Written by: Bob Colling
National Wrestling Alliance/Total Non-Stop Action presents Weekly PPV #100
Date: 6/23/2004
From: Nashville, TN
This is the second anniversary show for NWA-TNA!
Opening Contest: NWA Tag Team Champions America’s Most Wanted vs. Miyamoto & Nosawa: Storm and Miyamoto kickoff the tag title match. They both try dropkicks but neither man connects. Harris tags in to try his luck with Miyamoto. Harris comes off the ropes with a shoulder block and delivers a clothesline to counter a hip toss. Nosawa tags into the bout and dropkicks Harris followed by a shining wizard. Nosawa misses a clothesline as Harris delivers a slam and Storm tagged in to deliver a dropkick. Nosawa kicks Storm and Storm comes back with a kick to the head. Miyamoto enters the match and is slammed by Storm. Miyamoto takes Storm out with a crossbody to the floor. Miyamoto decks Storm with a right hand and tags in Nosawa. Nosawa stomps on Storm to keep control of the contest. Nosawa knocks Harris on the apron and sends Storm to the floor to maintain the advantage. Storm is sent into the ring post. Nosawa stomps on Storm followed by a seated dropkick to the back. Nosawa tags in Miyamoto coming off the top with an axe handle. Storm head scissors Miyamoto and a sit down powerbomb causing both men to be down on the mat.
Harris and Nosawa are tagged in and Harris delivers a few strikes and a clothesline. Harris powerslams Nosawa out of the corner, but Miyamoto makes the save on the cover attempt. Harris plants Miyamoto with a full nelson slam, but Nosawa hits a spinning heel kick for a two count. Storm powerslams Nosawa for a two count as Miyamoto makes the save. Harris spears Miyamoto sending him to the floor. Storm superkicks Nosawa and the champs play to the crowd. They go for the Death Sentence and hit it on Nosawa for the clean win. (**1/4. The action had a good pace to it and the teams worked fairly well together. I enjoyed the match to kickoff the show as it was better than I expected it to be.) After the match, AMW are attacked by the Naturals with chair shots on the aisle once again. The Naturals put lipstick on Harris and Storm.
Backstage, Scott Hudson is with Kid Kash and Dallas. Kash will not be wrestling AJ Styles tonight due his broken leg. Kash says he’s wrestled for fifteen years injured. Kash believes that this proves favoritism towards Styles. Hudson tries to defend NWA for protecting Kash. Kash doesn’t need protection and has Dallas if he needs it. Kash wants his X-Division Championship back around his waist. Kash will do whatever it takes to regain the gold. Kash says that Styles time is running thin. Kash doesn’t care who the opponent is for Styles tonight because they aren’t Kid Kash.
A vignette promoting the mystery opponent for AJ Styles, which is a weird video with the words “See You In The Future.” The voice over audio makes it kind of obvious as to who it is.
Second Contest: Trinity vs. Desire in a stretcher match: Trinity attacks Desire before the bell for the cheap advantage. Trinity shoulder rams Desire in the corner a few times and delivers chops. Desire elbows Trinity in the corner and tackles Trinity with a spear followed by right hands. Desire decks Trinity with a forearm strike and more chops in the corner. Desire chops Trinity in the corner several times. Desire spin kicks Trinity followed by a clothesline over the top to the floor. Trinity is not happy on the floor. Desire sends Trinity into the guard railing back first. Trinity forearms Desire on the floor and delivers strikes to the back of Desire. Trinity puts Desire on the stretcher and mounts her for some more brawling. Desire fights back with blows on the floor. Desire takes Trinity over with a snap suplex on the aisle. Desire rolls Trinity down the aisle, but Trinity smashes Desire with a chair shot. Trinity sends Desire face first into the ring steps. Trinity misses a splash off the apron and hits the railing chest first. Trinity is put onto the stretcher and Desire rams the stretcher into the railing. They brawl in the crowd where Trinity tackles Desire and continues with right hands. Trinity sets a table up by the balcony, but security put Desire on the stretcher, but Trinity wants Desire on the table. Trinity puts Desire on the table and goes up to the balcony. Trinity misses a leg drop and crashes through the table. Security put Trinity on the stretcher and Desire pushes Trinity outside the venue. The ambulance door opens, but it’s Big Vito! Vito knocked Desire out with the door. Vito is directing security to put Desire on the stretcher. They naturally put her on the stretcher incorrectly and Desire is loaded into the ambulance to give Trinity the win. (*1/2. The match as a bit silly because the girls needed security to put the other on the stretcher throughout the match. Big Vito entering the company isn’t going to move the needle by any means, but I’m actually surprised it took two years to bring him in. At least we’ll get a fresh matchup between Vito and the combination of Kenney/Siaki, I’m sure.)
