One and Only NWA:TNA Week 50 Thread

[Guest bob_barron]

I totally agree with Slapnuts-

 

Crash TV worked tonight- I was loving the anything can happen vibe that the show was having for a while because it all took place in the ring.

 

I also love blade jobs

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

This is what I discovered about Russo.

 

And it is both his greatest strength and greatest weakness:

 

Everyone, and I mean everyone in TNA is given something to do to keep them going and to try and prevent them from losing overness. He tries to get everyone over.

 

That's a great strength when it works...but stuff like the AMW break-up angle (which was pretty much only done so that they would have a storyline for the last two months) ended up hurting them.

 

Compare that to the WWE writing where everyone gets buried. Example: The title needed to be taken off Jarrett, and the title needs to be taken off of HHH.

 

On Raw...they can't take the belt and put it on anyone...because they've all been buried.

 

On TNA both Raven and Styles were right there (and arguably D-Lo who has been climbing the ranks of credability like a rocket) because they weren't shit all over when they lost the first time.

 

Russo got New Jack and Shark Boy together and the result is hilarious. HE even got Erik Watts over and for the briefest of time made Disco seem credible (unfortunately that ran out two weeks before his title shot).

 

Like I said...it's Russo's greatest strength...

 

BUT it can hurt the show.

 

There are so many angles that they have to balance at one time that some things end up making NO SENSE (Trinity as luchadore...so on) and many of the shows are bogged down in angle advancement and short matches.

 

Tonight worked because they did advance angles...but not at the expense of the action.

 

But it can also be Russo's biggest flaw.

 

He's a pretty creative guy. He does have the ability, it seems, to get anyone over. But some of his ideas are just a little (read: a lot) too out there for a wrestling show.

[Rendclaw 0]

I can't wait for Dames' take on this show.

[Guest bob_barron]

Well I taped the show for him so you will be getting a non delayed Diatribe

[Astro101 0]

I liked tonights show. Had some nice markout moments. Styles flying off the cage with his animated feet like that was awesome. I also liked how they explained the non-title X match saying it wouldn't be fair to the other X guys and how it's just Frankie's first match in singles. I thought it made the title more important. Bad ending to an ok main event. It was kinda over the place. Other than that, I can say I had fun watching tonight.

[Guest BrokenWings]

I had almost forgotten Styles' fall off the cage to the floor! That was great! He also sells the clothesline really well. I'm looking forward to the D'lo/AJ feud the more I think about it.

[syxx2001 0]

I get bps and bob confused.

[Guest bob_barron]

Think of it this way-

 

In this folder

bps: Positive

Me: Negative

 

[syxx2001 0]

THE NURSE WAS SIMPLY LUCIOUS?>?? I missed her. What shows were she one. Thats my wife. Me, her, Red and Alexis can have a orgy sometime.

[Astro101 0]

Were Goldy's boobs new? Meltzer insinuated it was either as a joke or whatnot.

 

I mean, those were like the first thing I noticed about her tonight. You know, if you hit mute when she's on, she's very watchable.

[syxx2001 0]

I saw that too. I like, CLEAVAGE!!@

[Guest bob_barron]

THE NURSE WAS SIMPLY LUCIOUS?>?? I missed her. What shows were she one. Thats my wife. Me, her, Red and Alexis can have a orgy sometime.

I don't remember which weeks she was on off the top of my head- But I think she was on last week.

 

Her facial expressions are GOLD. She was once in the background doing goofy faces during a Steve Corino promo and she just cracked me up the whole time. I love her.

[Astro101 0]

syxx, why the hell would you want an orgy with Red?

[syxx2001 0]

If I was gay of course. Red is cool. If I wasn't straight and lived in Tennessee....

[Astro101 0]

From observer:

 

"Not so fast with all the compliments about how good Raven was selling tonight. When he got backstage, his ankle had already swollen to significant proportions. He was injured in the first minute of the match doing the plancha, so his limping was legitimate. Glenn Gilbert was also injured in the main event, as his bad back went out and after the match he was having a difficult time getting up."

