But not huge in a good way -- he's just fatter now. Kind of Bradshaw-shaped. He looked bad in the ring (against Saturn, too, I thought -- lethargic, unmotivated, something like that. The crowd gave him a weak, brief "Awesome" chant when he first came out, but lost interest in him pretty quickly.
Also on the suprise front, Justin Credible showed up to kendo stick the Disciples of the New Church (now with more Awesome!) and hang out with his buddies Sandman, New Jack, and Saturn. This prompted a big ECW chant from the crowd. Hm.
Most of the other matches were above average, too, including an AWESOME tag match between XXX (Elix Skipper & Christopher Daniels, in this case) and Jerry Lynn and Amazing Red. Wow, great match. I'm so glad these four guys are in TNA where I can see them in long matches! I hate that mystery luchador, though.
Raven doesn't have a Flock -- he has "Apostles." Two of 'em!
Good show. Next week -- Lynn vs. Red! (Lynn should avoid those Tag belts -- he always ends up feuding with his partner over the X belt...)
From what I read, it seems like this show is actually good. I wish I had digital cable capabilities so I could see it.
January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
Well, my timing is getting better, I only missed the first 20 minutes of the show this week because I have lost all track of what day it is. Oh well, let's look back at this week's episode of the most criminally unwatched show in wrestling.
-I came in just as the Gilberti in the SEX locker room skit was going on. Once again I was just amazed at how competent he is at getting over the subtle dissension in the room all while establishing himself as leader of the promotion. And I'm seeing in the distance, and I never thought I would say this, but I could see Glen going on a HUGE face run if/when Russo comes back on tv and tries to take back over his group. As for the match, it was a typical street fight but kept at a nice pace. The finishing move of the stunner with Styles jaw on the chair was a very cool looking spot.
-Dusty Rhodes promos are a highlight of any night. He's so old and insane and Texan that you can't help but enjoy them. Normally he would be the best interview of the evening except for two classics to follow. Dusty does a very good job of something which I really like about this promotion. He gets over how insanely important being NWA champion is supposed to be. This is something WWE has forgotten as a basic storytelling device as so many of its people have seemingly moved beyond titles. In NWA the World Title is the end-all be-all for so many people there, and that allows them to do some very non-linear storytelling. Yes Raven is the #1 contender right now, but D-Lo Brown, AJ Styles and Erik Watts all have issues with Jarrett which makes sense since why should they all stop wanting the belt simply because Jarrett is fighting Raven right now? Also, I like the build to World Title defenses, and would really like to see them keep NWA title defenses to one a month.
-Kid Kash and Trinity do a makeup and not-quite-makeout session in the ring, which the crowd just despises. The "kick his ass" chant directed at Trinity while Kash apologized made me laugh though. Mike Sanders is not an X division wrestler, and really this match seemed more about solidifying Kash's emergent heel status than about the X division, since that would be handled quite capably later in the show. I've said it before, but now would be the perfect time for it. Kash will be facing the winner of Lynn vs. Red next week for the X division title. He abandoned Trinity to the Harris Bros. to get her ass kicked after the match. If you have Red win next week, and then on the looking to be loaded 4/30 show you have Red bring out Trinity with him, I think you would see the most over combo in the Asylum right there.
-Father James Mitchell gives an interview where he declared last week the first annual New Church Barbeque. I love Sinister Minister interviews as he reminds me of a Satanic Jim Cornette with the red jacket. If he had a tennis racket that shot fireballs he'd be the coolest man who ever lived. I can't do proper justice to his interviews, suffice to say they are wacked out brilliance full of Kaientai-level EVIL~! He promises Saturn a mystery opponent who is of corrupted extreme blood. He also complains that Sandman would have been a great drinking buddy and that the whole ECW brotherhood thing had to go and ruin that, which I just loved for some reason. I and everyone else watching immediately begin to wonder if Kronus can possibly be any fatter then last time he was seen.
-HEY! That's not Kronus! It's Mike Awesome looking like he ate Kronus! The crowd cheers briefly as the arrival of Awesome, but the match really wasn't much to write home about. Saturn threw some nice suplexes, but this could have been lived without really.
-America's Most Wanted debate the merits of kayfabe with Mike Tenay. Sadly at no point does Chris Harris point out that Akeem really wasn't from Deep Dark Africa. I do NOT like the idea of breaking up AMW. They were mad over with the crowds there, and work much better as a tag team then as singles. Also, the upper card is crowded as is around the World Title, and neither one can really work X division, so they are likely to get lost in the shuffle. I'd like to see them work something where after doing some singles stuff one gets attacked or something which inspires them to reform the AMW. Because Harris and Storm is much more interesting than Harris vs. Storm.
