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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

NWA-TNA PPV #33
FEBRUARY 26, 2003
LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN.

-The show opened with an excellent video package highlighting the "big fight" atmosphere of last week's Jeff Jarrett vs. A.J. Styles NWA World Hvt. Title match. They closed with the cliffhanger last week of Vince Russo saying he was headed to Jeff Jarrett's house to meet with his family.

-Mike Tenay and Don West introduced and previewed the program.

1 -- KID KASH vs. JASON CROSS - X Title match.

Tenay stressed several times that "the X Division is back!" He added: "It's great to have the emphasis back on the incredible in-ring action here on NWA-TNA." In so many words, they're saying they are back to trying to focus their marketing on those who appreciate the athleticism of wrestling. It's also a way of saying, "Thank god Sonny Siaki isn't X champ anymore!" Tenay and West discussed that Jason Cross was scheduled to get a title shot six weeks ago, but got injured, and that he was nervous because this was his first match back. They began with some armdrags and basic exchanges in the ring, then spilled to ringside at 2:30. Kash threw a chair at Cross, then chopped him hard in the chest. he then threw Cross into the ring and hit a flying clothesline off the top rope for a two count. At 6:00 Cross made a comeback and went for his twisting legdrop off the top rope, but Kash moved. Kash then returned fire with a DDT for the win.

WINNER: Kash at 6:37 to retain the X Title.

STAR RATING: **3/4 -- Kash's best match in TNA to date, which is a credit to him and a great credit to Cross, who hasn't been active recently due to his injury. I really wish they went another five minutes because they seemed to just be hitting their stride when the match ended. Kash has really tightened his style away from loose-looking indy highspots and progressed toward a more stiff, realistic looking approach - and it's working.

-Goldy attempted to interview Jeff Jarrett as he arrived at the arena. She said nobody's been able to reach him for a week and everybody is wondering what Russo did at his house last week. He didn't break his stride and walked right past her without giving an answer.

-Vince Russo walked to the ring wearing Dustin Rhodes's old "The Natural" ring jacket. He said last week he visited with Jeff's wife Jill and played with his kids. He said when Jeff arrived home, nothing needed to be said. They just looked at each other and hugged. He said Jeff realized it was time to "come home" and join SEX. He said later there would be an in-ring signing with Jeff. He invited other wrestlers to join, also. Tenay expressed skepticism over Russo's claims. A.J. Styles then came to the ring. He told Russo that for the past two months he listened to him. Styles said last week he did the right thing by not accepting Siaki's interference, but he got screwed. So Styles said he decided it's time for him to change. "I'm not saying I agree with the philosophy of SEX, because I am a wrestler, a phenomenal wrestler, but if you can make me a heavyweight champion, I'll sign a contract right now," Styles said. Russo said SEX is about a lifestyle and he asked Styles if he was ready to dedicate his life to Sports Entertainment Extreme. "Give me the pen, give me the contract," Styles said, then he shook Russo's hand.

Raven then walked out and said, "What about me, what about Raven?" He complained that he doesn't want to wait in line for title shots. Russo said it's not about Raven, "It's about me!" Raven said Styles couldn't hack it outside of the X division. "Self-delusion is the key to happiness," he said. He then mockingly cried and said as soon as Sandman hit him with a cane, he'd whine. Styles told Raven he'd blow up the second he got in the ring with anyone in the X division. He said he could beat anyone outside of the X division, "especially Sandman." Raven challenged Styles to wrestle Sandman, and then challenged Raven to take on a member of the X Division. He said he'd fail because he would be gasping as soon as running the ropes. Russo interrupted and said, "Tonight, A.J. you will have that match with Sandman if these wussies in the back allow it. And you (Raven), we will put you in the ring with X competitor; let's see what you're made of." Raven and Styles went nose-to-nose and then out walked America's Most Wanted.

AMW said they are tired of the tag team division being ignored. "Unlike those WCW rejects back there, we're not going to kiss your ass, we're going to kick it." Russo said his Triple X team had 30 days before they have to defend the titles, so they aren't even in the arena. AMW said if they can't get Triple H, they're attack Russo instead. Raven went after AMW as soon as they chased after Russo. Russo bailed out (thankfully he's not playing badass non-wrestler heel anymore). Then The Hotshots entered the ring and helped Raven take over on AMW. TNA officials stepped into the ring and broke them up, but not before the Hotshots executed their Hotshot finisher on AMW.