[Guest bob_barron]

Raven is a helluva trooper.

 

I wonder what this means for his match this Saturday. Luckily it's a tag match so hopefully he'll be okay to go

[syxx2001 0]

I knew it! He couldn't have been selling too good to blow a drop toe hold or running someways face into a table full of condoments.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Keith has his TNA review up.

 

He called it one of the best shows of the year despite (like us) not liking much other than the cage match the X match and the AJ/D-Lo brawl until the finish.

 

Someone can post it if they want...but for those too lazy like me he gave the cage match ****1/2 and teh X match **** and the AJ/D-LO **1/2 due in large part to the Russo finish.

[syxx2001 0]

You all know what Im gonna say about those 2 stars....

[Guest BrokenWings]

I hate reading Scooter's TNA rant, mainly because it nearly always differs from my opinion. He just seems like so much of a WWE fanboy to me, while reading. *shrugs*

[Guest bob_barron]

I hate reading Scooter's TNA rant, mainly because it nearly always differs from my opinion. He just seems like so much of a WWE fanboy to me, while reading. *shrugs*

SK positive about WWE?? The guy is Mr. Negative

[syxx2001 0]

And was the D'Lo/Styles match really a cage match? Or was it a match that took place in a cage. I dont think a match that took place inside of a HIAC would be considered a real HIAC.

[Guest BrokenWings]

I hate reading Scooter's TNA rant, mainly because it nearly always differs from my opinion. He just seems like so much of a WWE fanboy to me, while reading. *shrugs*

SK positive about WWE?? The guy is Mr. Negative

True enough, but he got to me with a comment such as 'This is the alternative?!' a few weeks back - when I checked the star ratings, it was above and beyond what the WWE had done the previous two weeks, according to him. It just doesn't seem as though he was treating the show respectfully, in my opinion.

 

I'll take TSM opinion over Scotty's anyday

 

Edit - Syxx, I guess it could be comparable to the First Blood match from KOTR 98 (?) where Kane won the title - the HIAC came down, but it doesn't make it a HIAC match, now does it. I agree with your point.

[syxx2001 0]

W00T. Someone agrees with me. Im loved. And to show your apreciation, I'd like a sign on the next TNA show.

[Guest Boo_Bradley]

The SmarK Rant for NWA-TNA, June 25, 2003

 

- Live from Nashville, TN.

 

- Your hosts are Mike Tenay & Don West.

 

