Written by: Bob Colling
National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action Weekly PPV #70
Date: 11/12/2003
From: Nashville, TN
In memory of Mad Mikey, who was known as Crash Holly in the WWF.
A video package promoting the issues between Jeff Jarrett and AJ Styles from last week is shown. The video highlights the angles from last week. Tonight, Raven teams with a mystery man to take on the Red Shirt Security. Sting teams with AJ Styles to take on Jeff Jarrett and Lex Luger.
Scott Hudson interviews Jimmy Hart, who has a t-shirt with “Why” on it. Hart promotes the tag team main event and says that he’s always one step ahead. AJ Styles steps out of a limo and cuts a promo saying that he is the next level and that suggests that Jarrett and Luger can’t compete with him. Sting steps out and lets us know it is Showtime.
Opening Contest: America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) vs. BG James & Ron Killings vs. David Young & Glen Gilbertti vs. Ekmo & Sonny Siaki vs. Julio Dinero & CM Punk in a gauntlet match: Chris Harris and BG James are the first two men involved. Apparently, everyone will be coming out in one minute intervals. Harris hammers away on James with strikes to get the early advantage. BG dumps Harris to the apron, but Harris comes off the top to hit a crossbody. James ducks a clothesline and jabs Harris a few times. Harris comes off the ropes to spear James. The next entrant is…
Sonny Siaki comes running out and goes right after Harris with a few strikes. Siaki misses a punch on Harris and is thrown over the top to the floor. Siaki has been eliminated. Harris clotheslines James and follows up with punches on the mat. The next entrant is..
Glenn Gilbertti comes out but decides against getting into the ring. He wants Harris and James to fight, but they go to the floor to stalk Gilbertti. Harris spears Gilbertti in the ring. The next entrant is…
David Young runs into the ring and helps his partner to clothesline both James and Harris. Harris atomic drops Young, but Young plants Harris with a spinebuster. Young and James trade strikes in the ring until Young connects with a powerslam. The next entrant is…
CM Punk waits on the apron and hits a springboard head scissors to take Young down to the mat. Gilbertti clotheslines Punk in the corner but Punk comes off the top with a crossbody followed by a dropkick to Gilbertti. Punk heel kicks James and trades punches with Harris for a moment. Harris mounts Punk with more punches. The next entrant is…
James Storm slides into the ring and punches everyone and almost punches Harris on accident. Young is held by Storm and Harris hits the Hart Attack clothesline. Gilbertti is caught by AMW and is dumped over the top to the floor. Glenn Gilbertti has been eliminated. The next entrant is…
Ekmo slowly makes his way to the ring and AMW go right after him. Ekmo clotheslines AMW and takes Punk down with a belly to belly suplex. Ekmo nails James with a running butt splash in the corner. Ekmo press slams Punk over the top to the floor. CM Punk has been eliminated. The next entrant is…
Julio Dinero sprints to the ring as David Young has been eliminated by Ekmo. Dinero tries to fight off Ekmo. Chris Harris clotheslines himself and BG over the top to the floor eliminating both men. Ekmo fights off James Storm from behind. Ekmo misses a sit down splash on Storm. Dinero knocks down Ekmo. The final entrant is…
Ron Killings goes right after Dinero trading right hands. Ekmo tosses Dinero over the top to the floor and decks Killings to the mat. Ekmo splashes Killings in the corner. Ekmo headbutts Storm from the apron and goes to the middle rope to sit down splash but Storm and Killings. Ekmo goes for another splash, but gets kicked over the ropes by Killings and Storm to eliminate Ekmo.
