By Marc Donmoyer, Torch Team Contributer

NWA-TNA PPV #88
March 14th, 2004
Live From Nashville, Tennessee

Ringside tickets to NWA-TNA: 20$
Getting TNA on PPV: 9.95$
D-Lo Brown bobble head doll: $12.95.
Johnny Swinger swinging his hips as he enters: Priceless.

A French women�s voice told us not to steal cable why we looked at Abyss being Abyss. Wait, is that Goldylocks?

They did a long recap of current events, but for some reason it was in Spanish. I honestly called RCN, they got on the phone right as it got back to Mike Tenay and Don West. My guests were confused.

TNA never ceases to surprise me. That was a new one.

Jeff Jarrett opened the show by delivering his usual rhetoric to Mike Tenay before his match with James Storm.

(1) Jeff Jarrett defeated James Storm. This was a long brawl with some sweet wrestling thrown in. There was also an abundance of screwed up spots, but overall it was still entertaining. At one point they were brawling up the stairs, and James Storm skinned the cat over the rail. That was pretty exciting and I started getting into the match. They fought back to ringside and brawled before Storm slipped on an announce table spot. He compensated by pounding a bulldog out on the outside. Everything slowed down for a second and the crowd got real quiet. West compensated by saying you could hardly catch your breath this was so exciting. They got into a nice sequence in the ring, with Storm rolling through a crossbody, but not picking up the pin. Storm couldn�t get the pin from a powerslam either. He took a nasty Diamond cutter from the middle rope, but kicked. Storm hit an okay swinging noose (tornado reverse DDT), but Jarrett still kicked. Storm countered the stroke, followed by Jarrett countering the eight second ride. The ref, Andrew Thomas, got bumped. Jarrett went for the guitar, but took a superkick. There was no ref to make the count for Storm. Storm tried to use the guitar but the ref grabbed it. Storm turned around, angry, and Jarrett seized the chance to deliver the stroke for three.

Match Value: $1.25. This match had good length and story, but didn�t flow too well. In addition it looked downright painful.

After the match Jarrett hit Storm�s leg with a chair, and put him in the figure four leg lock. Chris Harris ran in for the save, but Raven joined the party and ended up slamming Harris into two chairs.

Scott Hudson was with Johnny Swinger who a decent promo explaining his generic reasons for hating Simon Diamond now. Glenn Gilberi and David Young were there, and Gilberti told Young to pull his weight and actually win something like Swinger was going to do tonight.

(2) Frankie �The Future� Kazarian defeated Sonjay �The Jobber� Dutt to retain the X-Division Title. This match was really great. It had my whole living room excited. Good solid predictable title defense with several exciting near falls. The crowd was dead through much of it, but screw them, it was good. The first great move was a nasty belly to belly to the outside on Dutt. Dutt hit a great 619 from the apron to the outside. Kazarian still beat on him. He hit the nastiest slingshot outside apron DDT I�ve ever seen. Kazarian tried to taunt the crowd. Back in the ring they had an insane exchange before Kazarian nailed the Back to the Future. Dutt Kicked. Kazarian hit a sweet swingboard twisting leg drop. He got Dutt on the ropes and hit the flux capacitor, causing a huge mark out moment in my apartment. He held off too long for the pin, and Dutt surprisingly got the ropes with his foot. They had another brilliant exchange ending with Dutt nailing the overhead reverse X-Factor. Dutt followed with a missed Hindu Press. Kazarian hit a brutal Wave of the Future for a decisive three.

Match Value: $2.25. The lack of crowd or real excitement over this title was a shame, but more matches like this and it won�t happen again. This was a spot fest at it�s best, with an honest effort towards story and character.

After the match Kazarian talked to the crowd, who responded in an annoyingly lackluster manner. He said he wanted his spot on the America�s X Cup team, and demanded someone with power come out and grant it to him.

Abyss came out. He shook Kazarian�s hand, but turned it into a Black Hole Slam for three. Dutt was next, also shaking hands before taking a nasty running drop torture rack from masked denim shirt man.

A video aired recapping the Swinger-Diamond feud. Diamond is handy on the mic.

(3) Simon Diamond (w/Sonny Siaki) defeated Johnny Swinger (w/Glenn Gilberti). Yeah, so Swinger seriously swings his hips a little bit when he comes out. That got a big reaction here in Queens. This was an okay match. I like the guys involved, well the two that were in the ring, but they have that broken tag teams that don�t quite work as enemies thing going. This was still a fine match that improved at the four minute mark. The worst spot was Swinger hitting the turnbuckle with his ass, no where near Diamond, and Diamond selling it. Swinger bumped like crazy for Diamond, and vise versa. Good energy, but no chance to switch gears with a crowd that wasn�t too into the storyline. It�s still superior to many past TNA mid card feuds, so I�ll take it. Plus I happen to be a fan of these two. Gilberti tried to get involved several times, but Siaki wouldn�t let him. In the end David Young tried for a run in but nailed Swinger by accident. Diamond superkicked Young, then nailed swinger with a splash in the turnbuckle to a schoolboy for three.

