From the Bowery: TNA Best of the Asylum Years: Volume 1 (Disc 1)

From the Bowery: The Best of the Asylum Years: Volume 1 (Disc 1)

-This is a very cool and much needed idea from TNA as newer fans to TNA may not know much about the company’s early years. This 2 disc set features matches held in the Asylum (Nashville Fairgrounds) between July 2002 and Sept 2004. Each of these matches was from TNA’s weekly PPVs, and thus no 6 sided ring here.

-DVD opens with a brief history of NWA TNA and how the first show was in Huntsville, Alabama. That doesn’t last long and move to the Nashville Fairgrounds (The Asylum) and it became the 1st home of TNA Wrestling.

-They discuss the first Asylum show, and Jarrett goes over the wrestling history of the building. He name drops Lawler, Hogan, and Savage as guys who sold out the building over the years.

NWA Heavyweight Title: Ken Shamrock © vs. Sabu
July 24, 2002

-This is the first TNA Main Event to take place in the Asylum. Shamrock was the first NWA Champion of the TNA era. This should be an interesting clash of styles. Even back then TNA was doing some complicated matches as this is a Ladder vs. Submission match to put both guys on an even playing field. Things start slow as Shamrock and Sabu battle on the mat in an attempt to work an MMA style. Shamrock looks for an armbar, but Sabu gets to the bottom rope to break. Shamrock kicks away and grounds Sabu with a headlock. Slow start continues and the sparse crowd is even getting a little restless. Sabu looks for an armbreaker of his own, but Shamrock counters easily to a heel hook. Sabu immediately gets to the ropes to break. Sabu starts to get on track as he springs in with a leg lariat and then drops a leg. He goes for a cover, but the ref lets him know that’s not an option. So Sabu goes back to the arm, but again, Shamrock continues easily as he gets hold of a leg. Sabu breaks again by getting to the bottom rope. Finally things pick as Shamrock whips Sabu into the corner and connects with a leg lariat of his own. Sabu rolls to the floor and decides he would be better off with the ladder instead of trying these submissions. He looks to bring the ladder in the ring, but Shamrock hits a baseball slide to send the ladder into Sabu’s face. They brawl on the floor and Sabu gets split open as he gets sent into the ring post. Sabu tosses Shamrock into the guard rail, and pulls a table out from under the ring. The table gets set up on the slanted ramp in the aisle (which is on such an angle it almost tips over until Shamrock figures out how to keep it sturdy). Sabu heads back in the ring and looks for the Triple Jump senton, but Shamrock rolls and Sabu explodes through the table. That leaves a nasty gash on Sabu’s back. Shamrock climbs the ladder but the lights go out and when they come back on Malice is in the ring and choke slams Ken off the ladder. Malice grabs the belt and walks off with it as I guess we have no contest at 9:36.

No Contest via Malice walking off with the NWA belt at 9:36
-Obviously included only because it was the 1st Main Event for TNA in the Asylum. The match itself wasn’t very good as their styles did not mesh. The table spot was kind of fun, but that’s about all this match had going for it. *

-Video package and discussion of the X Division. AJ Styles puts over the division as one of the main reasons TNA is at where it is today. Jarrett

X Title: Triple Ladder Match: Lo Ki © vs. Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles
August 28, 2002

