Live from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN
Your announcers are Don West, Ed Ferrara, and Mike Tenay
Tenay plugs the NWA-TNA World Championship match, Ken Shamrock vs Takao Omori as well as the six-man elimination match to determine the X-Division rankings
Recap of the Tag-Team Tournament from last week is shown.
Slash & Tempest w/James Mitchell vs. AJ Styles & Jerry Lynn
Tempest is Devon Storm. There was no explanation as to why he changed his name or joined the New Church other than Tenay stating how Mitchell is good at controlling the minds of others and that Storm wanted a new name. Lynn and Slash start things out. Lynn ducks a charge and gets in some shots. Slash comes back with a shoulderblock but misses an elbow drop. Lynn floats over Slash and gets an inverted DDT, which gets two. Lynn gets a facebuster after jumping on Slash’s shoulders, which gets two. Tag to AJ, and he gets a flipping senton after Lynn’s drop toehold, which gets two. Slash sneaks in a punch and tags Tempest. They do some matwork and Tempest ends that with a scoop slam. AJ kips right back up and gets a hurricanrana. Tempest charges but gets taken down with an armdrag. Eniziguiri by AJ barely gets two. Tempest counters then slams AJ to the mat. He lays into AJ as the Mitchell nods his head in approval. Tempest charges but AJ gets a drop toehold, causing Tempest to slide out of the ring. That looked a bit ridiculous. AJ shows off his athleticism by faking a diving attack but Tempest gets a neckbreaker then a slingshot splash for two. They trade chops but AJ eats elbow after a charge. Tempest with a headscissors takedown off the top rope then follows that with a clothesline. The announcers talk about who could have attacked Storm & Harris last week as the two engage in another chopping battle. AJ lands on the apron after a backdrop and eventually comes back with a springboard dropkick. Slash comes in and AJ tosses them both in the corner and moonsaults off of Slash. Lynn comes in and they hit Tempest with a double clothesline then one to Slash, sending him over the ropes. AJ gets caught by both men after a running dive but Lynn follows with a flipping senton, sending everyone to the ground. Lynn backdrops Slash on the floor then Tempest pulls AJ off of the apron. Lynn legdrops Tempest who was standing on the apron, which allows AJ to get a springboard moonsault for two. Slash holds AJ’s leg as Tempest hits a Death Valley Driver, for two. Elbow smash from Tempest and the tag to Slash. They double team AJ in the corner. Slash gets a helicopter slam as West states how Slash is the scariest person he has ever seen. AJ shoves Tempest into his partner and eventually tags Lynn. Lynn clears house as Ferrara wonders why Tempest & Slash earned a title shot. I wonder that myself. Bulldog from Lynn gets two. He signals for the cradle piledriver but Tempest gets a low blow. Lynn is put on the top rope but shoves Tempest off and gets a splash for two. Lynn gets out of the Death Valley Driver in sloppy fashion and hits the cradle piledriver. He backdrops Slash to the outside as AJ tags himself in and gets the spiral Tap for the win (10:34) **3/4. After the match, Lynn is in a state of shock over AJ tagging himself into the match and walks up the ramp. West cannot understand why Lynn is upset as AJ is left alone in the ring.
Thoughts: Decent action but this match had no flow at all. Just a bunch of moves and very little psychology. The fact that Slash & Tempest were the number one challengers to begin with seems idiotic. Hell, their own announcer questioned that as well. The storyline of Lynn walking out on AJ after he tagged himself in is interesting I guess, as AJ did beat him for the X division championship two weeks ago but do we really want the first ever NWA-TNA Tag Champions feuding after their first title defense?
Tenay shows a video recap of Brian Christopher turning on Scott Hall last week and Jarrett destroying Hall afterwards. He states he will attempt to get Hall on the phone. Hall is on the phone, says he will come after K-Krush, Brian Christopher, and especially Jeff Jarrett, who he states will have something special for him. Segment was fine for what it was.
Brian Christopher comes to the ring. He states there comes a time in your life when you make a transition from a child to an adult. He then goes on about being labeled as a child, specifically as Jerry Lawler’s son and how he has lived in life in his shadow. He then says bullshit to everyone who says he only got in the business because of his dad and then says “screw Jerry Lawler.” After jawing with the crowd, he says how Jerry was never a father but rather someone who was never there. He babbles on some more about his dad before stating he will now be known as “Brian Lawler.” So, to recap, he delivers a five minute long promo about how he hates his dad and lived under his shadow only to take his dad’s last name. Christopher did a fine job in his delivery but the material was just plain stupid.
