NWA-TNA #2

NWA-TNA #2
06/26/2002 from Huntsville, Alabama, USA

After the first show NWA-TNA was off to a shaky start. The promotion wanted to pride itself on the tradition of the NWA, using it's world title and brand name, while at the same time pushing stupid gimmicks, midget wrestling, lingerie battle royals and country music stars. I don't think you can really have it both ways.

What was worse was that it did little to differentiate itself from WWE. If the audience wanted sleazy angles and matches based around stupid gimmicks they could just flip on Raw for free, and not have to pay whatever they were charging for the weekly PPVs.

With that said let's see if the second show was any better than the first, and if the company did anything to present itself as an alternative to the 'E.



OPENING SEGMENT:

Before I start I would like to say something about the intro to the show. It starts with an image of two traditional looking wrestlers grappling each other. Think Lou Thesz or Karl Gotch type. Then the image FUCKING EXPLODES and the NWA-TNA logo appears. That's pretty apt. It's like remember pro wrestling as it was in the heyday of the NWA's influence? FUCK THAT HERE'S SOME BEER 'N' TITTIES YEEEEEHAWWW.

Anyway the show starts with a recap of the Jeff Jarrett angles from last week. This dude is not just the center of the promotion but involved with multiple angles every week.

It should be noted that this was taped on the same night as the first show, so it will feature a lot of the same talent. So yes we are stuck with Ed Ferrara and Don West on commentary. This show is based around the lingerie battle royal("less skin to win" as West creepily puts it, even though you lose if you are stripped of your clothing so I don't know what he even means by this comment), Jarrett vs. Scott Hall and the highlight of the show, the crowning of a first every NWA X Champion. So there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Jarrett  comes out and says he wants his match to go first. Nothing like demanding to not be in the main event and the heel begging to get at his opponent. The psychology of this is completely backwards. Toby Keith comes out with Hall(along with Jackie Fargo) and he has his hands in his pockets becuase he has no idea what to do I guess.

Match #1: Jeff Jarrett vs. Scott Hall(w/ Jackie Fargo & Toby Keith)

Lots of stalling to start. Hall does his signature stuff like the fall away slam, clothesline over the top and his signature rally for the crowd. Hall gets Jarrett in the Razor/Outsider's Edge but K-Krush comes out and pulls Jarrett out of it. Looks like they are pushing an alliance with Jarrett and Krush. The ref is distracted with Fargo chasing Krush outside. Jarrett is about to the The Stroke to Hall but Keith comes in and low blows Jarrett, and Hall pins him. This was all to set up a tag match for next week with Hall & Brian Christopher vs. Jarrett & K-Krush. OK match to set up next week I guess. **

Next was a recap for the lingerie battle royal. I neglected to mention in my review of the first show that this is the debut of Mickie James(as Alexis Laree. A few years later she would become one of the best woman performers in the US.

Then came Cheex. He had a dark match last week and apparently broke the ring ropes(he is 450+ pounds) and put the entire show in jeopardy as it aired live and they had only a little time to fix the ring. The lucky fans in Huntsville got to witness two Cheex matches.

Match #2: Cheex(w/ Brown Eyed Girl) vs. Frank Parker

This was terrible. It must be hard to do anything with a guy the size of Cheex. Everything is really slow and shitty looking. Parker went for a sunset flip on Cheex, and Cheex just sat on him. Alicia(Ryan Shamrock) came out and talked to Jeremy Borash, and Borash gave her money. It's fine to air an angle but why do are they always pushing it in matches that are unrelated to it? The finish came when Cheex hit the ropes at .5 miles per hour and did a splash on Parker for the pin. This was bad beyond beleif. -*

They showed the long awaited recap of the Nascar stuff from last week that rocked the wrestling world. All these recaps are really long because no one bought the first week's show I presume.

Match #3: Brian Christopher(w/ Sterling Marlin & Hermie Sadler)

K-Krush danced on his way to the ring(which is weird since he's a heel, and heels don't normally dance or do anything to entertain a crowd) and his music sounded like a Fruity Loops demo for "hip hop". Christopher comes to the ring with the Nascar guys. This was a good fast paced match. Both guys are really solid and work well together. Cool sequence where Christopher slides under Krush's legs and then hits him with an enziguri. Krush hits an inverted atomic drop out of the corner and then goes out side to get at the Nascar duo. Marlin and Sadler crotch him on the middle rope. Christopher then hits the Hip Hop Drop(goggles and all) for the pin. Pretty fun match. ***

One of the problems with these first two shows is that there is way too much celebrity involvement. Multiple celebrities are in the corners of babyfaces and they both get involved with matches. It's pretty dumb, much like when a celebrity is involved with WWE.

