NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #23

December 4, 2002

 

They show us what takes place after the show went off the air last week. Killings and Russo are rolling around the ring brawling as the Harris Brothers break it up. They push Russo around a bit and drag him away as Russo is dropping F-Bombs. Jarrett was standing in the ring, not saying a word.

 

Your hosts are Don West and Mike Tenay.

 

The bagpipes play and Roddy Piper eventually comes out. He signals for the music to be cut off and grabs the mic. He is accompanied by a young guy with a “Hot Rod” shirt. Tenay mentions how he is on a book tour as Piper introduces himself to the crowd. He says TNA is the last place that Russo has
not killed. Piper says Russo grew up to be a 300lbs “hump of thing” dreaming to become a wrestler. Piper said he failed but became a sports entertainer. Piper says that he will kill the dreams of the younger wrestlers in the locker room. The crowd chants as he shows a photo of himself as a young wrestler from his book. He tells Russo he will “shoot” and says that Russo is the Bin Laden of pro wrestling, not the anti-Christ as he claimed last week. He then brings up how Russo was responsible for Owen Hart’s death. Yes, he really said that. He says that he is Owen’s cousin (They are both Canadian and Piper was trained by Stu but they were not blood related) and that goes over the heads of the audience. He takes off his coat as the crowd chants. He has ten dead wrestlers listed on his back and a black armband. He says unless you’re idea of a good time is a 325 lbs Samoan in a thong rubbing his ass on someone’s face, then Russo must be stopped.  He calls out Russo, who sneaks in from behind. Russo backs into the corner and Piper asks him if he killed Owen Hart. He then asks him how he bankrupted WCW so quickly and Russo stick up for himself and orders Piper away. Piper won’t back down and this goes on too long and is getting into some really uncomfortable territory. Piper says that he sent Russo a tape to turn around WCW then tells him that he is killing wrestling and needs to go away. The Harris Twins come out and tell Russo to leave. Piper teases him as the Harris’ hold him back. Piper says the shoot interview is coming Friday night and leaves the ring. Piper was unscripted here and had to deliver a formal apology after the show as these comments were not cleared by TNA management. This entire segment just left a really bad taste in your mouth. 

 

 

West runs down tonight’s show:

 

Amazing Red vs. Kid Kash vs. EZ Money vs. AJ Styles in a double elimination match

Spanish Announce Team vs. Divine Storm

 

 

Tenay says that the planned Lynn vs. Siaki match is postponed due to Lynn suffering an injury. The crowd is starting a “Russo Sucks” chant.

 

 

Spanish Announce Team vs. Divine Storm w/Trinity

 

Jose and Quiet Storm start off trading some unimpressive looking stuff as Tenay puts over Trinity’s work as a stuntwoman. Storm and Jose then engage in an over-choreographed spot where they both try the same move on each other and miss. Devine and Storm tag in and trade off some stuff until Jose grabs the advantage with an ugly looking rana. He gets in some shots and they do a rollup reversal that leads with Divine going over the ropes. Jose gets elevated by Joel and hits Divine with a somersault tope. Storm flip dives onto the SAT’s then Trinity hits a moonsault onto Joel. In the ring, the SAT’s double team Devine. The SAT’s then do a double submission hold onto Quiet Storm in a contrived looking spot that has the fans applauding. Joel chops Devine as Tenay is still in shock over Piper. Slingshot legdrop by Jose gets two. Devine comes back with a baseball slide and hits a Fisherman’s Neckbreaker for two. Storm tags and he and Joel end up colliding nutsack-first when they attempt to dropkick each other. Never seen that one before. Joel hits Storm with a missile dropkick. He gets two off a powerslam on Devine. Storm lands on his feet off a German suplex attempt but gets caught in the Maximo Overdrive (Backbreaker into a Pedigree) which is broken up by Devine. He hits Joel with a DVD that Jose breaks up. Storm runs into the elbow of Jose but catches him and hits the Storm Cradle Driver and gets two after Joel breaks that up. Storm heads up top but the SAT’s cut him off. They set up for the Spanish Fly but Trinity knocks Jose off and Devine rolls him up for the win (7:33) *1/4.

 

Thoughts: For two teams that supposedly had wrestled each other numerous times, they showed nothing here. It didn’t help matters any that this all seemed extremely choreographed. Also, Chris Divine is terrible. He screws up a lot of stuff in the ring. Trinity is the main focus of Divine Storm and her dives look good anyway but the team itself is rather unimpressive..

 

 

Ron Killings plugs the TNA Auction, stating how the chance to manage him is at $1,000.

