s a third option (I missed the first two) is that Team Extreme will come in there and beat some ass. They charge into the ring and actually clear the ring, even though S.E.X. had more people on their side. Neither Gilberti or Sandman got involved at all though…

 

Tenay and West welcome us to the program and run down the card for tonight.

 

Goldylocks is in the back with Chris Sabin, who will be facing Amazing Red for the X Division Title tonight. He says that tonight will be the highlight of his career, but is cut off in mid sentence by Jerry Lynn. Lynn shakes his hand and greets Sabin kindly, but his tone turns into a serious one as he talks about the fact that the NEW Jerry Lynn has petitioned all day and tonight’s X-Division Title match is going to be a three way dance. Sabin doesn’t like the idea at all…and Lynn doesn’t appreciate his sentiments. Lynn vows to kick both his and Red’s asses tonight and walks away.

 

Chris Sabin vs. Amazing Red vs. Jerry Lynn for the NWA:TNA X Division Title.

 

Match Background: Chris Sabin earned this title shot on April 30th when he defeated Shark Boy, Jimmy Rave and Jason Cross in an elimination match, the same night that Red was finally able to win the X Title from then champion Kid Kash. The week prior, however, Jerry Lynn and Red (tag team partners) squared off to see who would go on to face Kid Kash and Red won due to outside interference by Ron “The Truth” Killings, which Red wasn’t aware of as he was lying on the outside. Jerry Lynn debuted a new found, more aggressive, take-no-prisoners attitude recently and last week, told his tag team partner that he would end up squaring off against him for the X Title eventually. It caused a slight bit of tension between the two, although they didn’t show it in the ring. That night, Jerry Lynn’s new attitude cost himself and Red the NWA Tag Titles as Lynn got himself disqualified, giving the titles to Triple X due to NWA:TNA rules. So, after the segment that just aired, tonight’s match up will be a three way dance between Sabin, Red and Lynn for the X Title.

 

The Match: Chris “The Future” Sabin (as dubbed by Mike Tenay) gets practically no reaction by the crowd on the way to the ring. The match starts as all three men exchange armdrags and counters (including a missed Red Star Press by Red) before going for the simultaneous dropkicks and the…you guessed it, the DREADED Indy Applause Stance. My hatred for that spot grows each and every week, especially when you SEE it coming. The sheep applaud and break out into a “TNA” chant before Red and Lynn go after Sabin together, ending with Red going for a cover but Lynn pulling him off of the challenger. Lynn gets in his face for trying to win the match and Red answers with a right hand. Red gets a rana on Lynn and the bicycle kick in the corner before attempting a spinning wheel kick. The attempt is blocked as Red is caught and German suplexed, but Red is able to land on his feet and we go back to Counter City until Jerry Lynn catches Red with a Tornado Backbreaker. Sabin breaks up the count and goes after Lynn in the corner, but Lynn reverses positioning and makes Sabin PAY with chops. Sabin and Lynn go back to the middle of the ring where Sabin is able to get a twisting neckbreaker over the knee onto Lynn for a broken two count. Red gets up and gets a tilt a whirl DDT, albeit a sloppy one. Triple X then appear and surround the ringside area as Lynn sets Sabin up onto his shoulders for a Red springboard rana. Lynn turns around and clotheslines Red 360 degrees around before going over to Sabin for a pinfall attempt! Sabin kicks out and so Lynn jumps onto Red for another two count. The crowd is chanting for “Red” as Sabin backdrops out of a Cradle Piledriver attempt by Lynn, only to fall victim to a bridging German Suplex for a nearfall. Sabin comes back with a Sky High-like sit out powerbomb, but Red breaks up the count, saving his title. The “Go Red Go” chant is pretty loud at this point as Sabin blocks Code Red, but NOT a HARD spinning enziguiri which puts him down and the champion firmly in control. Red picks Sabin up, but Sabin maneuvers his way into a reverse DDT attempt…but Lynn finally gets up and reverse DDT’s SABIN, who is STILL holding onto Red! Yes, that was a Stacked Reverse DDT. All three men are down, but the former tag champs are up and Lynn locks a figure four around Sabin’s head. Red then does the same thing to Lynn and Red is the only one not in pain there. The men and women are actually arguing in their chants as the women are going “Go Red Go” and the men answer with “NO!” Eventually, all three men break and Red goes for a tilt a whirl on Sabin. Lynn is standing right next to him though and Sabin passes him the spinning Red, allowing the X Champion to DDT his partner, who falls out of the ring! Red looks to the crowd for approval and gets ready to explode to the outside with a high spot, but Sabin pops up and floors Red with a HARD Big Boot! Sabin then takes the opportunity to hit a plancha on Lynn! Lynn and Sabin both get up and begin brawling at the bottom of the ramp, allowing Red to come FLYING to the outside with a nice Somersault Tope Con Hilo and the crowd erupts in a “Holy Shit” chant. Red sends Sabin into the ring and goes for a springboard DDT, but Sabin actually turns it into a Future Shock attempt (Fishermans Buster)! Red is able to slip away first and they go charging into the ropes for a roll up attempt, allowing Jerry Lynn to bust out his apron legdrop on Sabin. Lynn slingshots himself onto Sabin and goes for the cover, but its broken up by a top rope Swanton Bomb by Red. Oh, it sounds impressive, but the ref had to hold up his count a bit. Even the crowd knows it as they chant “That Was Three”. Red gets up and drives Lynn down with a 2nd rope Downward Spiral and goes for the cover, but its broken up by Sabin. Sabin picks up the champion…hooks him and nails the FUTURE SHOCK~! Lynn breaks up the cover though and spikes Sabin with a CRADLE PILEDRIVER~! for a broken up two count! Lynn backdrops Red onto the apron, but Red shoulder blocks Lynn in the midsection, doubling him over and Red hops over the ropes into a CODE RED~! for a ONE…TWO…NO! Red then turns his attention to Sabin and heads to the top rope! Low-Ki distracts the ref as Elix shoves him off the top and nails the Play of the Day on Red! He places Sabin on top! ONE…TWO…THREE!

