By Wade Keller, Torch editor

NWA-TNA PPV #23
NOVEMBER 27, 2002
LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN

Jeremy Borash introduced Goldy Locks to sing "God Bless America."

1 -- JAY & MARK BRISCOE vs. DIVINE STORM (Quiet Storm & Chris Divine w/Trinity)

Tenay said the Briscoes are 18 year old twins. Don West talked about how impressed he was with the Briscoes last week in their pre-PPV dark match. The Briscoes look like young Lightning Kids (Sean Waltman) in his late teens. West, not one for understatement, said these teams have been involved in several match of the year contenders.

WINNER: Divine Storm via pinfall after a cool SWC finisher at 6:05.

STAR RATING: * -- There were a few solid highspots and a really cool looking finisher, but otherwise pretty choppy and awkward, especially with the transitions.

-Mike Tenay said he had something to get off his chest. I thought he was going to say how bothered he was by a babyface using a epithet last week. Instead, he said his five months with TNA has been one of the highlights of his career. He said he loves TNA's respect for action and history. He then mustered up anger on his face and said he doesn't like working with Vince Russo. He said he doesn't like what Vince Russo stands for. He said he stood by for four years in WCW while that company crumbled, but he won't sit by idly in TNA to let him take over with his sports entertainment. West said he didn't know Tenay had that kind of animosity, and said he didn't have an opinion. Tenay said he would have an opinion if it cost him his job. This makes no sense. Why would Tenay be concerned about Russo taking over when all he did was interfere in last week's match? Shouldn't something be established first that Russo is going to have influence backstage first.

Vince Russo then crashed the ring with the mic. He got in Tenay's face. "I will get a chimpanzee in here with more personality than you," Russo yelled. "Go pout with Sean Waltman, why don't you."

Russo then turned to the crowd and said, "For those who don't know, I am Vince Russo and I am the anti-Christ of professional wrestling. I've kept a low profile for two years, but I figured before this business gets deeper in the shitter, Vince Russo better come back." He said if the guy in back cuts off his mic, he'll go back there and "kick the shit out of him." Hey, Russo is a former WCW Champion!

Russo said he was there to talk about Jeff Jarrett. He said when he met him he had a terrible gimmick, but despite that he was genuine to him. Russo then talked about Jarrett leaving the WWF to jump on the NWO bandwagon and he didn't even tell him ahead of time. He said Jeff begged him to get him back into the WWF, and he pulled some strings. Russo said he went to WCW, then that week they had a "girl" beat Jeff Jarrett by the name of Chyna. He said Jeff called him and begged him to get him into WCW. He said he made Jeff Jarrett the WCW Champion (wrestling is fake, remember). He said thank got WCW got sold because he was out of that hell hole. He said Jeff Jarrett called him up when he was starting up a new NWA promotion. He said he gave them the idea for TNA but it didn't mean "Total Nonstop Action," it mean "Tits 'n' Ass."

"He said Jeff Jarrett was led by the nose by a conniving diabolical senile old man piece of shit back there whose name I won't mention because if I do I'll vomit on this very mess. I'll tell you what, Jeff tells me, sit home Vince, I'll call you when I need you." I'm sick of waiting for you to call me, so I took it upon myself to show up tonight." I think he meant "last week." Some fans chanted "Russo, Russo."

"This product sucks, WWE sucks, and Vince Russo is here to save the day once again," Russo said he had once chance to stop him because beginning next week, things will be different. He said he was giving him one opportunity to make the choice to do things the hard way or the easy way.

Throughout the segment they showed Tenay fuming at ringside.

Tenay said Russo is "everything that is wrong with pro wrestling today." He quoted a recent interview with Roddy Piper who said he was a cancer to the wrestling industry.

No, you didn't miss anything. Nothing has been established yet to make clear exactly what if any power or role Russo has with TNA. All we know is he interfered in the NWA Title match last week to help Jeff Jarrett win, then cut a promo this week that was meant to be portrayed as unplanned in which he ripped on Jeff Jarrett.

Mortimer Plumtree cut a backstage promo.

2 -- CHRIS HARRIS & JAMES STORM vs. THE HOTSHOTS.

-Tenay said the day that Russo signs his checks is the day he leaves TNA. (Technically, since Panda Energy owns the company and signs the checks, that will never happen unless Russo buys the company, so "Man of Principles" Mike Tenay won't have to live up to his previous vow either in real life of kayfabe land.) West said he's starting to sympathize with Tenay after that rant. Storm & Harris hit a Hotshot with their finisher, the Death Sentence. They didn't go for the pin, but instead turned their attention to James Mitchell and Belladonna watching from the stage. They ended up getting counted out, an attempt to show how much Mitchell has gotten into their heads.

WINNERS: The Hotshots at 5:24 via countout.

STAR RATING: * -- Fine for a five minute tag match.

-Storm & Harris brawled with Brian Lee & Slash after the match. Bob Armstrong and several NWA officials entered the ring to try to separate the wrestlers.

-Goldy approached Jeremy Borash backstage about the celebrity TNA auction.

