NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #51 7/2/2003

Written by: Bob Colling

National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action presents Weekly PPV #51
Date: 7/2/2003
From: Nashville, TN

Shane Douglas opens the show standing in the ring which is setup for the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. Douglas tells us that Raven isn’t here this week and believes that Raven is trying to resurrect the championship he through down back in 1994. Douglas wants a referee to declare him the winner, but instead CM Punk comes out to compete in the match.

Opening Contest: CM Punk vs. Shane Douglas in a Clockwork Orange House Of Fun Match: Punk hammers away on Douglas early on hitting a heel kick as well. Punk takes Douglas over with a snap suplex. Punk hits a northern lights suplex with a chair across Shane’s back. Punk attempts a DDT but is rammed into the corner. Punk backdrops Douglas and kicks him to the floor. Punk takes Douglas out with a suicide dive to the floor. Shane is rammed head first into a trash can. Douglas counters a head scissors and drops Punk with a double leg slam on the floor! Punk attempts a springboard into the ring but Douglas whacks Punk with a trash can over the head. Punk stops Douglas with a jaw breaker and a top rope cross body using a chair to hit Douglas in the face as well. Punk chops Douglas several times and gets a near fall. Punk delivers a high knee in the corner and nearly wins following a double under hook back breaker. Douglas stops Punk with a low blow and gets brass knuckles from his boot but Punk whacks him with a steel chair for a near fall. Douglas nails Punk with the knuckles and hits a belly to belly suplex for the win. (**. Well, I’d say it was a waste of the stipulation, but it was a decent little match between these two guys. I must say, that Douglas is becoming a really interesting and entertaining heel in TNA. I’m enjoying the work he has done thus far.) After the match, James Mitchell comes out while Douglas holds Punk. Punk spits at Mitchell but gets a fireball to the face for doing so. Julio Dinero and Alexis Laree run down to make the save but Douglas and Mitchell bail.

Jeff Jarrett came out for an interview but before he could even state a word, Vince Russo came out on stage sitting in a lawn chair. Russo taunts Jarrett by drinking Pepsi and burping into the microphone. Russo knows that Jarrett wants a rematch but he will not be getting a match with AJ Styles. Jarrett leaves the ring and attacks Russo knocking him out of the lawn chair. Joe E. Legend comes out and attacks Jarrett leading to a brawl. Jarrett manages to put the figure four on Legend until AJ Styles ran out to hit Jarrett with a trash can lid. Styles and Legend tape Jarrett’s arms to the ropes and Russo beats on Jarrett with a bat. To end the segment, Jarrett spits up blood from the numerous bat shots to the midsection.

Second Contest: NWA-TNA World Tag Team Champions America’s Most Wanted vs. David Young & Sonny Siaki: Harris and Siaki kick off the title match. Siaki quickly goes to the ropes to force a rope break as Harris had a hammerlock on the challenger. Sonny elbows Harris several times but is met with a shoulder block. Harris takes Siaki down with a side headlock as it is a rather basic start to the match. Siaki hits a cross body but only gets a one count on Harris. Harris hits a leaping clothesline but Sonny pops out at two. Storm is tagged in and hits a top rope missile dropkick. Harris catapults Siaki into the corner and they double team Siaki before decking Young off the apron. AMW hit a double back breaker for a near fall. Siaki stops Storm with a right hand and Young tags in but is stopped by a clothesline. Storm plants Young with a double leg slam out of the corner for another two count as Harris is tagged in. Harris atomic drops Young and Storm nearly wins the match after a side Russian leg sweep.

Young comes off the ropes and is met with a double dropkick. Siaki enters while the referee is distracted and clotheslines Storm. Siaki pummels Storm with right hands. Young scoop slams Storm and tags in Siaki who takes Storm over with a snap suplex for a near fall. Storm runs into big boot but power slams Young! Harris gets the hot tag and cleans house with left hands. Harris backdrops Young and clotheslines Siaki before planting Young with the Canatonic but only gets a near fall. Siaki hits a pump handle sit down slam on Storm for a near fall. Young hits the spine buster on Harris but only manages to get a near fall! Storm plants Siaki with the Eight Second Ride but Young breaks up the cover attempt. Storm super kicks Young and the champs hit the Death Sentence to win the match. (**1/4. Once they got away from the traditional tag match and everyone was just going at it, it became a much more entertaining match. I wasn’t all that interested in the match largely because Siaki and Young as a unit just don’t do much for me.)

A video promoting Elix Skipper as the greatest wrestler in the world is aired. It would appear TNA might be pushing him in a singles role.