 

Winner and NEW X Division Champion: Chris Sabin

 

After the match, the stunned Sabin looks at Triple X in the ring and Low-Ki snatches the X Title from him. ‘Ki then pulls out a S.E.X. T-shirt and hands it to Sabin…who accepts it and puts it on! Sabin shakes their hands and celebrates as S.E.X. now has two out of the three NWA Titles.

 

My Opinion: Either TNA learned to mic the crowd properly or they injected some new life into the asylum because the crowd was pretty into this match. They didn’t really care about Chris Sabin too much, which is probably due to the fact that he’s relatively new to the company AND blew a big spot in his last showing. The match was decent enough, although some of the three way maneuvers were mighty contrived. I’m sure that a lot of people will complain about the fact that Red had only a two week X Title reign, but judging from how hot the crowd was for him tonight, he may be over enough to not need the title. This latest twist, Sabin joining S.E.X., threw a swerve at the Red/Lynn angle though, which worries me. They were enemies during the match, yet at other points, they teamed up on Sabin and although TNA made it seem as if they would be feuding in the future, Lynn wasn’t involved in Red losing the title at all. Sabin with S.E.X. definitely gives him a higher profile though and I’m happy he’s getting his spot in the sun. However, winning the X-Title in your third appearance didn’t go over with the crowd and probably the home crowd either. Let’s see what happens now that Chris Sabin is the champ. **1/2.

 

Goldylocks is in the back with Team Extreme, but before she gets to say almost anything, New Jack snatches the mic from her and asks Sandman about a proposed deal he made with S.E.X. Sandman and New Jack get into an argument over it, until Saturn interjects himself and tells Sandman that he never asked the rest of Team Extreme if they want peace or not. Saturn basically sides with New Jack, as does Justin Credible and warn Sandman that if he leaves Team Extreme, he won’t be welcome back should things not work out with S.E.X. Sandman retaliates by drinking and smoking. Yay.

 

Goldylocks must really hate interviewing Sandman. She freaks out every time he spits beer out and just looks genuinely pissed off.

 

We now go to the S.E.X. locker room where Chris Sabin is being congratulated by the rest of S.E.X. on his win. Gilberti, growing some beard stubble by the way, fires up Mike Sanders for a match against Mike Awesome and then tells The Harris Brothers to go and find Sabu. Desire (looking MIGHTY fine tonight) tells Gilberti that he needs to see someone and he agrees…as Kid Kash comes in to the locker room. Kash then says that he heard Gilberti earlier talking about a hit list (DAMMIT BARRON) and he has no time for it. Gilberti gets offended that Kash would come in and demand not being on the list, threatening a beat down right then and there. Kash then says that he comes with a peace offering…and brings in Trinity, who obviously doesn’t want to be there. He says that she is theirs to do whatever they like, so Gilberti asks what her skills are. Kash pretty much describes her as a sex slave, to which Mike Sanders asks if she’ll perform a Rusty Trumbone. Wow. Kash then grabs Trinity by the hair and tells her to behave…or else. He then leaves as S.E.X. surround Trinity…

 

Mike Sanders vs. Mike Awesome (w/Father James Mitchell) in a Tables Match.

