by Scotty Szanto-Nicodemus
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

I don’t have anything particular to cover at the beginning here, except for the fact that Rick has been getting my name wrong for the first two weeks…he was at our wedding, for chrissakes!!  Anyway, I’m assuming that you are wondering, so I’ll explain that Amey and I took one another’s names.  She was originally a Szanto, I was a Nicodemus, and now we both are Szanto-Nicodemus.  Don’t worry Rick, I ain’t mad atcha; even my dad has yet to accept that his only son changed his name when he got married!

Just one more piece of business before we get to the action…

I Get Letters™:  You almost make me want to buy a NWA/TNA ppv and I even watched the one with Sabu vs. Shamrock which aside from the Flying Elvi sucked.

(unsigned)

You know, that’s why I’m here…to make you almost want to buy the programs!  In all seriousness, if you bought the show with Sabu v. Shamrock (show VI) and didn’t like it, it would be unfair to compare it to what NWA: TNA is putting out now.  They’ve gotten rid of The Dupps (thankfully finally!), and killed-off “The Disciples of The New Church” gimmick.  I liked the Sinister Minister gimmick, don’t get me wrong, but that was an ECW gimmick that just didn’t fit with what TNA was trying to do.  As for the Dupps, their gimmick seemed to be contradicting what any wrestling promotion is trying to do!  It has taken more than a dozen shows, but TNA has finally found it’s own direction, so let’s see whether tonight’s show is good enough to almost make anyone want to watch!

NWA: TNA XVI (Oct. 9, 02)

We are going to start with Mike Tenay and Don West, who preview the show…once again, I will urge you to scroll down if you need a preview at this point!  We get replays from the end of last week’s main event, when a masked man attacked the champion, and now let’s go to the ring!

Ron “Tha Truth” Killings comes to the ring, which surprises our announcers.  Tenay, of course, was waiting for our first match to begin…let’s see what the NWA Champ has to say.  He wonders who is worse, the Memphis Grizzlies or the Tennessee Titans.  All right!  Cheap Heat!!  Tha Truth says that he knows that the surprise partner for Syxx Pac and BG James tonight is the same person that was wearing the mask last week…which means that it wasn’t, if I know my wrasslin’ logic!  He calls-out Don West briefly, and condemns West for interrupting while the NWA Champ is talking.  Eventually he is interrupted by BG James and Syxx Pac on the entry ramp.  Long Story short, James says, “We don’t live in a Perfect World…or do we?”  Curt Hennig joins the faces (whom Tha Truth amusingly refers to as Team Derelict), and as they rush the ring, Brian Lawler and Jeff Jarrett jump them from behind.  James challenges the heels to come in and take them on right now!

Tha Truth, Jeff Jarrett & Brian Lawler w/April v. BG James, Syxx Pac & Curt Hennig:  Well, I almost don’t know what to say.  You’d almost think that I was booking this!  Using the big names to get the crowd fired-up at the beginning of the card.  Jarrett and Hennig start, and things start slowly.  Next we get Syxx Pac and Lawler, who misses a splash out of the corner, but he is able to regain control of Pac with a Powerslam.  Tha Truth tags in, and after he misses a top rope move, Pac tags James into the match.  Killings avoids the Boogie-Woogie Punch by dropping down into the splits, and the heels are able to take over.  They make rapid tags, while keeping James on their side of the ring.  At one point, Lawler showboats on the turnbuckles and spits his gum into the audience…it would’ve been better if he had spit the gum out then slapped it ala Mr. Perfect, but I guess we can’t have it all.  Syxx Pac tags in and assumes the role of Ricky Morton as the crowd (standing room only) chants “Let’s Go Syxx Pac!”  We keep going until the hot tags are made to Hennig and Jarrett.  James and Jarrett battle up the ramp and into the back, so we are down to a two-on-two match.  When Pac hits the X-Factor on Killings, Lawler pulls the ref out of the ring before the 3-count, and knocks the ref out.  The finish to the match goes like this: Syxx Pac and Lawler battle outside the ring while Hennig and Killings are out of it inside.  At that point, the Masked Man comes in and hits Tha Truth with a Powerbomb.  We are able to see that his sweatshirt says Mr. Wrestling III on the back before he leaves ringside as the ref regains consciousness.  The ref crawls into the ring in time to see Hennig hit the Fisherman’s Suplex on Tha Truth for the 1,2,3.

After the match we see BG James lying backstage unconscious, and as Jarrett crawls away he drops a lead pipe loudly on the floor.

