NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #85 3/10/2004

Written by: Bob Colling

National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action presents Weekly PPV #85
Date: 3/10/2004
From: Nashville, TN

Opening Contest: Mr. Aguila vs. Teddy Hart: Aguila backs Hart into a corner and backs away cleanly. They trade a couple of arm drags. Hart takes Aguila down to the mat to keep arm control briefly. Aguila elbows Hart and delivers a spin kick after a handspring for a two count. Aguila works over Hart in the corner with stomps and a choke. Hart manages to take Aguila down with a drop toe hold and goes back to arm control. Hart delivers a side Russian leg sweep and rolls through looking for another one. Aguila hits a backbreaker to keep control of the match. Hart does a tilt a whirl and keeps Aguila on the mat with an arm bar. Hart uppercuts Aguila in the corner several times. Scott D’Amore grabs Aguila on the apron, but Aguila still hits a split legged moonsault for a two count. Aguila slowly goes to the top, but is held by D’Amore. Hart springboards off the ropes to knock Aguila to the floor. Hart follows to the floor and hammers away on Aguila ramming Aguila into the railing. Hart takes Aguila out with a double springboard moonsault to the floor! Aguila stomps on the left knee and rolls Hart into the ring.

Aguila leg drops the left keg of Hart and taunts the crowd. Aguila kicks Hart, and drops Hart over the top rope followed by a kick to the chest. Aguila takes Hart out with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Hart hits a hurricanrana off the apron to send Aguila to the floor. Hart tries for a moonsault off the railing, but Aguila manages to get his knees up. Aguila tries for a cover, but Hart kicks out. Aguila goes to the top rope hitting a crossbody for a near fall. Aguila goes to the top rope again, but D’Amore yanks Aguila off the ropes. Hart plants Aguila with a sloppy tornado DDT and hits the Hart Attack #2 for the win. (***. There was some good spots in the match, but it was quite sloppy and that took me out of the match a little bit. Had the match been a little more crisp then I think it would have been a lot better.)

Backstage, Team Mexico is interviewed with Juventud saying they will be the champions forever. Negro mentions they have beaten America already and Canada is next. Hector Garza promises that the X-Cup will be coming back to Mexico.

Second Contest: Juventud Guerrera vs. Petey Williams: Guerrera shoulder blocks Williams, but Williams hits a springboard crossbody for a two count. Guerrera chops Williams a few times and messes up and a tilt a whirl. Guerrera does it again and delivers a sloppy tornado DDT. Williams rolls to the floor and Guerrera hits a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Williams drops Guerrera over the apron. Guerrera rams Williams into the ring steps head first. Williams drop toe holds Guerrersa into the ring steps. Williams hammers away on Guerrera in the corner. Guerrera misses a splash in the corner. Guerrera spin kicks Williams managing a near fall. Guerrera chops Williams in the corner a few times. Williams sits Guerrera on the top rope hitting a hurricanrana off the top rope for a near fall. Guerrera hits a northern lights suplex. Williams lands on the apron as they traded reverse DDT attempts. Williams brings Guerrera to the apron and Guerrera head scissors Williams to the floor. Guerrera tries for a cover, but only manages a two count. Guerrera slams Williams to the mat and tries for a Sharpshooter. Guerrera gets the move locked in, but Williams doesn’t submit.

Williams gets an inside cradle on Guerrea, but Guerrera kicks out at two. Guerrera plants Williams with a DDT. Guerrera tries for a cover, but Williams kicks out at two. Guerrera keeps control on the mat with a head scissors. Guerrera spikes Williams with a piledriver for a two count. Guerrera chops Williams a few times, but Williams hits a tilt a whirl side Russian leg sweep for a near fall. Williams signals for the Canadian Destroyer, but Guerrera counters and they begin to trade pin attempts. Guerrera dropkicks a seated Williams to stop the counters. Williams spikes Guerrera with a Juvi Driver for a two count. Juvi plants Williams with a modified Juvi Driver for the win. (**1/2. Once again the action was rather sloppy and hurt the match in spots throughout. It was a decent match, but they just seemed off together.)

Backstage, Scott Hudson is with Team Canada as Teddy Hart is dealing with a knee injury. Hart is freaking out about having to get his knee checked out. Johnny Devine is sent out there to get their lead back. Hart insists that he’s not quitting and wants his knee taped up.

