The Dames' Diatribe on NWA:TNA - October 8th, 2003

[Guest TSMAdmin]

The Dames’ Diatribe on NWA:TNA – October 8, 2003

 

Look, I’m pissed the Yankees lost, OKAY!? Now leave me alone about it. It’s just one game. It’ll probably be the only one the Sox win.

 

Now, I owe you guys an explanation about what happened to last week’s Diatribe. I was at Keith’s place (www.KeithAlexanderOnline.com), taping the show downstairs, but I wasn’t watching it. I was upstairs, conversing with my friends and when I came downstairs at 10 o’clock to check on the tape, I was disappointed to say the least when I discovered that the cassette strip had snapped in half during taping and had effectively stopped. I then went into doctor mode, opening up the tape and trying to perform emergency surgery to try and patch up the tape for my review, but the tape was declared dead at about 11:45pm. So, I spent 10 bucks for nothing, since I didn’t even get to watch the show. You’re welcome, Mr. Jarrett.

 

What bothers me about it the most is that I was taping Smallville and Angel at home (which airs at the same time as TNA) and when I came home, I found that the shows had recorded with NO SOUND. Basically, nothing taped the way I wanted it to last week…and I was PISSED. Thankfully, my good friend Eric (www.rpi.edu/~quinoe/eq) hooked me up with those eps, so I’m caught up on those.

 

So that leads us to this week. The TNA tape works fine, but I never did find out all of the details about what happened the week before, so it should be interesting playing catch up.

 

Oh yeah…for those of you who are unaware, Hulk Hogan has come to terms to be on a 3 hour TNA PPV, airing Sunday, November 30th. I’ll give my opinion on all that when the time comes, but for now, be a doll and read Bryan Staebell’s take on it on his “From The Outside” report, exclusively at TheSmartMarks.com. Oh yeah, he also covers something about a TNA video being made by the makers of Def Jam Vendetta….

 

Speaking of being a TSM writer, there are several open positions and if you’re interested, click here to find out all about em.

 

THE FBI IS COMING TO DESTROY YOUR VIDEO CASSETTE’S!!!!

 

The show starts with its prerequisite video package covering last week’s show, which I’m actually thankful for this week. Apparently, Kid Kash and Abyss beat Americas Most Wanted and Terry Taylor came down to help, only to receive an ass whipping. Also last week, Chris Sabin cost Jerry Lynn his X Division Title shot against Michael Shane. D’Lo Brown was manhandled by Red Shirt Security at the orders of Don Callis after interfering in the Shark Boy/Mad Mikey vs. Sonny Siaki/Ekmo match. Glenn Gilberti, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger turned on David Young, only for 3 Live Kru to make the save. Raven vowed to take out all of the members of the New Church until only Jim Mitchell is left. Finally, Dusty Rhodes challenged AJ Styles to an NWA Title match for tonight, pissing off Jeff Jarrett in the process, who is going to get his shot against the World Champion on October 22nd.

 

As we go into the Asylum, Jeff Jarrett gets into the ring with THE STICK~! and demands some mic time. He calls out Dusty and tells him that he purposely stole his title match and he’s not happy. He tells Dusty that he’s no different than any other “Icon”, such as Bret Hart, Macho Man, Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper because “you’d all cut your mother’s throat to get what YOU wanted”. Alright….that might go for some of those guys, but Bret isn’t that way…bastard.

 

Dusty tries to interject his thoughts, but Jarrett won’t let him, getting a bit of heel heat for it. He says that whoever he faces on the 22nd, he’s leaving as champion, so for tonight, he’s going to stay out of the building and let them duke it out.

 

We now go over to Scott Hudson who is with AJ Styles in the locker room. Hudson asks Styles where Russo is and Styles gets upset, because he hasn’t heard from him in a week. Styles slapped Russo last week and because of it, things haven’t been right between them. Sonny Siaki and Ekmo come in and get in AJ’s face to tell him that despite the slap, they’re going to take care of business. Styles then demands that Trinity call Russo again as we head to the ring for our first match.

 

Red Shirt Security (w/Don Callis) vs. Chris Vaughn of Black Shirt Security & D’Lo Brown (w/Rick Santel)

 

Match Background: Two weeks ago, Red Shirt Security, composed of indy wrestlers Kevin Northcutt and Ryan Wilson, took on Black Shirt Security members Chris Vaughn and Rick Santel. With the help of the Director of Authority, Erik Watts, the black shirts won the match, but Santel ended up on the shelf as a result of said match. D’Lo Brown got in Don Callis’ face last week and was thrown out of the building by the Red Shirts after interfering in a tag team match involving D’Lo’s rivals, Sonny Siaki and Ekmo.

