Bob Bob Bobelow
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
Posts: 2,203
|
Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Jan 28, 2011 13:19:57 GMT -5
However, in May 2002 I talked to Vince McMahon about coming back to the WWE. There weren’t any other options out there and I felt that I had left on good terms. It seemed like everything was fine with Vince when I eventually came back but the booking team, which included Paul Heyman, weren’t open to any of my ideas and my frustration boiled over when I went from the lead writer down to a “consultant”. I thought about sticking around and try to gain respect from my piers but I felt that I didn’t have anything to prove to them. If it weren’t for my writing, WWE may not be around today. Seems like people don’t recognize that but again, only the negatives of my career. Before I could sign any contract to begin with, I got a call from a longtime friend of mine.
On May 26th, 2002 after a lovely dinner at the Olive Garden with my family there was a message on the answering machine. My wife listened to it first and quickly thought I should hear the message for myself. I quickly recognized the voice as being Jeff Jarrett’s, a long time friend of my mine dating back to our WWF days and later on WCW. Jeff was calling me regarding a new upstart company that would be funded by himself and his father Jerry Jarrett. Jeff wanted to visit with me as he was working a NWA Cyberspace show in the New York area. After I returned his phone call, we set up a meeting for Friday May 31st in the afternoon.
I invited Jeff over to my house to talk about this “upstart company”. After catching up about what we have been doing since the death of WCW, Jarrett turned his attention to his idea of a promotion. Jarrett thought of a company where they would center around good wrestling, and focus on the Cruiserweights while having a few past WCW wrestlers who could still work and be a draw for the company. That seemed reasonable to me. He wanted me to come aboard as the head writer for the company and offered me a three year deal for $100,000 per year. Before even thinking about it, I asked what kind of format the show would be. Was there a television deal? I needed to know what was going on. Jeff drops a bombshell that the company would start off on pay per view airing live every Wednesday night at 8pm for $9.95. I immediately thought that was a terrible idea. But, after thinking about it, it didn’t seem like a horrible idea. I mean, for a month worth of pay per views for the company, a fan would spend roughly $40 for four shows while they would spend $40 for one WWE show. As long as it was a short term plan, it could work out.
Jeff turned his attention to naming the promotion. Jeff mentioned that he was working with the National Wrestling Alliance but wanted a secondary name to the promotion and not just "NWA". Jeff didn’t want a old school sounding name and wanted it to stick out. Considering it was on pay per view, I came up with the name TNA. Obviously a lot of people think of that as “tits and ass” but for us it would stand for Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling. At first Jeff didn’t like the name, but the more we talked about it the more he saw the name working. After a couple hours of talking about TNA, Jeff asked if I would come aboard. I was hesitant about joining, but one thing kept on popping up in my head. Did I want to be remembered as the guy who killed WCW? That would be the last thing I would be remembered as. When I go out, I want to go out on top and not treated as some kind of joke. I signed the contract and became the head writer for TNA Wrestling.
Jeff revealed to me that the first show would be on June 19th, 2002 from Huntsville, Alabama. That left me roughly three weeks to plan. That wasn’t a big issue for me, at all. I am used to thinking of ideas on much less time. After Jeff left my house, I sat down with the list of talent Jeff was thinking of using and I began to plan out my vision for TNA Wrestling…
|
|
Bob Bob Bobelow
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
Posts: 2,203
|
Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Jan 28, 2011 13:20:12 GMT -5
RESERVED
|
|
|
|
Post by legendkiller8 on Jan 28, 2011 13:21:55 GMT -5
Wow this looks great. Hope it lasts awhile, but since Russo isn't a superstar, I wonder who this'll go.
|
|
|
|
Post by duan on Jan 28, 2011 13:40:17 GMT -5
YES! OH MY LORD YES!
|
|
|
|
Post by Jimmy on Jan 28, 2011 18:05:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by SodaGuy on Jan 28, 2011 18:08:03 GMT -5
Yes, all kinds of Yes!
|
|
Bob Bob Bobelow
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
Posts: 2,203
|
Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Jan 29, 2011 16:48:42 GMT -5
Date: June 5th, 2002
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Jeff called me a few days ago to have me come down to Huntsville to meet with other NWA-TNA officials. I’m not the only writer for NWA-TNA as I wouldn’t be able to handle all that. I was able to recruit my good friend Ed Ferrera to join me on the writing staff, which Jeff was fully behind. Ed and I make a great team when we have support from the company we are working for. Jeff wanted to meet with Ed and I to see what we were thinking regarding angles and all that. He also had a few talents that are virtually unknowns that he wants to be added to the company.