 

Match Background: It’s funny…I HONESTLY don’t know how or why this feud started. Mike Awesome was involved with the New Church/Team Extreme Feud and didn’t do anything with S.E.X. until the Jarrett/Raven match when Sanders and the Harris’ brawled with the New Church for NO REASON in mid-match. Gilberti then told Sanders that he’s a Giant Killer, pumping him up to go out and eliminate Mike Awesome from the battle royal, superkicking him off of the apron and through a table at ringside. This leads to tonight’s Tables Match.

 

The Match: They begin brawling, with Awesome coming out on top with a shoulder block and a flying clothesline. He goes for an Awesome Bomb through the table at ringside immediately, but Sanders slips out. He then goes for a rana…but Awesome catches him and attempts the Awesome Bomb again. Sanders ranas him over the top rope though and both men fall over the top, but don’t hit the table. On the outside now, Awesome whips Sanders into the rail a few times and the crowd is REALLY into Awesome tonight. He slams Sanders on the floor and brings him towards the S.E.X. locker room where he finds a table. He charges Sanders WITH the table, but misses as Sanders ducks. Awesome grabs a chair and nails him on the back with it a couple of times before heading to the other side of the arena. Another chair shot places Sanders on a table and Awesome starts to climb the balcony, but gets cut off by the Harris Brothers. The Disciples come down and begin brawling with the Harris’ into the parking lot. The Disciples are then beaten down by Triple X as well as Awesome and Sanders head back to the ring. Awesome puts the table into the ring…but Sanders picks it up and rams it into Awesome’s head. Sanders places him on the table and heads to the top, only for Awesome to get up and crotch him down. Awesome grabs another table and sets it up at ringside…and sets Sanders up for a Top Rope Awesome Bomb through a table on the floor! Before he can do it though, Glen Gilberti comes running down with a chair and hits Awesome on the top of the head with it, causing him to fall back, through the table in the ring for the win.

 

Winner: Mike Sanders

 

Gilberti then helps Sanders get to his feet and brings him to the back.

 

My Opinion: Horrible match. This was nothing more than an extended squash with poor brawling AND interference to end it. Mike Awesome got most of the offense in, sold practically nothing and made Mike Sanders look bad as well. Just terrible. -*

 

 

Goldylocks is in the back with Chris Harris…who gets UPSET at her before she even says anything! He knows what she’s about to ask, about James Storm. He says that Storm won’t return his phone calls and he’s a victim of circumstance. He claims that everyone, including the NWA, want Americas Most Wanted to break up. He puts over the fact that they faced each other like men last week and shook hands after the match and also states that AMW is and always has been his #1 priority. He then talks about the Anarchy in the Asylum match where he came in to help his partner fend off Siaki and Young (who wasn’t even in the match) and yet he’s blamed for Storm’s elimination. Because of this, he’s challenging David Young to a match tonight for sticking his nose in their business and causing more problems.

 

Once again, we’re back in the S.E.X. locker room where Gilberti asks for two minutes alone with Trinity. Everyone leaves and Trinity says “I don’t have time for this shit”.

 

All of a sudden, Erik Watts (or is it Eric?…Can SOMEONE find out for me please? I feel like I’ve been spelling his name wrong all this time.) comes in and says “Not your shit…MY Shit!” He tells Gilberti that he has got a problem with him and he has one minute to square away what he did to Jeff Jarrett last week. Gilberti sees right through his B.S. and asks him what is going on because he knows that Watts hates Jarrett just as much as he does. Watts then drops the Jarrett subject and tells Gilberti that the “same Eric that was in WCW when you and I were there is coming here as the Director of Authority”. Gilberti: “Eric from WCW?” Watts: “DDP’s best friend, the same Eric!” They are REALLY trying to make it sound like Bischoff and no one is buying it. Watts walks out and Gilberti starts his sit down with Trinity.

 

Gilberti immediately admits that Kash is an asshole. He basically offers her a spot in S.E.X. if she wants. He doesn’t want an answer now and sends her away…

 

The Harris Brothers come in and say that they couldn’t find Sabu…but they did find the next best thing, The Gathering, Julio and Alexis Laree.

