The Dames' Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 24
by The DamesDec 12, 2002, 02:12
Welcome everyone to The Dames’ Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 24. It’s been a crazy week for the TNA promotion with all of the controversy surrounding Roddy Piper’s shoot on Vince Russo and all eyes are on TNA this week to see what will happen next.
A number of people have asked me my opinion on the Roddy Piper situation, so here it is. I can understand TNA wanting Piper on their program as it gives their show a more unpredictable, “must see” feel, but they made a huge mistake on giving him a live microphone without a set plan on what he was going to say, if it indeed was a shoot. Owen Hart’s death should not be discussed on any wrestling program where it could be misconstrued as part of a wrestling angle. Simple as that.
I also received a ton of feedback on “Quick Draw” Rick McGraw, who was the only wrestler on the back of Rowdy Piper’s shirt last week that I was unfamiliar with. Apparently, “Quick Draw” Rick McGraw was a worker for the WWF in the 80’s who was used primarily as enhancement talent. He faced Piper in his last match, doing a stretcher angle after a piledriver, making it seem as if Piper ended his career with a paralyzing piledriver. However, he died of a heart attack a few days prior to the match airing on TV and Piper was the last to face him. Some believe that his heart attack was drug induced. Special thanks to Mark Watson, Jeff Wilen, Heather Miller, T. Bey, Jim Douglas and TSM’s own Jared “JHawk” Hawkins for helping me put together his bio.
Sonny Siaki also made reference to a stint in WCW that I was unaware of, where he was used only on WCW Saturday Night around the time that it became Power Plant trainee exclusive. He was NOT Prince Iaukea, despite the rumors....the two men don’t look too much alike anyway. Thanks to Kordrick Govan on that one.
See? Writing feedback gets you something...and you’ll have plenty of chances for that as well as I’ll be reviewing WWE Armaggedon this Sunday and the 2nd & 3rd Ring of Honor shows during TNA’s hiatus for the holidays, exclusively on TSM. Say SOMETHING, dammit! Even if its just “nice review” or “YOU SUCK!”, although more feedback would be appreciated.
Now, lets HIT THE RECAP!
The show starts with a black & white video recap of last weeks events.
We go right to the ring for...
Jason Cross vs. Tony Mamaluke
Match Background: Jason Cross is an NWA Wildside competitor who recently wrestled in a dark match prior to last week’s broadcast and on NWA:TNA’s local TV program in Nashville, TNA Explosion. Indy fans have been clamoring for him to join the X Division for weeks now. He’ll be facing Tony Mamaluke....who has yet to win a match in NWA:TNA.
The Match: Tenay tells us that Cross is 23 years old from Atlanta, GA and resembles a less muscular and shorter AJ Styles, IMO. As the bell sounds, Tenay and West discuss Jason Cross’ finishing manuever, a Shooting Star LEGDROP, which has been dubbed the Crossfire. The fans chant “Where’s my Pizza?” at Mamaluke, an old ECW favorite, as the two men lock up. Mamaluke takes Cross down with a hiptoss and transitions into a short arm scissors before Cross turns over...lifts him off the ground and suplexes him over his head! Mamaluke gets his head driven into the turnbuckle from the apron and falls to the outside. Cross comes flying over the top with a SPIRALING somersault Tope con Hilo, which pops the crowd! He then moonsaults off of the ring steps, barely grazing Mamaluke, which is sold properly with Mamaluke getting up and shoving Cross into the ring apron. Another “Where’s My Pizza” chant by the crowd as he puts Cross into the Tree of Woe. He goes for a sliding dropkick to the face, ala Tajiri, but Cross sits up and Mamaluke crotches himself with the ring post. Cross takes the opportunity to take advantage with a dropkick to the face and exchanges waistlocks with Mamaluke before getting a nice suplex (which looked like a Brainbuster attempt). Cross comes off the ropes, missing a somersault legdrop and Mamaluke takes control by clipping his right leg. Cross sells it WELL as Mamaluke works over it. Cross gets a roll up for two before Mamaluke snaps off and gets a German suplex for two. Mamaluke goes for a shin breaker, but Cross sunset flips out of that for two...but succumbs to a dropkick to the knee. Mamaluke goes to work on the leg some more, but he gets an enziguiri, giving Cross some momentary separation. Cross dodges a few dropkicks and perches himself on the 2nd rope where he somersaults off, giving Mamaluke a swinging neckbreaker! He sets Mamaluke in the corner and signals for the SS Legdrop...but Mamaluke shoves the ref into the ropes, crotching Cross. Cross hits some WEAK punches on Mamaluke, turns him around and hooks both of his arms in chicken wings and somersaults forward off the ropes, giving him a Christian Unprettier (or Impaler if you wish). He calls for the SS Legdrop again...and sells the leg well as he climbs the turnbuckle. SHOOTING STAR LEGDROP~!! It is a THING OF BEAUTY. He gets more elevation on his Shooting Star Press than both Kidman and Lesnar and is able to rotate into a damn good looking legdrop! That is probably one of the BEST looking finishing manuevers I’ve ever seen! To top it all off, he sells the leg like a CHAMP as he used the one Mamaluke was working on the whole match and can’t make the cover! Mamaluke gets up, hits a shin breaker into a QUICK Dragon Screw takeover into the Sicilian Slice (half crab with the leg wrapped around his own HEAD for leverage) and gets the tap out from Cross!