Norman Smiley vs. Brian Lawler
Lawler attacks Smiley as soon as he gets in the ring then stomps on him in the corner. He slams Smiley down and draws jeers from the crowd. Neckbreaker is followed by more taunting the crowd. Smiley comes back with a few dropkicks and a shoulderblock. Wind-up slam by Smiley is followed by the Big Wiggle. Inverted atomic drop and a regular atomic drop is followed by some humping. Lawler blocks an Irish whip and hits a DDT as the crowd stars a loud “Jerry’s Kid” chant. Lawler struts after a shoulder thrust in the corner and chokes out Smiley. Another shoulder thrust and more posing by Lawler. He tries again but misses a charge and Smiley hammers away. He knocks Lawler down with a headbutt and gets two off of a clothesline as Ferrara tells a lame joke about Smiley being tougher than a $40 steak, which West makes fun of in even lamer fashion. Lawler with a low blow on Smiley during some mounted punching. Lawler heads up top and teases putting on his glasses before hitting the Hip Hop Drop for the win (4:44) ½*. After the match, Lawler grabs the mic and tells Hall that he is on his list.
Thoughts: This went on for far too long. It should have been a two minute squash at most. The constant jawing with the crowd after every move by Lawler got old after a while. The Tennessee crowd bought into this stuff but outside of here, I can’t imagine this would be getting over too well.
Backstage, Bill Behrens tells Jarrett he does not have a title shot tonight as Goldylocks stands there doing nothing. You can hear James Mitchell berating his team behind closed doors and Jarrett walks away angrily, calling Behrens a “bitch.” More amateur hour sports entertainment from TNA.
They show a video recap of the feud between Hermie Sadler and K-Krush. Krush then comes to the ring and insults Nashville, calling it “Trashville” and then calls the crowd “assholes.” He riles up the crowd and issues threats. The swearing to seem edgy usually fails in TNA but Krush is a decent angry heel so it was okay.
K-Krush vs. Hermie Sadler
Sadler is accompanied by his pit crew. He is wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt and looks about 5’7 and 155 lbs. They start by shoving and slapping before Krush gets a kick. He knocks Sadler into the ropes but misses a kick and crotches himself. Sadler pushes him over then delivers an extremely soft forearm off the apron. Fuck, that was embarrassing. Krush gets the advantage and holds Sadler by the neck. He presses him against the post but Sadler is able to duck a punch. Ferrara states that this match will be uglier than Mark Madden’s prom date. Back in the ring, Sadler gets some mounted punches and throws Krush on the mat, which gets two. Krush comes back and gets an axe kick before delivering a pelvic thrust to the crowd. He delivers a fingertip pin attempt for two. Suplex by Krush gets two. Krush gets into the ref’s face before getting a running powerslam, which gets two. Krush gets a figure-four leglock, which Sadler eventually reverses. Krush tries a hurrincarana but Sadler counters with a powerbomb, which gets two. Krush whiffs on a dropkick and Sadler comes back with forearms. Krush takes him down then puts his feet on the ropes on a pin attempt for the win (5:06) -*. Krush delivers come cheap shots after the match and the ref sees this and overturns the decision.
Thoughts: This match was an embarrassment. First, no one in the world would buy Sadler being able to beat up Killings. Secondly, Sadler was bad, even for a non-wrestler. He ran the ropes with his arms and hands looking glued to his sides. And last, having one of your top heels needing to cheat to beat a race car driver is pathetic.
Takao Omori is shown doing squats as Alicia enters and collects her money. Waste of time, as usual, with the Alicia segments.