 

Kid Kash comes to the ring and grabs THE STICK~! He says that he’s fed up with Trinity and masked luchadores. He then calls out Ron “The Truth” Killings for some reason and the wish is granted…

 

Kid Kash vs. Ron “The Truth” Killings (w/Konnan)

 

Match Background: This just doesn’t make any sense to me. Not only are Kash and Truth both heels, but they haven’t interacted with each other at all aside from some slow brawling in the Anarchy in the Asylum match. Kash believes that Konnan is behind the masked luchador who cost him the X-Title two weeks ago. In that case, he should have challenged Konnan then! Ok…I get it now. Keep the good one in the ring. This is Truth’s first one on one match in TNA in quite some time though.

 

The Match: Kash attacks Truth at the onset of the match and pokes him in the eye, establishing the heel for this match. Konnan joins West and Tenay for commentary as Truth swings himself onto the top rope to avoid a charging Kash and hits a NICE front dropkick, following that up with a hip toss bomb and a few armdrags. Konnan says that Kash should “keep his bitches in check” and not blame them for his problems because he doesn’t know who the masked luchador is. Truth leg lariats Kash down as Konnan says this about Kash: “He talks about bitches when he’s the one with long hair and pretty eyes. If I was in the pen, I’m sure I could get two cup o’ soups for his ass”. On the outside, Kash tries to use the ring steps to spring off of, but gets caught and PLANTED with a hard powerslam on the outside by Truth. Kash reverses a Truth irish whip, sending him to the steel guard rail and grabs a chair. He goes for the Smashmouth chair shot, but Truth sees it and they spend the next few seconds playing Hot Potato with it until Kash nails the move on him. Kash throws Truth off the top and comes back with his AWESOME top rope clothesline for two. On commentary, Konnan talks about the problems with the Harris Brothers and then tries to destroy Gilberti’s credibility by bringing up WCW and his days with the Disqo Duck. Tenay tries to put Gilberti over again on commentary as Kash gets a nice slingshot suplex for two. Damn, I haven’t seen that move in a while. Truth gets up and makes MARK OUT and he brings back the old school Johnny Cage split into a low blow! He follows that up with his spinning scissors kick and gets a two count out of that. Kash recovers and climbs up the turnbuckle to come off with a flying head scissors that goes ALL the way across the ring! It looked pretty damn botched though. Kash hits the rolling neckbreaker and shoves the ref when it only gets a two count, but Rudy Charles emulates Earl Hebner and shoves Kash down to a “Rudy” chant. Kash rakes Truth’s eyes in the corner and whips him into the ropes, but Truth is able to counter that with a reverse powerbomb for a two count. Kash gets a drop toe hold on Truth as the Harris Brothers come from the crowd and jump Konnan and the announce table! Kash hits his across the ring somersault dropkick on The Truth, but Killings gets his feet on the ropes. Truth gets up and does his cartwheel/split combo into a leg lariat as The Harris Brothers continue to beat down on Konnan on the outside. That only gets a two count as well. Kash charges at Truth in the corner, who side steps, leaving Kash hung up on the top rope! Truth gets up and hits a fallaway slam off the 2nd rope and bother men are down! Truth heads to the top and dives off onto the Harris Brothers! The Harris’ take over and double team him with tons of strikes and throw him into the ring. Rudy Charles is busy with the Harris’ on the outside, allowing the mystery luchador to come in and reverse DDT Kid Kash and Truth crawls over and pins him!

 

My Opinion: Kid Kash has been playing the heel very well lately and definitely is able to portray it with just a look on his face or disdain and disgust. The Truth’s character hasn’t been very defined lately as he and Konnan SEEM like heels, but are feuding with heels. That, along with the fact that Truth’s character hasn’t done anything in the ring lately caused this crowd to be mostly apathetic to his match, which is a shame because it could have been really good. However, too much was made of the Harris’ interference, which went too long and then, naturally, the unclean finish. **

 

In the back, Goldylocks is with Sandman, who’s heading to a meeting with S.E.X. He sees Sonny Siaki and Desire in the parking lot with a table set up and wants to know why he’s here and not Gilberti. Siaki says that he knows what he wants….beer! He puts a case on the table and Sandman agrees to sit down. Siaki then tells Desire to make him feel at home…so she opens up a beer for him and sits on his lap. She starts..um…stroking his cane and says she like his “big stick”, so he gets up to show her his REAL “big stick”. He starts groping Desire to the point that she turns away and gets nailed accidentally by David Young with a cane! Sandman realizes it was a trap and begins brawling with Siaki!

 

They head inside and brawl all the way to the balcony, where Sandman continues to nail Siaki with punches. Security follows them all the way to the ringside area and Sandman throws Siaki into the ring. He hits the White Russian Legsweep and nails him with the cane afterwards. The Harris’ and Mike Sanders come in from behind and they H-Bomb him! Team Extreme come in and begin brawling with S.E.X. until a myriad of refs and officials come in to break it up!

