By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

NWA-TNA PPV
AUGUST 13, 2003
LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN.

1 -- RON "THE TRUTH" KILLINGS & B.G. JAMES & KONNAN vs. SINN & VAMPIRE WARRIOR & DEVON STORM

The on-screen graphics for each wrestler described them as follows: Konnan as K-Dogg a/k/a The Magic Stick, Ron Killings as The Truth a/k/a The Suntan, Superman and B.G. James as B Jizzle a/k/a The Trailer Park Gangsta. Their ring entrance was a lot of fun with obviously exaggerated dancing and playing to the crowd. Truth did something in center ring that made the Spinarooni look like Don West's personal best dance move. Konnan did some of his mic work. The crowd at the Asylum in Nashville sees the 3 Live Krew every week in person, but the PPV audience has only seen them in recent weeks on those creative vignettes where each member visited the other's home territory. Tenay said that 3LK has become more than cult favorites and now they're favorites of the masses. They showed Don & Ron Harris watching from the sidelines. Oh, good, a white supremacist angle that feels a bit too real to be entertaining.

WINNERS: 3 Live Krew when James pinned Sinn at 4:50.

STAR RATING: 1/2* -- Basic stuff, nothing more than a squash to get their characters over.

-Mike Tenay and Don West formally introduced the show. They went to footage of what happened after TNA went off the air last week. They showed Jarrett entering the cage with a chair and going after Christopher Daniels. Russo blocked a baseball bat shot with a chair, then fended off the "red shirted security" (TNA needs to explain again the difference between the security members).

-Back live, Erik Watts was standing in the ring with the mic. He talked about in his childhood having "circle time" where everyone listened to the teacher. Watts said when he was raised his dad taught him about fighting, about how you should beat somebody up so badly that the next day when they look at themselves in the mirror they never consider fighting you again. Erik said he has no scars or marks on his face. (Yeah, because he doesn't fight, he just stands around and talks).

Vince Russo and A.J. Styles walked out. (Height isn't everything, but does Russo really need to wear heeled boots to make himself tower over Styles even more than he already does, accentuating that the champion he's trying to draw buys with is well under six feet tall?) Russo told Watts he needs to shut up and listen to him. Russo said he is a gentleman. Tenay said, "Fact or fertilizer." He yelled at Watts to look at him when he's talking to him, then he said as long as Styles has the belt, it gives him all the stroke. Styles nodded as Russo talked, just like Shannon Moore does when Matt Hardy talks. Russo said he's called and begged Sting to come back so Styles can kick his ass. He said there would be no match tonight. Watts eventually challenged Styles and Russo to defend the belt against Low-Ki or else forfeit the title. "You'd rather forfeit it than have me take it out of your hands, punk," Watts said. It's so good when egos are so out of whack that the non-wrestling commissioner-type is acting tougher than the actual champion. It's even better when they're so miscast that the commissioner towers over the heavyweight champ.

Styles walked into the ring and asked Watts to go ahead and take the belt from him. Watts turned his back, establishing to everyone that he's not the least bit scared of the no. 1 heel heavyweight champion. Low Ki then attacked Styles, but didn't get much of a pop at all (he was a heel last time he appeared in TNA, after all). Legend then attacked Low Ki. Watts then clotheslined Legend. He went after Styles and caught him in a chokeslam position. Russo then attacked Watts from behind with a baseball bat. Styles and Russo then went after Low Ki in the corner. Jeff Jarrett ran out to make the ultimate save by going after Legend. Russo stood and stared at Jarrett as he backdropped Legend, then moved in on him with the baseball bat. Styles and Jarrett had a miscommunication and Styles bumped awkwardly. Low Ki then kicked Styles out of the ring and grabbed the NWA Heavyweight Title belt. (I can't even list all of the basic fundamentals of angles that draw that were violated with how that entire scenario played out, all because the people in control of the storylines are making themselves the center of attention at the expense of the actual contenders. Jerry Jarrett, with all of his years in wrestling, can't possibly watch this and think it's not the worst booking he's ever seen, can he? The heat is put on non-wrestlers; the non-wrestlers are acting tougher and made to look tougher than the world champion and his challenger; a match that was announced on the internet is now treated on live TV as if it's not agreed to yet; and on and on).

