Incidentally, my favorite of the columns that won’t see the light of day was called, The Pillmanization of Me.  I had always been a fan of Flyin’ Brian, and I shared a few personal-history facts: we both grew-up in Cincinnati, Ohio, for instance.  The similarities don’t stop there, because we both attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  He played on the football team and was way into the greek system, while I smoked my way to a Bachelor Degree, and the closest I came to attending a sporting event was watching Broomball games on the hockey rink…hey, I didn’t claim that our lives mirrored one another, only that there were similarities!  For instance, Pillman played for the Cincinnati Bengals at the time when I was the biggest Bengals fan compared to any other point in my life.  So much so, that when I heard that Flyin’ Brian Pillman was wrasslin’ for NWA/WCW, it excited me to hear that a former Bengal was making it big!  All of these things are just coincidental things that don’t really mean anything, but this summer I achieved true Pillmanized status when I had to have surgery on my left foot, and the bones in one of my toes were fused together.  If anyone reads this, at least someone will think, “It was Pillman’s ankle that was fused, not his toe, dumbass!”  …And I encourage you to send me hate emails.  Hell, I don’t get enough of them!  You should also take the time to thank me for not stretching a single-paragraph story out for an entire column!  So there you have it, I added another reason to the list of things I have in common with Pillman…and maybe, just maybe I should add that I was kinda hooked on painkillers for a while in July and August, but I finally saw the light and made it out of that dark tunnel.

All these years later, and he’s still amongst my favorite wrasslers of all time.  RIP Flyin’ Brian.

The reason we are here is to recap TNA’s final Wednesday-night ppv, and take a look at what kind of direction they appear to be going now that they have a weekly show on cable, and the ppvs will be monthly.  So let’s get started:

The telecast begins with Tim Welch, the ring announcer for TNA’s syndicated show, Xplosion.  I would be remiss if I didn’t poke fun at the fact that they sent a guy from the show that isn’t on cable to tell us about cable theft!  From there we get replays, including footage from the exciting tag-team feud.  The ppv itself will begin with a 6-team X-Division Dominance Tag Team Battle Royal.

Petey Williams & “Hotshot” Johnny Divine (representing Team Canada) v. Shark Boy & D-Ray 3000 v. Michael Shane & Kazarian w/Traci v. Delirious & Sonjay Dutt v. Mikey Batts & Jerelle Clark v. Amazing Red & Chris Sabin.  This match will start as an over-the-top rope Battle Royal, until it is down to two men.  At that point, their partners will return to the ring, and we will have a standard Tag Team Match, which will determine X-Division dominance…or so Tenay would have us believe.  I was barely done typing the names before the first elimination!  Chris Sabin was thrown over the top by Petey Williams, but Sabin held onto the ropes, and then brought Williams over with a ‘rana.  The X-Division champion is the first to be eliminated from the match, in less than a minute!  Delirious is tossed out by Sharkboy, however it is Sharkboy’s partner, D-Ray 3000 that is eliminated next.  Sabin sent over by Kazarian, and then after Shane and Batts battle for position on the apron, Shane eliminates Batts by suplexing him over the ropes to the floor.  At this point, it is pointed out that Kazarian and Shane are the only team left intact in the ring, and almost as if on cue, they work together to eliminate Sharkboy, meaning that his team is the first to be completely eliminated from the match.  We are down to six, including Kazarian & Shane, of course, also Sonjay Dutt, Amazing Red, Johnny Divine and the rookie, Jerelle Clark.  Shane and Red are both outside the ropes, fighting on the apron.  Shane slips off the apron, but holds onto the ropes, leaving himself open for the 718, and then he is out.  Red then sets Kazarian up for the same move, but Kazarian ducks out of the way, trips Red up, and then tosses him over the top.  While Johnny Divine had Clark tied-up in a submission hold, Dutt comes off the top rope with a huge Elbow Drop two-thirds the way across the ring.  Dutt continues to control the match, taking on Divine and Kazarian…but the numbers catch up to him eventually, and they work together to eliminate him.  Just when it looks as if they are going to continue working together, Kazarian kicks Divine off the top turnbuckle!  We are down to the final two, and the traditional tag match will begin.