 

The Match: The Red Shirts now have their own video package….and Don Callis cut his hair! The guy looks like an Evil Jerry Seinfeld now. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, CALLIS!!?

 

Rick Santel accompanies Vaughn and Brown to the ring, with his arm in a sling as a result of a separated shoulder.

 

D’Lo and Northcutt start the match with D’Lo dropkicking the Red Shirt security member and tags out to Vaughn. Northcutt wraps his hand around Vaughn’s neck and just CHUCKS him across the ring into the Red Shirt’s corner, allowing a tag to Ryan Wilson. Vaughn immediately runs out of the corner and tags in D’Lo, who wears Wilson down enough so Vaughn can come back in. Vaughn connects with a pair of dropkicks which only staggers the bigger Wilson and then heads up to the top for what looks to be a rana…but ends up eating a VICIOUS POWERBOMB by Wilson!

 

Wilson works over Vaughn in the corner with some shitty, shitty punches before the Red Shirts doubleteam him. Northcutt comes in and hits an impressive pumphandle suplex and then mocks D’Lo’s legdrop…and ends up missing it. Vaughn gets up and dropkicks Northcutt, setting up a Tornado DDT in the corner, but Northcutt uses RAW STRENGTH to toss Vaughn up and over his head in a harsh overhead belly to belly suplex into the turnbuckle. I’m telling you guys, Chris Vaughn has Ricky Morton like qualities in the way he connects with the audience as the females audibly start a “Go Chris Go” chant for him during this beating.

 

The tag formula then comes into play as Vaughn escapes Northcutt’s grasp and makes a desperate tag to D’Lo, but naturally, the referee saw nothing and therefore won’t allow it. D’Lo doesn’t care and pulls the ref out of the way and goes after both Red Shirts with punches and forearms. He hits a big cross body to Wilson, with both men going over the top rope and leaving Vaughn alone in the ring with Northcutt.

 

Northcutt then MAKES VAUGHN PAY with his version of a double underhook piledriver (Kid Kash’s Money Maker) which Tenay calls the NORTHCUTT DRIVER~! and it mercifully gets the pinfall.

 

Winners: Red Shirt Security

 

After the match, the Red Shirt’s go into the ring and double team D’Lo Brown, trying to handcuff him to the ropes, but Erik Watts comes in to make the save to a pop.

 

My Opinion: This was your standard tag match where Vaughn played the face-in-peril for most of it as the Red Shirt’s got to demonstrate their power based offense. I think it’s rather safe to say that Northcutt is the better of the two and would probably be better suited for a singles push later on down the road. His finisher rules the planet Earth and since WWE has a ban on piledrivers, it makes it even more impressive knowing that you can’t see that move done on free TV. Chris Vaughn also has a decent upside to him, especially if he were to show some charisma and bring in some more women. D’Lo was his usual D’Lo self in this match. *1/2

 

West and Tenay run down the card and lead in to an interview between Tenay and Dusty Rhodes. Tenay asks Dusty what it was like the first time he won the NWA Title back in 1979. He says that was the starting point of his “Icon” status. Dusty says that some of the things that he did to AJ Styles in the past two weeks were uncalled for…and he blames the fans for it. No, seriously, he says that the fans make him do crazy things in the ring.

 

Tenay asks Dusty if he felt he “overstepped his boundaries” when he asked Styles for a title match, knowing that Jeff Jarrett would be upset about it. He doesn’t think so and says that Jarrett would have done the same thing had Dusty been the one in line for the shot. He’s got a point there….

 

Tenay and West talk about the fact that Jeff Jarrett has left the building and then state that last week, Jerry Lynn packed up his things and left the arena after losing to Michael Shane. After having to deal with Don Callis’ B.S., losing to AJ Styles clean in an NWA Title match and then an X Division shot against Michael Shane was apparently too much for him to handle. I smell a heel turn, baby!

 

We now see “exclusive” footage of Scott Hudson trying to get an interview with Jerry Lynn as he’s leaving the building last week. Lynn says that they should interview Don Callis instead and ask why there’s a run in during every match and why there’s nothing being done about it. (AMEN, JERRY!) Lynn gets upset and speeds away.

