411s NWA:TNA Xplosion Report 06.13.04

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TAG TEAM ACTION (most likely involving The Naturals)?????

Ahhhh! Jeremy Borash and that damn necklace is back this week at the side of Mike Tenay.

Shane Matthews & Bart Sawyer vs. Monte/y & Abyss (w/Goldylocks) – Sawyer is apparently a sixteen year pro. That’s not going to matter, though, because they’re surely going to get murdered. Goldy has that briefcase, which supposedly contains all of Erik Watts’ money, handcuffed to her wrist. Monte and Abyss argue as to who will start (foreshadowing for tomorrow night?). Monte starts off with Sawyer. God, watching squash matches such as these in a six-sided ring is just surreal. Sawyer and Monte punch and whip each other off the ropes to start off. Monte with his armlock reversal into a running powerslam. Tag into Abyss, who Monte yells at. This allows a tagged in Shane Matthews to land in a few matches. This, of course, just leads to Abyss picking up, and dropping Matthews promptly. Abyss throttles both of his opponents by the throat. They escape, but when they fly off the ropes, are met with a clothesline. Monte slaps Abyss’ back to tag in, and Abyss is not happy. Yeah, this is definitely foreshadowing tomorrow night. Abyss and Monte both corner splash their opponents. Monte neckbreakers Matthews outside the ring. Sawyer is the unlucky man to have to deal with Abyss. Sawyer gets whipped off the ropes by Brown, and out of nowhere, Brown runs in with the PUOOOOOOOONCE! Monte covers for the win at 2:50. Matthews comes in to check on his partner, and of course, gets met with a brutal Black Hole Slam. Fun squash.

Video to hype Impact! even features clips from some of the untapped matches, which is very, very cool.

Highlights of Jeff Jarrett’s coronation and subsequent Russo and 3LK interruption.

Let me take this opportunity to celebrate the fact that Shane Douglas is a fabulous interviewer. Also, having Raven’s “remote location” contain a four-sided ring as opposed to a six-sided ring is an unintentional nice touch.

Dagon Briggs vs. Raven – Whoa. My head’s going to explode at the sight of Raven on Xplosion. Raven has SABU written across his chest. Raven quickly dumps Briggs to the floor. He then Russian legsweeps Briggs into the guardrail not once, but twice. Back in the ring, Raven sends Briggs off the ropes in reverse, clotheslining him afterwards. Raven screams into the camera for Sabu to come after him. Vertical suplex for Briggs. Knees to the stomach in the corner for Briggs. After a corner clothesline, Raven bulldogs Briggs out. Briggs gets met with several high kneelifts. Raven points to the sky, a la Sabu, as he is just absolutely squashing Briggs. Raven Effect, and that’s all at 3:00. After dumping Briggs on the floor, Raven makes one last plea for Sabu to face him. This was just Raven beating the absolute shit out of Briggs, and I loved every second of it.

TNA Cam with Monte Brown and Abyss. Monte cuts the promo while Abyss studies the backstage environment. Monte and Abyss are the predators, and AMW are nothing but the prey. “You will get the PUOOOOOOOONCE! Period.”

Dirty Money vs. Kid Kash (w/Dallas) – Money’s a muscular, light-skinned black guy. I’m digging the new attire for both Kash and Dallas. Kash and Money trade holds for the first minute of the match. Kash takes Money down to the mat and locks a headlock on. Kash goes through Money’s legs, and gets armdragged. Money combats with two of his own, and at the end of an ugly sequence, Money and Kash stare each other down. This thing isn’t going too well now that the initial reversal sequence is finished. Money runs into a corner boot. Beautiful stuff by Kash, as he hits a trifecta of moonsaults, with each one coming from a different ring rope. Though honestly, without Kash doing any heel mannerisms throughout, it’s just not appropriate for a heel. On the last one, Money gets his knees up. Money puts Kash up on his shoulders, then twists Kash around in mid-air, driving him down to the mat with a powerbomb for two. Kash fights back with a fist and a powerslam. Kash hops up to the top rope but gets crotched. Dirty gets dropped off the top rope. Kash delivers a huge frog splash to the back of Dirty Money, and that gives Kash the win at 4:15. Not very good at all.

TNA Cam with Jeff Jarrett, who quickly lets 3 Live Kru know that they won’t get past tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night on NWA-TNA:
Who are Jeff Jarrett’s mercenaries? Whatever men Jeff Jarrett have picked will face all members of 3 Live Kru.
NWA-TNA X Division Champion AJ Styles is set to face Dallas, who will likely have Kid Kash in tow.
For the NWA World Tag Team Titles, champions America’s Most Wanted will take on the team of Abyss & Monte Brown.
In a Flag Match that will hopefully blow off their feud, Team NWA will face Team Canada.
In what is being dubbed an Ultimate Humiliation Match, Sonny Siaki & Pat Kenney will try to take down The New York Connection. This match will also answer the question of whether or not there is a humiliation worst than being a wrestler named Pat Kenney.
There’s also the unanswered question of whether or not Sabu will accept Raven’s challenge.

I’m digging TNA’s direction right now. Impact! is a definite success, they’ve got some talented guys debuting, and TNA is currently being proved right for keeping their talent from Ring of Honor. Have a great week, and watch Impact! this Friday at 3 PM on Fox Sports Network.