 

 

After Chris Harris comes into the ring for his match, Russo comes in and tells Harris he has no problem with him and that he is here to help. Russo brings up Piper, stating he is not stupid and will not get sued for defamation of character. He tells Piper he will go straight to hell for mentioning Owen Hart to sell his book. Russo tells the crowd the NWA does not give a “Shit” about them because they are old. A “Russo Sucks” chant breaks out and Russo threatens Jeremy Borash, who responds with a middle finger. Russo says the crowd wants violence, blood, vulgar language, smut, nudity, and sex. Russo says that today is the birth of Sports Enterainment Extreme. He says they will appreciate him as they do not know what they want and he will give it to them. He brings attention to all of the signs for Athena. He then asks why we do not get to see Athena if signs are all over the place on a weekly basis. She was the girl who would take the wrestlers jackets and costumes back to the locker room Athena comes into the ring and is over with the crowd. Russo asks Athena how she feels about the signs every week, but he cuts her off as the crowd starts a “Show your tits” chants. Russo tells Athena to show her tits to the crowd and she refuses. Russo says he sees bigger tits on Dusty Rhodes and calls her a wench. Athena slaps him and Russo grabs her, calling her a whore. Russo slaps her around lightly and the Harris Twins comes out and separate the two. He calls the Harris’s “Glorified Bouncers” who are now office help. Russo orders Ron to speak his mind, calling TNA a “piece of shit” company who is sick of the “old man in his ivory tower” running the company. The Harris’s then hit Athena with the H Bomb a few times until security clears the ring. This show did not need another long-winded segment, especially one that showed a woman getting bullied and destroyed.

 

 

Bob Armstrong is with the Harris’s backstage and they fight over contract issues as they will face Jeff Jarrett & Ron Killings tonight. Bob brings up the snake and the grass story and tells it in typical Southern fashion as Ron calls it “NWA Bullshit.” There has already been way too much of the Harris brothers tonight and the show isn’t even at the halfway point.

 

 

Chris Harris is yelling at Tenay and he also is sick of the “bullshit.” Guess that it’s the word of the day. Tenay says that this is what Russo does as the camera zooms in on his scowl.

 

 

“Wildcat” Chris Harris vs. Brian Lee w/New Church

 

Per last week’s stipulations, the winner of this match will be in the Bullrope match later on in the show with Father James Mitchell. Lee and Harris brawl on the ramp when the lights come back. Lee suplexes Harris then they brawl near the table Harris almost knocks down Tenay after lunging at Lee. Harris with some really hard chops but Lee rolls him in the ring. Suplex by Harris gets two. Lee regains control and drops a knee. Slash cheapshots Harris as Lee chokes him out with his foot.   Lee hits a pair of awful looking elbow drops and flips of James Storm, who came down to the ring. Lee goes up top but misses a kneedrop. Thesz press by Harris and he follows that with a clothesline. Bulldog by Harris and Belladonna and Mitchell jump on the apron. Harris tries to hit Belladonna with the catatonic but Lee breaks that up with a big boot, getting two. The ref is stil distracted and as Lee looks for the spike, Harris hits him with a spear for the win (5:12) ½*.

 

Thoughts: Lee had a really bad match here. Speaking of Lee, he seems to be getting skinnier by the week. So far it is Harris against Mitchell in the Bullrope match.

 

 

Backstage, Killings is yelling at Bob Armstrong about getting a shot at Russo. Armstrong says that the road to Russo is getting to the Harris Boys and asks him to team with Jarrett against them tonight.

 

 

James Storm vs. Slash w/New Church

 

The match starts when Slash runs into the ring and attacks Storm. Storm gets an enziguiri then two off of a powerslam. Storm escapes from the Helicopter Slam but runs into a boot. Slash stomps him in the corner and hits a suplex, getting two. He gets a back elbow smash and tosses him to the floor. Lee flings him into the guardrail. He rolls him back inside and Slash covers, getting two. Storm escapes from a chinlock. He runs into an elbow but breaks up an Eye of the Hurricane attempt and gets a superkick. After both men are down, Storm gets tossed but skins the cat and comes back with flying headscissors. Russian leg sweep gets two. Belladonna breaks up a swinging noose attempt and distracts the ref, allowing Slash to throw Powder into the eyes of Storm. Neckbreaker gets two as the New Church can’t believe that Storm has kicked out. Slash rolls through a crossbody attempt getting two. Belladonna slides a chair into the ring but Storm blocks a move and hits the Swinging Noose on the chair, getting two. Lee tries to come in but Harris hits him with a spear. Slash gets two off of a beltshot. Storm gets floatover and AMW gets the Death Sentence behind the refs back and Storm covers getting the win. (6:23) **1/4.

 

Thoughts: A good little match between the two. Slash is easily the best worker of the New Church team. This feud is really the only one of note going on right now.  AMW will take on Mitchell in the Bullrope Match tonight and Mitchell doesn’t seem too worried.

 

 

Tenay and West go over the rules for the Bullrope Match between AMW and James Mitchell.