TNA Grrrls NWA Wildside – Friday, Oct. 11 – NWA Arena – Cornelia, GA – 8pm…NWA Main Event – Saturday, Oct. 12 – Morton’s Sportatorium – Columbia, TN – 8pm…www.nwawrestling.com

Replays from last week highlight the Styles v. Lynn match.  This leads us to…

Jerry Lynn comes to the ring and cuts a promo on Sonny Siaki, challenging him to a match for next week (after Lynn retains his X-Division belt against AJ Styles tonight, of course).  Siaki comes out and accepts the challenge, further challenging Lynn to take him on right now…to which Lynn accepts, naturally.  Lynn attacks with a Spear on the stage.  Just when it looks as if they are going to brawl into the backstage area, Siaki tosses Lynn off the stage and into the steel railing.  Siaki leaves with a seemingly concerned look on his face, as we see that Lynn’s right leg is tangled in the railing.  Tenay tells us that this injury is to the same leg that had to have full-blown knee surgery on, which kept him out of action for more than six months.  Tenay furthermore tells us that he heard Lynn say “not again” while writhing in pain.  For Lynn’s part, he sells the injury well enough to have my wife asking if it is legit.  I have no inside source, so there’s no way that I can say for sure, but considering that the camera followed every movement and even followed as they loaded Lynn into the ambulance in the back…well, I’m just hoping that this is part of the storyline.  I will address this in more detail later, during the wrap-up at the end.

Footage from earlier comes next as Goldylocks is interrupted (sort of) by Syxx Pac.  He has something to say to someone in the men’s locker-room, and he wants Goldy to come with him to document it.  Pac finds Low Ki and apologizes for his comments last week, telling Ki that he has a ton of respect for him, and that Ki is probably Pac’s favorite wrassler in NWA: TNA right now.  Aww.  That’s so sweet!  Ki appreciates his words, but…AJ Styles enters, telling Pac that he (Styles) should be his (Pac’s) favorite wrassler.

Before our next match begins, Tenay tells us that as soon as NWA officials give them word about what will happen concerning the X-Division title shot that was supposed to take place later tonight, he will pass the info along to us fans.

Spanish Announce Team v. “Wildcat” Chris Harris and “Cowboy” James Storm (champs):  This is the title shot that the S.A.T. earned last week.  The Maximos are both wearing elbow pads this week, so there is really no visible difference between the two.  Tenay tells us that former ECW Champion Mikey Whipwreck trained the Maximos.  Meanwhile we see Jose and Joel do Paper/Rock/Scissors to decide which will start the match…that was a nice touch.  After Harris dumps one of the Maximos from the top turnbuckle over the ringpost onto his brother on the floor, the TNA crew debut their immediate replay capabilities, and we see it again.  Joel and Jose hit Storm with a combination Moonsault/Neckbreaker in which Jose held Storm in a Neckbreaker position with Storm’s legs draped over the top rope, allowing Joel to moonsault from the corner onto Storm.  The S.A.T. dominate most of the match until one of them goes for a Moonsault from the top turnbuckle, and Storm hits him with a Dropkick on the way down.  Harris gets crotched on the turnbuckle, and as the Maximos attempt to set him up for the Spanish Fly, Storm knocks one of them off the ropes, down to the floor.  The other Maximo brother attempts a Flying Crossbody, but Storm ducks out of the way.  Harris and Storm hit him with a double-team variation of the Powerbomb for the pin.

TNA Grrrls No dates scroll by, so I am left to describe that one of the Grrrls is wearing an X-Division baseball cap, which I’m sure can be found at www.nwatna.com.

Goldylocks invites Chris Rock to the ring.  I’m not one for transcribing interviews, but check out what Rock had to say…After Goldylocks welcomes him to NWA: TNA, he says “Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Just wanted to say that NWA: TNA is the best wrestling in the whole world.  Yeah.  If you think this is fake, come down here and get your ass kicked!”  That’s it.  The entire segment lasted less than a minute and a half!

TNA Grrrls NWA Midwest/Missouri – Saturday, Oct. 12 – Festus, MO – 8pm…NWA Mississippi – Saturday, Oct. 12 – Battlezone Arena – Magee, MS – 8pm…www.nwawrestling.com  (On a side note, I hope that everyone that attends the NWA Midwest/Missouri show has a great time, to make-up for the fact that they live in Festus, MO!!)

