NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #53 7/16/2003

Written by: Bob Colling

National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action presents Weekly PPV #53
Date: 7/16/2003
From: Nashville, TN

The show starts off with Jeff Jarrett and Joe E. Legend brawling around ringside for an extended period of time.

D’Lo Brown comes out and says he has a way to may sure that nobody tries to interfere on AJ Styles’ behalf. He also reveals that if he beats Sonny Siaki he will get five minutes alone with Vince Russo in the ring.

Opening Contest: Sonny Siaki vs. D’Lo Brown: Brown dives over the top to take Siaki out with a suicide dive on the floor and sends Sonny into the ring where he hits a slingshot senton for a near fall. Brown scoop slams Siaki and follows up with a leg drop. Brown shoves Trinity off the apron but gets crotched anyway allowing Siaki to get control hitting a flipping neck breaker for a two count. Siaki gets another two count following a clothesline. Siaki counters a clothesline and hits an overhead suplex but Brown kicks out at two on the cover attempt. Siaki hits a snap suplex for a two count. Brown lifts Siaki into the air and plants Sonny with an ace crusher. Brown gets a near fall following a spinning heel kick. Brown Thez Presses Siaki followed by right hands. D’Lo drives Siaki down to the canvas with a spine buster for another two count. Trinity goes to the top rope but misses Brown and hits Siaki with a cross body to allow Brown to pin Siaki. (**. There was some decent action but it came across like Siaki had no chance with Brown. Which, is kind of odd since Siaki had been built up as a promising heel. This was more of a hype job for Brown vs. Russo anyway.)

A video promoting the feud between Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible is aired.

Second Contest: Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible in a last man standing match: Lynn tackles Credible and hammers away on his rival. Lynn crotches Credible on the top rope and follows up with a dropkick. Lynn trips Credible from the floor and leg drops Credible across the middle rope in a spot that was horribly setup. Credible runs into a big boot on the floor but sends Lynn face first into the ring steps with a drop toe hold. Lynn is busted wide open already and Credible focuses his attack on the open wound. Credible works over Lynn in the corner with stomps and a power bomb for a near fall. Credible goes to the floor and gets a table from under the ring. Lynn recovers to take Credible out with a somersault dive off the apron. Lynn catapults Credible into the ring post face first and now Credible is busted wide open. He is really pouring blood instantly after the post shot. Credible comes back with a spinning DDT but can’t get a three count on the cover attempt.

Credible works over Lynn in the corner but Jerry fights back with chops of his own. Lynn stops Justin on the top rope and hits a superplex for a near fall. Credible slams Lynn face first onto the table on the floor, but Lynn stops Credible on the middle rope. Lynn hits a top rope hurricanrana sending Credible through the table! Lynn goes for the cover but Credible kicks out at two. Justin low blows Lynn and drops Lynn with a superkick. Credible sets Lynn up and hits the That’s Incredible to get a three count and now Lynn has ten-seconds to get to his feet. Lynn gets to his feet at eight. Lynn chops away on Credible in the corner but is stopped by a low blow. Credible misses a clothesline and Lynn spikes Credible with the cradle piledriver for a three count. Credible gets up at the count of nine. Justin counters a tornado DDT attempt and looks for a middle rope stunner. Credible switches for a middle rope tombstone and gets another pin on Lynn! Lynn still gets to his feet at the count of nine but crashes to the mat again. Credible brings a piece of table into the ring but Lynn hits a DDT onto the table. Lynn hits a cradle tombstone piledriver and pins Credible again. Lynn hits the cradle piledriver onto the broken piece of table and both men are laid out as they are counted out. The referee begins to count but both men get up only for Lynn to seemingly shove Credible down and win? That was an odd finish. (***. I enjoyed this as the match was a bloodbath, as it should have been. The finish made no sense whatsoever but the action was entertaining prior to that.)

A segment of Ron Killings, BG James and Konnan interviewing people at the county fair is aired. The trio is kind of funny, but the segments don’t seem to serve much of a purpose.

Jeff Jarrett and Joe E. Legend return to ringside to continue their brawling, but it is broken up by security.

