NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #1 6/19/2002

NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #1 6/19/2002

Don West welcomes us to the show and brings out Ed Ferrera. Ed says he's not talking just about total nonstop action, he's talking about TNA. We see cage dancers in the background.

Mike Tenay is on commentary and says this is the premier event of NWA-TNA. He says the legends of the NWA are in attendance and says they will be respecting history. He says they will make history by crowning an NWA champ tonight in The Gauntlet for The Gold. Mike runs down the rules of it.

We go to Jeremy Borash in the ring and he brings out various NWA legends including Harley Race, Dory Funk Jr., Jackie Fargo, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, Corsica Joe, Bill Behrens and Ricky Steamboat.

Steamboat has the NWA title and talks about becoming a world champ. He says this belt means more to him than any other title. He says becoming champ is the ultimate goal. He says he will be the special ref for when it comes down to the final two wrestlers in the gauntlet.

Jeff Jarrett comes out. He says The Gauntlet for The Gold is the biggest bunch of crap he has ever heard. He asks if Ricky or Dory won their titles in a battle royale. He calls it a joke and calls Jackie Fargo an old fart. Fargo tells him to kiss his @ss. Fargo says he will put Jeff as the first entrant in the gauntlet. Jeff says it's alright with him and says he will kick 19 other @sses and walk out the champ.

Ken Shamrock comes out. He says the gauntlet tonight sucks and says Jeff is right. He says Jeff may whip 18 other people's @sses tonight but not #19, as #19 is him. Scott Hall comes out through the crowd.  

Scott says he agrees the battle royal sucks but says they will do it tonight. He tells them to quit crying about it. Scott tell them to focus on trying to beat him. Jeff tells him and everyone else to stick it.

Thoughts: This whole opening segment was terrible. They welcome us to the show and talk about tradition and history while Ed Ferrera talks about actual TNA. They then spent the whole segment here talking about how stupid the battle royal concept is despite it being the main event and something that is supposed to draw people in.  

Goldilocks is in the back. She says she has some TNA right here and it's Puppet The Psycho Dawrf. Puppet says let's start the show with midgets and talks about "the day I came outta my momma". He says everyone stops and stares at him. He complains about Teo and Hollywood and says he wants to see midget blood, which he says he can provide. Jeff Jarrett then talks past him and kicks chairs.

AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn & Low-Ki vs. The Flying Elvises (Jimmy Yang, Jorge Estrada & Sonny Siaki)

We see the legends watching in the back. They call The Elvises, "The Flying Elvis Impersonators" and the legends are not happy with this.

Ki's team offer a handshake but The Elvises hit them from behind. Ki and Lynn hit dropkicks while AJ does a hurricanrana. Ki topes out while Lynn dives off the top over him. AJ powerslams Yang and is pop-up dropped. Yang flying knees him for 2.

AJ escapes a backdrop. Lynn tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Yang. Lynn boots him out of the corner then hits a tornado ddt. Yang headflips out of it and enzugiri's him. Yang walks up Lynn in the corner and flips off of it. Sonny uppercuts Lynn then misses a flipping leg drop.

Lynn headscissors Sonny then bulldogs him off the casadora. Ki hits shots on Sonny then Sonny flipping neckbreakers him for 2. Sonny backbreaker drops him using his shoulder. Ki takes a samoan drop then a slingshot seated moonsault from Jorge.

Jorge goes up and over then hits a nasty neckbreaker. Jorge running ssp's him. Ki dropkicks Jorge in the knee and hits kicks to the chest and head. AJ flying forearms Yang and Yang does a nice bump for it. AJ asai moonsaults into a reverse ddt on Yang. Yang hits a nasty looking spinning heel kick on AJ for 2.

Ki koppo kicks Yang off the apron. Ki jumps up and Jorge sky highs him. Lynn cradle piledrivers Jorge. Sonny spinning neckbreakers Lynn. AJ enzugiri's Sonny. Ki does a cartwheel kick in the corner but nails AJ on accident. Ki takes a top rope dropkick to the back of the neck then Yang hits a corkscrew moonsault on AJ to win.

Thoughts: It was an entertaining trios match and opener here. They did a bunch of fast-paced flying here and everyone looked good. 

Teo vs Hollywood

Toe gets hit from behind as he poses n the ropes. They botch a tilt-a-whirl. Holly's head is banged off the buckles and Teo chops him. Teo headbutt drops Holly's crotch in the corner. Holly is thrown into the buckles head first and Teo hits corner punches. Teo then humps Holly's head.

Holly hits a landslide for 2. Teo rolls him up for 2 then Holly lariats him. Holly goes up top and hits a frogsplash for 2. Holly takes some punches to the face off a botched irish whip. Teo russian legsweeps him and hits a top rope twisting splash to win.