Match #4: Valet Lingerie Battle Royal for a NWA-TNA Contract
Taylor Vaugh vs. Francine vs. Shannon vs. Tyler vs. Elektra vs. Alexis Laree vs. Erin vs. Joanie vs. Ms. Sasha

The valet's(none of them have yet to actually valet for a male wrestler yet) come out in full on pajama sets. The object of this match is to strip your opponents down to their undergarments. This match is also for a TNA contract, which at this point I have no idea why you would want, especially if you're a woman. Ferrara acts really horny on commentary and it's gross. This is just like some crap you would see on WWE at the time where the women are treated as sexual objects as opposed to athletes. Francine gets eliminted and starts crying, so Ferrara goes to console her. She undoes his belt and acts like she is about to blow him in front of everyone. She then whips him with his own belt. Taylor Vaugn wins when she pulls off someone's pants while they are holding onto the ropes. Francine attacs Vaugn after the match. -*.

They cut to the first backstage interview of the night. Goldylocks starts to talk to Apollo when they are interrupted by David Young and his valet Bobcat(if she's a valet why wasn't she in the battle royal?). Bobcat acts like she is the center of the universe and this pisses of Goldylocks who cuts the interview short.

Match #5: Apollo vs. David Young(w/ Bobcat)

Everything these guys did looked slow and clunky. They focus mostly on Bobcat at ringside flirting with Borash. Borash is knee deep in poontang tonight. The finish comes when Young is distracted by Bobcat and Apollo hits a fireman's carry into a cutter sort of thing. This felt like an average Monday Nitro match or something, with the focus being on some dumb shit that is happening outside the ring and the wrestlers doing stuff in the ring that is mostly ignored by the announce team. 1/2*

Out comes everyone's favorite Cornell dropout, Joel Gertner. He cuts a Joel Gertner promo. He puts over his team The Rainbow Express as leading alternative lifestyles. I guess they thought since they are in Alabama that they could get heat on some homosexuals. No one in the crowd really seemed to care. This match was supposed to be Rainbow Express vs. The Dupps but refuse to wrestle some hippies that promote left wing alternative lifestyles. This was actually their given excuse as shown in a backstage segment.

Lucily Chris Harris and James Storm just got to the arena so the NWA vice president asks them to wrestle the match. James Storm is now announced as "Cowboy" James Storm.

Match #6: The Rainbow Express(Lenny & Bruce) vs. Chris Harris & James Storm

Rainbow Express are not as good as Billy & Chuck. They have a basic tag team match(this seems to be the promotion's specialty at the moment). Even though the team has a gay gimmick Rainbow Express did nothing particularly gay. Although Ferrara is really mad that they are pushing their alternative lifestyle on everyone watching. Eventually Harris gets a roll up and his team wins. *3/4

Ricky Steamboat comes out in a ref uniform. He is going to referee the end of the X title match later. Out comes NWA Champion Ken Shamrock for an interview. Shamrock's chinstraps make him look like a grown up Eddie Munster. Shamrock cuts a promo that is longer than his fight with Kimbo Slice last night. He says he is a fighting champion and will honor the title. Shamrock was never good at promos but this was fine and got the job done.

Minister James Mitchell interrupts Shamrock. He looks like a dollar store version of Anton Lavey. He calls the crowd "crackers" for cheap heat. He says his Disciples of the New Church will control the NWA title. Not sure why a weird religion would care about wrestling. DOCN member Slash comes out, and Mitchell says he will challenge for the title next week. Shamrock accepts but Malice comes out and sneaks up on him, attacking from behind. Malice(who Shamrock beat for the vacant NWA title last week) chokeslams and continues to choke Shamrock.

Not sure what Slash has done to deserve a title shot. This makes the title look weak and pointless. Not only that but the title is just a prop in a goofy storyline. If TNA cared about the belt, then why do this? The answer is they didn't care. They wanted all of the prestige of the NWA name, and they are willing to put the belt over in promos and on commentary, but book the title as a prop in a stupid storyline. It's no different from what WWE does now with the Intercontinental title.

They recap the X division 6-man tag from last week. It's pointed out that the winners of that match were not booked in the X title match this week and are pissed about it. So in two weeks they've already fucked up the booking of both of their singles titles. Also when the booking makes no sense(like the NWA title match from last week) the announcers and wrestlers have a tendency to point out how dumb it is. Why call attention to it? Regardless, the upcoming main event is the best thing on this show and the X title comes out looking way better than the NWA title.

