Written by: Bob Colling
National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action presents Weekly PPV #56
Date: 8/6/2003
From: Nashville, TN
Opening Contest: NWA-TNA World Tag Team Champions Americas Most Wanted vs. Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger in a non-title strap match: All four men start brawling on the floor to kickoff the match. Harris and Storm are getting the better of the exchange on the floor. Diamond and Harris legally start the match with Harris pummeling Diamond with right hands and a clothesline. Gilbertti prevents Harris from using a strap and Diamond drops Harris with a quick clothesline. Harris is worked over in the corner briefly by both heels and they hit a side slam/reverse DDT combo for a near fall. Diamond whips Harris with a strap that is attached to the ropes. Diamond dumps Harris to the floor and Gilbertti gets a shot in with the strap. Diamond gets a near fall on Harris with a snap suplex. Swinger tags in and hits a running clothesline in the corner but Harris drops Simon and backdrops Swinger over the top to the floor. Storm tags in and cleans house on Diamond with strikes and a DDT.
Storm gets a strap and chokes Diamond but is attacked by Swinger from behind. Storm is hung over the top rope with the strap and Diamond stomps on Storm while the referee is distracted by Harris. Swinger gets a near fall on the cover attempt. Diamond misses a slingshot cross body and takes Gilbertti out on the floor. Storm kicks Swinger and Harris gets the hot tag to hit a full nelson slam on Swinger! Harris continues his offense with a backdrop and continues to work over Swinger with a strap across the back. Diamond comes back in but Harris hits a leaping clothesline to keep Simon down. Storm is back and whips Diamond several times with a strap. Gilbertti causes a distraction and enters the ring trying to attack Harris but is instead met with a spear! Gilbertti gets whipped by the champs! Diamond backdrops Storm over the top to the floor and they hit a double flapjack on Harris for a near fall. Storm nails Diamond with a missile dropkick.
A tower of doom in the corner involving Swinger, Harris and Storm. Harris locks in the Sharpshooter on Diamond and Storm whips Diamond several times. However, the referee goes to the floor to control brawling. Swinger enters and whacks Harris over the back with a steel chair! Swinger has the cover but Harris kicks out at two! Swinger is prevented from using the chair but gets a second one. Harris ducks and super kicks the chair into Johnny’s face but only gets a near fall! AMW looks for the Death Sentence but Diamond super kicks Storm and nearly pins him! Harris sends Swinger into Gilbertti and tosses Johnny over the top to the floor. Harris has Diamond on his shoulders and they hit a top rope swinging reverse DDT for the win! (***1/4. That was a really good opener with a hot crowd who is clearly interested in this feud. This is a forgotten about feud that has been loads of fun to watch, really.) After the match, Gilbertti grabs the tag titles and they leave the ring with the belts as the real champs are laid out.
Backstage, Don Callis informs Jerry Lynn that he has been banned from the arena unless he follows certain rules because Lynn has been accused on excessive violence. Lynn tosses the list at Callis before walking away.
Second Contest: Danny Doring vs. Joey Matthews vs. Shark Boy vs. Michael Shane in a number one contender elimination match: Doring and Shane kick off the match with Shane spitting at Doring who takes him down and hammers away on Shane. Matthews sneaks a tag and pummels Doring from behind with Shane. Doring is met with a double backdrop and continues to be worked over. Shark Boy tags in and comes off the top to hit a missile dropkick on both Matthews and Shane. Matthews counters a suplex attempt by Boy but not a head scissors attempt. Doring tags back in and works over Matthews with Boy briefly. Doring just did a tit twister to Matthews. Danny is worked over in the corner by Shane and Matthews. Doring drops Matthews with a big boot and Shark Boy enters to clean house with dropkicks. Boy drops Shane face first across his knee and taunts Matthews. Joey backdrops Boy over the top to the floor and baseball slides Doring on the floor. Doring takes Matthews out with a slingshot cross body. Shane nails Boy with an elbow strike and hits a somersault dive over the top onto Danny and Joey. Boy gets on the top and takes Shane out with a cross body on the floor. Matthews plants Doring with the Virginia Necktie but Boy enters trying to hit the DSD. Joey counters but can’t hit a top rope hurricanrana and Boy hits the DSD on a second try.