 

Chris Sabin vs. Michael Shane in an X Division Title Match. (Title vs. Trophy)

 

Match Background: Michael Shane made his debut in TNA roughly about three months ago, facing Chris Sabin for the X Division title and losing due to the inadvertent distraction by Frankie Kazarian. Shane eventually went on to take Sabin’s X Division Title in the Ultimate X Match. In the Super X Division Tournament held in early September, Michael Shane (who was the X Division champion at the time) lost in the first round, while Chris Sabin went on to win the whole thing and a prestigious trophy to boot.

 

Last week, Chris Sabin interfered in the Jerry Lynn/Michael Shane X Title match and then challenged Shane to an X title match for himself. Shane agreed and the winner will walk away with both the X Title and the Super X Tournament Trophy.

 

The Match: WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO SABIN’S MUSIC!? THEY’VE RUINED IT! I’m heartbroken….

 

A LARGE “Hail Sabin” chant starts as Shane and Sabin get in each others face. Shane slaps Sabin across the face and then bails out of the ring as Sabin seems to be playing the face in this match. It’s probably better that way, since Sabin is so over with the crowd to being with.

 

Sabin pulls Shane back into the ring and connects with a right hand, but Shane bails…and then runs away as Sabin gives chase. Back in the ring now, Shane runs into a nice rana and a dropkick, but Shane begs off…and pulls his trunks, causing him to go face first into the turnbuckle. A slugfest then erupts as Sabin battles back, but Shane tosses Sabin over the top rope. Shane tosses Sabin into the steel steps and then taunts Sabin by shouting that the trophy will be his. Shane starts choking Sabin with his wrist tape and then connects with a powerslam for a two count. Shane puts Sabin in a surfboard stretch, so the crowd chants for Sabin, who powers out of it, but can’t escape Shane’s offense. He finally gets some separation in the corner and springboards in with a spinning wheel kick and now both men are down.

 

Both men gets up and Sabin connects big time with a Yakuza kick and a jumping DDT for a two count. Shane gets up and shoves Sabin into the corner, setting him up for Sweet Shane Music, but it’s blocked into a Cradle Shock attempt…which is then reversed into a fisherman’s buster attempt by Shane. Sabin blocks that and hits FUTURE SHOCK~!, but neither the crowd, nor the announcers seem to give a shit for some weird reason. Sabin covers, but Shane gets a foot on the rope. Sabin goes for a springboard dropkick, but he’s swatted away by Shane. Sabin charges into the corner and SWALLOWS BOOT as he catches both feet in the mush big time, allowing Shane to get a cheap roll up using the ropes for a close two count. Shane hits a powerbomb on Sabin for a close two count…and then goes outside to grab his title belt. He goes to use it on Sabin, but the referee pulls it away from him. Sabin then catches Shane in CRADLE SHOCK~! but the referee isn’t watching, trying to put the X Title away. Once he gets back into position, Shane recovers enough to get out at two. Sabin and Shane then go for the elaborate pinfall series, but Shane hooks the tights for the three count and the cheap victory.

 

Winner: Michael Shane

 

My Opinion: Sadly, this match was disappointing to me as it seemed almost as if they were just going through the motions. The fans could tell too as they really didn’t care about the action going on in the ring. Sabin tried to carry Shane for most of the match, but it just didn’t click. Personally, they need to get that title off of Shane sooner than later because as the focus of the X Division, he’s simply not over or talented enough. Sabin looks to be turning face and with Shane now holding the Super X Tourney Trophy, he’ll probably get another shot at Shane in the future and hopefully, the match will be a hell of a lot better. *1/2

 

In the back, Hudson is with Gilberti, Diamond and Swinger, who will take on 3 Live Kru tonight. They start cutting a silly promo where they mock 3 Live Kru’s rapping skills when David Young interrupts. “What was with you guys hitting me with a chair last week?” The guy doesn’t even sound upset…he sounds confused! Gilberti catches onto this and responds with a hilarious answer. “That was nothing….Swinger, Diamond…how many times did I hit you with a chair last week?” Swinger: “A couple of times.” Diamond: “At least a baker’s dozen”. Gilberti: “See, that’s what we do!”

 

Young actually accepts this as a legit answer and then wants to know if he’s in the group yet….to which Gilberti says that he’s “this” close, but they’ll talk about it another time.

