NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #69 11/5/2003

Written by: Bob Colling

National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action Weekly PPV #69
Date: 11/5/2003
From: Nashville, TN

The show opens with footage from Japan reminding us that NWA-TNA World Champion Jeff Jarrett had attacked Hulk Hogan and busted him wide open. Jimmy Hart being interviewed by Mike Tenay and wanting to know what happened at Bash at the Beach 2000 was also highlighted. That led to Jarrett whipping Hart with a leather belt. Footage of Jarrett winning the NWA-TNA World Championship the same night is shown when he defeated AJ Styles. This was all over the past couple of weeks, obviously. All of this led to Jarrett wrestling two legends last week. This week, Jarrett battles Sting in a singles match. Jarrett wasn’t too excited about that.

Scott Hudson is with Jimmy Hart and they promote the match between Sting and Jeff Jarrett. Jimmy Hart says that Jarrett’s worse nightmare could be right underneath the tip of his nose.

Opening Contest: CM Punk & Julio Dinero vs. Kid Kash & Lazz: Kash doesn’t want to be teamed up with Lazz, who appears to be a flamboyant character. Punk and Lazz kickoff the match with Punk getting control with several stomps. Dinero hits Lazz with a slingshot clothesline from the apron and a vertical suplex. Dinero drives Lazz down to the mat with a back suplex and Lazz tries to get comfort Kash, but his partner isn’t interested in that. Dinero takes Kash down with an arm drag followed by strikes. Dinero plants Kash with a back suplex before tagging in Punk, who hits a slingshot senton. Punk works over Kash in the corner with boot scrapes. Dinero gets tagged in and dropkicks Kash for a two count. Kash low blows Dinero and an eye poke. Lazz drives Dinero down with a back suplex for a near fall. Lazz nearly wins with a fisherman suplex for a two count. Dinero continues to be double teamed with a backdrop. Dinero stops Kash on the middle rope but gets shoved off by Kash. Kash leaps off the middle rope to hit a missile dropkick followed by a slam. Kash comes off the top to hit a moonsault for a two count. Lazz comes off the middle rope to drop Dinero with a neckbreaker.

Lazz and Kash have a tug of war with Dinero, with Lazz pulling Dinero towards him from behind. They have a miscommunication allowing Dinero to tag in Punk. Punk cleans house with strikes and boots. Punk snap scoop slams Kash for a two count. Kash sends Punk to the floor and Dinero is met with a spear/clothesline combo, but Punk pulls Kash to the floor. Kash is sent into the ring post and hits a top rope somersault neckbreaker on Lazz as Dinero hit a powerbomb for the win. That’s called the Near Death Experience. (**. I can’t say the outcome was a surprise at all. Lazz is your typical ‘gay’ character, but did seem to have some wrestling ability. The crowd didn’t seem to care much for this.) After the match, Kash attacks Lazz by hitting a powerbomb. Abyss comes out and clotheslines Abyss to make the save. Kash runs outside the building.

Backstage, Raven talked about his match with Father James Mitchell later tonight. I doubt Raven is going to take it lightly on Mitchell.

Mike Tenay conducted an interview with NWA-TNA World Champion Jeff Jarrett, who talked about Hulk Hogan and the likely hood that Hogan wouldn’t recover from his knee injuries. Jarrett didn’t like the questioning presented by Tenay and demanded he leave the ring. AJ Styles appears in the crowd to confront Jarrett. Jarrett doesn’t consider Styles to be a contender for the title and suggests Styles wrestle in the X-Division. Styles thinks the heavyweight division needs him and they begin to brawl until Jarrett whacks Styles with a steel chair. The Red Shirt Security guys were also involved in the brawling. This led to Abyss attacking the Red Shirt Security as Styles was thrown from the building. Abyss put his hands on Don Callis in the ring, but the security guys saved Callis from the attack.

Backstage, Father James Mitchell was interviewed and he said that Raven always picks on people weaker than himself. Mitchell claims that clever people defeat strong people.