- Opening match, NWA World tag title cage: Elix Skipper & Christopher Daniels v. America’s Most Wanted. In another big step towards preserving my sanity, Storm & Harris now have their nicknames on their tights, so I can tell them apart even with TNA’s hit-or-miss camerawork. Big brawl to start, as you’d expect, and Triple X get a double-team suplex on Harris. AMW comes back with a double-team bulldog and throws Skipper into Daniels. Harris clotheslines Daniels and slugs away. Strong pro-heel crowd tonight. XXX sends Harris into the cage a couple of times as it settles down into a standard NWA tag-match-in-a-cage and Tenay stresses that it’s pinfall or submission, not a climbing contest. Skipper gets two, and we’ve got blood already. Daniels hammers on the cut as the crowd chants “more blood”. Hey, give the fans what they want, I say. Good bladejob from Harris, too. Skipper pounds on him, but Harris fights back, only to get flattened by a Lionsault where Skipper walks up the ropes and rebounds off the cage. Wicked cool. Daniels gets two. Harris with a lariat, but Daniels puts him down with a high kick for two. Skipper pounds him down again for two. Back to the cage to widen the cut, but Harris clotheslines him again. Hot tag Storm, although I sense it’s merely the middle hot tag. Flying forearm for Daniels and an inverted suplex into the cage for Skipper. Neckbreaker on Daniels. Powerslam gets two. Daniels goes low to block the superkick (that’s the counter I was hoping someone would try on Shawn Michaels for years – I mean, it’s RIGHT THERE) and Storm eats cage of his own, but his bladejob is not nearly as manly as Harris’s’s’s’s’s is. All those s’s and apostrophes always mess me up. Rockerplex from XXX gets two. Storm & Skipper collide, tags abound. Harris tosses Skipper into the cage, and he javelins Daniels into it as well, drawing triple juice. Let’s go for four! Full nelson slam gets two. Daniels blocks a sideslam with the Angel’s Wings for two. Can I just stop and make a stand against guys doing variations of the sideslam right here and now? Knock it off! It’s a SIDESLAM, get over it. No matter how many tilts and whirls you throw into it, you’re using Kevin Nash’s transition move. Storm comes in and they head up, and slug it out along the top rope. Both try for some head v. cage action on the other, but they meet the POLE in the middle and go crashing down after a sick sounding “bong” on the cage. Skipper & Harris slug it out and Skipper suplexes him, and sends him into the cage again. Neck throw gets two. Skipper climbs and Harris follows, and powerbombs him off the top! Fuck that was awesome. It gets two. Daniels with a Test Drive on Storm, which gets two. Harris hits Daniels with a corner clothesline and they go up, and Daniels trying walking along the top rope but gets SPEARED off by Harris. That’s crazy. Harris gets two. Skipper with the Play of the Day on Storm, but he goes up again because obviously he’s one sick motherfucker. And indeed, he heads up to the top of the cage and gets a bodypress, from the top of the CAGE, for two. Unbelievable. And this isn’t like Hardyz blowing spots, these are all super-crisp moves. He goes up AGAIN, but Harris smartly knocks him out of the cage to leave Daniels alone 2-on-1. Ah, irony can be so ironic. Superkick by Storm, and the Death Sentence gets two. And since it’s the theme for the night, Harris goes all the way to the top of the cage, knocks Skipper off and out again, and hits the Death Sentence from the top of the cage to finish and win the tag titles at 17:49. And that, my friends, is a crazy, violent, bloody, insane Match of the Year Candidate if there ever was one. ****1/2

 

- D-Lo interrupts the cage deconstruction, and calls out AJ Styles for an explanation. Instead, they brawl, as D-Lo hotshots him into the cage and slugs away after a Thesz Press. He’s generally kicking the shit out of him, so they send a ref in there after AJ gets splatted on the floor facefirst and we’re off…

 

- Impromptu Cage Match: AJ Styles v. D-Lo Brown. D-Lo gets two to start, but AJ goes low and pounds him with a chair. D-Lo starts bleeding, so AJ hammers it. Kneedrop on a chair and D-Lo eats more cage. He fights back and gives AJ some of the same, however. You know it’s a good brawl when the blood is spattered onto the camera lens. D-Lo comes back with clotheslines, and a sideslam for two. Sky High and D-Lo goes up to the top of the cage, but Vince Russo runs in and allows AJ to toss a chair at him, and it a DQ at 4:34. Only Russo would book a cage match with a run-in finish immediately after getting the importance of the cage over huge in the previous match. JJJ tries to save as AJ destroys D-Lo. Really strong brawl with an equally bad finish, so we’ll split the difference and call it **1/2

 

- Meantime, Shane Douglas brawls with the Gathering outside, and then heads in to cut a promo while they take down the cage. See, that’s smart use of the time, because god knows if you need someone to go out and talk about himself for 10-20 minutes, call Shane Douglas. You know those old Royal Rumbles where Gorilla would always talk about how it took Greg Valentine 30 minutes just to warm up? Douglas’ interviews are a lot like that – he’s the 60-minute man of self-promotion. Anyway, he explains that he threw down the NWA title 10 years ago (does he have to drop that into EVERY conversation? Is he gonna be 85 years old and sitting in the retirement home going “You know, I threw down the NWA World title because Dick Flair was scared of me…here, change my catheter bag”) and expected that it would STAY dead, dagnabbit. And here’s Raven running around trying to win the title that he killed years before, and that sure annoys him. Hey, that’s as good a reason as any I’ve heard for a feud lately. Raven runs out for a brawl with him and Disco joins in, but JJJ makes the save. Make up your mind, Jeff – either siphon heat off the AJ feud or the Raven feud, but not both. YOU’RE JUST ONE MAN! Only HHH has the raw ego power and a nose big enough to stick it into every storyline.