-Backstage Scott Hudson interviewed Johnny Swinger, Simon Diamond, and Glenn Gilberti backstage. Simon did a Dusty Rhodes imitation and mocked his bionic elbows. "We ain't lining up for no elbow and we ain't laying down for you," said Simon, with a tinge of insider references.

2 -- JERRY LYNN vs. ELIX SKIPPER

Lynn attacked Elix before the bell as Elix strode to the ring with his scale in hand. Lynn stomped at Elix and yelled, "Because of you I lost a payday, and that's a shoot!" Tenay said that was in reference to Skipper causing Lynn to be suspended last week. The crowd was dead for this match. The match fell apart at 2:30 with some botched moves on the middle of the top rope. Elix walked the top rope and went for a headscissors, but Lynn ducked and Elix fell awkwardly onto the top rope and then to the mat. The crowd "oohed and aaahed." Lynn delivered a scary DDT for the win out of nowhere. After Lynn scored the pin, he wouldn't even look up at first because he must have known what a mess the match had turned into and how void of any heat it was. Elix attacked Lynn after the match. Lynn avoided Elix's top rope legdrop, then nailed Elix with his own scale. He followed with a sleeper to knocked out Elix for good. Several referees ran out. Don Callis walked out with a clipboard and shook his head at Lynn. "Are you going to suspend me again?" yelled Lynn. "That's fine with me." Lynn left through the crowd.

WINNER: Jerry Lynn at 3:30.

STAR RATING: 1/4*

-Hudson interviewed Chris Sabin backstage about the contenders' match later between Frankie Kazarian and Michael Shane. Sabin gave a solid heel promo saying they are boys playing a man's game and he could beat either of them on his worst day. He actually sounds a bit like Raven.

3 -- FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. MICHAEL SHANE - X Division Contender's match

Kazarian and Shane opened up quickly with big spots, including a dive at ringside and moves with the ladder as a prop. Tenay and West talked with such passion about the X Title situation that you really believed every match in the past has meaning and played into where we are today. Tenay pointed out that Shane had never had an official ladder match before, but did acknowledged that he had a match in "the Ring of Honor promotion" with Paul London that "evolved into a ladder match." Tenay said Kazarian had been in four ladder matches before. At 4:00 Kazarian backdropped Shane into the ladder leaning in the corner. Kazarian leapfrogged off the top rope over the ladder with a legdrop onto Shane in center ring; cool move. At 6:20 Kazarian hit Shane with a sunset flip off the top of the ladder into a powerbomb. Sabin ended up interfering by knocking Kazarian off the ladder all the way to ringside. Then he dropkicked the ladder as Shane climbed it, knocking him to the mat. Sabin then climbed the ladder and grabbed the X Title match contract from the ceiling.

WINNER: No decision at 7:00 due to Sabin's interference.

STAR RATING: *1/2 -- This never quite clicked. It had some nice spots, and would have been three stars if it happened ten years ago before the ladder match had been overused for pure novelty reasons, but this wasn't one of the better ladder matches I've seen in the past couple years.

-Another Mad Mikey vignette aired. He looked threw tabloids and ripped them up. The graphic said he was mad at Ben Affleck. The video was interrupted. Tenay and West said it was technical difficulties. They went to the production truck and found Mikey destroying the tape. He threw a tantrum over the tape airing.

-Hudson interviewed Jeff Jarrett backstage. Jarrett said he wants to put a dot on a long long chapter in his life. He said he never believed the day would come where he hated Vince Russo as much as he do. He said he needs to rip the head off the monster, after which he'll get his title shot. Jarrett said some day Russo will have to look him in the eye and meet his maker. Hudson said he isn't going to let himself get set up. Jarrett said he knows Russo better than anybody in the business and he knows his strengths and weaknesses, and in the end his weaknesses are going to let him down. Hudson is doing his best work as an interviewer right now.

