By Marc Donmoyer, Torch Team Contributor

NWA-TNA PPV #51
June 25, 2003
Live from Nashville Tenn.

Show opened with a solid recap of last weeks show revolving around all the "main event players," and last week's main event match.

This was the best TNA show I've ever seen. It transcended even the Raven-Jarrett show. It made TNA seem like a serious promotion with the new radical set (which debuted last week), the solid pacing, and mix of fresh and veteran talent. I've been waiting to write a review this positive since I started watching TNA. If this is any indication of how their 2nd year will be, TNA has a chance to become a serious world-wide player. Frankly I'm surprised TNA could utilize their resources this well. They're becoming the epitome of a hot-cold promotion. They were damn hot tonight though, and anybody who ordered this PPV is bound to be hooked.

Another recap aired, this one detailing Triple X's many wins over America's Most Wanted. It appeared the big cage match would be first. Kind of a shame, but probably makes sense considering technical needs.

(1) America's Most Wanted ("Wildcat" Chris Harris & "Cowboy" James Storm) defeated Triple X (Elix Skipper & "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels) in a sensational cage match. Finally they found a match that Don West couldn't oversell. This was the best tag team cage match I've ever seen, and the best cage match I've seen since Angle-Benoit (this was as good, or better, than that match). They said the match was to pinfall or submission, not escape from the cage. The ref awkwardly tried to keep teammates in their corners early on, but eventually just gave way to a tornado tag feel. Chris Harris was bleeding like crazy early on. Skipper hit a springboard moonsault on a bloody standing Harris. Storm got in and rallied for America's Most Wanted. Storm and Skipper had a neat curtain call reversal war which ended with Skipper getting slammed, head and chest first, upside-down, into the cage wall. Skipper proceeded to miss a spot climbing onto the turnbuckle, but West covered by saying Skipper was hurt from the earlier bump. Skipper got back to the top and hit a crossbody on Harris as Daniels was holding him up in a suplex. Mike Tenay pointed out this was Skipper's first cage match, and Daniel's second. Things got a little sloppy in the cage, but it just made everyone look damaged, so it worked fine. Harris crushed Daniels on the cage wall. Harris nailed a sweet full nelson slam on Daniels, but Daniels kicked. Daniels was now juicing. Daniels blocked the catatonic, and hit the angel wings on Harris. Harris kicked, raging on pure adrenaline. Don West drove me crazy. I'm glad you think it's awesome West, in fact it is, but if you sell every match the same way, so it's less than effective. Storm and Daniels fought on the ropes. Skipper was working over Harris, but Harris kept kicking. Skipper started to head for the top of the cage, but Harris stopped him and delivered a super powerbomb. West sold it as a 15 foot powerbomb, despite Harris clearly delivering it from the top turnbuckle. Either way it was a cool spot. Daniels was on the ropes, and Chris Harris speared him from the turnbuckle, another really inventive spot, Daniels kicked. Skipper hit a screwed up play of the day on Storm. Skipper scrambled to the top and hit a sensational crossbody from the top of the cage. Skipper attempted to go to the top again, but was knocked to the outside. This left Daniels alone in the ring. Daniels desperately tried to open the cage door to let Skipper in, but failed. Instead he took a phat (har, I said phat) superkick from Harris. AMW hit an awkward death sentence on Daniels. It looked more like a double ax handle than a leg drop. Skipper kept trying to climb to the top, but getting knocked back down, it added a neat desperate feeling to the final moments of the match. The match ended as AMW hit a perfect death sentence on the isolated Daniels, from the top of the cage. Harris dropped the leg from the top as Storm held Daniels, and AMW won the match.

Match Value: $7.00. This was the best offering TNA has ever given their PPV buyers. The only flaws were that it had to open the show, and we've seen Triple X and AMW so many times before. Neither of these factors really made much a difference. It was a great end to a great feud, and all four wrestlers were great. Skipper blew the most spots, but he also took the most risks. Harris was the star Wade Keller keeps saying he is. Daniels remains my favorite TNA wrestler. Storm held is own. I only wish this match could have been in the main event slot, but it was practically worth the PPV price by itself. It was long enough, told a great story, and made "the cage" seem special again.