 

- Next week: Sting – the Interview. First question: “Man, didn’t you feel like a moron getting screwed over by Hogan and Nick Patrick like that? I mean, what, you BELIEVED the guy when he said ‘Okay, I’ve got this great idea for a spot where I pin you clean with the legdrop but the ref will count REALLY FAST, brother, and you’ll look like a million bucks, trust me.’?” Okay, I made that question up.

 

- Lights out match: Jerry Lynn v. Justin Credible. They’re brawling outside right away, and they end up fighting in the back of a pickup truck. They find a table (?!) and use that, and Lynn whips Credible into a devastating sheet of what appears to be drywall or gypsum or one of those other home improvement terms that I don’t give a crap about. Anyway, I’m sure it hurts, honest. They fight into the arena by the stage, and Lynn dives over the rail, onto Justin. Lynn rams him into the go-go cage, dislodging the dancer, who was presumably too busy shaking her groove thang to notice the brawl going on. She’s HURT, so Jerry Lynn, as a caring guy who happens to listen to DEVIL’S MUSIC, stops to check on her. They exchange piledriver reversals and Lynn pins him with a cradle at 3:17. Mundo disappointo. ½* Justin handcuffs him to the cage and chairs him, so the feud MUST CONTINUE.

 

- Meantime, Disco rallies the troops and demands Shark Boy’s mask. Boy, that Russo, bastion of originality in booking.

 

- Non-title match: Chris Sabin v. Frankie Kazarian. You have to think that if ever there was a gimmick with a limited shelf-life, it’s calling yourself “The Future”. By 45 they’ll be “The Ancient Past” and THEN who’ll book them? But even so, that’s a pretty abstract concept for such a low-brow audience to wrap it’s collective head around to begin with. I mean, wrestling fans need good solid nicknames to wrap their head around – Crusher! Bruiser! Hunter! Killer! I mean, “The Future”…what does that tell you, really? Are we gonna have Joe “Déjà vu” Jones next, where his gimmick is that fans kinda think they’ve seen him in another promotion, but they forget about it really quickly? Anyway, Sabin works a wristlock to start, and they do a stalemate sequence until Sabin gets a rana. Kazarian with an elbow and 2 dropkicks, and Sabin bails. Back in, Kazarian DDTs him for two. Rolling vertical suplex and a dropkick get two. Sabin comes back with a tornado DDT for two. He chops away and dumps him, and follows with a tope con hilo. Sabin gets a legdrop for two. Dropkick gets two. Inverted neckbreaker gets two. Pump splash hits knee and Kazarian backslides him for two. They trade rollups for several near-falls, until Sabin puts him down with enzuigiri and gets two. Sabin goes to a headscissors, and drops a fist for two. Kazarian comes back with a high kick and both are out. Another misses and Sabin climbs onto his shoulders to pound away, but Kazarian falls back with an electric chair for two. He goes up, but Sabin pops up with a SICK SICK SICK release german suplex off the top as Kazarian does a full rotation before splatting on the mat. Mother of GOD these guys are nuts. That gets two. Sabin’s finish is reversed into a death valley driver into the turnbuckles, leaving him hung in the Tree of Woe. Would Keanu Reeves be hung in the Tree of…oh, never mind. Kazarian tries a Van Terminator (given his predilection for naming moves after futuristic pop culture references, I nominate “T-1000” in place of “Van Terminator” for Kazarian) but misses and lands on his ass. Sabin gets a backbreaker for two. Sabin misses a charge and Kazarian goes up, but they land on the mat and Kazarian gets a downward spiral for two. Sabin with a tiger suplex for two. Sabin goes up, but Kazarian RIGHT IN THE FACE, BABY, and follows him up for a One-Man Spanish Fly (charmingly referred to as the Flux Capacitor by Mike Tenay), which earns a Holy Shit from me at least. That finishes, obviously, at 11:55 for Kazarian. Two great matches make this probably one of the best PPVs of the year to date, no matter how the rest of the show goes. ****

