The Wrestling Bazaar: NWA/TNA Weekly PPV #10

Here is a quote from Jerry Jarrett’s The Story of the Development of the NWA/TNA- A New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming on reading the final draft for this show: “We have invested 9 shows to build and protect the X division. Russo had written the show so that Jeff [Jarrett] would have run in on an X division match and beat up both X division wrestlers. In one segment, Russo would have destroyed what it took us 9 weeks to build.” This segment was “gone and rewritten outside of the match.”

August 21, 2002- The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee

Straight to the ring for our first match this week.

Match One: Falls Count Anywhere Match- AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn
This is the first match in a best of three series tonight. Lynn starts off aggressively by attacking Styles all around ringside. Don West: “This feud has been going on so long. In fact, I don’t even remember who started it.” You’re not the only one Don! As annoyingly as this feud has been booked, I like how they went straight to the angry brawling in this match. The fight quickly spills to the crowd. They are solidly behind Lynn. Styles catapults himself off the bleachers onto Lynn below for two. Lynn brings the action back to ringside by suplexing Styles from the crowd-side of the barricade. Back inside, Lynn shows his knowledge of Styles’ moveset by reversing his springboard DDT into a jawbreaker. Styles then does the same by countering a powerbomb into a facebuster. He then busts out a new move to catch Lynn off guard- a slingshot vertical suplex. They both end up outside once again with a Styles rana. They make their way onto the entrance stage where Lynn telegraphs a Styles discus clothesline and comes back with a spear. He continues by running with Styles off the stage, ramming his head onto a box below. Back on the stage, Lynn counters a Cradle Piledriver attempt by Styles. Styles is weaken enough to allow Lynn to hit his Cradle Piledriver for the win.
Winner: Jerry Lynn in 10:00
Rating: *** (Good, logical match that told a great story. It made sense that they would know each other’s moves as well as they did. As a result, both had to resort to moves they wouldn’t normally use.)

In the back, Goldilocks is with Chris Harris and James Storm. Tonight, they see action against Ron Harris and Brian Lee. Harris is upset that Storm still hasn’t given up the cowboy gimmick. He blames Storm for not being booked on the show for weeks. Ron Harris and Brian Lee enter the picture and make fun of Storm. This is a legitimate question: can ANY tag team get along?

Match Two: Ron Harris/Brian Lee vs. Chris Harris/James Storm
This would be the debut of both Ron Harris and Brian Lee. The crowd chants “DOA” early on in reference to a possible reunion of the Harris Brothers. Tenay informs us that a plan to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champions may be in place by next week’s show. They are in no rush. Storm takes on both Ron and Lee at the start. Harris chimes in with a double axe-handle. Ron and Lee are the veterans here. They want to work a slower match and rely on their experience. Harris and Storm won’t settle for that and come at them with everything they have. That works for a while, but Ron and Lee eventually have their way. They take Harris apart with chinlocks and the occasional corner slugging. When Harris starts to show signs of life, Lee has to resort to heelish tactics such as a low blow. Ron works the power game. At this pace, the veterans get a little cocky. Harris and Storm take advantage of the lapse in concentration and come at them one more time. Lee bails and attacks a “fan” at ringside. In the confusion, Storm rolls up Ron from behind for the win.
Winner: Chris Harris/James Storm in 9:00
Rating: ** (Both teams played their roles well and executed a fine formula tag match. Harris and Storm definitely showed some good signs for the future.)

At ringside, Mike Tenay and Don West run down the card. No more Ferrara!

Match Three: 2 Out of 3 Falls Match- Sonny Siaki vs. Jimmy Yang
Siaki tries to kick-start the match with a clothesline on the entrance stage, but Yang ducks it and tosses him off. Estrada accompanies Yang, so we see where his loyalties lie. Yang carries this momentum into the ring where he gets a quick nearfall. He continues the assault with a tarantula-type submission and a springboard missile dropkick. Siaki takes control when he telegraphs a back body drop and connects with an uppercut. He removes the top portion of his Flying Elvis attire and some girls in the crowd give him the Cena response. Yang regroups and gets the first fall off a corkscrew splash. The match spills to the outside where Siaki tosses Yang into the crowd then suplexes him back out. Back inside, Siaki gets a nearfall off a nice swinging neckbreaker. He starts the wear-down process with a chinlock and some chops to the chest. Estrada berates Siaki from ringside, but Siaki pays him no attention. During a shoulder stretch, the crowd chants “Yang time” to get Yang back into things. He escapes, but goes down to an awkward looking clothesline. Siaki stops another comeback attempt by countering a suplex attempt into a neckbreaker called the Money Clip for the second fall. The ever-resilient Yang still won’t stay down and comes at Siaki with a roll through half Boston crab. He continues to work the leg with stomps and a figure four leg scissors. Siaki doesn’t sell the leg and hits a superplex. It doesn’t keep Yang down for long as he hits with a running knee. He follows with a series of strikes but Siaki finally uses his strength to his advantage and tosses Yang face-first into the turnbuckle. Yang fires back with a swinging neckbreaker off the top rope, but he is too exhausted to make the pin. Siaki ends it by rolling through on a pin attempt by Yang.
Winner: Sonny Siaki in 14:00
Rating: **3/4 (Another good match. The crowd wasn’t completely sold on it, but Siaki was making the best out of the situation he was in.)