-I reviewed this match not that long ago as it was on the Best of Year 1 DVD release. So one of rare times I get to copy and paste. I will note that Lynn now has the entrance music that AJ had in the earlier match (on the year 1 DVD), and AJ has his now current entrance music. Ki and Lynn trade blows and AJ hits the floor to grab a ladder. They notice AJ with the ladder and slide out to stop him. Ki ducks, but Lynn isn’t as fortunate and takes a ladder shot to the face. Ki and AJ head back in the ring and Ki gets the upper hand. He springs off the middle rope and delivers a front kick. He stomps away as Lynn pulls himself back to the apron. He flips in over Ki to get back in the ring and delivers a spinning backbreaker. Lynn and Styles have a go and AJ gets back dropped. Lynn goes back to Ki and locks in a surfboard. Don’t see that all too often in a multi man ladder match. Lynn stays in control and takes AJ down with a vertical suplex. He locks in a true Lion Tamer, but KI starts firing off kicks. Lynn yells for Ki to kick him harder, and that’s not the smartest thing. Sure enough Ki unloads with a sick kick that drops Lynn. Ki goes after Styles and a stiff kick in the corner leaves AJ staggering. The crowd starts chanting for ladders, but I kind of like the fact they are building to that. Ki hooks Styles in a package on his shoulders and runs him into Lynn standing in the corner. Nice! Ki goes out for a ladder, but apparently he didn’t watch Shawn/Razor I as Styles hits a baseball slide to send the ladder into Ki. AJ attempts a suplex on the floor, but Ki fights out so AJ hits the Pele kick. A ladder gets bridged on the steps and railing and I’m sure that won’t be good. AJ and Ki start fighting on the bridged ladder and Ki fires off some head butts. Lynn joins them and all three come crashing off as the crowd chants “TNA.” Lynn is in the best shape and heads back into the ring with a ladder. AJ tries to pull the ladder back out and now Lynn baseball slides the ladder into AJ’s gut. Lynn starts to climb, but Ki stops him with some vicious kicks. All three men start fighting in the ring and AJ goes crazy on Ki. He forgets about Lynn and ends up eating a right hand. A ladder gets propped up against the ropes and Li ends up getting hip-tossed by his two opponents onto the ladder. Lynn arranges the ladder and sets it up in the corner. He looks to send AJ into it, but AJ springs off and tries a tornado DDT, but Lynn reverses into a release suplex onto the ladder. Sick! Ki attempts the Tidal Wave, but Lynn catches him and looks for a running powerbomb onto the ladder, but Ki counters with a rana that sends Lynn into the ladder. Styles takes advantage and heads up the ladder, but Ki meets him up there and they start trading blows. A kick leaves Styles in the tree of woe on the ladder and Ki tees off with some insane kicks to the chest and head. Now Ki takes his chance at climbing the ladder, but Lynn makes the save and brings him off the ladder with a backdrop suplex. I must say that this has a slower pace than I would have expected from these three in this kind of environment. AJ starts heading up the ladder, but Ki stops that noise and both men come crashing down (and it hurts inside). Lynn starts to climb, but Styles and Lo Ki tip the ladder over and that’s a bad situation for Jerry. Ki looks for another ladder, but stops when he sees Styles has a chance at the gold. AJ springs off the middle ropes and flips over Ki to hit the inverted DDT (slop drop, scorpion death drop). Ki tries to spring off the middle ropes with the front kick again, but AJ ducks and Lynn ends up catching Ki with a sit-out powerbomb. A second ladder finally gets brought into the ring by AJ. Lo Ki decides to bring the third and final ladder into the ring, and heads up for the gold. Styles and Ki start fighting on opposite ladders and Ki gets the dragon sleeper on top of the three ladders. Lynn heads up to break the hold and now all 3 men are on different ladders. Ki gets tipped, but uses the top rope to maintain his balance. AJ tries the same, but ends up hitting the floor. Lynn kills Lo Ki with the cradle piledriver off the ladder. Ok now that was cool, but Tenay calling it the most high risk move in the history of wrestling was crazy. Lynn has a clear path to the title and becomes the X Champion at 20:05. Really, that’s it?

Winner and New X Champion: Jerry Lynn via belt retrieval at 20:05
-For all the hype this match got in the documentary I am severely disappointed. I expected a balls to the wall spot-fest with three men delivering shit I’ve never seen before. Instead this was rather slow and dull at times compared to the earlier match that was included on this disc. Perhaps I would have been more satisfied if West didn’t hype the shit out of this match, but even then this still wasn’t what I would call mind blowing. That was my thoughts after watching the match on the Year 1 DVD and really those thoughts haven’t changed much. ***

-The talk shifts to the Heavyweight Division and gives Tenay and AJ a chance to knock on the WWE (not named) for being an entertainment company while they were the wrestling company. Soon Raven makes his TNA debut and immediately TNA has the biggest feud in their history at that point. Raven still thinks to this day if he and Jarrett were paired together it would be the hottest program in the company.