Mike Tenay and Don West explained the line-up for tonight. West was sweating, and looked damn sexy.

D-Lo Brown entered and came to the ring, where the cage was still standing. He said he was still on a quest for the title, and called out NWA Champion A.J. Styles for being a Russo sell-out.

Styles came out and the two started brawling. I guess they figured they have the cage up for this PPV, why not keep using it. Styles climbed over and tried to get out of the cage. Brown knocked him off the side, and Styles did a great job falling to the outside. It was a really groovy, as Styles kept kicking his feet as he fell. Brown came outside and delivered a release northern lights suplex on Styles. Styles gained control back with a chair, as the crowd cheered, and a ref came to the ring. It had become an official non-title match.

(2) D-Lo Brown defeated A.J. Styles by DQ in a non-title match. Brown got control back with using the chair. The crowd was cheering both. Brown hit a really nice sudden impact, but Styles kicked. Brown hit the sky high, and climbed to the top of the cage to deliver the Lo-down. Russo ran to the ring with a baseball bat, to ruin the fun. He taunted Brown, and Styles threw the chair. The chair pounded Brown on the top, and he started to fall down. Russo shoved the ref down and Brown got ganged up on. The ref called for the bell. Jeff Jarrett ran to the cage to help Brown, but security oddly stopped him. I don't understand that logic, Russo can hit refs, but Jarrett can't make a save. Brown was finally finished after taking a Styles clash onto a chair. Russo said to count the three, but the match had already been called.

Match Value: $1.50. Fun impromptu brawl/non-title match, which helped elevate Brown back to being a player. I seriously thought he was going to hit the top rope frog splash, considering how he's been wrestling lately. Good second use of the cage. Seeing Russo made want to make a good use of the bathroom.

The show was really exciting so far, with no lulls at all.

The gathering (Julio Dinero & Alexis Laree) were walking in the parking lot. Shane Douglas jumped them. Dinero tried to put up a fight, but took a side belly to belly. Douglas entered the asylum and grabbed a mic from the ring, as the cage was being taken down. Douglas went to the top of the stairs and explained his presence in TNA. He said he was sick of watching Raven go after the NWA title. Douglas claimed he killed the NWA title 10 years ago. He said he wanted to join TNA, but wasn't on the okay list. He called in a favor, and made a deal with the devil, so he could come to TNA. All he had to do in exchange was take out Raven, which would be his pleasure. Raven ran out and the two started brawling. Glen Gilberti entered and started backing up Douglas, and C.M. Punk (the Raven wannabe) tried to help Raven. Raven and Punk were getting beat down until Jeff Jarrett came in for the save. Jarrett apparently just runs around with a chair, wearing that stupid spandex top thingy, and looks for people to help(he really is a super hero!)

They showed a video hyping an exclusive interview with Mike Tenay and Sting that will air on PPV next week. Good video package hyping an interview with a wrestler they can't really afford. It may sell a few PPV buys.

(3) Jerry Lynn defeated Justin Credible in a non-sanctioned lights out match. The lights were out in the arena, because this was a non-sanctioned match. That concept always confuses me. These two brawled in the parking lot and into the asylum. Good intensity, okay action. I think Tenay said something about Credible being superior because he's an ex-WWE hardcore champion. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. They ended up fighting by the dancing cages and Lollipop got hurt. Lynn was feeling sensitive, and checked on her. Credible tried to take advantage, but Lynn ended up hitting a sloppy roll-up for the pin. After the match Lynn went back to Lollipop, and Credible jumped him from behind. There's still plenty more to come from this feud, which has yet to hit its stride.

Match Value: $1.00. It was short, but pretty good, with a mediocre finish.

