The SmarK DVD Rant for The History of TNA: Year One
– Normally I don’t do TNA DVDs, but TNA contacted me and asked me to do this one, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It does seem like it’s a little early to start reminiscing about the “early years” of the promotion, but that’s the DVD era for you.
Part One: The Story
– We start with audio from the final sound check before the start of the first PPV, which is a neat touch.
– Jeff Jarrett talks about doing overseas tours after the death of WCW and seeing a void in North America for a second-rate wrestling promotion. OK, I added the “second-rate” part.
– Bob Ryder takes credit for coming up with the weekly PPV idea and admits that it’s because no one on cable wanted wrestling at that point.
– From show #1: Toby Keith performs live for the rednecks. No relation, unless he’s Scottish. Jeff Jarrett attacks him to cut off the song, but returns later in the night to suplex Jarrett, totally exposing how anyone can do that move if a trained wrestler is cooperating.
– JJ talks about the original roster and overcoming objections from the PPV companies about a weekly show. Jarrett goes on to note that wrestling is episodic television, leading to the battle of good v. evil where good triumphs. Or in his case, evil wins after hitting good with the guitar and 15 people running in.
– From PPV #1: Ken Shamrock wins the NWA World title over The Wall, who proceeded to drop dead soon after.
– Bob talks about doing a dry run show promoted by Burt Prentice, and how AMW got their jobs because of it.
– From PPV #3: AJ Styles & Jerry Lynn win the first TNA tag titles, defeating the awesome duo of Lenny Lane & Allan Funk.
– A series of talking heads reminisce about the first show with not much interesting said. Don West does have an interesting note about how a big fat guy named Cheex broke the ring during the dark match and everyone freaked out before the Harris brothers managed to repair it. This explains why the first show opened with the legends ceremony instead of a match. Seriously, I recapped the whole thing in two sentences, but the documentary uses six different people and 15 minutes to relate it. Maybe I’m just spoiled by the incredible job that the WWE’s home video division does with these talking head pieces, I dunno.
– From PPV #4: Jeff Jarrett insults the Tennessee Titans and gets beat up. Again, more crap that just exposes the business.
– Bob and Jeff discuss how no one believed in them and thought they’d go broke, but they overcame their problems. Actually, they still have never made money, but got bailed out by Panda Energy, so it’s not really much to brag about. And again, too many people saying the same thing over and over.
– From PPV #8: Ron Killings wins the NWA World title from Ken Shamrock. Killings was an interesting case where they accidentally got someone over huge, but he couldn’t sustain his push in the ring at the level of his interviews. This of course would be a very interesting topic of discussion, but we get nothing except for the clip of the match.
– Over to Dixie Carter, who is quite the hottie. She talks about how the crowds were initially disappointing, but they could build on it. By doing free shows in Orlando? They get into some VERY dry financial stuff and how things were tough in the first year. And Jeff and Dixie talk and talk and TALK.
– From PPV #13: AMW wins the tag team titles for the first time, beating Brian Lee and a Harris brother.
– Moving onto the X division, which has been going for 5 years now and still has no real definition.
– From PPV #22: Jeff Jarrett beats Ron Killings to win the World title with the help of Mr. Wrestling III, aka Vince Russo.
– We go back to the origins of America’s Most Wanted. James Storm should cut his hair short again. Mike Tenay nominates their feud with the New Church as the defining moment of TNA’s first year. Storm diplomatically notes how stiff the Church worked. Chris Daniels (with a face tattoo — geez, think about the future, man) talks about how the XXX feud really set the tag team division on fire.
– From PPV #24: Roddy Piper brings the crazy to TNA.
– The talking heads discuss the evolution of the arena and how it used to be ugly before Dixie and her husband fixed it up. BG James notes that smaller venues mean more intimate crowds, and Dixie explains that moving from a professional arena into a dumpy fairground was actually a good move, despite what everyone on the planet was saying.
– From PPV #29: Jeff Jarrett defeats Chris Daniels to overcome the odds, and Raven debuts and lays him out.
– So we move onto the Raven-Jarrett feud, which finally gave them a good buyrate. Raven should probably just shave his head. He actually has a good analysis of why the feud worked so well, as he often does when it comes to that sort of booking discussion.
– From PPV #49: AJ Styles beats Jeff Jarrett to win the NWA World title, kicking off an ill-advised heel run with Vince Russo.
– Everyone wraps things up and talks about how great everything is now that they’ve got TV.