Kid Kash v. Tony Mamaluke v. Ace Steel v. Low Ki:  This will be a 15 minute Ironman Match, with all four men in the ring at the same time.  We start with Ki battling Steel, and Mamaluke on Kash.  Tenay has invited Mortimer Plumtree to sit-in on announcing.  Plumtree is grateful for the opportunity, and he is looking for someone from the X-Division to “invest in”.  Plumtree also refers to the X-Division as the hottest thing in the wrestling world today.  In the ring, Kash is able to land a huricanrana on each of his opponents.  Steel and Ki are battling outside the ring, and Kash comes off the top rope with a splash…Mamaluke follows-up with a splash from the top turnbuckle onto all three of them on the floor.  In an impressive spot, Ki and Kash springboard from the apron on opposite sides of the ring, meeting in the air halfway across, Clotheslining one another.  Steel and Mamaluke take advantage of the situation, as Steel covers Low Ki and Mamaluke covers Kash and each scores a pinfall.  When Mamaluke goes for a Tornado DDT on Low Ki, Ki is able to shove him off, and Steel is there to catch Mamaluke in a Belly-to-Belly Suplex.  Plumtree meanwhile, tells us that he has had discussions with Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, and AJ Styles regarding becoming their manager.  Kid Kash meanwhile is able to land a wicked Neckbreaker on Mamaluke, and scores a pinfall.  That means that Low Ki is the only competitor that has not scored a pin.  Mamaluke and Kash battle outside, where Kash throws a chair at him from about ten feet away!  In the ring, Ki comes off the ropes, but Steel catches him in a Fireman’s Carry variation, but Ki is able to wrap Steel’s head in a Leg Scissors, and pulls the arm backwards in an Armbar.  Steel taps-out, and we are tied with all four men having one pinfall apiece.  Kash Bodyslams Mamaluke from the announce table onto the floor, and Mamaluke lands awkwardly on his right shoulder.  When Low Ki goes for a leapfrog as we go under five minutes, he lands awkwardly on his left ankle.  Tenay tells us that Low Ki injured the ankle during a tournament during his tour of Japan a few weeks ago.  Mamaluke is back in the match, thankfully, but Ki appears to be hobbled.  He (Low Ki) does get back in the action after a couple of minutes, as Steel ties him up in the corner and works over the ankle.  As we go under two minutes left in the match, Kash and Ki exchange chops outside the ring, and Mamaluke has Steel in a submission hold inside.  Kash and Mamaluke battle outside the ring as time runs-out, and in the ring, Steel does a Monkey Flip on Low Ki near the ropes, as Mortimer Plumtree leaves the announce table and holds Ki’s leg so that he can’t kick-out, and Ace Steel scores the deciding pinfall just after time runs out and the bell rings, but referee Scott Armstrong is going to let it stand…much to the chagrin of Mike Tenay and Don West.

TNA Grrrls NWA East – Saturday, Oct. 12 – NWA Sportatorium – McKeesport, PA – 8pm…NWA ECCW – Saturday, Oct. 12 – House Of Pain – Langley, BC – 8pm…www.nwawrestling.com

“DW” is in the ring to interview Hermie Sadler.  It seems that Mr. Sadler will be driving the NWA: TNA car in a NASCAR race this Saturday.  Miss TNA, Bruce, enters to confront Sadler.  Bruce is wearing a Breast Cancer Awareness pin on his dress, which is nice.  Bruce asks Sadler, “Don’t you drive a go-cart for a living?”  HA!  My wife wonders if Hermie is short for Herman, because if not, Hermie is an awful name to saddle a child with!  Jeff Jarrett enters to badmouth Sadler, claiming that Hermie isn’t good enough to drive the TNA car in The Super Bowl of NASCAR.  Sadler gets a good jab in on Jarrett, saying that Jarrett doesn’t have any gold around his waist, so he shouldn’t be talking about who’s a superstar.  Bruce and Jarrett eventually attack Sadler, and BG James makes the save.  If you want to tune-in to the NASCAR race this Saturday, by the way, it will be broadcast on TNT.

TNA Grrrls NWA 54^th Anniversary – Saturday, Oct. 26 – Memorial Coliseum – Corpus Christi, TX – 7:30pm…www.nwawrestling.com (By the way, the 54^th anniversary show is scheduled to be a two-day event, with a meet-n-greet taking place on Friday, Oct. 25.  Amey and I are planning to be there, and more info can be obtained at www.nwasouthwest.com.)

