411’s NWA:TNA Report 05.26.04

Hello, my name is Joe, and I am covering for Dave Gagnon, who couldn’t be here with us this evening. You may recognize me from such 411 columns as Eric Szulczewski’s “Wrestling News, Opinions, Etc” and John Haley’s “Comment.” (I am The Joe In Me.) This is probably going to be a one-time thing, as I can’t see myself paying $10 each week to watch NWA-TNA, mainly because I can only ever watch it in the summertime and during fall/winter/spring breaks from school. We don’t get pay per view in college, and it’s a damn shame. It really is.

Anyway, onto the recap. I am a virgin recapper, as this is my first time doing it, ever, so bear with me. And apparently I hate myself, as I picked the most difficult show imaginable to recap, with battle royales, ladder matches, and Ultimate X matches, all involving foreign wrestlers with foreign names (except the Canadians, they have pretty English names). So please, bear with me here.

For those who don’t know, tonight is TNA’s World X Cup Tournament, which is one of the coolest concepts ever. They need to take it to Canada, Mexico, England, and Japan, though, and REALLY legitimize it. We’ve got four teams from four countries competing for the trophy: Team Mexico (Captain Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, Mr. Aguila), Team Japan (Captain Nosawa, Ryuji Hijikata, Taichi Ishikari, Hirai Nobukazu), Team Canada (Captain Petey Williams, Johnny Devine, Eric Young, Bobby Roode), and Team USA (Captain Jerry Lynn, Chris Daniels, Elix Skipper, Chris Sabin). Each match has a point value, and they didn’t show that screen long enough for me to write down how many points each is worth, but I will count point totals at the end of each match.

To open, Team Japan cuts a promo in Japanese, and it may have been an anti-piracy promo, but I don’t speak Japanese so I wouldn’t know. We are then treated to an opening video montage of the events leading up to tonight, including Jerry Lynn’s Five Minutes Alone with Scott D’Amore.

Tenay and West go through the rules and team names, which I’ve just mentioned.