This was a REALLY boring documentary, which started out good and then turned into a series of talking heads putting the company over. I know it’s silly to bury your own product, but to pretend that everything was wonderful in the ring, when in fact the first year was some of the most disorganized and laughable crap ever put out by a wrestling company, is just silly. None of the legitimate criticisms of the company were addressed here, it was all just “Everyone said we couldn’t do it, but we did” over and over again like a mantra. There was no real history or context presented to anything here, most of it was presented with the assumption that everyone was watching the original shows and remembers all this stuff. A hugely disappointing effort that looks second-rate compared to the awesome WWE fluff pieces.
The Matches
NWA X title: Jerry Lynn v. AJ Styles v. Psychosis v. Low Ki. From June 26 2002, this is the match to determine the first champion. AJ was nothing of note at this point. This is a double-elimination match, so you have to be pinned twice to lose. AJ starts with Psy and they trade stuff until AJ gets a superkick for two. Blind charge hits elbow and Psy hits him with a leg lariat and goes up with a flying legdrop for two. Psy tries a rana, but AJ reverses into the Styles Clash for the pin. So Psy is down one fall. Next up it’s AJ and Low Ki, and Ki quickly hits him with a kick series into an enzuigiri, then throws chops in the corner. Handspring elbow is caught by Styles, but Ki escapes the Styles Clash and backdrops AJ into the post. He follows with a dragon sleeper, but AJ is too close to the ropes. They fight on the apron and Ki kicks AJ back into the ring and goes up, but misses a moonsault. AJ follows with a lariat that Ki sells awesomely, and AJ follows with a suplex into a facebuster for the pin. One defeat for Low Ki now. Next in, Jerry Lynn, who hits AJ with the cradle piledriver and gets the pin. Psychosis comes in with a missile dropkick to Lynn, but Jerry comes back with a flying headscissors and stomps him in the corner. Lynn with a bulldog off the second rope for two. They fight over a powerbomb and both hit the floor, and Psy follows with a somersault plancha. Back in, a leg lariat off the top gets two for Psy. Lynn comes back with an inverted DDT for two, but misses a dropkick. Psy heads up, but Lynn dropkicks him out of the air and finishes him with the cradle piledriver at 7:38 to eliminate him.
Low Ki is back in and throws his stiff kick for two, then drops the power elbow for two. He charges and Lynn boots him in the corner, but Ki keeps coming with a rana off the top, which Lynn reverses to a sunset flip for two. Ki kicks him down again, but Lynn comes back with an enzuigiri. They slug it out and Lynn clotheslines him down, then guillotines him in the ropes. Cradle Piledriver is blocked with a triangle choke from Low Ki, but Lynn counters that with a powerbomb for two. Now that’s a nice sequence. That would have been before the famous UFC finish, too, wouldn’t it? They fight for a suplex and Ki wants the Ki Krusher, but Lynn reverses to a weak DDT and follows with a short arm clothesline. Cradle piledriver finishes Ki at 11:59, leaving Lynn and Styles. And AJ needs two falls.
AJ quickly hits a discus clothesline for two. Lynn reverses a powerbomb into a rana, but AJ recovers with a leg lariat for two. Lynn with the backbreaker for two. Sunset flip is blocked by AJ’s foot, and he springboards in with a splash for two. AJ springs off Lynn in the corner, but Lynn comes back with a tornado DDT for two. I should stop and note how utterly useless Ed Ferrera is on commentary. They fight for a suplex and AJ turns it into a neckbreaker for two. Lynn reverses a rana into a running powerbomb for two. Lynn goes for the piledriver, but AJ reverses into the Styles Clash for the pin, evening up the falls. They slug it out and Lynn gets a sunset flip out of the corner for two, and they go into a pinfall reversal sequence, trading near-falls like crazy. And of course that leads to the double KO. They slug it out on the apron and Lynn necksnaps AJ to the floor, where they brawl and Styles gets sent into the railing. AJ comes back with the moonsault into inverted DDT, off the apron, that he spent the better part of two years trying to perfect, and they head back in where AJ gets two. Another moonsault into DDT is reversed by Lynn into a suplex on the top rope, and from there it’s a DDT from the top for two. Really good sequence there. Lynn hooks him in a Gory Special, but AJ comes back with a rana, which Lynn turns into a facefirst powerbomb for two. Damn, that’s another good sequence. Lynn with another powerbomb, but Styles reverses that into a fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. They fight over a suplex and Lynn turns it into a brainbuster for two. Lynn with a sleeper, but AJ escapes with the jawbreaker and goes up. Lynn brings him down with a superplex for two, however. Lynn brings him to the top again, but Styles wins that battle and hits the Spiral Tap for the pin and the title at 25:52. The first ten minutes were spot-tastic and rushed, but once it got down to one-on-one with Styles and Lynn it was amazing, Match of the Year level stuff with super workrate and everything hitting spot on. Absolutely fabulous. ****1/2 And what I really liked about the format was that it gave them ample opportunity to establish the Styles Clash and cradle piledriver as unbeatable finishers, and AJ ended up with two killer finishes at the end.