Jeff gave us a list of about eleven guys he wanted to see added to the roster. From what I can remember the wrestlers mentioned were, Sonny Siaki, Cassidy O’Reilly, Chris Nowiniski, Chris Sabin, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Donovan Morgan, Michael Shane, Monty Brown and a tag team known as the Backseat Boys, Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere. I hadn’t been familiar with any of those names but Ed had remembered Sonny Siaki from the dying days of WCW where Siaki worked meaningless matches on Worldwide and had apparently impressed Ed. Out of the ten, I had only seen Nowinski’s work from Tough Enough. For whatever reason, WWE hadn’t signed him to a contract. I think Nowinski, if signed by TNA, could be a very good upper card heel for us.
It was made clear that the championships would all start off vacant. World Championship, X-Division Championship, which is pretty much a Lightweight division and the Tag Team Championships are all vacant. Apparently, the last NWA World Champion Dan Severn refused to be on the show and thus has been stripped of the championship. Ed and I decided that instead of doing a tournament we could just do a battle royal of sorts for that championship considering the World Championship is the most important one. We can worry about the X-Division and Tag Team Championships at a later time.
Jeff returned to the roster situation and wanted to know our opinions on picking up some guys who had been released by the WWE a few months back. Jeff rambled off a few names that included; Matt Morgan, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin and Spike Dudley. I quickly spoke up and said that Morgan is a great young talent and couldn’t believe that he was released by Vince McMahon and company. I suggested we snatch him up quickly. I see Morgan being a big star in this business.
Ed and I planned out what we had written for the first show taking place on June 19th. Jeff didn’t seem to have any issue with what we presented to him. Considering we are starting off on pay per view the show featured seven matches with only interview segments. We would be able to put on several interview segments if we were on television, but fans typically don’t pay to watch people talk. So, we have to work around that.
I left the meeting thinking pretty happy knowing that Jeff was letting Ed and I work creatively and without much restrictions. The only thing I was nervous or anxious about was the reception I would get from the guys in the locker room. I can’t expect everyone to like me, even if they present themselves as if they do. In the wrestling business you can’t trust anyone.
To be continued…
|
|
|
|
Post by SodaGuy on Jan 29, 2011 17:18:45 GMT -5
Great first entry, I'm looking forward to getting to the actual parts that follow a show... those should be interesting.
Also, I'm not sure if you got the dates mixed up or changed it, the first show was on June 19th.
|
|
Bob Bob Bobelow
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
Posts: 2,203
|
Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Jan 29, 2011 17:24:07 GMT -5
Great first entry, I'm looking forward to getting to the actual parts that follow a show... those should be interesting. Also, I'm not sure if you got the dates mixed up or changed it, the first show was on June 19th. I knew that, just a typo! |
|
|
|
Post by SodaGuy on Jan 29, 2011 17:59:59 GMT -5
Great first entry, I'm looking forward to getting to the actual parts that follow a show... those should be interesting. Also, I'm not sure if you got the dates mixed up or changed it, the first show was on June 19th. I knew that, just a typo! Okay, just thought I would let you know.  |
|
|
|
Post by Jord on Jan 29, 2011 21:32:40 GMT -5
I'm absolutely loving this already, Bob. I love reading NWA:TNA diaries from the inception and I like how you're not jumping into the first show right away, but are instead having writing meetings, etc. I also find it really interesting how AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels weren't on the talent shortlist proposed - let alone mentioned. I think having Dan Severn appear for a few shows would have been nice and would have been different because as far as I remember, no diary from TNA's inception has used Severn. I would actually really like to see Matt Morgan there, even although he was extremely green I was/am still a fan of the guy.
I'm really looking forward to the next update.
|
|
|
|
Post by machoking on Jan 29, 2011 22:10:18 GMT -5
This is really well written. I like that you're seemingly putting your own spin on things whilst keeping it realistic. I hope to see more of this soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jan 30, 2011 10:44:18 GMT -5
I love the idea of a writer POV. Kudos for that. I am not that thrilled to see Ed Ferrera also joining Russo in TNA. I am intrigued by the roster as you are going to have a lot of solid talent. Chris Nowiniski! <3 I like bringing Morgan in so early in the game, and he really can be a huge star. I am surprised that some other names aren’t on the talent list though, such as Styles, Daniels, Killings, Harris and Storm, amongst others.