Ron Harris and Sonny Siaki v. Chris and Rick Michaels: #1 Contender’s Tag-Team Match.  Tenay quickly points out that Chris and Rick Michaels are not related, so I will quickly point out my frustration at the name-game going on in the tag team division.  Michaels and Michaels are wearing matching tights, with Chris wearing black trimmed in yellow, and Rick is wearing yellow trimmed in black.  Siaki is wearing red pants, and Harris is wearing the same thing he’s been wearing for weeks.  Tenay and West discuss Harris’ search for a permanent tag-team partner, and try to convince me that he has found a keeper in Siaki…so obviously that’s not true.  Tenay also tells us that Siaki was born in Samoa, moving to Hawaii, then Los Angeles before growing up in North Carolina.  As for action in the ring, Harris and Siaki dominate most of the match in less-than-memorable fashion.  Hot tag to Rick Michaels, but Siaki and Harris take-over quickly, and Harris dumps Chris outside as Siaki lands his finisher The Samoan Pop on Rick.  Harris stops the 3-count, insisting that Siaki hold Michaels up for Harris to land his own finisher.  Harris comes off the ropes for a lame-looking Big Boot, and of course Michaels ducks out of the way and Harris hits Siaki with the boot.  Harris turns his back and curses his bad luck as Michaels scores the pinfall on Siaki.  After the match Harris accuses Siaki of costing him the match and turns on him until security makes their way to the ring.  If I seem rather unenthusiastic as this plays out, it’s only because Ron Harris is one of the least charismatic guys that I’ve ever seen, a mediocre wrassler at best, and for some reason I am supposed to care that he keeps losing and blaming the losses on his partner…I don’t.

TNA Grrrls do their thang as the first set of dates scrolls by.

Bill Behrens comes to the ring to announce what the NWA will do about the X-Division Title Match that was advertised for tonight.  He says that because we are live on ppv, the NWA’s legal options are limited.  Wow, I hope the feds don’t storm the arena if they’ve made the wrong choice!  He announces that Jerry Lynn will be awarded an X-Title match of his choice once he is cleared to wrestle.  As for tonight’s Ladder Match, Ace Steel will be inserted into the match by virtue of his victory in the Ironman Match tonight.  Low Ki comes out to contest this decision because Steel won only because of the interference of Mortimer Plumtree.  Ki and Plumtree spar verbally, tossing in a few smark comments for good measure, until Bullet Bob Armstrong makes his way to ringside, asking, “what in the wide wide world of sports is going on?”  Armstrong tells them that the show is not Pro Talking, but Pro Wrasslin’.  He lays down the law, saying that Low Ki must take-on Ace Steel right now, and the winner will wrestle AJ Styles for the belt.

Low Ki v. Ace Steel w/Mortimer Plumtree:  This match is a #1 Contender’s Match for the X-Division Title.  Steel immediately attacks the ankle, and when he tosses Ki to the apron, Plumtree hits the ankle with a steel chair.  The ref counts Ki out, but Armstrong and Behrens tell him about Plumtree’s interference, and the match is awarded to Low Ki via disqualification…but Ki is in no condition to wrestle in a ladder match, as the rest of tonight’s X-Division roster comes to ringside to check on him.

Bullet Bob re-enters the ring to discuss his dismay at what he calls “X-Division Chaos”.  He says that the whole division has been a headache since the start, and if they want chaos, he will give them chaos.  He is opening the Ladder Match to anyone in the X-Division.

