I haven’t given up on Global quite yet, but I wanted to watch the business disaster that was TNA at the same time. I liked the format I recently did for Summerslam 1990, so we’ll stick with that for now.
NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #1
Date: June 19, 2002
Location: Von Braun Center – Huntsville, Alabama
Announcers: Mike Tenay, Don West, and Ed Ferrara
The Setup
Well, this was it. The beginning of what is probably the most inept national pro wrestling company in the history of national professional wrestling companies. Not only were they doing weekly PPVs at $9.95, but they were doing weekly television at $9.95. The difference is quite notable because they were charging money for what you could get on Raw or Smackdown (with far more recognizable talent) on free television.
The Business
There will be more on Jay Hassman later, but the most accurate estimates for this show were slightly under 20,000 PPV buys. That was well below what they were hoping for or what they projected internally, but I’m not sure why they expected much more, either. The show drew 3,000 people to the Van Braun Center, but only 500 were paid. Ouch.
The Results
Jimmy Yang, Jorge Estrada & Sonny Siaki def. AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn & Low Ki in 6:27. ***
Teo def. Hollywood in 2:49. NR
Richard Johnson & Rod Johnson def. James Storm & Psicosis in 4:49. 1/2*
Bo Dupp & Stan Dupp def. Christian York & Joey Matthews in 3:39. *1/4
Gauntlet for the Gold Match: Ken Shamrock & Malice co-won in 30:55. **1/2
Vacant NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ken Shamrock def. Malice in 6:22. *3/4
Notable Happenings
-Jeff Jarrett was all over this show, setting a precedent that would last for years in the company. He got into it with all the legends, had an angle with Toby Keith, and had a brawl with Scott Hall at the end of the show to set up a match for week two.
-They did a horrible angle where they announced all the women who would be in a lingerie battle royal next week, culminating in Elektra and Francine cutting promos and doing a pull-apart. Elektra got her top ripped off, but Don West covered her up.
-The show started with Jarrett, Hall, and Ken Shamrock doing promos, and each one buried the idea of the title being defended in the battle Royal. What a disaster.
-Ricky Steamboat was the special ref for the Shamrock/Malice final match.
Best, Worst, and Most Underrated of the Night
Best: I would say the X Division opener, but honestly, this company went two-for-two on celebrity angles, which is normally quite difficult to pull off. Two NASCAR drivers, Sterling Marlin and Hermie Sadler, worked a strong angle with Ron Killings (where Killings shone a ton in a new heel persona) and culminated in them clearing Killings from the ring with the help of Brian Christopher. Also, Jeff Jarrett interrupting Toby Keith’s live concert, only for Keith to interfere in the Gauntlet Battle Royal and eliminate Scott Hall, was extremely well executed.
Worst: There was a lot to choose from here, but the Johnsons, the Toland brothers under masks, were literally dressed like penises. The announcers obliged with all the expected dick puns as well—just garbage.
Most Underrated: Probably Low Ki. He hardly sticks out on this show, being in a six-minute match with five other guys, but he looked really good in his allotted time. He also managed to get over with the crowd more than any other individual in the match, and didn’t have the southern indy background of AJ or the ECW history of Jerry Lynn.
Backstage Notes
-Jay Hassman, a former WCW employee hired to help with PPV, lied about the PPV numbers and reported 80,000 buys for this show to company officials. He overinflated numbers until he was fired at the end of July. It later came out that he was a consultant for WWE. The Jarretts eventually sued him, and he was later convicted of fraud in separate business dealings. What a start for TNA.
-The ring broke during the pre-show dark match when a large, horrible wrestler named Cheex performed a splash. They were able to make the repairs before the PPV, but what a way to start this trainwreck promotion. The legends ceremony with Harley Race, Dory Funk Jr., and Jackie Fargo was pushed to the opening segment to buy the ring crew time to complete emergency repairs.
Rating 2.5
An awful first show. The Shamrock-Malice title match felt like an absolute nothing, and there were way too many stupid gimmicks on this show. The wrestling wasn’t good enough to appeal to wrestling fans, and I’m not sure whoever found the dicks and Dupps entertaining wanted to see a focus on southern wrestling legends. They tried to cater to everyone and ended up catering to no one. At least they had the celebrity angles.
Back Then Wrestling 