|
|
|
|
Post by DTP. on Jan 31, 2011 9:38:43 GMT -5
Don't forget about TAKA Michinoku once or twice.
|
|
Bob Bob Bobelow
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
Posts: 2,203
|
Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Jan 31, 2011 12:37:36 GMT -5
Date: June 18th, 2002
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Tomorrow night is a huge night for the wrestling business. Tomorrow night NWA-TNA puts on our first broadcast live on pay per view. The idea to start a company with its shows being aired only on pay per view has been met with mixed reviews by the dirt sheets, which is to be expected. The fact of the matter is, on pay per view we are allowed more freedom. I don’t expect we will be only on pay per view for longer than six months, but you never know. We might never get a television deal. If we don’t get a television deal within the first year then perhaps TNA was destined to fail. I don’t know.
Jeff Jarrett booked everyone into a local Holiday Inn near the arena to make meetings and whatnot easier. I haven’t left my room all day as I have been told that no one know that I am part of the company. It’s not a bright idea to keep secrets from the talent, but Jeff likes to work the wrestlers or in this case his employees. I made it clear to Jarrett that I wanted to be introduced to the talent before the show so that I could talk to anyone to clear the air and start anew. I want TNA to be successful and don’t want there to be any unnecessary drama. Not that drama is necessary but I don’t want there to be any reason for it.
At roughly 7:00pm Jeff had everyone meet up in the lobby. I wasn’t part of the meeting as Jeff wanted to bring me in as a surprise. Again, I wasn’t in favor of that but Jeff really wanted to do it. I was standing behind a door as I heard Jeff talk about wanting to produce a profitable company and how his mind was not focused on competing with the WWE but rather to make the boys money and give them exposure. I must say, that is a great mindset to have. It will take a long time to even come close to being regarded the number one company in the wrestling industry. To be honest, their isn’t even a number two company. It’s the WWE and then a whole bunch of other guys trying to fill that number two void.
Jeff finished off his speech after roughly forty five minutes. I thought Jeff did a fantastic job with his speech. Everyone seemed upbeat and confident heading into the first show tomorrow. Jeff soon turned his attention to announcing who the writers would be. Normally this isn’t brought up as a big deal, but Jeff thought it was. Jeff put me over as the most controversial writer in the history of professional but also the most successful. I noticed a lot of the wrestlers were beginning to whisper to each other about who it could be. Jeff eventually introduced me to come out and there were quite a few groans as I made my out to the podium to speak to the talent.
“A lot of you are sitting here rolling your eyes and wondering why the hell I am here. A lot of you are still angry with how things went in WCW. I realize that I have made mistakes in my career but considering that WCW was destined to fail well before I got there, you can’t judge me based solely off of that. I am here to help TNA and help all of you become the best performers you possibly can be. Jeff and Jerry brought me in because they trust my judgment and they fully support me. Just as they support me, I support them and all of you. I know that if we all work together and do what is right for business, we can become the top company in pro wrestling. Don’t expect to happen overnight or even over the course of several years. The WWE will be a tough company to overcome. But, I know we can do it if we remain a team. That being said I want to start off a good foot. I’m sure there are a few of you that do not like me for whatever reason. I encourage you all to have a sit down talk with me and we can hash out any differences we have so that we don’t hurt this young company’s progress with unnecessary drama. I look forward to working with each and every one of you. “
I decided to have the sit down meetings in my hotel room that way there is all the privacy we need. I wasn’t surprised to see a few wrestlers standing outside my door as I made my way to my room. The first guy in line, who was already drunk and staggering, was Scott Hall. This was going to be interesting. Hall entered my room but suddenly didn’t appear to be drunk at all. Hall joked that he is doing that only to appear weak to the young marks involved in the company who will then try to take advantage of him. It makes sense to Hall, so it must not make any real sense. When we finally began to talk, Hall made it clear that he was angry with me for not bringing him back to WCW in the summer of 2000. I had known this because throughout that whole time his long time friend Kevin Nash had blown up at me countless times trying to get Hall back into the company. I told Hall that I couldn’t bring him back because of his alcohol issues. I was blunt with Hall telling him that at the time he couldn’t be trusted. I even pointed out to Hall that right now he is giving off the impression to all the boys that he couldn’t be trusted if he is constantly drunk, and this time he isn’t even drunk! Hall looked as if he just realized what he had been doing. Hall left the room, acting completely sober and the guys standing outside my door were rather surprised to see Hall acting normal. I was glad to have Hall on my team and know that we could work together without any issue. Considering Hall is a veteran on the roster he is going to be a main event guy for TNA by default. I just hope he can keep up with his sober ways and not fall back onto booze.
