By Wade Keller, Torch editor

NWA-TNA PPV #20
NOVEMBER 4, 2002
LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN.

-The show opened with clips from the NWA 54th Anniversary Show in Corpus Christi, Tex, including clips of Jorge Estrada winning the North American Championship, Ron Killings retaining the NWA World Title against an NWA indy contender, and the successful tag title defense by Chris Harris & James Storm. Mike Tenay did a nice job narrating the clips. It was a cool touch to give the impression that the NWA is an active organization that goes beyond the Wednesday night PPVs.

-Mike Tenay and Don West previewed the major matches scheduled for the event.

-Highlights aired of last week's storyline with Mortimer Plumtree, Bruce, Jorge Estrada, and Miss Priscilla.

-Goldy interviewed Bruce and Lenny Lane backstage. She condescending said she thought they had broken up. Bruce said Lenny was jealous of his success. Lenny didn't say anything. Bruce said that Lenny is his "first runner up" and if he for some reason can't fulfill his duties as Miss TNA, Lenny will replace his duties (a la a pageant winner). When I was a kid, I was under the impression that becoming Miss America was about as big of a deal and as important to the world as the presidential elections because, well, my mom and grandma treated it that way. At least it seemed like it at the time since I probably at age 6 didn't have a great ability to recognize the difference between Walter Cronkite and Bob Barker (or whoever it was who hosted those things back in the '70s).

Lenny used a banana as a suggestive prop on his way to the ring, to which Tenay reacted: "Oh, that was subtle." Tenay said it is obvious that Lenny and Bruce have kissed and made up.

1 -- BRUCE vs. JORGE ESTRADA (w/Miss Priscilla)

-Estrada gave a Northern Lights Suplex to Lenny as Lenny attempted interfere, and in the process put Bruce in a pinning position. Cool spot. Bruce went for a sunset flip off the apron, but Estrada countered with a huracanrana type move sending Bruce to the floor. Bruce kept slipping in his homoerotic positions during pinning attempts. The crowd isn't reacting to it much anymore, though. Priscilla interfered at 7:15, so Lenny chased her down and threatened to hit her. Jorge sling shot over the top rope onto Bruce and Lenny at ringside. The crowd chanted "TNA! TNA!" At 8:00, a nice case of following up on a foreshadow, Bruce slipped on Lenny's banana peel at ringside. Lenny tried to revive him, but Bruce couldn't get up before the ten count. Because it wasn't an "intentional DQ," Bruce didn't lose the TNA title. Tenay wondered if Bruce being knocked out meant Lenny would take over as Miss TNA. One week after Bob Armstrong announced that titles would change hands on DQs and countouts, they made a mockery of Armstrong yet again by adding a "except for..." stipulation to it. Nothing Bob says ever makes sense or lasts for more than a week.

WINNER: Jorge Estrada via countout at 8:39.

STAR RATING: *3/4 -- Decent action mixed with the Lenny/Lodi storyline.

-Tenay said the NWATNA website was undergoing a major facelift to make it more interactive than ever. Why did they have to shut down the old website in the mean time? Even if they're switching servers, there's no reason they couldn't have kept the old website up until the other one was built, tested, and ready to upload. Anyway...

-Goldy interviewed Sonny Siaki backstage. He used his name in the first-person as usual and claimed that Goldy secretly wanted him. As usual she rebuffed him. He said she could become his valet and then he would let her "feel his love" and she almost threw up.

-Siaki came to the ring for his semi-final tourney match. B.G. James then came out and mocked Sonny claiming he was good looking. He said he's about as good looking as his left asscheek after his right asscheek does his make-up. He called him "Cocky Siaki." He asked him if he likes to dance. He said he'd lead and Siaki could follow. Siaki attacked James before the bell.

2 -- SONNY SIAKI vs. B.G. JAMES - Semi-final to earn a title shot.

Tenay described Siaki as a tweener between the two divisions, the NWA Heavyweight and X Title divisions, in that he can compete in both. At 6:00 Jerry Lynn walked to ringside, which distracted Siaki enough to give James a chance to take over offense. James hit a kneedrop for a two count. A minute later James hit his pump handle slam for the win.

WINNER: James at 7:10 with the pumphandle slam to advance in the tourney.

STAR RATING: *1/2 -- Okay but entirely forgettable after it was over. It had a lower energy level than any match on a TNA show should have. There just wasn't any sense of urgency. James set the pace and seemed to just be going through the motions as if this were a WWE house show. He is in much better shape today than when he first arrived, though.

-A highlight video aired on the "Return of Evil" with James Mitchell and his Disciples last week. It was a good video at getting across the personalities of the wrestlers involved and short enough not to belabor the point.