NWA X title, ladder match: Low Ki v. AJ Styles v. Jerry Lynn. From August 28 2002, although a sign in the front row informs us that “It’s Still August 21.” Thanks. Ki and Lynn slug it out to start while AJ gets a ladder, but Low Ki kicks it out of AJ’s hands on the floor. Ki pounds on him in the ring and hits a flying clothesline, but AJ slugs back. Ki kicks him down with a springboard kick, but Lynn comes back into the match and takes Ki down with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He goes into a bow-and-arrow, and AJ assists with a bulldog on Low Ki out of that. Lynn suplexes AJ into a boston crab, but Low Ki takes the open target on Lynn’s chest and kicks it until he releases the move. He gets rid of Styles with a koppo kick in the corner, and then puts Styles into Ki Krusher position and runs him into the groggy Lynn in the corner. And with that pesky wrestling out of the way, it’s ladder time. Ki gets the first one, but Lynn baseball slides it back in his face, and they fight on the ramp. Styles hits Ki with the Pele Kick, then tosses Lynn into the apron. Ki and AJ slug it out on top of a ladder in the corner, but Lynn rams both of their heads into the ladder. The ladder gets taken into the ring, and Lynn baseball slides it into AJ to get rid of him, then makes the first trip up. Low Ki brings him down, but can’t climb because AJ FUCKS HIM UP with a series of knees. And then Lynn clobbers AJ from behind. They do a three-way slugfest and then AJ teams up with Lynn to biel Low Ki into the ladder for a sick bump. Lynn tries to whip AJ into the ladder, but Styles runs up it and over Lynn to escape. Lynn recovers with a northern lights suplex into the ladder, but Low Ki kicks him in the face and tries a handspring elbow. Lynn catches him with a powerbomb, but Ki reverses it in mid-move to a rana and sends Lynn into the ladder. And people wonder why these guys are addicted to painkillers? AJ is last mand standing, so he climbs the ladder, but Ki kicks him into the Tree of Woe and then gives him some nice kicks to his exposed torso. Ki goes up the ladder, but now Lynn stops him with a backdrop suplex. AJ climbs in the aftermath, but now Ki follows and brings him down. And Lynn climbs again, but the other two push him over and he goes into the turnbuckles. Low Ki grabs the third ladder and stops AJ with a kick, but AJ recovers with the moonsault DDT. Ki goes after Lynn instead, but Lynn powerbombs him while AJ brings another ladder into the ring. So all three ladders are lined up in the ring and everyone climbs up to fight, which results in Low Ki putting AJ in a dragon sleeper while laying on top of the ladders. Lynn pushes the ladders over, but Low Ki balances himself on the ropes to hang on, so Lynn piledrives him off the top of the ladder. Referee Andrew Thomas said in the documentary that “he thought Low Ki was dead,” but it was clearly a protected piledriver and he was obviously fine. Lynn grabs the belt at 20:02 to become X champion for the first time. The bumps were good, but it was pretty formula stuff as far as the token wrestling sequence leading into the crazy ladder stuff. ****
NWA World tag titles: Slash & Brian Lee v. America’s Most Wanted. From January 8 2003. AMW cleans house to start and they all brawl on the floor, with Lee suplexing Harris onto the railing while Slash sends Storm into the table and then suplexing him onto the concrete. Into the ring, Slash hits Storm with a helicopter slam for two. Lee chokes him down, as does Slash, and he follows with a DDT for two. Lee and Slash get a double elbow for two, and Slash hits the chinlock. Storm fights up, but Lee puts him on the floor and hits him with the title belt, which gets two for Slash. Lee goes back to the chinlock, but Storm comes back with a double DDT to set up the hot tag. Harris hits clotheslines on everyone, but Slash gets a neckbreaker to stop him. Storm comes in and superkicks Slash, giving Harris two. Slash grabs some powder, but hits Lee with it, and Harris spears Lee for two. Storm gets a Sharpshooter on Slash as all pretence of legal men is dropped, but Jim Mitchell hits Storm with a spike to break up the move. Slash whips Storm with his belt and Lee gets two on Harris after hitting him with his own belt. Lee with a tombstone piledriver on Harris for two, but another one is reversed by Harris in sloppy fashion for two. Storm gets a sunset flip on Slash, but he recovers and catapults Storm into a chair for two. Storm recovers and the Death Sentence on the chair regains the tag titles at 14:15. Pretty standard sloppy brawl and tag match for most of the way through. *** The near-falls were nice, but after a while it was getting silly that they’d be doing finishes on each other and still kicking out. I don’t really see why this warranted inclusion, actually.
