Ring Crew Reviews: TNA Hard Justice 2006

• DVD Packaging: Typical TNA dvd with a big picture of Jarrett and smaller pictures of Steiner, Joe, Sting, and Christian and the PPV logo.

• DVD Presentation: The menu is simple and by simple I mean cheap. It’s better than the static ROH stuff but not by much as the “graphics” are whatever and the music is some mildly orchestral stuff.

• Relevant Storylines: Scott Steiner comes from a highly educated university. Petey leaves Team Canada but keeps the Canadian Destroyer. Rhyno reads his Old Testament. Sting decides to fight fire with fire in the combustible feud against Jarrett in a smoldering match that is sure to have proverbial fireworks and lay ashes to ashes.

• Scheduled Card:
1. Eric Young vs. Johnny Devine.
2. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley.
3. Brother Runt vs. Abyss.
4. Three-Way Falls Count Anywhere Match: Monty Brown vs. Rhyno vs. Samoa Joe.
5. Gail Kim vs. Sirelda.
6. Three Way for the X Division Championship: Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. Senshi (c).
7. NWA Tag Team Championship: LAX vs. The Phenomenal Angels (c).
8. NWA World Championship: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett (c).

• It’s difficult to explain the ins and outs of the storylines of this period but this is one overarching trend. Almost everything comes back to Jeff Jarrett being the evil mastermind of some heel plot. At various times he had heel refs (Earl), heel GMs (Zybyszko), heel stables (Team Canada and Paparazzi Productions), heel enforcers (Steiner) and well just generally… everything to help him be more evil.

• Eric Young vs. Johnny Devine. Devine is in Paparazzi Productions with Alex Shelley. They carried around cameras and recorded their matches and spied on everyone else ala GTV until Kevin Nash joined them and they took over the world. EY had been in Team Canada but they were dissolved due to a match stipulation and that’s one of the rare times where the stip really was airtight and not reversed later. Scott D’Amore, former leader of the stable, blamed EY for their loss and dissolution and threatened he was probably going to get fired. In response, he starts a grassroots campaign among the fans to “Don’t Fire Eric!” Overnight, EY goes from reluctant heel/tweener to plucky underdog babyface. He is announced from “An Undisclosed Location” and accompanied by 20 fans during his entrance. He does his taunt where he points at his eyes and then at the fans’ eyes to show they are in cahoots — it makes sense when you see it. Pre-match, Devine gets on the stick and runs down EY and gets in his head which makes sense because he was also in Team Canada and EY was the stable’s whipping boy. Devine calls the fans “pasty-faced goblinoids” and might have a tattoo of Darth Maul on his left arm.

• Devine mocks his taunt and then pokes him in the eyes to boos. EY gets sent off but gets the up and over and then baseball slides through and pokes back to retaliate but gives him a consoling hug afterward to make nice. Crowd is super over for EY’s shtick. Devine shoves him off and smacks to counter. Devine with some rights and the GnP elbows in the corner. Devine hits a brutal double knee strike in the corner for a 2 count. Devine goes to the chinlock at a 1 minute in? EY powers out and gets a crucfix for a close 2. A hope spot there? It’s like they cut 5 minutes of heat out of the match. Devine smacks to cut him off. Devine with more right hands and a snapmare. He drops six power knees as the crowd gets behind EY again. Devine fishhooks him up, piefaces and then paintbrushes him in the corner. Devine must have been studying his cheap heat manual overtime. EY smacks back to counter and sends Devine across. He tries an up and over but ends up hitting a falling reverse DDT on the way down for 2. Shit starts falling from the ceiling as the fans chant, “The roof is on fire!” and it really is. Smoke comes pouring down and kills visibility. Don West calls it “a little fire” which can’t possibly be conceived as a good thing. Devine punches in the corner and chokes away. Devine with a European uppercut and a snap suplex. He goes up top and tries a Lionsault but EY rolls under and gets a small package for 2. These guys are soldiers for sticking with it. Devine with another European uppercut to counter and more rights in the corner. Smark crowd chants, “You can’t see us!” Cue the “on fire,” “burning desire,” “fiery fury and passion,” “combustible feud” jokes all night. EY hits a beautiful Jackknife powerbomb and a clothesline as Devine does the NJPW standing sells. Devine sends EY across and he does the Flair spot and runs up the near turnbuckle and gets a Macho elbow for a close 2 count. Crowd into the false finish. Devine tries a rope-assisted roll up but only gets 2. EY tries a sunset flip but Devine grabs the ref who shoves him off. Devine rolls through but EY gets him in the wheelbarrow position and hits the Youngblood Neckbreaker for the 3 at 5:46. This isn’t Flair-Steamboat by any stretch but you get a pass when the fucking building is on fire during your match. Crowd was into it and Devine brought the cheap heat. **