Backstage, Scott Hudson is with Vince Russo, who is sporting two black eyes. Russo says that if the guitar is used tonight there will be a disqualification on the spot. Russo will not stand for what happened to Dusty Rhodes. Russo states the title can change hands on disqualifications and that will happen if Jarrett uses it. Hudson asks Russo who the mystery opponent is for Styles, but Russo is only focused on the NWA World Championship. Russo will not comment on the mystery opponent for Styles.
There’s another vignette promoting the mystery man. It’s the same video from earlier in the evening.
Third Contest: Scott D’Amore vs. Jerry Lynn: D’Amore demands a DQ because of a closed fist and is trying to find a way out of the match against Lynn. D’Amore misses a strike, but gets a cheap shot because the referee stops Lynn from using a closed fist. D’Amore chokes Lynn and delivers strikes in the corner. Lynn arm drags D’Amore a few times and tries for the cradle piledriver, but D’Amore bails to the floor. D’Amore confronts Tenay saying that he likes this. D’Amore returns to the match and clubs away on Lynn, but Lynn battles back with right hands. D’Amore cuts Lynn off quickly and keeps a side headlock on Lynn. D’Amore eye rakes Lynn, but Lynn fires back with a few right hands only to be stopped by D’Amore. Lynn backdrops D’Amore coming off the ropes and tries for a cradle piledriver, but D’Amore rolls to the floor. D’Amore walks up the aisle, but Lynn chases D’Amore down and rolls D’Amore into the ring. D’Amore decks Lynn to regain control of the contest. Lynn ducks a clothesline and head scissors D’Amore coming off the ropes. The referee stops Lynn in the corner and D’Amore nails Lynn with a strike from behind to get the advantage. D’Amore chokes Lynn on the mat.
Lynn boots D’Amore in the corner, but D’Amore stops Lynn with a jawbreaker. D’Amore goes back to choking Lynn over the ropes. D’Amore elbows Lynn on the apron and Lynn delivers a leg drop over the ropes. D’Amore drops Lynn throat first over the top rope. D’Amore climbs the ropes coming off the top rope to hit a flying clothesline for a near fall. D’Amore connects with a leg drop and taunts the crowd. D’Amore hits another leg drop followed by a standing fist drop for a near fall. D’Amore avoids a kick to the head, but Lynn plants D’Amore with a bulldog. Lynn and D’Amore trade strikes in the ring until Lynn delivers a kick and a clothesline followed by a swinging neckbreaker. Lynn spikes D’Amore with a tornado DDT. Lynn tries for the cradle piledriver, but D’Amore backdrops Lynn to the mat. Lynn plants D’Amore with a reverse DDT for a near fall. D’Amore puts a cobra clutch on Lynn and hits a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. D’Amore heads to the top hitting a moonsault for a near fall. D’Amore grabs the hockey stick, but the referee stops D’Amore. D’Amore sends the referee into the corner and Lynn hits a side Russian leg sweep, but there’s no referee. D’Amore nails Lynn with the hockey stick, but Lynn kicks out at two! Lynn gets out of the TKO and manages to spike D’Amore with the cradle piledriver for the clean win. (*. The booking for this is absurd. They made Lynn look like a goof for struggling to wrestle a manager. For this to go fifteen minutes is ridiculous. I think this sets Lynn backwards quite a bit and he’ll need to be booked a lot stronger to be seen as a threat in the division. I absolutely hate the booking here.) After the match, Eric Young attacks Lynn until Chris Sabin comes down and spikes Young with a tornado DDT. Petey Williams runs into the ring and beats on Sabin. Elix Skipper plants Williams with a powerslam, but Bobby Roode gets involved, too. Christopher Daniels cleans house with a hockey stick.