My Opinion: WOW. Jason Cross isn’t all hype....he’s good. The Crossfire is an AMAZING move and if you can get a vidcap off the net of it, do so! The kid sells like a champ as well and if he can just back it up by putting more intensity into his strikes, he’ll be a top X Division contender in NO time. The finish was perfect as Mamaluke finally gets his first win in TNA with his awesome submission hold, getting both men over in a mere few minutes. Kudos to both men for the match. I wish it could have gone longer because as it stood, it was barely 3 minutes. *1/2.
We go right to B.G James at ringside with a live mic as he places a guitar on the announcers table and tells Tenay and West to guard it with their lives....as Jeff Jarrett will need it in his title match later on tonight. He then sics the Harris boys on Mamaluke and Cross, still in the ring, who are disposed of them rather quickly with sloppy H-Bombs. Tenay and West play it up perfectly as they are upset that the Harris’ are spoiling the moment for Mamaluke and Cross, who just had a crowd pleasing match for Russo’s “sports entertainment” shenanigans. B.G claims that Russo isn’t in the building because he’s “recruiting new talent for SEX”. Sports Entertainment Extreme, by the way, not Missy Hyatt or Taylor Vaughn. The crowd tells them that they suck....so BG mentions DX to a pop. He tells them that it was Russo’s writing talent as well as his physical prowess that brought DX to the top.
The NWA:TNA theme hits as BG’s father, Bullet Bob Armstrong, walks out. He wants to know why his son joined Russo. BG claims that his father did nothing for him and Russo made him a superstar once. Bullet Bob then calls out The Truth who comes out wearing a steel chain around his neck and holding a steel chair. Bullet Bob makes a match for later on tonight...The Truth vs. BG James in a Chains and Chair match, where both men will be connected to the chain with the chair intertwined in the middle of it. He then tells the Harris Brothers that they’ll be facing the Disciples of the New Church tonight to keep them out of this C&C match...but the Harris’ want the titles to be on the line. This whole exchange is just SILLY as the Harris Brothers earned a tag title shot in Week 21 by defeating the SAT and were already scheduled to meet the Church for the titles tonight.
BG doesn’t want to wait til later....so the Truth comes down to brawl with him and the Disciples come down to brawl with the Harris Brothers. Bullet Bob demands security to separate them because he doesn’t want the match to happen now. The mic work was decent by both men...despite Don Harris’ voice cracking and Bullet Bob trying to get some catchphrase about a dead snake over. Don’t worry about it...
Tenay and West run down the card as West has Heart Attack Number One! Please tell Curt Hennig to do a new graphic with a shirt on.
We go to an interview between Goldylocks and Jorge Estrada... and the fro’s gone. He’s not doing an Elvis impression during this interview for the first time as he’s depressed about being left all alone by Siaki (turned on him), Yang (too busy in Japan to even answer his phone calls) and Priscilla (left with Brian Lawler when he “quit”). Goldylocks asks if this is the death of the Flying Elvises....and he just walks away.
Kid Kash vs. Jorge Estrada
Match Background: These men have not met in NWA:TNA yet to my knowledge....nor have they met anywhere else.