 

Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, Glenn Gilberti vs. 3 Live Kru in an Elimination Match

 

Match Background: Several weeks ago, 3 Live Kru became the number 1 contenders for the NWA Tag Team Titles after winning a 4 way tag team match. Due to Johnny Swinger having to undergo emergency surgery due to his appendix BURSTING (that’s legit), David Young took his place and they attacked 3 Live Kru at the top of the broadcast as 3LK performed their new single. The song blows, but it lead to a 6 man tag later on that night. The heels ended up winning the match and last week, Swinger returned….and Young was beat down by the returning Swinger, Diamond and Gilberti. 3 Live Kru made the save for Young and tonight, it’s an elimination match.

 

The Match: Konnan hits his retarded catchphrase as the camera focuses on Swinger’s wrapped up midsection, citing his toughness coming back into the ring 2 weeks after his appendix BLEW UP INSIDE HIS FREAKING STOMACH. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.

 

Truth and Diamond start the match out as Tenay apologizes for all of the audio mishaps that occurred last week. He then says that they’ve upgraded their sound audio to the hi-definition, so they’re working the bugs out. So, I guess the TNA Asylum really IS that quiet at times.

 

Truth connects with a flying head scissors on Diamond and sets him up for a double team for a two count. Swinger comes in as B.G. James also comes into the match up and they hit a double team on him. B.G. turns the tables and hits the Shake, Rattle and Roll punches, allowing Konnan to come in and nail a rolling clothesline. He then hooks on a version of the STF, but its broken up by Diamond. The Truth then comes off the top with a legdrop to Swinger’s midsection….and Konnan hooks on a weird ass submission on him to follow it up. Diamond comes in to break it up and eats an X-Factor from Konnan and for the love of GOD, GET THAT MAN OUT OF THE RING! He can’t hit anything properly anymore, dammit! Gilberti comes in…only to get chased out by Konnan.

 

Konnan and Swinger trade pinfall attempts, but K-Dawg is tripped up by Gilberti, allowing Diamond and Swinger to hit a double “Wave of the Future” on him for the elimination. Damn, not only does EVERYONE do that move now, but Konnan seems to be the only one who doesn’t know how to sell it.

 

The Truth comes in and hits a powerslam (complete with pelvic THRUSTS~!) on Swinger and collaborating with B.G. for a double elbow drop. B.G. gets caught in the heel corner, but fights out of it…and Konnan trips up Swinger. The distraction allows B.G. to hit the pumphandle slam and Swinger is eliminated.

 

The Asylum sings the “Goodbye” song to Swinger as Gilberti low blows B.G. James in the ring, allowing Diamond to take over. Gilberti and Diamond work well as a team, as they work over B.G. James for a while. As proof positive that the fans probably won’t accept B.G. James as anything else, the fans chant “Lets Go Road Dogg” as he tries to battle back against the heels. It’s to no avail as he takes a Stunner from Gilberti, followed by a Simon Diamond superkick and James is then eliminated.

 

It’s down to The Truth vs. Gilberti & Diamond and he’s cheered on by the crowd as he fights both men at the same time. He hits a powerslam on Gilberti, but doesn’t go for the cover for some reason and he ends up on the other side of an elbow drop. Gilberti taunts the crowd as Truth climbs up top and nails a missile dropkick, so Diamond comes in to take some offense. Truth hits the spinning axe kick on Gilberti and then the True Conviction to eliminate Diamond!

 

Glenn Gilberti comes in and goes to work on Truth…but David Young pulls up a chair and sits down at ringside. This distracts Gilberti, who gets DDT’ed by Truth and crawls over for a two count. They spill to the outside and Young tries to talk to Gilberti, allowing Truth to get the advantage again. Truth takes Young out of the chair to use it on Gilberti, but Young pulls it away and tosses it at Truth, nailing him. Gilberti throws him into the ring for the easy elimination.

 

Winners: Glenn Gilberti, Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger

 

After the match, Gilberti tells David Young to beat up The Truth and he does…until the rest of 3 Live Kru makes the save. Gilberti walks up the ramp, leaving Young to take the beating

 

My Opinion: This was a pretty bad match as far as 6 man tags go. Konnan was in there for way too long and everything he did stunk. Swinger didn’t do much, which is understandable, but this match just didn’t have any semblance of order to it. It was pretty disjointed, the finish was predictable and silly and doesn’t help anyone. *1/4.