The rest of the night saw me have meetings with Ken Shamrock, Disco Inferno, Konnan and Brian Christopher. Shamrock’s issue with me was the fact that I do over the top angles that are controversial. Shamrock didn’t know if he wanted to be involved with a company that would do angles that are in bad taste. I tried to assure Shamrock that this isn’t the Attitude Era and that I wouldn’t be doing anything way over the top. I apologized to Shamrock for a angle that I suggested back in 1999 where he would be involved with his “sister” romantically. I had never apologized for that but I knew it had bothered Ken for quite some time. I hope he will stay with the company.
Inferno wasn’t happy with me because I made him out to be a complete joke in WCW. I told him, in a honest way, that he isn’t a serious character. For Christ’s Sake his name is Disco Inferno and dances around the ring. I pointed it out to Disco that it was his idea to bring a duck to the ring during the dying days in WCW. I had nothing to apologize for to Disco and felt that was a meeting that didn’t accomplish anything.
Konnan believed I was a racist. I’m not sure how such a rumor or opinion such as that would come about but he said it. I’m thinking it could be more of a way to have me push him because of the color of his skin. I’m not going to get involved in politics. Konnan also told me that he will forever think that I only care about myself and will do what is best for me. To a certain extent he is right. He is referring to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign that I had, and while I thought it made sense back then I can understand the backlash from it. I know that Konnan doesn’t like me and most likely never will. I’m fine with that, though. I don’t expect everyone to like me. That is just wishful thinking.
I fully expected Brian Christopher to come into my room and punch me in the face. That didn’t happen thankfully. Brian told me he was upset over the decision to mock Jim Ross on WCW television. It was obviously decision in poor taste that Ed had pitched and we went with it. We were trying to find comedy in a situation that had nothing funny attached to it. I know that Brian is close to Jim Ross considering his father, Jerry Lawler, is good friends with Ross. I hoped that Brian would be able to get pass period of time and be able to work with myself and Ed. Brian left after saying that he just needed to get that off his chest and felt good about working with Ed and myself.
At roughly 1am I was called into Jeff Jarrett’s hotel room where Ed was sitting with several young talents. Jeff introduced the wrestlers who were AJ Styles, Ron Killings Christopher Daniels, Chris Harris, James Storm and Low Ki. I had no idea who any of those guys were except for Killings who I remembered as being a mediocre wrestler known as K-Kwik in TNA. Jeff told Ed and I that he wants those five guys to be the future of TNA. I noticed that three of the six guys were Cruiserweights. Harris and Storm had a good look but I hadn’t seen them wrestle before and didn’t know if they could cut a good promo. Jarrett made it clear that he wants those guys to be highlighted on the shows, something we weren’t aware of and now had to change any kind of booking plans we had developed previously. Jeff had the wrestlers leave the room as he had a surprise for us.
Jeff revealed to us that he had agreed to a deal with Scott Steiner, Jerry Lynn and Sabu. This would be fine if we weren’t less than twenty four hours away from the show. I spoke up and told Jeff that I didn’t appreciate having these last second additions to the roster after Ed and I had booked the first show already. Jeff apologized but I didn’t care. Jeff told us how he wanted those guys to be booked. I left the room extremely tired and stressed out over trying to figure out the best way to produce the show tomorrow night despite all of these recent additions.
I went to sleep at approx four in the morning after Ed and I put some final touches on the show. We will have to see how it translates on television but I think we did a fine job considering the circumstances.
To be continued…
|
|
|
|
Post by Jord on Jan 31, 2011 14:35:31 GMT -5
Great update. I liked none of the talent knowing Russo was going to be a writer until he stepped out during Jarrett's speech. I really do hope Ken Shamrock sticks around as he was one of my favourites when he was still around. I like how even although he's just been introduced as the writer, temper's are already flaring between him and Disco Inferno, Konnan and Ken Shamrock. Glad to finally see AJ, Daniels, Low-Ki, America's Most Wanted and Killings unveiled and I like how you put over Jarrett wanting them to be the faces of the company.
