by Scotty Szanto-Nicodemus
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

Well, my Flag Football season is over.  We missed the playoffs.  I’m not bitter.  We finished the season 2-2, and one of our losses was by a single point after missing a two-point conversion at the end of the game.  The team that we lost that game to got the playoff spot, so best of luck to them.

As for tonight’s wrasslin’, I have mixed emotions.  On the one hand, the X-Division rules the world; on the other hand, the X-Division has been de-emphasized lately.  During the last few week’s programs the X-Division has been relegated to just a Title Match and a #1 Contender’s Match, while more and more silliness makes its way on camera.  After last week’s debut of dark matches, the gaps left by the absence of Low-Ki and other X-Division competitors is even more evident.  On the one hand, Tha Truth is set for his biggest title defense since becoming NWA World Champ; on the other hand, Jeff Jarrett seems to have been groomed to carry the promotion.  I understand the desire for the NWA as a whole to want someone with more name recognition holding the World Title…I guess when it comes to putting “casual fans” asses in the seats, the name Jeff Jarrett will help sell a few tickets.  I must say however, that Tha Truth has developed into a credible champion, and he deserves for his title reign to be memorable…especially considering that he is the first-ever black NWA World Champion.  When Amey and I went to the 54^th Anniversary show, we were more excited to meet Tha Truth than just about any of the other wrasslers.

I Get Letters™:  I actually do get letters, but got none from last week’s column…I thought for sure that someone would respond to make fun of me for referencing Cincinnati Reds and Bengals legends in replace of Jarrett’s referencing of better known sports legends.  Oh well, I guess if I go fishing for insults I’m not going to get very far.  Anyway, I did receive a lot of responses from people telling me that the WWE has signed Little Guido to a contract.  I mentioned in an off-hand manner that I’d like to see the Full Blooded Italians reunited in NWA: TNA, and it resulted in a veritable slew of three or four letters!  Basically I just feel like the tag division on TNA is stagnant, and I haven’t felt like tag-team wrasslin’ in general has been done right since ECW folded.  (To all of those that would point me to Smackdown! programs, just keep in mind that I don’t have the time to watch more than one wrasslin’ show a week.)  Back to my point, I think that TNA could do worse than offering a truckload of money to “Dastardly” Danny Doring and Roadkill…assuming that they’re still together as a team.  While I’m passing out advice on tag-team divisions, I’ll tell you that if the WWE wants to push Yoshohiri Tajiri, the best way to do so would be reunite The Unholy Alliance by signing Mikey Whipwreck.

The show opens with a quick scan of the crowd, followed by “Iron” Mike Tenay and “The Excitable” Don West, who preview tonight’s events.  Interestingly, the only matches that they preview are the X-Division Title Match and the World Heavyweight Title Match.  That’s not such a good sign.

Earlier today, Tenay sat down with Tha Truth for an interview.  Truth is ready for the biggest match of his career, and it will all come down to who is willing to pay the bigger price.

Divine Storm w/Trinity v. EZ Money & Sonny Siaki: Chris Divine and Brian Storm have been together as a tag-team for two years, and you can think of Trinity as Lita with no tattoos.  Tenay tells us that Divine Storm was trained by Mikey Whipwreck, alongside The Amazing Red and the S.A.T.  With Siaki and one of the Divine Storm outside, Money comes off the top turnbuckle, landing a Double Clothesline on both his partner and opponent.  We cut away to the replay just as the other member of Divine Storm is setting-up for a high-risk move.  When we come back to live action, all four men are out on the floor, and Trinity comes off the top with a Moonsault!!  Yep, Lita with no tattoos.  From there the match devolves into an extended squash, and the coolest spot in the rest of the match also involves Trinity…she leaps from the apron landing a Huricanrana on Siaki on the floor, and when she stands up afterward, Money runs around the corner and hits her with a wicked Lariat!  Money and Siaki get the win following the Siakalypse.