Thoughts: It was short and not good. There were multiple botches and sloppy moments here. 

We see the girls dance in the cages.

Ed and Don are in the ring. Ed says next week will have a lingerie battle royal. Ed says he demanded we get a sneak peek tonight. They bring out Francine (former ECW girl), Miss Joanie (no idea but she looks good), Daffney (wearing a pink wig and pre-implants), Alexis Laree (Mickie James pre-implants), Sasha (no idea), Erin (a Baltimore Raven's cheerleader), Elektra(former ECW girl), Taylor Vaughn (was in the WWF as Barbara Bush) and Tarita (no idea).

Don says we will see the biggest catfight in history and says only one can be known as Miss TNA. Francine calls Don "pudgy" and says none of the girls deserve to be in the ring with her as they can't compare to her. She says she's The Queen of Extreme and asks what they have done for the wrestling business. Elektra asks her who deemed her Queen of Extreme. She says this is a new company and she doesn't hear extreme in the title. She blames Francine for bankrupting ECW. Francine attacks her and they catfight. Francine rips Elektra's top off (she has a bra on underneath). Francine says she will do this to the rest of the girls and says no one will see her in her lingerie as she will be crowned the first ever Miss TNA.

Thoughts: Yeah, this was pretty much what it sounded like. It would have been nice if they explained who some of these girls are.

Goldilocks interviews Mortimer Plumtree. He has a paddle and is dressed up like a private school teacher. Mort says he's the story of a life filled with torment. He says the torment and pain lead to will and lead him to power. He says he has a tag team who are his servants that do and wear what he says. He says they owe him their freedom. He calls on them to make their presence known and brings out The Johnson's.

James Storm & Psicosis vs. The Johnsons (Richard Johnson & Rod Johnson)

The Johnson's are in tan outfits and are supposed to look like male genitalia. Storm is super thin here and is wearing cowboy gear. Storm shoots off some smoke from guys during his entrance.

Psi and a Johnson lock up. Psi takes punches and a corner splash. Psi then takes a double underhook suplex. Psi is suplexed then he hits a spinning heel kick. Psi hits a step up enzugiri.

Storm hits a top rope dropkick on a Johnson then the other Johnson goes out. A girl named Alicia who they say was with The Maestro in WCW comes out to watch. A Johnson knees and clubs on Storm. Storm takes an armdrag. Storm is thrown over the top but skins the cat. Storm hits punches then hits a bulldog off the casadora. Psi basement dropkicks a Johnson.

Psi runs the ropes and is pulled down by the hair. They talk about Psi's real name and name in Mexico. Psi takes a double flapjack and punches in the corner. They make dick jokes and Psi takes an exploder. Psi takes a double shoulderblock and hits a facebuster out of a powerbomb attempt.

Storm is tagged in and hits punches on The Johnson's. He hurricanrana's one of them then Storm and Psi are thrown into each other. The Johnson's hit stereo head and arm suplexes. Storm backrolls a Johnson an is tripped by Plumtree outside. Storm then takes a TKO and is pinned.

Thoughts: The Johnson's gimmick is horrible and was clearly a Vince Russo style idea. It's a shame because they are big dudes and would be a believable tag team if they were more serious. It was neat to see a young James Storm here who was doing some flying around.

Alicia talks to the ref after. The ref gives her money and she follows him to the back.

Golidlocks interviews The Dupp's. One of them is the future Trevor Murdoch. They follow her and introduce her to their mutual girlfriend. They try to drink beer and someone tells them no beer drinking in the locker room. Goldi walks away.

Sterling Marlin and Hermie Sadler of Nascar fame come out and are interviewed by Jeremy Borash. They talk about the upcoming race and get interrupted by K-Krush (R-Truth). He says he's sick and tired of hearing about race car drivers. He says this is pro wrestling and says they have no business in a ring.

Krush says he's an athlete and says his grandma can do what they do. Sadler interrupts them and asks how anyone can take him seriously looking the way he looks. Sadler says Krush doesn't know who they are but says the people here. Krush says "d@mn you and d@mn Alabama". He says he will introduce them to pro wrestling. Brian Lawler comes down and beats up Krush, hitting a high atomic drop. Brian superkicks him then Sadler and Marlin throw Krush out.

Brian gets on the mic. He tells Krush' kind to pick on his kind right now. Krush says okay and Brian challenges him to a match next week. Brian says he will have Marlin and Sadler with him.

Thoughts: It was fine for what it was and made sense.

We got to the back and Jeff Jarrett is threatening Jackie Fargo. It is broken up and he says he wants him to remember who did this to him.

Christian York & Joey Matthews vs. The Dupps (Bo Dupp & Stan Dupp)

Fluff Dupp is with Stan and Bo. She's their cousin and girlfriend. Ed says they sound like a skunk and Mike says it's all in the family. One of the Dupps picks out a wedgie and they jump their opponents. Joey takes a double flapjack then York hits a springboard double dropkick.