|
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Feb 2, 2011 8:28:44 GMT -5
Wow! What a great edition. I like how Russo mentions dirtsheets as it is known he loves to read them. I like how uncertain everyone is if the company will succeed or not. Jeff's pep talk was solid, but I am unsure about keeping Russo a secret for so long. I love that Russo isn't popular amongst the guys and some are really bitter towards him. It was nice to see him clearing the water with some guys. I'm unsure about the idea of sober Scott Hall though. Double J wanting the new blood pushed is good, but he shouldn't have told Russo 24 hours before the show. I don't care much for Scott Steiner coming in, but he is a "name". Lynn is awesome and Sabu is hit or miss.
|
|
|
|
Post by duan on Feb 3, 2011 17:40:59 GMT -5
this is going awesome so far bob. I love the point of view you are writing from, as I think we've never seen this side of booking/writing process. The part with the wrestlers getting things off their chest with Russo seems extremely realistic and what I thought would happen. Like how Jarret sprung some wrestlers on you so you had to make some adjustments. All of this seems realistic and awesome so far.
|
|
|
|
Post by machoking on Feb 4, 2011 6:59:48 GMT -5
Really enjoying reading this. Good speech by Russo when he was introduced to the talent and I like the idea of him spending a day in meetings, trying to put differences aside. Hall pretending to be drunk just to make the younger guys think he's off his rocker amuses me, I hope he can be a top guy in TNA because I've always been a fan. The ending was good, with Jarrett wanting the new guys pushed and Russo knowing nothing of it. Can't wait to see how the first show goes down.
|
|
Bob Bob Bobelow
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
Posts: 2,203
|
Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Feb 5, 2011 10:46:02 GMT -5
Show: Weekly PPV #1
Date: June 19th, 2002
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Announcers: Mike Tenay and Don West
Pre-show thoughts: Everyone in the back is anxious to get the first show started. It is very important for us to leave a good impression since our only way to show off our product is on pay per view. We need to do a good enough job each week so that fans will want to dish out $9.95 every Wednesday night. Before the show, all the talent and staff said a prayer. This is a big night and we need everything and everyone to be on our side.
Main Show: 8pm-10pm
~ Director of Authority, Ricky Steamboat comes down to the ring with the NWA-TNA World Heavyweight Championship. After discussing the history and prestige of the championship Steamboat announces that tonight there will be a twenty man battle royal to crown the first NWA-TNA World Champion. Jeff Jarrett makes his way down to the ring and demands that Steamboat award him the championship right now. Jarrett is confident that he is going to win the championship anyway, so why waste time. Steamboat refuses to give up the championship. Steamboat decides that tonight, Jarrett will be the first entrant in the battle royal! “Prove to everyone that you are best, by starting off as the first entrant in the battle royal!” Steamboat leaves the ring as Jarrett is left pissed off in the ring.
~ AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels, Jerry Lynn and Low Ki: A impressive opening contest that really showcased what the X-Division is all about. All four men gave their best efforts doing high risk moves and kept the action going non-stop. Lynn almost won the match following the cradle pile driver on Daniels but Ki broke up the pin with a stiff kick to Lynn’s face. Moments later, Styles was able to connect with the Styles Clash on Ki to win the bout. (12:44, ***1/4)
~ Backstage, Scott Hudson is standing with Scott Hall. Hudson welcomes Hall to NWA-TNA and talks about the battle royal taking place later on tonight. Hall mentions that being a World Champion is the one thing he hasn’t been able to call himself. Hall is going to make sure he will win the NWA-TNA World Championship, tonight!
~ Sonny Siaki defeated Jimmy Yang : A enjoyable contest where Siaki got the majority of the contest while Yang was able to get a few quick spots in. Siaki blocked a hurricanrana with a power bomb, which Yang never quite recovered from. Siaki earned the win following a Samoan Drop after having Yang set up for a gorilla press slam. (6:33, *1/2)
~ Backstage, Scott Hudson is standing with Chris Harvard. Harvard realizes that he doesn’t have as much experience as most of the guys in NWA-TNA but he has one advantage. Harvard points out his intelligence and that he can outsmart everyone in NWA-TNA. Harvard speaks slowly for the Alabama crowd as he predicts a NWA-TNA World Championship win later tonight.
~ Backstage, Jeff Jarrett storms into Ricky Steamboat’s office and begins to yell at Steamboat over the injustice of being forced to be the first entrant in the battle royal. Steamboat doesn’t care and says his decision on the matter is final.