The Match: Estrada still comes out in his Flying Elvis outfit, but his hair isn’t puffed out. They lock up and go through a quick exchange of hammerlocks and counters before they exchange armdrags as well. It looks almost as choreographed as the Divine Storm/SAT match from last week. Estrada almost BREAKS HIS OWN ARM as they try to armdrag each other at the same time, with Estrada quickly jerking his arm back. He screams in pain as Kash tries to cover for two to cover for the move. Kash transitions into a poor armbar to check on Estrada and he appears to be fine so they move on. Kash gets sent to the outside and Estrada goes for an Asai Moonsault...nailing Kash with his legs but crashing down HARD on the back of his head. This is definitely Estrada’s worst outing yet as he’s potentially injured himself twice already. A replay shows the sick bump again as the announcers talk about how dangerous high risk manuevers can be. Back in the ring, Kash is sent to the corner and Estrada charges but EATS BOOT before Kash comes off the top with a twisting somersault press ala Jeff Hardy. This gets a “TNA” chant, but its really unwarranted. Estrada blows ANOTHER move as Kid Kash goes for a belly to back into a face plant, but Estrada lands on his knees first. He turns him over and goes for a cover as Kash doesn’t look happy. An Irish Whip goes wrong as well as Estrada goes for SOMETHING...blows it and Kash bodyslams him WITH VIGOR. Estrada finally gets a move in as he gets a drop toe hold and a springboard legdrop to the back of the head, but if I was Kash, I wouldn’t have wanted to take that tonight. Ok....NOW Kash has a reason to be REALLY pissed as Estrada hits the All Shook Up (hiptoss into neckbreaker) and does it so sloppy that Kash could have been seriously hurt. Kash hits a missile dropkick after running up the turnbuckles and follows it up with a DDT for two. They start chopping away at each other with Kash’s chops sounding a little more..whats the word....STIFF. Estrada blows an IRISH WHIP and Kash then picks him up immediately and his a Brainbuster over the knee. It wasn’t the BANK ROLL~! which is a Fisherman’s Buster over the knee, but Tenay says that Kash calls this move the Money Drop. Kash leaves the ring in a hurry and walks back without looking back...and he looks upset.
My Opinion: Horrible match as almost every major spot was blown and Estrada has become a liability in the ring. I don’t like to advocate anyone losing their job, but Estrada is no longer an asset to the company and after his performance tonight, could be detrimental. Kid Kash was visibly upset and I’m sure has thrown a fit tonight in the back. If this was to furthur the “lost soul” angle for Estrada, they need to do it in a way where the match quality and the safety of those involved aren’t jeopardized. ¼* for Kash.
In the back, Bullet Bob is talking to his son and senior referee Scott Armstrong who wants to talk to his brother (BG James) to talk some sense into him. Goldylocks wants a comment, but gets blown off. EARN THAT PAYCHECK, GOLDY!
Americas Most Wanted vs. Divine Storm w/ Trinity
Match Background: Divine Storm have yet to face Americas Most Wanted in NWA:TNA and since they tend to stick around the Northeast, I doubt they’ve faced them before.
The Match: You know....I don’t find Trinity attractive really. Her face is quite doggish, IMO. Devine starts out with Chris Harris with Harris getting the advantage with armwringers and brushing off dropkicks. The larger Harris no sells a few shoulder blocks and takes Devine down with a hard clothesline before he makes the tag. Quiet Storm wants AM Frickin’ W in the ring RIGHT NOW! For a little guy, he’s so angry. So, now we have Storm vs. Storm and excuse me if I’m a little confused. But Lance up in here and you’ll get me completely messed up. QS and the Cowboy go through an irish whip sequence with James Storm getting a rana on Quiet Storm! QS comes back with a flying head scissors, but James gets a enziguiri. If James Storm were inexperienced, they’d hit the Indy Applause Stance RIGHT NOW. Storm gets thrown over the top, but skins the cat back in as QS goes for a dropkick, sending him to the outside. Devine charges James Storm, who backdrops him over the top onto his partner! Using Chris Harris as a step ladder, James Storm then dives over the top onto them as well! The Cowboy holds Devine Storm in place as Harris comes off the top as well. Trinity comes flying off the top rope with a moonsault onto AMW! Back in the ring now, Harris holds QS while James Storm missile dropkicks him down. QS is then catapulted into the corner, blow a doubleteam move...but recover nicely and take out Devine to a pop. Harris with a delayed suplex on QS for two. Devine eats a Harris sandwich but walks into a Quiet Storm roaring elbow for the first real offensive move on their part! Devine comes in who goes for a belly to back...but it looks like he can’t lift Harris up and the move comes off looking extremely sloppy. Devine gets his head scissors into Russian Leg Sweep for two. Quiet Storm comes in to take care of business and gets a Diamond Cutter on Harris. Slugfest between Devine and Harris with Devine actually getting the advantage for a split second...but he goes to the top prematurely and gets shoved ALL the way to the floor! Harris gets a spear on Quiet Storm and then tags in James Storm who is all HOUSE...EN..FUEGO~! and stuff. He takes out both men and almost gets the pin all by himself! Harris comes in to assist Storm in their double team hiptoss into powerbomb combo, but it looks a bit sloppy as well. Devine comes in, goes for a head scissors...but Harris turns it into a powerslam! Storm sets up Devine for the Death Sentence but the ref is distracted by QS, allowing Trinity to come in and low blow James Storm. Quiet Storm knocks Harris off the top as Devine covers for the pin! Devine Storm steal it!