-Sonny Siaki says no hicks allowed to cut promos in SEX. I am glad for Sonny Siaki being there for my Yankee ears wellbeing. If Sonny can learn to wrestle as well as he works the stick, he will become a HUGE star eventually. Right now though his ring work is so blah that you can't get excited by anything his awesome promo work leads to. The Young vs. Storm match provided a chance for me to go make a very yummy ice cream sundae. The sundae was much more satisfying than what I saw of the match.
-Sandman and New Jack cut a promo in between moves of their chess game. Hearing Sandman talking about moving his rook and seeing New Jack accuse him of cheating to get him in check was worth the cost of the PPV right there. I would buy a PPV of those two playing chess and drinking heavily. This might have been the single most bizarre yet brilliant promo in NWATNA history.
-The Disciples vs. Drunken Rage was a fun ECW style brawl if you like that sort of thing. I do like it so I was happy with it. After the match though, the worst nightmares of millions came true. After the match when Awesome ran out and helped to beat down the ECW troops the lights went out and when they came back ALDO MONTOYA was there with a singapore cane to help the ECW brotherhood. The crowd cheered which is bad since that likely means he'll be back again next week. Not happy at all about that.
-Lynn/Red vs. XXX was just amazing. WWE wishes that they could put on matches with 1/2 the heat this thing had. The crowd was amped up for pretty much all 20 or so minutes of this affair. One of the top matches of 2003 thus far, coming in second for me behind only Angle/Benoit at Royal Rumble. Don West comes with a hair of spontaneously combusting when Mike Tenay calls the Koji Clutch during the match. Very well performed, and interesting booking as Lynn basically wins it by himself at the end due to the mystery Luchador attacking Red during the match. My hunch is that they go with Red vs. Kash after next week as Lynn beating Red after winning the titles by himself could really damage Red somewhat.
-This fed straight into Jarrett coming out and calling out Raven into a Clockwork Orange House of Pancakes match. Jarrett went looking for Raven but ran into his "Apostles" Julio Dinero and Alexis Laree instead. The spot where Jarrett just kept flinging chair after chair at Julio was pretty cool. Jarrett took a LOT of punishment from the apostles, and Alexis Laree looked amazing dishing out and taking punishment during this segment. She has the best heel charisma of any woman working right now, and takes her punishment like a MAN! Eventually as the show ends Raven comes back out and puts Jarrett through a table on which Jeff had stacked the apostles, showing nicely how Raven will sacrifice them for his own gain. Nice solid buildup to 4/30 I thought here.
All in all I thought this was one of the strongest shows they've had in a long time. It really had something for everyone. Good promos, good brawls, amazing wrestling, cool angle development, insanely hot women who can work, some nostalgia. In another thread people talked about boycotting WWE and ways to get them to pay attention. Well, THIS is a way to get their attention. Support NWATNA, let Vince see that there is viability in not doing things the same way he does. Give him some real competition. Put your money where your anger is and truly give Vince something to think about. If NWATNA started getting 100,000 buys per week, I guarantee things would change ASAP in WWE.
"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." - Robert E. Lee
For anyone who thinks that Booker will be going over HHH at the 4/21 Raw, feel free to PM me about the HHH Challenge.
If Raven/Jarrett is coming in two weeks, they have my $10 right there! A title change looks imminent and I want to be there to see it.
Sounds like Mike Awesome's a lot BIGGER than the last time I saw him. Maybe NOW Vince will want him back. Yuk yuk yuk...
I'm just still in shock and I actually STILL can't find myself taking Glen Gilbretti seriously. I mean Jumpin Jim Brunzell on a stick (tm CRZ), this is the Disco Inferno as a serious heel!
Read that line over again. Disco Inferno is a SERIOUS HEEL! Read it once more!
The DISCO INFERNO...the same Disco Inferno who would always come out on WCW TV as a dancing moron...the same Disco Inferno who would dance like an idiot next to Alex Wright...the same Disco Inferno who bumbled his way into the Wolfpac...the same Disco Inferno who pasted himself on Konnan's music video, eating the worm...the same Disco Inferno who would come out with a plastic duck, calling it the Disqo Duck...is a SERIOUS HEEL!!!
I'm sorry, but I still don't buy it!
You know it won't be long now. May God help us all!
Originally posted by spf2119 The finishing move of the stunner with Styles jaw on the chair was a very cool looking spot.
And the set-up was so smoothly and quickly done that I totally didn't see it coming -- I thought it was an accident for a split second.
Mike Sanders is not an X division wrestler, and really this match seemed more about solidifying Kash's emergent heel status than about the X division, since that would be handled quite capably later in the show.
