411’s NWA TNA Report 02.12.03

– There are no words to express the sadness I felt when I read that Curt Hennig had died. I couldn’t do him justice with words. One of the first matches I ever saw live was at SummerSlam 91, when he wrestled Bret Hart. That match changed my life and so did Curt Hennig. Professional wrestling will always be special to me and it’s not because of Vince McMahon, Vince Russo, the nWo, or even Hulkamania. It was men like Ted DiBiase, Ric Flair, and especially Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig personified everything I love so much about this business and this sport. Thank you for everything Curt.

– Hey everyone, I’m writing a piece on my favorite storylines throughout wrestling history. I don’t know if it’s going to end up on here or anything but I need some help. I’m looking for a compilation tape that has full matches and angles that stemmed from the whole Dangerous Alliance thing in WCW circa 1991 and 1992. If anyone wants to hook me up with that, e-mail me. I’ll obviously compensate you.

– The show opens with a ten-bell salute for Curt Hennig.

– Mike Tenay warns us in advance of the language he and Don West used during the brutal beating Jeff Jarrett took from S.E.X. after the show went off the air. This really helps sell the beating as totally heinous and it’s actually no picnic to watch. Brutality can numb the senses when announcers shout at the top of their lungs over how a heinous an attack his when it’s nothing but a sub-Horsemen beatdown. TNA knows how to use a massive heel beatdown to advance a storyline.

– Live from the TNA Asylum.

– Mike Tenay is in the middle of the ring. Bullet Bob has left TNA because it has gotten to personal for him. Thank god. Tenay brings out the new acting commisioner of TNA, J.J. Dillon. Before Dillon can come out, Vince Russo makes his way out. Russo says J.J. tried to get him fired at WCW. Russo claims to be a huge Horsemen fan and tells J.J. that he was disillusioned when he realized what a piece of garbage Dillon was. The crowd is firmly against Vince Russo on this one. Russo demands an explanation as to why Dillon tried to get him fired in WCW. Dillon said he was man enough to hand in his resignation from WWF in person. Russo wants Dillon to shut up and he sends the Harris Twins to pound on Dillon. Then THE SANDMAN comes out and whoops ass on both the Harris Twins with the kendo stick. The crowd popped huge for that one.

– Don West wonders to Mike Tenay how Raven will react to the arrival of The Sandman. It’s when TNA isn’t afraid to make nods to the histories of their wrestlers that I am most impressed with them.

– Recap of the tag team title debacle from last week where the titles ended up vacant.

– Rock N Roll Express vs America’s Most Wanted
This is match one in a four-team mini-tournament to decide who faces XXX for the vacant tag team titles. RnR starts off by double teaming Chris Harris. Robert Gibson busts out with the restholds at the two and a half mark. Ricky Morton tags in as I debate whether or not to reuse my Chris Harris is playing Ricky Morton while Ricky Morton wails on him bit. I suppose I just did. Harris tags out to Storm and they nail a DOUBLE DROPKICK on Ricky Morton. James Storm then hits the PERFECTPLEX (which I totally mark out for) on Ricky Morton to get the pinfall at 4:57. Harris points in the air as a tribute to Hennig. Awesome ending to a perfectly good little outing. ** Low Ki attacks AMW afterwards.

– Vince Russo is being interviewed by Goldylocks when Raven arrives at the Asylum. However, Raven is immediately chased off by The Sandman.

– The Harris Twins vs The Disciples of the New Church
The winner of this match faces AMW next week with the winner of that match facing XXX for the vacant tag titles. Tiny brawl starts it but it quickly ends up with Big Ron and Slash clubbering each other in the ring. Big Ron hits an Exploder suplex on Slash and I wonder if that’s physically possible. A Harris Twin… hitting a wrestling move? Well, I’ll be damned. I’d like to once again like to point out the awesomeness of Mike Tenay’s commentarty. He always focuses on the match and that’s all I can ask for. Slash tags out to Brian Lee and he pounds on everyone. Brian Lee climbs the top and attempts to hit a top rope clothesline but Low Ki interferes and the Twins take advantage and hit the H-Bomb on Lee for the pinfall at 4:23. * Eh, the match didn’t offend me or anything.

– Nice video package detailing the rivalry between Sonny Siaki and Kid Kash over the X title.