TNA Grrrls:  NWA CWF – Thursday, Nov. 21 – Mississauga #8 First Nation Community Hall – Heron Bay, Ontario – 7pm … NWA ECCW – Friday, Nov. 22 – Royal Canadian Legion – Port Coquitlam, BC – 8pm … www.nwawrestling.com

Father James Mitchell comes to the stage with Belladonna.  He tells us that everyone is talking about tonight’s World Title match, but it doesn’t matter who wins, because one of his disciples will take the belt eventually.  He also calls himself the embodiment of evil.

Korey Williams v. “The Weapon of Mass Destruction” Malice:  Williams was already in the ring, as for the second week in a row Malice wrestles a dark match that somehow makes it onto TV.  If you aren’t familiar with Malice, you are the lucky one.  He sucks so much that he has to revert to the cheapest of heat, such as wearing a vest that says “I HATE YOU” on the back.  If you don’t know Malice, but you have been watching Tough Enough III, Malice would be represented by Chad…he’s 6’9” but has zero talent and negative charisma.  How this guy has obtained a job on TNA is beyond me…and to consider the spot he first maintained at the top of the card is mind-boggling!  As a way of putting an exclamation point on my statements, Malice takes forever to climb to the top turnbuckle, and then falls off, landing flat on his face.  Mercifully, they go straight to the finish (a Chokeslam), and the match is over.

TNA Grrrls:  NWA Wildside – Friday, Nov. 22 – NWA Arena – Cornelia, GA – 8pm … NWA CWF – Friday, Nov. 22 – Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation Multi-Educational Centre – Massey, Ontario – 8pm … www.nwawrestling.com

The Spanish Announce Team v. “Big Ron” and “Heavy D”:  When the S.A.T. come to the ring, Joel makes the hand-signal of not only the S.A.T., but of Red as well.  That was nice of him.  Tenay mentions all of the different incarnations of the Harris Brothers (The Bruise Brothers, D.O.A., Creative Control), and says that no matter what they were called, they were always winners.  I didn’t watch ECW soon enough to see them as the Bruise Brothers, I only watched WWF sporadically when they were D.O.A., and I had quit watching WCW by the time they became Creative Control, so I’m gonna have to take Tenay’s word on that!  This match has similar characteristics as the last match…the crowd has been firmly behind the S.A.T. since the first program, and yet the Harris Brothers are going over huge (despite an almost total lack of crowd heat) simply because they are really big.  I was going to say that the perfect word to describe the pace of the match is methodical, but honestly I think that the match isn’t moving that fast…I’d say this match is plodding.  There were a bunch of moves, the Maximos made the Harris’ look like a million bucks, and then came the finish.  Jose climbed to the top to attempt a Tornado DDT onto Ron Harris, but it was reversed into a Gorilla-Press Slam and Jose was thrown over the top rope onto Joel on the floor!  Heavy D then ran leaping over the top rope with a twisting dive onto both Maximo brothers.  One of the Maximos was then thrown back into the ring for the H-Bomb and the Harris Brothers are YOUR #1 Contenders to the World Tag Team Titles.

TNA Grrrls:  NWA Main Event – Saturday, Nov. 23 – Morton’s Sportatorium – Columbia, TN – 8pm … NWA ECCW – Saturday, Nov. 23 – House o’ Pain – Langley, BC – 8pm … www.nwawrestling.com

April is in the back for an interview with Goldylocks.  Goldy seems more than a little ticked at April when she asks, “What in the hell were you doing in the shower with Bruce?”  April claims it was a trick, that someone in the production truck was manipulating the images to make it appear that Bruce was in the shower with her.  Somebody must have it out for her!  Goldy replies, “You make me sick.”  (If I may editorialize here, isn’t April supposed to be Lawler’s girlfriend?  Why would Goldy give two shits about April being a slut…unless they are going to twist this into a lesbian angle with Goldy and April?  Maybe I’m just over-analyzing.)  At this point in the promo, Bruce enters, and with his arm around April declares that it had to be a trick because he is proud to be a gay man.  Lenny enters showing Bruce his hand (as in “talk to the…”) and calls Bruce a fake gay man, so that must make Lenny Miss TNA.  Brian Lawler enters and attacks Bruce, and for the first time ever on a wrasslin’ show the announcers say that Lawler must’ve seen the video footage from last week!

