The Wrestling Bazaar: NWA/TNA Weekly PPV #11

This PPV was taped right after last week’s show concluded and would be the last real PPV for two weeks. They would air a Best of the X Division special the following week and be off for 9/11.

August 28, 2002- The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee

Earlier today, Goldilocks caught up with Brian Lawler on his way to the arena. What did Jeff Jarrett do? Just as he is about to answer, Jarrett attacks him.

Match One: Kid Kash vs. Amazing Red
Much of the crowd did not stay for the taping of this show so the arena looks noticeably emptier. Mike Tenay tries to add some significance to this match by going to his famous “this is so important for the X Division rankings” spiel. They do a few standoff spots in the beginning, which pop the crowd despite the sloppiness. The usually mellow Red is more aggressive here, not letting the cocky heel Kash get the better of him. Despite Red’s efforts, Kash gains control when the match spills to the outside and he throws a steel chair into Red’s face. There’s some miscommunication during Red’s comeback where he goes for a middle rope dive, but Kash is out of position. The comeback is short-lived as Kash is able to dominate the smaller Red with some power moves, surprisingly. In a unique spot, Kash meets Red on the top rope and brings him down with a press slam. Red tries to take back some momentum by going to the top, but Kash throws the ref into the ropes, crotching Red on the turnbuckle. There is some more miscommunication there though as Kash throws the ref before Red even starts climbing. He still sells the crotch and Kash ends it with a Muscle Buster.
Winner: Kid Kash in 9:00
Rating: **1/2 (Kash plays the heel role really well, bringing a different dynamic to these X-Division openers. What would have ended up as your usual high flying opener was made more realistic with Kash’s mannerisms and usage of power moves, putting his unusual size advantage to good use.)

Post-match, Kid Kash asks for a handshake, but ends up taking Amazing Red out with a clothesline. The Maximos make the save and hit the Spanish Fly.

In the back, Goldilocks is with Sonny Siaki. He warns Goldilocks not to be a wise ass. Siaki has arrived, and everyone knows it. He lets Goldilocks end it with his catchphrase- Sonny Siaki has left the interview.

Before our next match, Monty Brown gets on the mic. Brown doesn’t need chairs like Jeff Jarrett does. When he gets his hands on Jarrett, he will take him apart with his own hands.

Match Two: Sonny Siaki vs. Monty Brown
This is an intriguing match-up as Siaki hasn’t been able to show his stuff against guys his size. He should be competing in the heavyweight division as opposed to the X-Division where he can separate himself from the rest with his flashy offense. As with most matches in TNA up to this point, the match spills to the outside and they throw each other into the barricade a few times. Brown takes over, much to the crowd’s delight. Back inside, Brown continues to dominate. He is still very green, going from power move to power move with no rhyme or reason. He mixes in the odd chop and rest hold here and there, not seeming completely comfortable in a wrestling ring. Finish comes when Jeff Jarrett comes out, distracts Brown and allows Siaki to get a low blow from behind.
Winner: Sonny Siaki in 10:00
Rating: *3/4 (As with most of Brown’s matches in the early days, this had no chemistry or story to speak of. They were just hitting power moves for the sake of hitting power moves, never feeling like it was leading up to something. The crowd was more into Jarrett’s appearance than anything else.)

Post-match, Bob Armstrong and the Masked Bullet make a quick appearance on the stage before Monty

Brown and Jeff Jarrett brawl at ringside. Brian Lawler comes through the crowd and chokes him with a belt. Security has to separate them.

At ringside, Mike Tenay and Don West hype the Triple Ladder Match.

In the back, Goldilocks is with Slash and a new guy who looks like he would fit in Raven’s Flock. His name is Cobain. He overdoses from the sweet nectar of his own pain.

