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TNA Hard Justice Real Time Report
By Mike Nicolau
 ...
Welcome to the
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TNA Hard Justice -------------------------------- The show opened with one of those freaky video packages that TNA excels at. There were little kids wearing Sting masks, and blood. Very creepy. The announcers welcomed us to the show and treated us to a well-deserved pyrotechnics display. Thanks, guys. 1) Johnny Devine vs. Eric Young They showed a clip of James Cornette telling Young that he better not blow this opportunity. Before the match, Eric's fans were allowed to march around the ringside area in support of their favorite wrestler. Devine picked up a mic and told Young that he was a failure and that if he lost tonight, he was fired. Devine -- who has to be one of the worst wrestling personalities to come down the pipe (is it pipe or pike?) in a long, long time -- started the match on offense. During the match, apparently, the roof was on fire from that amazing pyrotechnics display I mentioned earlier. The arena quickly filled with "smoke" from the extinguishers. The wrestlers did their best to continue in the fog-filled arena, but the visibility was close to zero. The crowd chanted "The Roof is on Fire!" and "You Can't See Us!". That's live television, folks. Eric eventually made the comeback, much to the crowd's delight. The Impact Zone was solidly behind Eric for this one. Young got the pin after nailing Devine with his finisher (the announcers don't call finishers in TNA, so I don't know what to call it) and kept himself from getting fired. The crowd went nuts. Winner: Eric Young
After the match, as Eric celebrated, a disheveled Earl Hebner charged the ring and attacked referee Slick Johnson. Larry Zybyzsko appeared and tried to settle down the former senior-official. They showed a clip of Sting and Christian arriving at the arena together earlier in the day. A video package of the TNA tag team division aired. The announcers talked about the fire that occured during the first match. They still couldn't believe it. They seemed to stall for a while and kept running video packages. I wonder if the fire caused more of a problem than they're letting on. "Technical Difficulties ... Please Stand By" They finally came back from the video packages and showed fire trucks backstage. They're still in the process of clearing everything out and getting ready to resume the pay-per-view. Apparently, the fire marshall stepped in and evacuated the building. The announcers talked about the situation and sold it as an "anything can happen" type deal. Eric Young showed up and talked to the announcers. Eric assured us that the fire wasn't his fault. Young said that he and his "Uncle Jeff" had everything under control. Monty Brown entered the picture and cut a promo on "Fat Joe" and Rhino. This is all improv, baby! Monty sang, "Hey Joe ... why you runnin' around with that cheeseburger in your hand?" Gold! Monty is *on* right now, bitches. Shane Douglas and the Naturals showed up and "The Franchise" cut a pretty intense promo. This is awesome. It feels like old-school, when guys would cut promos from the heart, not from a script. Backstage, Jeremy Broash interviewed Alex Shelley. Shelley told JB that Kevin Nash had a neck injury and wouldn't be competing tonight. Johnny Devine rolled in Nash in a wheelchair. Nash, who was wearing a neck brace, said this was the darkest day of his life. Apparently, Shelley would be taking Nash's place against Chris Sabin. Nash gave Alex his dogtags for luck. 2) Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley
Nash lent moral support to Shelley from his wheelchair at ringside. Devine and Shelley both wore black armbands with the letters "KEV" on them. The match itself was brilliant. Sabin scored the pin with the "Cradle Shock". Winner: Chris Sabin Nash scowled from his ringside wheelchair. Sabin is the new #1-contender for the X-Division title. Backstage, JB interviewed Abyss and James Mitchell. Mitchell cut a promo on Brother Runt. Abyss grunted in the background. 3) Abyss vs. Brother Runt Runt came out in a tie-dyed shirt and a mohawk. Don West kept saying he looked like the guy from "Taxi". Reiger? Jim? Latka? Early in the match, Abyss tossed Runt into the crowd, ECW-style. The fans chanted "TNA". Raven was shown watching from the crowd. He may or may not have been eating a big sandwich. Runt put up a fight for most of this one, but Abyss eventually took control. "The Monster" emptied his bag of thumbtacks and prepared to slam Runt through. Instead, he shoved Runt's forehead into the tacks, and then dropped a boot onto the back of his head. The former Dudley was busted open. Runt fought back but found himself on the receiving end of a flying body-press flapjack maneuver into the tacks. Abyss then nailed the "Blackhole Slam" into the tacks for the win.
Winner: Abyss Raven continued eating his sandwich from the stands. Backstage, Rhino cut a promo on Joe and Monty. Very intense. Very fucking awesome. Rhino rules all. If you don't like Rhino, you have no soul. 4) Rhino vs. Samoa Joe vs. Monty Brown All three men battled around the arena and destroyed various set pieces. The crowd seemed to be behind "The War Machine" early on. The fans handed the wrestlers chairs to use as weapons during the brawl and continually chanted "This is Awesome!" I had no choice but to agree. Everyone was fired up for this one.
The Impact Zone started leaning toward Joe halfway through the match. All three wrestlers continued to bust ass. At one point, Joe and Monty were battling on the entrance ramp. Rhino broke it up and floored both men with stiff garbage-can-lid shots.
Rhino tried to "gore" Monty Brown, but "The Alpha Male" dodged it and sent "The War Machine" sailing through the air and crashing through a table 10-feet below. Joe took the opportunity to suplex Monty off the stage and through another table for the win!
