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" The Gravel Pit "
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Wrestling
The NWA TNA week 50 (year 2, week 2) Preview
Posted by Bryan "bps 'The Truth' 21" Staebell on Jun 25, 2003, 02:04
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Well the One-Year Anniversary show has come and gone and I think I speak for everyone when I say, �The matches should have been longer�. Chris Sabin and Paul London tore the house down�for the time they had. Same thing can be said for XXX and AMW. Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible had a blink or you miss it match�that still probably ranks high on Credible�s career match ratings. Luckily for you (if that is you are ordering this week�s show) two of those are going to get much-needed rematches.
Sting also made his debut. As you may or may not know�I am not a Sting fan. He came ready to play though, and looked like�well�the biggest star in the history of TNA. TNA needs Sting, I think. Sting doesn�t really need anyone at this point�but he�s a good guy to have around. Throwing a Sting match on every month or so should pump up interest in the product�for that week at least.
Sean Waltman came back�probably only because everyone knows he hates Russo and no one would expect it to be him. I looked at the list I put out last week of possible partners�and Waltman (although lacking in top name value) was one of the better workers on the list. He seemed to mail in his stuff though. When he�ll appear again? Well, that�s anyone�s guess.
As a final note from last week�let�s all get together and pray that there are NEVER that many video packages again. Part of me understands the recap videos since this was a big day for TNA�the other part says if we�re going to have all of these video packages we probably don�t need to have a Trinity video package, a Konnan, B.G. James and Truth segment, a long Russo promo AND a Kid Kash/Erik Watts promo too. Two of those didn�t even further any angles.
The NWA TNA Week 50 Preview
AKA: NWA TNA Year 2, Week 2
This week�s line-up looks real strong�but lacks a main event (more on that in a bit) and the use of ANY main event players.
Chris Sabin vs. Frankie Kazarian
This is for Sabin�s X title. I said last week that the Sabin/London match was a test. The new X division is pretty much Sabin, London, Kazarian and (it appears) CM Punk. Therefore last week�s match was important as it was the first important X match that didn�t have a bigger TNA name like Red, Styles, Lynn or Low-Ki in it. They passed with flying colors. This week is another one of those tests. TNA likes what they see in Kazarian, and so far I must agree. They�ve spent two of the last three weeks putting Kazarian over as something special so this match was inevitable. I wouldn�t be surprised to see this as the beginning of a longer feud between the two since (as I said) this is pretty much the X division. Should be good.
Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible
Probably the biggest complaint of last week�s show was the ridiculous shortness of the Lynn/Credible match. This week should be much longer. It was good while it lasted but it�s easier to go all out when you know you have three minutes. It will be interesting to see what they put together given an actual match. Credible won last week�and I think he�s going to win again here. The fact that there was outrage over last week�s match length means that�well�people must actually care about this feud. That means they should probably milk it and build towards a big blow-off win for Lynn down the line. Should be good.
Sandman vs. Sonny Siaki
This is a semi-final of the Hard 10 tournament. It�s almost OVER!!!!! New Jack advanced last week with help from Shark Boy. Standard booking says that Siaki will win here to set up a face vs. heel finale. Standard booking, however, usually doesn�t put two guys in a match with math. They�ve actually been building this match for a long time. As you may recall, Siaki and Sandman had a match a while back with Raven as ref�and I don�t think anyone actually won. So�this is kind of the blow-off to the feud that no one paid attention to. Despite the whole face/heel thing, I don�t know who will win. Either way people just want to see New Jack and Shark Boy.
Kid Kash vs. Erik Watts
Here�s another feud. TNA has been spending a lot more time actually building matches lately�but the things they choose to build strike me as insane. If I�ve learned one thing in the last few months its that Erik Watts, when kept in a controlled environment, can actually be an asset. I know, go figure. The problem is that Watts got over while being kept as far away from the ring as possible. I think this match will be short and will see run-ins from Trinity and Abyss (Kash�s as yet unnamed on TNA giant friend). I don�t know how this is going to be�but I know that Kash will look like a tiny tiny person.
