Written by: Bob Colling
National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action Weekly PPV #40
Date: 4/9/2003
From: Nashville, TN
Matches:
1.)Harris Brothers defeated New Jack & Sandman, Slash & Brian Lee in an Armed Asylum Match
2.)Dusty Rhodes defeated Brian Lawler in a Ladder Match
3.)AJ Styles defeated Glen Gilbertti
4.)Desire defeated Athena
5.)Perry Saturn defeated Mike Barton
6.)D’Lo Brown defeated Mike Sanders
7.)Raven defeated NWA-TNA X-Division Champion Kid Kash
8.)Jerry Lynn & Amazing Red defeated Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper, Jason Cross & Shark Boy and Chris Sabin & Jonny Storm in an elimination match
Angle Developments/Notes:
1. A video promoting what happened last week is aired. They hype up the Gilbertti/Styles, Lynn/Kash and the Dusty/Next Generation feuds leading into this week. They also hyped up Raven hitting a DDT on trinity and apparently Kash not caring. Plus, the debut of Bart Gunn (Mike Barton). Actually, they are just hyping up everything that happened last week. I’m not sure why I shared all of this. Just read last weeks recap and you’ll know what is going on.
2. The show kicks off with an Armed Asylum match where there are weapons all over the place. It’s a triple threat tag team match. Sandman is wearing a Raven t-shirt. Considering they have been enemies and had plenty of huge matches, it bugs me. The match starts before the Harris Brothers are even introduced. They are all brawling in and out of the ring. It takes about twenty seconds for blood to be introduced as Slash is busted open thanks to a cheese grater that Jack used on him. Jack uses a staple gun as well on Slash. Sandman is sent flipping through a table in the corner. Jack misses a dive off the apron with a chair and crashes into the guard railing. Sandman is backdropped onto a table but the table doesn’t break. Slash dives off the balcony to hit a swanton bomb on Don through ta table! Jack backdrops Lee off the balcony, and Lee barely goes through a couple of tables. Sandman is sent through another table by the Harris Brothers on the floor. New Jack goes all the way to the top of the balcony and dives off to splash Slash through a table! Sandman is fighting back against the Harris Brothers with a kendo stick and trash can. Ron stops him with a big boot into the trash can. The H-Bomb and that gets the three. (**1/4. A fine hardcore brawl to kick off the show. The fans were heavily into it. New Jack is over with the Nashville crowd, too.)
3. Backstage, Goldylocks is with Mike Barton. Barton has made his reputation by knocking people out. Barton is cut off by D’Lo Brown. Brown has a problem with Mike Sanders for costing him the title last week. Gilbertti tells Brown he will get him Sanders later tonight. Chris Harris is in the SEX locker room. I had no idea he was in the group. Gilbertti asks Harris to tell Sanders not to enter the locker room. Harris leaves to do that. I’m not the only one who is shocked to see Harris in there. Don West is too.
4. Mike Tenay announces that if Triple X doesn’t win the main event match they must give the winning team a title shot in the future. Hermie Sadler and Jeff Hammond make their way out to the entrance way to plug a race, I assume. Hermie will be driving a TNA car. Yeah, who cares.
5. Backstage, Raven arrives to the arena with Alexis Laree and Julio Dinero.
6. Mike Tenay and Don West recently sat down with Dusty Rhodes. Dusty is asked a bunch of word associations. He puts down Next Generation and calls Ted Turner “daddy.” He also makes a fart noise regarding WCW. Dusty chooses Harley Race over Ric Flair. I’m not sure what the point of that was, honestly.
7. Lawler introduces a ladder into the match early on and drives the ladder right into Dusty’s face on the floor. Yep, Dusty is busted wide open now as well. Lawler sets a ladder up and the fans try to get behind Rhodes. The ladder is messed up but Lawler continues to climb but Rhodes gets in the ring and tips it over causing Lawler to drop across the top rope throat first. Dusty gets a step ladder involved and rams Brian in the face with it. Rhodes actually climbs the step ladder to drop an elbow across Lawler’s chest. Lawler low blows Dusty as he started to climb the ladder. Lawler leaps off the ladder and misses a leg drop. David Flair runs out to the ring and attacks Dusty. Flair climbs the ladder but Nikita Koloff comes out and attacks Lawler. He grabs a the belt and takes Lawler out. Koloff gives Dusty the belt and they embrace. Erik Watts comes out and steals the belt again. (*. Not a good match by any means. There hasn’t been any kind of entertainment value to this feud whatsoever. It continues to move forward, though.)