My Opinion: This was a fun little match with Devine Storm trying to overcompensate for their lack of strength by using their high flying style and getting out performed in it by AMW. Seemed to be a squash for the most part, except for the cheap win. AWM looked strong....but this was their first real pinfall loss other than the Disciples title change which took a LOT more to take them out. ¾*
Tenay then informs us that NWA:TNA will be pre-empted for two weeks as both Xmas and New Years fall on a Wednesday this year. They should preempt it next week too so I could go see Two Towers on opening day, but NOOO. Anyway, if you need your Dames fix, don’t worry...you’ve got WWE Armaggedon this Sunday as well as the 2nd and the 3rd Ring of Honor shows that I’ll be reviewing, The Round Robin Challenge and A Night of Appreciation.
BG James is outside, having a smoke (pissing off The Truth, get it? Oh, nevermind) when his brother Scott goes to talk to him. He’s quite unresponsive as he BG became a superstar...unlike the rest of his family. It does seem as if BG James was the only one to survive the Armstrong Curse.
Video package of last week where Red was attacked by AJ Styles.
AJ Styles w/Mortimer Plumtree vs. Amazing Red
Match Background: Back in Week 18, AJ Styles defended the X Division title against Red, defeating him in a ***3/4 match, where Red almost had the title in his grasp. Last week, as Red was making his way to the ring for the 4-way Double Elimination match to determine the number one contender to the X title, he was jumped by AJ Styles who gave him the Styles Clash on the top of the ramp. Because of this, Red was replaced in the match and lost a potential shot at the X title. They also met in the ECWA Super 8 Semi-finals this year with AJ Styles defeating Red....so it seems as if Red has never beaten AJ in a high profile match. As an aside, I’d love to review the ECWA Super 8 from 2002, but I’m quite BROKE... so if anyone wants to hook me up, I’ll see what I can do for you.
The Match: The real reason why Red was taken out of last weeks match was due to bone spurs in his foot, but hopefully he’ll be fine tonight. I’m pretty sure this is new music for Red. He runs into the ring and attacks AJ from behind, uncharacteristically. He climbs on his back, nailing him with rabbit punches before getting tossed aside. He just keeps on coming and all AJ can do it shove him down, but Red keeps on! Red sweeps AJ and signals for the Red Star Press, but AJ rolls away...Red follows him and hits it anyway! AJ tries to come back with a punch, but its swatted away by a kick and AJ EATS a roundhouse to the back of the head! Red hits the 718 (619) and dropkicks AJ to the outside! Red then goes to dive onto AJ, but he moves before Red can launch himself. Red dives over anyway with a pescado, but AJ catches him, puts him in a powerbomb position....and gives him a BACKBREAKER! AJ hits another backbreaker in the ring and then transitions into a gut buster. Red fights back, but eats a BRUTAL clothesline, turning him inside out! AJ takes over with a camel clutch and chops in the corner but eats a boot when he charges at him again. Red goes for Code Red but AJ swings him into position for the Styles Clash! Red grabs onto the ropes though and AJ places him on the top rope. Red fights him off and jumps off for a Tornado DDT attempt, but its reversed into an IMPACTFUL Northern Lights Suplex! The crowd is really into this one. AJ tosses Red to the outside where Plumtree gets a plethora of cheap shots before he’s thrown back into the ring. AJ whips Red into the corner, where he goes for a baseball slide ‘rana on Plumtree and gets it...despite being tangled up in the ropes. AJ goes to the outside and chops him in his BACK! He drops him throat first onto the apron and props the ring steps up. AJ goes for a Gorilla Press Slam onto the steps, but Red moves out of the way....but ends up getting flapjacked onto it! AJ comes into the ring...and taunts the crowd... like a good heel should. Red kicks out at two though and AJ takes exception to this. AJ comes off the ropes and hits a running swanton for two with an arrogant cover. Red comes back with a NICE rana for two! Red with a STIFF kick to AJ’s back before he whips him into the ropes. Styles goes for his quebrada into a reverse DDT, but Red moves out of the way and goes for a crucifix.....but Styles blocks it, twists him