NWA Title: Jeff Jarrett © vs. Raven
April 30, 2003

-More cutting and pasting as I reviewed this as part of the 4 Disc Jarrett DVD set (yes, he got 4 whole discs dedicated just to his TNA run). This was the biggest match in the history of TNA at this point. Raven made a shocking appearance from the crowd in TNA in Jan and laid Jarrett out after he successfully defended the NWA Title. He immediately joined S.E.X, and claimed it was his destiny to win the NWA Title. Raven is joined at ringside by Julio and Alexis Laree (Mickie James). I must say she looks pretty smoking here. They talk trash to start and the crowd is pretty fired up for the match. Raven gets a quick shoulder tackle and immediately goes for a pin that only gets two. Raven out wrestles Jeff to start much to the shock of Tenay. He eats a couple rights and bails to the floor. Jarrett is having none of that and dropkicks Raven through the ropes. On the floor Raven gets tossed into the rail a few times before being sent back in the rink. Laree distracts the ref, but it backfires when Julio accidentally hits Raven with a chair. Jarrett slingshots himself onto Laree and Julio, but it gives Raven the chance to take over on the floor. Raven is already bleeding and a bad camera shot shows Raven slipping the blade to Jarrett. Sure enough, Jeff is bleeding the next time we see him. Laree set up a table, and Raven lays Jeff on it. Jarrett quickly gets off and heads back in the ring. Raven is waiting and comes off the second rope with a forearm. Julio hands a chair to Raven, and we get the drop toehold into the chair. That gets a two count for Raven. He comes off the second ropes with a knee to the back and that gets another count of two. Raven buries a knee into the mid-section of Jeff to stop his comeback attempt. He fires Jeff into the ropes and locks in a sleeper. It is broken momentarily when Jeff rams him into the corner, but Raven goes right back to the hold. The crowd starts a dueling chant where half scream “Raven sucks,” and the other half chant “Raven, Raven, Raven.” A jawbreaker breaks the hold and both men are down. This gives the fans a chance to chant “TNA.” Jarrett fires off some right hands, and hits a perfect dropkick. Julio eats a dropkick as well, and Alexis also gets abused. An enziguiri gets a two count for Jarrett. He catapults Raven into the buckle, and rolls him up for a two count on the rebound. Raven is able to fire off a kick to the back of the head to get himself a two count. A clothesline is ducked, and Jeff gets the stroke. It only gets a two count though. Raven gets the DDT, be it a weak one, and Jeff is able to kick out at two. Both men go flying over the top rope after Jarrett delivers a clothesline. The table gets used as Jeff comes off the middle rope to drop an elbow onto Raven. Back inside the ring Jarrett uses the DDT, but Alexis pulls the ref out before three can be counted. The ref has had enough and he sends Laree and Alexis to the back. Both Raven and the ref eat a low blow, and here come the run-ins. The New Church and members of S.E.X. do battle. While this occurs members of the Extreme Revolution come to the ring to abuse Jarrett. This would include the Sandman, New Jack, Saturn, and Justin Credible. They handcuff Jarrett’s hands behind his back, and superkick a chair to each side of his head. The lights go out, and that means Sabu. He takes out Raven and all the members of the Extreme Revolution. Jarrett is still fucked at this point because of the handcuffs as things settle back to a one on one match. Raven misses Jarrett with a chair shot and it bounces off the ropes to hit himself in the head. A ref comes down to unlock Jarrett, which Raven allows. Raven gets the even flow DDT, but it only gets two. He goes for it once again, but Jarrett turns it into the stroke and gets the pin at 16:57.

Winner and Still NWA Champ: Jeff Jarrett via pin at 16:57
-Again, way overbooked, but in this case it came off for the better. They were going for the ECW chaos feel and it came pretty damn close. I appreciate the fact that once all the run-ins stopped things finished with 1 vs. 1 and we got a relatively clean finish, so to speak. It was damn sure entertaining, I’ll give them that. ***1/2

-The talk goes to the critics who often talked about how TNA would be done in 6 months or less. They proved a lot of people wrong and Jarrett said going out of business was never an option in his mind.

