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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

KELLER'S NWA-TNA PPV #35 REPORT
MARCH 12, 2003
LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN.

-A video package aired catching up new viewers and reminding last week's viewers of the major storylines from last week's show, from Vince Russo announcing his retirement to the attack by the second generation boys on Jeff Jarrett.

-Mike Tenay and Don West introduced the show from ringside. They went to Jeff Jarrett bashing in the door of the SEX locker room. He was yelling for Erik Watts.

-Konnan walked to the ring with a spring in his step and showed more enthusiasm, charisma, energy, and most importantly swagger in his first ten seconds than Steve Austin has in both of his appearances on Raw so far this month. He introduced Damien and Halloween as his latest lucha imports.

1 -- DAMIEN & HALLOWEEN vs. JERRY LYNN & DAVID YOUNG

Konnan immediately joined Tenay and West at ringside and gave them a hard time about whether the mic was actually going to work this time. David Young always looks like he's on the verge of a really big belch. Young opened up with a spinebuster on Halloween. "He's got no personality. He needs a personality transplant," Konnan said regarding Young. West pointed out his men haven't been faring well, Konnan said they're up against a stacked deck with jet lag, unfamiliarity with the ring, and a hostile environment with the crowd. Konnan said the fans in Nashville all look "cross-pollinated." When Tenay plugged a surprise superstar debuting later, Konnan chided him for not talking about the match in the ring. At 4:00 Konnan gave Young a cheapshot with a dropkick to his legs. Konnan returned to ringside with Tenay and West and said he slipped. Konnan got mad at Halloween and Damien when they lost to Lynn, despite the fact that Konnan had incapacitated Young a couple minutes beforehand. Lynn went into the ring to confront Konnan, and he attacked Lynn. Halloween and Damien tried to restrain Konnan.

WINNERS: Lynn & Young at 5:15.

STAR RATING: *1/4 -- Some decent action, but it never really got its legs under it.

-Goldy approached Erik Watts for an interview, but Jarrett then attacked Watts. Goldy screamed. Security intervened and pulled Jarrett away. Watts, baseball bat in hand, made his way to the ring. Tenay ran down his credentials, including being PWI Rookie of the Year in 1992. Watts said he has gotten in Jarrett's head. Jarrett charged the ring with a baseball bat of his own. They swung each other's bats into the other bat. Again, security intervened. Good old style intensity from Jarrett; the booking and tone of the angle is right out of World Class Championship Wrestling in 1983 with a Jarrett in the role of Kevin Von Erich. That's not a bad thing, either.

-Goldy interviewed Kid Kash who said he is going to give his fans something special. Amazing Red interrupted and said if it wasn't for his valet Trinity, he wouldn't have his belt. He asked Kash to leave her in the back.

A video aired with a voiceover stating: "Taken hostage by an oppressive dictator... After five years, the chains of captivity have been broken." A video then aired for D-Lo Brown. He walked out bobbing his head as Tenay screamed that he was the newest member of the TNA roster.

He said for several weeks people have been asking him what he was going to say once he got a live mic in his face on national TV. He said people were asking him, "What secrets are going to tell, who are you going to shoot on?" He said because of the reception he received, he realizes it doesn't matter what happened before. He said he gave a 115 percent effort every time he stepped foot in the ring. He said in response he was told, "D-Lo, we don't think you can get the job done, we don't think you're a team player, we don't think you're good enough." He said three years ago he was the hottest up and coming star in the industry, but then all of a sudden he disappeared without rhyme or reason. He said they told him he couldn't cut a promo, so he was sent to the minor leagues to teach the younger guys how to get over. "So let me get this straight, I can't get over, but I'm able to teach others how to get over?" He said he was tired of hitting his head on the glass ceiling and those in power holding others back because they can. "I was tired of not having a level playing field, so that's why I came to NWA-TNA," he said. "I promise the fans here I will be nothing short of a bona fide superstar. here in TNA."

Sonny Siaki then walked toward the ring. He called himself "Ace in the Hole." He invited D-Lo to join SEX. "No disrespect to you, but I don't you and you don't know me," D-Lo said. He said his history with Vince Russo is nobody's business. He said he arrived in TNA to be on his own, not part of any group. He respectfully said, "Thanks, but no thanks, dog." Siaki asked D-Lo about "that racist angle you were doing with Teddy Long." He said he thought it was just an angle, but the more he talked, "the more I realized you're one stupid..." D-Lo immediately punched Siaki and took him to the mat with a slam. He followed with a frog splash off the top rope. He then celebrated by standing on the second rope in the corner of the ring and doing his signature head-bobbing. D-Lo showed leadership skills behind the mic that WWE never gave him a chance to show off, and he made a pretty good case immediately that he was held back from reaching his potential, at least behind the mic.