Jose Maximo v. Joel Maximo v. Kid Kash v. Tony Mamaluke v. Ace Steel v. AJ Styles:  Ladder Match for the X-Division Title.  Complete madness is the phrase that pays tonight!  Since everyone else in the match has already wrestled once tonight, AJ Styles has what Don West refers to as a Supreme Advantage.  In fact, Styles offers the first visually impressive spot of the match, springboarding onto the top rope (halfway between the turnbuckles) and literally standing on the rope momentarily before hitting a Shooting Star Press onto the other men on the floor!  Back in the ring, and Styles dropkicks one of the Maximos, who was attempting a splash from the top turnbuckle.  Steel props a ladder in the corner and bodyslams Styles onto it.  Styles becomes tangled in the ladder, and hangs upside-down from the ladder and Steel baseball-slides a Dropkick to the head.  Later, Kash hangs Joel Maximo on the same ladder, allowing Styles to slam another ladder onto him.  Joel is hanging upside-down, sandwiched between the two ladders when Styles and Kash Powerbomb Jose onto the ladder!  Kash is the first to attempt to climb the ladder and get dumped from it.  Mamaluke is next, as he climbs to the top, favoring his left arm/wrist.  Kash knocks Mamaluke off, then climbs up and attempts a Moonsault onto Steel below him in the ring.  He only barely grazes Steel, however.  Steel wedges Mamaluke’s injured arm under the ladder and stomps on it, and if Mamaluke’s arm isn’t really injured, then he’s doing a top-notch job of selling.  The two ladders are set-up in the ring, and as Kash begins to climb up, the Maximo brothers follow him, attempting to go for the Spanish Fly from the ladders.  One of the Maximos is thrown off the ladder, however, and Kash is able to hit a Tornado DDT on the other.  Chaos is right!  I’m having trouble just maintaining control of watching what is going on!  When AJ Styles is dumped off the ladder, he lands on the ref Scott Armstrong, but Armstrong is back up quickly.  Styles and one of the S.A.T. are climbing opposite sides of the ladder, and Maximo positions himself across the ladder, one leg on each side, but Styles simply rocks the ladder and rides it down onto Maximo!  Both ladders are positioned next to each other in the ring again, and the other Maximo is able to hit the Spanish Fly on Kid Kash.  Styles and Steel climb opposite sides of one of the ladders, and Styles Monkey Flips over, and lands a Powerbomb on Steel from on top of the ladder!  Styles is up immediately and lands a DDT on Mamaluke from the ladder!  Styles then presses Mamaluke above his head and throws him over the ropes to the floor!  Once Styles has cleared the ring, he positions the ladder and begins to climb.  The crowd pops loudly and is looking towards the entryway, which means…Syxx Pac enters, Back Bodydrops Styles from the ladder, then climbs up and retrieves the belt.  Your winner, and NEW X-Division Champion is Syxx Pac!  Hmmm…

We are running out of time, and Don West quickly previews next week…Syxx Pac will defend his new title against AJ Styles in a Ladder Match (wow!  It didn’t take any time at all for them to sign that match!), also Harris & Storm will defend their belts against Michaels & Michaels, as well as BG James, Jeff Jarrett, and Tha Truth will defend the World Heavyweight Title!

OK, my normal routine that I am getting into regarding these show is, I watch it while it is on Wednesday night, but while doing other stuff and with the volume turned-down low (but still audible).  I just pay close enough so that I can get a feeling for who is wrestling against whom, and who wins.  That gives me enough info that I can get my column started in outline form before I go to bed Wednesday night.  Then on Thursday, I watch the tape more closely while I write the bulk of the recap.  I mention that only because I had two distinct reactions to this show.  Wednesday night, my reaction was, “Man, a lot of guys got hurt tonight.  Maybe some of what they were doing was too dangerous.”  After watching the tape Thursday morning (and listening more closely to the announcers), I am left thinking that Lynn and Low Ki are probably being written-out of the storylines briefly, and injuries are how guys are usually written-out.  Tenay had told us a week or two ago that Low Ki was scheduled to tour Japan, after all.  Listening to the announcers is what has me thinking differently, I can’t think of anything that they said in particular, but they just seemed to non-chalantly absorb each “injury” into the flow of the match, and besides, Tenay knew immediately when and where each competitor had previously injured themselves.  As I said before, I am just a fan, not an “insider” so I could be wrong, but the only injury that I would guess is legit (if I had to) is Tony Mamaluke’s because Tenay and West said very little about it, and Mamaluke was somewhat inactive in the matches after his injury.  I’m still not sure how I feel about the show in the end.  I love the highspots, but not when it appears that the guys are being injured…it’s no fun for me to watch someone get hurt.

In the end though, they wanted to present chaos tonight, and they hit the bulls-eye!  I’m going to say thumbs-up, although because of all the injuries (whether they are real or contrived) I will probably not be going back to this tape to watch these matches again and again.  They managed to write Mortimer Plumtree into the storyline as Ace Steel’s manager in a believable way.  As for Syxx Pac holding the X-Division Title, I think that he can only bring the division down, so I am hoping that they get the belt off him soon.  Overall, I’d say that if you have been watching the last few weeks, but didn’t see this one, I guess I would recommend it.  If you have never seen TNA, my first recommendation would be to find someone that has a tape of some of the recent shows (start with the show that featured the Triple Ladder Match), and if you like those shows, then try and catch the replay of this one.

Sign O’ the Night:  We had quite a few contenders tonight, starting with WWE is EWW.  I tend to be a big fan of signs that have an arrow pointing down at the person holding the sign, and tonight’s example was seen during the Harris & Storm match, in which the person holding the sign was declaring themselves Buckaroo.  Tonight’s big winner, however, is chosen because I am a teacher, and this sign displays Tennessee’s literacy level: Hey Ex-Wive, I’m on TV.  All I can say is, “yes buddy, you were on TV”…and to your ex-wive I say, “don’t bother looking back!”

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