around and reverse DDT’s him! MUTA LOCK~! by Styles as he puts it on in several different positions. AJ whips him to the ropes, but Red counters with a Code Red attempt. AJ tries to reverse it again, but can’t...and he EATS CODE RED~! for a CLOSE two count! Red actually uses closed fists on AJ in the corner, whips him into the corner and charges...but SWALLOWS AJ’s Boot! AJ with a sit out powerbomb, but Red kicks out at two! AJ sets him up for the Spiral Tap, but Red crotches him and goes to the top! Rana is reversed into a 2nd rope Styles Clash attempt...but Red rolls through and hits an enziguiri! Red goes back up for a superplex attempt...but AJ fights it off and tries a top rope powerbomb! Red fights out of that....and with both men standing on the top, he hits a SUPER RANA!!!! AJ rotated so much on it, he landed FACE & STOMACH first in the ring! The fans pop BIG for that as Red covers for the ONE...TWO....THREE!
My Opinion: Wow. That’s the second match tonight with a great finishing sequence. The super rana was another move that needs to be seen. Although not as good as their first match together, this match definitely had a “Grudge Match” feel to it, with the way it was booked. The right man went over and it looks like Red is finally in the top tier of X Division talent. ***1/4.
The Harris Brothers vs. The Disciples of The New Church w/Belladonna & Father James Mitchell for the NWA World Tag Team Title
Match Background: The Harris Brothers beat the SAT in Week 21 to become the number one contenders for the tag team titles....and were in line for this shot, regardless of what happened with Bullet Bob earlier in the show.
The Match: Nice touch as the Harris come through the crowd and don’t have any entrance music. This match is a bit hard to call....and 3 of the guys look alike (The Harris Twins and their brother Brian Lee and 3 of them are bald and they’re all tattooed). Belladonna has different shorts on this week...still look good though. As the match starts, a voice comes through the speaker...”What’s going on? What the heck is happenin?” AJ Styles has joined the announce table...and he’s OUT OF IT. The Harris Bros & the Church are just brawling here....and Styles on commentary is 10x more entertaining. Tenay tells AJ that he lost the match. AJ: “He cheated!” Tenay: “How did he cheat? Educate me.” AJ: “I’m better than he is!” Plumtree then joins the booth and goes OFF on the miscarriage of justice that took place in the last match! Plumtree talks about filing a grievance against “Junior” official Rudy Charles as AJ just sounds completely drunk and I’m SO sorry I’m not paying attention to this boring...boring brawl. AJ: “I pinned him several times!” Plumtree: “He submitted several times.” Slash comes off the top with a cross body to the outside that the Harris Bros. can’t even sell right.....so they do what they do best.....brawling in the crowd. West: “AJ, you put on an incredible match, but justice was served tonight.” AJ: “I won.”. If I was drinking something when I heard that, I would have ruined my monitor and my keyboard, I swear. Even Tenay calls them on how they’re not paying attention to the match...and the crowd doesn’t care as a female fan is still chanting “AJ Sucks”. Tenay asks Plumtree how that rana he took felt...and Plumtree has a fit. THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT. My attention is sucked back into the match as the Harris’ suplex Brian Lee into the ring and Don West calls it a powerbomb. AJ & Plumtree finally leave as the guys in the ring stink it up. As the ref tries to separate Brian Lee and one of the Harris twins in the corner, BG James comes into the ring with a chair and nails Slash with it....allowing the Harris’ to win the tag titles! NO!! BG goes under the ring as the Harris are awarded the titles. BUT, Percy Pringle (the man formerly known as Paul Bearer...Percy Pringle was his wrestling name back in the old territories) comes down to tell the official about BG’s interference. Scott Armstrong finds his brother and tells Rudy Charles....who then reverses the decision and awards the titles back to the Disciples. At this point, Father James Mitchell tells the Harris’ that Percy Pringle has no business in either team....so blame him. As the Harris’ go after Pringle, AMW come out and jump the Harris’ with chairs before trying to get to the Disciples. Weak ass chairshots from AMW.