Post-match, Jeff Jarrett comes out with a mic in hand. I suppose this is where the Jarrett beatdown was supposed to come. He wants Bob Armstrong. Before he can say too much more, Brian Lawler attacks him from behind. Security separates them and Lawler stands in the ring. Goldilocks comes in for an interview. He takes the mic and tells her to get out of the ring. Just as he is about to tell us what Jarrett did to piss him off, Slash enters and attacks to start our next match.

Match Four: Brian Lawler vs. Slash
Tenay and West are pissed that they didn’t find out what Jarrett did. West thinks Slash materialized in the middle of the ring. In a running theme tonight, the action spills to the outside where Slash chokes Lawler with a cable. He then tries to powerbomb Lawler on the exposed cement floor but ends up being back dropped onto it. That must have hurt. Back inside, Lawler flips off the crowd and clotheslines Slash back outside. Lawler follows and bulldogs him on the ramp. Just like that week, he tries to take a chair from the audience and the same fan doesn’t let him. This rattles him and Slash is able to hit a superplex. He continues with an airplane spin slam for a nearfall. Lawler gets back into it with a DDT. Instead of covering, he dances. He hits an enzuigiri and dances some more. He finishes it with a leg drop off the top rope.
Winner: Brian Lawler in 6:00
Rating: *1/2 (Lawler has to work the same exact match no matter what situation his character is in outside the ring. In this case, he is supposed to be infuriated with Jarrett over something big. Yet, he can’t work that anger into his matches. He has to dance.)

In the back, Jeff Jarrett is with Bob Armstrong. Jarrett threatens to take everyone out.

Match Five: X-Division Championship- Low Ki© vs. Joel Maximo vs. Jose Maximo vs. Amazing Red
Much like last week, Ki is against a three-man group in an elimination four way match. Different from last week though, this team is united. However, the tag rules force Maximo to face off with Red for a short while. Ki starts out well enough, but soon falls to the fast tags and teamwork of the SATs. The crowd doesn’t really know how to react. They love Ki, but the SATs are a fresh new face team. They eventually get behind Ki as he starts to make a comeback. Things breakdown rather quickly and Red starts taking out the Maximos. Red is knocked out by a nice springboard Ki kick. The Maximos use their familiarity to double team on Ki. They try to do the same to Red but he is too quick for them. Red eventually ranas one Maximo off the apron onto the other on the outside. Ki then tosses Red onto his teammates and hits a twisting dive off the top rope onto both Maximos on the outside. Back inside, the Maximos go at it with each other and Joel eliminates Jose with a sitout facebuster. That’s rather stupid. Joel tries to pin Red but Ki interrupts it. That was stupid too. Red hits an Infra Red to eliminate Joel. It’s down to Red and Ki. Ki tries for a Ki Crusher off the middle rope but Red fights it off with a kick to the back of the head. Red climbs up to him, thinking he has sufficiently knocked him out, but ends up falling to a Ki Crusher off the ropes.
Winner: Low Ki in 12:00 to retain the X-Division Championship
Rating: **3/4 (That match didn’t work quite as well as it could have. The blame has to be put on it being an all babyface match. Naturally, the babyface three-man team is going to want to make it all about competition and fight against each other. Had it been a heel team, they would have likely used the fact that they are a team to their advantage for the majority of the match to eliminate the champion first. The babyface dynamic here made the story of the match much less compelling and took the crowd out of it.)

In the back, Goldilocks is with Ron Killings. Monty Brown should be out there kissing his black ass. He should be thanking him. Instead, he wants to take his belt away from him. If he wants it, he will have to come take it.

Match Six: NWA World Heavyweight Championship- Ron Killings vs. Monty Brown
The Tale of the Tape graphic spells his name “Monte Brown.” It’s pretty interesting that the first feud Brown was put in was with Skipper and Killings. I vaguely remember reading a report back in 2006 about the possibility of a stable with Brown, Killings and Skipper. I think they were going to call them Black Entertainment Television (BET). There is a scary part in this match where Brown hits a belly to belly suplex on the outside. Killings falls on his head, bending his neck back. He looks loopy for the rest of the match. The positive crowd reactions Killings has been getting during his promos are not translating in his matches. The crowd is dead for the majority of this. I can’t say I blame them- the match is nothing great. It eventually breaks down to just a series of trading random moves with no rhyme or reason. That’s really all you can ask for though when a rookie like Brown is dominating the match. Finish comes when Killings counters an Alphabomb into a roll-up for the win.
Winner: Ron Killings in 10:00 to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Rating: *1/2 (This was not good. It had no real story to speak of, no real structure. It was basically just Brown hitting some power moves and Killings getting in some lucky attacks. I will chalk that up to Brown’s inexperience and the great possibility that Killings was knocked out for the last ¾ of the match.)