Briscoe Brothers vs. The Hotshots
The hotshots are Cassidy O’Reilly and Chase Stevens, who was best known as teaming with Andy Douglas as “The Naturals.” The Briscoes are Mark and Jay and look to weigh about 300 lbs combined. Mark and O’Reilly start and trade wristlocks. They do some counters on the mat and trade armdrags before tagging out. Jay gets some shots on Stevens but gets caught in a spinebuster. Mark apparently tagged in during that exchange and hits a crappy springboard missile dropkick that barely made any contact. Mark charges but gets tossed out of the ring. In the most telegraphed spot of the night, Jay gets thrown outside via double hiptoss. Hotshots fly outside and then roll the Briscoes back in the ring. All four men are brawling as Malice comes out and kills everyone for the DQ (2:09) NR . James Mitchell, joined by Tempest & Slash, grabs the mic and states they will not leave until the blood of Ken Shamrock is on the hands of Malice. He gives him two options, come to the ring or stay in the back and be held responsible of the destruction of innocent victims. He gives him ten seconds to come out. They grab Tiny the Bellkeeper and Malice attempts to powerbomb him until Shamrock runs out. They try to chokeslam Shamrock but Omori comes out and rids the ring of the New Church along with Shamrock. The two then stare each other down.
Thoughts: The match was just a background to build up the New Church. In regards to the action, the Briscoes proved to not be ready for TV. They did not look very good at all. The Hotshots were okay in the ring though. I don’t mind them starting a stable but not having an explanation as to how it formed just seems stupid. The Malice and Shamrock stuff is boring too. They have fought twice and both times it was underwhelming. In regard to Omori and Shamrock, it really didn’t have any impact one way or another in hyping their upcoming match.
Goldylocks is with the Dupps and asks them about their match with the Flying Elvises. Goldylocks is disgusted by the antics of the Dupps as they continue to play off of every white trash stereotype imaginable. Bo then closes by stating “If it looks, smells, and feels like shit, don’t put it in your mouth because it is probably shit.” Terrible.
The Dupps are supposed to come out but a different song keeps playing until Jasmin St. Claire comes out. Don West can barely keep it in his pants and mentions how he borrowed one of her tapes from Ferrara. That is as disturbing as any commentary you will ever hear while watching pro wrestling. Jasmin states she has been watching this show for three weeks and has been patiently waiting to see some “ass” and offers to show some real T & A. The males in the crowd go nuts as she has the ref get her a chair. She sits Borash down and gives him a lap dance. Jasmin removes her panties and is about to show her tits until an agent runs in and covers her with his coat. Ferrara runs in and spears him but Jasmin is covered up and taken away. A waste of time as no one cares about this whore.
The Dupps w/Fluff Dupp vs. Flying Elvises
Jimmy Yang is apparently in Japan this week so we get Sonny Siaki and Jorge Estrada. The Elvises go after the Dupps but Estrada gets backdropped to the outside. Stan hits a shitty looking spinebuster on Siaki, then Bo splashes him. Mortimer Plumtree comes out and joins the announcers. Jorge and Bo are in the ring. Bo shoves down Estrada. Jorge showboats after kipping up and gets headbutted. Bo ducks a moonsault block but eats a superkick. Bo gets the advantage and tags Stan. They hit an inverted atomic drop/flying shoulder tackle combo. Jorge tries to float over in the corner but gets caught with an Alabama Slam. Tag to Bo, who catches Siaki in a powerslam. For some reason, Stan comes in and the ref yells at him, allowing Siaki to get a swinging neckbreaker. Plumtree and the announcers speculate who attacked Storm & Harris last week as Plumtree thinks it is Lynn, because he had the most to gain out of the whole thing. Siaki with a split-legged moonsault but then gets hit with a spinbebuster. Both men tag in and the Dupps clean house as Plumtree wonders why the Elvises were not in the X-Division mix last week. Bo gets backdropped to the floor by Estrada, who follows with a plancha. Stan hits a full-nelson slam on Siaki. Siaki then reverses an Irish whip and gets a pumphandle drop as Estrada comes in with a springboard flipping senton for the win (5:02) *1/4.
Thoughts: Decent match. Estrada really stood out here. At least having two tag teams wrestling that have been together before in TNA makes sense.
Camera cuts to Lynn and Styles beating the shit out of each other on the table and chairs in the back. Lynn then calls him a “glory hog” after dropping him with a cradle piledriver onto a road case. Good brawl.
