By David Miller, Torch Team Contributor

NWA-TNA LXI
From the TNA Asylum, Nashville, TN
September 3, 2003

First off, I would like to thank Wade Keller for giving me this opportunity. I�m very happy to be a part of the Torch team. I�ll be joining Marc Donmoyer in covering NWA-TNA every Wednesday. No live show this week as a space shuttle replica is currently occupying the space where a wrestling ring usually is. Instead, we get a pre-taped X Cup tournament and a Wargames style cage match. Let�s see what TNA left us in their absence.

A video was shown promoting Wednesday Bloody Wednesday.

The old Memphis wrestling statue rotated, exploded into the TNA logo, and Mike Tenay and Don West welcomed us to the show.

(1) Mad Mikey pinned Lazz at 1:51. Lazz sexually assaulted Mikey, which made him mad. Lazz is another gay gimmick that Tenay compared to Adrian Street. Short and to the point, if there was a point to begin with. Mikey won with a nifty double-underhook DDT.

The brackets of the Super X Cup tournament were shown, after which Don West plugged the upcoming cage match.

Terry Taylor interviewed Dusty Rhodes, who will hold the key to the cage. The Dream cut his usual style promo.

(2) Juventud Guerrera defeated Nosawa at 4:31 in a Super X Cup quarterfinal match. According to Tenay, Nosawa is the champion for the Insane Clown Posse�s independent group. I�m not sure that I�d be proud to be associated with a band that was voted the �world�s worst�. Nonetheless, he was impressive. Juvi won when he followed up a Juvi Driver with a 450 splash. Tight little contest.

Father James Mitchell was cutting his usual evil promo when Glenn Gilberti interrrupted him and said he�d better take this cage match seriously. He doesn�t want Diamond and Swinger getting hurt. Mitchell said he was �crystal� clear with that.

(3) Ted Hart beat Jonny Storm at 2:48 in a Super X Cup quarterfinal match. Short, but impressive. Hart looks nothing like the rest of his wrestling family. Nobody can accuse him of trying to rip off his more famous uncles. Hart won with a great shooting star press he calls the Hart Attack.

Sonny Siaki tried to convince Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger that he was in charge, but they weren�t buying it. Shane Douglas interrupted and told them that this cage match was serious business and they�d better get their act together.

(4) Chris Sabin pinned Jerry Lynn at 3:30 in a Super X Cup quarterfinal match. Lynn became frustrated and grabbed referee Rudy Charles. Don Callis came out and told Lynn that he would be fired if he injured the referee. During the distraction, Sabin kicked Lynn in the jimmy and rolled him up for the quick pin.

Raven told Terry Taylor that before he can win the NWA title, he has to deal with Father James Mitchell and Shane Douglas. He said The Gathering will deal with The New Church and he�s more dangerous now than ever.

(5) Frankie Kazarian defeated Michael Shane at 3:25 in a Super X Cup quarterfinal match. Kazarian rolled through a powerbomb attempt and hooked Shane�s legs for the pin. Hmm.....it doesn�t look too good when the X-Division champion gets pinned so easily in the first round of an X tournament. That killed a lot of Shane�s credibility.

A.J. Styles was crying to Terry Taylor about being involved in the Wargames match. Vince Russo said that since there were no more contenders, they were conspiring to hurt the champ by placing him in such a dangerous match.

(6) Juventud Guerrera pinned Ted Hart at 9:59 in a Super X Cup semifinal match. Amazing match. TNA needs to lick Hart�s feet if that�s what it takes to sign this kid to a contract. Hart hit what appeared to be a twisting 450 on Juvi. He clutched his knee after an asai moonsault, but rolled back into the ring. He connected with a picture-perfect Hart Attack, but hurt his knee in doing so. Guerrera hit the Juvi Driver and went to the top for the 450, but was thwarted by Hart. Guerrera recovered and nailed a crushing Juvi Driver from the second rope for the pin. Breathtaking match that looked like it could have gone either way.