 

In the back, Father James Mitchell is with the New Church and Vampiro. He vows vengeance for Raven’s attack last week and says that Raven will never get to him, because the New Church won’t allow it. Tonight, he’ll be facing Sinn (the guy with the angel’s wings tattoo’d on his back) and as Mitchell cuts a promo on Raven…Slash starts tossing darts INTO SINN’S BACK! Mitchell closes it out by promising an “Unholy War”.

 

We go to the ring as Frankie Kazarian is about to have a match with someone. Instead of going directly to the ring, he comes out with a bunch of roses and brings them to one of the TNA dancers (who is mighty fine and deserving of as many flowers as she received).

 

Frankie Kazarian vs. Christopher Daniels (w/ Followers)

 

Match Background: None that I know of.

 

The Match: I finally know the names of all of Daniels followers, although they haven’t been acknowledged on TNA TV. They are indy wrestlers “Spyder” Nate Webb, Alter Boy Luke and GQ Money, who was the recipient of the whipping Daniels dished out two weeks ago after his match with Jeff Jarrett.

 

They lock up, trading armbars until Kazarian takes the advantage and ends up sending Daniels out to ringside. He then dives over the top onto Daniels and some of the followers before sending Daniels back in and connecting with a slingshot DDT for two. Daniels takes over by using Kazarian’s hair to pull him down to the mat and hits an enziguiri on him (complete with flipping selling by Kazarian) for two. Frankie gets a cross body for a two count as we see via split screen Team Styles waiting for Vince Russo in the parking lot.

 

Meanwhile, in the ring, Daniels takes over again and connects with a slingshot legdrop for a nearfall. Kazarian sidesteps Daniels as he comes off the 2nd rope, giving him the room to come off the 2nd rope himself with a back elbow. He connects with his somersault kick on Daniels and goes for Back to the Future, but Daniels reverses it into a Victory Roll for two. They trade pinfall attempts and Daniels gets up, hitting a Rock Bottom on him and planting Kazarian down hard. DOUBLE JUMP MOONSAULT~! gets only a two count and the crowd chants “That was three” because they KNOW. He calls for the Angels Wings, but Kazarian counters and connects with a Yakuza Kick. One of the followers gets on the apron and the distraction allows Daniels to hook Kazarian into position for the Last Rites. Kazarian snap mares Daniels to escape and then whips him into Alter Boy Luke before hitting the Wave of the Future! He goes for the cover, but Daniels gets his foot on the ropes.

 

Kazarian gets tripped up by GQ Money and Daniels connects with the Angels Wings (which Kazarian sells VERY well) for the pinfall and the victory.

 

Winner: Christopher Daniels

 

After the match, he grabs Alter Boy Luke, who almost cost him the match and tells him “it’s obvious, followers are no good.” He then says he’s going to call upon “his brothers” and walks away with the followers, well…following.

 

My Opinion: So far, this was definitely the match of the night, which is sad, since it wasn’t nearly as long as the 6 man elimination match or even Sabin vs. Shane. Daniels and Kazarian brought something to the table that no one else has so far and that was crisp execution. Kazarian oversold a bit, but he was still very useful in his role, which quite frankly, was to keep Christopher Daniels in the forefront of everyone’s minds now that he’s not in the main event or upper midcard scene. Kazarian’s new character has been treated as enhancement talent (character is not the same as gimmick, mind you) and he did his job well. **

 

In the back, Scott Hudson is with Raven and the Gathering. Raven tells The Gathering that he’s going to do this one alone….

 

Kid Kash & Abyss vs. America’s Most Wanted with Terry Taylor as the Special Ref

 

Match Background: A month ago, Kid Kash slapped Terry Taylor in the face, continuing his streak of disrespecting veterans. He did it the week after and finally, Taylor got Kash in the ring for a one on one match. Taylor, noticing that Abyss usually interferes in Kash’s matches, got AMW to watch his back and it worked as Taylor was able to score the pinfall on Kash thanks to the former tag champs. This lead to a tag match last week between the two teams, but it ended with Terry Taylor coming down to ringside and getting beat down by Kash again. This week, Taylor is the special ref as the two teams collide once again.

 

The Match: Kash and Abyss attack at the bell, but are quickly disposed of and clotheslined to the outside. Abyss takes control outside as Harris works over Kash and finally, the match ends up with some order in the ring with Kid Kash taking on James Storm.