Backstage, Kid Kash is yelling at Abyss inside a cage. Watts attacks Kash from behind until Abyss broke open the cage he was in and they fought to the ring.

Third Contest: Erik Watts vs. Abyss: Watts sends Abyss face first into the ring steps and guard railing back first. Abyss drops Watts chest first across the railing to gain the upper hand. Abyss splashes Watts in the corner and taunts the fans. Watts sends Abyss into the corner but Abyss recovers and has Watts on his shoulders before sitting down for a big back breaker. Abyss continues his offense with a regular back breaker. Watts avoids a splash in the corner and Abyss lands groin first in the corner. Watts drops Abyss with a big boot and sets up for a choke slam but Abyss gets out of it. Watts nearly wins with a power slam. Watts hits a choke slam on the second attempt but Abyss kicks out at two. Watts nearly runs into the referee but Abyss takes the referee out with a splash in the corner. Kid Kash is out and holds the boot of Abyss to prevent a power bomb attempt. Kash yanks Watts boot on and apron to drop Watts face first across the apron. Watts power bombs Abyss off the top rope for a near fall. Watts power bombs Kash in midair and sends Kash over the top to the floor. Abyss is up and hits the Black Hole Slam for the win. (*1/2. I guess I understand the reasoning to make this a competitive match since Watts is being promoted fairly well for his role, but for a monster like Abyss, I would have had Abyss destroy Watts and establish himself as a monster to be feared over the next weeks and months. If he has a hard time beating Watts, then there is a lot more work to be done to promote him as a threat now.)

Mike Tenay had a sit-down interview Sting recently. Sting talked about growing up in Southern California and didn’t have much wrestling to watch. He didn’t know who Hulk Hogan was aside from the Rocky movie appearance. He gave up a gym to focus on being a wrestler. He and Jim Hellwig sent out photos to all the territories because he was nearly broke. Jerry Jarrett was the only guy to give them a chance. Sting has never forgotten that and this is his chance to give back to the promoter that gave him his first shot.

Fourth Contest: Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn in a chain match: Lynn attacks Credible from behind and clotheslines Credible with the chain. Credible didn’t want the chain around his neck but Lynn wraps it around his neck for him. Lynn misses a chain shot but drop toe holds Credible face first into the corner. Credible gets control working over Lynn in the corner and attempts a power bomb but Lynn head scissors Credible to the floor. Lynn pulls on the chain to send Credible face first into the ring post! Lynn does it a second time and Credible is busted wide open. Lynn comes off the apron to punch Credible with the chain and bites Credible’s forehead. Credible rolls in and yanks on the chain followed by a baseball slide. Credible rams Lynn midsection first into the apron a couple of times. Lynn rams Credible face first into the chain on the canvas and chokes Credible with the chain. Lynn wraps the chain around the eyes of Credible before pummeling Credible some more with the chain for a near fall.

Credible counters a suplex with a reverse DDT. Credible hammers away on Lynn and drops Lynn face first into the canvas by yanking on the chain for a near fall. Credible hangs Lynn over the top rope. Lynn hits a chain assisted neck breaker and both men are down. Lynn clotheslines Credible several times and yanks Credible down on the canvas. Lynn nearly wins with a tornado DDT for a near fall. Lynn hammers away on Credible with right hands in the corner and we almost get a referee bump. Credible hits a super kick on Lynn but only gets a near fall on the cover. Lynn low blows Credible with the chain and ties Credible up with the chain to get a three count. (**. It was fine for what it was. Their series of violent matches have been mildly entertaining but nowhere near the matches they had in ECW.) After the match, Credible hits the That’s Incredible onto the chain and taunts the fans. This isn’t over.

Backstage, Frankie Kazarian says he wants an X-Division Championship match. AJ Styles just happens to come by and wants to defend the NWA World Championship and ends up giving Kazarian a shot at the title.

Fifth Contest: Mike Sanders vs. Shark Boy: Sanders doesn’t waste any time working over Boy with a clothesline in the corner. Sanders is obsessed with getting the mask off of Shark Boy. Boy comes back with a side Russian leg sweep but is kicked away by Sanders. Boy dropkicks Sanders a couple of times. Boy works over the left shoulder of Sanders and is biting the fingers of Above Average. Sanders drops Boy across the top rope and hits a heel kick but only gets a near fall. Sanders goes back to trying to remove the mask but isn’t able to do so. Sanders follows up with a neck breaker and signals for the mask removal. Boy stops Sanders with a jaw breaker and a face buster. Boy stops Sanders with a neck breaker for a near fall. Shark Boy hits a top rope cross body but Sanders rolled through for a near fall. Boy attempts the Dead Sea Drop but Sanders slams Boy away. Boy surprises Sanders with an inside cradle to win the match. (*. Nothing special about this one as the angle isn’t all that appealing to me anyway.) After the match, Harris Brothers try to attack Shark Boy but he escapes. Sanders gives them shit for it but is met with an H-Bomb before leaving.