BG James v. Lenny Lane:  Despite the fact that the chyron lists him simply as “Lenny”, Jeremy Borash announces his full name…I guess so that people who haven’t seen him before will understand why the back of his trunks say “Laniacs” on them.  This match is pure comedic squash, with Lenny providing the comedy; while James beats him down to provide the squash, until Lane connects with a thumb to the eye.  Lenny follows-up with a Springboard Moonsault that gets two.  Bruce enters the ring and attacks Lenny at this point.  Even though the blatant interference is happening right in front of the referee, James is not disqualified.  In fact, as Lenny and Bruce are fighting, BG James and the ref are standing back in the corner laughing, with James making the universal sign for “cat fight”.  Bruce lands a Piledriver on Lenny, enabling James to collect the cheap win.  After the pin, Brian Lawler comes in and starts the beatdown on Bruce, as Goldy comes out onto the ramp to console the obviously distressed April.  Goldy kisses her softly (I knew it!), and then puts her arm around her to lead her to the back.  As Lawler begins to “cry” in the ring, we get a parting shot of Goldy and April holding hands as they exit the stage area.

TNA Grrrls:  NWA Mid-West / MCW – Saturday, Nov. 23 – College of Lake County – Greyslake, IL – 7:30pm …NWA CWF – Saturday, Nov. 23 – David Kejick High School – Schoal Lake, Ontario – 7pm … www.nwawrestling.com

Jorge Estrada w/Priscilla v. Crimson Dragon v. AJ Styles w/Mortimer Plumtree:  Tenay follows wrasslin’ all over the world, but he has never heard of Crimson Dragon, which leads him to wonder if it might be an already-established star under the hood.  Once we get past the feeling-out process, Styles hits his patented Moonsault into position for the Inverted DDT on Estrada, but Dragon is there quickly with a Superkick on Styles…a nice way of thwarting the move.  When Jorge lands a Powerbomb on Dragon, then picks him up for another, Styles comes off the top turnbuckle with a Dropkick on Dragon, who then falls backwards into the Powerbomb by Estrada.  Another nice spot.  After a quick 3-way brawl outside the ring, Styles and Estrada come back into the ring, and both are down after landing a Clothesline on one another.  Dragon grabs this opportunity to leap from the top turnbuckle, connecting with a Double Legdrop.  He covers Styles but only gets 2, so he covers Estrada but again gets only 2.  Dragon crotches Estrada on the top turnbuckle and connects with a Super Frankensteiner (a move that I’m guessing Tenay would’ve referred to as a Huricanrana last week, before Big Poppa Pump re-debuted on a national level).  Dragon next jockeys for position on the top with Styles, and when Dragon goes for another Super Frankensteiner, Styles is able to reverse it into a Styles Clash from the middle rope, landing on the prone Estrada!  Styles rolls Dragon over, and draping himself across Estrada as well, Styles is able to pin both of his opponents simultaneously.  AJ Styles gets the victory and becomes the #1 Contender to the X-Division Title.  Next week he will face the winner of tonight’s match between The Amazing Red and Jerry Lynn.

TNA Grrrls:  NWA Virginia – Saturday, Nov. 23 – Westover Hills Rec Center – Richmond, VA – 7:30pm … NWA East – Saturday, Nov. 23 – NWA Sportatorium – McKeesport, PA – 8pm … NWA Mississippi – Saturday, Nov. 23 – Battlezone Arena – Magee, MS – 8pm … www.nwawrestling.com

Harris & Storm are backstage for an interview with the newly-outed lesbian, Goldy.  She asks what their plan is.  Harris takes offense, saying that they don’t need a plan other than to win back the Tag Titles.  Storm chimes in with a “Sorry ‘bout your damn luck” to the champs.