8. Outside the arena, Goldylocks catches up with Chris Harris. James Storm asks Harris what he is doing. Harris says he is just hanging out with the boys. Storm is upset that Harris didn’t talk to him. Harris says the SEX guys aren’t as bad as they are made out to be. Harris doesn’t know what he is doing wrong. Harris sees Sanders and tells Sanders that Gilbertti wants to see him. Harris reminds Sanders that no one in the locker room likes Sanders. Sanders notes he has had heat since he started in the business. Harris thinks Sanders is an asshole. Sanders leaves to go talk to Gilbertti.
9. Gilbertti is wearing his Wolfpac tights, I think. Styles starts off with a dropkick and a hurricanrana to get the early advantage. This is lacking crowd heat already. Styles hits a German suplex for a near fall. Gilbertti is dropped throat first across the top rope but Gilbertti dropkicks Styles in midair. Gilbertti sends Styles head first into the ring steps and guard railing. Gilbertti drives Styles down to the canvas with a back suplex. Gilbertti turns Styles inside out with a big clothesline to maintain control of the contest. Gilbertti stops Styles with an atomic drop and a side Russian leg sweep. Styles avoids a swinging neckbreaker. Gilbertti avoids a moonsault to hit a swinging neckbreaker. Gilbertti misses a middle rope fist drop. Styles drops Gilbertti with a gut buster. Styles plants Gilbertti with a springboard reverse DDT. Gilbertti connects with a DDT but can’t get a three count. Styles drops Gilbertti with a kick but misses a springboard 450 splash from the apron! Gilbertti nearly steals a win with his feet on the ropes but the referee saw his feet on the ropes. Styles attacks from behind to hit the Styles Clash and gets the win. Styles put his feet on the ropes, which wasn’t needed at all. (***. A good match between these two. Gilbertti’s new serious attitude was much needed and he is becoming a good strong character for TNA. I enjoyed the match.) After the match, Gilbertti attacks the referee, Mike Posey. Gilbertti viciously attacks Posey in the crowd with a steel chair.
10. Backstage, Glen Gilbertti talks to Mike Sanders. Gilbertti says that D’Lo Brown is not one of them. Gilbertti wants Sanders to beat D’Lo Brown’s ass tonight.
11. This was originally suppose to be a mixed tag team match, but Sonny Siaki changed it to just Desire vs. Athena. Well, David Young enters the ring and drives Athena down to the mat with a spine buster. David Young has joined Sports Entertainment Xtreme. As if that group needs to get any bigger.
12. Backstage, Goldylocks talks to Perry Saturn. Saturn talks about being in five hundred fights. Saturn says he was told he had to be in those fights to prove he was a fighter. Jeff Jarrett cuts into the promo and Saturn tries to defend his time. Mike Barton comes over from behind and attacks Saturn backstage.
13. They brawl towards the ring and Saturn is already bleeding over the right eye. Barton hits a springboard twisting cross body on Saturn. Saturn counters a pump handle slam with a release suplex. Saturn hits a German suplex a couple of times. Saturn drops Barton with a clothesline and a springboard dropkick for a two count. Saturn locks in a cross arm breaker but can’t get a submission. Barton drops Saturn with a clothesline out of the corner. Barton hammers away on Saturn with a series of punches. Saturn takes Barton over with a t-bone suplex but is knocked out with a left hook. Barton drives Perry down to the mat with a delayed vertical suplex. Seriously, Saturn is bleeding big time. Barton continues to punch Saturn until Perry fights back with blows of his own. Saturn superkicks Barton for a two count. Saturn hits the Death Valley Driver for a near fall. Saturn takes Barton down and wrenches on Mike’s hand to get a submission win. They are playing it up as if Barton broke his hand punching Saturn. (*1/4. Nothing much of a match here. Saturn can still wrestle at a decent level while Barton isn’t offering much to the company at all.)
14. Backstage, New Jack and Sandman are arguing about what happened tonight. The New Church come over and toss fire into Sandman’s face and attack New Jack. They go outside to brawl some more!