– X Title Match: Sonny Siaki (w/ Desire) vs Kid Kash (w/ Trinity)
I’m actually really excited about this one. Kid Kash comes out for this one in actual wrestling tights. I was sorta wondering when he was gonna stop wearing those shiny pleather pants. Only Chris Jericho pulls off stuff like that. We start off with a nice deep armdrag sequence that ends with a standoff. Siaki goes for the arm but Kash counters with a hammerlock of his own. Siaki throws him down and hits a gorilla press into a fallaway slam. Siaki gets tossed to the outside and Kash grabs a chair but misses. Trinity grabs a chair and DOESN’T miss, sending Siaki down in a heap. Desire whips Trinity hard into the guard rail. Damn, even the valets are busting ass. Kash goes on the offense but Desire hops on his back and Siaki slams Kash hard with a steel chair. Apparently, Trinity was a stunt double in the upcoming Daredevil movie. That’s pretty cool, but the movie looks like it’s gonna be pretty horrible. Siaki then hits a low half-swing into the steel barricade. Match goes back to the ring and we getting a pinfall attempt sequence but Siaki ends it with a crisp T-bone suplex. Kash won’t stay down and hits a rana followed again with a tornado DDT. Desire and Trinity dive into the ring and start going at it. A dropkick sends Desire out of the ring. Siaki sets Kash up on the top rope. Superplex attempt is blocked and Kash shoves him off and hits a hurracanrana (hitting his head on the mat in the process) to score the out-of-nowhere pinfall to win the X title at 7:07. **3/4 I really liked this match, but it was waaaaaaaay too short. Siaki is starting to come together though.

– Mike Tenay and Don West interrogate Ron Killings. He calls Michael Jackson “the king of pop” but Jeff Jarrett is “crazy as hell.” Damn, Jarrett must be really crazy.

– The Truth, Jorge Estrada, & Tenacious Z vs B.G. James, The Gift, & Mike Sanders
Jorge is no longer doing the Flying Elvis schtick. James starts it off with Truth. James tags to Sanders and Truth tags to Estrada. Sanders and The Gift hit some neat tandem offense on Estrada. The heels relentlessly pound on Estrada. The Gift misses the Village People’s Elbow and Estrada tags to Tenacious Z. Z hits a SPRINGBOARD DROPKICK on The Gift and hits two more on James and Sanders. Z goes for another springboard but gets knocked off the apron by B.G. James. Scott Armstrong distracts James and Z hits an AWESOME MOONSAULT on James. Action spills to the outside and its planchas for everyone as Truth grabs Sanders and hits the falcon arrow for the pinfall at… oops… forgot to hit the stopwatch. Match was a way fun six man tag match. **

– Raven complains about having to deal with The Sandman everywhere he goes. Raven brings up banging The Sandman’s wife. A.J. Styles jumps Raven. Then the camera pans to the Rock N Roll Express who had been beaten up and hooded by somebody. It’s going to be Raven vs The Sandman in a falls-count-anywhere match TONIGHT!

– Mike Tenay interviews David Flair and asks what’s in the sack. David Flair ain’t telling though. Oh yeah, his dad is Ric Flair.

– Goldylocks is backstage with STEVE CORINO!!! Hell yeah! Corino cuts a killer promo about tradition and how he’s going to show Low Ki that he’s the King of Old School. Corino rules the planet.

– Low Ki vs Steve Corino
Tenay puts Corino over as a former NWA World champion and ECW champion. Corino tangles Low Ki up in the corner and Low Ki uses the referee’s hand to gouge Corino’s eyes. That was pretty damn cool right there. Low Ki grinds down Corino with knife-edge chops. Really even match between these two. Low Ki rolls through with a suplex for two. Tenay points out that this Corino’s second appearance in TNA as he wrestled in the Gaunlet for the Gold on the very first TNA telecast. Corino nails a discus forearm and both men go down. The crowd is way into Corino. Corino hits a superkick for two. Low Ki hits a leg scissors crucifix and Corino counters with a reverse neckbreaker for two. Low Ki gouges Scott Armstrong in the eye to draw the cheap DQ at 6:55. **1/2 That was the ring ending because this could be a totally hot feud if they play it right. Those two are going to have an AWESOME match, I can feel it. This match was nothing to sneeze at though. AMW comes down afterwards and pounds on Low Ki.