Second Contest: The Sandman vs. Shane Douglas: Sandman hammers away on Douglas to start the match followed by a back elbow strike. Douglas tried to attack Sandman as the referee was wrestling the kendo stick away from him. Douglas sends Sandman to the floor and hit a baseball slide. Douglas continues with a slingshot crossbody to the outside. Sandman leaps off a chair and hits the railing. Douglas tosses Sandman into the railing with a belly to belly suplex, which gets a two count in the ring. Douglas hits a few rolling neck snaps. Douglas goes to the top rope, but Sandman slams Douglas to the mat. Sandman drops Douglas gut first over the top rope and hits an awkward looking leg drop off the top. Sandman hits a slingshot leg drop from the apron into the ring. Sandman takes Douglas over with a hurricanrana off the top. Sandman goes for his kendo stick, but Douglas put the referee in the way. Sandman still hits a side Russian leg sweep, but Douglas kicks out. Tracy Brooks comes off the top to splash Sandman. Douglas takes Sandman over with a belly to belly suplex for a two count. Douglas hits a second belly to belly for the win. After the match, Douglas tells us to look at the newest member of the Franchise. Brooks tells Douglas that there is nothing she wouldn’t do to protect the Franchise. (*1/4. The crowd seems to be rather lifeless for the action this week. The finish wasn’t all that great and lacked drama, too. Honestly, why not just have Francine be with Douglas?)

Jimmy Hart wanted to find out why Jeff Jarrett laid down for Hulk Hogan three years ago in WCW. Sting appeared and said it is showtime.

Third Contest: America’s Most Wanted vs. Ekmo Fatu & Sonny Siaki: Siaki and Storm start the match trading arm drags and hip tosses in the early moments of the contest. Siaki misses a somersault standing leg drop but slaps Storm and pokes his eyes. Storm head scissors Siaki before tagging in Harris. Harris atomic drops Siaki and Storm takes Siaki down with a side Russian leg sweep for a near fall. Ekmo tags into the match and clotheslines Harris to the mat. Ekmo slams Harris leading to Siaki getting a two count. Harris takes Siaki down with a vertical suplex. AMW hit a double dropkick on Siaki for another near fall. Siaki stops Storm with a strike and Ekmo chokes Storm over the ropes. Ekmo slams Storm and comes off the ropes to deliver a leg drop. Siaki tries to get a submission with a bear hug, but Storm gets out of the hold and plants Siaki with a DDT. Harris gets the hot tag and decks Ekmo on the apron. Harris backdrops Siaki followed by a full nelson slam on Siaki. Harris backdrops Ekmo and comes off the ropes with a leaping clothesline for a two count. Siaki gets backdropped to the floor by Harris. Siaki shoves Harris off the top rope. Ekmo lifts Harris up and Siaki hits a Flatliner for a two count. Storm tries to superkick Siaki and settles for a weird looking cutter for a two count. Ekmo accidentally splashes Siaki in the corner and Harris spears Ekmo for another two count. Storm takes Siaki out with a crossbody to the floor.

Siaki sends Storm into the guard railing and Trinity sends a chair to Harris in the ring. Harris loks around and whacks Ekmo over the head with the chair. Harris has the cover, but Trinity is distracting the referee. Harris tries for the Catatonic, but David Young comes out and hits Harris with a tennis racket. Siaki swinging neckbreaker for the win. (**1/2. A solid match between these two teams with the focus being on Siaki and Ekmo to get them over as a heel duo. I can get behind the idea of Gilbertti doing whatever he can to prevent AMW from getting a title shot.)

Backstage, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger cut a promo saying they don’t defend the titles against losers like America’s Most Wanted. David Young tells Glen Gilbertti that part one is complete and there’s another part of their plan. They will be wrestling Three Live Kru tonight, which didn’t make Gilbertti happy.