 

Saturn gets on the mic and says that he’ll stop all of the fighting right now by taking on the source of all this…Glen Gilberti. Gilberti then appears from the back with THE STICK~! and says that they’ll do it later on tonight after he changes into his gear.

 

Mike Tenay calls Team Extreme – the “Extreme Revolution” so many times, that I assume they dropped the Team Extreme name. I’ll go with E.R. now.

 

Tenay intros his sit down interview with Jeff Jarrett. He talks about Raven and the most anticipated match in TNA history. He says that he came out of the match with several injuries and he’ll be out of the ring for a while.

 

On the state of the wrestling business – Jarrett states that on the day that WCW was acquired by the WWF, they’re numbers have gone down in every category and it’s because they have no competition. Vince McMahon didn’t make any new stars, didn’t create any new storylines, got set in his ways and that’s why TNA is the alternative. He says that you don’t have to see a lot of filler in TNA to get the main blow off matches, unlike WWE. Oh, yeah right. No one in the back puts up a second rate effort…they all bust their ass.

 

S.E.X. vs. NWA – Both sides are very passionate. S.E.X. wants an entertainment show with wrestling as a backdrop, but to the NWA its about what works and what doesn’t.

 

JJ on Glen Gilberti – He’s come a long way and Glen has really stepped up. He says that at least Vince Russo cared about Jeff Jarrett, but Gilberti doesn’t care at all. He says that Stunning Steve went to Stone Cold, Mean Mark Callous to The Undertaker. Glen has evolved from the Disco Inferno, just like those guys…

 

My Two Cents: I found some of Jeff Jarrett’s comments very interesting. I noticed that in his comments about Raven, he mentioned nothing of the match itself or Raven in particular, just the fact that it was hard fought and he came out with a few injuries. He hit the nail on the head though when it comes to Vince McMahon’s problems in WWE. His line about not seeing a lot of filler to get the blow off matches in TNA didn’t fly with me though, because Jeff Jarrett has had that title for so long and defends it so rarely that every week before it becomes filler. I also like the fact that of all people, Jeff Jarrett is the one who finally puts over the point of Sports Entertainment Extreme. Vince Russo was very vague with his definition of it and Glen Gilberti has never even talked about it in his stint as leader. I did like the fact that he put Gilberti over in his interview and tries to disassociate Glen Gilberti from the Disco Inferno. Like I said last week, they’ve really got to show a difference in order to get fans to care that he’s the number 1 contender.

 

Kid Kash is in the back throwing equipment and furniture across the room until Goldylocks comes in to talk to him. Kash shoves her away, threatening her but TRACY~! comes in and gets in his face. She yells at him about the fact that he dropped her on her head last week…but that’s what she LIKES! According to her, she knows her place and Trinity doesn’t know what she’s missing. She asks Kash what she can do for him…and Kash wants a massage in a certain spot, if you know what I mean. Tracy gets out some ointment and sticks her hand down his pants and Kash becomes elated with joy. His face turns to PAIN though and she slaps him, kicks him down and tells him that if he EVER touches her again, she’ll be his worst nightmare. She reveals that she put Ben Gay on him and walks away as he calls her a bitch constantly…. THAT was Awesome.

 

Bob Barron is a GODSEND.

 

Now, before we get onto the last segment, let me say something about Tracy. Yes, besides the fact that I think she’s hot. I got a lot of emails last week (and people on the Forums) stating that Tracy being the battle royal was a stupid idea and she shouldn’t have won against Desire. I saw it as a thing of beauty and this is why.

 

For the past few weeks, Kid Kash has been seen abusing Trinity, abusing Goldylocks verbally and going on about how females need to know their place. Tracy comes along and demands management to make the 3 way women’s match a qualifying match for the Anarchy in the Asylum and got Goldylocks to agree with her on the fact that the TNA women deserve it. Basically, she was voicing women’s rights. Before the match itself, Kash showed another display of misogyny by abusing Trinity and taking her to the back and out of the match. Tracy then won the match and entered into the battle royal. She got into a brief brawl with Lollipop, which was ended when Kash pulled her off and then Kash abused HER and eliminated her from the match. Basically, Kid Kash saw a strong, independent female and was trying to dispel any notion of women’s rights that she felt they had. The fact that he was the only one who WANTED to touch her in the match only cemented the fact that his actions were seen as disgusting by everyone involved. Now, he couldn’t do that angle with Trinity because of the fact that you don’t want to give the blow off to that so soon. He couldn’t do it with Desire because she’s a heel and then Kash would be feuding with S.E.X. Goldylocks is pretty untouchable and Lollipop most likely wouldn’t be willing to get dropped on her head. They could have used Athena but, they went with Tracy…and it worked. Kash got more over as a misogynist and Tracy made a big splash with the crowd.