15. Sanders and Brown quickly go at it in the ring trading right hands. Brown drops Sanders with a back elbow and more right hands. Brown stomps a mud hole on Sanders in the corner, too. Brown comes out of the corner to drop Sanders with a clothesline. Sanders baseball slides Brown off the apron and hits a moonsault on the floor off the apron! Mike tosses Brown into the guard railing and taunts the fans. Sanders continues his offense with a snap suplex on the floor. Sanders gets a near fall on the cover back in the ring. Sanders hits a wrist clutch suplex for a near fall. That was a nice move from Sanders. Sanders backdrops Brown and follows up with a kick to the chest. Sanders mocks Brown before dropping a knee across his chest. Brown drops Sanders with a forearm and a clothesline. Brown drives Sanders down to the mat with a spine buster before hitting a leg drop for a near fall. Brown nearly wins with a leaping side kick. Sanders hits a neck breaker but Brown powers out at two. Brown went for a swinging slam but Sanders blocked it. Sonny Siaki and Desire run out as Brown went to the top rope and Brown is crotched on the top rope. Sanders recovers while Desire has the referee distracted. Sanders hit a superplex but Brown kicks out at two. Brown gets the win following a sit-out spine buster. (**. Fine for what it was. Wasn’t any surprise that Brown was going to go over. He is one of the bigger faces and SEX seems to fail at getting big wins when the groups needs them.) After the match, Brown is attacked by Siaki, Gilbertti and Sanders.
16. Earlier today, Mike Tenay sat down with Trinity who talked about doing a lot of extreme sports. Trinity thought wrestling was a traditional jump. Trinity trained with Red and the SAT’s at Mikey Whipwreck’s school. She talks about her stunting job and name drops all the shows she works for. Here comes Kid Kash to sit down and witness the Trinity Show. Kash is pissed that Trinity has used him for getting cheers from the crowd. Kash notes he is booked to wrestle Raven tonight because of her. He wants Trinity to be there because Raven will get to her before he gets to Kash.
17. Kash knocks Raven down with a side kick and dumps Raven over the top to the floor. Kash botches a triple jump attempt but takes Raven and Julio Dinero out with a cross body. Raven misses a clothesline and is met with another kick. Kash misses a springboard flipping dropkick and crashes down to the mat. Raven hits a clothesline a knee lift. Raven catapults Kash into the corner for a near fall. Laree distracts Kash so that Dinero can hit Kash and Raven gets a two count on a cover. Raven backdrops Kash but still can’t put Kash away. Kash drop toe holds Raven face first onto a steel chair. Kash hits a triple jump hurricanrana and a tornado DDT! Raven kicks out at two on a cover attempt, though. Raven stops Kash with a powerbomb for a near fall. Kash botches a springboard but hits a cross body for a near fall. Kash is crotched on the top rope but slams Raven off the middle rope. Kash misses a twisting moonsault! Trinity hits a top rope hurricanrana on Raven! Trinity also kicks Raven before going to the top to hit a moonsault on Dinero and Laree on the floor! Trinity leaves. Raven plants Kash with a DDT to win the match. (*1/2. Trinity’s brief offense was the highlight of the match. These two didn’t click and Kash was sloppy here messing up on some of his moves which damaged the match. Not a good way to promote your X-Division Champion.)