-Backstage, Vader and Dusty Rhodes stood by with Goldy. Vader held a ridiculous early-'90s generic wrestler pose as if he was modeling for a bad action figure. Dusty then talked about their match later against the Harris Boys. Vader concluded with, "You know what time it is. It's time, it's time, it's Vader-time!"

2 -- SIMON DIAMOND & JOHNNY SWINGER vs. SLASH & "BULLDOZER" BRIAN LEE (w/James Mitchell)

Tenay said Diamond & Swinger established themselves as a top tag team in ECW. Tenay then talked about whether the deal with Styles and Russo had been consummated yet. Slash and Lee controlled offense early, including some ringside brawling. The Simon and Swinger tagged in and out with offense against Slash. Slash hot-tagged Lee at 5:10, who did a great job with a flurry of offense including a monster big boot, but the ref disallowed the tag. Swinger and Simon used a chair against Slash. When Mitchell distracted the ref, it gave Lee and Slash a chance to come back. Lee stopped Simon and Swinger from executing their suplex/DDT finisher and then Slash gave Simon a Hangman's noose neckbreaker for the win.

WINNER: Slash & Lee at 6:25.

STAR RATING: *3/4 -- Good energetic effort by both teams, although nothing about the match stood out as outstanding.

-Goldy interviewed Jarrett backstage in his locker room. He said he's known Russo for over ten years and he's realizing that he should appreciate his passion for what he believes in. He stood up and opened his jacket revealing an "SEX" t-shirt. He said he thinks it's time for a change. He then held up a VHS tape and said he would show everyone later what happened at last week's family reunion.

-Tenay complained that Russo had brainwashed Jarrett.

-A sitdown interview aired with Glen Gilbertti and Mike Sanders. Tenay asked Gilbertti what characters he created. Gilbertti said buyrates have gone through the roof since he came around. Tenay said buyrates are up because of people's passion for traditional wrestling vs. SEX. Gilbertti said buyrates are up only because of sports entertainment, not wrestling, because buyrates were low when it was just wrestling. Sanders accused Tenay of having a very condescending voice and he's tempted to slap the taste right out of his mouth. He said Tenay should see Russo's vision. Tenay said the reason last week's show was so great because there was a balance between both styles last week. Gilbertti and Sanders disagreed and said wrestling had nothing to do with it. Gilbertti said Tenay loves wrestling too much. Sanders mocked traditional characters such as Kamala, Mr. Wrestling II, and Hacksaw Duggan. They asked Tenay how many people watched wrestling when Russo was writing for WWE. Tenay said 11 million. They asked him how many now. He said under five million. They claimed it was because Russo was gone and now they're drawing them back. Tenay said six million fans left because they were sick of sports entertainment. Tenay mocked Gilbertti for his Disco Inferno gimmick. Gilbertti said that was a larger than life TV character. I'm not sure, though, whether he was disavowing it or defending it. Good segment in the sense that they used some real numbers in a realistically debatable context, but the "good guy" Tenay was asking for a balance, whereas "the bad guys" were arguing for just SEX.

3 -- AMERICA'S MOST WANTED vs. THE HOTSHOTS (w/Glen Gilbertti and Mike Sanders)

Tenay and West did a good job talking about the history between AMW and Hotshots, including that the Hotshots beat them the last time they met. After a few minutes of back and forth action, The Hotshots took control of the match. Storm picked up a Hotshot for a Catatonic and O'Reilly superkicked Storm to stop it. Storm hit the Catatonic on O'Reilly. Gilbertti interfered as the other Hotshot distracted the ref, but when the ref finally turned around, Storm was able to kick out. Storm then hit the Eight Second Ride finisher for the win.

WINNERS: America's Most Wanted at 8:12.

STAR RATING: ** -- Good, all-action tag match.