• Post-match, evil, kayfabe unemployed ref Earl Hebner is covered in grease and dirty clothes. He “attacks” Slick Johnson. Other refs and Zybyszko in the worst toupee ever come out. Hebner blames Larry for losing his job and threatens retribution. Fired angles with evil non-wrestlers are basically recipes for disaster.

• Meanwhile, Jarrett and Steiner arrived earlier today as did Christian and Sting.

• Now, Tenay and West go into stall/shill mode as the ring crew has to replace the mat. We get a replay of the epic Jarrett-Sting video package that has at least 8 months of backstory in it and is a good five months long. It covers the storyline PPV by PPV and month by month. It might be the most extensive video package I’ve ever seen and it’s great.

• Next, Borash and Tenay review what happened and report that the fire marshals said they had to evacuate the building. This is surreal. Turns out the fire was very small and caused by pyro but the smoke was all from the extinguishers. Credit to TNA for actually keeping this on the DVD because I remember being shocked at this live and WWE would edit it out on DVD for sure. You want to crap all over the promotion and call them bush league for something like this, but when you multiply the number of live shows by the pyro used each show, it’s amazing this kind of thing doesn’t happen more.

• EY, Shane Douglas and the Naturals and Monty Brown drop by to cut a couple promos and Monty’s is so ridiculously, interminably scene-chewing that I can’t decide if it’s the worst or best thing I’ve ever seen.

• Meanwhile, Borash is with Alex Shelley and he says that Nash won’t be able to compete because he has a neck injury that could cause paralysis. Enter Nash with a wheel chair. He says today is the darkest day of his life and he gives Shelley his dog tags and tells him to go to war.

• Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley. THE MURDER CITY MACHINE GUNS IMPLODE! Nash joins him at ringside. Not sure why they went with the switch here. Sabin flips out of a wristlock and gets his own but Shelley gets a rope break. They go to the Greco-Roman test of strength tie up and do some beautiful counters until Shelley pulls the hamstring and taunts. They trade some Lucha-esque armdrags and then do the ECW standoff. Well, that was a whole lot of nothing. It “looked” impressive but is basically like a lay up drill line for these guys. Shelley boots Sabin and sends him into the turnbuckle. He sends Sabin across but Sabin gets the boot up and flips off the top into an armdrag. He tries a charge but Shelley counters and Sabin lands on the apron and comes back with a right and a springboard dropkick for 2. Dueling chants. Sabin hits a running basement dropkick to the head for 2. He hits another dropkick and then taunts Nash. Shelley flips out of a suplex and counters with an eye gouge. Sabin tries getting a head of steam but Shelley hits a bulldog. Shelley with a double leg and taunts and hits a Lionsault for 2. Their timing is awkward here. Sabin comes back with a jawbreaker and a chop but gets cut off with an elbow. Sabin hiptosses Shelley to the floor and then hits a suicide dive on him. This all sounds good but they are so soft with each other that nothing is doing any kind of noticeable damage or effect. Back in, Sabin tries a springboard whatever but jumps into a testicular claw from Shelley. West: “Well, that’s just the way Alex Shelley is!” Sabin comes back with a spinning heel kick, enzuigiri, and a basement dropkick. He gets the springboard guillotine legdrop for 2. Sabin with a brutal yakuza kick in the corner. He goes up top but Shelley hits a super inverted atomic drop off the top and hits a blindingly flash tilt-a-whirl, flying headscissors, armbar TD and goes into the Border City Stretch but Sabin gets the ropes. Shelley with a bodyslam and goes up top but Sabin crotches him and Shelley falls into the tree of woe. Sabin with the beautiful hesitation dropkick and the Over Easy for a close 2. Sabin puts him up top but Shelley bites to counter and flips off to hit a Backcracker and an Island Driver for a close 2 count. Nash throws a chair in as Devine distracts the ref. Shelley swings it but Sabin dropkicks it into Shelley’s head and hits the Cradle Shock for the 3 at 8:22. These guys can every hit move known to man, but that’s never been their problem. The match seems more like an sparring match or exhibition than a wrestling match.They are just going through the motions. Storytelling is the issue. The first half was just directionless counters and one-upsmanship. Things got better down the stretch but still lacked much of a story. **1/2