– Jerry Lynn is with Goldylocks and Lynn says that Vince Russo is doing a good job of ruining his career. Lynn says the only way to stick it to Russo was to just bring back wrestling. Lynn vows to bring back the X division and focus on wrestling. Lynn doesn’t give a damn about politics anymore. I’m glad to see them using Lynn to his fullest potential. Lynn is at his best when he’s wrestling,

– Eight-Man Elimination for X Title Shot: Jerry Lynn Jose Maximo vs Joel Maximo vs Shark Boy vs David Young vs Tony Mamaluke vs Jimmy Rave vs Paul London
Jose Maximo starts with Shark Boy. Shark Boy uses the Dead Sea Driver to eliminate Jose at 1:11. Joel Maximo is in next. Joel Maximo hits a diving headbutt for two. Another Dead Sea Driver at 2:28 and Joel is out. Jimmy Rave is next. Rave counters the Dead Sea Driver with a Northern Lights Bomb to eliminate Shark Boy at 3:39. Tony Mamaluke is in at #5. Mamaluke hits a sick-looking release suplex at 4:20 to eliminate Rave. David Young is in at #6. Mamaluke clips the knee and gets BRUTAL on David Young on has a history of knee problems. Mamaluke secures a leglock submission and David Young gets a hold of the ropes but is in some trouble. Tornado DDT from Mamaluke us countered by Young’s Northern Lights suplex into the ringpost. Young favors his knee but hits a spinebuster to eliminate Mamaluke at 6:30. Lynn runs in at #7 and hits a TKO right off, but it’s only good for two. Young hits a spinebuster but can’t capitalize due to his knee. David Young goes for a moonsault and misses, which totally kills his knee. Single leg crab by Jerry Lynn turns into an STF for the submission at 8:40. It’s down to Paul London and Jerry Lynn. They have themselves a really even exchange. London is out of Ring of Honor, for those who don’t know. The announcers put over the impending return of Jason Cross. WWE won’t even acknowledge the return of high level midcarders like Kanyon, but TNA keeps us updated on rookies like Jason Cross. See, now I care when Cross comes back. It doesn’t take much, y’know. TNA shows effort and that’s why the shows are consistently good. Lynn counters Paul London’s attempt at hitting the London Calling with the Sunset Bomb for two. London went for the London Calling again but Lynn puts up the knees and knocks the wind out of him for two. Lynn goes for the Cradle of Filth piledriver but London powers out and shoots Lynn to the ropes. Lynn kicks London in the midsection and finally nails the Cradle of Filth at 15:51 for the pinfall. Jerry Lynn is now the #1 contender for the X title. The X division comes out and celebrates with Lynn and London. ***1/2 Awesome stuff from Lynn and London and the psychology from David Young was nice too.

– Konnan comes out and confronts Lynn on his past as Mr. J.L. Konnan says he whitewashed the lucha style into the crap known as the X division. Lynn tells Konnan that he’s jealous because he was never could never do the highspots. Konnan said he never needed that to sell out arenas in Mexico. The SATs then jump everyone in the ring while Konnan joins them. Konnan and the SATs leave the ring and tell Russo he can go to hell too in the process.

– Falls-Count-Anywhere Match: Raven vs The Sandman
The Sandman is looking like he’s in somewhat decent phsyical condition, which is more than I could ever say about him ECW. Raven and Sandman waste no time going at it ECW-style. A piece of guardrail gets involved right away and Raven is the recepient of a drop toe hold right onto the steel. Raven’s bleeding two minutes into this one. They brawl all over the arena. Back in the ring and Sandman PULVERIZES Raven with a trash can. The Sandman is in total control of this crazy ass brawl. Sandman sets Raven up on table and climbs to the top of the balcony. Low Ki tosses Sandman off and Raven gets out of the way. Sandman goes through the table and Raven gets the pinfall at 7:00. **1/4 That match made me nostalgic for ECW.

– After the match, Steve Corino attacks Low Ki. The Sandman gets up and attacks Raven. The brawl spills to the ring and S.E.X. attacks. Corino and Sandman are tied to the ring ropes and are about to receive a whipping. Jeff Jarrett makes the save with a kendo stick and hits the Stroke on Heavy D. A.J. Styles hits the ring and hits the Styles Clash onto a chair and leaves Jarrett totally laid out as the show fades to black. Awesome ending to set up Jarrett vs Styles next week. I’m psyched about that one.

– This was a really awesome show and with A.J. Styles vs Jeff Jarrett on top for next week, it’s only going to get better. Lots of WRESTLING, is what made this show for me. Plus taking Jerry Lynn and the X division away from the more storyline-driven S.E.X. angle was also a great idea. The idea of Konnan bringing luchadores to take on X division guys is a really exciting prospect. Big improvement from last week and the best wrestling show I’ve seen all year. What else do you need? Oh yeah… STEVE CORINO! I got nothing bad to say about this one. See you guys in next Wednesday.