NWA-TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Takao Omori vs. Ken Shamrock (Champion)
They show the tale of the tape before the match, complete with strengths and weaknesses. This is the first time they have tried to make this belt seem prestigious. Harley Race is at ringside as the NWA representative. Shamrock throws some knees and kicks. He ducks a clothesline and hits a DDT, which gets two. Shamrock puts on the figure-four headlock as Tenay hypes the match as a big deal in Japan. Omori makes it to the ropes. Shamrock punches him back down and throws some kicks to the back. Shamrock punches away in the corner until Omori fights back. Spinning heel kick by Omori and he throws Shamrock in the corner. Dropkick by Omori is followed by a chinlock as Tenay puts over Omori’s big moves: the axe bomber and kneedrop. A spin kick by Omori completely missed but Shamrock sold it anyway. He manages to duck another kick then goes to work on the knee in the corner. He punches him against the ropes and works the neck. Omori kicks Shamrock after he ducked his head and gets a crappy neckbreaker, which gets two. Full nelson slam and Omori goes up top. He misses the knee drop and sells the knee. Shamrock works the knee for a bit but walks into the axe bomber, which got two. Shamrock punches back and gets a dropkick. He puts Omori in a leg lock and he reaches the ropes after a bit. Omori comes back with an elbow smash but cant get Shamrock up for a piledriver. Omori fights back and gets a full nelson. Shamrock counters that with an ambar then into the ankle lock. Jeff Jarrett runs in and lays out both men with a chair (7:42) *1/2 Harley Race comes in and takes an unprotected shot to the head. That is just stupid. Security gets destroyed by Jarrett.
Thoughts: Lots of miscommunication early but it started to get okay near the end. After all the time hyping this match during the show, they go ahead and make it all about Jarrett. Shamrock is the champ and is booked like a chump, once again.
Goldylocks is with Jerry Lynn and says the wants some answers as to why he attacked AJ. Lynn asks her if she wants some then says “open up and say ahh.” More attempts to seem edgy. Then, James Mitchell and the New Church come out as Mitchell asks Goldylocks to tell Jarrett to come see him. After they leave, we hear someone making noises in the boiler room and Goldylocks opens the doors to find Bill Behrens tied up and gagged in his underwear with the letters “FU” written across his chest in red paint. As usual, Goldylocks just stands there and does nothing. This whole exchange was idiotic but a bit more tolerable as Behrens wasn’t speaking.
X-Division Rankings Match
Low Ki vs. Elix Skipper vs. Kid Romeo vs. Tony Mamaluke vs. “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn
The rules are that two men are in the ring at a time. If you are tagged, you must enter the match and once you are pinned, you are eliminated. Daniels and Romeo start things out. Romeo lands a few shots then they trade hammerlocks. A fast-paced sequence ends with Daniels ducking a spinning heel kick and both men standing off. Romeo tags in Skipper and he ends up nailing Daniels with a spinkick after another fast-paced sequence. Daniels slides under Skipper and hits him with a clothesline. Skipper backs Daniels into the corner, who tags in Mamaluke, unbeknownst to Skipper. Mamaluke and Daniels briefly double team Skipper. Mamaluke gets a jawbreaker then a northern lights suplex, which gets two. Mamaluke gets an armbar off of a wheelbarrow and then an ugly looking rollup gets two. Mamaluke is not hitting his moves crisply tonight. He dropkicks Skipper low but gets hit with a springboard clothesline off of an Irish whip. Skipper tags in Lynn, who grabs a headlock. Mamaluke lands on his feet after a monkeyflip then gets an armdrag. He tries it again but Lynn gets a backbreaker. Lynn with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a tag to Low Ki. He kills Mamaluke with some vicious kicks to the chest and head. He stomps on Mamaluke but gets shoved against the ropes. Mamaluke with a side suplex, which gets two. Double-armed jumping DDT into a submission hold. The hold breaks and Mamaluke slaps Romeo on the chest, which is sold as a tag by Ferrara. However, he goes across the ring and tags in Daniels. He beats on Low Ki in the corner. Sideslam gets two. Low Ki comes back with a rolling wheel kick and tags in Romeo. Daniels gets chopped hard but hits a leg lariat and tags in Lynn. They then trade Gory Specials but it ends with Lynn getting a rollup for two. Romeo gets booted after a charge and Lynn gets a tornado DDT for two. Lynn tags Daniels who goes up top but misses a splash. Romeo tags in Lynn, who catches a charging