BG James, Konnan and Ron Killings insult various TNA talents that appear on a screen. It’s not all that humorous.

Nurse Veronica is pissed that the NWA isn’t allowing women to fight men in the company anymore. That leads to a pull apart brawl between Veronica, Lollipop and April Pennington.

Sixth Contest: New Jack vs. The Sandman in the finals of the Hard Ten Tournament: Again, as you would expect in a match between these two there is plenty of weapons used and they are both busted wide open very quickly into the match. Jack is bleeding pretty badly as they are fighting in the balcony area. Sandman backdrops Jack over the railing and Jack dangerously falls over and crashes through a table. That was insane and incredibly unsafe.

A vignette promoting the debut of Shocker and Negro Casas is aired. They will be on next weeks show.

The announcers try to make the main event a big deal, but the match was just booked on the fly maybe forty-five minutes ago.

Main Event: NWA-TNA World Champion AJ Styles vs. Frankie Kazarian: Styles arm drags Kazarian a few times and taunts Frankie before slapping him. Kazarian slaps Styles as well and dropkicks the champ. Kazarian clotheslines Styles followed by a springboard leg drop for a near fall. Styles backdrops Kazarian to the apron where Frankie hits a slingshot DDT for a two count. Styles bails to the floor to regroup holding his ribs. Kazarian head scissors Styles into the ring from the apron. Styles shoves the referee into Frankie and kicks Kazarian in the knee and face to gain control of the match. Styles takes Kazarian over with a swinging neck breaker. Styles plants Kazarian with a delayed vertical suplex turned into a neck breaker. Styles scoop slams Kazarian and hits a knee drop. Styles kicks Frankie to the apron and both men are on the apron where Styles hits a slingshot head scissors to drop Kazarian throat first across the top rope. Styles fakes out the fans as he decides against a dive to the floor. Styles settles for kicking Kazarian on the outside.

Styles spikes Kazarian with a brain buster for a two count. Styles works over Kazarian with a knee strike to the face. Styles dropkicks Kazarian for a near fall. Kazarian backdrops Styles to avoid the Styles Clash. Styles continues his offense with a spinning heel kick for a two count. Styles kicks Kazarian on the floor right in the ribs. Kazarian nearly steals a victory with a rollup but is met with a kick to the face. Styles yanks Kazarian down by the hair but is still unable to get a three count. Kazarian and Styles collide as they both attempted leaping cross body strikes. Chris Sabin enters the ring and hits a swinging neck breaker on Kazarian but Styles only gets a two count on the cover. Sabin remains at ringside as Styles misses a leaping splash in the corner. Kazarian runs into a super kick in the corner and kicks AJ on the top rope to crotch the champ.

Sabin is distracting the referee as Trinity holds Kazarian’s leg as well. Styles leaps of the top but Kazarian dropkicks AJ in midair! Trinity leaps off the top and hits Styles with a hurricanrana on accident! Styles blocks the Wave of the Future. Kazarian gets out of the Styles Clash to hit the Wave of the Future for a near fall! Kazarian knocks Sabin off the apron with a right hand. Kazarian dives over the top to take both Sabin and Trinity out with a suicide dive. Kazarian is power bombed on a springboard attempt. Styles hits the Styles Clash and wins the match. Kazarian took the bump wrong and landed right on his neck. (***1/4. The constant interference from Sabin and Trinity was annoying and the match lacked any real heat or anything because it was booked with no story earlier in the program. It’s a solid match and the finish was nicely done, but far from a classic or anything.) After the match, Vince Russo comes to and whacks Kazarian with a baseball bat to the midsection. D’Lo Brown runs in and tosses Sabin and Trinity out of the ring. Brown plants Styles with the Sky High. Russo goes to the apron as security runs out to prevent Brown from doing any further damage. Brown tells Styles that in seven days his run will be coming to an end next week. Russo accepts the challenge for next week. However, the match is going to be a handicap match with Russo and Styles taking on D’Lo in a handicap match. Brown tells them he will have an equalizer with him next week. Brown says they will know what it means to be down with the brown.

Final Thoughts:
The only standout match on the show was the main event that didn’t have any buildup whatsoever, but it still produced a quality match. The debut of Joe Legend didn’t connect with the fans as they have no idea who he is. The show felt like a filler week, which is to be expected. Thus, this one gets a thumbs down from me.

Thanks for reading.