America’s Most Wanted v. The NEW New Disciples of the New Church (champs) w/Father James Mitchell and Belladonna:  For the record, Brian Lee is no longer being introduced as “Prime Time”.  He is now “Bulldozer” Brian Lee, which I believe is the name he used in ECW.  West goes overboard with the new name, referring to him simply as Bulldozer for the first few minutes of the match.  You know, while watching this match, I came to understand why Eric Bischoff tried to eliminate the Tag Team Division when he was in control of WCW.  This match looks like just about every other tag match that I’ve ever seen, with a wild brawl to start, and once the match settles into a groove in the ring, the heels cheat continuously behind the ref’s back, but whenever the faces are about to retaliate the ref is there to stop them.  Chris Harris plays Ricky Morton, as he is isolated in the heel’s corner for most of the match.  In another case of the ref ignoring a blatant disqualifying situation, when Lee shoves Harris into the ropes, Slash hits him (Harris) in the back with a steel chair.  The ref was outside the ring next to Slash, and when he (the ref) enters the ring, he simply shrugs as if to say, ”I should’ve been looking the other way.”  Harris finally gets the hot tag to Storm, who takes-on both opponents until he makes them Head-Butt one another.  This fires-up the heels, who turn and hit Storm with Stereo Head-Butts.  After some double-teaming by the heels, Don West wonders aloud why the ref doesn’t reprimand the heels the same as he has reprimanded the faces…DW says that this indicates that the ref has lost control of the match.  Slash is shoved off the top turnbuckle to the floor, landing on the safety rail, and as everyone is distracted by Slash, Lee slips out of the ring and obtains the foreign object of doom.  When Lee makes his way back into the ring however, he drops the spike, and Storm picks it up.  The ref doesn’t ignore the cheating this time, and AMW is disqualified when Storm hits Lee with the spike.  As the bell rings incessantly during the beatdown, I am left to wonder why they don’t simply cut-away to the TNA Grrrls…it worked last week!  Anyway, Belladonna enters and jumps on Storms back.  During the AMW promo before the match, Storm had said that if she jumps him this week (like she did last week), he wouldn’t just throw her down…he will put her in the 8-Second Ride (it’s his finishing move, no matter how kinky it sounds!).  So when she jumps him from behind, he…throws her down and ignores her!  She jumps on his back again (presumably screaming “It’s me!” in his ear), and he connects his finisher on her.  When Harris attacks Lee with the spike, the ref takes the spike away from him, which causes Harris to snap and hit his finisher on the ref!  The ref looked like a million bucks, by the way…they should put a pair of tights on this guy and dump Malice’s lame ass!!

TNA Grrrls grind to the beat as the first set of dates scrolls by.

We are privileged to a highlight reel of The Amazing Red’s accomplishments since being in NWA: TNA.  This is followed immediately by a sit-down interview conducted earlier today as Mike Tenay was able to get a few words from the youngster from Brooklyn, The Amazing Red.  Red is noticeably nervous in front of the camera, and Tenay has to guide him through the whole interview.  Red never totally flubs the interview; it’s just that he simply answers Tenay’s questions without much elaboration.  He tells us that he grew up in Brooklyn and was trained for the ring by Mikey Whipwreck.  Even though he is just 20 years old, he has been in the wrasslin’ business for 4 years.  His idols growing up started with Hulk Hogan, and then when he saw Rey Mysterio, Jr. he realized that a smaller man could make it in the business.  He also tells us that when he started trading for tapes from Japan was about the time that he decided that he wanted to become a wrassler.  As for tonight’s X-Division Title match, Red feels as though the X-Division is his opportunity to shine and show people what he is capable of, and he is honored to be in the ring against Jerry Lynn, whom he says is the “best of the best” when it comes to smaller competitors.

Speaking of the champ, Jerry Lynn is backstage with Goldy, and he is looking forward to tonight’s match against Red.  In fact Lynn tells us that Red reminds him of himself when he was first breaking into the business…he tells us how intimidating it can be to be in a locker room full of muscle-bound monsters, all of whom looked down at him until they saw what he could do in the ring.