• Meanwhile, Sinister Minister and Abyss are in the back with Borash. Mitchell says it’s ridiculous that Spike Dudley thinks he can wrestle Abyss and speculates about whether or not Raven is in his ear.

• Brother Runt vs. Abyss. This gets a solid video package. Abyss carries a chain to the ring. Spike is sporting the Travis Bickle look. Spike talks smack to start and smacks Abyss a few times. He tries a whip but Abyss no sells and counters to his own. He teases a press slam but Spike slides out and hits a couple of running headbutts to his gut. Spike tries a crossbody but Abyss no sells and then press slam throws Abyss over the top rope and into the crowd. That was badass. Abyss tries yet another press slam but Spike slides out and hits the Acid Drop across the guardrail. Raven looks on from a distance as Spike heads up top and hits a splash on Abyss to the floor. Spike gets a couple of chairs and slides them into the ring. Abyss helpfully sets one up in the corner as Skip tells Spike to lose the other. Spike tries up and over off a whip but Abyss is one step ahead and rams Spike headfirst into the chair. Abyss hits the Ho Train and poses. Abyss puts Spike up top but Spike grabs Abyss’s chain and rams him with it and then hits the double foot stomp for 2. Abyss tries a ChokeSlam but Spike goes low and hits the Acid Drop for a 2 count. Abyss shoves Spike into the ref and then tries a another Ho Train but takes out the ref instead. Abyss hits the fireman’s carry gutbuster (Shock Treatment) and now he’s got the tacks from Mitchell. Abyss lays them on the mat and just pushes Spike’s face into them. Abyss now just curb stomps him brutally into them. Spike does the NJPW no sell and Hulks up. He comes back with headbutts but gets press slam flapjacked into them facefirst. Hollllllllllllly Shit. That hurt just watching it. Black Hole Slam on the tacks for the 3 6:23. This felt rushed even for a squash. Some sick spots but that’s about it. **

• Meanwhile, Rhyno is in the back pacing with Borash. Rhyno cuts his typical promo that is to say he rants and raves for a couple minutes with intensity but doesn’t say much. The problem is that he always says everything at the same volume. When you are always screaming, people begin to tune it out. He says he came to “rape Monty Brown’s face with his fists!” He then throws us some Revelations-esque passion with “as the fires rain down from above, I will cut someone in half!” GORE! GORE! GORE!

• Three-Way Falls Count Anywhere Match: Monty Brown vs. Rhyno vs. Samoa Joe. Oh man. I forgot how awesome Samoa Joe was during his initial build up in TNA. They did everything PERFECTLY with him for about two years especially carrying around his victims’ bloody towel gimmick, and then somewhere between jobbing to Angle too much before finally getting the title and the Nation of Violence, they really killed his momentum. At this point though, Joe had still “never been pinned, never submitted.”