Michael Shane & Kazarian v. Mikey Batts & Jerelle Clark.  Shane hits the ring quickly, attacking Clark from behind.  Batts makes his way to the apron, and Clark is able to make the tag.  Batts scares the shit out of me when he slips off the top rope, and fell twisting to the mat.  He landed on his back, and Shane and Kazarian really start to work-over his lower back.  You know the formula…lots of tags for the heels, while they hold Batts on their side of the ring and apply submission move after submission move.  Sprinkle liberally with high impact double-team moves, and you’ve got the bulk of this match.  Clark is full of the proverbial fire after the tag, but during the chaos, Batts gets a blind tag, and enters the ring as the legal man.  Michael Shane takes him out immediately, and attention turns to Clark on the top turnbuckle, where he attempts his 630-degree splash on Kazarian in the corner.  Kazarian slips under the ropes to the floor, and Clark crashes to the mat.  Shane waits for him to get up for the Superkick, but Batts (the legal man) sneaks-up behind him and rolls Shane up for the pin.  The heels go nuts in the ring, while the rookies quickly make their way to the locker rooms.

Scott Hudson is in the back with Triple X, where he announces that Cowboy James Storm’s injured back has worsened over the last week, and so the 3-Way Dance for the tag titles is being replaced by a straight-up title match for Triple X.  Daniels and Skipper then cut the promo that you would expect, including a shout-out to Storm, when Daniels states that after he and Primetime win the belts, and after Storm is healthy, that they’d be honored to defend the belts against AMW.  Cue the tag champs Stevens and Douglas, who attack Daniels’ already-injured arm with a steel chair.

6-Person Intergender Match: Goldylocks, Alex Shelley & Abyss v. Desire, Sonny Siaki & Erik Watts.  We go from the best-executed feud in TNA to the worst for this match.  Everyone in this match has one reason or another to hate/fear Goldy.  Watts and Siaki control the early moments of the match against Abyss, and things kind of go back and forth for a little while, until Abyss takes Siaki out with a Chokeslam.  Goldy is yelling something from the apron, and when Abyss makes his way over there, she tags herself in.  She struts confidently towards the prone Siaki, who at the last moment, kips up and stares her down in the middle of the ring.  Even the ref has an “Oh shit!” look on his face!  Desire tags in, but Goldy finds refuge behind the men on her team.  Finally the men are cleared out, and we have a few seconds of catfight before Abyss grabs Desire.  Goldy demands that he Chokeslam her, but Watts’ wife (I missed her name) has come down to the ring, and is pleading with Abyss not to do it.  Goldy pushes him, demanding repeatedly that he slam Desire.  Finally, when Goldy slaps him in the face, Abyss has had enough, and he grabs Goldy and releases Desire.  He picks her up, and brings her down with a Backbreaker.  Desire sneaks in and gets the pinfall.

Hudson is backstage with Team Canada, and Scott D’Amore has words for Dusty Rhodes.  When Hudson asks how D’Amore sleeps at night after what he’s done, D’Amore replies, “I sleep like any Canadian National Treasure would…I sleep on a bed of money.”