That leaves Storm and Killings as the final two men. The only way to win is by pin or submission. Killings plants Storm with a running powerslam for a two count. Killings misses a heel kick and does a split. Killings pops up right into a superkick for a two count. Storm tries for a reverse tornado DDT, but Killings puts Storm on the apron and hip tosses Storm into the ring. Killings comes off the ropes to deliver a scissors kick for a near fall. They run the ropes and collide on stereo crossbody attempts. Storm plants Killings with the Eight Second Ride, but David Young comes out and distracts both Storm and the referee. Glen Gilbertti enters with a steel chair and whacks Storm over the head. Killings hits a front slam for the win. (**1/2. Man, I really dislike the constant interference for these shows. Obviously Gilbertti doesn’t want AMW to get the title shot, but when it takes place is almost every match it hurts a match where it’s actually acceptable. Personally, the perfect time to end the match would have been when Killings did a pop up on the split and was met with a superkick. At least, that’s what I would have done if AMW were to win. The whole segment was solid enough and Storm/Killings worked a fun singles match.)
Backstage, Don Calis revels that Abyss has aligned with him and that many more people will be joining him.
NWA-TNA World Champion Jeff Jarrett demanded Don West interview him instead of Mike Tenay. West got confused when Jarrett wondered when Hogan would show his face again because Jarrett went to Japan to prevent Hogan from getting into TNA. Jarrett talks about how Hogan has never won the NWA World Championship and they are destined to finish things once and for all. Raven comes out and talks about his destiny to win the NWA World Championship. Jarrett doesn’t think that Raven can wrestle to his level. Raven gets attacked by the Red Shirt Security and Jarrett plants Raven with the Stroke on a chair.
Second Contest: Christopher Daniels vs. Low Ki: The battle of Triple X members takes place this week. Daniels shoulder blocks Ki and tries a cartwheel, but Ki gets control of his wrist. Ki kicks Daniels while on the mat and they trade a few strikes. Ki comes off the ropes to elbow drop Daniels and delivers another kick to Daniels back. Ki tries for a handspring kick in the corner, but Daniels blocks it and springboard dropkicks Ki to the floor. Daniels takes Ki out with a split legged moonsault to the floor. Daniels drives Ki midsection first into the apron. Daniels drives Ki down across his knee with a gut buster for a near fall. Daniels slams Ki to the mat and tries to get a submission driving his knee into Ki’s ribs. Tracy Brooks is watching the match from the rafters and is on the phone while also taking notes. Daniels delivers another gut buster. Ki connects with a springboard kick to knock Daniels to the mat. Ki comes off the ropes with a clothesline and a few kicks to Daniels chest. Ki kicks Daniels right in the head for a two count. Ki blocks a strike on the top rope and has a cross arm bar over the top but has to let go. Daniels drops Ki with an STO for a two count.
Daniels tries for the BME, but Ki avoids it and takes Daniels down to the mat with a cross arm bar, but Daniels reaches the ropes. Ki controls Daniels with a dragon sleeper, but Daniels fights Ki off and delivers another strike. Daniels takes Ki down to the mat with the Fall From Grace. Daniels plants Ki with the Angels Wings for a two count. Ki counters the Last Rites and gets driven back first into the corner. Daniels gets met with a kick to the head and rolls to the corner. Ki connects with a cartwheel kick in the corner. Ki gets a dragon sleeper on the top, but Daniels counters. Ki delivers another kick and tries for the Ki Krusher, but Daniels counters with a leg cradle for the three count. (**1/4. I wasn’t expecting Daniels to actually win this match. It’s a nice surprise, though. The action was solid enough, but it didn’t feel like it got past first gear. There were a lot of counters, which makes sense considering they know each other very well.) After the match, Low Ki extends his hand and shakes hands with Daniels,. X comes down to the ring and attacks Daniels. X plants Daniels with the Package Piledriver. Ki didn’t go to the ring and just watched on the aisle way.
A vignette of Shane Douglas promoting the new Franchise is shown.
