D'Lo Brown, Frankie Kazarian & Sandman d. David Young,
Don Harris & Sonny Siaki
Sandman did his beer entrance in the crowd, while Kazarian and
Brown started the match in the ring. Back and forth action early.
Sandman made it to ringside a few minutes in, but never got on
the apron. He instead ran around the ring and attacked Don
Harris, fighting him on the floor. Brown clotheslined Siaki from
the ring. Kazarian hit a Flatliner on Young, and Brown followed
with a Lo Down frog splash for the win.
After the match, Brown, Sandman and Kazarian were celebrating with some beers, when they were jumped by SEX, with Ron Harris and Mike Sanders joining the fray. Jeff Jarrett and Sting ran down and cleaned house, Sting hitting everyone with a baseball bat, and Jarrett smashing a guitar over Young's head. The fans reacted huge to Sting's entrance.
Jeff Jarrett & Sting d. AJ Styles & Sean Waltman
They went right at it as Jarrett and Sting hit the ring. Sting
and Jarrett whipped Styles and Waltman into each oher. Jarrett
went after Waltman on the floor, while Styles and Sting went at
it in the ring. Sting went for the Scorpion early, but Styles
made the ropes. Sting hit a pescado on Styles. Sting and Styles
then went at it on the floor. In the ring, Waltman went for a
bronco buster on Jarrett, but Waltman missed. Jarrett powerbombed
Waltman out of a rana attempt, and applied a figure four. Styles
broke it up with a springboard legdrop. It settled into a tag
team match. Waltman tagged in Styles, and they kept Jarrett from
being able to tag out. Waltman tagged in and put a sleeperhold on
Jarrett. Jarrett broke free, but Waltman hit a spinkick for a two
count. Waltman hit a powerdrive legdrop for a two count. Styles
came in, kicking Jarrett in the chest, and put Jarrett in a
sleeperhold. Jarrett and Styles collided on a clothesline. Styles
tagged in Waltman. Jarrett crawled between Waltman's legs and
tagged Sting. Sting cleaned house, hitting Stinger splashes on
Styles and Waltman. Sting put Styles in the Scorpion, but Waltman
hit Sting with a baseball bat while the referee was getting
Jarrett out of the ring. Styles put Sting in the Scorpion, but
Sting broke out. Styles tagged Waltman, then knocked Jarrett off
the ring apron. Styles and Waltman went to double team Sting, but
Sting decked them with a double clothesline. Sting hit a Scorpion
Death Drop on Styles and a DDT on Waltman at the same time. Sting
tagged in Jarrett, who dropkicked Styles and Waltman. Jarrett
gave them a double noggin knocker. Russo ran to ringside, as the
match broke down with all four men in. Sting pounded Waltman in
the corner, while Styles superkicked the referee. Jarrett gave
Styles The Stroke, but there was no referee. Sting fought with
Waltman on the floor. Russo ran in and hit Jarrett with the ball
bat. Raven ran in to go after Russo. Styles grabbed Raven, but
Raven set him up for a DDT. Shane Douglas ran in and started
brawling with Raven up the rampway. Sting hit Waltman with a
chair on the floor. Jarrett hit Styles with The Stroke, and the
referee crawled back in for two. Jarrett gave Styles the Stroke
off the middle rope for the pin. Raven and Douglas were still
going at it. Russo tried to choke Jarrett, but Sting pulled him
off, and Jarrett hit Russo with the ball bat. The ring cleared
out, except for Raven, Jarrett and Sting. Jarrett and Raven went
nose to nose, but Sting broke them apart, and raised both men's
arms, apparently unifying them, to end the show.
We're only a few hours away from the biggest night in TNA history, and from Sting's first appearance on a live wrestling program in over two years. Tickets have been selling fast, and we're expecting a great crowd tonight at the Asylum. If you haven't ordered your tickets, you can still get them online via Paypal.
Tonight's show is shaping up to be one our best. The main event will see the return of Sting to live action in the United States after a two year absence as he teams with Jeff Jarrett to take on the challenge of AJ Styles and a mystery partner. America's Most Wanted takes on Triple X for the tag titles; Chris Sabin defends the X Title against Paul London; New Jack takes on Mike Sanders in a Hard 10 match; Jerry Lynn takes on Justin Credible in a battle of former ECW champs; and D-Lo Brown, Sandman, and Frankie Kazarian take on Don Harris, Sonny Siaki, and David Young.
Can you believe it's been a year?
I sure can't. In some ways, though, it seems like it's been much longer!
It's hard to believe we've been through so much in just one year....but tonight, TNA celebrates something few people gave us any chance of accomplishing. Tonight we celebrate our one year anniversary.
When we go live tonight, we'll also be introducing a brand new set. Our crew has been working non-stop the last few days to renovate the Asylum and to move in the new set.
Tonight also marks the debut of our Spanish Announce Team. Armando Quintero and Konnan will handle commentary for our Spanish speaking fans.
I've done several interviews in recent days about the anniversary, and a question that I've been asked over and over is "what are you most proud of from the first year". I've given that question a lot of thought, and I think I'd have to say the thing I'm happiest and most proud about is the opportunity that TNA has been able to give to an incredibly talented group of young wrestlers who may have never gotten a chance to show what they can do, if not for the platform we gave them. It's fitting that we close the year with AJ Styles as our champion. He was the very first person we signed to a contract, and he is the perfect representative for our company. The initials TNA stand for Total Nonstop Action, and AJ and the rest of our talented roster more than live up to the standard set by those initials.
Tonight's show is being broadcast live to Australia.
Desire is recovering from a back injury she suffered in an Xplosion match last week. The painful injury, a fracture of her L1 vertebrae, will keep her out of action for several weeks. Get well soon Kim!
Amazing Red is also sidelined with a knee injury that he suffered while touring Japan.
Low Ki will be at the Asylum tonight, but is still recovering from a painful dislocated collar bone and will remain out of action for several more weeks.
Shane Douglas looks great....probably better than he has looked in years. Still, it was somewhat of a shock when he was asked to present photo identification last week before being allowed to order a beer.
Several new merchandise items will be available in the near future. New shirts will debut soon, and fans will also be able to order pictures of their favorite TNA stars.
They sometimes don't get the credit they deserve, but Mike Tenay and Don West are doing a tremendous job as the TNA announce team.
As we close out our first year, I'd like to take a moment to say a special thanks to everyone who has supported us. We hope we have delivered a product you have enjoyed and that you will continue to support in Year Two.
That's it for this week....I'll be back next week with more Notes From Backstage. Until then, enjoy the show!
Bob Ryder
www.nwatna.com