Replays set-up the Kid Kash/AJ Styles feud…

Tables Match: Kid Kash v. AJ Styles.  Kash attacks as Styles enters the ring, but it is Styles that goes for the first table move, attempting to suplex Kash over the top rope.  Kash blocks the move, and Don West informs us that the winner has to put his opponent through not one but two tables to win the match.  Styles set-up by Kash on the apron, but when Kash comes off the opposite ropes, Styles springboards in and hits him with a Flying Shouldertackle.  Kash slides under the ropes to the floor.  Styles comes out after him, but Kash was playing possum and takes it to the Phenomenal One outside.  Styles catches him on the steel guardrail, and then lays Kash out on a table outside.  He re-enters the ring and positions himself on the apron, but when Kash rolls off the table, Styles leaps over the table with a Moonsault.  Yeah, we get a replay of that move…Styles is just so crisp with his moves that they look fantastic in slow motion.  Back to the match, where both men are in the ring, and they are jockeying for position in front of a table that is set-up against the turnbuckles.  Kash with a Back Kick low blow, but the ref just shrugs, as there is nothing he can do.  Kash is able to German Suplex Styles onto the table, but it doesn’t break all the way through, and so the ref declares that it doesn’t count.  So Kash picks Styles up, and slams him forcefully through the table, breaking it into several pieces.  If I may editorialize: I appreciate referee Mike Posey deviating from the scheduled match storyline, telling Kash to improvise something to really give the fans something before the match continues.  Proof is in the pudding in this match, as the fans begin to chant, “K-I-D! K-I-D! K-I-D!”  With Kash on the apron, Styles catches him with a Flying Back Kick, which sends Kash through a table on the floor.  Things are all tied in the match, but Styles has trouble bringing a table into the ring (the legs of the table got folded backwards and wouldn’t go through the ropes), which provides Kash with enough time to recuperate and bring in a table of his own.  They begin battling for position on the top above a table in the ring, and just then Dallas comes in through the crowd, but it looks like Styles ducked and he hit Kash, because Styles brings Kash off the top with a Styles Clash through the table for the win.

As Styles makes his way up the ramp, the X-Division Champion Petey Williams attacks and tosses him back into the ring, into the waiting hands of Dallas.  Williams comes in, and hits his Flip Piledriver, the Canadian Destroyer, before laying Styles in the middle of the ring for Kash to come off with an enormous Frogsplash!  3-Live Krew comes in, and the heels scatter.

Scott Hudson is backstage with Dusty Rhodes, who is putting his career on the line against D’Amore tonight with Vince Russo as Special Guest Referee.

Replays of the Rhodes/Russo feud are shown, which leads us to the following match.  The best part of the replay package is when Rhodes, wrasslin’ as the Midnight Rider, lands a Bionic Elbow, and West on commentary calls it “a unique move like I’ve never seen before.”  Ha!  Russo comes to the ring first wearing a black-n-white striped shirt with the Yankee’s “NY” emblem on the breast…oh, he is sooo-turning heel.

Special Grudge Match: Scott D’Amore v. Dusty Rhodes.  They announce Rhodes from Austin, Texas, even though I thought he was living in Florida…I have a feeling that I am closer to Austin than Rhodes is these days.  Russo is kept front and center during the early moments, as he stops each man from using a closed-fist…each time, the distraction allows their opponent to land a punch against them, of course.  Dusty slows the pace down, as Tenay finally announces that this is the last Wednesday ppv, more than halfway through the show.  D’Amore brings his hockey stick into the match, but Dusty ducks.  When Rhodes grabs the stick, Russo takes it away, allowing D’Amore the chance to attack from behind and take control of the match with a series of high-impact rest holds.  He goes to the top, and comes off with a Moonsault.  Dusty rolls out of the way, and takes control with what Don West would have us believe are patented Right Hands.  Russo steps-in close to tell Rhodes to open the fists, but catches an elbow to the eye.  At least, that is how smoothly it was supposed to happen, actually, Rhodes appeared to miss, turn and look for Russo, and then try again before elbowing Russo.  Down goes D’Amore, and Russo is up quickly to retrieve the baseball bat that he brought to the ring.  (I know, I know, just bare with me…it’ll be over soon.  I promise.)  Russo stalks Rhodes from behind, but the crowd is hollering for Dusty to turn around.  So Dusty looks to his right, then to his left, and then turns to the crowd with a “what is it?” look on his face, before he finally turns around and catches Russo mid-swing.  D’Amore tries to attack from behind, but Rhodes ducks, hits a single elbow, and gets the 1, 2, 3.

Let’s get some words with the NWA Tag Team champions, who are standing-by with Scott Hudson backstage.  Hudson informs The Naturals that the Championship Committee has determined that they will defend the Tag Titles tonight.  Douglas and Stevens joke that after taking-out both Triple X and AMW, there is no more credible competition for them.  Therefore, they are going to walk to the ring, quickly dispense of whomever is sent to the ring to face them, and then party all night…or something to that effect, anyway.  So the champs enter first, and they bring with them the chair that they used to take-out the Fallen Angel earlier.  Larry Zbysco comes to the stage to introduce the challengers…hit Primetime’s music.  Tenay and West begin to speculate that Daniels is going to fight through the pain, until Wildcat Chris Harris struts out.  Harris and Primetime agree to put their differences aside to take-out their common enemy, and rush the ring.