Opening Match: 16-Man Gauntlet
The Gauntlet match has Royal Rumble rules, with each participant entering at 60-second intervals, but then the final two men wrestle, the winner being the one who gets the pinfall or submission. So it’s Royal Rumble Twist. Or Royal Rumble Remix. Or Royal Rumble Code Red. Any of those would do. Onto the match, as Chris Daniels and “Hotshot” Johnny Devine draw numbers one and two, respectively. They face off in the ring, exchanging slaps, before Devine gets the upper hand after an eyepoke. Daniels reverses an Irish whip, and hits a lariat on Devine. They exchange chops, and Devine reverses a tilt-a-whirl to an armdrag, as Nosawa comes in at #3. He scores a dropkick and an enziguiri on Daniels, and a camel clutch; Devine dropkicks Daniels in the face. Taka Michinoku should start demanding royalties, after so many teams have started doing that move. I doubt Taka invented it, but he definitely made it popular in the States. Nosawa stomps Daniels down. Once again, the Canadian and the Japanese double-team Daniels, but he ducks a double-clothesline and responds with chops to both aggressors. Ishikari draws #4, and that does nothing to help Daniels, as Ishikari comes right in and sends Daniels into the corner, and scores a tornado DDT. Daniels is getting triple-teamed now, as it looks to be true that no one likes the United States. Fortunately for Daniels, Chris Sabin draws #5, and it’s clotheslines for everyone. Except Daniels. Sabin nails a springboard dropkick to eliminate Ishikari. People need to use that move more often: When hit right, it looks beautiful. Anyway, Devine is still in this thing, as he goes after Sabin and Nosawa after Daniels, hitting him with a leg lariat. Mr. Aguila comes in at #6, and immediately gets sent over the top, but hangs on and skins the cat back in, and then hits a headscissors on Sabin. Petey Williams comes in at number 7, and hits a crucifix slam on Sabin in the middle of the ring. Aguila is stomping Nosawa down in one corner, Devine is beating Daniels in another. Hijikata is in at number 8, and immediately goes after Daniels with a half-nelson suplex into an armbar. That was quite nice. Williams eliminates Sabin with a rana over the top rope, and the Japanese and Canadians go back to double-teaming Daniels. Daniels is playing the role of “bitch” in this gauntlet. Jerry Lynn comes in at #9, and goes right to work, eliminating Nosawa. They actually blew that spot (and all Lynn did was try to toss him over the top), and Lynn had to just pick him up and dump him. Tenay and West passed it off as Lynn being the more powerful of the two. Lynn puts the boots to Devine in one corner, while Williams is almost eliminated, but is able to roll back in. Daniels lays in the chops on Hijikata, while Aguila works on Lynn in another. Heavy Metal draws #10, and he and Aguila begin double-teaming Williams, sending him over the top rope. Williams hangs onto the apron and goes to roll in, but Heavy Metal nails him with a baseball slide dropkick to eliminate him in a neat spot. Lynn starts working on Aguila, and Hirai Nobukazu comes in at #11. The Japanese double-team Heavy Metal, and Lynn is almost eliminated, but hangs on. Bobby Roode is in at #12, and spears Daniels before throwing him out. Roode exchanges chops with Ishikari, as Abismo Negro is in at #13, nailing a DDT on Devine. He sends Devine into the ropes and hits a lariat, with Devine pulling out the 360 sell. That sell is one of the coolest visuals in wrestling. Thank you, Marty Jannetty; I’ll send some coke your way. The Mexicans eliminate Devine, and Nobukazu and Heavy Metal eliminate each other with a double-lariat. Elix Skipper comes in at #14, and hits a reverse suplex, one of the most under-used moves in wrestling (in the WWE, at least) on Aguila. Lynn sends Roode out, and Aguila eliminates himself when he misses a dive. Abismo Negro dropkicks Ishikari in the head, as Eric Young comes in at #15. He works on Abismo Negro while Skipper works over Ishikari. The Canadians double-team Negro, as Hector Garza comes in at #16. Man, did he sure get jacked since I last saw him. Remember him when he was at the Royal Rumble in 1997? Small, youthful, long hair, all that. He’s ripped now, and he’s wearing these Iron Cross trunks a la Triple H. Good to see Trip getting the proper recognition in Mexico. Anyway, Garza eliminates Roode, and Negro hits a stunner on Young. Negro sets Young up in for a Tombstone, and Garza dropkicks him in the head before Negro drops him. Cool spot. Negro and Ishikari are eliminated by Skipper and Garza, respectively, and Skipper and Garza double-team Young with a flapjack, and then toss him. Somewhere during all this, Hijikata was eliminated, but I missed it, probably because I had my head down writing for a second. We’re down to Elix Skipper and Hector Garza, and the first man to score a pinfall/submission wins the match. Garza goes up top and misses a dropkick, and Skipper follows with his own, and misses. That was productive. Skipper sends Garza into the corner, but Garza is able to come back out with a springboard bodypress for two. Garza tries a small package for two, and Skipper comes back with a rollup, also for two. In the corner, Garza reverses an Irish whip, and bodyslams Skipper near the ropes. He goes up for a moonsault and misses, landing on his feet. Skipper attemts the Play of the Day, but Garza reverses to a reverse powerbomb, rolls up Skipper, and gets the three-count. After the match, they shake hands. Awww, how sweet. Very fast-paced match, as it was EXTREMELY difficult to recap all of it. I’d give it ***1/2 for the whole thing.

So after the first match, Team Mexico has 3 points, Team USA has 1 (for coming in second in the gauntlet), and Teams Canada and Japan each have nothing.

We are next treated to a recap of last week’s Deadly Draw for the NWA World Title, which Ron Killings won, but Chris Harris (in my view) should have won. And boy did Raven get fat since I last saw him. And he was in such great shape (well, for him) this time last year. Sigh.

