NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #44 5/14/2003

Written by: Bob Colling

National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action Weekly PPV # 44
Date: 5/14/2003
From: Nashville, TN

Glen Gilbertti arrives in a limo and tells the camera to follow him for the rest of the night. He tips the driver a dollar and we see Erik Watts following Gilbertti into the building.

Sonny Siaki and the members of SEX introduce their leader Glen Gilbertti, who came out wearing a robe similar to Ric Flair. They are really playing up Glen’s rise here. Glen says that by the nights end they will be taking over the entire building. He believes that Raven is actually against him, despite having helped him last week. The Extreme Revolution make their way down and tell Glen they are not here to join the group. Gilbertti invites Sandman to have a chat later on in the night, but instead Sandman spits beer in Glen’s face and we get a huge brawl to end the segment.

Backstage, Goldylocks talks to Chris Sabin who talks about tonight being a night he has been waiting for his entire career. Jerry Lynn comes into the picture to let us know it will be a three way dance.

Opening Contest: NWA-TNA X-Division Champion Amazing Red vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Sabin: Lynn works over Sabin with scoop slam after telling Red to stay to the side. They all trade arm drags and miss elbow drops and attempt a triple dropkick. Sabin gets worked over by Lynn and Red, but Lynn shoves Red asking what he is doing. Red hits a hurricanrana on Lynn but Jerry hits a tilt a whirl back breaker. Sabin drops Lynn across his knee back first for a near fall. Red nearly botches a tornado DDT on Sabin but gets a near fall. Low Ki, Daniels and Skipper are down at ringside to watch the match. Lynn has Sabin on his shoulders and Red hits a springboard hurricanrana, but Lynn clotheslines Red and gets a couple of near falls. Lynn hits a German suplex on Sabin for a near fall. Sabin nearly beats Lynn with a sit down power bomb. Red nails Sabin with a twisting kick. A double reverse DDT spot with Sabin and Red feeling the move. Red plants Lynn with a tornado DDT sending Jerry to the floor and gets cut off by Sabin with a big boot. Sabin takes Lynn out with a cross body on the floor. Red takes both men out with a nice somersault dive over the top on the floor! Sabin catches Red on a springboard but Lynn leg drops Sabin across the middle rope. Red breaks up a cover with a Swanton Bomb on Lynn from the top.

Red leaps off the middle rope to plant Lynn face first on the mat. Sabin hits the Future Shock on Red but Lynn manages to break the cover up just before three. Lynn clotheslines Sabin in the corner and hits the cradle piledriver but Red breaks the cover up! Red hits the Code Red but Lynn manages to kick out before three! Ki distracts the referee and Skipper shoves Red on the top rope. Skipper hits the Play of the Day and Sabin covers Red to win the title. (**1/2. A really good match, but the finish was stupid. Sabin should have gotten a huge clean win to start his run in TNA. Red was crisp and did really well in this match.) After the match, Sabin decides to join SEX.

Backstage, the Extreme Revolution members can’t come to an agreement with Sandman meeting with Gilbertti.

Backstage, Glenn Gilbertti is hyping up his guys for their matches later on in the night. Kid Kash enters the locker room and offers Trinity to the group to get peace with the group moving forward. Kash leaves Trinity in the room.

Second Contest: Mike Awesome vs. Mike Sanders in a tables match: Awesome drops Sanders with a clothesline early on and quickly goes for a power bomb but Sanders gets out of it. Awesome sends Sanders into the guard railing back first to continue control of the bout. They head into the crowd where Awesome slams Sanders on the floor. Sanders avoids being hit with a table while up against the wall. Mike whacks Sanders over the back with a steel chair several times. Awesome places Sanders on the table but is attacked by the Harris Brothers. The New Church runs over and they fight outside where the rest of SEX attack the New Church. Awesome places a table in the ring but Sanders hits Mike over the head with the table. Sanders goes to the top rope but Awesome crotches him quickly. Glen Gilbertti runs down with a steel chair and hits Awesome twice causing Awesome to fall off and crash through the table in the ring. (*. A quick brawl and a bullshit finish to give SEX more heat. We should just move on here.)