Fourth Contest: 8-Man X-Division Battle Royal: X, Sonjay Dutt, Low Ki, Jonny Storm, Christopher Daniels, Shark Boy, Chris Sabin and Chad Collyer are the men involved in the match. As per usual with battle royals, they all just start brawling in the ring. The final five wrestlers in the match will wrestle in qualifying matches next week to get a title shot. X plants Shark Boy with a death valley driver. X plants Storm with a pop up powerbomb to eliminate him. X also eliminates Shark Boy. Dutt head scissors X to the mat for some momentum. X tosses Dutt in the corner and press slams Dutt over the ropes onto Storm and Shark Boy. So, Dutt, Shark Boy and Jonny Storm will not be involved in any qualifying matches next week.

Collyer fights from the apron to avoid being eliminated, but Ki hits a springboard kick as Daniels held Collyer. Daniels tosses Collyer to the floor. Daniels staggers X with a step-up kick, but X drives Daniels with a sit out chokeslam. X catches Ki in the corner and delivers a powerbomb to the corner. X clotheslines Ki in the corner followed by a DDT. Ki nails X with a handspring kick on the top and Daniels slams X to the mat. Sabin frog splashes X from the top rope. Sabin kicks Ki and plants Daniels with a swinging backbreaker. Daniels tries to eliminate Ki, but that doesn’t work. They begin to trade chops after Daniels avoided being sent to the floor. Ki puts a dragon sleeper on Daniels, but Sabin eliminates them both. X and Sabin brawl on the floor as X sends Sabin into the ring steps. Daniels and Ki were also brawling on the floor. X has gotten a chair and spikes Sabin with a package piledriver onto the chair! X dumps Sabin over the top to the floor to win the match. (**1/2. For a battle royal, I thought it was an entertaining segment. X looked great and I’d push him as far as I could. His offense was impressive and I’m intrigued to see more of him in TNA. Chad Collyer has always been someone I found to be underrated, so I hope he has a few good outings.)

Backstage, Don Callis cut a promo saying he was going to do whatever was best for business.

A video of Roddy Piper sharing some comments was shown. Piper claimed that TNA was his home and that he was thinking about stopping Hulk Hogan from winning the NWA World Championship.

Fifth Contest: David Young & Glen Gilbertti vs. BG James & Ron Killings: Young and Killings start the match and have a standoff as Young couldn’t get a three count on a rollup. Killings head scissors Young to get control of the match. James tags in and Young gets hip tossed to the mat leading to a near fall. James jabs Young several times and misses a right hand. James comes off the ropes with a knee drop for a two count. Young decks James and allows Gilbertti to hit a Russian leg sweep and comes off the ropes with an elbow drop. Young and Killings get tagged in with Killings hammering away on Young with several strikes. Killings comes off the ropes with a forearm strike. Killings delivers a DDT for a two count. Gilbertti and Young are sent into each other. James low blows Young and James gets a chair out of the ring. James whacks Young over the back with a tennis racket and Young hits a scissors kick for the win. (*. Well, that sucked. Did they really need to use the tennis racket? They had a few messy spots and it hurt the flow of the match.) After the match, Gilbertti gets attacked until Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger make the save. America’s Most Wanted run into the ring and send the heels to the floor to make the save, too. Chris Harris says that the tag titles belong to them and they demand a rematch. BG James chimes in and thinks they deserve a title shot, too. James throws a few insults in there, of course. Wait, Sonny Siaki and Ekmo come out to throw their names into the mix. Siaki says they took care of the problem for Gilbertti and thinks that Gilbertti owes them a favor. Gilbertti says they didn’t make a deal and David Young says that he did. Gilbertti promises to make everyone happy and walks off.