JJJ comes out and orders Tenay into the ring, threatening to slap him if he doesn’t comply. He also calls out Vince Russo, and states that he is exercising the rematch clause in his contract for next week. Russo comes out, looking a bit upset. I’d be upset too if I had to book Jarrett into ANOTHER title match. Russo kisses some ass, saying that he would have given JJJ the title shot anyway had JJJ not come out tonight. Russo offers a handshake, and JJJ accuses him of trying to jump on his bandwagon. Okay, Jeff. Russo goes off on Jarrett, offering a King of the Mountain match next week for the title. Five men (Jarrett, and the four from last week’s match) will be in the ring at once, and if someone gets pinned, he goes to the penalty box for two minutes before coming back in. When someone scores a pinfall, he must take the title belt and climb a ladder and hang the belt up there. It’s kind of like a reverse ladder match, which makes no sense. JJJ said he could take all four men on in one night and win, so logic would dictate that Russo would book him in a gauntlet match (traditional gauntlet, not NWA gauntlet). That’s what it should be, but I’m not booking. I just don’t see the point in taking the title belt and hanging it above the ring. If I get a pinfall, I’m going to take my belt and run dammit. But that’s why I’m not a wrestler. JJJ: “You’ve underestimated me for the last time!”

Scott Hudson interviews Team USA, and Jerry Lynn puts over the accomplishments of his teammates.

Second Match: Team Canada vs Team USA (Bobby Roode and Johnny Devine vs XXX)
Why are three of the four members of Team USA wearing CANADIAN colors? It’s quite irritating. And I should note that there was once a time when Elix Skipper was a Canadian, back in his WCW days with Lance Storm. That was one of the few good things about WCW in 2000. That, and Kanyon going through the arenas and randomly hitting people with Kanyon Cutters. That was just hilarious. Anyway, all four men start things off, and Roode sends Skipper out and goes to work with Devine on Daniels. Daniels tosses Devine out, and Skipper comes back on for some American double-teaming, making quick tags in and out. They stomp Roode in the corner, and then send him into the ropes for a double-hiptoss and a two-count. Skipper kicks Roode in the back for another two-count. Roode brings in Devine and he pounds on Skipper, and then hits a snap suplex for two. Skipper reverses an Irish whip, but Devine hits him with a cross-body coming off the ropes. Skipper bridges out of a pin in a nice visual, and tags Daniels in. They double-team Devine for two, and Daniels hits him with a backdrop suplex and tags Skipper. Daniels drapes Devine on the top rope and Skipper comes in with a springboard legdrop for another two. He hits a DDT on Devine, but Devine manages to tag out. Roode comes in with clotheslines for Skipper and Daniels, hits Skipper with a neckbreaker for two, and mounts him, punching away. He stomps Skipper down and elbowdrops him, but that gets two. Devine comes back in and snapmares Skipper, and then hits a seated dropkick. He goes for the pin but gets two. He hits Skipper in the back of the head with an elbow, and sends him into the corner, where he chokes him and then stomps him down. He sets Skipper up on the apron and hits him with a few elbows to the throat. He distracts the ref, allowing Devine to get some cheap shots in. Roode snapmares him down into a chinlock. Skipper attempts a comeback, but runs into an elbow and meets the business end of a Roode kneedrop for two. Devine is tagged back him, and picks Skipper up for a suplex, but drops him with an Ace Crusher from that position. This time, Daniels has to come in and break up the pinfall. Devine bodyslams Skipper near the ropes, and goes up, but he spends too much time pointing at his crotch, and misses an SSP as a result. Skipper makes the hot tag, and Daniels comes in with a lariat and enziguiri each for Roode and Devine. He hits an STO on Devine, and a Flatliner (I forget his name for the move) on Roode, for two. Rock Bottom for Roode, and Daniels goes up and hits the Best Moonsault Ever, and makes a cover, broken up by Devine. Daniels and Skipper hit Devine with their suplex/springboard cross-body, and Roode comes back in with a spear on Daniels. Skipper hits a powerslam on on Devine for two. Roode TKOs Skipper and Devine covers for another two-count. Skipper tags Daniels back in, but he runs into a back elbow and a European uppercut courtesy of Roode. He misses a rana and Devine missile dropkicks him and goes for a cover, but Skipper makes the save. Roode comes in and kicks Skipper a few times, then nails a spinning sitout powerbomb for another two-count. Devine hits Skipper with a moonsault (could have been Daniels, I forget, but it doesn’t affect the match so it’s okay), and Daniels comes in but gets double-teamed. Roode hits him with a spinebuster for two, then dragon suplexes Devine onto Daniels for a two-count in a neat-looking spot. Skipper saves and Daniels recovers for some double-teaming on the Canadians, and Daniels tosses Roode. Skipper hits his awesome ropewalk hurricanrana on Devine, and XXX hits their suplex-into-a-combination-powerbomb/Ace Crusher-finisher for the pinfall. That’s an easy **** right there.