Stan takes a double suplex for 2. Joey hits punches on Stan then takes a full-nelson slam. Bo slaps and punches Joey. Bo hits a facekick on Joey and splashes him. Stan hits punches then Joey neckbreakers him.

York flying lariats Bo. Bo blocks a sunset flip and misses a butt drop. York back elbows Bo off the 2nd rope then York sentons Bo. Stan and Joey go over the top. York tornado ddt's Bo. Fluff crotches York on the top rope and Bo pins York to win.

Thoughts: It was another short one here and it wasn't that bad. York was definitely nervous here and was a bit sloppy. Bo moved around pretty well here. The Dupp's gimmick is terrible but would have been tolerable without the incest stuff.

Bo picks his nose and eats it after. 

We see Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now?" music video. Toby then comes out and sings, "The Angry American". Jeff Jarrett comes out and pushes Toby. Security comes to separate them. Jeff gets on the mic and says nobody wants to hear him sing and tells him to get out of here. He says it's time to get the main event going. Jeff then says, "How do you like me now?".

Gauntlet For The Gold Battle Royal

Buff Bagwell and Jeff Jarrett are the first two in. Buff hits punches, boots and a neckbreaker. Buff lariats him and bangs his head off the buckles. Buff hits a blockbuster off the 2nd rope. Buff charges at Jeff and is thrown over the top for the elimination. 

Lash LeRoux is next in. Jeff boots him then throws him out under the the top rope. Jeff throws him into the rails outside then drops him throat first on it. Jeff hits the stroke and eliminates Lash over the top. 

Norman Smiley is next in. Jeff stomps him and hits punches. Norm stops him and does his big wiggle. Jeff lariats him then bangs his head off the buckles. Norm swinging slams him and tries to do his dance on Jeff but Jeff low blows him. Jeff hits the stroke and throws Norman Smiley over the top for the elimination.
Apollo of IWA PR fame is is next in. Jeff pounds on him as he enters then Apollo hits a sky high. Apollo hits lariats then neckbreakers him. Apollo stomps on him and Jeff avoids elimination. Apollo stomps on him. Apollo gorilla presses him. K-Krush is next in. He saves Jeff from elimination and axe kicks Apollo.

Krush stomps on Apollo then lariats him over. Krush hits mounted punches on Apollo. Apollo hits a double lariat and Slash is next in. James Mitchell is with Slash. Apollo hits punches on Slash then lariats him. Apollo back body drops him.

Apollo spinning ddt's Slash. Apollo gorilla presses Slash and Jeff nails Apollo. Jeff suplexes Apollo and Slash hits elbow drops on Apollo. Del Rios is next in. He looks like a Scott Steiner clone. Del fights off a 3v1.

Slash bites Del then hits boots to the gut. Del hits a belly to belly on Slash. Slash and Del bang each others heads off the buckles. Justice, who would later become Abyss, comes out. Justice clubs Apollo and boots him in the gut. Justice facekicks Jeff then boots Del in the gut. Justice black hole slams Del.

Apollo is in trouble laying on the apron. Slash reverse ddt's Del. Konnan comes out next. Konnan hits punches on Jeff then rolls into a lariat on him. He then does the same to Slash, Del and Justice. Konnan facebusters Justice.

Jeff tries to throw Apollo over the top. Joel Gernet, looking very thin comes out. He makes his usual sex jokes and brings out Bruce of The Rainbow Express. Lenny Lane comes out with Bruce.

Bruce hits shots on Apollo and is lariated. Rick Steiner is next in. Ric hits stiff lariats on 5 people, really nailing Bruce. Rick suplexes Slash over the top. Slash is eliminated. Rick powerslams Justice then lariats him over the top. Justice is eliminated. 

Rick powerslams Jeff. Malice is next in. He choke slams Del Rios, Konnan and K-Krush. He throws Bruce, K-Krush, Konnan and Del Rios over the top for eliminations. Rick charges at Malice, goes over the top and Rick Steiner is eliminated. Apollo skins the cat to avoid elimination.

Scott Hall comes out. Scott hits shots on Malice and Jeff. Apollo botches a top rope diving lariat as he just jumps down and lariats Malice. Apollo superkicks Malice. Scott hits a razor's edge on Jeff. Malice pounds on Apollo in the corner. 

Toby Keith comes out and appears to be an entrant. Toby suplexes Jeff. Toby and Scott then throw Jeff Jarrett over the top rope. Jeff Jarrett is eliminated. Toby follows Jeff up the ramp to the back.