Third Contest: Johnny Devine vs. Abismo Negro: Negro arm drags Devine and they have a standoff. Devine locks in a leg scissors on the mat, but doesn’t get a submission. Negro arm drags Devine out of a wheelbarrow attempt. Devine locks in an arm bar on the mat, but Negro rolls through. They avoid each other a few times leading to a standoff. Devine wants to shake hands with Negro, but Negro isn’t interested in that. Devine cheap shots Negro and delivers a right hand. Devine hits a neckbreaker out of the corner for a two count. Williams hits a slingshot leg drop over the bottom rope leading to a near fall. Negro headbutts Devine from the apron and hits a top rope crossbody for a two count. Devine sends Negro to the floor and tries for a baseball slide, but misses. Negro takes Devine out with a suicide dive! Negro almost wins with a rollup out of the corner. Negro chops Devine a few times in the corner. Devine flips in the corner to the apron. Devine hits a springboard hurricanrana for an upset win. (*1/2. I was not expecting Devine to win the match, but it was a nice surprise.)

Backstage, Glen Gilbertti is talking to David Young as some sort of therapy. Young is trying to get past his fear of clowns. Gilbertti asks a variety of clown questions. Kid Kash enters the scene and asks Gilbertti what he’s doing. Kash wants Gilbertti to be focused on their match with the ICP.

Fourth Contest: Hector Garza vs. Jack Evans: Garza is laughing at Evans not taking the smaller opponent seriously at all. Garza shoves Evans into the corner and taunts Evans since he was able to do that easily. They trade go-behinds with Garza getting arm control. Evans snapmares Garza across the ring. Garza tackles Evans and is met with a slap. Evans arm drags Garza out of a wheelbarrow and plays to the crowd. Garza dropkicks Evans into a corner and delivers a few right hands. Garza runs over Evans with a shoulder block for a two count. Evans head scissors Garza to the floor, but Garza casually returns to the match and dropkicks Evans. Garza misses a splash and goes over the top to the floor. Garza is sent into the railing back first. Evans hits a 450 splash off the apron to the floor onto Garza. Garza dropkicks Evans followed by a scoop slam. Garza misses a corkscrew moonsault and Evans delivers a standing corkscrew for a two count. Garza knee strikes Evans and plants Evans with a powerbomb. Garza hits a top rope moonsault for the win. (*1/2. There were a few weird moments and the pacing was questionable, but Garza going over was the obvious correct call.)

Backstage, Scott Hudson is with America’s Most Wanted. Chris Harris cuts a promo about Vince Russo saying that Russo doesn’t think he’s ready. Harris has gone through everyone that has been put in his way. Harris assures us that he’s ready for Jarrett next week. James Storm chimes in and says he’s never seen Harris more ready than he has been now. Harris isn’t taking anything away from Jarrett and puts over Jarrett for his wins in the company. Harris hopes that Jarrett is taking him seriously. Harris has been ready for this for ten years. Harris promises to take the NWA World Championship next week because he was born to be champion.

Vince Russo had a sit down interview with Mike Tenay and talked about suggesting he made a mistake by booking Harris into a match with Jarrett earlier than he should have. Russo is going to give Harris the benefit of the doubt to get his title shot. Russo wishes that Harris had more time before the championship match. Russo promises the match with Jarrett will be a fair fight. Russo knows that the best man will win the match next week.

Fifth Contest: Abismo Negro & Juventud Guerrera vs. Teddy Hart & Jack Evans: Guerrera and Hart kickoff the tag match. Guerrera shoulder blocks Hart, and delivers a few chops. Guerrera kicks Hart and continues to deliver chops. Hart takes Guerrera down with an arm bar out of a tilt a whirl. Hart hammers away on Guerrera and taunts Negro on the apron. Guerrera elbows Hart followed by a hurricanrana. Negro and Evans tag into the match with Evans avoiding Negro. Evans arm drags Negro and delivers a few stomps. Negro backdrops Evans to the apron. Evans misses a springboard dive and is dropkicked by Negro. Guerrera hits a springboard dropkick to Evans. Guerrera leaps off of Negro’s back to splash Evans in the corner. Hart tried to do the same and is met with a clothesline. Guerrera puts Evans in a tree of woe and Negro dropkicks Hart in the other corner. Hart is rammed into Evans in the corner and they drive his groin into Evans face. Negro drives Evans down with a backbreaker. Evans nearly pins Negro with a rollup. Guerrera tags in and is kicked by Evans. Hart spikes Guerrera with a DDT. Hart plants Negro with a Samoan Drop and does the same to Guerrera. Hart leaps off the top to hit a twisting splash onto Guerrera for a near fall.