2 -- KID KASH (w/Trinity) vs. AMAZING RED vs. JOHNNY STORM - X Title Match

Storm is from England. Red and Storm worked together for a few seconds against Kash, then turned on each. Before one minute was completed, all three had a stand-off. Kash shook Storm's hand, Storm shoot Red's hand, and when Kash offered a handshake to Red, Red gave him the finger. Later in the match they did a series of dives at ringside including Trinity getting involved. After the match, Red shoved Trinity, so Kash and Trinity flattened Red.

WINNER: Kash at 9:42 via pinfall of Storm.

STAR RATING: **3/4 -- A bit chaotic and awkward at times with the three-way situation, but full of enough scary power moves and highspots to keep it interesting.

-Glen Gilbertti gave a big pep talk to the SEX crew. He exchanged some heated words with Christopher Daniels, who claimed that he and his two partners are the elite of SEX.

3 -- RON & DON HARRIS vs. SANDMAN & STEVE CORINO

Sandman was still in the crowd walking around with his typically extended ring entrance when the bell rang. Corino took both Harrises down with clotheslines, but then immediately fell prey to being outnumbered. After Corino got pinned, he and Sandman brawled to the back with the Harrises. I assume Sandman was too hurt to actually compete, and this was their way around putting him in a position to look bad. He seemed to being moving gingerly in the post-match brawl, which went on several minutes and included (of course) Corino blading.

WINNERS: Harrises at 0:29 when Ron pinned Corino.

STAR RATING: 1/4*

-Goldy interviewed Mike Sanders. She asked for his reaction to Gilbertti asking him to bring his A-game. Sanders arrogantly said all he has is A-game. He said he didn't know who his opponent was, but it didn't matter because it would be "enhancement talent, a wrestler brought in to make him look great." Gilbertti interrupted and scolded Sanders for being so arrogant. He said at least he (Gilbertti) has accomplished something in wrestling, whereas he can't live off of being Kevin Nash's buddy for years. He added that if he was really Nash's good friend, he'd be with Nash in WWE. "Don't even go there," Sanders said. Gilbertti then chewed out the new SEX valet, saying she has to prove herself worthy of her role as providing T&A. Goldy presented us with Goldy Facial Expression #3 (where she tilts her head and bites the insider of her lower lip in contempt of what she's listening to).

-Dusty Rhodes walked to the ring and said Jerry Jarrett asked him to speak about the new generation of wrestlers, the "Sons of Famous Daddies." He asked David Flair, Brian Lawler, and Erik Watts to come to the ring. Flair and Lawler came out. Dusty told David that he once called his father an "asshole." He said David is like his father in one way, because he too is now an "asshole." As Dusty talked to Lawler, Lawler returned fire with some hilarious facial expressions. He said Lawler is an embarrassment to his family by always acting like a fool. Lawler took off his ring jacket. Dusty warned him "not to get naked on me." Lawler celebrated, though, when Dusty patronized him by saying he could be really good. Lawler asked him to give him five. Dusty then slapped him. He threw a series of bionic elbows at Flair and Lawler, but they soon double-teamed him. D-Lo made the save. Erik Watts then came out and attacked Dusty as Lawler and Flair beat up D-Lo. Jeff Von Erich charged the ring and cleared it the heels single-handedly and stood side-by-side with D-Lo Adidas and Dusty.

-A video package aired on America's Most Wanted.

-Goldy interviewed Triple X backstage. She said it took forever to get them to return to the TNA ring. Low-Ki said he may not talk much, but said they were the true champions since they never should have lost the titles. He said they've been travelling the globe showing what Triple X is all about. His voice is so weird. Goldy closed with Goldy Facial Expression #1 (irritation, like a fly buzzing around her head).