 

David Young vs. Chris Harris

 

Match Background: After all of the problems that Chris Harris and his tag team partner James Storm have been going through, last week David Young made it even worse. After Harris was defeated by Storm, giving Storm an entry in the Anarchy in the Asylum match, the two men shook hands and seemed to put their problems behind them. But, later on, when James Storm came into the ring for the match, Sonny Siaki’s partner, David Young came in to give Siaki an assist. Chris Harris came down to help Storm and inadvertently splashed him in the corner due to Young and Siaki. This caused Storm’s elimination and now, AMW are having problems again. So, Chris Harris wants to take it out…on David Young.

 

The Match: They lock up and Young actually gives him a clean break when the go into the corner. They lock up again and Harris gives Young a clean break…before unleashing a flurry of right hands and stomps in the corner! Storm gets a back body drop and a pair of clotheslines, leading to Young spilling out to the floor. Harris is in complete control and just tosses Young around into all of the safety rails before throwing him back into the ring and coming off the top with a cross body block for two. An attempt at a suplex is blocked by Young, but Harris is able to get a stalling vertical suplex on the second try. Sonny Siaki comes to ringside and locks eyes with Harris. Harris gets a Lou Thesz press on Young but spills out to the floor off an irish whip after Siaki pulls the top rope down. Young takes control on the outside and then hits an Asai Moonsault onto Harris on the ramp! Young throws him back in and puts Harris down with a chin lock. Harris tries to get up but Young pulls him back down to keep control and hits a snap suplex. The crowd once again battle with chants as the women go “Go Chris Go” and the men shout “NO!” Harris is able to come back and hits a flying left arm lariat, following it up with a DDT, but the count is broken up when Siaki puts Youngs leg on the ropes. Harris gets a full nelson slam on Young for a two count, but Young comes back with a Diamond Cutter for two. Harris whips Young into the corner, almost into the ref, but Young stops short and Harris charges with a spear! He hits it and the ref goes to check on Young for some reason, allowing Siaki to come in and hit the Siakalypse! Young over for the cover…ONE…TWO…NO! Siaki grabs a chair and gets into the ring, wedging it between the top and middle turnbuckles. James Storm comes running in and superkicks Sonny Siaki to the outside! Storm follows him out and brawls with him to the back! As they approach the S.E.X. locker room, the door opens and Triple X along with the Harris Brothers come out and beat down James Storm! They throw him into the locker room and shut the door. Back in the ring, Harris charges at Young, but Young sidesteps and Harris goes headfirst into the chair! Young with the cover…ONE…TWO…NO! Young can’t believe it! Young heads to the top and misses the moonsault, like always, allowing Harris to hit the Catatonic and get the win!

 

Winner: Chris Harris

 

After the match, Harris looks around and doesn’t see Storm because he’s unaware that Storm is locked in the S.E.X. locker room. Harris asks the announcers and he heads over there. Before he gets in, the door opens and they throw Storm at him, a beaten bloody mess.

 

My Opinion: I had a couple of problems with the match, but the angle at the end was pretty damn good. Young and Harris didn’t seem like they clicked much in the ring and there were too many rest holds for my liking. Factor in the interference and the relatively slow pace and this wasn’t a keeper by any means. However, I can definitely see the angle going somewhere as Storm probably regrets helping Harris now…or claims that he wasn’t there for HIM, thus damaging their friendship even more. *3/4

 

We’re in the S.E.X. locker room again where he’s talking to The Gathering. He tells them that Raven doesn’t care about them…and he obviously doesn’t communicate enough with them seeing as how they don’t know where he is. He tells them that Raven will be gone from TNA soon, so they need to choose what they’re going to do. He says that they can be a part of S.E.X…but they’ll have to prove it first, so they’re going to watch his back tonight.

 

I definitely like that. Gilberti was so pushy that most weak willed people would have agreed and obviously The Gathering are weak willed because they are so easily manipulated by Raven. Makes perfect sense.