 

He chops Storm in the corner…and blow a float over spot before Kash tags Abyss in. Abyss back suplexes Kash onto Storm in a nice doubleteam and Abyss gets a legdrop for two. Abyss chops Storm in the corner as well and hits some clubbing forearms as he simply dominates Storm. He tags Kash in, who hits a somersault legdrop as Abyss hits a splash and Storm looks to be in trouble. Harris makes the save, but the doubleteams continue. Abyss tosses Kash onto Storm in a legdrop position for another two count…and then Kash asks Abyss to get on the 2nd rope. Kash climbs onto Abyss’ shoulders and misses a moonsault (which apparently he hit last week, so that’s good psychology) and Storm is able to make the tag to Harris.

 

Harris comes in and gets in some offense, but Abyss gets a well placed knee into the midsection. Storm makes the blind tag and they combine for a double flapjack on the big man and then toss Kash over the top. Storm hits a pescado on Kash and Harris connects with a left arm lariat on him. Abyss crotches Harris as he climbs the top rope, but Storm comes in to save Harris from any further damage. Abyss and Kash combine for a combination clothesline/spear on Storm and that gets a close two count.

 

Kash gets into a shoving match with Terry Taylor on the apron and Taylor shoves Kash from the apron to the floor. Storm is in the ring with Abyss and slides though his legs, allowing Harris to get the element of surprise as he comes off the 2nd rope with a spear on the big man! Taylor is in position and goes to count the pinfall and only gets a two count off of it. Kash comes into the ring with a chair, but it’s taken away by Taylor. As Taylor turns around to throw the chair out, Kash hits him in the back of the head with an enziguiri and Taylor is down on the outside.

 

Harris and Kash go spilling to the outside as Storm tries a superkick on Abyss inside the ring. It’s blocked and Abyss drives him into the corner. Storm actually gets Abyss into position in the corner and hits a BIG SWINGING NOOSE~! and goes for the cover, but Kash comes into the ring with a chair! Storm gets up and Kash nails him in the head with a chair…but the ref is down! Another ref comes running in and goes for the cover, but Storm kicks out at two! Kash gets upset and tosses the ref to the outside. Kash picks the chair up and tosses it at Harris. Harris catches it and throws it back at Kash as Storm superkicks it, Van-Daminator style and gets the pinfall on Kash as Taylor comes back into the ring!

 

Winners: Americas Most Wanted

 

After the match, Kash gets in Abyss’s face about the fact that they lost. He shoves him…and then slaps Abyss in the face, but Abyss doesn’t do anything to him. Abyss threatens to grab him, but does nothing….so Kash abuses him some more and demands that he go outside. He starts to, but turns around and gets in Kash’s face. Kash slaps him across the face…and Abyss returns the favor! Abyss goes for a chokeslam, but Kash connects with a low blow. Kash starts hitting clubbing blows to Abyss’ back, but Abyss powers out of it and battles back! He picks Kash up and hits a HUGE back body drop on him….and then goes for the Black Hole, but Kash bails…

 

My Opinion: Ok…now THIS was the best match of the night so far. All 4 men were on their game tonight and other than one misstep in the beginning of the match, everything was smooth sailing. The match had some decent heat and a few false finishes, which were definitely good, but the best part about it was the semi-clean finish.

 

Kash and Abyss’ break up was inevitable and will lead to a program between those two, so AMW have will be moving onto something else anyway. Abyss seems to be over a face already, too. **1/2

 

In the back, Scott Hudson is with Don Callis and Red Shirt Security. He asks Callis when he’s going to take responsibility for their actions. He says that D’Lo Brown is scared of Red Shirt Security…and then tells the world that he’s the one who cares about the “bottom line”, so there won’t be any health insurance in TNA for the wrestlers. He says that he doesn’t care what wrestlers leave because they’re all replaceable, including Hudson. Hudson goes after him as we fade to black.

 

All of a sudden, a message pops up on the screen that reads “The following message has been paid for by The Franchise Shane Douglas”. He says that there’s a ton of talent in the TNA locker room, but he wants to take someone from “TV Land” and make them the new Franchise. He’s got the credentials, because he made the “Triple Threat” a household name (that’s stretching it) as well as popularizing the “shoot promo” and hell, ECW.