 

 

Jerry Lynn is plugging the TNA Auction to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. You can win a date with him as his first wife died of breast cancer and he would like to raise money for awareness. Poor guy.

 

 

Bob Armstrong is asking Killings and Jarrett to fight together for the good of the company. Jarrett is still silent as no one knows where he stands. He tells Killings to be ready for the fight of his life. The whole angle about where Jarrett’s allegiance lies

 

 

Double Elimination Match

EZ Money vs. Kid Kash vs. AJ Styles vs. Joel Maximo

 

Styles jumped Red from behind on the ramp and hits him with the Styles Clash so Joel Maximo was named as a substitute. Joel and Kash start off. They do some counters and Kash hits a springboard sunset flip then baseball slides Joel to the floor. Kash slingshots out and hits a rana but AJ nails him with a forearm. He rolls both men into the ring and Joel covers Kash, getting two. Kash hits a gutbuster and stretches Joel out across his knees. Moonsault block gets two. Joel comes back with a German suplex and gets the pin (2:38). AJ comes in and roughs up Joel. He gets an enziguiri and goes for the Styles Clash but Joel fights it off. AJ hits the Phenomenon and that gets two. Joel lands on the apron off a backdrop but AJ blocks his sunset flip attempt and hits the Kryptonite Krunch for the pin (4:10). EZ comes in and him and AJ do an awesome reversal sequence that ends with EZ catching a spinning heel kick attempt and turning it into a sitout powerbomb, getting two. German suplex by EZ and Styles is in the corner. AJ escapes the running basement dropkick and EZ falls to the floor. EZ flips into the ring but is met with a dropkick. EZ blocks the Styles Clash and gets the Money in the Bank (Sunset Driver) for two. I love that move. EZ then hits the Cha-ching for the pin (6:02). Kash runs in and gets a few armdrags. EZ gets two off a spin kick then Kash comes back and royally fucks up a double springboard rana. Bank Roll gets two. EZ catches Kash in a wheelbarrow and hits a full nelson bomb, getting two. EZ looks tired out there. He heads up top but is crotched by Kash, who also climbs up top. EZ goes for a super powerbomb but Kash reverses that into a rana in midair and that only gets two. Kash shoves the ref, who shoves him back. They go to a replay as AJ kicks Kash as he comes off the ropes and EZ covers for the pin, eliminating Kash (8:51). AJ shoves Joel off the apron and hits EZ with the Styles Clash for the pin (9:01). Joel comes in and stomps AJ. He chops him against the ropes and an Irish whip sequence ends with a nice looking dropkick from AJ. Brainbuster gets two. AJ goes for the deathlock as the crowd starts a “Nerd” chant directed towards Plumtree. AJ chops Joel hard in the corner as West is pissed that Amazing Red is not in this match. Joel ducks a corner charge and hits a back suplex, getting two. Joel gets tossed to the floor and Plumtree gets in a few stomps. AJ beats on Joel outside of the ring and rolls him inside. Tope con Hilo gets two. They engage in a chopping battle and Joel loses that. AJ gets caught in a sitout powerbomb, which gets two. Suplex by Joel gets two. Figure Four necklock by Joel as the announcers mention how EZ is getting a long rest. AJ comes back with a spinning heel kick and that gets two. Facebuster gets two. Out of nowhere, Joel fights back and turns a tilt-a-whirl into a rollup for the pin, eliminating Styles (17:11). EZ comes in and they do a rollup reversal sequence. Superkick by EZ gets two. Joel runs into a clothesline and EZ gets a frogsplash from the top rope, getting two. Joel tosses EZ from the top rope and hits a moonsault as the ref is busy with Styles and Plumtree. Basement dropkick by Joel but AJ hits him on the back with a chair and that allows EZ to hit the EZ Driver for the win (19:15) ***.

 

Thoughts: Good action, although it did drag a bit during the lengthy Joel/AJ portion. They gave Joel a bit of a push here, letting him eliminate AJ and last until the end. EZ winning seemed predictable at the end and he looked fine. This should put him in the title hunt, although this was not billed as a #1 contender’s match.

 

 

Producer Keith Mitchell and director Mike Miller plug the TNA auction.

 

 

Tenay says that he has official word that Jarrett as agreed to team up with Killings tonight. West says that it is fantastic. Sure, West isn’t the greatest, but at least he is enthusiastic.

 

 

Goldylocks is with Sonny Siaki. He says that is doesn’t matter when he faces Lynn, as he is beating him for the X Division Title. Siaki is really not getting over at all.

 

 

Tenay brings out Jerry Lynn. He says that he has a partially torn pectoral muscle. The match against Siaki will take place next week. Lynn says they have unfinished business as the camera shows the Harris brothers bringing a table through the crowd into the ring. They have Bill Behrens on the table as Lynn runs down. They stop him and Ron powerbombs Lynn through the table. Killings comes down and fights the Harris Brothers. This fight goes on for a while and spills into the crowd. The Harris’ then continuosly kick a chair into the face of Killings then drag him up the stairs and toss him off the balcony and through a table. Trainers and security head out to check on Killings.