• 3-way brawl erupts at the bell. They trade punches with each other for a little while. Monty hits the short arm clothesline on Joe. He and Rhyno exchange chops. Rhyno shitcans him and then hits a plancha. Joe then follows with the suicide dive on both. Joe sends Rhyno into the barricade but eats a trashcan shot from Monty and another for Rhyno. Joe then cuts him off and punts the trashcan back into Monty’s face. Joe sets up a chair and puts Monty on it and then Joe gives up the ultra fucking brutal Ole’ kick into the guardrail! Joe then throws the trashcan at Rhyno and they chop it out. Good stuff all through here. Rhyno throws Joe into the crowd and goes under the ring gets a cookie sheet. He blasts Joe with it and then hits him with a kendo stick as he follows into the crowd. He gives another hard shot across the back and now chokes with the kendo stick. Joe cuts him off and rams him into the wall of the balcony. Joe then gives him the ultra fucking brutal Ole’ kick into the wall and actually breaks the wood. Holy shit. Monty Brown then comes flying in with a splash over the barricade on both. Monty covers Joe for 2. Rhyno now smashes Joe and Monty into the same spot on the wall. See that’s smart spot selection even if accidental because the wall was already broken but wasn’t demolished to pieces. Why ram somewhere else when you already have the perfect visual of broken wood to convey the damage right there? Rhyno now tries a GORE on Joe but he sidesteps and rams Rhyno into the wall completely breaking it now. Monty now rams Joe into the broken wood. Monty hits Joe with a broken 2×4. Joe tries to smash them with the broken wood but it’s too flimsy. Rhyno with the eye poke to Monty! Yes! Rhyno and Monty now brawl through the crowd for a little while. Joe steals someone’s crutch and hits them with it. ECW-esque moment there. Rhyno pokes to cut off again but Joe hits him with a gimmicked(?) bottle. Joe now gets a steel chair from a fan and smashes Rhyno with it until Monty cuts him off through the crowd. Monty teases a powerbomb but Joe counters with a low blow and a superkick. Joe with a headbutt on Rhyno and now he’s got an umbrella and hits Rhyno with it. Crowd is crazy into all of this. Rhyno smashes Joe with a trashcan lid but eats a flying Sabu chairshot from Monty. Rhyno with a snap suplex on the ramp on Monty and a belly to belly on Joe on the ramp. Rhyno tries the GORE but Joe counters with a big boot. Monty hits the butterfly suplex ON THE RAMP! These guys are insane. Cover gets 2. Monty takes down Joe with a huge dropkick and covers for 2. Rhyno with more trashcan lid shots. He brings Monty back in and slides in another chair. Monty sends Rhyno across with a hard whip and takes him down with a clothesline. Joe breaks up the cover with a trashcan lid again. Joe with an inverted atomic drop, running fat kick, and the senton. That was Joe’s signature set-up finishing sequence during this time. “Joe” chant. Rhyno cuts him off with a chair and Joe smacks him back. Rhyno gives him a spinebuster on the chair for a close 2. Good stuff again. Rhyno puts him up top but Joe counters with the hellacious MDK/Arabian powerbomb on the chair(!!). That only gets 2. Monty pulls Joe to the floor and chops him around and sends him into the announce table as Don West and Tenay hilariously beg off on camera. Monty with another trash can shot on Joe. Monty gets a table and takes Joe up the ramp and prepares the suplex Joe off the ramp through the table. Joe cuts him off with a low blow and chops. They brawl up the ramp and trade shots. Monty with a swinging neckbreaker on the ramp and Joe takes it hardway. Monty calls for the Pounce. Rhyno takes out both with a trashcan lid and clears off another table. Rhyno gets another table. What the hell is he going to do? He sends Monty into the entrance way and tries a GORE but Monty dodges and sends Rhyno flying off the entrance ramp and through the tables. Nice. Tenay: “Rhyno gored himself in essence!” Joe hits the STO on Monty off the ramp and through the other table and that’s enough for the 3 at 13:36. Now, THAT’S how you do a garbage brawl. I’m not sure if back to back hardcore matches was the right formula for keeping the crowd into both matches but they LOVED this. Good work all around from all three despite some obvious weak weapons at times as the intensity was OFF THE CHARTS! ****

• Meanwhile, JB finds Zybyszko and the dead oriole on his head to ask him about Earl Hebner’s accusations. Larry says he threw Hebner out of the building and then denies everything else. Ref Slick Johnson interrupts and says he’s going to get to the bottom of it.