The Amazing Red v. Jerry Lynn (champ):  We have an extended feeling-out process to begin, and when they go outside the ring Red goes for a ‘rana, but Lynn catches it, and holding Red in position for the Styles Clash, Lynn rams Red’s chest into the ring apron.  After some back-and-forth action in the ring, Red connects with a move that he calls the 718, which Tenay tells us is the area code in Brooklyn.  (I looked it up, and it’s true.  Brooklyn is also covered by the 917 and 347 area codes.)  When Red connects with the Code Red, the crowd begins to chant “Let’s Go Re-ed, Let’s Go!”  Jerry Lynn really is going out of his way to make Red look good.  I once referred to Red as a young, admittedly green, RVD, and if he is able to face people with the capabilities of Jerry Lynn, that remark won’t be too far off base.  Lynn climbs to the top turnbuckle, but Red connects with a Spin Kick, and is able to set-up for a Huricanrana off the top.  Lynn holds-on and rolls-through on the ‘rana, turning it into a Seated-Powerbomb…the same move that AJ Styles used to pin Red in a title match a few weeks ago.  This time Red kicks out after a two-count.  A couple of minutes later they do the same spot from the other corner, but when Lynn tries to roll-through, Red is able to stop the momentum and grab the leg. 1! 2! No.  Red climbs to the top turnbuckle and is crotched there by Lynn, who grabs Red and lands the Cradle Piledriver from the second rope!  The impact of the move sends Red flipping ¾ the way across the ring, finally coming to rest in the opposite corner, where Jerry Lynn covers for the 3-count.  Lynn takes a moment to shake Red’s hand before leaving the ring.  That match was fantastic, and kudos to Jerry Lynn for allowing nearly the entire match center around Red’s offense.

Tenay and DW are standing by to deliver the hard-sell for next week’s show…The New Church will defend the tag belts against Curt Hennig and Syxx Pac (Hennig and Pac are competing against each other this weekend at a card in Florida)…the Jerry Lynn v. AJ Styles feud continues next week when Lynn defends the X-Division belt against the new #1 Contender…Brian Lawler will face Bruce in the ongoing battle for that slut April…and what about Mr. Wrasslin’ III?  If Tha Truth retains his title tonight, will Mr. Wrasslin’ III step forward to challenge him, and if Jarrett wins the title, who will the NWA committee pick to be his first challenger?

Highlights set-up tonight’s main event.