My Opinion: DUD. Styles and Plumtree made this match entertaining while they were commentating, but once they left, this was nothing more than a suck fest, largely due to the Harris Brothers. The angle with Percy Pringle does peak my curiousity as I thought from last week that he was on Russo’s side.
We go to a Siaki/Lynn video package, which recycles parts of an old video package they did for their first match.
We now go to a Tenay sitdown interview with Sonny Siaki. He doesn’t respect any of the veterans....because its “out with the old, in with the new”. He’s a perfect candidate for the S.E.X. stable. He doesn’t say anything significant.
Jerry Lynn vs. Sonny Siaki for the NWA:TNA X Division Title
Match Background: In Week 12, Sonny Siaki cost Jerry Lynn the NWA World Title in his match against former champ, Ron “The Truth” Killings. They’ve had some backstage altercations, which ended up as 2 on 1 attacks on Lynn because of AJ Styles. Siaki tried to cost Lynn the X title against Styles in Week 14, but the interference backfired as the decision was reversed. In Week 15, a brawl between Siaki and Lynn led to a knee injury which forced the NWA committee to vacate the X Division title. In Week 17, they finally met in the ring where Jerry Lynn defeated Sonny Siaki clean. In Week 18, in the first round of the NWA World Title shot tournament, Siaki defeated Lynn by using the ropes. Siaki complained in Week 22 about the lack of competition and title shots and received a shot against Jerry Lynn’s X title, scheduled for last week. However, Lynn separated his shoulder and the match was postponed til this week.
The Match: Light treatment and new music for Jerry Lynn. Jeremy Borash does his boxing style ring introductions for this match. They lock up with neither man getting the advantage. Second attempt has both men exchanging headlocks and head scissors takeovers before Lynn gets a crucifix for two. A dropkick and a magistral cradle gets two for Lynn as well. Both men end up in the corner and Lynn goes for a punch, but the ref stops him, allowing Siaki to get a sucker punch in to take advantage. He tosses Lynn to the floor, but he lands on his feet. Siaki slides to the floor as Lynn sneaks into the ring, playing mental games with him. Lynn then dropkicks Siaki off the apron and they begin brawling on the floor, with Lynn having the advantage. Lynn is thrown back into the ring, but trips up Siaki on his way back in and slingshot legdrops Siaki from inside the ring to the floor! Lynn tries a suplex, but its countered by Siaki who then hotshots him onto the top rope for two as the champ is too close to the ropes. Lynn gets a roll up out of the corner for two, but Siaki gets the advantage with a low blow while the refs back was turned. They brawl at ringside for a bit with Siaki taking control until Lynn backdrops out of a piledriver attempt on the floor. In a NICE move, Siaki puts Lynn in a catapult position and swings him into the guard rail. Back in the ring, Sonny goes for the Samoan Pop, but Lynn floats over and hits a reverse DDT. Lynn starts fighting back with some punches and two clotheslines before nailing Siaki with a sit out powerbomb. Tornado DDT by Lynn also gets a two count. Siaki finally gets the Samoan Pop but it only gets a two. Lynn counters a short arm clothesline attempt with a roll up in the corner, but the ref gets bumped! Siaki signals for the Siakalypse but Lynn gets the Cradle Piledriver! The ref over to count....but he’s too hurt! It almost looked like a heel turn by the ref ala Nick Patrick, but I digress. Lynn sideslams Siaki and heads to the top....where he’s crotched by a VERY attractive woman as the crowd chants “She’s a hottie”. YES SHE IS! I’ve never seen her before. Anyway, Siaki takes the opportunity to give Lynn the Siakalypse as Lynn sits perched on the top and Siaki wins the X title! We take another good look at the lovely lady as she winks at Siaki and Tenay doesn’t even know who she is.
My Opinion: This was match decent, but nothing special. The top rope Siakalypse was pretty damn cool. Whoever that woman was, she’ll probably be Siaki’s valet or new manager. I like the idea of giving the X title to someone new, but I’m not sure that Siaki has the workrate to have the matches needed to make the title shine. **1/4.