 

 

Jeff Jarrett plugs his auction item that has you spend the day with Jarrett at his lake house.

 

 

 

Goldylocks is out back with BG James and Bob Armstrong. Bob asks BG to put aside his differences with Jarrett and fight against Russo. BG calls him “dad” and goes to put on his gear. Looks like he will fill in for Killings.

 

 

Before the bullrope match, Mitchell comes out and says that his personal physician, Jack Kevorkian, told him he has double pneumonia and does not have medical clearance to go tonight but will have Belladonna fill in tonight. Storm shoves Belladonna down and go towards Mitchell but get attacked by Slash and Lee. They roll AMW back in the ring as Slash beats Storm with the cowbell. The ref clears the ring of Lee and Slash as AMW are laid out. Mitchell goes in the ring and says he is feeling a little bit better.

 

 

Bullrope Match

America’s Most Wanted vs. Belladonna

 

The bell rings with Mitchell putting the ropes on the wrists of AMW. He chokes out Storm with the rope then gauges the eyes of Harris. He beats on them with the cowbell then grabs the mic and invites Belladonna in the ring to finish the job. Belladonna goes to the top rope but Harris yanks her off and she goes flying, landing on her knee. That looked very painful. Storm hits the Eight Second ride and AMW knock Slash and Lee off the apron. The crowd is just about dead as Harris hits the Catatonic then they get the Death Sentence for the win (4:22) DUD. AMW then chase Mitchell up the ramp.

 

Thoughts: Some bait-and-switch stuff here. The match sucked and the crowd, which has been hot for this feud, was quiet during this segment.

 

 

West runs down next week’ show including:

 

Amazing Red vs. AJ Styles

Sonny Siaki vs. Jerry Lynn for the X Division Title

Curt Hennig vs. Jeff Jarrett for the TNA Heavyweight Title

 

 

Tenay in a pre-recorded interview with Curt Hennig. Curt tells Tenay he is the greatest athlete to come from Minnesota. Tenay brings up Sports Entertainment and asks his opinion about Russo. Curt says that Russo gave him a chance in WCW but he put the belt on an actor. Curt says that Jarrett is good, but not great and that he is great. Curt says that he is in the greatest shape of his life and brings up how he took down Lesnar on the plane. He then says that he is 35 years old and if he was a betting man, he would bet on himself. I don’t even know why they bothered pushing Hennig again as he has been a huge bust in TNA. Then again, the heavyweight division depth is extremely shallow.

 

 

BG’s music hits but he does not come out. The camera cuts to the backstage area where BG is on the ground with a few chairs on top of him.

 

 

Harris Brothers vs. Jeff Jarrett & BG James

 

The Harris’ attack Jarrett on the ramp. They beat on him some more as the crowd starts chanting for Jarrett. He comes back with a few chair shots but gets taken right back down. Ron tosses Jarrett into a row of chairs then Don bounces one off of his head. Jarrett’s second comeback is stopped short as they head towards the ring. They make it ringside and roll Jarrett inside. Sideslam by Ron and Don gets the big boot. Jarrett escapes from an H-Bomb attempt but runs into a double clothesline. Jarrett once again escapes an H-Bomb attempt and hits a double clothesline. The Truth is hobbling down the ramp with his ribs taped as Jarrett is using a chair on the Harris’. He gets taken off the apron as Jarrett hits the Stroke on Don for the win (5:11) ¼*. Jarrett tries to get Killings to come with him up the ramp as he is now asking for a mic. Killings says he wants Russo out here “Right damnit now” then he gets attacked by the Harris’. They bring him in the ring and hit the H-Bomb. Tenay begs for help from the back as Russo hops the guardrail and goes into the ring as Killings gets hit again with the H-Bomb. BG James runs out with a chair and Russo goes to the corner. He helps up Killings then hits him with a chair then catches Russo as he jumps into his arms. The camera then shows Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer) on the ramp as West actually refers to him as “The Paul Bearer.” Tenay is screaming as the show goes off the air.

 

 

Final Thoughts: This show was memorable for all of the wrong reasons. The Piper interview was uncomfortable to watch. Also, the segments with Athena and Belladonna getting beat up by men was a little much for one show. The crowd did not react to those segments. Speaking of the crowd, you can tell the crowd was burned out halfway through the show. There was way too much of the Harris Brothers and a stable including them, Vince Russo, and BG James as an nWo-style rip-off is just sad. The company has no direction other than attempts at shock value. The Jarrett storyline just seems dumb. He doesn’t talk when others ask him questions so I am supposed to be in suspense as to where his allegiance lies? The X Division 4 way was good, which was easily the highlight of this show.