Match Value: $1.00. An average seven minute match that could benefit from better writing for the feud.

After the match the heels beat up Siaki and Diamond. Trinity joined the gang, crushing Siaki with a chair. Swinger ripped up Diamond�s robe, and blew his nose in it. They tried to convince us that robe was a symbol of their first tag team victory or something. Perhaps they should have mentioned this a month ago.

Gilberti was disgusted with Young as they exited.

Scott Hudson was with Three Live Krew. They want Killings to get his shot. They were wearing fatigues.

Video aired hyping Sabu-Monty Brown.

(4) Monty Brown defeated Sabu in an Extreme Rules Match. These two have a really awkward Styles clash, yet I still enjoy this feud. I can�t quite explain it. I don�t even know why they�re really fighting, except this �hunting ground� stuff, but they�re such different types it�s interesting to watch them wrestle. This was less sloppy then their last encounter, and featured some pretty good stuff in the ring early on. Sabu did his usual barrage of sweet moves, utilizing the chair for neat high spots. Brown showed good effort, but still exposes his inexperience a lot. He really needs to perfect the pounce, which often ends up hitting not quite as you�d expect. They fought their way to the old SEX locker room. Sabu got thrown out, but the man who followed was Abyss. Abyss powerbombed Sabu through the table. Brown came out next, brawling with Abyss, but ended up tackling Sabu for three.

Match Value: $1.25. These two are sort of a guilty pleasure for me. Bad story telling (storyline more than in match), weird style mixes, blown spots, and yet they put on eight okay minutes I enjoyed. Sabu�s still got it for the most part.

Shane Douglas and Michael Shane can�t quite get along. They both are out for their own interests.

(5) Apolo & D-Lo Brown defeated Kid Kash & Dallas via DQ to Win the NWA-TNA Tag Titles. This was a pretty ass bad tag match. Kash tried to keep it together, but even he was off. Several blown spots, with a highlight being an incredible TKO on Kash from Apolo. In the end Dallas, who only worked a small part of the match (sidewalk slam, big boot), took a pipe into the ring and got disqualified. The belt was awarded to the other team, as is the way in TNA. Dallas was shocked, apparently not knowing that rule.

Match Value: 50 cents.

A.J. Styles wanted to take Harris� place in the #1 contender match since he was hurt, but Russo wouldn�t have it.

Scott Hudson was with Raven, who was ready for his #1 contender match. Sabu was banging things in the locker room behind them, all pissed off. Hudson asked if Sabu had Raven�s back, and Raven said of course he did.

They aired a long video hyping the #1 contender match. Harris cut a promo that was quite different from his others, and much better. Rather then forcing his desire to win, he just seemed to believe he could. Acting 101, and much appreciated.

(6) Chris Harris defeated Raven to win the #1 contendership. I was surprised Harris one this, earning him his spot in the title cage match next week. My money was on Raven. At first I thought this match was a bust, but it ended up being Harris� best singles match to date. Harris came out bandaged and selling the earlier attack from Raven. They started off very slow, and uninteresting, and then fought to ringside. They did spots with the barrier for what seemed like eternity. Raven hit his signature Russian leg sweeps into the barricade. Raven was all over Harris� shoulder throughout the match, yanking it over the ring post, and hitting the chicken wing crossface a few times. James Storm came out to defend Harris, getting in the way. This seemed odd, as it looked like Harris needed to cheat. Sabu ran in for the �save� for Raven. The crowd was confused. Anyhoo, at this point the match paid off for its slow build with some solid drama. The match heated up on a dragon sleeper reversal from Harris on Raven�s submission attempt. They were exhausted and did some desperation sparring before the ref got bumped. Harris cracked himself into a propped in the corner chair on a missed spear. Harris speared Raven but there was no ref. Raven hit the low blow, but couldn�t pull off the Evenflow DDT as Harris reversed into a quick cradle for a pinfall. Jarrett watched from the ramp. Raven was devastated, Harris starred Jarrett down. Russo came in to congratulate Harris.

Match Value: $3.25. Good length, good build, good match. It wasn�t mind blowing, but it was the best match of a solid night, which is always nice in your main event.

Nice they actually gave some matches time to feel like a bigger deal tonight. This was a PPV that moved from match to match and felt focused. If you�re going to spend ten bucks on a Wednesday night to watch a two hour PPV, I feel you got your money�s worth tonight. Two of the matches were real fun, and only one was a dud. This should be the norm for a TNA show, with some shows falls a bit behind, and other exceeding it. A champion people will pay to see would help too.

Total Nonstop Action Pace Bonus: 75 cents.

Total Value: $10.25.

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