Sixth Contest: Raven vs. Father James Mitchell in a last man standing match: Mitchell tries to escape to the floor, but Raven catches him and sends Mitchell into the railing and steps. Raven beats Mitchell on the floor causing Mitchell to be busted wide open. Raven whips Mitchell with a steel chain and chokes Mitchell with it. CM Punk and Julio Dinero come to ringside and Mitchell gets a low blow in to stop Raven. Mitchell whacks Raven over the back a few times with the chair for a two count. Mitchell uses the chain on Raven a few times. Raven fights back with a discus clothesline and a running clothesline. Raven drop toe holds Mitchell face first onto the chair. Raven plants Mitchell with a DDT for a three count. Mitchell has to get up before the count of ten. As expected, Mitchell isn’t able to get to his feet. Raven attaches the chain to Mitchell’s neck and hangs Mitchell over the top rope. Mitchell is bleeding a crazy amount. (*1/2. I’d imagine this would end the feud with Raven and Mitchell. Raven needed to destroy Mitchell and that was accomplished here.) After the match, Raven says he is coming for the NWA-TNA World Championship and he’s coming for Jeff Jarrett. Raven tells Punk and Dinero that he needs to do it on his own. He’s setting Punk and Dinero free. Punk pleads with Raven and tells him to not do this. Punk begs Raven to not walk away from them. Raven heads backstage and is now working on his own. Such a drastic approach compared to what Punk and Raven were doing in ROH.

Main Event: NWA-TNA World Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting: Jarrett decides to stall on the floor for a few moments. Sting comes off the ropes to shoulder block Jarrett to the mat. Sting continues with a running clothesline. Sting goes for the Scorpion Deathlock and has it locked in. However, Jarrett quickly reaches the ropes. Sting goes to the floor and continues to beat on Jarrett. Sting grabs a blanket from the fan and covers Jarrett before delivering a right hand. They brawl into the crowd with Sting hammering away on Jarrett. Sting whacks Jarrett over the back a few times. Sting hits Jarrett over the head with a fan, not a person but the object, and drops Jarrett throat first over the railing. Jarrett has been busted wide open from the fan shot. Jarrett stops Sting with a sleeper hold in the ring. Sting fights out of the hold and they trade several strikes. Sting clotheslines Jarrett a few times followed by a splash in the corner. Sting goes for the Scorpion, but Jarrett kicks Sting away and the referee goes down in the corner. Jarrett goes to the floor and grabs the championship. Sting ducks a shot and plants Jarrett with the Death Drop but the referee gets pulled out by Don Callis. Callis gets slapped by the referee. Jarrett is able to deck Sting with the championship, but Jimmy Hart comes out and stops the pin. Sting holds onto the ropes to avoid a dropkick and puts the Scorpion on Jarrett. The Red Shirt Security run into the ring and try to help, but Sting takes them out with splashes. Jarrett whacks Sting over the head with a steel chair and that causes a disqualification. (*1/4. That has to be seen as a major disappointment. Whenever they brawl into the crowd it is an indicator that they knew they wouldn’t be able to have an entertaining match without it. I was hoping for something slightly decent and it didn’t even reach that level.) After the match, Jarrett smashed the referee over the head with the chair.

Sting is being triple teamed in the corner. Raven slides into the ring and confronts Jarrett. They begin to trade strikes in the ring. Raven tries for a DDT, but Northnutt prevented that from happening. Raven pummels Wilson with strikes. Raven bulldogs Northcutt, but Jarrett nails Raven with a kick to the head. Jarrett jabs Raven with a chair shot to the gut. AJ Styles hit a springboard crossbody to take the Red Shirt guys out. Styles decks Jarrett, but the Red Shirts stop AJ with a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo. Abyss runs into the ring and the heels bail to the floor. AJ raises Abyss’ arm but Abyss plants Styles with the Black Hole Slam! Sting blocks a guitar shot and beats on the heels with his baseball bat, which Jimmy Hart gave him.

Don Callis says that Raven will never be World Champion. Callis says that the Red Shirts will take care of Raven next week. Sting reveals he’ll be back next week, too. He’ll be back next week but only if AJ Styles teams up with him. Jarrett says that the tag match is fine because Jarrett has a partner in the form of Lex Luger! Sting is left surprised to hear that news.

Final Thoughts:
The best thing on the show was the performance by X. The Sting/Jarrett deal was disappointing. I’m hopeful for a Raven/Jarrett feud to finally get the title on Raven. There were a few quality matches but they just need to improve on their finishes for matches.

Thanks for reading.