-Goldy interviewed Sonny Siaki, who reiterated that when Russo isn't around, he is in charge. He then started pushing around the Harrises with verbal orders. Then Siaki looked for Raven and asked him a question, but Raven blew him off and said, "Whatever." In the background, Sanders and Gilbertti talked with the Hotshots about their loss.

4 -- JULIO DINERO vs. RAVEN

West said Raven thinks it's beneath him to wrestle an X division wrestler. Dinero had wrestled in ECW, which Tenay of course mentioned, but this was his first match with TNA. Dinero took Raven down at 1:30 with a jump reverse sidekick (Tenay still hasn't learned the names off the basic five or six variations of karate kicks after all these years which shouldn't be considered any less important than calling various suplex variations by their "real names"). By 2:30 Raven took the action to ringside where he used a Russian leg sweep against the railing to knock Dinero silly. At 5:30 Styles walked out and knocked Dinero off the top rope, which baffled Tenay. Raven then gave Dinero his Evenflow DDT for the win. Styles entered the ring and apparently told Raven he was responsible for his win. Raven turned around and walked away.

WINNER: Raven at 6:01.

STAR RATING: ** -- Good six minute match.

-Goldy interviewed Konnan backstage. She told him his plan last week backfired when the SATs lost to Jerry Lynn. Konnan said she should be bowing down to him, "if you know what I mean." Konnan said all Lynn did was show him he is good against two inexperienced wrestler with only a few years experience. Konnan said this week he has a 14 year veteran to face him. Then Juventud Guererra entered the picture. Konnan asked Goldy if she knew he was. She said no, which does wonders for her credibility as the type of wrestling fan who knows enough to be a qualified main interviewer for a wrestling promotion. Konnan said Lynn will learn from being in the ring with Juvi. Juvi must have pinched Goldy's ass, because she jumped and yelled at him in Spanish as he walked away.

5 -- JERRY LYNN vs. JUVENTUD GUERRERA (w/Konnan)

This was what you'd expect from these two - well-executed highspots and creative reversals in and out of the ring. Inside the ring Juvi reversed out of a sunset flip and dropkicked Lynn as he sat on the mat. A minute later Juvi flew over the top rope onto Lynn at ringside. Juvi went for the Juvidriver, but Lynn reversed. Juvi fought right back into position and executed it for a very near fall. A small "Juvi" chant broke out in the crowd. West pointed out that the crowd loves a good wrestling match above anything else. Juvi then hit a sitdown powerbomb for another very near fall. They went into a series of two counts and great reversals. Konnan sold all of the near falls at ringside really well without stealing attention away from the match. Lynn then scored the pin

WINNER: Lynn at 8:57.

STAR RATING: ***1/2 -- About as good as a nine minute match can get. It built well with an energetic, but well-paced opening half and then they shifted up several gears from there ending with a great final two minutes. In PWTorch.com TNA PPV reporter Kevin Sowers's scale, this match was worth at least $8.

-Goldy asked Siaki when Russo was going to be back. She said she was just doing her job by asking. Mortimer Plumtree walked in and told Siaki it was very important he talked to Russo. Siaki shoved him and said, "Don't call us, we'll call you."

6 -- A.J. STYLES vs. SANDMAN

Another match featuring a mix of styles. I like how well TNA established the theme of different styles facing off in one-on-one matches throughout this show. During Sandman's usual long entrance to the ring, Styles leaped onto him. In the ring, Styles attempted to outwrestle Sandman with some amateur style floatovers and armbars. At 5:00 Sandman turned the tables by nailing Styles with a trash can. Sandman took his time setting up a table at ringside, which gave Styles a chance to come back. He beat up Sandman and put him on the table which was draped over the edge of the ring and the security railing. Styles then leaped off the top rope, but Sandman moved, so Styles crashed through the table. Back in the ring Sandman too some swings at Styles with his cane, but Styles ducked the first swing and leaped over the second. Styles then set up his Styles clash, but Sandman escaped by whacking him from an upside down position with the cane. Sandman then went for a powerbomb, but Styles countered. Sandman then catapulted Styles into a chair setup in the corner, and then the ref went down. Sandman set Styles on the top rope, and then Raven interfered and hit Sandman from behind, leading to Styles scoring the pin.

