NWA-TNA Xplosion
Date: 8/30/2003
From: Nashville, TN
Jeremy Borash and Mike Tenay host the show and promote the 10-man cage match taking place next Wednesday on pay per view. It is known as Wednesday Bloody Wednesday.
MATCH #1: THE HARRIS BROTHERS VS. NATE WEBB & KAMIKAZE KEN
NOTE: Kid Kamikaze is better known as Ken Anderson.
FINISH: Harris Brothers win following the H-Bomb on Webb.
Bob’s Take: Webb took a nice bump taking a big boot doing a shooting star press bump. Ken backdropped Webb over the top onto the Harris Brothers and got a chair smashed into his face for his troubles. If the Harris Brothers were used solely in enhancement matches then I think there would be value in their existence in TNA. Maybe if they had the mindset that their opponents were always enhancement guys would make their matches better. It’s one of their better matches I have watched simply from entertainment perspective. They are good at being bullies.
Match Rating: **
A video package highlighting Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger winning the NWA Tag Team Championships from America’s Most Wanted is shown. Gilbertti assisted with a chair shot on James Storm. Dusty Rhodes was not thrilled with this development and had his bullrope match with Gilbertti. Gilbertti won following Christopher Daniels interference.
Christopher Daniels cut a promo on Jeff Jarrett promoting the 10-man cage match where weapons will be hanging from the side. Daniels believes all he needs is his convictions. Daniels is fighting traditions and says he’s ending tradition. Daniels warns Jarrett to say his prayers.
MATCH #2: JONNY STORM VS. KID KASH
FINISH: Kash wins following a Coast To Coast somersault dropkick.
Bob’s Take: After countering each other for a bit, Storm hit a nice springboard somersault dive off the top to the floor onto Kash for a big spot. Kash responded with the Smash Mouth chair shot. Storm also hit a top rope head scissors as they are keeping a good pace and having fun action. Storm continues with a top rope hurricanrana. Kash hits an insane release top rope German suplex and a Coast To Coast somersault dropkick to finish it off. This is one of the better Xplosion matches to this point. It probably would have fit in perfectly on the PPV.
Match Rating: ***1/2
MAIN EVENT: THE GATHERING (CM PUNK & JULIO DINERO) VS. MATT SYDAL & ONYX
FINISH: Dinero holds Sydal in a powerbomb allowing Punk to hit a blockbuster for the win.
Bob’s Take: It is noted that Sydal isn’t teaming with Delirious. Tenay reports that Sydal recruited Onyx to get a bigger partner to compete and prove they deserve a spot on the pay per views. Onyx gets beaten up to start the match, which kind of shows that Sydal may have picked a bad partner. Interestingly, Daizee Haze is in the corner of Sydal and Onyx. Onyx showed his strength by press slamming Sydal onto Dinero. Punk has some good fire and seemed to be more flying offense than I’ve seen him do before. The finish was strong and the action was good throughout. Sydal is a ton of fun and needs to be a regular on PPV.
Match Rating: **1/2
The show features a lengthy video package highlighting Raven vs. AJ Styles and the announcement of the War Games match taking place on PPV.
Outside, Dusty Rhodes cuts a promo about the War Games match as he will be holding the key. Rhodes suggests the fans not miss the PPV.
Backstage, America’s Most Wanted cut a promo about tradition and they are fighting for tradition. Harris says they know something about cage matches. Storm chimes in and says Diamond and Swinger have the tag titles to give them bragging rights, but the bragging will be over on Wednesday.
Backstage, D’Lo Brown says he is going to find out who is down with the brown.
Backstage, Shane Douglas cuts a promo saying ten men enter and Douglas promises that Raven will get his ass franchised.
Final Thoughts:
A good episode this week for Xplosion as the matches were all entertaining and the hype for War Games put a great focus on the big match. Storm vs. Kash is a hidden gem of a match on Xplosion.
Thanks for reading.