-Goldy interviewed Dory Funk Jr. who was standing outside of Jeff Jarrett's locker room. Dory said Jarrett wasn't speaking to anyone because Jarrett was preparing for an important match. He said he had a "vested interest" in Jarrett, but didn't elaborate.

3 -- SLASH & BRIAN LEE (w/James Mitchell) vs. B.G. JAMES & CURT HENNIG for the NWA Tag Team Titles.

Tenay said Sean Waltman cancelled his scheduled appearance this week in the tag title match with Hennig because of Vince Russo. Between that press release and now Tenay's explanation, it sounds like they're trying to play Waltman's departure into an angle of some sort - either because one is in the work or because they want to set the stage for one potentially later. Either way, by playing up Waltman's no show as being because of Russo's presence, it adds to Russo's "aura." The problem remains that nothing - absolutely nothing - has been done to clarify what role if any he has in this promotion at this point. As of now he's merely interfered in a match and crashed an interview segment. There's been no response from Bob Armstrong, who as of now is the only visible head of TNA (now that Ricky Steamboat has been forgotten). This is so typical for anything Russo is involved in and I'm not looking forward to another series of inexplicable storyline holes.

Before the match, Mitchell walked out said there is scandal and intrigue in the air over backstage politics and personalities, sports entertainment vs. traditional pro wrestling. He said he is intrigued with only one thing, and that is evil. Tenay said the advantage is with Slash & Lee because Hennig and Road Dogg had not teamed together before.

WINNERS: No contest at 10:30 when Harris & Storm attacked Slash & Lee.

STAR RATING: * -- Pretty bland action. No crowd heat.

-In a pretaped segment, Don West screamed in Tenay's ear with a promo for NWA-TNA's charity auction.

4 -- ALEX WINTERS vs. E.Z. MONEY

WINNER: Money via pinfall at 3:20.

STAR RATING: 3/4* -- Just a squash.

-Goldy interviewed Bruce, who suddenly is being referred to as Alan Funk. He said his heart fell in love with April. Goldy made some quip about the headlines saying that April turned a gay man straight. This segment made absolutely no sense. Is he gay or straight? Is he Bruce or Alan Funk? Does Goldy believe him or not? If he is with April now, was he faking being gay as Lenny accused him or did April turn him straight as Goldy suggested? Those aren't good questions that viewers should be left to wonder about. They just confuse the entire situation.

5 -- CRIMSON DRAGON vs. SONNY SIAKI

Dragon slipped early and the crowd noticed. He seemed to slip on a dive through the ropes, too, but still made enough contact with Siaki to make the move look passable. At 5:00 Siaki threw Dragon off the top rope. Siaki sold it as much as Dragon, but got up and hit the Siakialipse for the win.

WINNER: Siaki at 5:22.

STAR RATING: * -- A few highspots, but didn't really tell a story at all. Basically a squash.

-After the match at ringside, Siaki said he doesn't want to be in TNA if they don't want to give him better opponents. "Main events only," he said.

-Goldy interviewed April backstage. She said Brian Lawler kept watching the shower scene over and over. April said he has nothing to be jealous of because Bruce is gay. Goldy said nobody's buying her explanation. April said she sounds jealous. Goldy said, "Cut this interview, Nobody's buying this bullshit." Bad acting to go along with a lame storyline.

-Lawler walked out onto the stage in tears. He said for weeks and weeks and weeks he had given his heart to a female he thought loved him. He said he gave everything he had to her. In a hilarious moment, Lawler politely asked a boy in the front row to stop heckling him. When the crowd laughed, he said there is nothing funny about this. He said he has been made a fool of. "Not only was she off doing who knows what with X-Pac, Syxx-Pac, whatever, but then I catch her in the shower with Bruce. Now I find out she's off having an affair with Goldy Locks. There's nothing funny about this!" He then panted in anguish. He said he hasn't had any sleep, hasn't eaten other than a hot apple pie from McDonalds, and has suffered from migraine headaches - stress he doesn't need in his life. "With god as my witness, I am quitting the wrestling business," he said. That's how I feel after watching this show so far, except for Lawler's promo, which as usual lately is a riot. He said he can do other things, he doesn't need wrestling. He said she is a nymphomaniac. The crowd cheered. "You think that's cool? That's sick. From now on you won't have Brian to kick around no more. You'll never see me again," he said. Hey, we haven't seen Buff Bagwell since he quit.

-Goldy attempted to interview Lawler. Lawler was too broken up to comment. He told Priscilla that she was the only who cares. He groped her ass as they walked out of the arena together.

-A well-produced music vignette aired showing highlights of A.J. Styles. It included footage of the early TNA events at the larger arena, and I had forgotten how much more major league back then in that venue. A vignette then aired on Jerry Lynn.

6 -- JERRY LYNN vs. A.J. STYLES (w/Mortimer Plumtree) for the X Title.