 

Saturn vs. Glen Gilberti (w/The Gathering)

 

Match Background: Ever since S.E.X. and Team Ex-sorry…the Extreme Revolution began arguing over who’s side Raven was on, Gilberti and Saturn have been at odds. This caused S.E.X. and the Extreme Revolution to begin fighting with each other and Saturn earlier on wanted nothing more than to stop the fighting…so he’ll take on Gilberti himself. Just throwing this out there…In Saturn’s WCW debut as a member of Raven’s Flock, he defeated Disco Inferno for the TV Title in his first match.

 

The Match: Slugfest to start with Gilberti actually getting the advantage. Saturn retaliates with a double arm overhead belly to belly suplex. He knees Gilberti repeatedly in the corner, but has to be separated by the ref, allowing Gilberti to get up with a lariat. The crowd starts a “We Want Raven” chant, directed at The Gathering and I hope TNA is listening. Gilberti nails a running clothesline in the corner and goes for a second but EATS BOOT and gets a Saturn clothesline afterwards. Saturn crotches Gilberti on the ropes and goes for a springboard SOMETHING, but they just collide and fall to the floor awkwardly in tonight’s Blown Spot of the Night. The usual chant ensues. Gilberti sells the knee and the ref goes over to check on him, giving Alexis the opportunity to jump onto Saturn. Saturn tosses her into the guard rail, but falls to a Julio spin kick. She looks pretty damn hurt. Gilberti hits two dropkicks to Saturn’s left knee and scissor stomps down as he continues to work on it. Side Russian Legsweep by Gilberti leads to a second rope elbow attempt, which Saturn rolls out of the way of. Saturn gets up and nails Gilberti with a few punches and follows it up with two release German suplexes! A Falcon Arrow by Saturn gets a two count! Gilberti gets up and goes for the Stunner, but gets shoved into the referee. Saturn goes for the DVD attempt, however, Julio comes in and begins brawling with him until he gets thrown to the side. Alexis runs in and gets beat up by Saturn as well. Julio gets a belly to belly before Saturn once again turns his attention to Alexis. He just throws her down in a bad looking spinebuster, allowing Gilberti to get a Diamond Cutter from behind and go for the cover. ONE…TWO…NO! Gilberti goes for the Stunner this time, but it’s reversed into a backslide for two. Gilberti gets up and actually hits the Stunner for the clean pin!

 

Winner: Glen Gilberti

 

After the match, Julio takes Alexis to the back with Gilberti.

 

My Opinion: This match reminded me a lot of Young and Harris. It was just too slow paced and the crowd didn’t seem to be into it at all. The Gathering interfered quite a bit and I cringe every time I see Alexis sell because it looks like she’s taking some harsh bumps out there. The attempt at leg psychology was nice, although it didn’t go anywhere and Saturn was no selling it a few minutes later. Gilberti getting the clean pin was quite interesting, but I guess I’m just not used to seeing a heel go over clean with their finisher besides Triple H. *1/2.

 

In the back, Goldylocks is with D’Lo & AJ Styles. D’Lo cuts a pretty nice promo on S.E.X. and their “list”, seeing as how they’re probably the last two left on it tonight, but they refuse to go down. D’Lo says that the Asylum is his home…and he’s going to fight for what is his. Styles gets on THE STICK~! and says “I didn’t turn down no WWE contract for nothing. I’m making my career HERE.” Styles is on the same page as D’Lo and they’ve got their own list…and it starts with Triple X.

 

Tenay and West plug TNA Genesis, which shows the entire history of TNA…but its only available on DirecTV.

 

AJ Styles & D’Lo Brown vs. Triple X for the NWA Tag Team Titles

 

Match Background: For weeks now, AJ Styles & D’Lo Brown, both men wronged by Sports Entertainment Extreme when attempting to wrest the NWA Title from Jeff Jarrett, have been going up against them in tag team matches. First it was Gilberti and Sanders, then Siaki and Young and last week, they took on Elix Skipper and Low-Ki of Triple X. Later on that night, Christopher Daniels of Triple X won the tag titles from Jerry Lynn and Amazing Red, becoming three time tag team champions along with Skipper and ‘Ki. This week, Styles and D’Lo face Triple X again, but this time for the tag team titles.