 

I adore Shane Douglas’ promo’s. If I could give it corporeal form so I could hug them, I would. With that being said, this confuses me. It seems like he’s walking away from the Raven/New Church angle in mid stream and when it comes to booking stars…lets face it, XPW didn’t exactly set the world on fire.

 

Raven vs. Sinn (w/Father James Mitchell)

 

Match Background: Raven has vowed to plow through all of Father James Mitchell’s men in order to get to him….and Mitchell chose Sinn as the first man for Raven to face.

 

The Match: Raven comes through the crowd with chains around his neck and attacks Sinn immediately! He actually has the chain connected to a collar on his neck…and uses the rest of it to bash Sinn’s head repeatedly. He then unhooks it as Sinn is bleeding big time…and chases Mitchell on the outside. Mitchell comes into the ring and Raven almost catches him, but Sinn clotheslines him down. He starts choking him, but Sinn is disoriented by the blood loss.

 

Raven comes out of the corner with INTENSITY~! and hits a big clothesline and a knee lift. A clothesline in the corner is followed up by a bulldog into the corner…and Raven hits the Raven Effect for the quick pinfall.

 

Winner: Raven

 

After the match, Raven wraps the chain around Sinn’s neck and tosses him over the top, hanging him. Mitchell comes into the ring and hits Raven in the back with his cane…but Raven no sells it and goes after him. Slash comes into the ring and attacks from behind, taking Raven down. He goes to use the chain and misses as Raven connects with a superkick. He uses the chain and whips Slash across the back…and then goes after Mitchell. Vampiro runs in and hits the Raven Effect ON Raven. Mitchell directs Vampiro and Slash to hang Raven again and lead him towards the balcony. Vampiro attacks him as Raven is hung, but CM Punk comes down to rescue him. Julio battles with Slash as Mitchell and Vampiro escape.

 

My Opinion: Nice little semi-squash by Raven, who had the perfect opponent for it, Sinn. Sinn isn’t well known or over enough that this hurts him in the least and it basically showed that Raven WILL stop at nothing to get at Mitchell, but the odds are in Mitchell’s favor. I like it... *

 

We go to Tenay and West, who make a HUGE announcement. Sunday, November 30th. A 3 Hour Mega-PPV called “Bound for Glory”. No announcement on Hogan though….read Staebell’s column if you want to know more about it.

 

In the back, Scott Hudson is in AJ Styles’ locker room and he tells them that he’s going to go out there tonight and redeem himself. Russo then barges in…piss ass drunk (which I did this weekend, go to EQ’s site for more details!) and actually cracks me up as he almost falls into Trinity’s cleavage and screams out “Holy SHIT!” He tells AJ that he doesn’t care about the slap, it’s about humiliating Dusty.

 

We finally get a video package tonight, for Dusty/AJ. The video package actually shows us what happened after last week’s slap, where Styles tried to apologize to Russo….but Russo wouldn’t hear of it. Dusty then makes a good speech about how older athletes have strived in title situations before and he’s going to need the fans support for this match. Little pleas like that can make the difference when it comes to crowd heat.

 

Dusty Rhodes vs. AJ Styles (w/Vince Russo & Trinity) for the NWA World Title

 

Match Background: Three weeks ago, Dusty Rhodes made a plea to AJ Styles to dump Vince Russo as his manager. All he got for it was a beatdown, so the following week, Styles faced Dusty in a “Bunkhouse Brawl”. The match was ruled a no-contest after Dusty literally spanked AJ Styles on his bare ass and he ran away. Later on that night, Styles, embarrassed about the spanking, issued a challenge to Dusty, which Russo didn’t approve of. Russo instead changed it to a tag match between himself and Styles against Jarrett and Dusty. Last week, Dusty pinned AJ (while spanking him) and Styles once again hit the roof. Styles then challenged him once again to an NWA Title match…and Russo once again tried to stop him from doing so. Styles slapped Russo away and Dusty agreed to the match, leading up to tonight’s main event.

 

The Match: Dusty comes out, wearing a big ass T-shirt and short trunks, almost looking like a large baby coming to the ring.

 

Trinity comes to the ring holding up Vince Russo, who’s still supposedly drunk. Russo and Styles go face to face during the introductions.