NWA World title: Jeff Jarrett v. Raven. This is the famous showdown from April 30 2003, which they spent weeks building up. Kind of funny seeing a boobless Mickie James seconding Raven at that point. They grew, as if by magic! This was their big chance to make a huge star out of Raven and as usual they blew it. Jarrett had been champion since November at this point, and the crowd was totally burned out on him and desperate for something new on top. Raven gets a shoulder tackle for one to start and reverses a headlock into a hiptoss. Jarrett slugs back and Raven bails, so Jarrett follows him out for the brawl on the floor. Back in, Julio gets involved and hits Raven with a chair by accident, giving Jarrett two. Jarrett hits the Flock with a pescado, but Raven follows with his own on Jarrett, and they brawl on the floor again. He takes Jarrett into the stairs after cutting himself, and that gives Jarrett his chance to blade as well. Don’t be TOO obvious about it there, guys. Jarrett gets put on a table, but rolls into the ring to escape as Raven hits him with a double sledge for two. Raven with the rebound clothesline and a kneelift, setting up the DROP TOEHOLD OF DEATH for two. He goes to the rear chinlock and then grabs a sleeper. Jarrett escapes with a jawbreaker, and both guys are out, doing the silly 30 minute sell at 7:00. Jarrett slugs Raven down and comes back with dropkicks to the Flock, then blocks the Evenflow DDT with an enzuigiri for two. Catapult into the corner gets two. Raven with the superkick for two. Jarrett gets the Stroke for two. Both guys collide and hit the floor, and Jarrett puts Raven on the table this time. Julio breaks it up, but Jarrett recovers and elbows Raven through the table on the floor. Back in, JJ with the DDT for two, but the ref gets pulled out. They hit each other with low blows as we get every cheap booking trick, and now the New Church brawls with the Harris Brothers at ringside for no good reason. The ECW guys run in and Saturn gives Jarrett a death valley driver and handcuffs Jarrett as this gets really silly. They give him a sloppy Conchairto as the odds are STACKED against Jarrett and he’ll never overcome them now. And then, of course, the lights go out and here’s Sabu to hit Raven and chase off the ECW crew. But Jarrett is still handcuffed and defenceless. Can he overcome the unovercomeable? Raven accidentally hits himself with the chair and Jarrett gets two off that. The ref uncuffs Jarrett, so Raven helps him out and offers a free shot before adding the Evenflow DDT for two. Jarrett comes back with the Stroke to finish at 17:31. Fans are so happy they pelt the ring with garbage to celebrate! The story would have worked WAY better if Raven wasn’t so over as a babyface despite playing the arrogant heel and Jarrett wasn’t getting booed despite being the top face. The match was no great shakes, but the crazy overbooking straight out of ECW was pretty fun, so we’ll split the difference and call it ***. I can see how lots of people would really dig the match, because it was entertaining, but it wasn’t over the top enough to be a cult classic like something like Raven/Richards v. Pitbulls turned into.
Bonus Features
– Special Appearances is a montage of the various former stars and one-shot guests. Not sure how guys like CM Punk and D-Lo Brown, who were regulars in the promotion for most of the early years, can be considered “special appearances”.
– Next up, the original commercial for NWA TNA that ran in local markets.
– Footage of Chris Harris v. James Storm in their tryout match, edited down to about a minute.
– TNA stars talk about Curt Hennig.
The Pulse:
The main program could have been a lot more than it was, but the bonus matches featured a must-see four-way X title match and the now-legendary Raven-Jarrett match that you should probably go out of your way to check out if you’ve never seen it before. The other two matches were definitely “been there, done that” for me. Had they taken a more “bad with the good” approach to the feature or actually followed up with some stories or history of the clips shown, it could have been a fun look back at how not to build the first year of a wrestling promotion, but in the form that it is I can’t recommend it.
Mild recommendation to avoid.