XXX vs. AMW
This is the big attraction as it pits two teams that really click together in TNA�s first ever steel cage match. XXX will, once again, be played by Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper. The story here is that America�s Most Wanted can�t beat XXX. They�ve failed every time, usually due to outside interference from their third member. Hence, the cage. The observer site mentioned that this would probably be the first match on the show and not the main event because it�s a lot easier to take down a cage than put one up. Another plus is that the match can�t be cut short if one of the stupid non-wrestling segments runs long. It seems all of the pieces are in place for a truly great match. AMW will win, of course. The real shock is that they didn�t win last week. Daniels has already mentioned on air that this is his last week in TNA before he returns to Japan for a while. I�ve also read that the four guys started talking last week about what they want to do in the match and how to use the cage for good spots. This has the potential to be the best match in TNA of this year so far. There is no excuse for it to go less than twenty minutes, in my mind, as it is the ultimate blow-off win for AMW.
I�m curious to see what will happen to XXX after this week. This may be the last time that we see them in this form. Low-Ki is still a ways off from returning from injury and Daniels will be off for a while as well. I�d like to see Skipper moved into the thinned out X division where he could be a top star and make a great champion. If that happens then you could probably forget about XXX in the tag division. I�d like to see Daniels, when he returns, receive a solo push. He obviously has both the in ring skills and the mic work to get way over. Imagine a well built up Styles vs. Daniels title match during one of Daniels� return stretches. That�s the kind of thing that is now possible with Styles as champion.
Other stuff:
S.E.X vows to unmask Shark Boy. I don�t get it, and I think I�ve seen enough un-masking for this lifetime. This is probably just a comedy sketch to get our weekly New Jack/Shark Boy interaction�which I�m all for, by the way.
They are also doing a �who is behind Shane Douglas� attacks on Raven� thing. I thought Douglas was�but apparently I missed something. It�s probably just Russo anyway�it usually is.
That covers everything that TNA has on it�s preview but I have a few more thoughts or questions.
1. Where is CM Punk and his new �I want to be in the gathering� storyline? Punk is going to get over huge with this�and he should be on the show this week wrestling someone. Hell, he cost Paul London the X title last week I would have loved to see a London vs. Punk match.
2. Sting apparently cut a thirty-minute interview with Mike Tenay last week. will we see any of that tonight? I would kind of like to know what Sting had to say and it would be a good way to keep his TNA involvement fresh in people�s minds while he isn�t actually appearing. I wonder why they wouldn�t advertise it though, I figure there is at least one guy out there who would order just to see that. There�s one guy out there that you can find to do anything.
3. Where are the heavyweights? AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, D-Lo Brown, Raven and Shane Douglas. All are currently involved with each other in some form or fashion�and NONE OF THEM ARE ON THE LINE-UP. I�m all for giving the cruisers there time to shine�but these are pretty much all of your big name guys.
4. What, exactly is the main event? If the cage match is going first�what is going last? I fear that it will be a promo of some kind to set up next week�s show and not a match. It�s just insane to pay the previously mentioned guys (most of whom are probably the highest paid in the company) to show up (and you know they will be there) and NOT perform. Truth be told (and for that matter�who in TNA hates the Truth this much?) the line-up is solid enough to not actually have those guys on the show. They could go the opposite way and try to get by advertising the matches they have and then throw in a surprise main event like Styles and Douglas vs. Raven and Jarrett or D-Lo or whatever to add to the �you never know what you�ll see� thing. That would be nice�but I somehow doubt it.
5. What kind of champion is AJ Styles going to be? While Jarrett was champion NWA title matches were few and far between and were treated as events. Styles is far too good for that, in my opinion. Styles is the kind of performer that TNA fans will pay money to see. If he�s going to be cutting back on ring time as champion�then take the belt off of him�because it isn�t worth it. Styles is a heel�so he probably won�t be a fighting champion. That�s unfortunate. Defending the title every week would be perfect for his cocky persona. Moreover�he�s simply good enough to carry anyone to a fun match. He had a good match with SANDMAN once. I can think of so many title matches I want to see with AJ as champ�from D-Lo to Raven to Red to Daniels to Truth to Lynn to freaking Julio. At the pace Jarrett was defending it would take a year for Styles to face them all. Do it different this time. Please?
That�s it for this week. Find me at [email protected]
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