NWA: Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (11/1/06)

The legendary Dean Malenko and B.G. James welcomed everyone to the show from the announce position, revealing the six-sided ring for the first time to the American public.

Jeff Jarrett kicked off the show, guaranteeing victory in the 25-man gauntlet for the gold tonight, but he is quickly interrupted by such stars as Christian Cage, Raven, Rhino, Monty Brown, and Scott Steiner. It doesn't take long before all of these combustable elements do, indeed, combust and a brawl ensues. Security rushes to the ring to break it up. NWA Championship Committee member Ted Dibiase makes his way to the ring. He warns all of the men to go to the back before they are forced to forfeit their spot in the battle royal, because there are wrestlers here from all around who want a spot in that gauntlet.

At this point in time, a commercial aired for next week's NWA: Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling pay-per-view, when the X-Division Championship will be on the line in a tournament. Remember, in the X-Division, "it's not about weight limits... it's about NO limits."

SENSHI vs. SHARK BOY
This was a special attraction match to get the fans warmed up for the big gauntlet for the gold and also a preview of two of the men who will be featured in next week's X-Division championship tournament. Fans new to the cult hero, Shark Boy, may have scoffed at his cartoonish appearance with their first glance, but he proved to be able to hold his own against the warrior, Senshi. In fact, Shark Boy looked to be about to win the match in the final moments, grabbing Senshi in the corner and setting him up for his signature Dead Sea Drop. Instead, though, Senshi reversed it mid-move into a tombstone piledriver. Senshi then climbed to the top turnbuckle and hit Shark Boy with the Warrior's Way - a double stomp to the chest! The warrior rolled over on his fallen opponent and pinned him for the three count victory.
(Match time: 7 minutes, 28 seconds)

A short video is shown of Keiji Sakoda, highlighting some of his greatest moments in NWA: Japan. It closes with a black screen that says "Sakoda is coming... to NWA:TNA."

25-MAN GAUNTLET FOR THE GOLD
Jeff Hardy was already on his way to the ring when we returned from the video pacakge for the gauntlet, but before he could even enter the ring completely, we had to cut backstage for a very shocking development. Backstage, the hardcore icon Sabu was being laid out by some bearded, balding, homeless-looking guy wearing cut-off jeans and a shirt reading "ROH" (whatever THAT means). Another NWA Championship Committee member, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, came around the corner just in time to see the man run off. Piper stooped down to check on Sabu, but he only pushed Piper away, pulling himself to his feet. The bloody and beaten Sabu then made a b-line towards the ring!

Back in the ring, the gauntlet was underway, with Jeff Hardy being joined by second entrant "The Future" Frankie Kazarian and third entrant Ron "The Truth" Killings. As the three men battled it out inside the ring, Sabu was trying to battle his way into the ring, as the Championship Committee (Dibiase, Piper, and Paul Heyman) and security held him back, saying he was in no condition to be in this match. Eventually, they did get him to return to the back.

Chris Sabin was the apparent fifth entrant to this match (fourth would be Sabu). Upon his arrival, we saw the first man eliminated from the match as Ron Killings tossed Kazarian over the top rope. A few more entrants arrived without an elimination - Konnan (6), Justin Credible (7), and Chris Harris (8). Harris snuck up behind Credible on his way into the ring and tossed him out of the ring, making his tenure in the match short-lived - but not quite as long as Harris's. Immediately after throwing Credible from the ring, Ron Killings tossed Harris out as well.

Entrant #9 was none other than Austin Starr. He and Sabin worked over Konnan while Ron Killings and Jeff Hardy battled it out. "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown entered in the ten spot, sprinting to the ring. As Austin Starr irish whipped Konnan into the ring, Monty Brown jumped into the air and hit him with the Pounce! Konnan flew halfway across the ring from the impact. Chris Sabin then grabbed onto Monty Brown, hitting him with a tornado ddt. Austin Starr picked Konnan up and attempted to throw him out again, while Entrant #11 made his way to the ring - Hernandez! Hernandez jumped into the ring and grabbed Austin Starr. He set him up for the Border Toss powerbomb, but Starr gave Herandez a hurricanrana out of the ring. Starr pulled himself to his feet, but Konnan was up as well, and he leveled him with a clothesline, knocked him off the apron to the outside.

We reached the halfway point of the match as entrant #12, "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, made his way down to the six sided ring. Chris Sabin immediately attacked "the genetic freak," but it was all for nothing because Steiner lifted Sabin up into a gorilla press slam and sent him clear out of the ring. Jeff Hardy had set up Ron Killings for the Swanton Bomb, but Scott Steiner noticed this and he charged across the ring, knocking Jeff off of the top turnbuckle. He slipped off, hitting his head on the post on his way down before hitting the floor below. At this point, we again had another pause in the eliminations as four more men entered without one, and they were: Christian Cage (13), "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels, (14), *surprise entrant* Lance Storm (15), and Abyss (16). Abyss broke the entry-without-elimination streak by setting up Ron Killings for the Shock Treatment, but then running towards the ropes and throwing him out of the ring. Lance Storm followed that shortly thereafter, eliminating Konnan with a superkick.

