History
Kevin Nash had returned to TNA and had inserted himself into the X-Division. Unfortunately for enormous Nash fan Alex Shelley, Nash had chosen another wrestler as his favorite – the just-debuted Austin Starr,
On the November 23, 2006 Impact, Kevin Nash announced the upcoming Paparazzi Championship Series, and that he would be meeting with the X-Division the following week.
The next week, we saw Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, Senshi, and Austin Starr in the backstage area, wondering why Nash and Shelley had been behind a curtain for so long. Shelley finally emerged with an overflowing urine sample cup. “Doctor†Nash then came out and informed everyone of good news – they were all negative for steroids. Unfortunately, however, Shelley had Chlamydia. Nash then informed all the gathered wrestlers that the following week would be psychological testing as an onscreen graphic told us that the PCS would start at December’s Turning Point pay-per-view.
Sure enough, the next week we had the psych exams, and they didn’t turn out like Nash was expecting. As Nash administered inkblot tests, Senshi responded “Warrior,†to all of them, Starr said that each one looked like him holding a different title, and Shelley just looked at Nash after one blot and said it looked like Shelley’s heart… after Nash broke it. Finally Nash snapped at Senshi and called him on his different Warrior responses, asking him how he saw Jim Hellwig in every blot. He then accused Sonjay of being on steroids, which prompted Sonjay to storm out.
That brought us to Turning Point. We had the various competitors battling each other in an elimination-style match. Nash explained that this was only the first match in the series, then pointed out Sonjay’s bandaged shoulder which was, of course, due to steroid use. First Shelley was eliminated, then Jay Lethal. Austin put away Sonjay, then Shelley came back out and distracted Starr long enough for Senshi to get the win, leaving the standings as follows:
Senshi – 5
Starr – 4
Sonjay – 3
Lethal – 2
Shelley – 1
The next contest was a pushup contest. It appeared that Starr had an edge as he brought out some braces to push up from. Nash immediately overruled all objections by saying that they were Bob Backlund approved. Starr continued by performing his pushups with one arm, as Senshi did them on his knuckles. Nash continued his accusations of steroid abuse against Sonjay (who was protesting the event by saying he had a shoulder injury), even going so far as to tape a note to his back that read “I’m on Steroids.†Jay Lethal took the win. This meant that Senshi kept the lead with 8, Lethal was in second with 7, Starr was next with 6, Shelley moved ahead a bit with 5, and Dutt brought up the rear with 4.
Up next was a workout with fitness expert Ed Divorsky. Unfortunately, Ed Divorsky was TNA’s fat oily naked guy, and the workout was jumping on a pogo stick. When Senshi refused to participate, Nash just noted that he must be happy with his one point and moved on. Starr decided to show off by bounding single-handed. When jokes were raised about Shelley, referring to him as Mr. Chlamydia, Shelley responded by asking them to imagine how inspirational it would be if he won. Again, objections were raised when it was discovered that Sonjay had springs on the bottoms of his sneakers, but Nash congratulated “Gas-head from the Island of Anabolic†by noting that they were Bob Backlund approved. In the end, Sonjay took the win before bouncing away on the pogo stick after Nash invited the losers to kiss the winner. This placed Starr in the lead with 10 points, a three-way tie for Dutt, Senshi, and Lethal with 9, and Shelley bringing up the rear with 8.
The next week consisted of Bob Backlund approved limbo using a Lanny Poffo pole. Starr handed Nash his sunglasses, and Nash immediately went into Harry Carey mode. Sonjay was cheered on with a “Juice†chant, and Nash encouraged Lethal to do well for their people, which prompted Shelley to raise a black power salute. Protests again arose when Senshi jumped the pole, but Nash informed them that Leaping Limbo was allowed. Shelley and Lethal tied, so they went into a Backlund Bob-off, which meant that they had to hold hands and go under the pole. Shelley fell, giving Lethal the win. Nash invited the losers to kiss the winner again, and this event put Lethal into first place with 14 points. Starr was right behind him with 13, Shelley advanced to third with 12, Senshi fell to fourth with eleven, and Dutt’s 10 put him in fifth place.
The fourth event was musical chairs, with the music being provided by Nash singing Amazing Grace through a megaphone. Lethal protested, and Nash stopped singing to call Lethal a cracker. That also proved to be Lethal’s elimination as everyone else grabbed a seat behind him. The next round saw Senshi refusing to get up until Nash had annoyed him enough, which caused Nash to stop singing and everyone else to sit down. Shelley went out next. As the three who were eliminated started chanting “Adrenaline Rush,†Dutt and Starr competed in the final round of the game. Starr got the win thanks to Nash waiting to stop the music until Starr was directly in front of the chair. This put Starr in the lead with 18, Lethal and Shelley tied at 15, Dutt in fourth with 14, and Senshi in last with 13. Again, Nash invited the losers to kiss the winner, and Starr closed his eyes and puckered up.