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Naturals (champs) v. Primetime & Chris Harris.  The champs attack quickly, but get tossed over the top, and the fight goes outside on either side of the ring.  Once the ref gains control and brings them into the ring, Harris is firmly in control.  Tenay and West wonder aloud if they will be able to co-exist after feuding against each other for so many weeks.  Just then, Harris makes the tag.  Primetime comes in and gets the first nearfall of the match.  Stevens gets a Legsweep and goes for a pinfall of his own, but Primetime slides out with the Matrix…getting it out of the way early.  Tag to Douglas, who comes in and becomes the punching bag for the fan favorites.  Skipper makes the tag to Harris, and after staring at one another for a moment, they simultaneously stomp a pair of mudholes in Douglas’ chest in the corner.  Harris and Skipper maintain control of the match with quick tags, until Primetime goes for a move off the ropes, and Stevens is able to knock him off the ropes and into the ring.  Douglas begins to mount some offense, and tosses Primetime outside, where Stevens takes over.  At that point, Harris rushes into the ring, but gets cut-off by the ref.  In a nice nod to the old-school, the ref keeps his back turned until Harris has left the ring, proceeded to his own corner, and then the ref made him grab hold of the corner rope.  The ref keeps his back turned, presumably telling Harris, “You’d better not let go of that rope as soon as I turn my back!”  As the ref returns to the match, Stevens tosses Primetime back into the ring, and tells the ref, “I wasn’t doin’ anything!  I just helped him back into the ring.”  Sternly, the ref replies, “OK.”  Just fuckin’ priceless, man!  The heel champs treat Skipper like their own Ricky Morton, and several times Harris rushes the ring, forcing the ref to restrain him…you know the story.  Primetime finally lands a kick on Stevens, and both are able to make the hot tag.  Douglas sent over the ropes to the floor, and Harris lands a Bulldog on Stevens.  Harris then instructs Primetime to climb the ropes, and Harris will hold Stevens for a double-team move…Harris holds him up for a Suplex, and Primetime comes off the ropes with a Crossbody Block.  1,2 , no.  Douglas back in the ring, and all four men are fighting in the middle.  Harris sent into the ropes…he comes off with a Clothesline, but Douglas ducks and the Wildcat takes-out his partner!  Harris immediately grasps his head, making the international sign for “Oh shit!”  Primetime, of course, has a less than forgiving look on his face.  He and Harris have words, and even though Harris says “I’m sorry” repeatedly, Primetime leaves the ring and starts to walk up the ramp.  Douglas and Stevens attack Harris from behind and hit their finisher.  Douglas goes for the pin…Primetime returns and rushes the ring…1…Stevens cuts Primetime off and prevents him from getting in the ring…2…Harris kicks out!  The Naturals can’t believe it.  Hell, I almost don’t believe it!  Douglas pulls some powder from his trunks, but the ref has spotted him, and backs him into a corner.  That was just a distraction, though, as Stevens comes in wielding the steel chair.  Just as he is about to swing, Primetime slides under the ropes with another chair and takes Stevens out.  Douglas can’t believe it, and when he turns, he walks into a Spear from Harris.  1, 2, and 3!  The winners, and NEW NWA World Tag Team Champions, are “Primetime” Elix Skipper and “Wildcat” Chris Harris.

We get comments from members of the locker room concerning the Jarrett/Hardy match.  From there, Tenay and West detail what shows will be on Wednesday nights for the next three weeks.  They also announce that November 7^th will be TNA’s first 3-hour Sunday night ppv.  We then go backstage, where Hudson is with Monty f’n Brown, who will have the last word before the main event.

NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jeff Hardy v. Jeff Jarrett (champ).  The proceedings begin with boxing-style intros, but Hardy and Jarrett jump one another repeatedly, and instead of just clearing the ring and starting the match, the ring fills with refs and security guards, to enable the ring announcer to finish the intros.  This drags on long enough for the crowd (and me) to get impatient, but in the end it works out, as the brawl spills out of the ring, and Jarrett is tossed into the ringsteps.  Actually, he appears to be wedged between the steps and the ring as Hardy makes his way back into the ring.  Jarrett finally frees himself and climbs into the ring just as his name is being announced, and he’s already busted open!  As things settle down to a one-on-one match in the ring, we gaze upon Monty Brown, sitting on top of the ramp.  Each guy goes for his respective finishing move early, and Hardy tends to come out on top in the early-match lock-ups, and gets a few nearfalls for his trouble.  The fight again goes outside, and Jarrett is tossed over the guardrail.  Hardy climbs to the top turnbuckle, and flies over the guardrail onto the champ.  When things spill into the crowd, Jarrett gains control with a couple of chairshots.  They make their way to the balcony, and each guy attempts to toss the other over the rail, but neither succeeds.  They make it back down to the main level, and when Hardy ducks a chairshot, Jarrett takes-out the ref.  They head back into the ring, where Hardy is able to lay Jarrett out, hit the Swanton, but by the time referee Rudy Charles makes it to the ring, Jarrett is able to kick out.  Jarrett hits the stroke, but the ref is still groggy, and Hardy kicks out of the slow count.  Jarrett locks him into the Figure Four, and we see that along with the Alpha Male, Raven and Abyss are watching the match from the stage.  Hardy reverses the Figure Four, and Jarrett grabs the ropes right in front of Dusty Rhodes, who has made his way to ringside.  After being freed from the Figure Four, Jarrett rolls under the ropes, and starts to walk up the ramp, shrugging-off the match with a wave of his hands.  Dusty grabs him and tosses him back into the ring, where the waiting Hardy locks him into the Spineline.  Jarrett again slides under the ropes, and this time he hits Dusty Rhodes with a right hand.  Dusty grabs Jarrett before he can climb back into the ring, and starts to lay into him with rights and lefts.  This brings Russo out with his bat, and he and Rhodes begin to bump chests at ringside.  Jarrett’s got the bat, but after a kick from Hardy, he drops it, and The Charismatic Enigma picks it up…but from the floor, Russo grabs the bat and yanks it from Hardy’s hand.  In the ring, Jarrett attempts to attack from behind, but Hardy reverses it and goes for the Swanton, but Jarrett moves out of the way.  The ref is outside the ring, dealing with Rhodes and Russo, which enables Jarrett to grab his guitar at ringside.  One El Kabong later, and Jeff Jarrett is the winner, and STILL World Heavyweight Champion.

Closing: I enjoyed this show, and overall I am enjoying the TNA product and I’m excited about their direction heading into the first Sunday night ppv.  You can’t really get an endorsement much more glowing than that!  When I watched a month’s worth of Impact in the same weekend, those shows were from July and August, and the show improved vastly as the ppv grew closer.  I hope that now that they are slowing down to a monthly ppv schedule, there will be less squash matches, and more of a feeling that Impact is worth recording and watching.  They only have an hour to fill, and with the vast talent pool that TNA can draw from, there is no reason that any match besides the first should have somebody that I’ve never heard of.

Specifically, I really like the direction that the tag team division is going, and the booking for tonight’s match had Daniels’ fingerprints all over it.  In the X-Division, Petey Williams has really won me over lately, and after attacking Styles, I think you can pencil that match in for November 7^th.  The less said about the Rhodes/Russo thing the better, but I will concede that if they want to reach a broad audience, then they need to offer things for the youngest fans that aren’t familiar with the Dusty Finish.  Finally, there were a lot of potential challengers watching the main event from the stage, so I hope the #1 Contendership battles get played-out on Impact.

That’s it.  I’m done.  I have a huge back-up of tapes that I ordered this summer…my surgery was July 15^th, and now two months later I am just beginning to feel normal on a daily basis.  If I watched any wrasslin’ during those two months…and I did…the memories were lost in a Vicodin-induced haze.  Suffice to say that I will try and not be such a stranger around OO.

PEACE