Team USA picked up another two point, giving them a total of 3, and leaving Team Canada pointless.

After the match, we get a recap of last week’s Bunkhouse tag team match, including footage of a promo from Kid Kash and Dallas, who looks a little like Monster Magnet’s Dave Wyndorf. For a wrestling reference, he looks like a cross between Test and Brian Adams. But Wyndorf is cooler, and that’s why I mentioned him. Cut to Hudson interviewing James Storm and Dusty Rhodes, who does his usual rambling interview that somehow is able to get people into his matches. Rhodes should stop cutting promos though, because his breathing does not sound healthy and is, quite frankly, annoying. Rhodes: “That’s what old men do. They go crazy.” Hilarious line from him. Anyway, a tag title match is announced for next week between Kash/Dallas and Storm/Rhodes.

Third Match: Team Mexico vs Team Japan
We’ve got Nobukazu and Hijikata representing Japan, and Abismo Negro and Heavy Metal representing Mexico. The match starts with the Japanese double-teaming Abismo Negro, sending him into the ropes and hitting him with a double-back elbow, and then a double-lariat. Nobukazu legdrops Negro in the groin, and then puts him in a surfboard stretch. Hijikata comes in for some more double-teaming, setting Negro up in the corner and Shattering his Dreams. He tags Nobukazu back in for some MORE double-teaming, but this time Negro ducks the lariat in a nice touch, and hits them with a double-dropkick, sending them to the outside. He takes a chance with a suicide dive, which pays off nicely, and Heavy Metal comes off the top with a beautiful plancha to the outside. Back in, Hijikata hits a fisherman’s buster on Heavy Metal, and tags Nobukazu back in. Heavy Metal recovers from the buster and slams Nobukazu, and Negro comes off the top with a frog splash for two. Negro then tries a German suplex for two, and then a sitout pumphandle slam, and again Nobukazu kicks out. Negro stomps away on him in the corner, and misses a blind charge. Nobukazu comes back with an armdrag, into a cross armbreaker. He sends Negro into the corner, and puts him on the middle turnbuckle and then slams him off. Hijikata is tagged in, and continues working on the arm, stomping on it and going into another armbreaker. Heavy Metal inadvertently distracts the ref, allowing the Japanese to double-team Abismo Negro. Nobukazu comes back in and exchanges chops with Negro, and brings him down for a Fujiwara armbar. He lets up, only to drop the knee a few times. He tags Nobukazu in for some more punishment, and he sends Negro into the corner and tags out. Hijikata suplexes him and goes for an armlock, broken up by Heavy Metal. Hijikata brings Nobukazu back in, and he misses a blind charge, which allows Abismo Negro to finally make the hot tag to Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal kicks Nobukazu down and misses an elbowdrop, and tags Abismo Negro back in. Nobukazu catches Negro in a rear waistlock, so Negro does the only logical thing, and goes low. He brings Heavy Metal back in, and Metal dropkicks Nobukazu down for two. He gets another two off an inside cradle, and Nobukazu is able to tag out to Hijikata, who comes in with kicks to Metal’s head. Nobukazu comes back in with a Tigerbomb, and Negro breaks up the count. The Mexicans set Nobukazu up in the corner for Poetry in Motion, but Negro playing the role of Jeff Hardy and hitting the move is like Ric Flair missing the Flair Flip: ugly, and it really exposes his age. The finish comes when Heavy Metal hits Nobukazu with a rana, and Negro frog splashes him, but the ref won’t count because of the excessive double-teaming. Nobukazu sneaks up and hits an exploder suplex on Heavy Metal for the three-count. ***

So now Japan has got 2 points, Team USA has 3, Team Mexico has 3, and Canada is still pointless. If Canada loses the ladder match, they’re out of the tournament.