Elix Skipper and Low Ki vs. AJ Styles and D-Lo Brown
May 7, 2003

-The winners of this match advance to Anarchy in the Asylum later in the show and winner of that is #1 contender for Jarrett’s title (according to what I can gather from Tenay’s commentary). Skipper and Ki are part of S.E.X. (Sports Entertainment Extreme) and part of XXX (along with Daniels). This could prove to be kind of chaotic. D-Low starts with Ki and smartly Brown uses his size to his advantage. Brown drops an elbow, but an eye rake turns the tide. AJ makes a blind tag and springs in with a missile dropkick for a one count. Ki gets some elevation of a backdrop, and AJ gets a two count off a knee drop. The crowd loves AJ and is a shame he is being lost a little in today’s TNA. Ki fires off a somersault kick and makes the tag to Skipper. AJ knips up and catches Elix with a rana for a two count. The tag is made to Brown and Ki also comes back in the ring. Ki lights up D-Lo with some chops and makes the tag back to Elix. The crowd tries to rally D-Lo, and he responds with a suplex. He crawls to AJ, but Skipper cuts him off, so D-Lo drops him with a flapjack before making the tag. AJ dominates both members of XXX, but for some reason tags back out to D-Lo. Skipper tosses D-Lo to the floor and sends him into the security railing. AJ and Ki start battling on the inside as they have dropped all sense of a tag match. Ki gets a two count on AJ in the ring. Skipper and Ki double team AJ and pound the piss out of him in the corner. Ki hits a vicious running boot to the face which gets another two count. They settle back into your normal tag match, and AJ gets a powerbomb after countering the Play of the Day. D-Lo gets the hot tag and now he controls both members of XXX. D-Lo drops a double leg on each member and that pops the crowd. Skipper gets clotheslined over the top to the floor. Ki looks for Tidal Crush, but D-Lo intercepts him with the Lo-Down and AJ adds a neckbreaker to complete the double team move. That gets the pin at 9:02.

Winners: AJ Styles and D-Lo Brown via Brown pin on Low Ki at 9:02
-I was expecting a little more here. They just never got into a higher gear and didn’t really click for whatever reason. It was fine for what it was, but just a tad disappointing. **1/2

-Now talk is of AJ Styles and how he went from a relative unknown to the foundation of TNA in the asylum years. Raven puts over his ability to learn things and how he can process things faster than most.

NWA Title: Jeff Jarrett © vs. AJ Styles vs. Raven
June 11, 2003

– Raven and JJ attack AJ to start and send him to the floor. Raven and JJ stare each other down as they want to settle things. Styles charges back in an takes JJ down with a clothesline. Raven eats a spinning kick from AJ and that lets Jarrett get a roll-up for two. Jarrett throws a couple dropkicks, but eats a jaw breaker courtesy of Styles. AJ gets sent back to the floor and we have Raven vs. Jarrett again. They exchange right hands before AJ pulls Raven to the floor. Jarrett follows and he brawls with Raven on the floor. AJ flies over the top and out of the ring onto both men. Raven gets tossed into the security rail, and Styles tries to attack using the steps as a launching pad, but ends up eating the railing. Raven and Jarrett head back into the ring and soon AJ joins them. Raven tries a slingshot, but AJ lands on the ropes in the corner and starts throwing heavy hands on Jarrett. Raven hooks a variation of the STF on Jarrett, but AJ breaks things up before we can get some tapping. Styles hits a middle rope assisted DDT, but Raven breaks the pin attempt. Jarrett looks for the Stroke, but Raven counters and looks for the Even Flow, but AJ kills him head with a chair. That has left Raven a bloody mess, and he gets double teamed with a suplex. They continue to double team Raven, and we’ll see how that will last. AJ springs in and gets a rana for two as Jarrett breaks the pin. AJ is a little pissed, but they continue to work together. Now Jarrett tries to sneak a pin, but AJ stops him. Raven gets locked in a half crab from AJ while Jarrett locks in a reverse chinlock. AJ drops the hold and heads up top, but Raven slides out and Jarrett ends up getting caught with the guillotine leg drop. Raven fires back on both men and sends AJ flying with a back drop. He follows with a running clothesline and then a running knee lift to each man. Raven grabs the chair and sends Jarrett into it with the drop toe hold. AJ gets the same treatment and the crowd is clearly behind Raven here. Jarrett gets to his feet first and he takes over on a bloody Raven. Styles gets caught with an elbow that sends him to the floor. Raven connects with the even flow, but Shane Douglas pulls the ref out of the ring to stop the count. Raven and Douglas battle to the back of the Asylum and they head out of the building. AJ blasts Jarrett with the title belt and delivers a frog splash for two. Styles pounds Jarrett down in the corner, but a blind charge catches elbow. Jarrett appears to try another dropkick, but AJ counters with a sit out powerbomb for two. AJ tries to lock in the figure four, but Jarrett kicks him off. AJ fights back and looks for the Styles Clash, but Jarrett counters and the ref gets crushed in the chaos. AJ gets placed on the top rope but he fights Jarrett off. AJ springs in for a splash, but Jarrett gets the knees up to block. Vince Russo enters the ring with a guitar as Tenay swears AJ is screwed, but shocking nobody, Jarrett gets creamed with the guitar. The Styles Clash finishes and AJ is you new NWA Champion at 14:00. Russo hugs and kisses the title and eventually hands the thing over to Styles. The crowd could care less that AJ has apparently turned heel as they were thrilled to see someone finally take the title off Jarrett.