Malice, Apollo and Scott are in the ring. Malice gets double teamed. Scott and Apollo shake hands as Chris Harris comes in. Chris looks great here with little body fat. Chris thesz presses Apollo and pounds on him. Gangrel/Vampire Warrior comes in next. He suplexes Chris then stomps on Apollo. Chris hits shots on Vamp. Malice hits a hard lariat on Scott. Devin Storm/Crowbar is next in. Harris eye rakes Storm then Storm sitout gordbusters him. 

Storm chops up Harris then Harris chops him back. Harris takes a double lariat. Steve Corino is next in.  Steve hits a corner lariat and clearly misses a facewash kick by a mile on Harris. Steve hits punches on Vamp. James Mitchell helps save Malice from elimination. Scott is double teamed by Storm and Steve.

Ken Shamrock is next in. Ken high kicks Steve and superkicks Storm. Ken powerslams Storm. Ken jumping knees Malice and tries again but is powerbombed down. Harris and Vamp go at it. The final entrant is Brian Christopher (who was called Brian Lawler earlier0.

Brian hits shots on Steve then Harris. Brian throws Harris out. Chris Harris is eliminated. Devon Storm and Vampire Warrior have the top rope pulled down on them. Devon Storm and Vampire Warrior are eliminated. Brian lariats Steve Corino over the top. Steve Corino is eliminated.

Malice chokeslams Brian. Ken kicks Brian in the back and throws him over the top. Brian Christopher is eliminated. Malice takes a 2v1 from Scott and Apollo. Apollo takes a back body drop over the top. Apollo is eliminated. Scott Hall goes for a razor's edge on Malice and is thrown over the top. Scott Hall is eliminated.

Malice and Ken Shamrock now move onto a singles match for the NWA Title.

NWA World Title - Gauntlet for the Gold Final Match - Special Ref: Ricky Steamboat - Ken Shamrock vs Malice

Ken runs into a big boot to start. Ken hits shots to the gut and Malice eye pokes him. Malice side slams him for 2. Malice suplexes Ken. Malice blocks a sunset flip and punches Ken. Malice goes for a chokeslam but Ken armbars him out of it. Ken holds onto the armbar for a while and Malice rope breaks.

Malice hits punches and goes for a boot. Ken catches it and ankle locks him. Malice rope breaks. Ken puts the ankle lock back on and Malice ropebreaks. Steamboat breaks up the hold. Ken argues with Steamboat. Ken hits  kicks to Malice's leg.

Malice boots him out of the corner. Ken belly to belly suplexes him and wins.

Thoughts: The gauntlet was fine. They put Rick Steiner over hard during it for some reason and also put over Jarrett, but knowing TNA's history and just seeing how he was all over the show, it wasn't a shock. They put over Malice some as well. I didn't like K-Krush not being put over strong. It was tough as they had a lot of people involved and limited time to explain who everyone in it was. I didn't really like the match after the battle royal. It didn't get a lot of time but the match wasn't set up well with Ken pretty much having full control over Malice and eventually tapping him out. It would have made more sense to have Jarrett involved in the final since he's obviously being featured.

Ken Shamrock celebrates and Ed says trying to fight him or Malice is like competing in the special olympics.

We cut to the back and security is breaking up a situation between Jarrett, Toby Keith and Jackie Fargo.

Jeff Jarrett then comes out and complains again about gauntlet for the gold determining the title. He asks if Harley Race or Dory Funk ever competed in one of these for a world title. He nails Bob Armstrong and Dory Funk. Jackie Fargo comes out and calls him a punk. he says he'll whoop his @ss next week and Jeff says they don't gotta wait. Scott Hail then comes out and fights with Jeff on the ramp.

Overall thoughts: They had a lot to do here, trying to introduce a whole new roster for the first time, set up storylines for upcoming shows and have a normal PPV on top of it with only about 2 hours of time. They could have done a lot better introducing various wrestlers as there were no video packages for them but they did at least set some things up for next time.

It got off to a bad start as they were trying to treat this as a serious thing with the legends then had Jeff Jarrett call the main event stupid and a total joke. There's no excusing that. The opening trios match was fine and maybe the best thing on here. The midgets match was awful but at least it was short. 

The Johnson's debuted one of the worst gimmicks ever in the next match and ruined whatever good will they would have gotten if they had a normal gimmick.  K-Krush's segment with the Nascar drivers and Brian Christopher was acceptable. The Dupp's then debuted after with yet another rotten gimmick. The main was fine but not great. I didn't mind Ken winning and at least they tried to put over Malice. They then set up Hall vs Jarrett after.

It was a horrible show overall. The wrestling was nothing special. They debuted a bunch of awful new gimmicks and made it clear that this promotion was going to be an Attitude Era copycat. Had they just done a normal show without all the bad gimmicks, it wouldn't have been great, but it would have been a lot better than this. They maybe had some goodwill going into it and probably threw all of that away in record time. I can't imagine anyone watching this one live and wanting to see what the next show had in store.