Glen Gilberti was in the SEX locker room rallying his troops. They can't use the name SEX anymore. Earlier this was mentioned in the cage match, as Skipper & Daniels weren't allowed to wear SEX shirts. This was odd, because a couple of guys were still wearing SEX shirts. Gilberti said he wants the troops to win titles, and Sabin to keep his. Sabin nodded. Gilberti also slapped Chris Daniels, which pissed me off. He also randomly decided they needed to de-mask Sharkboy tonight, who represents everything they hate.

(4) Frankie "The Future" Kazarian defeated Chris "The Future" Sabin in a non-title match. Tiger suplex. I've been waiting to see a really good tiger suplex for so long now, and these two gave it to me. This match was really, really good. It's a complete load of crap they had to go in with no build-up or no sense of character. The storyline was Kazarian wanted to be considered a serious X-Title contender, so he got this non-title match. The crowd had no idea who they liked here, or any sense of character. These two did an amazing job of telling a story, in the ring, which got the crowd back halfway through the match. Kazarian hit a sweet jumping DDT over the apron early. Too bad the crowd was dead. Sabin hit a tornado DDT. The crowd was so dead they didn't respond to Sabin's suicide flip dive over the ropes. Sabin hit a nifty neckbreaker on the knee inside the ring. The two had a pin war and the crowd started to wake up, finally curious who may win this. The crowd came completely back as Sabin hit an amazing top rope German on Kazarian. Kazarian kicked. Kazarian blocked a future shock and hit a Death Valley driver into a tree of woe. Sabin hit his swinging back breaker. Kazarian blocked another future shock and hit a really nice wave of the future (twisting DDT thing). Sabin got two on a tiger suplex! Kazarian won the match with his amazing top tope move, the flux capacitor. It's like a one man Spanish fly. My hats off to the efforts of these two, despite the lack of any storyline devotion.

Match Value: $2.25. Amazing athletic contest, with a very bad storyline/build-up. The biggest conflict they could sell was the dispute over their both being labeled "the future." This match had a very good rhythm to it, leading to a satisfying finish. I just wish we knew who these people were.

Goldylocks interviewed "The Franchise" Shane Douglas in the back. Douglas was quite loud. He called out Raven and Jarrett, and say if they can work as a team he wants a match tonight. He forgot to mention who his partner would be.

Tenay and West mentioned that Gilberti would be Douglas' partner, if the match should happen.

(5) Kid Kash defeated "Mr. Explosion" Erik Watts. Interesting match with solid energy. Watts didn't do too much, except sell injuries caused by Kash's submissions. He's called "Mr. Explosion" because he's unbeaten on the syndicated TNA show. Watts took a huracanrana on the outside. Kash wrestled a very submissive style, including a nice modified dragon sleeper. Sort of an odd choice, but the crowd was alive for it. Watts finally got control and slammed Kash into the corner a few times before delivering a cobra clutch slam. Watts blocked a top rope move from Kash with a powerslam. Kash hit a great DDT on Watts, and tried to follow up with the money maker. Watts was too big, and countered with an Alabama slammer. Watts hit the E-bomb after a poorly timed ref bump. The masked big dude came in and slammed Watts. Kash rolled on top for the win. After the match Goldylocks ran in, worried about Watts. That was really stupid, it's not like Watts got hit with a sledgehammer or something. Watts is on his 11th gimmick, which is being a big P-whipped wussy.

Match Value: $1.25. I kind of liked it, nothing special, but I kind of liked it.
The trio of Ron Killings, Konnan, and B.G. James mocked the interrogation segment this week. James did a hilarious impersonation of Don West being interrogated. He played to West thinking everything was the best ever, and even wore a same color silk shirt/tie combination. Brief, and funny, stuff. West was a good sport at the announce boothe afterwards.