The next event was a round of Texas Hold `Em. Sonjay protested again, by saying that he didn’t know how to play, but Shelley just asked if he’d been living under a rock or in India. Nash next did commentary on Shelley’s hand, which defeated the purpose since everyone else could hear him. Starr asked for a beer, but Nash claimed to be fresh out (which appeared to be true since there were empty bottles all over the floor around him). In the end, Sonjay finished last with 15 points. Senshi was next with 17, Lethal was third with 18, and Starr and Shelley tied for the win with 20. Nash said that they would settle this with a match at Final Resolution. The match would have a 10-minute time limit, and if they reached the limit it would go to a panel of judges. When asked who they were, Nash just responded to leave the judges to him and gave a wink.
At Final Resolution, Nash came out and introduced the judges. First was the masked Simoleon Joe. Second was the Oily Fat Naked Guy. Third, of course, was former WWF champion Bob Backlund.
The match was a fast-paced affair and finally Starr locked Shelley in a cobra clutch as time expired. Joe ruled that Starr had won, and the naked guy voted for Shelley. Backlund spoke for a few minutes, and proclaimed it a draw. Nash, thinking fast and wanting a clear winner, ordered a five minute overtime. Shelley immediately rolled Starr up for the pin and the win.
After the match, Dutt, Senshi, and Lethal came out to celebrate with Shelley. Starr grabbed a mic and berated all four of them, saying that only Senshi deserved his respect. When Senshi refused to leave with him, Starr slapped Senshi and the brawl was on. Starr cleared out and shoved the judges. Backlund picked himself up and immediately locked Starr in the Crossface Chicken Wing.
From there, Starr went on to feud with Bob Backlund and Kevin Nash continued to work with Dutt and Lethal on Paparazzi Idol, but that’s another story.
Most of the PCS skits are still available on YouTube.
This is an angle that accomplished exactly what it needed to. One of the booking team’s complaints about the X-Division had been that they lacked personality. Here we were able to have those personalities exposed. Senshi showed either disdain for the proceedings or embarrassment by being shot every week just shaking his head at the shenanigans going on around him. Shelley was turned into a goofy lackey for Nash, and the two worked well together. Starr was transformed into the arrogant Austin Starr, who was willing to try and cheat to win (and Nash would usually help him). Dutt was the one who always protested his innocence to the steroid allegations. It seemed like Lethal would be the one to protest the non-politically correct jokes Nash made, but TNA eventually decided to take him in a different direction.
The PCS skits are well remembered as being genuinely funny, and it seemed to legitimately be that the wrestlers were relaxing and letting their own personalities come through. Of course, the whole thing was building to Shelley vs. Starr, but the other wrestlers gained camera time as well – a commodity considering the one-hour duration of Impact.
Afterward, however, the other three PCSers didn’t fare as well. Dutt and Lethal soon lost any focus they’d gained, and Dr. Nash had to come back to help them out. Senshi soon found himself back in Triple X.
Kevin Nash remains with TNA today. He has since returned to the ring and is currently in a feud with Kurt Angle.
Alex Shelley also remains with TNA. After the PCS, he continued videotaping for a while. In May of 2007, Shelley teamed with Chris Sabin as the Motor City Machine Guns and they remain together today.
Austin Starr had a falling out with TNA in April of 2007 and was suspended for 90 days. In June, Starr was given his release from TNA. Starr immediately returned to the indies – primarily his old home in Ring of Honor and under his traditional Austin Aries name.
Senshi feuded with Starr after the PCS concluded and, in July of 2007, reunited with Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper as Triple X. At the beginning of December, the TNA roster was offered their releases by TNA president Dixie Carter, and Senshi accepted. He will likely soon return to the indies as Low-Ki.
After a Kevin Nash makeover, Jay Lethal transformed himself into the Randy Savage-ish Black Machismo. Black Machismo remains with TNA today and is the current X-Division champion.
Sonjay Dutt also found himself in line for a Nash makeover, but wasn’t comfortable with Nash’s choices for him (which consisted of dressing Dutt up in old Nash outfits). Dutt wound up reinventing himself as the Guru, a wrestler who always smiles and throws flower petals as he makes his way to the ring. Donations may be placed in the tambourine. Dutt also remains with TNA today.