In the back, Hudson interviews Scott D’Amore and Team Canada, reminding them that they have yet to pick up a victory tonight. Scott gets the team riled up as we head into the ladder match.

Fourth Match: Ladder Match
We’ve got one member from each team here: Jerry Lynn, Eric Young, Ishikari, and Mr. Aguila. Mr. Aguila has changed his pants, and I’m pretty sure he’s gay now. He was wearing pink pants in the opening match, and has changed to white ones with holes in them, and he’s sporting a red thong under them. I liked him better as the more straight Essa Rios. We’ve also got ladders set up on all sides of the ring. On to the match. There is a giant red X suspended above the ring, which is what the wrestlers must climb up and get. Tenay notes that Ishikari has only sixteen months of experience as a professional, and praises his willingness to be involved in the ladder match. Young slips out as soon as the bell rings, to get a ladder. Ishikari follows him out and gets hit with the ladder as a result. Lesson learned. Aguila dropkicks the ladder into Young, and goes over the top to the outside, hitting a tope on Young. Back in, Ishikari squares off with Lynn, and gets sent into the ropes, meeting a Lynn back elbow. Ishikari sends Lynn into the corner and hits him with a running enziguiri, and follows that up with a tornado DDT. Young comes back in with a backbreaker on Ishikari. Aguila also comes back in and bodyslams Young, and sets the ladder up between the corner ropes. He sends Young into the ladder, but misses a blind charge and hits the ladder himself. Young hits Ishikari again, and Lynn goes after Young. Lynn misses a blind charge, and Young scores with a moonsault. Lynn is back up, and Young attempts to send him into the ladder, but Lynn stops himself. Young charges and Lynn dodges, but Young is also able to dodge the ladder, baseball sliding out of the ring. Lynn meets him out there with a plancha off the top rope. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Ishikari hits a shining wizard on Aguila, and then a headscissors. Aguila comes back with a facebuster and a scoopslam, and goes up, but Lynn crotches him from the apron. Back in, Lynn tries for a superplex, but Aguila is able to counter and drops Lynn onto the ladder, which is still in the ropes. Lynn rolls out, and Young has another ladder set up outside, which he climbs, and then comes off onto Lynn. In the ring, Aguila sets up the ladder in the ring, but near the ropes, and Young, who made it back into the ring, dropkicks it into Aguila. Lynn comes back in, and kicks Young into the corner, where he stomps the proverbial mudhole. He Irish whips Young across to the other corner, and comes off the ropes with a facebuster onto Young on the ladder. Ishikari channels the energy of Terry Funk, as he puts the ladder on his shoulders and swings at everything that moves. Young knocks him down, though, as West (with an unintentionally funny remark) points out that Ishikari’s inexperience came through because he still had his head in the ladder. Lynn DDTs Young onto the ladder. Young is lying prone on the ladder, and Lynn slides him and the ladder onto the apron and hits his springboard legdrop in a cool spot. Aguila rolls Young off the ladder and sets it up in the corner again. Lynn sends Young back into the ring where they exchange blows, Young getting the upper hand. There is another ladder set up as a bridge between the apron and the guardrail, and Lynn tosses Young to the apron, and attempts a tornado