Evans hits a springboard dropkick to Negro. Hart spikes Negro with a DDT. Evans hits a top rope twisting 630 onto Negro. Guerrera leaps off the top to nail Hart with a dropkick. Guerrera slams Hart with a pump handle as Negro hit a crossbody on Evans. Guerrera locks in a Stretch Muffler on Hart’s injured knee leading to a submission win. (***. I came out of this match impressed with Hart’s intensity and offense when he got the hot tag. The action was solid throughout and Evans looked good with his impressive high spots, too.)

Backstage, Scott Hudson is with the ICP. They hype up the Dark Carnival match.

Sixth Contest: Johnny Devine & Petey Williams vs. Hector Garza & Mr. Aguila: Garza and Aguila dropkick their opponents. Garza sends Williams to the floor and Aguila splashes Devine in the corner. Garza clotheslines Devine in the corner. Aguila hits a hurricanrana off the top rope for a near fall on Devine. Aguila kicks Devine a few times. Devine is met with a DDT and a superkick. Williams and Garza are tagged into the match. Garza taunts Williams by going to his knees and kicks Williams on the knee. Williams arm drags Garza and dropkicks Garza to the floor. Williams hits a slingshot head scissors to send Garza into the railing. Garza climbs to the apron and Williams head scissors Aguila. Aguila is double teamed in the corner. Devine nearly pins Aguila after a top rope crossbody. Devine hammers away on Aguila against the ropes. Aguila tries for a sunset flip managing a two count. Aguila is dropkicked by both Devine and Williams leading to a two count. Williams dropkicks Aguila for a near fall. Devine enters the match and jabs Aguila a few times. Devine throat jabs Aguila to the mat.

Devine takes Aguila over with a snap suplex for a two count. Devine keeps a sleeper on Aguila to maintain control of the match. Aguila continues to be double teamed in the corner. Team Canada hit a double stomp/vertical suplex combo on Aguila for a near fall. Aguila spin kicks Williams and makes his way to the corner. Garza tags in and cleans house with strikes. Garza tosses Williams away and superkicks Devine. Garza drops Williams on his head with a release German suplex for a near fall. Devine plants Garza with a sit out powerbomb for a near fall. Aguila drops Devine to the mat face first for a two count. Williams plants Aguila with a tornado DDT for a near fall. Devine kicks Garza to save Williams from a powerbomb. Williams plants Garza with a tilt a whirl side Russian leg sweep. Devine hits a top rope moonsault and Williams pins Garza! (***. An enjoyable tag match with another surprising outcome. I think Garza is the top priority in Team Mexico and having him lose this match really makes it viable that Canada could win this tournament.)

Backstage, Scott Hudson interviews Team Canada. D’Amore says that this unit is going to outshine Team Mexico. This is clearly a pre-tape because there’s no way Devine and Williams could be where they are and not look like they just wrestled.

Seventh Contest: Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Mr. Aguila and Abismo Negro vs. Teddy Hart, Petey Williams, Johnny Devine & Jack Evans in an elimination match: Scott D’Amore is on commentary for the match. Aguila and Williams start the match. Aguila arm drags Devine and they have a standoff. Devine controls Aguila on the mat with a headlock. Aguila arm drags Devine and they have another standoff. Devine comes off the ropes and is met with an elbow. Aguila clotheslines Devine and they have another standoff. Negro tags into the match as does Williams. Negro and Williams counter each other on the mat. Negro plants Williams with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Negro dropkicks Williams. Garza and Evans tag into the match. Garza swings at Hart on the apron. Garza and Evans shove each other. Garza dropkicks Evans and delivers a clothesline. Garza backdrops Evans to the apron and Evans hits a springboard dropkick for a near fall.

Guerrera and Hart tag into the match. They trade a few strikes with Guerrera chopping Hart for the advantage. Guerrera delivers a standing dropkick to send Hart to the floor. Guerrera is yanked off the apron by Hart. Hart kicks Guerrera and is yanked off the apron as well. Guerrera comes off the apron to hit a hurricanrana on Hart on the floor. Hart slips off the top rope but hits a sloppy DDT. Hart sells his knee and tags in Evans as Negro dropkicks Evans. Evans is slammed by Negro and Guerrera. Devine breaks the cover with a moonsault. Devine slingshots leg drops Negro, but Negro delivers a dropkick off the apron to the floor. Evans tags into the match and knee strikes Garza. Guerrera dropkicks Evans on the knee. Guerrera plants Evans with a brainbuster but gets crotched on the top rope. Guerrera plants Evans with a middle rope Juvi Driver for an elimination.

Negro sends Devine into the corner and misses a splash. Devine superkicks Negro and tags in Hart. Hart climbs to the top hitting a corkscrew splash to pin Negro for another elimination.

