TNA Weekly PPV #4
Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena
Nashville, Tennessee
July 10th, 2002

NWA World Tag Team Championships
The Disciples of the New Church (Slash and Tempest) vs. AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn©

Tempest was Devon Storm, who went by Crowbar in WCW. Styles and Lynn controlled the early stages before Tempest took control. It’s remarkable to watch the development of AJ Styles. In 2002 he was a very athletic wrestler with a world of potential but you could still see some of the rough edges. As early as 2005 you could clearly see how he had developed in to a much more complete, well-rounded wrestler. Lynn and Styles made a comeback with some double team goodies followed by dives. Lynn draped Tempest in the ropes before Styles followed with a springboard moonsault. The New Church nailed Styles with a double chokeslam for a nearfall. Styles made the tag to Lynn, who ran wild. Lynn hit Tempest with the Cradle Piledriver, Styles tagged himself in and followed with the Spiral Tap for the win. Lynn looked a little bemused at Styles tagging himself in. There was a little unrest among the tag team champs – they would start brawling with each other later in the show. This was a solid opener. Styles and Lynn were great and, while later iterations of the New Church would be superior, they more than held their own here. **3/4

Brian Lawler vs. Norman Smiley

Before the match Christopher cut a promo about living in Jerry Lawler’s shadow and how Jerry was never there for him as a child. Lawler attacked Norman, before Smiley made a comeback with a powerslam and The Big Wiggle. The crowd condescendingly chanted Jerry’s Kid at Lawler. Lawler hit a low blow and went up to for the Hip Hop Drop but threw away his goggles (the temerity!) and hit a plain old top rope legdrop for the win. Basically an enhancement match for Lawler with a little Norman Smiley goodness sprinkled in. *

Ron Killings vs. Hermie Sadler

Killings buried NASCAR and all its fans before the match. Sadler came to the ring with his whole pit crew. Killings missed a kick and Sadler dumped him out to the floor. Hermie delivered the babyface staple corner ten punch. Killings hit an axe kick and attempted to pin Sadler with one finger but Sadler kicked out. Killings locked on a Figure Four but Sadler revered it. Killing went for a huracanrana but Sadler countered into a sit out powerbomb for a near fall. Killings double legged Sadler and put his feet on the ropes to score the win. Killings cheap shotted Sadler after the match causing the referee to reverse his decision. Sadler acquitted himself admirably here, never looking out of place with Killings. **1/4

The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe) vs. The Hot Shots (Chase Stevens and Cassidy Riley)

Most would forget that The Briscoes had a handful of TNA appearances. The Hot Shots are still going on indies to this day. They wrestled for a couple of minutes before Malice showed up and killed everybody. No wonder The Briscoes didn’t work TNA regularly. James Mitchell said he’d destroy everybody until Ken Shamrock came out. After threatening to kill Tiny the timekeeper Shamrock came out. He got overwhelmed by Malice before Takao Omori, who will face Shamrock for the NWA title later in the show, made the save.

Jasmin St. Claire came to the ring and gave Jeremy Borash a lap dance which included the removal of her underwear. Bill Behrens came out attempting to stop St. Claire and ate a Spear from Ed Ferrara for him troubles. This was stupid.

The Dupps vs. The Flying Elvises

A team with a hick incest gimmick vs. a bunch of people is Elvis costumes. TNA in 2002 folks. Mortimer Plumtree joined on commentary discussing who may have attacked AMW last week. The Elvises (Elvi?) got the heat on Stan before he made the hot tag to Bo. Siaki hit a pumphandle slam before Estrada followed with a springboard slash to give The Flying Elvises a win. Siaki, Estrada and Yang were talented wrestlers – why would you ever saddle them with such an awful gimmick? 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Takao Omori vs. Ken Shamrock©

Omori is one of the more random World title challengers in TNA history. Shamrock attacked Omori for a while before Omori hit a spinning wheel kick and a dropkick and took control. Shamrock started targeting Omori’s leg in preparation for an Ankle Lock. Omori missed a top rope knee drop but hit a huge lariat for two. Omori locked on an armbar but Shamrock reversed into an Ankle Lock. Jarrett ran out attacking Shamrock and Omori with a chair causing a No Contest. He also hit Harley Race, who was at ringside, with a vicious unprotected chair shot (I’m glad things like that don’t happen anymore). A nothing match which in the end became all about Jeff Jarrett. *3/4  

No. 1 Contenders Elimination Match for the X-Division Title
Low Ki vs. Elix Skipper vs. Kid Romeo vs. Tony Mamaluke vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn

This was wrestled under tag team rules so only two wrestlers wrestled at once. Everybody paired off for a little while with some fun exchanges before the obligatory dive sequence. Jerry Lynn went up top, got crotched, fell to the floor and was counted out. Kind of an anti-climactic way for Lynn to be eliminated. Skipper eliminated Tony Mamaluke shortly after with the Play of the Day. Low Ki went for a springboard kick but Skipper dropped into a bridge to dodge it. That was pretty cool. Daniels put Skipper away with the Last Rights.

Romeo hit his Last Kiss move off the middle turnbuckle but Daniels got his foot on the ropes. Romeo thought he scored the fall but turned into a Low Ki kick before Ki eliminated Romeo with a Dragon Sleeper. Future Triple X partners Daniels and Low Ki were the final two. Daniels hit the BME for a close near fall. The exchanged quick pin attempts before Daniels hit the Fall From Grace for another two. Low Ki escaped the Last Rights and followed with the Ki Krusher to eliminate Daniels and earn an X-Division title shot on the next show. This was a really fun match. Everybody got a little time to shine, it was well paced (not relying heavily on cheap, quick eliminations) and the right two went all the way to the end. The Flying Elvises attacked Low Ki and Daniels after the match only to be run off. ***3/4

Jarrett got in a fight with the Tennessee Titans, who were at ringside to close the show because god forbid the show close with the X-Division instead of him.

Final Thoughts: The opener was fun, Hermie Sadler did well, there was some novelty in The Briscoes and Omori making TNA appearances and the main event was really good but some of the utterly terrible stuff in the middle of the show dragged the whole presentation down. The only thing really worth watching is the main event six man.