Third Contest: NWA-TNA X-Division Champion Chris Sabin vs. Frankie Kazarian: Sabin takes Kazarian down to the mat early on and taunts Kazarian briefly. Kazarian returns the favor and taunts the champ as well. Sabin works over Kazarian in the corner with a few strikes and sends Kazarian hard back first into the corner. Kazarian battles back with right hands and hits a standing dropkick. Kazarian gets a two count following a float over swinging neck breaker. Sabin yanks Frankie off the apron and drops the challenger face first across the apron. Sabin springboards off the apron with a somersault dive to the floor. Back in the ring, Sabin tries for a submission with a modified abdominal stretch but isn’t able to get a submission victory. Kazarian rolls Sabin up but only gets a near fall. Sabin dropkicks Kazarian on the back as Frankie attempted a springboard.

Sabin drives Kazarian down with a gut buster and continues to work over the ribs of Kazarian. Sabin puts Frankie in a tree of woe and yanks Kazarian down by his hair. Kazarian hits an impressive ace crusher from that position! Frankie runs over Sabin with several clotheslines. Kazarian drops Sabin face first into the canvas but Sabin kicks out at two. Sabin stops Frankie with a double knee strike to the face but can’t hit a power bomb. Kazarian hits an electric chair slam with a pin but Sabin kicks out at two. Frankie looks for a top rope Flex Capacitor but Sabin counters but misses a dropkick hitting the referee on accident. Sabin hits a backbreaker but goes to the floor and grabs his championship. Sabin misses a title strike and Kazarian hits the Wave of the Future onto the championship! Frankie has the cover and pins Sabin to win the title! Actually, a second referee comes out and tells the referee what happened and the match is awarded to Sabin by disqualification. (**1/2. The finish actually got a reaction since we have seen a lot of dusty finishes in recent years at this point. Sabin is starting to get really good at his heel gimmick. They work together and the action was fun throughout.)

Backstage, Shark Boy gives New Jack a Shark Boy mask, and Jack wears it with the hopes that The Harris Brothers will meet them in the ring again.

Fourth Contest: New Jack & Shark Boy vs. The Harris Brothers: Jack tries to come off the top with a chair but Don Harris nails Jack with a chair of his own. Moments later Jack is driven down with the H-Bomb and the match comes to an end. It was a rather quick match. After the match, Shark Boy is attacked and they try to unmask Shark Boy which they accomplish. However, New Jack takes off his mask and gives it to Shark Boy to keep him masked! Oh Jesus, Shark Boy comes running down with hulk hands to knock the heels to the floor.

Mike Tenay has a sit-down interview with Kid Kash and Abyss recently. Kash put himself over for having defeated wrestlers Ivan Koloff, Ricky Morton, Junkyard Dog, Amazing Red, Jerry Lynn and NWA World Champion AJ Styles. Kash suggests that Tenay give him respect since they have been in the business for the same amount of time. Tenay asks why Kash hides behind Abyss. Abyss ends up getting in Tenay’s face which prompts a freakout from Tenay to end the segment.

Backstage, Erik Watts tells Scott Hudson that he will reveal who the mystery Eric person is next week. Goldylocks hopes she will be able to get her job back. Erik tells her to not get her panties in a wad, but Goldylocks reveals she doesn’t wear any.

Nurse Veronica and a mystery cheerleader female attack Lollipop and April Pennington until security runs out to break up the fighting.

Elix Skipper comes into the ring and cuts a promo putting himself over as a star not only in wrestling but in all the other sports as well. He is pound for pound the best athlete in the universe.

Fifth Contest: Elix Skipper vs. Amazing Red: Red hammers away on Skipper after a two month absence from the company. Red blocks a hip toss and lands on his feet to block a German suplex. Red nearly pins Skipper with an inside cradle. Red dropkicks Skipper chest first into the corner. Skipper decides to bail and goes to the floor. Elix avoids a baseball slide and plants Red with an elevated DDT on the floor. Skipper goes for the cover but only gets a two count. Elix drops Red with a knee lift to the face. Skipper hits a double under hook suplex but Red kicks out at two. Skipper super kicks Red in the corner and hits a handstand leg drop for a near fall. Red plants Elix with a tornado DDT and both men are down. Red hits a middle rope swinging face buster but Skipper kicks out at two. Red attempts a hurricanrana and hits it. Skipper gets up quickly to nail Red with a standing spin kick. Skipper grabs a steel chair and brings it into the ring but the referee takes it away quickly. Red nearly wins with a rollup. Skipper nails Red with his weight scale and wins the match. (**. I’m having a hard time buying into Skipper in a singles role as a legit contender or anything. Skipper has ability, sure, but he sounds like a teenager. The victory is good for Skipper since Red is popular with the fans.)

