NWA-TNA presents Xplosion
Date: 11/30/2002
From: Nashville, TN
Matches:
1.) The Harris Brothers (Ron & Don) defeated Derrick King & Flex
2.) Alan Funk defeated Rick Santel
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) This is the first episode of Xplosion to have feature matches strictly aired for the show. The previous eight episodes consisted of the show being a recap of the previous weeks weekly PPV. That is a heavy focus on here, as well. Xplosion is best compared to what Heat, Velocity and Metal/Jakked were to the WWF/E.
2.) Bert Prentice and Jeremy Borash host the program.
3.) Harris Brothers send King and Flex to the floor to start the match and ram them into the ring steps face first. Ron shoulder rams King in the corner followed by a couple of clotheslines in the corner. Ron continues with a suplex and tags in Don. King runs into a double big boot followed by a spinebuster from Don. King avoids a splash in the corner and tags in Flex. Flex strikes Don, but Don delivers a swinging neckbreaker and tags in Ron. Flex arm drags Ron a few times and Ron is met with a double clothesline. Ron big boots Flex and tosses King through the ropes to the floor. Ron chest thrusts Flex to the mat. King tags into the match and runs into the H-Bomb leading to the three count. (*. If the Harris Brothers are kept to doing squash matches they are probably tolerable.)
4.) Bert and Borash chat at ringside and talk to a fan at ringside. Michael says Russo has done a lot for the business. Trent chimes in and says Russo is the worst thing to happen to professional wrestling.
5.) BG James is interviewed by Borash at ringside. James grabs a replica championship and jokes that he’s finally a champion. Borash notes that BG wore a mask when he first arrived on September 19th. BG hopes more people recognized him instead of Russo. BG considers this a second chance for him in wrestling and it has been exciting. BG is happy to be in TNA. BG says there’s a lot of history between himself and Jarrett wrestling in that same building for the USWA. BG is thankful to be spending time with his family considering his past.
6.) Funk hammers away on Santel, but Santel hits a leaping forearm and a head scissors. Funk counters a head scissors and drops Santel face first to the mat. Funk pummels Santel on the mat and hits a middle rope axe handle. Funk drops Santel gut first over the top rope and delivers another strike. Funk scoop slams Santel, but only gets a one count. Funk punches Santel to the mat and continues with right hands on the mat. Funk kicks Santel followed by an overhand strike over the back. Funk gouges Santel’s face and threatens the referee in the corner. Funk spikes Santel with a piledriver to win the match. (*. Funk is no longer Bruce. Interestingly, Funk would not have another match in TNA so the character change didn’t lengthen his career in TNA.)
7.) Bert Prentice discusses the death of Billy Joe Travis.
Final Thoughts:
I am looking forward to watching Xplosion as it’s a show I’ve been wanting to watch for many, many years. The feature matches weren’t anything to brag about, but the flow of the show was good and they promoted the key feuds that should get attention. They also showed full matches from the previous weeks PPV, and the major matches at that.
Thanks for reading.