 

Styles and Dusty pace around each other, feeling each other out, and finally locking up with Dusty backing Styles into the corner. Dusty gives him a clean break and before the second lock up, Styles hits Dusty in the knees. He goes to work on him in the corner, but Dusty reverses it and chops him several times. Dusty then tosses Styles across the ring and elbows him.

 

He heads to the outside with him and whips Styles into the guard rail and then goes into the crowd with him. The crowd is behind Dusty, but Styles comes back with right hands and busts him open. Styles tries to use a chair to dive at Dusty, but Dusty connects with a right hand to the midsection and then throws it into Styles’ face. Dusty then sits down and takes a break, for some comic relief. Styles starts to target Dusty’s bloody eye big time and they head back into the ring.

 

In the ring now, Styles is just relentless, beating into Dusty’s eye with right hands. Dusty gets up and hits a bionic elbow….and then no sells Styles’ offense for a bit. This match is pretty damn slow….

 

Dusty is seriously bleeding from that eye though. He rakes Styles’ back (and Styles’ sells it like DEATH) and then Dusty nonchalantly clubs Styles in the chest. Styles comes back and then connects with some stiff kicks to the back. He hooks up a chinlock as the fans start to chant for Dusty again (told you) and Dusty gets up SLOWLY as the announcers blow their loads over it.

 

Styles gets a cross body on Dusty (which he couldn’t sell for SHIT) and Styles just starts beating on the bloody mess that is Dusty Rhodes. Styles goes onto the apron and goes for the Slingshot 450, but Dusty moves out of the way. Dusty gets up and goes to work on Styles’ knee, which appears hurt. He wraps it around the ring post and Russo is flipping out at ringside. Dusty slowly walks over and puts up four fingers, as if to say “4 time champ” and then puts on the Figure Four. Styles is selling it like MAD…and then tosses the ref out of the ring. Styles starts tapping out and Dusty gets up, thinking he won.

 

Russo passes Styles the bat and smacks Dusty in the back with it. Styles hops up and goes to the top at Russo’s request. Styles decides not to and puts the Figure Four on Dusty instead. Styles grabs onto Russo’s hands for more leverage….but Russo falls over. Dusty starts getting hyped up as Styles grabs onto the ropes for more leverage and Styles pins Dusty with the Figure Four.

 

Winner: AJ Styles

 

My Opinion: Ok…now that was pretty shitty. The match was slow, pretty boring and worst of all, it made AJ Styles look like a joke. He sold like a champ for Dusty’s offense and Dusty got about 95% of it, so in the grand scheme of things, AJ Styles can’t beat a 50+ year old man without the use of a baseball bat and two people at ringside (and even TAPPED OUT) in the eyes of marks out there. This does NOT bode well for Styles’ chances against Jeff Jarrett on the 22nd. Oh, who am I kidding? You know he’s losing. ¾*

 

After the match, Russo tells Styles that for retribution, he wants to whip Dusty’s bare ass. Styles attacks Dusty after a bit of hesitation…and Black Shirt Security comes in only to get beat up. The rest of Team Styles comes in, but so does AM W and they try to help Dusty out. Styles comes in with the bat and hits both members of AMW with it, leading to them being thrown out of the ring. The rest of Team Styles takes Dusty and prepare him to get his ass whupped. Jeff Jarrett comes into the ring with a chair and cleans house, nailing everyone with it…and looks tempted to hit Dusty, but doesn’t.

 

Russo gets on the mic and says that he’s tried for the past year to get Jarrett on his side. Well, NO MORE! So he says that he’s going to make SURE that Jarrett doesn’t win the title on the 22nd.

 

Dusty gets on the mic and challenges Russo and his “two goons” (Siaki and Ekmo) vs. him and AMW for next week. The show ends with the two factions about to brawl as we fade to black…

 

Overall: TNA has definitely taken a few steps back from their red hot shows in August and early September. Once again, there were no matches above **1/2 on the show and surprisingly enough, there weren’t many video packages, which I believe is a first. There weren’t many angles developed either, but with Dutch Mantel taking over the booking, I assume that this is his way of working with a clean slate. Now that TNA is working towards a set date (November 30th), we’ll probably see a lot of the major TNA feuds come to a head then, so I expect some good things coming from the product lately. Too bad it didn’t come from this show.

 

‘Til next week,

 

“The Dames” Damian Gonzalez

 

Any questions, comments, move clarifications, hate mail, fan mail, ANYTHING….e-mail me at [email protected] if you’re an AOL user or [email protected].