Mike Tenay’s sit-down interview with Sting continues this week. Sting talked about winning the NWA World Championship from Ric Flair, and how WCW always felt second fiddle to the WWF. He puts over that creative juices were really flowing during the monday night wars.

Don Callis comes out and says that he is what is needed to make changes to TNA and help the promotion for the better. Callis believes that the masses of fans don’t want hardcore wrestling and don’t want the Sandman anymore.

Sixth Contest: Edward Chastaine vs. Norman Smiley: Smiley is able to get the Big Wiggle on Chastaine, but that offense is short-lived. Chastaine wins the match following a big splash.

Glen Gilbertti, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger come out and complain that they haven’t gotten a fair chance at the NWA-TNA World Tag Team Championships last week against America’s Most Wanted. They threaten to hurt Jeremy Borash, but AMW runs into the ring to make the save. Diamond and Swinger nail the tag champs with steel chairs. Gilbertti demanded a tag team title shot and said they weren’t leaving until they got one. Raven comes out to make the save and attacks the heels to end the segment.

Raven remained in the ring and said he didn’t come out here to complain. James Mitchell and Shane Douglas appeared on the stage to teach Raven about real pain again. Raven left the ring and attacked both men. Brian Lee and Slash ran into the ring and attacked Raven to help Douglas. Douglas hits a drop toe hold to send Raven face first into the steel chair. Raven told Mitchell to go to hell after being asked if he had enough. Douglas hit the move a second time and Mitchell told Raven “I won’t go to hell, I brought hell to you.”

Backstage, Joe E. Legend says he came to TNA from Canada for the sole purpose to destroy Jeff Jarrett. Legend calls Jarrett a typical low-life American hero. Legend finishes off saying that legends live forever.

Seventh Contest: Jeff Jarrett vs. Joe E. Legend: Jarrett attacks Legend from behind during his entrance and backdrops Legend over the top to the floor. Jarrett has his ribs taped as they brawl on the floor. Jeff sends Legend face first into the announcers table and Legend is tossed over the railing into the crowd. Jarrett whacks Legend over the head with a steel chair a few times. Jarrett knocks the referee down and whacks security guys with the steel chair! Jarrett nails Legend over the head with a chair again as they head back towards ringside. Jarrett goes to the top rope with a steel chair and whacks Legend over the head. Vince Russo enters the ring and distracts Jarrett long enough for Legend to hit Jarrett over the back with a bat and pins Jarrett! (1/2*. Hardly a clean finish, but the segment was full of energy.)

Backstage, Vince Russo tells us that Jeff Jarrett is out of the title picture and needs to start from the bottom again. Russo is wearing his trademark hockey gear as he heads to battle with D’Lo Brown:

Main Event: D’Lo Brown vs. Vince Russo: Brown is in the ring with a small cage that Russo was put in recently. Russo comes out but decides to walkaway. A referee tells Russo he needs to go to the ring and that forces Russo to go back towards the ring. AJ Styles comes in from behind but Brown turns around and begins to fight Styles hitting a backdrop and clothesline. Brown sends Styles into the cage and locks Styles inside. Sonny Siaki comes out and attacks D’Lo to save Russo again. Siaki tries to handcuff Brown to the top rope but Brown is able to turn it around and handcuffs Sonny to the top rope. Brown drops Trinity as well! Joe E. Legend comes in and attacks Brown. Brown fights Legend off with right hands. Brown sends Legend into the cage and Russo is begging off. Styles breaks free from the cage and kicks D’Lo to allow the heels to work over D’Lo. Brown is being triple teamed as Russo tells Styles to finish Brown. Styles hits the Styles Clash and covers Brown. Styles puts an Indian Death Lock on Brown and Russo wants Brown to submit. D’Lo is being left laid out on the canvas. They put Brown inside the cage and continue to taunt Brown.

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed most of what was going on this week. A couple of the matches were entertaining and the angle advancements served their purpose. The ending segment gives Brown plenty of heat for Brown for his title match next week against Styles, so it make sense. The Raven/Douglas feud continues to be interesting and James Mitchell is a breath of fresh air for Shane Douglas. This week far exceeded what I was expecting, to be honest.

Thanks for reading.