Daniels but gets taken to the outside. Lynn dodges a baseball slide but gets rammed against the ring apron. Daniels with a split-legged moonsault block. Romeo follows that with a splash onto both men. Mamaluke gets a senton and Low Ki and Skipper hit stereo somersault planchas. That looked impressive. In the ring, Lynn and Daniels go at each other. Lynn lands on the apron after a back drop and then gets a leg drop on Daniels. Lynn up top but Mamaluke crotches him and Lynn goes outside. Mamaluke hammers away on Daniels. He hits a gourdbuster and a Russian Leg Sweep as Lynn gets counted out (10:37). Daniels with a jawbreaker and a tag to Skipper. They counter each others backslides but Skipper gets the Play of the Day for the pin (11:30). Low Ki enters and stomps on Skipper. Skipper falls outside after an Irish whip. Ki rolls him back in and counters the Play of the Day. Ki gets him up in a muscle buster and then rams him into the corner. More kicks from Low Ki. In an amazing looking spot, Skipper ducks a springboard kick from Low Ki with the matrix and gets a belly-to-belly suplex. Missile dropkick sends Low Ki into the corner and he manages to tag Daniels. Skipper gets a double underhook suplex for two. Inverted suplex gets two. Daniels slams him to the mat. They do some counters but Daniels gets the Last Rites for the pin (14:55). Romeo comes in and gets a facbuster for two. Bulldog gets two as West proclaims that he would pay $100 to see this. Romeo dropkicks Low Ki off of the apron. Daniels crotches Romeo up top but Romeo gets a veterbreaker for the pin but the ref says foot was on the ropes. Low Ki tags and gets a springboard kick. Tidal Crush is followed by the Dragon Clutch as Romeo taps (17:03). Low Ki drags Daniels out from under the ropes for two. The two then trade chops in the corner. STO by Daniels as the crowd is getting into the match. Ki blocks the double springboard moonsault attempt but gets elbowed off the top while attempting the Dragon Clutch. Daniels then gets the double springboard moonsault for two. Low Ki floats over on a suplex and gets a rollup starting a reversal sequence. Low-Ki blocks the Angel Wings and gets the Dragon Clutch. Daniels fights out and puts Low Ki up top. Fall from Grace gets two. Daniels complains to the refs. Low Ki counters a neckbreaker with a kick to the face and hits the Ki Crusher for the win as the fans go nuts (21:31) ***1/2. Siaki and Estrada run out and attack Low Ki from behind. Siaki goes to the announcers table and grabs the mic stating that if the NWA doesn’t want them involved in the X-Divison match, they will involve themselves. The rest of the competitors run off the Elvises.
Thoughts: Good match that got better towards the end. The Mamaluke dominated segment dragged as he was easily the least spectacular contestant in the match. The crowd is crazy for Low-Ki at this point. Daniels, Skipper, and Romeo all made very good first impressions. Having the streamers go off again after the match shows that they actually are caring about the belt.
Tenay begins to run down next week’s card which has AJ Styles vs. Low Ki, Scott Hall vs. Brian Lawler, and Puppet the Psycho Dwarf vs. Meatball. All of a sudden, Jarrett comes out with a chair. He says screw the New Church and the NWA. States he will get a title shot. Says screw the Tennessee Titans, with several of them sitting in the front row. A few of the Titans come out and fight with Jarrett. The New Church come out and Jarrett fights off all of them with a chair. Malice then beats Jarrett around the arena with the announcers screaming as the show goes off of the air.
Final Thoughts: This show was pretty bad. The attempts to be edgy by having Jasmin St. Claire dance along with lots of swearing and other harsh language only came off as embarrassing. Also, as if it wasn’t already clear before, this promotion was all about Jarrett. He dominated the show, despite not wrestling. They made a feeble attempt to elevate the World Heavyweight Title. At least the X-Division title is worth something as that division is the only true positive about the promotion. They need some faces on the heavyweight side as their top two, Shamrock and Hall, are washed up. Hell, they have their top heel faction feuding with their top heel. The Styles/Lynn storyline is the only one that is somewhat intriguing. Funny story about this show is that hours before the show was to go on live, Jerry Jarrett was informed by the PPV company that his shows had only done about 55,000 combined so far and that he would need about 170,000 more to break even after being under the impression that he only needed 55,000 to break even. After their first few shows, its not hard to figure out why they were losing money.