Match Three: Four Team Elimination Match- The Backseat Boys vs. Slash/Cobain vs. The Hot Shots vs. Chris Harris/James Storm
The Backseat Boys are Johnny Kashmere and the late Trent Acid. Cassidy O’Reilly and Chase Stevens make up the Hot Shots. Harris and Storm are still without a team name. The man who scores the final pinfall in this match will be the last entrant in a Tag Team Battle Royal to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champions. This match breaks down rather quickly with every team battling on the outside at the same time. Stevens of the Hot Shots tries for a Shooting Star Press off the top rope onto the huge group of guys, but can’t quite make the full rotation. He celebrates anyway. Things settle back down and Slash eliminates The Backseat Boys by pinning Acid with his hangman’s noose neckbreaker. Slash focuses on the Stevens for a while before tagging in Cobain for the first time. He is in a white shirt and jeans and is very awkward in the ring. Harris tags himself in for Cobain and takes on both Hot Shots. They are able to isolate and dominate him for a while. This allows for Harris to get himself over with the crowd during the eventual comeback. Storm finishes the Hot Shots by pinning O’Reilly after a tornado DDT out of the corner. We are down to two teams and Slash enters quickly to take over. West points out that Harris and Storm are still undefeated when it comes to tag team action. In an attempt to get himself over, Cobain somersaults off the top rope onto Storm on the outside, nearly missing. Meanwhile, Brian Lee and Don Harris come to the announce booth to express their anger over not being in this match. Back in the ring, Storm makes the hot tag to Harris and he takes on both by himself. Storm eventually comes in, but falls to a middle rope Stunner by Slash. Slash tries to follow up with another neckbreaker on Harris, but ends up falling to a Catatonic to end the match.
Winner: Chris Harris/James Storm in 13:00
Rating: ** (This was only good when it came down to Harris/Storm and Slash at the end. Cobain was pretty terrible here and the others didn’t do enough aside from the usual dives to impress.)

Post-match, the rest of the teams from the match come back, but Brian Lee and Don Harris take them all out.

In the back, Jeff Jarrett confronts Bob Armstrong. Armstrong promises that Jarrett will get everything he deserves tonight. Jarrett promises to reveal who the masked man is.

Before our next match, Bruce claims that April Hunter isn’t the woman Bruce is.

Match Four: Bruce vs. April Hunter
April Hunter, Playboy and fitness model, comes out to almost no response. This crowd is spent, and it’s really dragging the show down. Hunter unloads early with chops, a clothesline and even a headscissors. The promising start is short-lived as Bruce eventually overpowers her. He ends it with a powerbomb.
Winner: Bruce in 3:00
Rating: N/A (Who finds this so entertaining that it has to pop up on every show?)

Post-match, Bruce tries to take off April Hunter’s top but her boyfriend Slyck Wagner Brown makes the save.

In the back, Goldilocks is with Jimmy Yang and Jorge Estrada. Yang botches some of Elvis’ catchphrases and Estrada lets him have it. They don’t care that Sonny Siaki wants to fly solo. Siaki comes into the picture. Apparently, he is the Number One Contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Match Five: The Maximos vs. Jimmy Yang/Jorge Estrada
Tenay and West are more interested in finding out about Brian Lawler’s secret and the Triple Ladder Match later tonight than this match. West claims he has had people coming up to him on the streets asking what Lawler’s deal was. It looks like even more people have left the arena, most from the camera side. This is probably the most second-rate the product has looked. The Elvises work well together here, controlling most of the match. In a hilarious bit of commentary, West- after talking about it just minutes before- says “Coming up later, the Triple Ladder Match!” Tenay responds, “No! That’s right, it’s tonight!” I guess that’s what happens when an X-Division match such as this one isn’t as fast paced as usual- they have to find other ways of psyching each other up. I can’t say I blame them, this match is nothing to get excited about. Estrada finally pulls a “TNA” chant from the crowd after a neckbreaker off the top rope. Things pick up from there, and it breaks down with everyone in the ring hitting moves. The Maximos are about to go for a Spanish Fly on Yang, but Siaki runs in and breaks it up. Yang tries to take advantage with a corkscrew off the top, but he completely over-shoots it. I’m guessing that was supposed to be the finish, but it looked terrible so Yang hits a weird looking superplex for the win.
Winner: Jimmy Yang/Jorge Estrada in 14:00
Rating: *3/4 (Very underwhelming match. I don’t know that it was the smartest idea to feature a slow moving X-Division match in front of an absolutely dead crowd. Tenay and West didn’t seem much more interested in it than they were, talking about everything else but the match.)

Finally, the time has come. The moment Mike Tenay and Don West have been creaming their pants over for weeks- What is the deal with Brian Lawler and Jeff Jarrett? Goldilocks is in the ring to call out Mr. Lawler. He comes out looking angry. Before he answers the question, Lawler says there is no place for a piece of trash like Goldilocks in a wrestling ring. Lawler asks for silence, but he doesn’t get it. He is going to give Jarrett five seconds to get his ass in the ring. Jarrett doesn’t come out, but Lawler continues anyway…

Before he can reveal what Jarrett did, Ron Killings comes out. It’s going to take more than a damn concussion to keep Killings down. Lawler knows that Killings is mad over being “accidentally” hit by him with a chair. Killings isn’t buying it. There are no room for accidents. Lawler says Killings was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lawler is in the Asylum right now- Killings’ house. Killings leaves and Lawler gets back on track. This has to do with Jarrett and Lawler’s girlfriend, who is at ringside. He attacks a photographer who was snapping pictures of her and leaves.