-Goldy interviewed "Wildcat" Chris Harris as "Cowboy" James Storm paced in the background. Harris was intensely yelling, giving the best interview of his TNA stint. He said they weren't going to take any more sh--. Storm then stepped up and said Slash & Lee may be from hell. He said they haven't seen hell until they get in the ring with them later tonight. Goldy's reaction to the intense babyface promo wasn't appropriate. She shook her head as if someone had just eaten worm in front of her. Sometimes she's good, but she so rarely puts over babyfaces during promos in the appropriate fashion. I like that she's a strong person because too often interviewers just cower to wrestler to the point that it's embarrassing to watch, but she goes the other direction too far sometimes.

-James Mitchell said his Disciples will follow no rules other than those he gives them. He said he instructed them to pay for their ignorance with their blood. Two good promos to set up the grudge tag match.

3 - CHRIS HARRIS & JAMES STORM (champs) vs. BRIAN LEE & SLASH (w/James Mitchell) - for NWA Tag Team Titles.

-They began as they should have - with a wild and intense brawl at ringside. Slash was bleeding a minute into the match. Tenay and West said Harris & Storm were wrestling in a way like they had never seen them before. At 2:30 Mitchell used a spike against Storm's forehead. Really good opening three minutes. TNA needs more matches like this with a sense of urgency as opposed to the pacing and intensity of the James vs. Siaki match. The match settled down a bit with the heels continuing their beating on America's Most Wanted. At 5:00 Slash missed a top rope flip splash when Storm moved. Storm hot-tagged Harris who cleaned house on Lee and Slash. Harris had Lee pinned, but Mitchell distracted the ref. Lee then nailed Harris with a chair and Lee made the cover, but Harris kicked out. Slash's face was covered in blood. At 7:00 Harris took Lee and Slash down as they attempted to double clothesline him by giving them a double clothesline of his own. Storm got the hot tag. A four-way brawl broke out. Eventually Lee & Slash were DQ'd for refusing to obey the referee. Tenay said Mitchell put the quest for the tag titles behind his desire to see Harris & Storm get beaten badly.

WINNER: Harris & Storm via DQ so they retained the tag titles at 9:27.

STAR RATING: **1/2 -- Good tag match that followed good internal storyline rules for a grudge match (hot brawl at the start, settle into heels dominating, babyfaces make a comeback to pop the crowd, four-way chaos lead to the finish).

A woman danced in a cage as upcoming NWA indy dates ran across the bottom of the screen.

Syxx-Pac [photo by Wade Keller (c) PWTorch]

4 - SYXX-PAC vs. BRIAN LAWLER (w/April)

Syxx limped to the ring. Lawler attacked him from behind. Syxx fought back in the first minute with great intensity, but Lawler slowed him with an eye rake followed by a neckbreaker. Lawler ordered April to slap Syxx, but she wouldn't - playing into Lawler's fear that she still has a thing for Syxx. Lawler leaped to ringside and yelled at her for not doing what he said. That gave Syxx a chance to recover and give him a jump reverse sidekick knocking him to the floor. Syxx chopped and punched away at Lawler at ringside, but Lawler came back by shoving Syxx crotch-first into the ringpost. The crowd chanted "She's got herpes" at April. At 3:15 Syxx moved out of the path of Lawler's Hip Hop Drop (top rope legdrop). Syxx followed with a kick and and Bronco Buster in the corner. Syxx showed more intensity in this match than any of recent memory. He then jumped to ringside and made out with April. Lawler kicked Syxx in the face in retaliation. Lawler began wiping her face. West said he didn't think April resisted Syxx's kick. Lawler ordered April to stand on the ring apron and called her a "c-nt." Syxx then surprised Lawler and pinned him. Syxx left with April and yelled that no one should get away with hitting a woman. Lawler then began crying and then did a hilarious fake heart attack that would have made Red Fox proud. He collapsed on his back in center ring, drawing April's sympathy. She ran to the ring in tears to console him.

WINNER: Syxx-Pac at 5:05.

STAR RATING: ** - Pretty short, but like the previous match the intensity was really good. If they went ten minutes, it could have developed into a three star match, which would be something for Lawler. The storyline with April and the development of Lawler's possessive obsessive character are working so far.

-In a pretaped sitdown interview with Mike Tenay, Ron Killings calmly handed Tenay a contract and said Mr. Wrestling III can get it from Tenay, sign it, and get a title shot in exchange for giving him a chance to face him one-on-one.

-Back live, Tenay held the open contract on his hands. Jeff Jarrett walked out and asked Tenay to enter the ring. Jarrett said he had just one thing to say to Truth. He said he may be as dumb as everyone says he is. Tenay entered the ring and asked Jarrett if he wanted to admit he was Mr. Wrestling III, and if so sign the contract to get the title shot against Truth. Jarrett ripped up the contract and threw it in the air. Jarrett said, "Let me tell you and the NWA, for over 20 weeks I've waited for a world title shot and I'll be damned if somebody's going to sneak in the door and get a World Title shot." Jarrett said after he wins the tournament finals next week, he would get a title shot in two weeks against him and walk out as NWA World Champion. West said the proved he isn't Mr. Wrestling III. Of course, Jarrett could have just pretended he actually was Mr. Wrestling III all along. There wouldn't have been any way to prove he wasn't (unless a hidden camera somewhere previously taped Mr. Wrestling III unmasking; where's Bischoff when you need him).