Match #7: NWA-TNA X Championship Four Way Double Elimination Match

AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Low-Ki vs. Psicosis

This is a weird match type. It's a double elimination match so you have to be pinned twice to be eliminated. It's only two guys at a time, with the others being at ringside. It's never explained how the order of the competitors is determined. Borash does not explain the rules before the match.

Match starts with Styles vs. Psicosis. Styles quickly pins Psicosis with the Styles Clash. Low-Ki comes in. They do some fast paced stuff. Low-Ki does some of his martial arts stuff. He hits a really stiff kick on Styles on the apron. Styles lariats the shit out of Low-Ki. Eventually Styles hits a german suplex, hangs on and rolls through and lifts Low-Ki up for a face buster and a pin.

Lynn comes in and attacks Styles from behind. He immediately hits the Gotch piledriver(basically a cradle piledriver set up like Cesaro's neutralizer, but a piledriver) for AJ's first pinfall. This is important for later.

Psicosis comes in to wrestle Lynn. Psicosis looks a lot more limited and slower than he did in the mid-90's when he was feuding with Rey Mysterio Jr. Nevertheless Psicosis does a beautiful somersault plancha from the apron to the floor on Lynn. Back in the ring Psicosis goes up top but is hit with a dropkick from Lynn while in midair. This leads to the Gotch piledriver, and Lynn pins Psicosis. This eliminates Psicosis from the match.

Low-Ki comes in and dominates Lynn. He gives him a stiff as heck chop in the corner. Low-Ki does a top rope frankensteiner on Lynn, but Lynn rolls through for a two count. Lynn does a hangman's leg drop on Low-Ki, then goes for the Gotch piledriver, which Low-Ki reverses into an armbar. Pretty cool counter. Low-Ki goes for the Ki Krusher but Lynn reverses it into a DDT. Lynn goes for the piledriver again but Low-Ki reverses into a brainbuster kind of thing. Lynn finally gets the Gotch piledriver and thus eliminates Low-Ki from the match.

We're down to Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles and Steamboat. So Styles needs to beat Lynn twice(which the announcers put over as being near impossible) and Lynn just needs to beat Styles once. They go back and forth for a little bit. Lots of reversals. Lynn goes for a sunset flip but is stomped on by Styles. Styles then goes outside for a twisting springboard plancha onto Lynn for a near fall. Lynn is selling that he is exhausted. Styles hits the Styles Clash after reversing a Gotch piledriver into a back body drop. So he gets one pin on Lynn.

At this point Steamboat comes in to referee the final fall. I like this idea because it puts over the importance of the belt. He starts counting down both Lynn and Styles as they are both laying on the canvas, tired from the grueling match. They kick it into another gear for the final fall. Lynn hits a hangman stunner and then drags Styles outside, and irish whips him into the steel barricade. It becomes evident Lynn will do anything to win the title. Styles hits the moonsault into an intverted DDT on the floor and lands it. They go back in the ring and Styles gets a near fall. Styles goes for the moonsault into an inverted DDT again, but Lynn reverses it into a reverse suplex and drapes him on the top rope. Lynn then DDTs him off the top rope for a near fall. The announce team is on top of things for this match and Tenay's urgency adds a hell of a lot to the drama. They go back and forth with big moves. Lynn lifts of Styles into a Greetings From Asbury Park type thing(Steamboat looks like he's thinking "I'm so glad I retired") but Styles reverses and goes for a frankensteiner, which Lynn turns into a facebuster and gets a near fall. Awesome sequence. The crowd is standing and counting along with the near falls.

Styles gets Lynn into a fireman's carry and hits him with neck breaker across the knees. Kind of like what Hirooki Goto does in New Japan. They bust out big move after big move but make sure to sell in between so the moves actually mean something. Lynn hit a brainbuster for a nearfall. Lynn puts Styles into a sleeper. Styles breaks it but Lynn hits a top rope superplex for another nearfall. Lynn puts Styles back on the top rope but Styles punches him. Lynn falls to the mat and Styles hits the Spinal Tap on Lynn for the pinfall, and the TNA-NWA X title. Confetti rains down and the crowd goes crazy as Steamboat raies the hand of Styles in victory. ****1/4

This match was fucking awesome. Every guy looked good, and the winner looked like the best wrestler in the company. The match was well paced even though the first four pinfalls came pretty quickly. Everyone got to show their stuff. They really highlighted Low-Ki and of course Styles. Styles had only been wrestling for three years at this point but it was already obvious that he was great. He just kept getting better and better as the years went on and in my opinion is one of the best in the ring from the last 15 years.

All this made the X title look like the most important thing in the company from a wrestling perspective. Not only that but it made NWA-TNA look interested in pushing new talent. It's funny how a match devoid of shitty gimmicks and sleaze can do that.