Sharkboy was chilling out in a kiddy pool in the back, throwing rings at a blow-up octopus. New Jack came in and said Sharkboy was supposed to be scouting the upcoming "hard ten" match. Sharkboy encouraged him to join him in the pool and throw rings. New Jack couldn't resist, again, and jumped in the pool. That visual was too funny, these two are really something. I've never liked New Jack more than I do these days.

(6) Sandman defeated Sonny Siaki to advance to the Hard Ten tournament finals. Siaki jumped Sandman on the ramp. It was a quick match with Sandman going through a table early via a Siaki splash. Siaki lost his early lead when Sandman did his flip to the outside through a table on Siaki. At one point Sandman lit a smoke in the ring, and handed it to the ref. Later on Siaki tried to take a hit, but coughed, because he isn't hardcore.

Match Value: 75 cents. Short and simple, I like the contrast of these two. I hate the hard ten tourney.

After the match New Jack came to the ring and drank a beer with Sandman. He said they were going to have the brawl to end all brawls next week, and they go way back. I don't think it's possible to have the brawl to end all brawls in the hard ten format. Good stuff though.

Goldylocks interviewed Jarrett in the back. He said he'd team with Raven. Raven entered and agreed; though they both made it clear they hate each other. Raven said it's cool as long as Jarrett doesn't stroke him from behind. Does anyone else realize how bad that sounds? Was Raven being funny? I thought it was funny, but I'm a sick dude.

Backstage Mike Sanders assaulted Sharkboy in the kiddy pool. He tried to take the mask off, but got bored and left. This segment would have worked better if it didn't happen.

Tenay and West put over next week's show, which includes Watts vs. the big monster guy, New Jack vs. Sandman in the hard ten finals, and AMW vs. David Young & Sonny Siaki. During the segment Jerry Lynn ran in and said he was going to beat Credible in a Russian chain match next week, �nuff said. Comic fans, and Russian chain gangs, everywhere got all worked up. They also put over the Sting interview in a big way.

Backstage Siaki told Goldylocks things were going to change around here. Trinity came in and surprise attacked Goldylocks. Siaki said that was just the beginning. Perhaps he started slipping mickeys into the TNA water supply.

(7) Jeff Jarrett & Raven defeated "The Franchise" Shane Douglas & Glen Gilberti via DQ. This was a better main event than I thought it would be. It told a good story, and managed not to fizzle the show too much. It was nothing like the opening bout, but still closed the show well. Raven did a plancha early, and sold an ankle injury like crazy. It deviated from his normal style to do the move, and he was limping so bad I wasn't sure he was going do much in the match. Either he was hurting, or doing some great acting. He managed to hold his own later in the match. It added an exciting element. Jarrett was isolated for most of the match. He eventually got to Raven as the crowd was chanting "disco sucks." Douglas threw Gilberti a chain late in the match, but Jarrett flattened Gilberti with a guitar. The ref counted to two, and then just stopped. Douglas crushed Jarrett with a belly to belly, but got flattened by a tight Evenflow DDT from Raven. James Mitchell came out and entered the ring. He threw a fireball at Raven, who fell to the mat. This was the devil that Douglas sold his soul to. Nice twist. The bell sounded, and the match was DQ'd. I guess the ref didn't count three because he was down with Mitchell? Still not sure about that, maybe I missed something.

Match Value: $2.25. All four belonged in this main event, and it's nice they are all full time players. It had a smart ending, though kind of disappointing there was no pin.

TNA was Total Nonstop Action this week. It was truly a PPV, with very little B.S. All the pieces fit together, and it led to one of the best shows possible in the company's current state. The complete lack of Syxx-Pac makes last weeks surprise partner seem even lamer, though I don't mind not seeing Waltman. This should have been their anniversary show, they would have gained some serious future buys.

Great action, good stories. Bonus: $1.00.

Total Value: $17.00. As if I haven't said it enough: This was the best TNA PPV I've ever seen. It was laid out a little funny, but it made the promotion seem exciting and fresh, and the in-ring work was top notch. Some of the matches were kind of lame, but who cares? Some of them were epic.

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