Backstage, Goldylocks interviews Chris Harris about the problems he is having with James Storm. Harris is tired of people trying to get AMW to breakup. Thus, he requested a match with David Young you show his loyalty tonight!

Backstage, Trinity is being harassed by the members of SEX when Gilbertti enters the room. Glenn suggests that Kid Kash join their group. Erik Watts enters the room and demands to know why Gilbertti attacked Jarrett last week. Watts teases that “Eric from WCW” is coming to the company. The Harris Brothers also enter with a gift for Gilbertti, the duo of Alexis Laree and Julio Dinero.

Third Contest: Ron Killings vs. Kid Kash: Kash quickly goes after Killings before the bell sounds. Kash misses a splash in the corner. Killings comes off the top to hit a missile dropkick. Killings punches Kash on the apron and delivers a leaping kick. Killings catches Kash on a springboard off the ring steps and hits a slam on the floor. Kash tosses a chair at Killings to get control of the bout. Kash hits a top rope clothesline on Killings for a near fall. Kash hits a slingshot suplex but can’t get a three count on the cover. Killings manages to hit the scissors kick for another two count. Kash botches a double springboard hurricanrana. Kash nearly wins with a swinging neck breaker. Killings hits a wheelbarrow slam driving Kash face first to the canvas for a near fall. The Harris Brothers come out and attack Konnan. Kash hit a somersault double kick into the corner from across the ring for a two count. Killings has Kash on the top rope and hits a middle rope fall away slam! Killings takes the Harris Brothers out with a cross body off the top to the floor! Killings pins Kash when the masked wrestler hit a reverse DDT. (*1/2. A lot of distractions going on here. Some decent action but the focus of the match was taken away too much.)

Outside, Sandman is about to meet with Gilbertti. Sonny Siaki has some beer for Sandman to keep his interest in the meeting. Desire sat on his lap and stroked his cane. David Young is not happy to see this and attempted to hit Sandman with a kendo stick, but Desire ended up getting hit with it instead. We then get a brawl between the Extreme Revolution guys and SEX. Saturn challenges Gilbertti for later on, which is accepted.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett had a pre-tape interview. Jarrett says he would be an idiot to be in the Asylum with his injuries. He talks about how the business has fallen since WCW closed and he is proud of TNA. The SEX vs. NWA feud is about wrestling vs. entertainment. Jarrett believes Gilbertti wants the belt for the power and to present a different product.

Backstage, Kid Kash is flipping out due to his loss and Traci Brooks comes over and tells Kash she likes it rough and knows her place. She proceeds to give Kash a simulated hand job, and the lubricant burns Kash. Brooks attacks Kash and yells at him.

Fourth Contest: Chris Harris vs. David Young: Harris hammers away on Young in the corner to kick off the match. Harris continues with an atomic drop and clotheslines Young to the floor. On the floor, Harris constantly sends Young into the guard railing. Harris hits a top rope cross boy for a near fall. Harris drives Young down with a delayed vertical suplex. Sonny Siaki is out at ringside to distract Chris. Young comes off the ropes and Harris hammers away on Young. Siaki pulls the top rope and Harris crashes to the floor. Young hits Harris with a nice springboard moonsault on the floor! Young proceeds to keep control of the match for several minutes.

Harris comes off the ropes to hit a leaping clothesline and a DDT for a two count. Harris gets another near fall after a full nelson slam. Young turns around and Harris hits a spear! Siaki comes in and plants Harris with a swinging neck breaker. Young covers but Harris manages to kick out. Siaki sets a chair up in the corner but James Storm runs down to super kick Siaki to the floor and they brawl. Young sends Harris head first into the chair but Harris kicks out. Harris avoids a moonsault and hits the Catatonic to win the match. (**1/2. Some good action here though every match doesn’t need some kind of distraction. Young is an underrated wrestler and Harris is really stepping his game up at this time.) After the match, Siaki tosses Storm out of his locker room and Storm has been busted wide open.