Winner and New NWA Title: AJ Styles via pin at 14:00
-Fun match, but nothing spectacular. The finish was kind of predictable and still not sure why then and why now they feel AJ should be a heel. The fans love the guy because of the cool shit he does in the ring. ***

-Various people discuss tag wrestling and how TNA has let the tag division shine.

NWA Tag Titles: XXX© (Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper) vs. America’s Most Wanted
June 25, 2003

-This is the first ever cage match in TNA history. These two had been feuding for months and at every turn AMW always got screwed by outside interference. Thus we get a cage match to make things even for the challengers. A very vocal section of the Asylum loves Triple X and why wouldn’t they? Big ass brawl to start with all four men, and the ref does his best to get things settled into a normal tag match. AMW gets the early advantage with some double team moves on Daniels. Skipper tries help, but he gets run into Daniels. Tenay takes a shot at the WWE by noting this is pin fall rules and not a contest to see who the best climber is. Skipper gets a blind tag and he helps Daniels fire Harris into the steel cage. Skipper sends Harris into the cage a second time and we got blood just over two minutes into the match. Harris is now your future ECW reject in peril as he gets dominated in the heel corner. Daniels makes my day as he lands a head butt square on the cut to draw even more blood. Good times there! Harris fights back against Skipper, but blood loss is too much for him. Skipper hits a double spring moonsault press for two. Daniels also tries for a pin, but can’t get the three count. Storm hits a desperation clothesline, but staggers into an enziguiri. The crowd loves Skipper and he plays to them as he is enjoying the reaction he is getting. Harris gets tossed one more time into the cage, but finally gets the tag after hitting one hell of a lariat. Skipper also makes the tag, but he is no match for Storm. Skipper tries his best but he gets suplexed into the cage. Nice! A powerslam on Daniels gets a two count. Daniels gets a cheap shot in and sends Storm into the cage. Daniels kills Storm with a knee to the back of the head, and Harris is just a mess in his corner. Now Storm is showing a wound from his trip to the cage, and he’s got a way to go to catch up to Harris in the bloodletting. Skipper hits a crossbody from the top, but he can’t follow up with a pin as he is still selling the ribs from when he was suplexed face first into the cage. Tenay lets us know that this is the first cage match in the career of Skipper. Both men crack heads and the race is on to their corners. Each man gets there and Harris seems rejuvenated. He sends Skipper into the cage with a backdrop and then runs Daniels into each side of the cage in impressive fashion. Now Daniels is split open, and I love the chaos here. Daniels blocks the Catatonic and delivers Angel’s Wings for two. The tag formula has been dropped as all four men are in the ring and either fighting or selling the ass kicking. Daniels and Storm fight against the cage on the top rope and they come crashing down. Now Skipper and Harris have a go. Skipper hits a belly to belly and then tosses Harris into the cage again. That nets a two count. Skipper is a crazy bastard and starts climbing the cage, but Harris meets him up there and brings him down with a powerbomb. Oh my! Somehow that only gets two as Harris couldn’t cover immediately. Daniels gets a two count on Storm as the crowd starts a “This is Awesome” chant, and I would agree. Daniels and Harris battle on the top rope and as Daniels walks the rope, Harris kills him with a spear. Damn! Skipper drops Storm with a sloppy Play of the Day, and heads up top again. This time he goes to the top of the cage and comes off with a crossbody. Skipper is a crazy bastard! All four men are left laying as the mat is getting stained with blood. Skipper climbs once again, and this time Harris pushes him off the top and he crashes to the floor. Since this isn’t a escape rules that leaves Daniels screwed against both members of AMW. Daniels eats a sick superkick as Skipper tries all he can to enter, but he gets knocked off to the floor. AMW hit the Death Sentence (kind of), but it only gets two. Skipper scales the cage again, and once again he gets knocked back to the floor. Harris heads up to the top of the cage and we get a Super Death Sentence (this shit just isn’t right) to finish things at 17:48.

