Total Non-Stop Action presents Xplosion
Date: 5/17/2003
From: Nashville, TN
Jeremy Borash and Mike Tenay host the program this week. Borash seems to have a bad microphone. They promote the recent happenings where Glen Gilbertti has become a top challenger for the NWA World Championship held by Jeff Jarrett.
MATCH #1: KONNAN VS. MASADA
FINISH: Konnan wins with the Tequila Sunrise to force a submission.
Bob’s Take: Yes, that’s the same Masada that gained a following with his death match wrestling. There wasn’t much crowd interest seemingly for Konnan and his attitude focusing on racial injustice. Konnan hit the classic spots that you’d see in WCW, so there’s that. Aside from that, there’s not much going on here.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #2: JUSTIN CREDIBLE VS. JACEY NORTH
FINISH: Credible picks up the win with That’s Incredible.
Bob’s Take: The Asylum gave a good reaction to Justin Credible, and they must love ECW which would explain the influx of all the ECW talent in recent months. Credible delivered one of the sloppiest looking spinning DDTs and looked as if he didn’t want to put forth the effort to finish the move. There were a couple of close falls for North, but Credible stopped that with a superkick late in the match. Credible got a better reaction here than a lot of the guys they use, which is interesting to see.
Match Rating: *1/2
MAIN EVENT: LOW-KI VS. DAGON BIGGS
NOTE: Dagon Biggs has a female manager with him named Seven. She does not look overly confident being out in front of a crowd.
FINISH: Ki forces a submission with a dragon sleeper after a handspring kick in the corner.
Bob’s Take: Biggs wasn’t dominated throughout the match, which surprised me. Biggs delivered a tree of woe spear, which was kind of unique to see. I was not expecting a back and forth bout between these two. After a few weeks of one-sided matches, this is the kind of match that I want to see on Xplosion. Biggs had some shine, but the TNA talent goes over. It makes everyone look good. Also, Low-Ki beating up enhancement guys is an enjoyable segment.
Match Rating: **1/4
Final Thoughts:
They spent a good portion of the show promoting the mayhem between SEX and TNA as Gilbertti is the latest top heel to try and win the championship. It’s not the worst thing to have happened shockingly. I enjoyed the episode this week as the crowd dug Justin Credible and the main event was fun, too. Xplosion needs to be more like this and not feature clipped matches or complete squashes.
Thanks for reading.