By David Miller, Torch Team Contributor

NWA-TNA XCI review
April 14, 2004
Live from Nashville, Ten.
Aired on DirecTV PPV Ch. 102
Report by David Miller, Torch Team Contributor

Looks like a spectacular lineup for tonight. There�s no reason why this shouldn�t be one of the best TNA PPVs of the year thus far. We�re back to live action at the Asylum tonight after the 57th annual Americas X Cup. By the way, next week will be the 58th annual Americas X Cup, featuring Team Mexico vs. Team Honduras in a battle over Central American supremacy. Okay, since TNA has been gracious enough to take a break in between X Cups, let�s not waste this opportunity. On with the live show!

Abyss stood in front of the camera trying to look scary while Goldylocks hid behind him and spoke in a fake French accent about the evils of cable theft.

Highlights of the last couple of weeks were shown, mainly focusing on the Road to the Cage. For no additional charge, we were being treated to Spanish translation from Armando Quintero.

After the TNA intro aired, we immediately saw that Jeff Jarrett was at ringside harassing Mike Tenay. The Spanish broadcast continued briefly, then the problem was corrected and the translation stopped. Jarrett was bitching that Vince Russo had gotten rid of red-shirt security Kevin Northcutt, won�t let Don Callis in the building, and tried to turn Abyss against him. Jarrett said he was ready for his match and told the referee to ring the bell.

(1) NWA Hvt. Champion Jeff Jarrett pinned James Storm at 13:05 in a non-title match. Intense fight to open up the show. They brawled through the crowd before taking it back to the ring. Storm had Jarrett on the run for most of the match. Storm went for the 8-Second Ride, but Jarrett fought out, injuring the referee in the process. Storm superkicked Jarrett and covered, but the ref was still out of it. Storm revived the referee, then grabbed Jarrett�s guitar and wound up, but the referee grabbed it from him. As Storm glared at the referee, Jarrett sneaked in a Stroke for the victory. Afterwards, Jarrett ran his mouth some more and then went to work on Storm�s knee. Chris Harris ran out to assist his partner, but Raven wasn�t far behind. Raven put Harris�s left arm in a chair and smacked it with a second chair as Harris howled in pain. Vince Russo ran out to pull Raven off Harris, but Raven turned and throttled him. A.J. Styles ran to the ring to make the big save and the heels cleared the ring. Russo extended his hand to A.J., but Styles refused to shake hands and walked off. Very good opening match.

Scott Hudson was in the back with Johnny Swinger, Glenn Gilberti, and Trinity. Swinger gave the old excuse that he felt sorry for Simon Diamond, that�s why they were friends and a successful tag team. David Young interrupted and told Glenn he didn�t know they had an interview. Gilberti gave him a tongue-lashing and told him he couldn�t do anything right.

(2) Frankie Kazarian defeated Sonjay Dutt at 11:56 to retain the X Division Title. Nice flow to this one. They started relatively slow and built to a fast-paced, exciting finish. Every time Kazarian looked like he had the upper hand, Dutt would unleash a flurry of offense. Kazarian hit the Flux Capacitor, but still couldn�t put Dutt away. He finally delivered a Wave of the Future for the pin. Kazarian grabbed a mic and said he deserved a spot on Team NWA and demanded to see someone with power. Abyss walked out. Not the kind of power Kazarian was talking about. Kazarian backpedaled and literally begged Abyss to shake his hand. He did, then delivered a crushing Black Hole Slam. Abyss turned to find Dutt ready to rumble with him, but Abyss extended his hand in friendship. Dutt accepted and began to walk off, but Abyss threw him over his shoulders and dropped him with a sitdown backbreaker. Goldylocks then appeared on the stage and beckoned Abyss to the back. Really good X Division match.

In the back, Vince Russo begged Chris Harris to let him postpone his match against Raven, since his arm was injured. A.J. Styles came in and told Russo that if he wanted to shake his hand, he could put him in the match with Raven instead of Harris. Harris said over his dead body. The match is on.

A video recap of the history between Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger was shown.

(3) Simon Diamond beat Johnny Swinger at 7:58. Diamond attacked Swinger immediately. Glenn Gilberti soon came out to interfere, allowing Swinger to gain the advantage. Swinger grabbed Diamond by the tights and threw him out of the ring, giving him an atomic wedgie in the process. Sonny Siaki came out to defend Diamond and even things up. Siaki and Gilberti began fighting at ringside, so the referee naturally thought that a ringside brawl was more important than the match he was officiating and jumped down to break it up. David Young ran in for his trademark botched interference and accidentally clotheslined Swinger. Diamond quickly rolled him up for the pinfall. Trinity ran out and the heels beat down Diamond. Swinger ripped Diamond�s robe, which was supposedly the robe he wore when they first teamed together. Tenay said it was symbolic of Swinger severing all ties with Diamond. As the heels left, they thumbed their noses at Young. Diamond and Swinger showed more intensity in this match than they have thus far during their feud. Decent match.