Winners and New NWA Tag Team Champions: America’s Most Wanted via pin at 17:48
-Just a fantastic match that is often forgotten about because of what these four did in the Six Sides of Steel a little later. I still prefer the later match, but without this match to play off of, the later match might not have been so epic. The ending here was also perfect as for the first time AMW had the numbers advantage over XXX, and that’s all they needed. ****1/4

-Talk now TNA getting a little bigger and some familiar faces making a stop in TNA.

Hair vs. Hair: Shane Douglas vs. Raven
Sept 17, 2003

-Douglas debuted in TNA two months earlier and immediately set out to keep Raven from winning the NWA Title and destroy him in the process. They had a previous match in August that was won by Raven, but after the match Douglas, Mitchell, and a mystery man cut Raven’s hair. Tonight it’s not just a trim though as the loser will be bald. Tenay brings up famous hair matches he has seen and mentions the WrestleMania III match between Piper and Adonis as probably the highest profile hair vs. hair match. Major stalling from Douglas to start as it’s nearly 90 seconds before any contact is made. Finally they start trading right hands, and then head out to the floor. Raven tries to catch Douglas but he runs back into the ring. They start over again in the ring and fight over a collar and elbow. They go to the floor again and continue to fight over the hold. Raven tosses Douglas into the security rail and then into the front row. They start fighting through the crowd and hard to see at first while the camera gets in position. Raven uses a chair and then drops a leg across the chair on Douglas’ face. Ever the one to care about the fans, Raven hands a chair to a fan and tosses Douglas into said chair. Good times there. Douglas eats a shot from a trash can as they make their way back through the crowd. Douglas gets tossed back inside the ring and Raven ducks a clothesline. He locks in the cobra clutch, but Douglas fights out and almost gets caught with the Even Flow. Raven charges and gets caught with a drop toe hold that sends him to the floor. The Franchise follows and ends up getting the bad end as he Raven delivers a side Russian legsweep into the guard rail. Raven taunts Douglas into charging and delivers a drop toe hold into the ring steps. The crowd starts a massive “Raven” chant as Douglas eats the steps again. That splits Douglas open as they head towards the announce table. Douglas blocks getting sent into the table and slams Raven’s head into the table instead. Now Raven ends up eating the stairs and that leaves a cut on his head. Douglas pounds away on the cut and I’m sure that’s not the best thing to stop the bleeding. They head back in the ring and Douglas hits the Mr. Perfect neck snap. He locks in an abdominal stretch, but Raven reverses to a cobra clutch, and then back to the abdominal stretch. Now Raven gets his own abdominal stretch but gets tossed over the top rope to the floor. This isn’t the most thrilling match at this point and even the crowd is starting to get bored. In a sick moment Douglas pukes in the ring after getting kicked. I’m not sure if that was planned or not, but I prefer to never see that again. Raven heads out for a chair and at the same time Douglas pulls a from out of one of his boots. He blasts Raven, but it only gets two. Raven gets the drop toe hold into the chair and gets a two count of his own. A running bulldog gets another two count. Douglas eats a superkick and this time Slash pulls the ref out to break the pin. Their timing is off thanks to the ref on a bulldog spot, but they cover as the ref gets crushed. Sinn enters the ring and he brings a table from under the ring. They hold Raven as Douglas attacks, but the Gathering come down to help even things. The Gathering would be Julio Dinero and CM Punk (WOO!). Things settle back down to Raven vs. Douglas as the ref wakes. Raven hits the Even Flow and only gets two. Raven looks to superplex Raven through a table, but Douglas shoves him off and Raven crashes through the table. Another table gets set-up in the ring and Raven gets the Even Flow off the top rope through the table (Damn!), but the lights go out before the ref can finish the count. The Mystery Man is in the ring with James Mitchell. He takes off his hood and it’s Vampiro. He hits Raven with a ddt and Douglas crawls over to get the pin at 16:59. Raven is a man of his word and sits as Mitchell shaves his head with clippers. It’s pretty brutal to watch as Mitchell cuts into his scalp with the clippers and it’s a bloody mess. Tenay and West go insane with their disgust and it’s kind of off beating. I mean, it’s just hair. I’m sure it will grow back.