Backstage, Scott Hudson hypes up the mystery opponent some more. Hudson brings in Gilbertti and Swinger, but they don’t want to come into the scene. They are dressed the same as they were last week. Swinger seems to have embraced his coconut bra. Gilbertti refuses to wear the leprechaun outfit. David Young enters the scene to talk to Gilbertti. Young thinks they can help each other. Young says people are making fun of Gilbertti. Gilbertti likes the idea of double or nothing. Gilbertti challenges Kenney and Siaki to a double or nothing match next week. Gilbertti is going to help Young get that one win. They walk off to discuss the idea.
The same vignette promoting the mystery opponent against AJ Styles taking place later tonight is shown.
Fourth Contest: Mascarita Sagrada vs. Mini Pierroth: Since this has zero to do with TNA storylines and it’s a one-off match I’m not going to focus on the match. Sagrada won the match with a rollup. After the match, David Young comes into the ring looking for his first win. Young beats on Sagrada with right hands and a scoop slam. Young wants a pin, but the referee refuses. Young shoves the referee down and beats on Sagrada some more. Pierroth tries to help and Young hits a snap suplex. Young shoves the referee down again. D-Ray 3000 comes out and hammers away on Young. Young plants D-Ray with a spinebuster. Young has his ass bitten by Sagrada and Pierroth. Posey dropkicks Young and the fans exploded for that. Posey counts all three men on top of Young and that’s another loss for Young.
We see footage from Impact where D’Lo Brown attacked Dallas and Kid Kash to save AJ Styles. Brown issued a challenge to the winner of Jarrett/Killings tonight because he wants a title shot.
Backstage, Scott Hudson is with D’Lo Brown for an interview. Brown puts over Styles for regaining the X-Division Championship and Brown has his eyes on the prize. The prize is the NWA World Championship. Brown is going to challenge the winner fo the main event. Monty Brown attacks D’Lo Brown from behind and says that he will be the next NWA World Champion.
The mystery opponent for AJ Styles is revealed as being…. JEFF HARDY!
Fifth Contest: NWA X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy: They trade holds on the mat for the early moments of the contest. Hardy pops out of a head scissors and they have a standoff. Styles drops Hardy with a forearm strike, but Hardy fires back with strikes. Hardy clotheslines Styles for a two count. Styles chops Hardy into the ropes. Styles chops Hardy and they have a standoff. Styles continues to strike Hardy and drops him to the mat. Styles nails Hardy with a dropkick as Hardy comes off the ropes for a two count. Styles stomps on Hardy’s knee, but Hardy kicks Styles to the floor. Hardy baseball slides Styles into the railing followed by a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Hardy rolls Styles into the ring and keeps control. Styles kicks Hardy on the apron followed by a springboard forearm smash. Hardy hits a wheelbarrow suplex and nearly pins Styles after a leg drop. Hardy slams Styles and goes to the top rope. Hardy misses Styles, but lands on his feet. Styles crotches Hardy on the top rope. Hardy takes Styles out with the Whisper in the Wind. Kid Kash and Dallas enter the ring and attack Styles to cause the match to be thrown out. Kash and Dallas double team Styles. Hardy fights them off with a chair shot, but Dallas stops Hardy until Styles beats on Dallas with a chair shot over the back. Hardy heads to the top rope hitting the Swanton Bomb onto Dallas to end the segment. (NR. I’m not going to rate this because it’s essentially a bait and switch. The crowd was hyped for it, but to provide the cheap finish is a major disappointment and deflated the crowd it felt like. I’m sure this will lead to a tag match at some point. Don’t book matches if you can’t have a finish to them.)