 

- Meantime, Douglas rants about JJJ & Raven as Goldylocks makes her usual stupid facial expressions. Why must they tease me with Scott Hudson for one week and then go back to this bimbo? Anyway, a tag match later tonight is offered, as you might have figured out for yourself from the initial brawl.

 

- Kid Kash v. Erik Watts. Watts is interesting for two reasons now, neither of which are good. First, he looks like a big star all the way until the moment he starts wrestling. Second, audience turnover in wrestling is such that almost no one watching now was around in 1992, and thus Watts doesn’t really have the stigma of being Erik Watts anymore. He can now annoy fans on his own merits. In fact, I’m shocked he didn’t change his name a long time ago. I’d say he had a shot to get picked up by the WWE, but he appears to have better hair care than either HHH or Nash these days, and while well-maintained and conditioned long hair is certainly an asset for getting hired by them, if there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s show up the Zen Masters of Conditioner. Kash attacks to start, but gets suplexed. Watts misses a charge, but drops the Kid, and they brawl outside. Kash gets a rana off the stairs. Back in, Kash with a flying clothesline for two. He grabs an armbar and an inverted facelock, desperately trying the same method of hiding Erik’s weaknesses that everyone else does: Make sure he doesn’t have to do ANYTHING during the course of the match. Erik fights back with a bicycle kick and a legdrop for two. Kash dropkicks the knee to thankfully end the offensive flurry before he tried to work another dropkick into his arsenal (he threw one in 1992 and it was so famous that people still talk about it today in hushed voices reserved for the greatest natural disasters in history, like the Hindenburg crashing or Gary Cherone joining Van Halen), and they go into a chinlock, which thankfully not even Erik can screw up. Watts comes back and tosses Kash around. Powerslam gets two. Kash with another rana and a DDT for two. Moneymaker (Funny the term “money maker” would ever be used in a match involving Erik Watts) is reversed by Watts, and he comes back with clotheslines, the last refuge of the damned…bad. Powerbomb is blocked by Kash (speaking of the last refuge of the bad, you can’t be big and tall unless you use a powerbomb as your finish. Look it up, it’s the law) and the ref is bumped, allowing Big Scary Dude to run in with his sideslam on Watts, giving Kash the pin at 8:35. You’d think someone with 10 years of experience now would, say, GET BETTER, even a little bit, but no. ¾*

 

- BG James does his Don West impression, with questions from Konnan & Killings. Cute time-filler.

 

- Meantime, Shark Boy lounges in the wading pool, as New Jack protests that black people don’t handle water very well. They establish an inflatable octopus, whose presence will become very important later.

 

- Okay, the octopus doesn’t really become important later, but I’m just trying to illustrate the concept of setup and payoff. And if it means resorting to pointing out inflatable octopi, then so be it.

 

- Actually, I just wanted to write a rant where I had to use both the singular and plural forms of “octopus”, because really I don’t think it’s ever been done or even attempted before, and for good reason.

 

- Okay, I’m lying about the previous bullet point, really I’ve never had any inclination either way about octopus or octopi, and honestly I couldn’t give a crap about setting up and paying off skits involving Shark Boy either. I think I’m just stalling for time before I have to watch a match involving Sandman, which is like doing a tequila shot right after a whiskey shot – it usually ends up with someone barfing.

 

- And no, it wasn’t ME who barfed. Well, I did, but it wasn’t a direct result of mixing the liquor at that moment, it was more the cumulative effect of all the alcohol on the night in question, and possibly the burger I ate while incredibly drunk.