The Truth vs. BG James – Chains and Chair match.
Match Background: The former K-Kwick in the WWF was partners with BG James back when he was known as RoadDogg as “Get Rowdy”. They never went anywhere as a team though. When BG James arrived in NWA:TNA, he along with Syxx-Pac and Scott Hall had The Truth as a target for his world title and competed against him in several 6 man tag matches. Last week, when The Truth was being assaulted by the Harris Bros., BG came down to help him, or so it appeared, before he turned on him by hitting him with a steel chair. Earlier in the show (if you’re forgetful or just don’t pay attention), BG’s father, Bullet Bob made a Chains and Chair match for tonight, which is a first for TNA and a first in pro wrestling in general.
The Match: The Truth is now a full fledged face as he slapped hands on the way to the ring and didn’t do his anti-Nashville rap. BG James comes in from the crowd with no entrance theme, like the Harris Bros. BG doesn’t want to take part in the match and refuses to be chained to Truth, promptly receiving “Chickenshit” chants from the crowd. The Truth then nails him with a chain, allowing the ref to strap it onto him. There is a chair tied in the middle of the chain and the first thing both men to is play tug of war to get to it. The Truth gets closer to it, but before he can get it, BG gets on his knees to beg. He simply lures Killings into him to give him a cheap shot. BG wraps the chain around his hand and nails Truth with it in the corner. BG grabs the chair....but Truth uses the ropes to flip to the top and dropkick the chair into him to a pop! Wow! He sets the chair in front of BG, kicks him to double him over and asks the crowd if they want the scissors kick. “Ya’ll want it or what!?” “YEAH!!!” So he delivers and BG’s face connects with the chair. Truth positions him...and places the chair on him (a spot I HATE because they can just take the chair off if they wanted to) and heads up top. Moonsault attempt misses as Truth lands on the chair! Where was all of this offense when he was the World Champ!? BG James really does remind me of Goldmember with his new hair do and facial hair set up. BG wedges the chair up in the corner as he nails Truth in the head a few more times with the chain. Truth falls to the outside as BG dances for the crowd in the ring. Blown spot as Truth takes the chain off of the chair and tries to pull BG into it, but it falls off before he hits it and BG’s chain comes flying off of his wrist. I bet Killings sister at ringside, Martina, is gonna give him shit for that. Truth takes the chain off of his wrist and goes into the ring, gets a cover and a two count. He places the chair in the ring and tries to suplex BG, but its blocked. Pumphandle slam attempt by BG is countered with a float over and The Truth hits the True Conviction on the chair for the win! He’s not done with him yet....as he puts the chair on BG as well as the chain and signals for his 450 splash! Bullet Bob Armstrong comes to the ring and asks him to come down....he doesn’t want to see his son get seriously hurt. As Bullet Bob congratulates Killings, BG wakes up and grabs the chair. He taps Killlings on the arm (exposing the business, really) to get him out of the way..and he hits his fahza by “mistake”. He then nails Killings....and realizes what he did to his father. Officials check on him as BG leaves the arena.
My Opinion: BG seemed not to know what to do with the chair much and most of the credit goes to Killings for holding the match together. They worked around the restrictions of the chain and made it seem like a plausible match. I can definitely see them using this gimmick again. The angle with BG’s father looked really cheesy with BG alerting Killings when to move. *
We go to the annoucers for the hard sell for next week. We will have a sitdown interview between Mike Tenay and Percy Pringle. We hit HEART ATTACK TIME~! as Don West announces a 3 way dance between the Disciples of the New Church, the Harris Brothers and Americas Most Wanted. Sonny Siaki defends his newly won X Title against EZ Money and there’s going to be a 10 man X Division Gauntlet match...and THAT should be most interesting.
Video package for JJ/Hennig is shown.