 

The Match: We actually get Boxing Style Intros for this match, which is the first time we’ve had them for the Tag Titles, I believe. If I’m wrong, its definitely the first time in a LONG time. The question of which two of Triple X will be in the match is answered as Daniels and Skipper attack at the bell, but all is for naught as AJ and D’Lo take advantage immediately with a double team sideslam/springboard legdrop combo for a two count Styles comes BOUNCING off the ropes with his snap neckbreaker with such a velocity that Elix actually flips 360 degrees! D’Lo comes into the match and makes a mistake, allowing Elix to tag out to Daniels who comes in and EATS a dropkick! Shaky Shaky Legdrop also gets two before AJ and D’Lo hit a double hiptoss, followed by D’Lo tilt a whirl slamming Styles onto Daniels! Styles moonsaults off of Daniels chest in the corner and nails a clothesline before getting whipped into the heel corner and baseball sliding Elix off of the apron! Daniels dropkicks him though as Styles focus was on Elix and gets sent to the floor where Elix and Low-Ki put the boots to him. Back in the ring, a NICE STO by Daniels gets a two count before placing AJ in the middle of the top rope. He tags in Skipper who does his rope walk rana to a pop and a two count. Skipper then jumps over the ropes onto the apron, only to springboard himself halfway across the ring with a twisting splash in one fluid motion for two. Skipper is ON tonight! Triple X double team Styles down for a two count before sending him to the outside for Low-Ki. Daniels puts on a VERY unique version of the ab stretch, using a hammerlock but AJ gets out and powerbombs Daniels TO HELL! Styles tags D’Lo and he becomes a HOUSE….EN…FUEGO~! He hits the Sudden Impact for a broken up two count by Elix and then ends up hitting a Stunner out of a Vertical Suplex for a two count that’s broken up by Daniels! AJ and D’Lo hit a double chop and go for their Sky High/neckbreaker combo that Triple X lost to last time, but AJ is tripped up by Low-Ki on the outside, allowing Daniels to counter the Sky High into a submission hold! Low-Ki whips Styles on the outside into the guard rail, but he eventually recovers to break the hold that D’Lo was in. Daniels attempts Angels Wings, but D’Lo back drops out of it. AJ comes FLYING into the ring with a gorgeous springboard missile dropkick! They reverse a ton of moves on each other before Daniels blocks a superkick…and AJ flips nailing him with an enziguiri sending him to the outside! In a GREAT moment, Low-Ki picks Daniels up and tries to pep talk him at the bottom of the ramp, allowing D’Lo to back drop AJ over the top with rope with a Somersault Tope! WOW! The reason why I adored that spot is because Low-Ki made it seem like there was a real reason why they were standing there, unlike every other time a spot like that is attempted. D’Lo send Skipper to the outside and comes off the top with a cross body to the floor onto him! Back in the ring, AJ goes for the Quebrada/reverse DDT combo, but Daniels snap mares out of it and turns it into a Last Rites attempt! Styles reverses THAT into a reverse DDT in some of the CRISPEST reversals I’ve EVER SEEN! AJ goes for the Styles Clash but Glen Gilberti comes in and hits a botched Stunner. Daniels rolls him up for the cover….ONE…TWO…THREE.

 

Winner: Triple X

 

My Opinion: Dammit. Another 5 minutes and this match would have been ***1/2-**** easy. Everything was so crisp and look absolutely great. This could have been the greatest tag match in TNA history if they had just given it a few more minutes. The interference from Gilberti killed the crowd dead…especially since they botched The Stunner. I can’t WAIT for a rematch between these two teams. ***

 

After the match, The ENTIRE S.E.X. roster gets in the ring…and D’Lo & AJ are in one of the corners. Gilberti gets on THE STICK~! and says that their mission was to take over the TNA Asylum…so finish the job. They begin a massive beatdown on D’Lo & AJ as the Harris’, Sanders, Sonny Siaki and Glen Gilberti head to the back, beating up anyone they see, including Red, Jerry Lynn and Mortimer Plumtree, who we haven’t seen in MONTHS. Meanwhile, in the ring, Triple X finish the beatdown on AJ and D’Lo.

 

We then cut to the back again where the Disciples come in and begin brawling with S.E.X. The numbers are still too great as Gilberti sits down and smokes a victory cigar….

 

End of PPV.

 

Overall: You might as well have called this The Glen Gilberti Show. I’m a fan of Glen Gilberti. I think he’s done a great job of removing the stigma of being Disco Inferno for years and playing a ruthless, mastermind character. BUT…he took up TOO much screen time tonight, too much discussion and S.E.X. was involved in EVERY MATCH tonight! That’s just over saturation and reeked of the old nWo days. Even Tenay and West were doing the old school WCW announcing, talking about Glen Gilberti throughout the show. The highlights for me definitely were the Tracy/Kid Kash skit and the last match. Everything else was relatively forgettable.

 

However…I’m contractually obligated to say it one last time. Bob Barron is a GODSEND.

 

I also WILL be covering the WWE Judgment Day PPV, exclusively on TheSmartMarks.com.

 

Til then,

 

The Dames, Damian Gonzalez

 

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