NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #7
July 31, 2002
Nashville, Tennessee
Announcers: Mike Tenay, Don West, and Ed Ferrara
The Results
NWA X-Division Title: AJ Styles (C) def. Elix Skipper in 12:37 ***1/4
Slash def. Sonny Siaki in 7:37 *1/4
Gran Apolo def. Malice in 6:31 *1/2
Miss TNA Title Match: Bruce def. Taylor Vaughn (C) in 2:07 NR
Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki ended in a No Contest in 14:10 ***3/4
Stretcher Match: Jeff Jarrett def. Scott Hall in 12:04 **
Notable Happenings
In the stupidest fucking segment in the history of pro wrestling, Puppet the Psycho Dwarf brought a pistol in the ring to use in a segment with Jarrett. This got no heat, possibly because the crowd worried they were in danger, but likely because it felt incredibly fucking silly. Puppet’s response was to Jarrett kidnapping and taping the mouth of a random midget wrestler as his way of protesting his suspension. This was all so incredibly fucking stupid, as now the badass Jarrett is charging a guy holding a gun with a steel chair. Unreal.
The stretcher match was only a stretcher match because that was the weapon they used most, but Jarrett won by pinfall. That’s a very lame way of doing an announced stretcher match on a PPV. Steamboat’s interference helped Jarrett get his first win in TNA. The Jarrett-Hall storyline is fine at best, but not where you want to be at the top of a national wrestling company charging for its product.
The AJ and Lynn matches respectively were really strong. The finish to Low Ki vs. Lynn, with AJ accidentally hitting Jerry Lynn, was a bad ending to a match they were charging money for, but the wrestling was strong. They continued slowly building the breakup with Lynn and AJ, but it’s not doing anything for me because it feels so cliché.
Ron Killings did another awesome promo this week, convincing Ricky Steamboat to give him a NWA title shot next week. He’s a heel, but because he’s the best thing on the show every week, he comes across as cool. Killings played on Steamboat’s past of being overlooked for world title victories, and you could see it getting to Steamboat.
They were continuing to tease Siaki splitting with the Elvises, but he’s also shown he wasn’t ready for that spot in a national wrestling promotion. The promos feel forced, and the work wasn’t good.
They continue to try so hard with Apolo, but he’s a little clumsy and lacks the charisma to connect on the level at which he’s being pushed. Malice was pushed as one of the very top heels in the promotion, so an Apolo win here shows how much effort they were putting into turning Apolo into a US star. It just didn’t click.
Taylor Vaughn was back for Bruce to repeatedly call her a bitch in a promo and for him to win Miss TNA. He said he was motivated after listening to Killings speak. This was ungodly stupid, but also indicative of the era.
It would have been interesting to see how it would have played out if they tried Ki as a top guy. As much as I think AJ has excelled in the role he’s been put in, even the Nashville faithful seem more intrigued by Ki.
Don Harris came out to make a save for Apolo from the New Church after their match, but ended up bloody for his troubles. Who the fuck are we pushing here? This was to set up a first-blood match between Malice and Harris, in some passing of the midcard big-guy torch.
Disco Inferno did some ungodly, cheap interview segment on the stage called Jive Talking this week, interviewing Goldi Locks. He uncomfortably berated her until she laid him out. This was so fucking bad.
The Rating: 3.0/10.0
The two X division matches were both good, particularly Lynn vs. Low Ki. Ki was way more over in Tennessee than one would think, and the main event was fine for what it was. What brought the show down was the incredibly desperate-looking gun angle, as the Jarrett overpush is such a turn-off to the show as a whole. What makes it worse is that, while they’re trying so hard to force that situation, Killings is getting over it organically, as he has since day one. We also still get bullshit like Jive Talking, so you know the company is low-rent.
The Video