Jeremy Borash did a nice job on ring introductions giving the match a "big deal" feel. H's one of the better ring announcers now. Lynn and Styles began with a slugfest. Styles poked Lynn's eye to attempt to take advantage, but Lynn hiptossed him to the mat and then punched away at his head. Mortimer interfered several times early in the match, including punching a bloodied Lynn in the head with brass knuckles. Styles attempted to leap off the top rope and sunset flip Lynn off the ring apron. When Lynn limped toward Morty at ringside, Morty leaped into the crowd to escape. Styles went for a blindside huracanrana on Lynn, but he ended up bashing himself into the railing by mistake. At 10:00 Lynn concluded an offensive run with a running powerbomb for a near fall. Styles came back with a near fall of his own after flapjacking Lynn face-first to the mat. Morty distracted the ref and then tossed Styles brass knux. Lynn caught the knux instead and KO'd Styles for the win.

WINNER: Lynn at 12:35 to retain the X Title.

STAR RATING: ***3/4 -- Very good match between these two, but not long enough to tell enough of a story or have enough momentum changes to reach to reach four stars. I was half expecting the old Jerry Lawler finish where Morty tells the ref about Lynn's using the foreign object, and then the ref digging in Lynn's tights to find the knux and reversing the decision.

-B.G. James and Hennig talked about their participation in the charity auction. Hennig said he'd pay anyone $5,000 if they could beat him at golf.

-West plugged next week's line-up: SAT vs. Divine Storm, Chris Harris vs. Brian Lee, James Storm vs. Slash, Jim Mitchell has agreed to participate in a three-way bullrope match with the winners of the previous matches, Sonny Siaki vs. Jerry Lynn for the X Title, plus A.J. Styles, Amazing Red, Kid Kash, and others.

-Clips aired of Tenay doing a sitdown interview with former NWA Champ Dory Funk Jr. He talked about various past NWA champs including Jack Brisco and Harley Race, plus Jarrett vs. Killings. He also took a dig at Russo at the end.

7 -- JEFF JARRETT vs. RON "THE TRUTH" KILLINGS for the NWA Hvt. Title.

They felt each other out during the first minute. Jarrett caught a charging Killings with a raised boot in the corner. They exchanged two counts several times after reversing roll-up attempts. The crowd applauded. In a nice follow up one of the bad sequences in last week's show, Killings nailed Jarrett in the gut and then set up a scissors kick to the back Jarrett's neck, but Killings stalled long enough that it gave Jarrett a chance to recover, play possum, and catch Killings's leg. It's always a nice touch when a wrestler in a match appears to have "learned from the previous match." At 4:25 Killings showboated with the splits, so Jarrett nailed him with a nice dropkick to the face. Killings came back with a sleeper at 5:00. The ref admonished Jarrett for mule kicking Killings low. When the ref went to check on Killings, Jarrett wedged a chair between the top and middle ropes. Killings reversed Jarrett face-first into the chair. Jarrett came back and gave Killings his Stroke finisher, but Killings kicked out. Jarrett untied a turnbuckle pad. He then went after Killings at ringside, throwing him into the crowd. Jarrett climbed the scaffolding of the entrance stage, but Killings punched him low. Killings then climbed the scaffolding. They both ended up flying off the scaffolding onto a table below, although it was tough to see the bump because the lighting was dim. Tenay said it's good that the ref is allowing for leeway on the countout, but eventually the ref called for the bell. Bob Armstrong came out and said the fans came to see a winner, so "no countouts tonight." He ordered the match to be restarted. I'd prefer to see that sequence of events rather than the ref just totally ignoring the countout rule. Truth scored a near fall on Jarrett back in the ring at 12:30. Jarrett escaped a Truth suplex attempt, but Truth fought back and lifted Jarrett, in the process dropping the ref to the mat when Jarrett's boots hit him in the face. Vince Russo then walked to ringside with a guitar in hand. He handed the guitar to Jeff, whom he was bashing earlier in the interview. Jeff smashed the guitar over the corner turnbuckle rather than use it as a weapon. Killings rolled up Jarrett from behind for a near fall at 13:30. Jarrett hit Truth with three Strokes for the win.

WINNER: Jarrett at 14:14 to retain the NWA Title.

STAR RATING: ***3/4 -- Better than their match last week and easily the best NWA Title match in TNA so far. It sure seems as if the more familiar they get with each other, the better their matches will get, just like a good NHL playoff series. Jarrett showed that some of that ring rust is already wearing off and that's good, because if he starts a streak of the best matches he's capable of and they bring in a good series of opponents for him, that would be a big reason to order TNA to go along with X Title matches. The only problem with the match is that the focus in the end was on Jeff and Russo, not Jeff and Killings. Killings sort of seemed like a chump in the background whose loss was secondary to the edge-of-our-seats mystery of whether Jeff will align with Russo (sort of like RVD was a chump in the background after his Raw main event match against Shawn Michaels when Triple H became the center of the attention by the end).

-After the match Russo told Jarrett not to walk away from ringside. He demanded "an answer." He said he can be "with him or without him." Jarrett returned to the ring. Tenay then shouted, "Oh no, we're out of time." And the show ended before Jeff could give his answer.

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