4 -- KID KASH vs. BOBBY EATON

Tenay touted Eaton's history as a great tag team wrestler over the last 20 years. Before the match, Kash said before the match at catering in the back, he found Dusty Rhodes gobbling up all the brownies. He told him there is a respect lesson looming around the corner. He then called Ricky Morton a "walking mullet." He said after last week Larryland is now out of commission. He then mocked Eaton, acknowledging the "four star matches" he had with The Rock & Roll Express. He asked Eaton, "If your team was the Midnight Express, who was the conductor and who was the caboose. Or may Jim Cornette wore both of those hats." Kash concluded, "Like any other night, it's all about me, the K-I-D." Kash jumped Eaton at the start. Eaton took a beating in the ring and at ringside for several minutes, then fought back. Abyss then interfered. Kash low-blowed Eaton and scored the win.

WINNER: Kid Kash at 3:40.

STAR RATING: 3/4*

-Afterward they cut backstage where Legend was beating up Erik "Who made me Director of Authority and Why?" Watts.

-Hudson located Raven backstage in a dark room meditating. He said there might be closure tonight with a one-on-one match between Douglas and Raven and everyone else banned from ringside. Raven looked up and said there'd be closure only if he found out who James Mitchell's mystery attacker is and if he is able to destroy Douglas from the inside out.

5 -- RAVEN vs. SHANE DOUGLAS

Raven dominated early, then Douglas came back. Douglas used a drop toe hold on Raven into a chair. The camera also showed us a close-up of Raven blading, but they pulled away just as the slicing began. Douglas dominated for a few minutes. Then Raven made a comeback. They botched a basic move pretty badly that took the legs out from under the match as the crowd booed. James Mitchell stepped onto the stage with a black bodybag in front of him. He told Raven, just as Raven was about to DDT Douglas for an apparent win, that he had a choice to make. He could finish off Douglas or save Alexa who was down to about 15 seconds of oxygen. Raven tried to save Alexa, but Douglas stopped him. Raven surprised Douglas with a small package for the three count. Raven then ran to the stage and began to look for the zipper to get Alexa out of the bag. Instead, a white arm reached out and grabbed Raven by the throat. The lights then went out in the arena for a few seconds. When they came back on, Raven was laid out knocked out. No bodybag in sight. Douglas then was about to cut Raven's hair when the black shirted NWA security came out to stop him. Nice of security to stand around back as Alexa was suffocating to death, but run out promptly to save Raven's hair.

WINNER: Raven at 11:00.

STAR RATING: **

-A recap aired of the D-Lo vs. Sonny Siaki rivalry. Then a promo aired with Siaki with the ol' Paul Heyman flashlight under the chin gimmick to create a low-budget eerie aura. Siaki promised to end D-Lo's career next week.

-Hudson interviewed Don Callis backstage. Callis announced that next week there would be an Ultimate X match to determine who the champion is. He held up a drawing of the gimmicked ring with a belt hanging overhead.

6 -- DUSTY RHODES & AMERICA'S MOST WANTED (James Storm & Chris Harris) vs. SIMON DIAMOND & JOHNNY SWINGER & GLENN GILBERTI

The heels dressed themselves up in cowboy hats and carried bullropes to mock Dusty. The crowd chanted "Dusty, Dusty" before the bell. After hot non-stop action with Storm and Harris against the heels, Dusty got tagged in at 3:00 for a big pop. Another "Dusty" chant began. The heels bailed to ringside to regroup as Dusty worked the crowd as only he can. Gilberti returned to the ring and acted cocky, but then immediately tagged out to Diamond. Diamond mocked Dusty's ring mannerisms. The crowd was on fire for this match. Why? Because it followed the basic rules of wrestling minus any boorish smart-fan insider self-referential storyline content and did so in an entertaining manner with good, energized wrestling, playing to the crowd, heels acting cowardly, and faces acting like they care about the fan support. The heels took over on Storm. At 7:00 Dusty got a hot tag from Storm, but the ref didn't see it. More basic stuff that works. Storm managed a burst of energy to clothesline Diamond and Swinger out of the ring. He crawled to hot-tag Dusty. Gilberti attempted to stop him. Storm still managed to tag in Dusty, who took Gilberti down with his bionic elbows. Dusty then used a bullrope as a weapon to KO Gilberti for the win.

WINNERS: Dusty & AMW at 8:46.

STAR RATING: **3/4 -- Good, energetic, traditional, effective six-man tag.