Doring heads to the top and hits a leg drop on Boy but doesn’t go for the cover. Elix Skipper enters the ring and attacks Doring, Matthews and Shark Boy. Skipper gets a microphone and says that he had every intention to beat up Jerry Lynn this week, but this week he beat these punks up. He will continue to do this until he gets Lynn in the ring. Shane nails Matthews with the super kick for the first elimination. Doring gets a super kick as well for the second elimination. Shark Boy stumbles up and blocks a super kick to hit a neck breaker for a near fall! Boy hammers away on Shane in the corner with right hands. Boy does the Big Wiggle but Shane hits a fisherman DDT for the win. (*1/2. There were a few bright spots here, but the fans were not interested in it, but Shane is the best option to win, obviously.)
Backstage, Erik Watts tells us that Trinity, Legend and Sonny Siaki are banned from the steel cage match tonight or Styles will lose the belt. Russo will be handcuffed to Erik Watts…
Shane Douglas comes out and brags about pinning Raven last week in the six man tag match. Raven makes his way out with a body bag and attacks Douglas. Raven is about to use the bag until we see Julio Dinero and Alexis Laree tied up backstage with Brian Lee threatening to use a flaming stick on them. Mitchell told Raven he can either finish Douglas off or come and save his friends. Raven leaves the ring and runs to the back trying to save his friends.
Backstage, Larry Zbyszko is interviewed about his match with Kid Kash. Zbyszko says he has seen countless stories of wannabes come and go. Tonight, it is time for Kash to simply go.
Third Contest: Larry Zbyszko vs. Kid Kash: Early on, Zbyszko has Kash on the mat and kicks Kid away on an attempted figure four. Zbyszko takes Kash back down to the canvas working over his arm for a few moments. Larry works over Kash in the corner with right hands but Kash hits a double springboard cross body for a near fall. Kash argues with the referee, who decks Kash! Kash gets out of a sleeper hold and puts the claw on Zbyszko. Larry gets out of it by grabbing Kid’s groin and decks Kash with a right hand followed by a backdrop. Zbyszko has Kash over his shoulder but here comes Abyss who accidentally splashes Kash in the corner. The referee is distracted as Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam. Kash covers Zbyszko and wins the match. (*. I don’t understand why Kash can’t win matches against the legends. I know it gets the duo over, but Kash isn’t being made out to look like a credible heel if he can’t beat people 20+ years older than him.)
Backstage, Raven enters a room that his friend were apparently in but nobody is there. Raven slams a chair against the wall and declares he is coming for Father James Mitchell.
James Mitchell and the New Church come to the ring with Alexis and Julio still tied up. Mitchell believes that Raven has gone soft in his old age by trying to help his friends. Raven enters the ring and hits Brian Lee and Slash with a trash can lid. Shane Douglas prevents Raven from attacking Mitchell by hitting a belly to belly suplex. Raven is beaten down big time now. Douglas ends up putting Raven in the body bag to end the segment.
Backstage, Glen Gilbertti, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger show off the tag titles they stole. AMW come over and they brawl for a little bit. They eventually got to the ring where Gilbertti hit Harris and Storm with a tag title and the heels whipped AMW with the straps.
Fourth Contest: NWA-TNA X-Division Champion Chris Sabin vs. Frankie Kazarian: Kazarian hammers away on Sabin to kick off the match and hits a spinning heel kick. Frankie works over Sabin in the corner and dropkicks the champ in the corner for a two count. Sabin back elbows Kazarian and hits a release German suplex sending Frankie into the corner back first. Sabin hits a somersault clothesline for a two count. Sabin knee lifts Kazarian in the corner a couple of times and hits a snap suplex for a near fall. Kazarian counters a swinging slam with a rollup for a near fall. Sabin attempts a springboard but Frankie nails Sabin with a kick to the head and goes to the floor where they begin to trade blows. Kazarian plants Sabin with a handspring DDT on the floor! Kazarian gets a near fall back in the ring. Sabin goes to the top but Kazarian stops the champ and hits an electric chair slam off the middle rope for a near fall!
Sabin runs into a big boot but meets Kazarian on the top but is knocked off to the mat. Sabin runs up the ropes to hit a release overhead suplex for a two count. They begin to trade rights while kneeling but standup trading a series of right hands. Sabin kicks Kazarian who collides with the referee. Sabin gets the championship and decks Frankie with it for the victory! A second referee enters to say the match must restart. The referees argue on the floor as Kazarian hits the Wave of the Future on Sabin to win the match! Oh wait, the original referee doesn’t agree and now a third referee comes in. The referee says he is going to Erik Watts to get a decision. (**. Okay, well the finish was stupid. There was some decent action but it was kind of boring to be honest.)