We go to the back for a Tenay sitdown interview with NWA champion Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett is happy that he’s the World champ as he fulfilled his dream. He then asks JJ his opinion on Sean Waltman refusing to compete while Russo is with the company. He calls it a copout because Russo doesn’t sign his checks. “He missed two shots here and that tells me really where his hearts at”, commenting on the first time he no showed a few weeks ago. Tenay asks Jarrett about his feelings towards Piper’s comments from last week concerning Owen Hart. Jarrett’s face changes as he’s still quite emotional about Owen, being his closest friend around the time of his death. “Owen Hart was a dear friend of mine and I’m not going to discuss him on a wrestling program. Case closed. I will say this, that..that uh... Vince Russo or nobody else on the face of this earth is responsible for his death”. I don’t agree with that....but I can understand his point. He said that no one knew Piper was going to be here, he made some “scathing” remarks, and he knows how much he feels about Russo. He has nothing but complementary comments for Piper. He asks Jarrett on Russo. Don West believe he’s against Russo due to his actions in the match with The Truth in Week 22. Tenay isn’t sure because he knows how tight they are....so he wants to hear it from JJ’s mouth. Jarrett: “I’m going to answer Russo to his face, man to man, when the time is right”.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Curt Hennig for the NWA World Heavyweight Title
Match Background: In Week 16, Jarrett cost Curt Hennig the NWA World Title against The Truth. The next week, he cost Jarrett a match against Scott Hall. This ended up coming to a head backstage when Jarrett and Hennig brawled and JJ ended up bloodying the former Mr. Perfect. Because of this, Hennig was too weak to compete and JJ ended up pinning him in the ring in less than a minute. In Week 19, Hennig got a bit of revenge by getting disqualified in a re-match against Jarrett. They haven’t met each other since. In light of recent events, it seems that Jeff Jarrett is turning into a babyface and Hennig cut a VERY cocky promo last week that only heels tend to do, so it looks like role reversal.
The Match: Jeremy Borash does his boxing style intros once again for the World title match as Tenay pimps the fact that Jarrett defended the NWA title against Sting and Lex Luger overseas. We’ll see on the WWA PPV if he even has the title with him. JJ gets right in Hennig’s face immediately after the intros. During the first few lock ups, the ref has to separate both men each time as the rivalry here seems to be quite intense. Stalemate as each man exchange the headlock/leg scissors combo. Hennig backs JJ into the corner and gets two nice chops in before JJ get a hiptoss and a standing dropkick! Hennig takes JJ down and slaps him in the back of the head, causing JJ to SNAP and brawl with him. They take it to the outside where he uses a chair several times on him as Tenay reminds us about the DQ rule...if you’re DQ’ed, you will lose your title. Jarrett goes to the announce table and grabs the guitar placed there by BG James in the beginning of the show....but puts it down. Both men go back in the ring and JJ goes for a kick, but its caught by Hennig and turned into a scissors stomp. Jarrett sells it like a MAN, going to the corner and screaming “IT HURTS!” to the ref. Hennig tries to grab the leg..JJ: “NO! It hurts!” Hennig works the leg anyway and wraps his leg around the ring post. The crowd chants “Jarrett” as Hennig puts on an Indian Deathlock. Jarrett eventually fights out, selling the leg and hitting two atomic drops on Hennig and an enziguiri. Jarrett catapults Hennig halfway across the ring, allowing Hennig to pull off the top turnbuckle pad, exposing the steel underneath. Jarrett then drives him into it....and Hennig falls down, knocking down the ref as well. Jarrett points to the guitar and picks it up....but puts it back down. He sees Hennig standing on punch drunk legs and goes in for The Stroke, but Hennig nails him to get out of it! He goes for the Hennig-Plex, but Vince Russo comes into the ring with the guitar and nails Hennig twice with it (the guitar STILL doesn’t break either). Jarrett covers for the pin and gets the three count. Russo takes the title with him and goes into the ring to hand it to JJ. Jarrett and Russo get into a heated confrontation...when AJ STYLES comes into the ring and attacks Jeff Jarrett as the PPV feed ends! BASTARDS!
My Opinion: Well, the match was nothing to call home about, but it did feature a nice bit of psychology. The finish was kinda goofy and it was nothing more than a backdrop to the Russo/JJ confrontation. At least now we know that JJ isn’t on Russo’s side and AJ Styles is. What happens to Mortimer Plumtree? ¾*
Overall: This week was a big improvement over last weeks. With Jason Cross debuting that AWESOME Shooting Star Legdrop, the X Division title change, the awesome AJ Styles/Red match and the crap kept to a minimum, this was one of the better shows that they’ve had in recent weeks. Next weeks show should be good as they’ll be off the air for two weeks and they’ll need to keep the viewers hooked for their return on the 8th of January.
Until this Sunday for WWE Armaggedon (EXCLUSIVE To TheSmartMarks.com),
The Dames, Damian Gonzalez.
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