Match Six: Jeff Jarrett vs. The Bullet
The Bullet made his debut last week as Bob Armstrong’s masked surprise. Jarrett is on a mission to unmask him. They brawl around ringside and into the crowd with Jarrett in full control. They make their way back to the ring where Bullet finally gets some offense in. he goes for a pumphandle slam but Jarrett floats over and hits a low blow. Jarrett finds some handcuffs and locks him to the top rope. He gets on the mic. Now it’s time to find out who this is. Armstrong runs in to prevent Jarrett from attacking Bullet with a chair but ends up taking a shot right to the head. Ref rings the bell to end the match.
Winner: No Contest in 4:00
Rating: N/A (This was more of an angle than a match. The Bullet’s offense looked eerily similar to a certain New Age Outlaw.)

Post-match, Jeff Jarrett continues his assault on Bob Armstrong. The Bullet can only look on, handcuffed to
the top rope. The crowd awkwardly chants “one more time” as Mike Tenay sells disgust in Jarrett’s actions. Security comes out to end the segment.

Don West gets on the mic to hype next week’s X-Division Special as only he can.

Match Seven: X Division Championship- Triple Ladder Match- Low Ki© vs. Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles
They have been hyping this match up all night long. West went as far as to say it could be the greatest match in the history of pro wrestling. Even today, this match gets a lot of praise, but I don’t remember it being truly fantastic. Let’s see if a second viewing changes my opinion. The crowd, as usual, is solidly behind Low Ki. They are actually standing on their feet at the start, so they are obviously expecting something great. They begin to get impatient with chants of “we want ladders” after a few minutes. In a cool spot, Lynn has Styles in a Lion Tamer and angrily challenges Ki to kick him in the chest. Lynn finally breaks the hold after taking a few shots. Ki takes over from here, using Styles as a battering ram on Lynn in the corner. He finally heads outside and grabs a ladder but has it baseball slid into his chest coming in. Styles bridges the ladder from the barricade to the ring apron. He trade blows with Ki on top of it before Lynn meets them and brings them both down face first on the edges of the ladder. He brings the ladder into the ring and sets it up under the belt, but Ki cuts him off. Styles comes back in and unloads on both before teaming with Lynn to hit a double hip toss on Ki onto the ladder. Lynn sends Styles into a ladder propped in the corner but Styles jumps onto and backflips onto it. he tries to follow up with a springboard DDT off the ladder but Lynn blocks it and sends him back-first into it with a release suplex. Lynn then tries to powerbomb Ki onto the ladder, but Ki reverses with a rana into it. Styles positions the ladder under the belt and starts to climb but Ki blocks him and hangs him upside down by the feet. He connects with some stiff kicks to the chest and begins to climb. Lynn stops him and brings him down with a back drop suplex from halfway up the ladder. That ladder looks really wobbly. Lynn meets a similar fate when Styles and Ki knock the ladder down, sending Lynn crashing into the turnbuckle. Lynn regroups, catches Ki on a springboard attempt and comes down with a sitout powerbomb. Styles brings in a second ladder while Ki introduces the third and final ladder. All three are set up under the belt and Ki climbs as Lynn and Styles trade blows. Styles goes up to meet him but ends up on the receiving end of a dragon sleeper atop the ladder. Lynn makes the climb and tries to knock both Styles and Ki off their respective ladders, but they momentarily keep their balance. Ki successfully knocks Styles out of the ring but goes down to a Lynn Cradle Piledriver off the ladder! Lynn is all by himself and retrieves the belt for the win.
Winner: Jerry Lynn in 20:00 to win the X-Division Championship
Rating: ***3/4 (Better than I remember, but I still say the Double Elimination Match to crown the first X-Division champion was the best TNA match up to this point. That is not to take anything away from this match, as it was awesome. They managed to keep all three guys together and involved for a large portion of the match, which is a difficulty in Triple Threat matches. I also applaud them for finding unique ways of using the ladder as a weapon.)

Post-match, Mike Tenay quickly signs off before Jerry Lynn can even make his way down the ladder and celebrate.

The 411: This show suffered from two things: 1) a dead crowd and 2) the intense anticipation of the main event. It seemed like everyone from the announcers to the crowd was waiting for the main event and couldn’t care less about everything that preceded it. Luckily, it delivered, or else this would have been a complete failure of a PPV. The only other thing that people were remotely interested in was Brian Lawler's secret about Jeff Jarrett, and it wasn't even answered. Other than that, Chris Harris and James Storm looked like a believable tag team a crowd can get behind for the first time and Jeff Jarrett continued to be booked like a legitimate main event heel. I can’t say the same about Brian Lawler though; he just comes off as second-rate.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]