Jeff Jarrett v. Tha Truth (champ):  They are giving this match the big-time feel by having Jeremy Borash wait until both competitors are in the ring before announcing them, and even bringing them both to the center of the ring while Senior Official Scott Armstrong explains that if Tha Truth is disqualified, he loses his belt.  He then tells them to go to their corners and “come out fighting”.  As the match gets underway, Tenay tells us that the first time that Jeff Jarrett was ever officially involved in a pro wrasslin’ match (as an referee) was in this very building, the TNA Arena…and although Tenay doesn’t mention it, I am confident that the building went by another name at that time.  HA!  I’m going to jump past the feeling-out process, and go right to the action-packed middle of the match.  Jarrett goes for an Enzuigiri Kick, but Killings ducks and reverses it into a Figure Four.  After two near pinfalls, Jarrett is able to reverse the Figure Four, and Killings makes it to the ropes.  Jarrett has Tha Truth in the corner, but halts the 10-punch count along after six because referee Armstrong was struck with an errant elbow.  While the ref’s back is turned, Killings slips outside the ring and tosses a chair in, but Jarrett is able to grab it and waffles Tha Truth with it…this gets only a two count.  The crowd chants, “Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!” as Jarrett is setting-up for his finisher, but Tha Truth reverses it and lands a Face-Plant Suplex (does a face-first suplex have a name?).  Killings is crotched while climbing to the top turnbuckle, falling from the turnbuckles to the mat, and when Jarrett gets him up and is able to successfully connect with The Stroke, Tenay about busts a blood vessel when Tha Truth kicks-out at two.  The fight goes outside, and when Jarrett is pushed into the corner post, he is busted open.  He is practically pouring blood almost immediately, and is wearing a full-fledged crimson mask within a matter of only a few seconds by the time they make their way to the announce table.  The brawl goes through the crowd, and when they make their way to the T-shirt table, Jarrett is laid-out on it and Tha Truth leaps from the balcony above!  The match goes Blair Witch at this point, as there is not enough light for us to see them laying on the ground where the concession table used to be…so the cameraman uses a portable light, which gives the impression of someone shining a flashlight onto the carnage.  When Tenay mentions that Jarrett has lost a lot of blood, the camera zooms in on Jarrett’s bloody face, and with the flashlight effect, it is a pretty cool image.  The ref has decided to return to the ring at this point and begin the 10-count.  Tenay starts to go nuts because Tha Truth could lose his title if he is counted-out…completely ignoring the fact that it would be a double count-out, and hopefully they would just have the title held-up if that happened.  It is a moot point, however, as Killings makes it back into the ring at 8.  The action resumes, and when Killings comes off the ropes for a Lariat, Jarrett ducks and the ref is bumped more seriously, and is sent through the ropes to the floor.  Jarrett and Tha Truth collide in the middle of the ring, and both men are down.  I hope you aren’t surprised that Mr. Wrasslin’ III makes his way to the ring at this point, and he is carrying a silver guitar.  He makes like he is going to hit Killings, stops short, then makes like he is going to hit Jarrett, stops short again, then knocks out the champ by breaking the guitar over his head.  Jarrett presumably saw none of this, as he stumbles backwards and falls onto Tha Truth for the pin.  The winner and NEW NWA World Heavyweight Champion is Jeff Jarrett.  The fun isn’t over however, as Mr. Wrasslin’ III is in the ring behind Jarrett, and when the new champ turns around, MW3 removes his mask.  Tenay about has a fit, shouting, “Oh shit!  It’s Vince Russo!”  My wife turns to me at this point and says, “Who?”  Exactly!!

I try not to get too worked-up over the who wins and who loses aspect of wrasslin’, but it is hard for me not to complain a little bit over the fact that Tha Truth dropped the belt after holding it for less than four months.  Plus, this is the first time that he has faced someone with the credibility of Jarrett (some might point to Curt Hennig, but Hennig was washed-up ten years ago…even in the eyes of the “casual fan”).  As the first-ever black NWA world champ he really deserves for his reign to have some kind of special aspect to it…for instance, as I said a few weeks ago, the “pre-game” show that was on before the ppv featured clips of Ken Shamrock’s title win, but not Tha Truth’s.  Plus, it is pretty hard to ignore the fact that TNA has elevated one of the owners to the World Champion position, due to interference from the Head Booker!

My main gripe with how TNA programs have gone of late is the de-emphasis that the X-Division has gotten.  The X-Division is what put TNA on the wrasslin’ map, and now people like Low-Ki, Tony Mamaluke, Chris Daniels, Elix Skipper, even Ace Steel and especially my guy CM Punk are passed-over so that we can see Malice in a dark-match quality squash…and he looked pitiful even then!  The rest of the show was acceptable, especially now that the center of the slut angle is April, and the emphasis is no longer on Lawler.

In the end, I am willing to give the show a thumbs-up and recommend it based on the power of the X-Division Title Match and the World Title Match (which was a really good match, I just would’ve ended it differently if I was booking it, but that doesn’t take away from how good the match was), the Tag Title Match was really good as well, and the undercard was good even if it was less than memorable.

The Sign o’ the Night is actually a series of signs tonight…there was a group of people sitting directly across from the stationary camera and they had signs that spelled-out HIRE ATHENA.  Now I have no idea who Athena is, but if I had to guess I’d say she is probably a Memphis-area valet on the indy scene.  The real sign o’ the night however, came when AJ Styles came to the ring and the people holding these signs re-arranged the letters and held up only three so that it read: RAT.  Now THAT I like!  An honorable mention goes to the person who was sitting directly behind the announcers and had a sign that said Where Does Don West Buy His Clothes?

PEACE

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