Scott Hudson was in the back with 3 Live Kru, who were decked out in camouflage. They said they were dressed for war and reminded everyone they were former champions. They told Russo that they had better not have to come looking for him.

A video was shown of the Monte Brown-Sabu feud.

(4) Monte Brown pinned Sabu at 8:36 in a falls-count-anywhere match. Early in the match, Sabu threw a chair at Brown and it wedged around his neck perfectly, getting a huge pop from the crowd. They fought outside and through the crowd (a popular thing to do on this particular night). Brown threw Sabu through the door to what used to be the SEX locker room, which Tenay said was now used for storage. Sabu came flying back out through the door, followed by Abyss. Abyss then drove Sabu through a table. Brown got into fight mode for Abyss, but Goldylocks calmed him down and walked him off. Brown then hit the Pounce, which is basically just a violent knockdown, on Sabu for the pinfall. Good fight.

A video was shown of the tag title situation.

Scott Hudson was in the back with The New Franchise. Shane Douglas and Michael Shane openly argued until Traci dragged Shane away. Monte Brown came in to say something, but was cut off.

(5) D-Lo Brown & Apollo defeated Kid Kash & Dallas by disqualification at 8:22 to capture the NWA Tag Team Titles. Somewhat of a slopfest here. The participants looked lost at times, but plugged away and put finally put an end to it. D-Lo hit the Lo Down on Kash, but Dallas broke up the pin attempt by bouncing a lead pipe off Brown�s head. When Bob Armstrong was TNA Commissioner over a year ago, he instated the rule that all titles would change hands on a disqualification, which would prevent champions from intentionally getting themselves DQ�d to keep their titles. Apparently, Dallas was unaware of this rule, as he looked dumbfounded at the decision. Kash looked unhappy. Not bowling-shoe ugly, but not too far from it. The DQ ending was a nice change, since many fans had probably forgotten about that rule.

Scott Hudson was in the back, where Sabu was throwing a fit in the dressing room. Raven interrupted and told Hudson to never mind Sabu, it�s all about Raven. He ranted a bit before leaving.

Don West returned to his roots by shilling the new TNA trading cards.

A video of the Road to the Cage was shown.

(6) Chris Harris pinned Raven at 17:13 to become the number one contender to the NWA Hvt. Title. Harris came out heavily taped, selling his beating from earlier. Raven went right after the injured left arm, causing Harris to scream and writhe in pain. Later, Raven got his knee caught in the ropes and Harris went to town on it. Raven came up limping. In a hilarious spot, Harris crotched Raven on the ringside railing, where an elderly woman seated at ringside stood and attempted to �shake things up� while Raven was still perched there. Raven yanked and tore at Harris�s left arm while Harris twisted and punched Raven�s right knee. Each man screamed loudly while the other went on the attack. Great give and take action at this point. Raven used a crossface chicken wing, which Tenay said he learned from former WWF Champion Bob Backlund. James Storm limped out to ringside to lend his partner some moral support. During the match, Jeff Jarrett, 3 Live Kru, and A.J. Styles were all shown watching intently. Storm jumped to the ring apron and Raven rushed him, but Storm punched him in the nose. Vince Russo came to ringside to order Storm to the back, but Sabu ran out and fought with Storm through the building. Raven went for the Evenflow DDT, but Harris cradled him up for the surprise pin. Russo ran to the ring to congratulate Harris as he and Jarrett pointed at each other. Outstanding main event with some great selling on the part of both men. You couldn�t help but believe that both were in serious pain throughout the match, and Harris�s pin has to be considered an upset.

Random Thoughts: Do they just draw names to see who Trinity is going to be with each week?... Who wouldn�t love to see a match between Sonjay Dutt and Amazing Red?... I like how they�re handling David Young�s character, as long as they follow through and make it a big deal when he finally wins a match... Why can�t the announcers recognize Goldylocks? Wouldn�t it be more realistic if they were asking, �What has happened to Goldylocks?� instead of, �Who is that girl?�... Monte Brown bore a slight resemblance to The Rock in his pre-taped promo... WWE creative would have an aneurism over a team named Michael Shane & Shane Douglas... Whatever happened to Athena?

Final Analysis: Very good show from TNA this week, well above-average. The matches were longer (the shortest one was just under eight minutes), and there was just enough backstage banter to add to, not take away from, the action. The opener was strong, the midcard was acceptable, and the main even was great. My advice would be to order the replay and go fix yourself a sandwich and take a bathroom break during the tag team match. Thumbs up to TNA this week.

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