Backstage, Glen Gilbertti tells Alexis Laree and Julio Dinero that Raven doesn’t care about them. He offers them a spot in SEX if they wish to be part of the group.

Fifth Contest: Perry Saturn vs. Glen Gilbertti: Saturn takes Glen over with a double under hook belly to belly suplex. Gilbertti gets control after a clothesline. Saturn crotches Gilbertti on the top rope and proceeds to hit an awkward springboard clothesline sending them both to the floor. Saturn sends Alexis Laree into the guard railing but is kicked by Dinero. Gilbertti focuses his offense on Saturn’s knee. Saturn battles back with a couple of German suplexs despite an injured knee. Saturn sends Gilbertti into the referee but is attacked by Dinero. Saturn fights him off and tosses Laree down as well. Gilbertti hits the Stunner and gets a near fall. Moments later, Gilbertti hits the move a second time to win the match. (1/2*. Holy crap the sequence was like slow motion and just looked awful. The crowd didn’t care about this one at all.)

Backstage, D’Lo Brown talks about SEX taking TNA guys out but he and Styles are still standing. Styles chimes in saying that he didn’t turn down a WWE contract for nothing… because TNA is his HOME.

Main Event: NWA-TNA World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper vs. AJ Styles & D’Lo Brown: All four men start in the ring with the champs getting met with backdrops. A side slam/leg drop combo on Skipper for a near fall. Styles quickly hits a swinging neck breaker for a near fall. Daniels gets tagged in and hammers away on Brown. D’Lo stops Daniels with a spin kick and a leg drop for a two count. Brown slams Styles onto Daniels for another near win in the early moments of the contest. AJ knocks Skipper off the apron but Daniels hits him with one as well. Styles is sent into the guard railing and is worked over by the champs.

Skipper walks the top rope to hit a hurricanrana on Styles! Elix nearly wins after a slingshot twisting splash on Styles. Daniels comes off the top to deliver an elbow while Skipper held Styles. Low Ki gets a cheap shot in on the challenger while Brown is distracting the referee. AJ plants Daniels with a quick power bomb and both men are down! Brown gets tagged in and cleans house on the champs. Brown plants Daniels with a swinging side slam! D’Lo switches from a suplex into a Stunner on Skipper! Daniels has his leg wrapped around Brown’s face while having a choke hold but Styles breaks up the hold. Brown blocks the Angels Wings and Styles missile dropkicks Daniels. AJ hits the Pele kick on Daniels to send him to the floor. Brown backdrops AJ over the top to take Low Ki and Daniels out on the floor!

Brown leaps off the top and hits a cross body on Skipper on the floor! Daniels counters a springboard neck breaker but AJ counters with an inverted DDT. Glen Gilbertti runs in and they completely botch a Stunner. Daniels rolls Styles up and wins the match. (**. The awful finish really ruins the match here. This is how you effectively kill a town with constant run-ins and whatnot. The match was going really well until Gilbertti came in for the botch finish.)

SEX proclaimed they are taking over the building and said they had attacked the fan favorites and office personnel in the backstage area. D’Lo Brown and AJ Styles continued to be attack by the group. The Disciple of the New Church returned but they got beaten up by the group, too. Glen Gilbertti enjoyed the moment by sitting in his chair saying “I’m the King of the World.”

Final Thoughts:
A few matches that had entertaining quality to them, but the show was way too heavy with SEX involvement and the run-ins. Sabin joining the group is awful and that booking was head scratching. It’s not a strong show in comparison to what they have produced previously. Next week the show looks even weaker when it comes to matches. This week gets a thumbs in the middle, but it’s really forgettable.

Thanks for reading.