• Gail Kim vs. Sirelda. Alright, so Gail Kim was on AMW’s side during the awesome feud with the Phenomenal Angels. Styles/Daniels recruited Sirelda to even the odds and hence this match. Don “Tape Measure” West as his college buddies called him salivates over Gail Kim. Sirelda is face by default but gets no love from the crowd. She has a rather un-effeminate look. Gail Kim with the CLUBBINGBLOWS but runs into a shoulderblock. She gets whipped across and eats a clothesline. Sirelda with the press slam and an elbow drop for 2. Crowd: “She’s a man!” That’s not nice. Gail Kim runs up the turnbuckle and uses the knuckle tie up to give Sirelda a stungun. Gail taunts to mild cheers from the crowd. This isn’t good at all. GK drops a knee and works the cover for a couple 2 counts. She ties up Sirelda in the ropes and chokes away and then boots her to the stomach. GK pulls her around by the hair and goes into full mount with the rights. GK throws her around with a fishhook and taunts some more. Sirelda tries to a charge to counter but GK gets the boot up and applies the Tarantula. GK with a soft guillotine leg drop for 2. Crowd is restless to say the least. GK whiffs on a crossbody off the top and eats a couple clotheslines. Sirelda gives her the falling slam for 2. GK cuts her off with the eye poke. She gets off but gets the up and over in the corner and goes to the sleeper. Sirelda backs her into the corner. They quasi botch a blockbuster and that’s enough for the 3 at 4:03. 1/4*. GK is great but this was the definition of disinterested.

• Scott Steiner and his chain mail are in the back with JB. I’m not sure I can do the sheer brilliance of Steiner’s promo justice. He of course flubs some verbs here and there and namedrops Goldberg, Ultimate Warrior, or Lex Luger as possible guys in Sting’s corner but instead they got Christian. He then says he comes from a “highly educated university” and that he has to dumb himself down for the white trash of TNA. He then runs down Christian for being Canadian and saying their white trash is much lower than America’s white trash and then calls them the “lowest form of ‘homeo’ sapien there is!”

• Three Way for the X Division Championship: Petey Williams vs. Jay Lethal vs. Senshi (c). Senshi is Low Ki/Kaval. If you never heard him cut a promo during this period, his delivery is so stilted that his voice doesn’t even seem to match his mannerisms or lip movement. It’s like a bad dubbing on some old Sonny Chiba grindhouse fare. He even has an awkward, knuckle-dragging Neanderthal-esque posture walking to the ring. He also managed to work the word, “Warrior,” into every promo he cut and this was later hilariously mocked by Nash when he took over the world. Jay Lethal is not yet Black Machismo as his gimmick is just the plucky, athletic newcomer kinda like Evan Bourne. After leaving the disbanded Team Canada, Petey is babyface by default due to his high flying moveset and badass finisher: the Canadian Destroyer. Petey got this title shot by winning a 5-way match on Impact. Lethal ate the pinfall but was just put in the match because… ? Right.