-Tenay said he has another copy of the contract (how convenient) and Mr. Wrestling III can still come see him to get a title shot.

5 - KID KASH vs. TONY MAMALUKE vs. JOEL MAXIMO vs. JOSE MAXIMO vs. ACE STEEL (w/Mortimer Plumtree) in a five-way tables match to earn an X Title shot.

-Kash highlighted the opening minutes with some flying moves. At 5:40 Steel rammed Mamaluke off a table setting on the top rope into the mat. Mamaluke gave Steel a swinging DDT into the table, breaking it, causing Steel to be eliminated. Mortimer complained to the ref after the match. Joel drove Mamaluke through a table at ringside at 8:15 to elimination. He landed right on his head. Tenay said the SATs have the advantage over Kash since they can work together. Kash set up a table at ringside and gave Jose a Huracanrana onto Joel on the table. That eliminated both of the Maximos and gave him the win.

WINNER: Kash at 13:05.

STAR RATING: *** -- Good chaos style tables match. The finishing move by Kash was great, although it took forever to set up. Kash was the star of the match, but a lot of his non-high-flying offense still looks half-hearted and unconvincing, as if he's worried about hurting his opponent. TNA PPVs should have one of these types of matches each week because there are people for whom this is worth the price of the PPV alone.

-More crawler plugs of upcoming NWA indy events.

-A highlight package aired setting up Curt Hennig vs. Jeff Jarrett.

6 - JEFF JARRETT vs. CURT HENNIG.

-Before the match Jarrett bragged about being seven time IC Champ and four time WCW Champ. He said Hennig doesn't have that on his resume. He said Hennig hasn't shown his face all day and instructed the ref to ring the bell so he could move one step closer to his title shot. Hennig then came out of the crowd dressed in a street clothes and cowboy boots and attacked Jarrett at ringside. They brawled through the crowd. At 3:00 they entered the ring where Hennig gave Jarrett a Hennigplex three times in a row. Tenay and West said they didn't think Hennig wanted to win as much as he wanted to take Jarrett out of the running to earn an NWA Title shot. Jarrett was out. Hennig grabbed a belt and the ref called for the bell

WINNER: Jarrett via DQ at 4:20.

STAR RATING: *1/2 - The "brawl through crowd" style match is a nice excuse to avoid taking any bumps, which was the case with this match as they stood for the entire battle until Hennig hit his three suplexes. That said, it was a good brawl, but short. The announcers were a bit too quick to stress the point that Hennig didn't care about winning, he just wanted to beat up Jarrett. It came across as them trying to justify the pending DQ finish. After all, you can't have Jarrett do a job shortly before earning an NWA Title match, but it wouldn't make sense for Hennig to lose since he was the one dishing out the beating. Makes sense, but the announcers seemed to be trying to cut off criticism rather than just go with the flow.

-West began his weekly rant plugging next week's line-up. Pass the volume button and Advil.

-A highlight package aired previewing the Styles-Lynn feud. They included published quotations from Alex Marvez, Dave Meltzer, and Buck Woodward putting over the feud. I guess the Torch is off the TNA Christmas Card list. Running media critic quotations praising a top feud is a great idea as it drives home that objective media sources (well, two out of the three aren't affiliated with TNA) are saying that something on TNA PPVs is better than what's going on in WWE.

7 - JERRY LYNN vs. A.J. STYLES

Non-stop all-pro action from the opening bell. More of what you'd expect from these two with most of the action in the ring, but just enough outside the ring to mix things up. Mortimer attempted to distract Lynn at 17:40, but it worked against Styles. Hit his pump handle piledriver and scored a very near fall. Sonny Siaki then walked out, trying to give Lynn a piece of his own medicine from earlier. As the ref counted a Lynn cover, Siaki yanked the ref out of the ring at two. As Lynn turned to complain, Siaki waved good bye with a big smile on his face. Mortimer wedged a chair between the top and middle ropes and Styles shoved Lynn head-first into the chair. He followed up with a roll-up that Bruce would be proud of. The ref returned to the ring but only got a two count. Styles then hit his Styles Clash for the apparent finish, but again Lynn kicked out. At 19:30 Lynn knocked Styles off balance on the top rope. Lynn then gave Styles a top rope superplex for a two count. Styles gave Lynn a flapjack face-first slam for another two count. Lynn reversed Styles into a piledriver position, but Styles countered, then Lynn countered and he hit the pumphandle piledriver and scored the pin.

WINNER: Lynn at 21:02 to capture the X Title.

STAR RATING: ****3/4 -- Awesome match. The final five minutes were as good as it gets in terms of teasing believable near falls. This was a must-see match and again showed that these two have great chemistry and have been the MVPs of TNA from the beginning and aren't going to relinquish that status easily.

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