I agree, although I'd also suggest that the match is also due to Sanders' tendency to bite off more than he can chew in order to impress Gilberti and remain relevant to SEX.
I'll also mention here that that H-Bomb on Trinity was the best thing the Harris Twins have ever done -- man, she was, like, ten feet in the air.
I do NOT like the idea of breaking up AMW. They were mad over with the crowds there, and work much better as a tag team then as singles.
I totally agree about this, and that hopefully it will lead to an awesome and heart-tugging reunion.
Sonny Siaki says no hicks allowed to cut promos in SEX. I am glad for Sonny Siaki being there for my Yankee ears wellbeing.
"Ace in the Hole -- Corporation." HA!
Drunken Rage
Hey, good one.
ALDO MONTOYA was there with a singapore cane to help the ECW brotherhood. The crowd cheered which is bad since that likely means he'll be back again next week. Not happy at all about that.
Eh, I'm ambivalent. If he's in in huge ECW alumnus clusters, I'll deal. If he wins the X title, I'll -- well, I'll be confused. I wonder if they're going to introduce some sort of "TNA Extreme" belt? (Or -- bring back the Dupp Cup!)
I am glad that the crowd seems to associate Credible and Saturn with ECW rather than WWE's lower-lower-lower card. It was a good idea to put them with Sandman & New Jack to trigger that.
Very well performed, and interesting booking as Lynn basically wins it by himself at the end due to the mystery Luchador attacking Red during the match.
Meltzer mentioned this week that the Spider-Luchador was a woman this week. Did anyone else notice that? (I didn't.)
My hunch is that they go with Red vs. Kash after next week as Lynn beating Red after winning the titles by himself could really damage Red somewhat.
I concur, and it should be fun.
Alexis Laree looked amazing dishing out and taking punishment during this segment. She has the best heel charisma of any woman working right now, and takes her punishment like a MAN!
Man, she was CRAZY.
If NWATNA started getting 100,000 buys per week, I guarantee things would change ASAP in WWE.
Yeah, they'd hire away the entire X Division and have 'em jobbing on Velocity. *weeps*
I forgot to mention, also, that XXX have my current favorite theme song in all of wrestling. I wish I could get a copy.
I'm also starting to miss Nelson Knight. Where the hell is he?
On the other hand, I'm SO GLAD that B.G. James is gone.
I watched NWA-TNA on the local station for the first time just this past wednesday. They were mainly the B matches, and a chopped up version of the Jarrett vs. D-Lo match. Slash didn't look too bad, but the rest of the guys (Brian Lee) sucked. I did like the video packages, very well done. I'll still need to see more before I can judge the product as a whole; but I must say, I enjoyed it more than any wrestling program I have seen on free TV in a few years. Why? Because, they made you care for the matches, angles, and storylines they put together. Something I miss from the WWE. If only they got rid of Russo!!!
What are they doing with Jarrett though? He came across as a face in the video with Dusty Rhoades, but as a heel with the angle aginst D-Lo.
Don't need religion, dont need no friends, I got all I want I don't need to pretend, dont try to reach my cause I'd tear up your mind, I seen the future and I left it behind.--Supernaught
Originally posted by NagWhat are they doing with Jarrett though? He came across as a face in the video with Dusty Rhoades, but as a heel with the angle aginst D-Lo.
Jarrett's a face who's been drifting towards being a heel over the last couple of weeks, due to the increasing pressure from everyone else in the promotion vying for his belt.
"America may have some problems, but it's our home. Our team. And if you don't wanna root for your team...then you should get the hell out of the stadium. Go America."--Stan Marsh, South Park
Originally posted by It's FalseI mean Jumpin Jim Brunzell on a stick (tm CRZ), this is the Disco Inferno as a serious heel!
Read that line over again. Disco Inferno is a SERIOUS HEEL! Read it once more!
The DISCO INFERNO...the same Disco Inferno who would always come out on WCW TV as a dancing moron...the same Disco Inferno who would dance like an idiot next to Alex Wright...the same Disco Inferno who bumbled his way into the Wolfpac...the same Disco Inferno who pasted himself on Konnan's music video, eating the worm...the same Disco Inferno who would come out with a plastic duck, calling it the Disqo Duck...is a SERIOUS HEEL!!!
I'm sorry, but I still don't buy it!
Dis not the heelish goodness of the Disco Inferno. I suddenly feel a compulsion to buy NWA-TNA programming...
Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy. . . THE THRILL NWA-ACW Home Video Technical Director...& A2NWO 4 Life!
He just had new hips put in. I doubt he'll even do more than punch in this tag-match. You're safe. And did I get a perverse joy out of seeing HBK prostrate himself before Hogan? Yes, yes I did. That said it all.