• They all trade forearms to start and chops with nobody getting a clear advantage. Lethal hits the leg lariat on Petey but Low Ki shitcans him. Petey gets the dropkick on Low Ki and then hits the springboard huracanrana to the floor on Lethal. Low Ki follows with a handspring flip splash to the floor on both. Those were both nice but seemed… underwhelming and unnecessary this early(?). Lethal basically no sells and hits a chop on Senshi. He tries a powerbomb on Petey but he grabs the ropes on the apron and counters with the UT leg drop. Low Ki kicks Petey and pulls in Lethal. Another chop for Lethal and another. Those are pretty diesel. Lethal tries fighting back with kicks and that’s a bad idea with Low Ki. He takes down Lethal with a back elbow. Petey hits some chops on Senshi but gets counters with a koppu kick. Low Ki gets a head of steam but Petey dropkicks his knee out. This is some good face-paced action but what’s the point other than to fit in all the cool moves you can in 10 minutes by no selling? Lethal now with some rights on Petey. He tries a moonsault but Petey runs under. He takes down Lethal with a snap suplex and then hooks the arm to roll him into a version of the Nagata Lock II. Low Ki gives him some stiff kicks to break up the hold. Lethal with some shitty right hands. Low Ki flapjacks him and on the fall gives him double knees to the crotch and no one seems to care much about the low blow as Tenay says they were “to the gut.” Lethal flips out of a suplex but runs into a boot from Petey. Petey and Low Ki now look to team up on Lethal. They both give him chops. Petey hooks him in the tree of woe and now gives him a low blow while singing the Canadian National Anthem in the corner. That was awesome. I’m surprised they didn’t turn that into a regular signature spot for him. It could have gotten over huge. So much for teamwork as Petey and Low Ki go the kicks on each other. Low Ki gives him a hard boot to the back of the head. Low Ki heads up top but Lethal cuts him off with a chop. Lethal teases a top rope suplex but Low Ki forearms him back into the tree of woe. He jumps off going for a double ax handle on Petey but he whiffs. Petey tries a brainbuster but Low Ki counters with the awesome knees at the apex. Lethal hits the missile dropkick on both. Lethal with right hands on both and a chop on Low Ki. He takes both down with a hiptoss and a bodyslam and then gives them a double basement dropkick. Lethal gets sent off but mounts the turnbuckle and hits a flying leg lariat on Petey. Lethal with a neckbreaker/front facelock briding suplex for a close 2. Petey counters out of a tilt a whirl with a side Russian legsweep. He preps the Canadian Destroyer but Lethal counters with a bridged German suplex for 2. Lethal chops Low Ki. He gets sent off but baseball slides through and tries a roll up. Low Ki avoids and tries to counter with a double foot stomp but Lethal avoids. They all try a series of nice roll ups and counters until Low Ki just blasts Petey with a double foot stomp while he tries one. He tries a cover but Lethal breaks it up. Lethal with a jawbreaker/gutwrench slam combo. He tries a kick on Petey but he counters and preps the sharpshooter. Low Ki breaks it up with some back kick. Low Ki with a host of chops on Lethal in the corner. He tries a charge in the corner but Lethal dodges and hits the badass release dragon suplex and Low Ki does the flip bump on it. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice. He covers but Petey breaks it up. Lethal hits the Paul London flip kick and heads up top for the Diving Dynamite but whiffs. Petey hits the fuckin’ CANADIAN DESTROYER! Low Ki kicks him off though with a dropkick and covers Lethal for the 3 at 11:35. ***. So the guy that wasn’t even supposed to be in the match eats the pinfall and the number 1 contender is still stuck in limbo as the viable candidate? Why not just do that match instead? Good series of moves and counters and all that but very little drama here. Just didn’t have enough emotion in it for us to care either way and the match was just an excuse for the highlights.

• Meanwhile, LAX including Konnan cut an awesome promo to lead into the next match. This was a perfect stable/tag team. Hernandez is the muscle that can go strength for strength and size with anyone. Homicide is the crazy speed and high flying maneuvers and Konnan is pitch perfect in his strong-arm style of braggadocious promos.

• NWA Tag Team Championship: LAX vs. The Phenomenal Angels (c). This gets a video package that is great and also shows how great TNA could be during this period. The LAX-Styles/Daniels brawl where Koannan signed the contract in blood is still one of the best old school things TNA has ever done. Here’s the clipped version without the promos.