Winner: Samoa Joe Mike Tenay screamed, "If you're not on your feet, then, dammit, you don't have a pulse!" Listen to the man. An emotional Joe picked up the mic and proclaimed his dominance in TNA. He said they burned the house down tonight. Holy shit. Those three men just did for the heavyweight/hardcore division exactly what Joe/Styles/Daniels did for the X-Division over a year ago. That match was the reason I watch pro-wrestling. It was raw, it was visceral, it was intense. It was everything a wrestling match should be. Backstage, Larry Z and Slick Johnson argued. Nothing important. 5) Gail Kim vs. Sirelda Winner: Gail Kim Meh. Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed recent Radio Free Insanity guest Scotty Steiner. Steiner said he had to dumb down his promos for the "white trash" fans. Scotty is college-educated, so he ain't no dummy. He read good. An awesome Senshi X-Division package aired. Senshi sounds like a bad motherf'er when he talks. 6) X-Division Championship Match Again, I must watch this. I'll be back with results in a little while. If you didn't order the show, you're missing some great action. I know a lot of people are down on TNA, but it really is an alternative to WWE. You'd never see a match like Monty/Joe/Rhino on Raw, Smackdown, or even ECW. In my opinion. The action was fast and furious in this one. It's tough for these guys to have to follow the other 3-way, but the crowd is trying to stay pumped. Maybe this should've came earlier in the show. It's tough, though, with the fire and all. Who knows what was really planned. The fans seemed to be firmly behind Jay Lethal. Mike Tenay confirmed this by saying, "The fans seem to be firmly behind Jay Lethal."
There were lots of near-falls toward the end of the match. The crowd came alive. Petey locked Lethal in a sharp-shooter. Senshi broke it up. Senshi absolutely brutalized Lethal in the corner with a series of vicious chops to the chest. Lethal countered and tossed Senshi with an overhead german-release suplex. The fans chanted "This is Awesome!" Petey nailed Lethal with the "Canadian Destroyer" but Senshi caught him with a kick out of nowhere for the pinfall. Winner and still X-Division Champion: Senshi LAX promo with Jeremy Borash. They hate Whitey. 7) NWA World Tag Team Championship Match The crowd was hot for this one. Don West called Homicide a "street fighter" though he was clearly demonstrating an impressive array of wrestling maneuvers. Mike Tenay corrected his partner seconds later and spoke highly of Homicide's wrestling ability.
The match itself was above average, but, again, through no fault of the wrestlers involved, it's damn near impossible to top the 3-way from earlier. The end of the match saw lots of high-spots from both teams. The crowd came alive. A series of near-falls for both teams followed. After a missed "Gringo Killer" and "Cracker Jack" from the bad guys, Styles and Daniels caught los latinos in the "High Low" for the win. Winners and still NWA World Tag Team Champions: "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels and "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles Backstage, Borash interviewed Christian Cage. Cage wondered whether or not Jeff Jarrett tried to set the building on fire earlier to get out of his match. Christian called out Scott Steiner for being a douche. Captian Charisma is pulling for Sting tonight... supposedly. "Because... (Audience: That's... how I roll!) ...it's showtime, folks." 8) NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match TNA whipped out the big-time-fight feel for the ring introductions. I'm always a fan. There seemed to be a few extra officials for this one. The crowd chanted "Ste-Roids" at Scott Steiner. The match was about what you'd expect. At one point, Sting went to the top rope and Steiner walloped him with a loud steel chair shot to the knee. None of the three referees heard or saw this. Christian came over to confront Scotty, but received an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor for his trouble. Meanwhile, Jarrett locked in the figure-four leglock in the ring...
Sting fought back and nailed a "Scorpion Death Drop". He made the cover, but Steiner pulled the official out of the ring during the count. Christian came over and whacked Steiner with a chair. During the confusion, Jarrett grabbed the belt and attempted to use it against Sting. He missed and Christian tossed the belt to Sting and he used it. One of the fifteen referees slid in and made the count. Two... All Hell broke loose after this... Christian got in the ring and nailed Jarrett with a chair. None of the referees noticed. Finally, an official came over and ejected Cage from the ringside area. Then he ejected Steiner. A few minutes later, Sting locked Jarrett into the "Scorpion Death Lock". Jarrett made the ropes. Sting went for the "Stinger Splash", but inadvertently hit the referee instead. With the referee down, Steiner hit the ring and helped Jarrett beat up on Sting. Christian made the save! Cage picked up Jarrett's guitar and watched as Sting slowly climbed to the top rope and prepared to deal the final blow onto his fallen opponent. Christian smashed the guitar over Sting's head before he could successfully land. Jarrett rolled over and placed an arm over the incapacitated Sting for the win. Winner and still NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Jarrett
After the match, Christian walked up the ramp with a sinister smile on his face. Jarrett celebrated. *** Good show, predictable ending. The 3-Way was the highlight for me. The fire, and subsequent evacuation, during the first match set the tone for the evening. It gave the show an unpredictable feeling. Everybody worked hard, and it showed. That's why I like TNA. These guys bust their asses out there no matter what. They really do. As a fan of professional wrestling, I respect that. Af far as I'm concerned, TNA delivered again. There's really not too much to complain about. The fire caused the tag-team-turmoil match to be cancelled, but who really cares? I mean, was anyone really bummed at the fact that the Naturals, James Gang, AMW and Bentley/Kazarian weren't on the show tonight? I certainly wasn't. Photos courtesy of TNAWrestling.com ------------------------------- Contact Mike Nicolau here.
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| © 2005-2007 All content contained here Copyright 2006 by James Guttman *** World Wrestling Insanity and ClubWWI are not affiliated with any wrestling promotion. |