~ the Maximo Brothers defeated the Backseat Boys: The fans didn’t know any of these men so the crowd reaction wasn’t there, but they all still put on a good effort. Trent Acid really shined in the contest hitting all of his spots very nicely. Maximo Brothers almost hit the Spanish Fly on Kashmere but Acid was able to save his partner. Acid soon nailed Joel Maximo with a running yakuza kick and picked up the win. (7:52, **)
~ Backstage, Scott Hudson is with former NWA World Champion Steve Corino. Corino mentions a few of the championships that he has held throughout his career and says that he knows what it takes to be a champion. Corino believes that tonight will not be any different and he will walk out as the NWA-TNA World Champion.
~ Backstage, Ken Shamrock is seen taping up his fists and slapping himself in the face while looking in the mirror.
~ Matt Morgan defeated Lenny Lane: Morgan was not in the mood for Lane’s homosexual teases. Morgan delivered several powerful moves such as a fall away slam, swinging side slam and a gut wrench suplex. Morgan finishes off the squash following a bicycle kick that nearly knocked Lane’s head off his shoulders! (3:27, *)
~ Mike Tenay and Don West hype up the battle royal taking place next to crown the first ever NWA-TNA World Champion!
Permanent
~ Jeff Jarrett won a 20 man battle royal to win the vacant NWA-TNA World Championship last eliminating Scott Hall:
Entrants:
#1: Jeff Jarrett
#2: Chris Harris
#3: Brian Christopher
#4: CM Punk
#5: Scott Hall
#6: David Young
#7: Monty Brown
#8: Steve Corino
#9: Disco Inferno
#10: Colt Cabana
#11: Sonny Siaki
#12: Ken Shamrock
#13: Low Ki
#14: AJ Styles
#15: Ron Killings
#16: Christopher Daniels
#17: Konnan
#18: Buff Bagwell
#19: Jerry Lynn
#20: Chris Harvard
Eliminations:
#1: David Young (by Scott Hall)
#2: Brian Christopher (by Jeff Jarrett)
#3: Disco Inferno (by Monty Brown)
#4: Chris Harris (by CM Punk)
#5: Colt Cabana (by Steve Corino)
#6: Monty Brown (by Corino)
#7: Steve Corino (by Ken Shamrock) *Brown brawls with Corino on the floor*
#8: Sonny Siaki (by Scott Hal)
#9: AJ Styles (by Low Ki)
#10: CM Punk (by Ken Shamrock)
#11: Low Ki (by Christopher Daniels)
#12: Ron Killings (by Jeff Jarrett)
#13: Christopher Daniels (by Scott Hal)
#14: Konnan (by Buff Bagwell)
#15: Buff Bagwell (by Jeff Jarrett)
#16: Ken Shamrock (by Chris Harvard)
#17: Jerry Lynn (by Chris Harvard)
#18: Chris Harvard (by Scott Hall)
#19: Scott Hall (by Jeff Jarrett)
(Time of match: 28:24)
The finish of the match saw Scott Hall toss Jarrett over the top rope and believe that he had won the battle royal. However, Jarrett never touched the floor. Jarrett proceeded to grab his guitar and smashed Hall over the back of the head with it. Jarrett tossed Hall over the top to the floor to win the battle royal and the vacant NWA-TNA World Championship!
~ Jeff Jarrett celebrates his title win while Scott Hall is left on the floor asking the referees what happened. Mike Tenay and Don West sign off to close out the show.
End of show
Post -show thoughts: I could clearly see that some of the boys were upset with Jeff Jarrett being the champion. Knowing that Jeff owns the company, I’m sure they figure he will hold the championship for a long time. He very well could as long as he is making money. I hope that when the time comes to drop the championship Jeff doesn’t freak out over it. I think we have several feuds set up moving forward. It will be an interesting first couple of weeks for us.
Lastly, Scott Steiner and Sabu didn’t debut on the show as they signed their contracts too late before the show. Jerry Lynn was able to show up because he drove to Alabama from a indy show he had in Memphis. Jerry Lynn is a true professional.
As for my thoughts on the show, it seemed to have been alright. The fans were into it for the most part. Whenever you have a battle royal on a show their isn’t going to be any elite matches considering a lot of the top talent were involved in the battle royal. I think moving forward the show will be much more evened out.
NOTE FROM BOB: This is going to sound rather odd, but I hope you guys think this a bad show. I’m trying to keep this rather realistic in every aspect. Not every show is going to be horrible, but considering this is a Vince Russo POV, everything will not be great. Again, I’m just trying to be realistic. Also, I won’t be doing any other posts about meetings leading up to the event. I can’t figure out a way to do that without spoiling anything.
|
|