• Daniels and Hernandez to start. Hernandez throws him around a couple times. He tries a back suplex but Daniels flips out and goes to the side headlock. Hernandez sends him off and Daniels eats a stiff shoulderblock. Hernandez boots him around and hits a body slam and poses already. Daniels hits a basement dropkick that takes out the knee and a flying headscissors as Tenay rambles off numbers for Hernandez as 540 bench, 800 squat and 700-750 deadlift. I’d be surprised if they were legit. Daniels dropkicks him to the floor and throws the do rag after him! Homicide in turns throws his do rag and Daniels throws it back! They are throwing garments in the Impact Zone! Homicide wants in but the ref holds him off. Hernandez decides to tag him in. Homicide talks some serious smack at Styles and he wants in too. They trade waistlocks until Styles gets the takedown. They trade more reversals. Homicide hits a few elbows but Styles counters with some right hands. Homicide is pissed and now they are all “fuck the mat wrestling” and just slug it out. Homicide bull rushes him into the corner. Styles reverses position and hits some right hands. Styles sends him off, leap frogs, and tries something but Homicide comes back with a huracanrana. I guess we are back to the mat wrestling. Styles kips into a huracanrana that sends Homicide to the floor. Hernandez in but he eats a dropkick but doesn’t go down. Daniels comes off the top and presumably tries a huracanrana but Hernandez botches and just goes down in a heap selling it as a senton. He and Daniels brawl to the floor. Daniels in and the faces hit a back suplex/clothesline combo. Daniels boots him in the corner and chokes. Styles in and the faces hit a double hip toss/side slam and Styles hits the flying burrito fistdrop for 2. Homicides spits on him to retaliate and then pulls Styles into the heel corner and to the apron. Styles boots Hernandez off the apron but Homicide gives him a spike neckbreaker/RKO back in that Styles can’t decide how to sell on the impact. Hernandez in. He whips Homicide into Styles for a clothesline and then gives him a Stinger Splash for 2. Hernandez goes to the neck crank but Styles punches out. He tries an enzuigiri but eats a release half nelson suplex instead. Badass. Homicide in and he goes to the chinlock. Too much resthold stuff here. Styles pokes the eye to escape. Homicide shitcans him but Styles lands on the apron until Hernandez knocks him off. Homicide follows and hits the tope con giro of DEATH! into the guardrail. Konnan and Homicide now put the boots to Styles while Hernandez distracts the ref. Back in, Homicide covers but Daniels breaks it up. Homicide drags Styles over to the heel corner and Hernandez is in. He goes back to the neck crank. Homicide back in and gloats at his good fortune. He preps a suplex but Styles counters and gives him a gordbuster across the top rope. Hernandez tries to cut him off but eats a boot as Styles slides outside the ring and then dives back in for the surprisingly lukewarm tag. Daniels with forearms for all and an step-up enzuigiri and bulldog combo on the heels. Daniels is feeling it and hits the bodyslam on Homicide. He follows with an Arabian Press that only gets 2. Homicide rolls to the floor to regroup but Hernandez jumps Daniels from behind. He manages to fight him off and hits another Arabian Press to the floor on Homicide. He tries to come back in but Hernandez gives him a shoulder surge that sends him back to the floor. Hernandez now comes off the ropes and hits the Hotstuff Plancha over the top! For a guy his size, that’s always been crazy. Styles then busts out the springboard SSP to the floor! Insane. Back in, Styles hits a inverted gordbuster on Homicide but breaks up his own cover to dispose of Hernandez. Daniels in. The faces hit a combo vertical suplex/crossbody and Styles covers but Hernandez breaks it up. Hernandez dumps Styles and now they hit a combo Electric Chair Drop/bulldog and cover but Styles breaks it up behind Homicide’s back. Homicide tries a tornado DDT on Styles but he counters by putting him back on the top rope. Styles sets up a superplex and Hernandez underneath prepares to powerbomb him and they do the Tower of Doom with both moves. Daniels tries something but jumps into a release overhead choke toss (crackerjack) from Hernandez. Awesome. He goes for Styles but he hits the desperation enzuigiri and then the Stylin’ DDT but Homicide breaks up the cover. Homicide hits a Diamond Cutter on Styles but gets caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb from Daniels and EVERYONE IS DOWN! Hernandez goes for Styles but eats a Pele. Daniels then gives him the MDM knee lift to the floor. Homicide tosses Styles. They trade reversals until Daniels hits the head and arm choke toss. Styles goes up top but Konnan crotches him. Hernandez attacks Daniels from behind and chops the skin off his chest in the corner. They prep the Border Toss and Copkilla but Styles and Daniels reverse and whip them into each other. They finish him off with the sweep/clothesline combo for the 3 to retain at 14:38. I can’t make up my mind whether I buy that finish or not. It’s a surprise pin and due to the “exhaustion” by that point more than anything. Good back and forth action and really gets going after the tope con giro and the hot tag with a red hot 6 minute finish sequence. ***1/2