WINNER: Styles at 8:30.

STAR RATING: **1/4 -- Good mix of styles. A very well laid out match with good execution.

-West plugged a "House of Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match" with Raven and Sandman for next week. The graphics package previewing the match was WWE-level in quality.

-Raven came out onto the stage and said he came to TNA with one goal and purpose - to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title, but now Sandman has derailed him. He said he is going to put Jeff Jarrett on the back-burner while he deals with Sandman. He said the match concept had only taken place in his head before, but next week it will take place in the ring.

7 -- DUSTY RHODES & VADER vs. RON & DON HARRIS (w/Desire).

Tenay pointed out it's rare when the Harrises look across the ring and see two opponents bigger than them. He also mentioned that Dusty actually trained Desire, who was in Vader's corner. Vader threw an early overhead released suplex on one of the Harrises. At 2:20 Dusty got bashed at ringside and came up bleeding. They showed Ron "The Truth" Killings watching the match from the stands. Tenay said he had become disgruntled and they didn't see him at all last week. In an unintentionally funny moment, Tenay pointed out Dusty was "busted open" and West said, "You've got to be kidding?" as if it wasn't part of almost every single Dusty Rhodes match. In the ring, Ron Harris beat on Dusty's forehead. Dusty began dancing a bit to tease a comeback, but then collapsed in the corner. Dusty is the master of the hopespot dance routine. Dusty then worked hard to try to get a hot tag to Vader. He fought back a series of elbows, and then tagged Vader in (although Vader had pretty much entered the ring before tagging for some reason). Vader clotheslined both Harris brothers. Of course, as is required a minute after a hot tag, four-way action broke out with the babyfaces clearing the ring of the heels. Siaki attempted to enter the ring to hit Dusty, but Dusty caught him with a bionic elbow. The ref called for the DQ. Vader then gave the Vaderbomb to Siaki. Nikita Koloff then entered the ring and got in Dusty's face. Dusty punched him. Nikita bailed out to ringside.

WINNERS: Dusty & Vader at 6:17 by DQ.

STAR RATING: * -- A fun match with a disappointing finish. Not exactly a classic considering the condition of Dusty and Vader. Then again, Dusty's always been really fat and he had some long matches. It says something about Vader's condition when Dusty wrestled the bulk of the match rather than being the partner who stands at ringside the whole match waiting for the hot tag.

-Backstage Swinger and Simon talked to Sandman about his feud with Raven in ECW. Sandman then said it was time for him to get extreme, then bashed an empty beer can against his forehead.

-Russo came to the ring where a table had been quickly set up. A banner hung over the ropes stating "Welcome Back Jeff." Russo then introduced Jeff Jarrett. Then a videotape aired of Vince Russo's two sons. His oldest son Will, a teenager, said his life in the WWF came ahead of his family. He said they still loved and supported him even when he wasn't there when his daughter was born. He said it was really hard on the family when he forced them to move to Atlanta so he could work for WCW, but when life was tough at a new school, his dad wasn't around to talk to. He said now the TNA job has become an obsession. "Dad, it pains me to say this, but it's been going on so long it's not like we even have a father, I love you, and I want five minutes to be a family again. I love you dad," he said. Russo got emotional and told Jeff, "How dare you drag my family into this. Let me tell you what that little shit didn't tell you about what kind of a father I am. He didn't tell him I stayed up late and watched the Howard Stern with them after mom went to bed." He said he punked out his principle when they got in trouble at school. "Will, you got one thing right. I'm going to go to your room when I get home tonight and beat your ass like I've never beat it before," he said.

Jeff Jarrett then walked out onto the stage and said the truth was, last week he met with Russo with a shotgun and Russo ran "like the bitch you are." He then told Russo to get out the pen so he could shove it up his ass. He charged the ring and attacked him. Brian Lawler and David Flair attacked Jarrett. Then Erik Watts, sporting long hair pulled back into a ponytail and sunglasses, made a surprise appearance and yelled at the fallen Jarrett, "You'll regret what you did to us. Regret!" The show ended on a high note with Lawler doing his crazed Southern cackling laugh.

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