4 -- HACKSAW DUGGAN vs. MIKE SANDERS

Sanders's eyes bulged out when he saw his "enhancement talent opponent" was Duggan. West popped out of his chair and acted like the biggest Hacksaw Duggan mark in history. Duggan began a "USA, USA" chant. I'm shocked WWE hasn't brought Duggan back to start "USA" chants during this time of potential war. Duggan dominated early, as you'd expect with clotheslines and punches. Sanders took over with his specialty - rest holds. Duggan fought back with a series of ten punches in the corner. Sanders fought back punches of his own. Duggan missed a charged in the corner (using the term "charge" loosely), but then followed up with a clothesline for the win. After the match, Gilbertti entered the ring and chewed out Sanders, then went for a cheapshot on the eaves dropping Duggan, but Duggan blocked his punch and took both down. When Duggan celebrated, they both attacked him with stomps. Several referees made the save.

WINNER: Duggan at 6:01.

STAR RATING: 1/4* -- You know, I really expected much worse. Next time they give less than six minutes to a potentially good match, remember this. They really could have accomplished the same thing in 90 seconds.

-Goldy interviewed A.J. Styles up in the stands to mock Raven for his trademark of talking from the rafters. A.J. said he was trying to provoke him by "taking a dump in his nest." Styles threw a chair at Raven as he approached him. The Harris Brothers held Raven back, preserving his aggression for his match against Styles later.

-A video package aired on the recent history of the tag team title battles in TNA.

5 -- AMERICA'S MOST WANTED vs. TRIPLE X (Low Ki & Christopher Daniels w/Elix Skipper)

Triple X waited until the bell rang to reveal which two were officially wrestling in the match. The heels dominated most of the first six minutes, but Storm fought back at 6:30 and made the hot-tag to Harris at 7:10. Harris, who is really good at showing fire after a hot tag, went to work on Daniels with a full nelson slam for a near fall. He followed with a powerbomb, but Low Ki broke up the pin attempt. Harris then gave Daniels a powerbomb for a two count. Harris held Daniels out as Storm came off with a legdrop for their "Death Sentence" finisher. Skipper interfered to stop the pinfall. Ki went for a handspring, but Harris turned it into a tackle. Skipper then took the tag titles off of the announce title. Harris, meanwhile, put Daniels in the Sharpshooter. Skipper entered the ring with a chair, but Storm kicked it out of his hands and then pummeled him at ringside. Daniels tapped out, but the ref was tending to the ringside brawl. Ki dove onto Harris, but Harris caught him in mid-air (stumbling a little) and gave him his Hurricane. Daniels then attempted to hit Harris with the tag title belts, but Harris wrestled it away and hit Daniels with it. The ref took the belt out of Harris's hands. Ki his a distracted Harris with the tag belt. The ref turned around and counted the pin.

WINNERS: Ki & Daniels at 11:55 to capture the held-up NWA Tag Titles.

STAR RATING: *** -- Above-average tag match.

-Outside the arena, Siaki attacked D-Lo. Jarrett made the save, causing Siaki to flee the scene.

-Glen Gilbertti entered the ring with Holly Wood, who's playing the role of the skanky, nasty heel valet who the heels actually think is a blond bombshell. Gilbertti set up a match between Lolly Pop and Holly Wood. They had a at fight, bashing each other's heads into the mat.

6 -- RAVEN vs. A.J. STYLES -- No. 1 Contender's Match

Jeff joined Tenay and West on commentary. Nice touch to have the champ on color during the no. 1 contender's match. Jarrett's good at carrying himself like a champion behind the mic. Raven got early advantage, then yapped at Jarrett at ringside, then nailed Styles with a chair at ringside. He then ripped away at Styles's face, and Styles bled early. Styles fought back at 5:00 with some jump wheel kicks. Styles springboarded toward Raven, but Raven caught him and turned it into a powerbomb. Styles dove over the top rope toward Raven at ringside, but Raven lifted his knee and caught Styles. jarrett got involved at ringside, punching Raven and then Styles when both got in his face. Security came out to try to keep Jarrett away from the action. Styles came off the top rope with a dropkick aimed at Raven, but Raven moved and the ref took it square on the chin. A second ref came. Raven splashed that ref in the corner when Styles moved out of his path. Styles gave Raven the Styles Clash and the original ref made a groggy two count. Styles threw a jump roundhouse kick at Raven, but Raven simultaneously gave Styles a chairshot. Both fell onto their backs with their arms draped over each other. Both refs counted three at the same time on both men. Jarrett from the rampway asked, "Who won?" as the show went off the air.

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