DDT from the middle rope onto the ladder, but Young drops Lynn into the ring to counter. Lynn ends up taking Young down onto the ladder that is in the ring. Aguila takes the ring ladder and wedges Ishikari’s in it, and stomps away. Lynn goes after Aguila with a snapmare and a legdrop, then tries for a headscissors on Young. Young counters that into a facebuster onto the other ladder in the ring. You know, they oughta make it a rule that in a ladder match, only ONE LADDER is to be used. I’m getting confused typing this, and I know you the reader are probably getting confused reading it. Damn ladder matches. Anyway, Young sends Ishikari into the ladder, then gets backdropped onto it. Aguila whips Ishikari into the ladder in the corner, Lynn whips Aguila into it, Young whips Lynn into it, and then Young collapses. Ishikari plays with the other ladder a bit, trying to set it up or something. Lynn attempts to powerbomb him onto the ladder, but Ishikari reverses to a rana, sending Lynn into the ladder. Young uses a reverse powerbomb to introduce Ishikari to the ladder, and celebrates. Lynn recovers from the rana and scores a hiptoss on Young onto the ladder, where Aguila hits him with a springboard moonsault. Nice. Aguila and Lynn do the Standard Cruiserweight Exchange (Lynn tries a hiptoss, Aguila blocks, reverses to his own, Lynn blocks, Aguila ducks, Lynn puts his leg on the back of Aguila’s head, Aguila lifts up, Lynn flips out), and Aguila powerbombs him onto the ladder, then slams Young on it. He tries the springboard moonsault again, but this time misses. Ishikari has Lynn in the corner for a tornado DDT, but Lynn reverses that to a Northern Lights suplex onto the ladder. Lynn sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring. Up until this point, the ladders have been everywhere EXCEPT the middle of the ring, where they need to be if someone wants to win this match. Young and Lynn begin to climb, but Aguila pushes the ladder over, and gets tossed by Young as a result. Well, Aguila wouldn’t be in that situation if he hadn’t interfered with Young’s climbing. Young sets the ladder up on the middle rope, to create a ramp or something, Ishikari hits him with a drop toehold onto said ladder. On the outside, Lynn and Aguila use the ladder to slingshot Young over the top and out of the ring in an awesome spot. Back in, the ladder is set up in the middle where Aguila and Ishikari climb, but Aguila nails a MurderDeathKill powerbomb on Ishikari. Lynn comes back in and sets the ladder up in the corner, pointing to Young, who is still outside. Aguila brings Lynn back down, but misses a legdrop. Lynn climbs again, but by this time Young has made it back in, and Lynn smartly gets down from the ladder. He sends Young into the corner, but Young Flair Flips out of it, then climbs the top rope, where Lynn SLAMS HIM OFF THE TOP OF THE LADDER. Lynn then sets the ladder back up in the middle and climbs, but Ishikari dropkicks him off. Aguila and Ishikari climb, but Young returns Aguila’s earlier favor by tipping it, sending them both out. Young climbs, but Lynn climbs up and cuts him off, headbutting him a few times. He sets Young up for a Cradle Piledriver off the ladder, but sadly Scott D’Amore comes in and whacks Lynn with a hockey stick, causing him to fall backwards and get his feet stuck in the ladder, allowing Young to climb up and retrieve the giant X, securing Canada’s spot in the Ultimate X match, and eliminating Japan from the tournament. Awesome awesome match. ****1/2