Backstage, Shane Douglas says we’re going to see something that shocks us. Douglas has a doll hanging. Some guy enters the scene and says that Sabu has to do the right thing. It would appear he’s giving Sabu permission to break the promise. His name was Mickey Boyles.
Vince Russo comes down to the ring with a referee and they are looking under the ring looking for guitars. Russo ends up finding a guitar and walks off with it. Larry Zbyszko walks up to Russo with a guitar and says that was too easy to find the guitar suggesting something else is around the ring. Mike Posey goes under the ring completely and has another guitar. Jarrett is not happy about that. Zbyszko and Russo break the guitars and Russo wants Jarrett to win the match straight up.
Main Event: NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Ron Killings: Jarrett backs Killings into a corner and they drop to the mat, but neither man get control of the match. Killings shoulder blocks Jarrett and taunts the champ. Killings arm drags Jarrett to the floor as the champ stalls for some time. Killings chases Jarrett into the ring and Jarrett stomps on Killings to keep control of the contest. Killings hip tosses Jarrett followed by an arm drag. Jarrett bails to the floor to regroup and walks up the aisle. Killings drop toe holds Jarrett and rams Jarrett into the corner a few times. Killings connects with a leg drop for a near fall. Jarrett dumps Killings to the apron and delivers a right hand. Jarrett dropkicks Killings off the apron onto the railing. Jarrett grabs a chair and whacks Killings over the back a few times. The chair is broken over Killings back. Jarrett sends Killings into the railing ribs first and onto the announcers table. They go to the legends table where Killings lays Jarrett onto the table. Killings climbs the lighting scaffold, but Jarrett jabs Killings a few times with the chair. Jarrett hits the Stroke off the stage through the legends table! Jarrett wants a count out, but Killings returns to the ring.
Jarrett misses a clothesline, but avoids a kick and locks in the figure four in the middle of the ring. Killings rolls over and Jarrett reaches the ropes. BG James is sent backstage as is Konnan. Killings plants Jarrett with a sit out spinebuster. Killings heel kicks Jarrett, but Jarrett comes back with a clothesline for a two count. Jarrett sends Killings into the corner and sits Killings on the middle rope. Killings avoids the Stroke and hits a second rope bulldog for a near fall! Killings drives Jarrett down to the mat with a front suplex. Killings goes to the middle rope and misses a scissors kick. Killings puts Jarrett on the top rope and hits the Muscle Buster! Killings tries for the cover, but Jarrett kicks out at two. Jarrett drops Killings over the top rope and collides with the referee. Jarrett nails Killings with the championship, but Killings kicks out at two! Killings nails the referee with a flying forearm smash. Jarrett had a guitar hiding under the ring steps. Jarrett enters the ring with the guitar, but Killings blocks the guitar shot. Killings kicks Jarrett and smashes Jarrett with the guitar! Killings has the cover and pins Jarrett to win the match and title! (**3/4. It’s a solid match and they did enough big spots to hold my interest, but the finish would make it seem as if Killings would be DQ’d for using the guitar since that’s illegal in the match. Killings isn’t the top guy to be in this spot at this point and it’s a subpar main event for the anniversary show.) After the match, Vince Russo comes into the ring and talks to the referees. Jarrett is begging for the right decision to be made. However, Dusty Rhodes appears on the aisle. Rhodes says there’s a right and wrong decision and we’ll find out on Impact on Friday.
Final Thoughts:
An interesting choice to build to your TV show instead of providing a conclusive finish on pay per view. The main takeaway from the show isn’t that it’s a strong show full of action, because it lacks a lot of solid wrestling. A couple of the matches were good, but it’s not enough to lead to a recommendation. The main takeaway instead is the debut of Jeff Hardy and the title controversy that will be settled of their TV show. Compared to their first anniversary show, this was a step backward and not nearly as compelling.
Thanks for reading.