Winner: Shane Douglas via pin at 16:59
-If you loved ECW then this match is for you. A garbage brawl, but didn’t have the ECW crowd to make things seem better. Some nice spots, but it was easy to see that Raven was leading things out there. **

-Everyone puts over how much Sting has meant to TNA.

AJ Styles (w/ Jimmy Hart) and Sting vs. Lex Luger and Jeff Jarrett (w/ Don Callis)
November 17, 2003

-According to Tenay this is Luger’s first match since the close of WCW and his first appearance since the death of Miss Elizabeth. Jarrett is the NWA Champion at this point and is finally a heel while AJ is back to being a face. Luger looks huge here and not in a ripped way either. I mean he is still in better shape than I can ever hope to be (5’11”, 152 lbs…WOO), but compared to what he was he looks bloated. The biceps looks a little smaller too, but that’s what age and drug use will do to you I guess. Tenay has lost his mind as he says you have to mention Luger and Sting in the same breath with guys like Hogan and Flair. Sting I can buy, but Luger is a different story. Luger talks shit on AJ before the match and calls him AC. Awesome! Albert Clifford was a beast for Bayside on the mats you know. For those curious Hart is there as this was building to Hogan coming to TNA in January, but didn’t happen. Sting and Jarrett get things started. Sting hits an atomic drop and looks for the Stinger Splash, but Jarrett moves out of the way. Sting is able to put the brakes on and makes the tag to Styles. AJ hits a swank dropkick and then drops a knee to the head. Jarrett is able to kick-out at two. Springboard leg drop next and Luger tries to break the momentum, but Sting cuts him off. The heels bail to the floor as the crowd starts an “AJ” chant. We start over and this time it’s Luger and Styles having a go. This could have been a nice match when Luger was in his prime as he had one hell of a match with Pillman in WCW. Luger press slams AJ rather easily and smirks to the crowd. Luger doesn’t seem to have much as he mostly just tosses AJ around and he bumps in impressive fashion. Luger tries a clothesline, but AJ ducks and springs off the middle ropes. He gets caught with a bear hug though and gets dropped to the mat. Luger has had enough and makes the tag to Jarrett. AJ gets dropped with a rather nice spinebuster, but is able to roll his shoulder at two. The tag is made back to Luger and he stalks AJ in the ring. He throws some kicks to the injured ribs and then mows him down with a clothesline. The crowd is scary silent as Styles get his ass kicked all over the ring. Sting gets the crowd going as AJ gets a blind tag to Sting while he gets powerbombed by Jarrett. Sadly for AJ, the ref never saw the tag and thus he’s still screwed. Lex returns and hits a back elbow before tagging back to JJ. Smartly they are using Luger in a limited way here and just having him push the smaller Styles around for a few minutes before letting Jarrett do the heavy lifting. The tag to Sting is teased again and once again the ref never saw it and won’t allow Sting to enter the ring. Styles gets tossed over the top to the floor. Sting has finally has had enough and just enters the ring anyways. He destroys both heels with a Stinger Splash and drops Jarrett with the Scorpion Death Drop. Luger breaks the pin attempt. AJ comes back and gets caught in the Torture Rack as Sting and Jarrett battle on the floor. Sting grabs a bat and blasts Luger without the ref seeing and AJ gets a roll-up for the pin at 10:34.

Winners: Sting and AJ Styles
-If you enjoy seeing Styles bump for a bloated former World Champion than this is the match for you. The crowd was dead for what was being built as a dream tag match, and if not for AJ this would have been horrible. *1/2

-I thought that was the end of the main feature, but we still have one more match that wasn’t mentioned on the back of the DVD cover.