18. This main event will be really fast and I’m sure to miss something, so I apologize in advance. Chris Sabin makes his debut for NWA-TNA in this match as well. Storm and Lynn kick off the main event. They are doing some mat wrestling with neither man getting a clear advantage. Storm tags in Red and Shark Boy tags in. Red focuses his offense on Boy with arm drags. Boy dropkicks Red in midair for a two count. Red hits a snap powerslam for a near fall. Daniels tags in and hammers away on Boy before hitting a spinning heel kick. Boy kicks Daniels in the gut and bites his butt. Jason Cross tags in and dropkicks Daniels before tagging out to Sabin. Skipper is in the ring as well. Sabin chops away on Skipper and runs into a back elbow. Sabin blocks a head scissors but Skipper nails Sabin with a flipping clothesline from the apron. Sabin hits an overhead belly to belly suplex. Daniels drops Boy with a kick. Boy is able to hit a bulldog but only manages to get a near fall on Daniels. Boy clotheslines Daniels to the floor and hits a cross body on the floor. Sabin hits Cross with a German suplex. Sabin takes Boy out with a springboard cross body on the floor. Red takes them both out with a somersault dive on the floor. Storm hits a double springboard dive onto the floor as well. Cross hits Daniels with a flipping Un-Prettier out of the corner but Skipper has the referee distracted. Cross went for the Crossfire but a masked wrestler shoves Cross off the top and Daniels eliminates Cross. Storm sends Daniels face first into the middle turnbuckle. Storm nearly pins Daniels with a hurricanrana! Lynn hits a TKO on Storm, who sells it humorously. Red hits a top rope hurricanrana on Daniels. Skipper with a Play of the Day on Red. Sabin hits a back breaker on Skipper for a near fall. The masked wrestler plants Sabin with a tornado DDT. I think it’s Low Ki. Lynn hits the cradle piledriver on Sabin to eliminate him. Daniels crotches Lynn on the top and Skipper walks the top rope to hit a nice hurricanrana! Skipper and Daniels start to double team Lynn but that doesn’t last too long. Daniels accidentally clotheslines Elix and is kicked by Jerry. Red comes off the top to dropkick the champs. Red is cleaning house. Red nearly pins Daniels with a spinning kick. Skipper plants Red with a swinging slam for a near fall! Lynn hits a springboard sunset flip powerbomb on Skipper for a two count. Daniels hits the BME but Lynn kicks out! A vertical suplex/top rope cross body by the champs on Lynn but Red breaks up the cover attempt. Red nails Daniels with a spinning heel kick while Daniels was on Lynn’s shoulders. Lynn dropkicks a championship belt into Skipper’s face. Daniels nearly pins Red after an STO. Red is able to get an inside cradle on Daniels and wins the match for his team! Jerry Lynn and Amazing Red will get a tag team title shot in the future! (***1/2. A really good main event. A match between the final two teams will surely be a classic for TNA. A job well done here by the men involved.)
19. Backstage, Goldylocks is with Erik Watts. Watts didn’t come to TNA for the belt. Watts doesn’t care about the belt all that much. He cares about Jeff Jarrett. Watts says that Jarrett didn’t mean to choke Goldylocks. Watts says Jarrett is sad because no one likes Jarrett. Watts thinks TNA is making it seem like the fans like Jarrett when they are actually booing him. Watts talks about all the expensive things he has gotten in life. Watts cares for Jeff Jarrett. “You must live life, or life will live you.”
20. Mike Tenay is standing in the ring to call out NWA-TNA World Champion Jeff Jarrett for an interview to close the show. Tenay wants to know what Jarrett is thinking about. Jarrett recalls his old gimmick in WWF. Jarrett asks Tenay if he realizes how many challengers he has for his belt. Tenay asks if Jarrett is paranoid or if it’s pressure. Tenay says that Jarrett needs to represent the NWA as the champion. Jeff gets annoyed and gets in Mike’s face until Raven’s music hits. Raven, Alexis Laree and Julio Dinero come out. Raven stands on the announce table. Raven wants Jarrett to beat up Tenay if it will make him feel like a man. Raven wants this to be all about him. Raven is going to take the NWA-TNA World Championship away from Jarrett. Raven knows that Jarrett obsesses over the championship. Without the belt, Jarrett doesn’t belong. Jarrett says while Raven was detoxing he was winning championships. Their match is in three weeks. Jeff wants Raven tonight but instead a bunch of security gets in the ring to prevent that from happening. Raven enters the ring with a chair and security runs away. Raven is on the apron. Dusty Rhodes comes in and tries to stop Jarrett from behind and instead Jarrett whacks him over the head with the chair because he thought it was someone else! Raven laughs while Jarrett looks like he has gone crazy to end the show!
Final Thoughts:
A mixed bag of stuff this week for TNA. I really dislike Next Generation. It has to be one of the worst stables in wrestling history. The opening match was a fine way to kick off the show and Styles/Gilbertti had another good undercard match. The main event was very good and I’m looking forward to the tag team title match that was made due to the outcome of that match. The show as a whole gets an average rating from me, which could be seen as a victory for TNA. They just have to get some consistency going. They have to start using guys more regularly and not just introducing guys for one week and then they are gone.
Thanks for reading.