Post-match, Jeff Jarrett runs in to attack Ron Killings. Brian Lawler comes out to help Killings, but ends up accidently hitting him with a chair.

I normally don’t mention the TNA cage dancers, but Lollipop just made an appearance- this might be her first for TNA. She’s awful purty.

In the back, Goldilocks is with Jerry Lynn. This will end tonight. AJ Styles has taken everything he has dished out, but he has one advantage over the young guy- knowledge.

Match Seven: No Disqualification Match- AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn
That knowledge doesn’t help Lynn prepare for a Styles sneak attack at the end of the interview. The bell rings and they brawl their way to the ring. Lynn quickly goes under the ring for a table. He tries to sunset flip Styles through it from the apron, but Styles fights it off. Lynn grabs a chair but ends up hitting himself with it after a Styles leg sweep. Not everything goes right for Styles either as he ends up being catapulted head-first into the chair he set up in the corner. They go back to teasing the table with an attempted tornado DDT off the apron by Lynn. Styles blocks it. Back inside, both men go down after colliding into one another’s clothesline. Styles regroups first and tries to attack with the chair, but Lynn ducks and kicks it back into Styles’ face. In an interesting move, Lynn hits a DDT with Styles perched on the middle rope, but lifts Styles’ shoulders off the mat at two. He wants to hurt him. I thought he said his advantage was his knowledge?! Lynn is finally able to put Styles through the table with a rana off the top rope. Third time’s a charm. Back in the ring, a cover gets two. Lynn has had enough of Styles and tries to finish him off with a superplex onto a chair, but Styles fights it off and ends the match with a Styles Clash onto the steel.
Winner: AJ Styles in 12:00
Rating: ***1/4 (Good back-and-forth action. They teased the table the entire match and got a great response once they delivered on it. The pace and aggression fit the nature of the feud.)

The deciding fall begins now…

Match Eight: 10-Minute Ironman Match- AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn
Styles covers right at the bell and gets the first fall immediately. He pins him again and goes up 2-0. He tries for a third time, but Lynn gets a shoulder up. Lynn tries to catch his wind with a sleeper but Styles reverses into one of his own. He then transitions into a chinlock. Lynn brings some life back into the match by countering a powerbomb into a sitout facebuster. He covers and brings the score to 2-1. Both guys are lethargic at the halfway point. Lynn tries for a top rope moonsault, but Styles stops him and takes him down with a modified inverted DDT to bring the score to 3-1. Instead of coasting with the lead, Styles keeps trying to get more falls on Lynn. At the two-minute warning, Low Ki comes out with a ladder on the entrance stage. This distracts Styles enough to let Lynn get a fall after a piledriver. 3-2 Styles. Lynn then ties it up at 3-3 with a Styles Clash. They start trading rapid covers and nearfalls for the last minute of the match, but none are successful as the times runs out
Winner: Draw (3-3) in 10:00
Rating: **1/2 (The really slow pace in the beginning and middle killed the already exhausted crowd. They finally got the crowd back into the match with the series of nearfalls at the end, but the draw finis left them deflated. This was disappointing.)

Post-match, Low Ki raises the arms of both men. He quickly turns on them and challenges them to a Triple Ladder Match for next week.

Don West follows the announcement up by taking the Ladder Match hype to the extreme. “The three greatest competitors in the X-Division will put it on the line with three eight-foot ladders. You heard me right! Three eight-foot pieces of pure metal and steel!”

In the back, referee Scott Armstrong tries to warn his dad Bob Armstrong against Jeff Jarrett.

Remember the mystery opponent Bob Armstrong promised for Jeff Jarrett last week? Well, Jarrett is out in street clothes for the reveal. It’s a guy dressed as Bullet Bob Armstrong. They brawl and Armstrong gets the upper hand. Jarrett retreats and runs into the real Bob Armstrong on the stage to end the show. So who was under the mask? Find out next week!

The 411: Great way to rebound from the awful show last week. They presented good wrestling up and down the card with no stupidity, making it the most simple and effective show up to that point. It’s amazing how much of a difference the absence of the Dupps, Jive Talkin’ and Bruce can make. They took the troubling Health South situation seemingly in stride and produced a focused wrestling show that aimed to win back the confidence of the few viewers they had left.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]