-After the match, Christopher Daniels attacked Dusty. Jeff Jarrett made the save, once again putting himself in the position to get the "babyface pop of the show," but instead being met by a decent but underwhelming reaction from the fans who were going nuts just a minute earlier. Jarrett fought off all the heels by himself until Legend ran out and attacked him. Gilberti attacked Dusty with the cowbell rope. The rest of the heels attacked Storm and Harris. Jarrett remained KO'd at ringside. Erik Watts ran out with dress pants and taped ribs. Yep, the commissioner-guy who rarely wrestles saved the day. The heels retreated. Watts announced that Simon & Swinger would be forced to face AMW in a double-bullrope match. He announced he and Jarrett would face Legend & Daniels in a tag match next week. A mild crowd pop resulted.

-Tenay and West previewed next week's line-up. The Ultimate X match and the two matches Watts just announced.

-A video feature aired on Jeff Jarrett. Good video, but kinda comparable to that portrait Vince McMahon had of himself hanging over his couch in that Sports Illustrated article over ten years ago.

-Hudson interviewed Low Ki. He talked about how he had been touring the Orient, and now he is back with a great chance at the World Title. Low Ki vowed everyone around the world would remember this match and the war it will be. Ki said his win will mark the beginning of a new era in TNA. Low Ki closed with his catch phrase that it's not the size of the fighter, but the size of the fight that you bring.

7 -- A.J. STYLES vs. LOW KI - NWA World Hvt. Title

Tenay said Low Ki had just accomplished one of his dreams last week in Japan by teaming with one of his idols, Great Muta. Now, Tenay said, he wanted to accomplish another dream - winning the NWA Title. During Styles's ring intro, Russo stood behind him and looked like his dad giving him a pep talk before a big at bat in little league. The match began at 8:39 Central, giving the match nearly 20 minutes, but not more, to steal the show. Russo joined Tenay and West on commentary, which of course meant all of the focus left the match in the ring and turned to Russo and his issues. He talked about the whole TNA vs. NWA stuff regarding Watts and debated with Tenay whether he has a problem with authority. Russo is soooo much like manager Gary Hart in the '80s in every bad way. Russo thankfully sat down off to the side and West immediately turned the attention back to what was going on in the ring. Styles took control early, but then surprised Styles with a 619. Tenay described the move, but didn't refer to it as a 619. Low Ki nailed Styles with a cool corkscrew elbow. They went through a series of mat wrestling reversals that couldn't really be described easily, but suffice to say looked really cool. West was breathless and nobody took any big bumps in the process. Outside the ring Styles nailed Low Ki with a great moonsault into an inverted DDT. Back in the ring Styles continued to dominate with an underhook suplex for a two count at 7:00. Mike Tenay was at his best during this match; he has improved tremendously as an announcer, although I think that his improvement is only accentuated when he has a really good sports-like title match to call. Russo interfered with a baseball bat shot. Tenay said he hates that because they had a great competitive match and Russo had to ruin it. Low Ki made a cool comeback with an overhead unreleased suplex for a near fall at 10:00. Low Ki followed with a Japanese style favorite - a series of rapid fire front kicks to Styles's face. The entire crowd was standing during the match. They were buying into this match as something special despite the lack of presence from Low Ki in recent months. Low Ki went for a handspring in the corner, but Styles moved and then nailed Low Ki for a near fall. Styles made a spirited awesome intense comeback with a series of punches and slaps. Low Ki followed up with an even cooler Octopus move where he wrapped Styles into a pretzel. Styles escaped and slammed Low Ki to the mat and scored a near fall. Tenay mentioned it was 12 minute into the match at this point. If Tony Schiavone was calling this match, he would have said they were at the 20 or 30 minute mark. When the action spilled to ringside, Russo attempted to interfere. Low Ki punched away at Russo briefly, then climbed to the top rope and was going to dive onto Russo, but the ref blocked him. Styles then surprised Low Ki with the baseball bat to the face and rolled into the ring for the win. "Dammit, no!" yelled Tenay, Jim Ross-style.

WINNER: Styles at 14:00

STAR RATING: ****1/2 -- Really good main event match. Lots of cool spots, yet not reckless, and all within a believable sports-like competitive context. I'd like to have seen Styles finish Low Ki with a wrestling move after the baseball bat shot, but that's a small criticism.

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