Third Contest: Sonjay Dutt vs. Chad Collyer: Dutt is subbing in for Chris Sabin, who got injured by X last week. Dutt starts off getting control on Collyer working over his left arm. Collyer backs Dutt against the ropes and delivers a few strikes. Dutt dropkicks Collyer to the floor and hits a springboard crossbody to the floor. Dutt hits a slingshot elbow drop for a two count. Collyer sends Dutt to the floor and drives Dutt chest first into the apron a few times. Collyer works over the knee with a knee drop. Collyer uppercuts Dutt and connects with a brainbuster for a two count. Collyer drives Dutt down to the mat with a back suplex for a near fall. Collyer continues with a double under hook suplex. Collyer works over Dutt with strikes in the corner. Collyer decks Dutt with a clothesline for a near fall. Dutt misses a dropkick as Collyer held onto the ropes. Collyer locks in the Cloverleaf but Dutt reaches the ropes to break the hold. Dutt kicks Collyer away and delivers a knee strike. Dutt drops Collyer with a neckbreaker and they are both down. Dutt gets up first and delivers several strikes. Collyer tries for a slam, but Dutt counters with a tornado DDT for a near fall. Dutt tries for a springboard moonsault, but Collyer got his knees up and hit a German suplex. Collyer locks in the Cloverleaf a second time, but Dutt gets an inside cradle and pins Collyer. (*1/2. There wasn’t much interest in this match by the live crowd, and I can’t really blame them. I enjoy Collyer’s work here, but working over Dutt’s knees is going to prevent any big spots from taking place. Sonjay winning and competing in the triple threat is probably the best choice.) After the match, X clotheslines Dutt on the aisle way. X lifts Dutt up with a press slam and delivers a powerslam.
The Interrogators with Mike Tenay and Don West is next. They talked to Goldylocks and Erik Watts. Watts says that Luger has no talent and a morale killer. Watts is glad to have Goldy around for morale support and he put over Hogan as the greatest ever.
Backstage, Jeff Jarrett said that Lex Luger will prove that AJ Styles doesn’t belong on their level.
Fourth Contest: Abyss vs. Don Harris: Chris Vaughn is with Harris. Harris gets in the ring and delivers a few strikes. Abyss misses a splash in the corner. Harris clotheslines Abyss over the top to the floor. Harris rams Abyss in to the guard railing and onto a steel chair face first. Harris hammers away on Abyss with right hands on the floor. Abyss sends Harris into the railing chest first to get the advantage. Abyss splashes Harris in the corner. Abyss comes out of the corner with a clothesline to drop Don to the mat. Abyss misses a middle rope leg drop. Don and Abyss trade right hands in the middle of the ring. Don goes for a chokeslam, but Abyss elbows free. Abyss tries for a chokeslam, but Don low blows Abyss and delivers a big boot. Don tosses Abyss down to the mat with a chokeslam for a near fall. Don gets his hands on Don Callis, but Abyss gets up and prevents anything from happening. Abyss finishes Don off with the Black Hole Slam. (*1/4. They did a fine job of making Don Harris look like he could win the match. I’m not sure if doing that with Abyss was a good idea. I think Abyss needs to be presented as unstoppable and having issues with Don Harris doesn’t really accomplish that.) After the match, Abyss destroys Chris Vaughn. AJ Styles slides into the ring and confronts Abyss. Abyss tosses Styles to the floor, but Styles takes Abyss out with a springboard head scissors to send Abyss to the floor. Styles grabs a steel chair and Don Callis prevents Abyss from getting back into the ring.
Prior to the next match, Raven is taped up from the earlier beating. Raven teases who he is going to announce his partner tonight. CM Punk and Julio Dinero are standing behind Raven waiting for their name, but its the Sandman!
Backstage, America’s Most Wanted tell 3LK that if they win next week they want the first title shot. However, if 3LK were to lose that they need to stay out of their way.