As James Storm (17) made his way to the ring, another elimination occured. Christian Cage had set up "Fallen Angel" for the Unprettier as Monty Brown ran towards him. Cage hit the move on Daniels, cause the Alpha Male to miss with his clothesline attempt. As Brown got near the ropes, Abyss low-bridged him and sent him to the floor. Lance Storm then asked for the aid of his fellow countrymen, Christian Cage, as they double-suplexed Scott Steiner out of the ring. Raven made his way to the ring as the #18 entrant and went after Lance Storm. Meanwhile, Abyss and Christian Cage tried to throw out Storm and Daniels, respectively. Entrant #19, who charged the ring at full speed and took Abyss to the mat with a Gore! He then grabbed James Storm and threw him out himself. Rhino then jumped up on the turnbuckles and taunted the crowd. As he turned around, he was met with an Evenflow DDT from Raven for his troubles. At the same time, Lance Storm, Christian Cage, and Fallen Angel all threw Abyss out of the ring together. Christian Cage then took the oppurtunity to toss Daniels over the top rope as well. As he enjoyed his work, Lance Storm grabbed Cage and tried to send him over, but Cage caught himself on the apron. Lance Storm then hit him with a dropkick, knocking him down to the floor.

Entrant #20 was another surprise entrant, and this one was a little bigger than the last one - HULK HOGAN! Hogan entered the ring and Raven grabs him. He sent the Hulkster across the ring, but he bounces back and hits Raven with the big boot! He then bounces off the rope and planted Raven with the Immortal Leg Drop! Hogan then pullws up Raven and tossed him out of the ring. As Hogan started to taunt the crowd, Rhino dove across the ring and hit Hogan with a massive Gore! Rhino then lifted up the legend and actually eliminated him from the match! The crowd was shocked by what they saw. As AJ Styles made his way to the ring as the 21st entrant, he tried to help Hogan up, but Hogan pushed him away. He then stormed off up the ramp. Styles glared at him as he entered the ring.

Homicide entered the ring as #22, becoming one of the last men to enter this match. Again, we saw no eliminations during this time period so we move on to entrant #23, Jimmy Jacobs! Jacobs quickly becomes a punching bag - being hit with the Cop Killa, Styles Clash, Rhino Driver, and then being finished off with a superkick out of the ring. Homicide was the next to go, as Styles and Storm teamed up to clothesline him from the ring. This brought out entrant #24, Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett brought his guitar down to the ring. With Rhino distracted trying to eliminate Storm, Jeff Jarrett ran up behind Rhino and smashed him with the guitar. He then tossed him over by himself, eliminating possibly the most dominant man in this entire battle royal. Styles didn't take kindly to that, and he hit Jarrett with a pélé kick, knocking him clear out of the ring. And with that, we were down to the last three men: and the final competitor hadn't even arrived yet.

#25 was another huge surprise entrant - the Olympic champion, Kurt Angle! The crowd leaped to their feet in shock and gave an ovation like I have never heard before. Angle, Styles, and Storm battled it out for nearly 5 minutes without a single man nearly leaving the ring, until finally Angle tried to set up Styles for the ankle lock, but he blocked it. This only set up Styles for an even worse situation, as Angle lifted Styles into the air and dumped him over the top rope, bringing it down to our final two competitors: Kurt Angle and Lance Storm. At this point in time, the rules change and the winner is decided by pinfall or submission.

Angle and Storm battled again, this time for over ten minutes on top of the near-hour the match had gone through all ready. After a long series of reversals and counters, the match finally came to a close. Angle set up Storm for the Angle Slam, but Storm rolled of his shoulders. He then smacked Angle right in the chin with a superkick. But Storm couldn't end it with the superkick, so he grabbed Angle and locked him in the Canadian Maple Leaf! Angle tried to escape, but it was of no use: he was forced to tap out, allowing Lance Storm to claim victory in this amazing match-up!
(Match time: 1 hour, 13 minutes, 12 seconds)

At this time, the championship committee came to the ring and awarded Storm with his NWA World's Heavyweight Championship belt. Kurt Angle stopped them in mid-ceremony, looking like he was about to fight Storm. Instead, he shook his hand. Angle then left to the back, allowing Storm the full stage to celebrate with his championship. And he did just that, until the cameras faded out on the inaugural pay-per-view of NWA: Total Non-Stop Action.