 

- Speaking of burgers, there’s a pretty neat idea out there now – microwavable burger patties. It’s pre-grilled, pre-frozen patties that you just heat up for a couple of minutes, and voila, instant burgers. Kinda like the ones you get at 7-11, but not as gross. I had been wondering for a while if it was the bounds of technology that prevented microwavable burger patties, or just that no one thought of it before now. Eh, whatever, I guess I have to recap the match now.

 

- Hard 10 match: Sandman v. Sonny Siaki. Siaki attacks during the entrance to go up 1-0. Trashcan lid makes it 2-0. Into the ring, Sandman whips him around and legdrops a chair to make it 2-1. Suplex onto the ropes and a guillotine with a chair makes it 2-2. He lights up a smoke, but Siaki sends him into chairs for 3-2. Siaki then steals the smoke, remembers he doesn’t smoke, and puts Sandman on the floor with a neckbreaker. A flying garbage can makes it 4-2. Through the table for a 9-2 lead. But wait! Sandman cans him, lids him twice, and puts him through the table for the miraculous 11-9 win at 4:55, as Siaki gasses it like Dan Cloutier. ½* Hey, maybe once Hasek steals Cujo’s job, the Canucks can pick up Joseph and get swept in the first round like the Red Wings did!

 

- Meantime, JJJ accepts the tag match tonight. But will he turn on Raven? Eh, gotta say I don’t give a crap either way.

 

- Meantime, Mike Sanders assaults Shark Boy’s previously-established inflatable octopus.

 

- Raven & Jeff Jarrett v. Shane Douglas & Glen Gilberti. The primary problem with TNA up here in the main events is that when it comes down to it, it’s a bunch of guys who couldn’t cut it in WCW and weren’t good enough to get bought out by the WWE. That’s why you constantly have to elevate fresh faces using these guys to establish them, not recycle the same failures over again. Shane looks old and flabby, by the way. Brawl outside to start and Raven slugs Shane down in the ring. He tosses him and follows with a pescado onto both heels, hurts his ankle, and then sells it for the entirety of the match. That’s my boy. In the ring, JJJ & Raven double-team Douglas. And then onto the floor again, as Shane hits the railing and Raven chokes him out. Disco pounds Jarrett with a chair. Raven & Douglas fight by the back, and the others follow, leading to some teamwork by the faces before we head back to the ring. Jeff chairs Gilberti and puts him in the ring, but accidentally knocks Raven off the apron and falls prey to a neckbreaker that gets two. Douglas drops an elbow for two. Jarrett with a small package for two, reversed for two. Geez, you can tell who was doing ALL the work on that sequence. False tag allows the heels to work Jarrett over, and Disco gets the dreaded MAIN EVENT SLEEPER. I hear it’s called the “Shane Douglas Six Hour RF Video Shoot Interview”. Might need a shorter name, of course. Jarrett escapes with a jawbreaker, hot tag Raven. Bulldog on Douglas gets two. DDT gets two. Luckily Shane was bitching about getting held back by Shawn Michaels in 1995 and the hot air broke his fall, and thus he was able to kick out. Gilberti dumps Jarrett, but Shane goes low on Raven. Jarrett uses the guitar on Glen for two (although he didn’t move or even attempt to kick out) and Raven DDTs Douglas for two. This time Shane was complaining about how Ric Flair killed his dog and gave him a wedgie, which not only cushioned the fall but blow-dried the hair of the first two rows. Jim Mitchell joins us at ringside, and then throws fire at Raven for the DQ at 11:04. Well, that was certainly a mess, and Douglas should just stick to interviews from now on. *

 

The Bottom Line:

 

The show was an overwhelming thumbs up once they hit two ****+ matches in the first 70 minutes, so the rest doesn’t matter one way or another. But much of it sucked and would have dragged down a lesser show. Even the bad was energetic and well-paced, however, as the talk::wrestling ratio was much improved over the last few weeks.

 

But this one was easily one of the best PPVs of the year, from any promotion, and is well worth going out of your way to get the replay, should your cable company offer one.