Guerrera tries for a suplex on Hart, but Hart avoids it. Guerrera hits a spinning TKO for a near fall as Devine breaks the cover. Guerrera sits Hart on the top rope, but Devine tags in and hits a Tower of Doom. Devine covers Guerrera with his feet on the ropes to eliminate Guerrera. Aguila pins Devine with a top rope sunset flip.

Aguila sends Williams into the corner to deliver a clothesline and misses a splash. Williams tries to use the ropes for leverage. Williams forearms Aguila for a near fall. Williams has Aguila oer his knee as Hart hit a shooting star press elbow drop to eliminate Aguila.

Garza goes right after Hart and hits a reverse powerbomb followed by a standing moonsault to eliminate Hart. Williams goes after Garza and heads to the top rope trying for a crossbody, but Garza catches Williams and delivers a slam. Garza heads to the top rope hitting a corkscrew moonsault for the win and Team Mexico retain possession of the X-Cup. (***. A good a conclusion to the tournament and the match was a easier watch once they did the usual mass eliminations towards the end. I was thinking Team Canada may have prevailed here in the end, but Team Mexico retaining doesn’t bother me.)

Team Mexico taunt Scott D’Amore and Team Canada at the announcers table.

A video promoting a ladder match between Abyss and AJ Styles to determine the number one contender to the NWA World Championship is aired.

Backstage, Scott Hudson is with NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett asks Hudson if he really thinks Chris Harris is ready after two weeks of tough matches. Jarrett doesn’t think that Harris is ready and knows that Russo doesn’t think that Harris ready. Hudson notes that James Storm thinks that Harris is ready. Jarrett asks Hudson if he thinks that Harris is ready. Jarrett says he’ll see him in seven days.

A video promoting the main event is shown.

Main Event: Insane Clown Posse & 2 Tuff Tony vs. Glen Gilbertti, David Young & Kid Kash in a Dark Carnival Match: The match is similar to a Clockwork Orange House of Fun as there is a chain at the top of the ring on posts. J and Gilbertti start the match as it’s being contested under regular tag rules for some reason. J clotheslines Gilbertti and hits an arm drag. Gilbertti tags in Kash as Young avoided a tag to wrestle a clown. Dope drop toe holds Kash and keeps a headlock on Kash. Kash tries for a reverse suplex, but Dope counters with one of his own. Dope drops Kash over the top rope and Tony hits a somersault splash off the top onto Kash for a near fall. Kash low blows Tony and delivers a kick to the groin in the corner. Young tags in and Tony is backdropped by Kash and Young. Young hammers away on Tony in the corner. Young boots Tony and runs into a powerslam for a near fall. Tony clotheslines Young a few times. Tony head scissors Young into the corner face first. Gilbertti has tossed a few weapons into the ring. ICP and Tony hit the heels with weapons off the apron. Young is beaten up with several trash can and trash can lid shots.

Tony leaps off the top to hit a twisting dive onto the heels on the floor. Dope smashes Kash with a trash can shot. For some reason ICP’s music hit and the lights flicker as the match has broken down into a brawl. J hits Gilbertti with a kendo stick as Gilbertti had a trash can over his head. J hits a side Russian leg sweep on Gilbertti. Gilbertti sends J into a trash can in the corner and Young smashes J with a trash can lid. Dope whacks Gilbertti and Young over the head with steel chair shots. Kash misses a somersault dropkick and Dope delivers a chair shot to Kash. ICP’s music plays again and the lights flicker again. Kash whacks Dope with a chair shot over the head and the same happens to J followed by Tony. Kash dropkicks a ladder into Rude Boy on the floor. Kash kicks a chair into Dope’s head and Dope falls to the floor. ICP music and lights flickering happens again.

Dope has the ladder around his neck and uses it to hit the opponents. J with a Death Valley Driver on Gilbertti. Kash and Tony trade a few pin attempts. Tony spikes Kash with a reverse piledriver for a two count. Young is driven down with a double suplex. Monty Brown enters the ring and hammers away on ICP and Tony. Brown powerbombs Tony onto the ladder and Kash hit a frog splash onto Tony leading to a three count. (*. This was not a good match and the stipulation made very little sense to me. It’s great to see Monty Brown back even if the partnership with Gilbertti and company is bizarre.)

A video package promoting Chris Harris vs. Jeff Jarrett for next week is shown.

Final Thoughts:
The tournament was awful, but I’m just not a fan of repetitive matches. They are really building into Harris vs. Jarrett and I’m not sure if Harris has to win it or if they can drag it out a bit longer. It’s a skippable week unless you’re into the X-Cup format.

Thanks for reading.