Tenay and West conducted an interrogation of red-shirt security Ryan Wilson and Kevin Northcutt. Northcutt did all the talking and came across as a complete jerk. Wilson only spoke when he decided the interrogation was over. I guess this solidifies their status as heels.

(7) Chris Sabin defeated Frankie Kazarian at 7:32 in a Super X Cup semifinal match. A pretty stiff-looking match. These two started the match by slugging away at each other. Kazarian unleashed a devastating over-the-top sunset flip to the floor on Sabin, who landed with a loud thud. Ouch. They each kicked out of the other�s finishing maneuver. Frankie (why do I always want to call him Frankie The Thumper?) attempted a victory roll, but Sabin rolled through and got the pin. A bit sloppy at times, but very intense.

America�s Most Wanted were telling Terry Taylor how they would be proud to stand on the side of tradition during the cage match when Kid Kash and Abyss interrupted. Kash apologized to Taylor for slapping him last week. He then told AMW that he carries tradition around with him. It�s on the bottom of his shoe, his dog left it in the yard this morning. With that, he slapped Taylor again. Taylor muttered �You mother...� and started after him, but red-shirt security restrained him. Funny segment.

(8) Chris Sabin pinned Juventud Guerrera at 14:46 to win the 2003 Super X Cup tournament. Sabin dropped Juvi awkwardly on his head early in the match. They proceeded into a stunning series of near-falls and lightning-quick reversals. Guerrera returned the favor to Sabin by planting him squarely on the top of his head with a double underhook piledriver that looked really nasty. Juvi hit the 450 splash, but Sabin amazingly got his foot on the rope. He connected with the Future Shock for the pin. A definite match of the year candidate. It just doesn�t get much better than this.

A video was shown hyping the return of Roddy Piper. There goes the neighborhood.

(9) Jeff Jarrett & America�s Most Wanted & D-Lo Brown & Raven defeated Christopher Daniels & A.J. Styles & Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger & Shane Douglas at 20:42 in a Wednesday Bloody Wednesday cage match. Erik Watts, the special referee, came to the ring and sent Tiny the timekeeper, Athena, and Jeremy Borash to the back. He replaced them with 3 Live Krew. Now I know that B.G. James can talk and I�m sure Konnan can keep time, but there is no way in hell that Ron Killings can stand there and look as pretty as Athena. Jarrett and Daniels brawled through the crowd before getting into the cage to start the match. The cage was loaded with weapons as in a Clockwork Orange House Of Fun. True to Wargames tradition, the heels took the one-man advantage. The order of entrants were as follows: Styles...Harris...Diamond...Brown...Douglas...Storm...Swinger...Raven. This was pretty much what was expected, just not quite as bloody. Dusty Rhodes stood at ringside while Don Callis and Vince Russo tortured Tenay and West at the broadcast table. The heels had their way up until the very end, when the faces rallied for a huge comeback. Styles climbed to the top rope, but Jarrett joined him and hit a stroke from the top. Brown and Harris then leaped onto Styles from opposite corners, allowing Jarrett to cover him for the pin. All hell broke loose as Sonny Siaki, Legend, and Trinity attacked Rhodes. 3 Live Krew got in on the fun, as did The New Church and Glenn Gilberti. TNC and Douglas isolated Raven in the cage and The Franchise began cutting his hair as the show ended. Wild brawl that delivered on the violence it promised. I must admit to preferring the Wargames tradition of someone having to submit, but I can�t complain too much. Worlds above WWE�s lame attempt at Wargames, the Elimination Chamber.

Random Thoughts: With the luxury of editing, TNA put on their fastest-paced PPV ever.....the Super X Cup was a wonder to behold, with two possible match of the year candidates in Guerrera/Hart and Guerrera/Sabin.....Mad Mikey vs Lazz was a throwaway, but the rest of the show makes it easy to forgive.....Somebody please shove a contract in Ted Hart�s face.....If you have never seen NWA-TNA, this would be the PPV to start with.

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