Fan’s Revenge: Jeff Jarrett vs. “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes
November 26, 2003

-Jimmy Hart handpicked fans from the Asylum and they surround the ring with straps. This match would be used later with Samoa Joe being the man facing Jarrett. They lock up and Jarrett escapes as he got a little too close to the straps. Another lock-up and Dusty catches Jarrett with an elbow. Out of instinct Jarrett rolls to the floor and he gets strapped a few times before immediately getting back in the ring. Now Jarrett realizes he not in the best position here. He gets sent to the floor again and tries all he can to avoid getting strapped, but takes a few shots. Dusty lands a few shots and sends Jarrett to the apron where he takes a few more shots. He complains he wasn’t on the floor and shouldn’t have been whipped, but he ends up getting blasted again. Too funny! Jarrett backs Dusty into the corner and knees him to the mat. He wants the fans to whip Rhodes, but it’s not happening tonight. Dusty fights out of the corner with flip, flop, and fly before delivering another elbow. Jarrett hits the floor again and gets whipped. Rhodes uses a belt on Jarrett, but a low blow slows him down. The ref gets bumped in the chaos. Jarrett takes the belt off the ref and lands some shots on Rhodes. Callis and Hart get involved, and Erik Watts runs in to deliver a shot to Jarrett and that’s it. For some reason they video fades to a package basically hyping disc two.

Winner: No Clue at somewhere around 5:24 show
-I have no clue what that was about. This match wasn’t listed as being on the DVD and then we get no conclusion. The match was nothing more than Jarrett taking some elbows and getting whipped. DUD

Extras

-For some reason instead of just including it in the main feature we got another match listed as an extra.

NWA Title: Cage Match: AJ Styles © (w/ Vince Russo) vs. D-Lo Brown
August 6, 2003

-Erik Watts is the NWA Director of Authority and will be handcuffed to Russo during the match. He has also barred Sonny Siaki from the building. These two were tag partners until AJ went heel and joined Russo. Now we get the blow off in a steel cage. Styles is apprehensive to lock-up and stalls as much as you can when you are locked in a cage. AJ controls early with a headlock, but gets mowed down with a shoulder. AJ flips over and hits a dropkick, but D-Lo slams on the brakes before he makes contact with the cage. AJ looks for a hiptoss, but D-Lo punches out and hits a slam. Styles tries a head scissors, but gets catapulted into the cage. AJ goes Spider Man however and lands on the ropes before springing back with an elbow. AJ is a beast! D-Lo nearly takes AJ’s head off with a clothesline, and tries to float over on a corner charge, but AJ punts him in the balls. Effective! AJ looks to spring again, but gets caught and rammed back first into the cage. D-Lo uses the cage in fine fashion as he rubs AJ’s face into the steel. That leaves AJ a bloody mess as D-Lo heads up top, but he gets crotched when AJ shakes the ropes. In a sick spot AJ hits a baseball slide that catches D-Lo in the head and into the cage. That leaves D-Lo split wide open and we have double juice within 6 minutes. Both men sell this shit like they are dead which is kind of nice to see actually. The crowd rallies D-Lo and he drops AJ with a clothesline. AJ tries to fight back but gets caught with an Alabama Slam. D-Lo heads up top and hits the Lo-Down, but AJ is out at two. They fight in the corner and AJ gets a powerbomb that he transitions in the Styles Clash for two. D-Lo catches AJ and hits a running sit-out powerbomb. He continues to toss AJ around and then climbs to the top of the cage. Russo tosses powder into the eyes of Watts. That leaves him blind and when he spears Russo into the cage it throws D-Lo off balance and he crashes to the mat. AJ drapes an arm across and gets the pin at 10:21.

Winner and still NWA Champion: AJ Styles via pin at 10:21
-Solid match, but not as spectacular as one would expect with these two. The ending didn’t really help AJ though as he did nothing to get the win. Wouldn’t have been so bad had he hit D-Lo with anything before getting the pin. **1/4

The 411: Match selection aside this is a very promising idea from TNA. Unless they start releasing the weekly PPVs on DVD, this is the best we can get. One more disc to go!
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]