• NWA World Championship: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett (c). Christian is in Sting’s corner and Scott Steiner is in Jarrett’s corner. Pre-match, Christian cuts a promo and questions JB about whether Jeff set the building on fire to get out of the match and then runs down Steiner some more and says he can Sting will remove the cancer. Jarrett has atrocious mustard yellow ring gear and a matching trench coat. “Steroids” chant for Steiner. Some fans already throwing trash at Jarrett. Sting taunts to start. Collar and elbow goes nowhere. Sting gets a shoulderblock and goes for the Scorpion Death Lock right off the bat. Jarrett scrambles for the ropes and then just smacks the shit outta Sting. Sting goozles him to retaliate, trips and goes back to the SDL and gets it over but Jarrett gets the ropes and takes a breather. Sting follows him out and just walks right by Steiner in Jarrett’s corner. I guess they are saving the intimidation and protection from the corner men until later. Sting sends Jarrett into the announce table. Sting now hits Jarrett with the desk fan. Sting now throws him into the crowd so they can buy some time. Christian and Steiner follow them into the crowd to keep a watch. Sting sends Jarrett into the bleacher wall a couple times. Sting hotshots Jarrett into the rail and then gouges the eye. Referee is making no pretense of even starting a count. Sting punches him around and then gives Jarrett a makeshift atomic drop on a handrail. More right hands and now Sting decides to give Jarrett a facial with a fuckin’ beach towel and then a Mongolian chop. This is so lazy and uninspired compared to what Rhyno, Joe, and Monty were doing earlier. They may sound like similar spots but the execution and intensity was through the roof for the triple threat. Just cut and paste any roving Sandman or Shane Douglas brawl from about a decade earlier and that’s what this is right now. Sting now sends him into another bleacher wall. Sting now throws some water on Jarrett from a bottle and pulls Jarrett around to the other side of the ring to…. throw him back into the ring? What the hell did he lead him around the ring? Sting now jaws with Steiner. Sting goes up top but Steiner knocks him off the top with a chairshot to the knee. The ref was busy holding Christian back. Steiner now hits a belly to belly on Christian on the floor. CUE THE PUSHUPS! Steiner is even better as the musclebound enforcer than Hernandez because he brings style and personality to the role. Just don’t give him a main event slot against Triple H to go half an hour. Back in, Jarrett boots Sting and clips the knee. Jarrett now goes to work with his homeless man’s Flair routine. He slams the knee around. Jarrett drops a knee and now applies the Figure Four on the wrong damn leg. They work the spot and tease pinfalls. Mild “Jarrett sucks” chant going. Jarrett tries to smack Sting around and finally Sting reverses it. Jarrett gets the ropes. They slug it out. Sting wins that one and takes down Jarrett with a few clotheslines. He tries a Stinger Splash but eats turnbuckle and decides the impact isn’t worth selling. Jarrett preps the Stroke but Sting reverses to the Scorpion Death Drop. Cover gets 1, 2– Steiner pulls the ref out. Christian comes over and they brawl it out. Christian starts to get a chair but the ref ejects him??? WTF? Steiner pulls the ref out for no reason and gets to stay and Christian just picks up a chair and he’s gotta go. Right. Sting tries a regular splash but eats knee. Steiner throws the belt in to Steiner and distracts the ref. Jarrett tries to waffle Sting but he ducks and Christian trips up Jarrett and then slides the belt to Sting. Sting waffles Jarrett and Christian hides the evidence. Cover gets nothing as Jarrett gets his foot on the ropes. He takes down Jeff with a shoulderblock. Steiner gives him a chairshot to the back and Sting on the fall gives Jarrett an accidental low blow. Christian and Steiner both in and they fight over the chair. Christian gives him an eyepoke and fights him off. Christian gives Jarrett a chairshot to the head behind the ref’s back. Rudy Charles has had a tough job getting in and out of the way all match. Rudy now places Christian on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION! Rudy now ejects Steiner too. Sting tries a dropkick but Jarrett hangs on to the ropes. Jarrett puts him in the SDL to shit on his gimmick. Sting powers out and Hulks up. Sting puts him in the SDL again and torques it but Jarrett makes the ropes. Sting tries a Stinger Splash but takes out the ref instead. Jarrett gives him the Stroke and here comes Steiner with the guitar. Jarrett preps the Avalanche El Kabong but here comes Christian with a bat. He knocks Jarrett off and clotheslines Steiner off. Christian slams Jarrett off the top. Sting hits the back suplex and heads off top for a diving headbutt but Christian gives him El Kabong and Don West has an aneurysm. The crowd is pissed. Jarrett drapes the arm for the 3 to retain at 15:09. The heel turn doesn’t make any sense especially when you retroactively consider him attempting to help Sting win earlier in the match with belt shots. First half was just generic filler. Second half was a whirlwind of ref avoidance and false finishes. Not bad, just not very good. **

The 411: A lot of average matches for the most part and champions retaining. The fire in the Impact Zone is one of those WTF moments as is Steiner's and Monty Brown's promos and the three way brawl is awesome but this is easily missable.
Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]