Christopher Daniels is in the crowd cutting a promo about how following tradition for nine years got him nowhere in his career. Daniels praised Sports Entertainment and eventually a fan tossed a soda at him causing Daniels to attack the fan until Jeff Jarrett came out and chased Daniels away.
Jeff Jarrett remained in the ring with a steel chair and sat down calling Daniels to the ring. Instead, the red shirt security came out and were held at bay as Jarrett had a chair in hand. The black shirt security came out to confront the red shirt security. Daniels attacks from behind and with help from the red shirt security is able to low blow Jarrett followed by the Last Rites to end the segment.
America’s Most Wanted reveals that next week they will compete in a six man tag match with Dusty Rhodes as their partner!
Earlier in the day, Mike Tenay sat down with NWA-TNA World Champion AJ Styles and Vince Russo. Tenay asks why would Styles associate himself with Vince Russo. Styles asks why wouldn’t he associate himself with Russo. AJ says he will do whatever it takes to be champion forever. Tenay asks if Russo was why Styles stabbed Brown in the back. Styles thinks that Brown might have learned from him. Styles isn’t worried about the cage match with D’Lo Brown. AJ says that if Russo is at ringside then that is his strength. Tenay says that Styles has been blinded by Vince Russo and tells Styles that Russo is all about himself and nobody else. Russo tells Styles they can go now. Russo gets in Tenay’s face and tells Mike to talk to him to his face. Tenay has no problem doing that saying that Russo is all about getting power. Russo tells Tenay the next time he disrespects him or Styles he will be held responsible and Tenay doesn’t want to find that out the hard way. Russo says that Jeff Jarrett dug his own hole and tells Tenay to pay Styles the proper respect.
Earlier in the day, D’Lo Brown was interviewed about his cage match coming up. Brown knows the pressure is huge. Brown has always been the guy to make others look good. However, tonight is his night and it will be his night to shine. D’Lo says it went past business and now it is personal. He will do whatever it takes to win the championship but will not align himself with Russo to get that done. Brown doesn’t know how many more chances he has for the belt so tonight is his night to get the job done.
Main Event: NWA-TNA World Champion AJ Styles vs. D’Lo Brown in a steel cage match: Styles works over Brown to kick off the main event kicking Brown on the thigh. AJ dropkicks Brown from behind but D’Lo avoids hitting the cage face first. Brown clubs away on Styles as the fans chant their hatred for Russo. Styles hip tosses Brown but is kicked away. Styles attempts a kip up hurricanrana. Styles lands on the middle rope and knocks Brown off his feet with a back elbow strike. AJ clotheslines Brown but D’Lo quickly comes back with one of his own. Styles low blows Brown in the corner and kicks away on Brown. Brown catches Styles on a springboard and rams the champ into the cage a couple of times. Brown rams AJ face first into the steel cage. Brown rubs AJ’s face across the steel. D’Lo scoop slams Styles and heads to the top rope but AJ crotches D’Lo on the top rope and springboards off the ropes to kick D’Lo on the head.
Styles has been busted open as he delivers a running dropkick to Brown. D’Lo is busted open as well but hits a Samoan Drop. D’Lo takes Styles over with a release German suplex and backdrop. Styles attempts the Styles Clash but Brown drives AJ down with a double leg slam. Brown hits the top rope frog splash but AJ kicks out at two! Styles power bombs Brown out of the corner and quickly hits the Styles Clash but D’Lo kicks out at two. Brown drives AJ back first into the cage and hits a running sit out power bomb. Brown plants Style with a spine buster. Brown heads to the top of the cage! Russo tosses powder into Erik’s eyes! Watts drives Russo into the cage, seemingly causing Brown to fall off the top to the canvas. Styles covers Brown and wins the match. (**. Ugh, not a fan of the finish because there is no need to protect Brown like that. Styles should have just won cleanly after a missed splash from the top. I don’t understand why the baby faces are being so overly protected in TNA right now.) After the match, Styles celebrates his victory with his crew. Russo says there are no more contenders for the championship.
Final Thoughts:
Aside from the hot opener and the Raven/Douglas segment, the show is a rather boring show and didn’t have much entertainment quality. The main event was a disappointment and the Sabin/Kazarian match was more of an angle advancement. Thus, this week gets a thumbs down from me.
Thanks for reading.