Fifth Contest: Kevin Northcutt & Ryan Wilson vs. Raven & The Sandman: Raven and Sandman attack Northcutt and Wilson on the floor for the early advantage. Raven hits Northcutt with a trash can shot over the head. Sandman and Raven drink some beer in the ring. Sandman hammers away on Northcutt with strikes followed by a slingshot leg drop. Sandman puts Northcutt over the top and comes off the top to deliver another leg drop. Raven works over Northcutt with strikes in the corner followed by a running bulldog out of the corner for a two count. Wilson pulls down the ropes causing Raven to crash to the floor. Wilson drives Raven back first into the apron a few times. Northcutt clotheslines Raven a few times in the corner and delivers a running knee strike. Wilson enters and continues to beat on Raven with strikes in the corner. Northcutt superkicks Raven for a two count. Wilson big boots Raven for another two count. Northcutt slams Raven for another near fall. Raven’s bandage has been removed and he’s bleeding. Raven breaks free from Northcutt and pulls himself up in the corner. Northcutt misses a spear in the corner and hits the post. Sandman gets the hot tag and uses the kendo stick on both men. Sandman takes Northcutt down with a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Legend comes into the ring and attacks Raven to cause a disqualification. After the match, Julio Dinero and CM Punk run into the ring and make the save. However, they go to Raven wondering why they weren’t picked and the heels regain the advantage. Raven is handcuffed to the ropes. Erik Watts enters with a steel chair but he’s stopped by Legend. Watts clotheslines Northcutt and Legend followed by big boots. Watts whacks Northcutt with a chair shot over the head. (*. It was a mostly boring match and nothing too exciting going on. Nobody seemed to care when Watts got involved.)
Erik Watts cut a promo on Don Callis saying that he’s isn’t gone and this is his world. Watts says that next week there will be a six man tag match. The match will take place in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match.
Main Event: NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett & Lex Luger vs. AJ Styles & Sting: They are really driving home the angle that Styles doesn’t deserve to be in the same ring as these legends. Sting and Jarrett start the match with Sting shoulder blocking Jarrett to the mat. Sting atomic drops Jarrett into the corner, but Jarrett avoids a splash. Sting clotheslines Jarrett a few times and tags in Styles. Jarrett forearms Styles a few times but Styles comes back with a dropkick. Styles comes off the ropes to hit a knee drop for a near fall. Styles hits a springboard leg drop. Sting low blows Luger with the middle rope. Sting and Styles try for stereo death locks, but the heels bail to the floor.
Luger legally enters the match to battle Styles. Styles tries for a shoulder block but gets turned inside out. Luger press slams Styles to the mat gut first. Styles tries for a springboard crossbody, but Luger catches AJ in a bear hug. Jarrett tags in and stomps away on Styles. Jarrett plants Styles with a spinebuster for a two count. Luger runs over Styles with a clothesline. Styles tries for a hurricanrana on Jarrett, but Jarrett blocks it. Styles tags in Jarrett, but the referee doesn’t see it and Jarrett powerbombs Styles to keep the advantage. Jarrett drops Styles over his knee gut first. Jarrett tries for the figure four, but Styles kicks away. Styles kicks Jarrett into the ropes. Sting gets the tag, but the referee didn’t see the tag again. Styles gets tossed over the top to the floor by Luger and AJ lands oddly on his knee. Sting gets in the match and splashes both Jarrett and Luger in opposite corners. Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop on Jarrett for a near fall as Luger broke up the cover. Luger low blows Sting to stop the momentum.
Lex signals for the Torture Rack on Sting, but Sting fights out of the hold. Styles gets to the top rope and hits a crossbody but Luger kicks out at two. I think Luger was supposed to catch Styles. Back in the ring, Luger has the Torture Rack, but Sting uses the bat on Luger and that allows Styles to pin Luger. (*. That was a not a good main event and not a good way to show that Styles belongs in the main events. Sting using the bat somehow doesn’t lead to a disqualification. The action was lackluster and didn’t have a lot of heat. Luger looked bad in the ring, which had to be expected. This match set Styles back in my opinion.) After the match, Abyss saves Jarrett from the Styles Clash and plants Styles with the Black Hole Slam. Jarrett gets on the microphone to cut a promo on Hogan, but Raven slides into the ring to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
Next week seems to have more substance to it and bigger matches. The main event failed to deliver anything quality wise and certainly didn’t help AJ Styles. I’d consider this a lackluster week for TV. However, there’s a few matches next week that have my interest.
Thanks for reading.