So Team Canada has now got 4 points, making them no longer pointless, Teams USA and Mexico are tied at 3, and Team Japan has been eliminated.

Back in the back, Scott Hudson interviews new World Champion Ron Killings, and Konnan and BG James add their two cents. I’d like to see a BG James vs John Cena rap battle. That would be good.

Don West plugs the NWATNA.com, Tenay plugs NWA:TNA Impact!, which has the worst timeslot ever, airing Fridays at 3:00 pm. At 3:00 in the afternoon, the 18-24 demographic that wrestling is geared toward is either in class or at work. ECW had a better timeslot on TNN. Not much better, but better.

They also plug next week’s show, which will feature the Amazing Red vs Frankie Kazarian for the X Title, Kid Kash and Dallas vs James Storm and Dusty Rhodes for the tag title, and the King of the Mountain match for the World Title.

In the back, Team Mexico cuts a promo en espaсol, which is then translated by the hispanic interviewer. Garza said that they’re Number One and the usual stuff that wrestlers say before their matches.

Fifth Match: Ultimate X
USA Team Captain Jerry Lynn selected Chris Sabin to compete in this match, because Sabin is the only man to be involved in both previous Ultimate X matches, winning the second one. Sabin is going up against Hector Garza and Petey Williams. Jeremy Borash does the introductions here. Garza and Sabin have a staredown, and then double-team Williams with chops. Williams and Garza take turns running the ropes, with leapfrogs and ducks and all that rope-funning fun. Williams goes up early but gets brought down. He gets sent into the ropes by Garza and Sabin, and when they elevate him for whatever move they had in mind, he grabs the cables and wiggles free, but gets dropped again. Sabin with a leg lariat on Garza, then gets tossed out by Williams. Garza reverses an Irish whip and they again take turns running the ropes. Garza catches him for something, but Williams reverses to an armdrag. Garza is back up and dropkicks Williams. He sends Williams into the ropes and catches him with a reverse powerbomb, and attempts to go up. Sabin comes back and kicks him off the top and out of the ring, and turns his attention to Williams. He tries for the Cradle Shock but Williams counters out of it and dropkicks Sabin. Sabin recovers and kicks Williams down, then goes up, but Williams brings him back down. Into the ropes, Sabin reverses a rear waistlock and hits a wheelbarrow suplex. He goes up and starts heading for the center of the cables, but the recovering Garza comes back in and missile dropkicks him down. Williams goes up, and makes it to the center of the cables, where he hangs by his feet and reaches down and grabs Garza’s head, then comes off the cables with a DDT in what is probably the coolest spot ever in an Ultimate X match. All three men are out now, and Sabin recovers first and goes up. Williams cuts him off and brings him back down, where they exchange rear waistlocks and attempted German suplexes. Garza comes in and kicks Sabin in the back of the leg, and picks them both up for a DOUBLE GERMAN SUPLEX! That one might be the coolest spot ever now. Awesome. Garza goes up and starts to cross the cables, and traps Williams’ head between his legs. Sabin comes in with a springboard dropkick onto Garza, which causes him to let go of the cables and be powerbombed down by Williams. Awesome, awesome, awesome. All three men are out again. Sabin and Williams are up first, and Williams tries a headscissors, Sabin blocks it, and Williams turns that into a Russian legsweep in a sweet exchange. Williams goes for another headscissors, which Sabin reverses, and sends Williams out onto Garza, who must have rolled out when I wasn’t looking. Sabin comes out with a HUGE plancha onto Williams and Garza. Garza recovers and sends Sabin into the guardrail, then Williams sends HIM into the opposite guardrail. Garza walks around outside trying to shake out the cobwebs, then quickly heads back in when he sees Williams going up. Garza climbs as well, and they meet in the middle, where Williams brings him down with a rana. Sabin attempts to go up, but Williams cuts him off and tries a superplex, which Sabin blocks. He knocks Williams out of the corner, but Williams lands on his feet and goes up in a somewhat contrived spot, as Sabin brings him down with a Cradle Shock off the top rope. Garza has recovered and sends Sabin into the ropes, and hits him with a tilt-a-whirl slam, then stomps Williams down. He tries a German suplex on Williams, but Sabin kicks him down. Williams hits his awesome flip piledriver called the Canadian Destroyer. That is SUCH a badass move. Williams goes up, Garza goes up, and Sabin recovers quickly and goes up, and they all meet in the middle of the cables. They kick each other, and they fall down. All three are out again. West points out that the weight of the three pulls the cables down, thus making it harder to reach the X. Back to his feet, Sabin delivers a brainbuster to Garza, and then walks into a sitout driver courtesy of Williams. Garza is back up and nails Williams with a flying forearm, almost overshooting. He sends Williams into the corner, but misses a blind charge and gets dumped. Williams and Sabin go up and meet in the middle of the cables. Sabin knocks Williams off, and sees Garza on the top rope, setting up for something. Garza goes for a missile dropkick, but Sabin pulls his legs up and dodges the dropkick, and manages to grab the X. That was an awesome finish to an incredible match, as it played to Sabin’s experience in the Ultimate X matches, and he won because of that experience. Great match. ****1/2

After the match, Team USA comes down to celebrate with Sabin, and before leaving Garza shakes his hand and congratulates him. The referees come down to present the trophies, and because this is not the WWE, they remain intact. Team USA stands proud in the middle of the ring, and that’s the end of the show.

Thank you for reading my Guest Recap. I hope it wasn’t too bad. Any and all feedback is welcome, you can e-mail me at [email protected]. To close, I just want to say that I have a deeper respect for the people who do the show recapping, as it is a very difficult thing to do, and I would like to thank them as well for doing it each week. Have a nice day.