A Primer to NWA-TNA

[EinBebop]

Welcome to my NWA-TNA Primer, to educate you on who's who in NWA, which will hopefully persuade a few of you to check out the show on PPV once in awhile, especially if you're dissatisfied with the WWE product of recent weeks. :frylock: Word has it that Vince took over creative again a few weeks back, that would explain a lot.

I’m actually going to do a series of these covering different aspects of TNA over the next days and weeks, and there’s no better place to start then with the World title scene. My intros won’t usually be this long, but I think this’ll fill in the blanks for a few people. 


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A very, very brief history of the NWA World title: NWA traces it’s roots all the way back to 1905. For those of you who don’t know, there was no “national” wrestling promotion until the WWF came on the scene in the early eighties. Until then, wrestling promotions were regional, with each “market” running completely independently. And at some point, these markets came together and decided that while each promotion would have it’s own champion, there would be one World Champion voted on by all of the promotions. That person would travel around to each territory. It worked for almost half a century, with great champions such as Lou Thesz, Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, and Harley Race. In the 80’s non-NWA members WWF and AWA went national, and it looked like NWA would get lost in the shuffle. But one of the promotions, Georgia Championship Wrestling, got its own national deal on TBS, and slowly gained ground on WWF in the next decade.

GCW became World Championship Wrestling, and as you can guess, being the only promotion with a television deal, pretty much took over the NWA. Ric Flair was the dominant champion, and Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat had memorable runs as well. The first sign of trouble came in ’91 when Flair jumped ship to WWF. WCW immediately stripped Flair as the champion, but NWA continued to recognize him for a time. The NWA title returned to WCW as a separate title during ’92 and ’93, but NWA eventually withdrew recognition of the title when it became obvious they would never see eye-to-eye. WCW renamed it the International title, and eventually dissolved it into their world title.

The Dark Ages: In ’94, NWA held a tournament to decide a new NWA champion. Shane Douglas, champion of Eastern Championship Wrestling, won the tournament, but immediately renounced the title. He dumped the NWA title, renamed his promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling, giving the ECW title World status. ECW had another tournament later in ’94, won by Chris Candido. The next eight years saw the title being held by Sabu and Steve Corino, among other guys that you’ve never heard of before, but the most dominant and memorable champion was Dan Severn. You might remember Severn from the “WWF Invasion” by the NWA in ’98. Dan didn’t quite fit the mold for WWF, but he served NWA well until the time came to go in a new direction.

NWA-TNA was the brainchild of Jerry Jarrett, debuting in summer 2002. As an NWA “territory” with national exposure, NWA was willing to hand the title over to TNA. But apparently, either Severn didn’t want TNA or TNA didn’t want Severn. So Severn was stripped of the title because of supposed previous engagements, and has never to my knowledge even been mentioned by TNA. NWA held a “Gauntlet for the Gold” on their first night out to fill the vacant title, which went to Ken Shamrock. Ken Shamrock was, however, a dull champion, and left the promotion shortly after dropping his title before the summer was over.

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Jeff Jarrett is your NWA World Heavyweight Champion, defeating Ron “the Truth” Killings back in summer. I was never a fan of Jarrett in WWF or WCW, but he’s been a great champion here in NWA. His win was a bit controversial, as he had help from Vince Russo. Jarrett has distanced himself from Russo, and currently has challengers coming at him from all sides.

Here are the top contenders for Jarrett's title

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Raven came into TNA in January just days after being released from the WWF. He declared that the NWA World title was his “destiny” but got sidetracked in recent weeks by a fued with Sandman, who followed him into NWA. Raven’s back on track after defeating Sandman in a “Clockwork Orange House of Fun” match, and recently beat A.J. Styles in a ladder match to be named #1 contender. But as you can see in the picture above, Raven (holding his hard-earned contract) has had a tough time of it in recent weeks, and is taking a little time off to recover.

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D-Lo Brown, like Raven, came to NWA just days after leaving the WWE. He was guaranteed a World title shot coming into the promotion, but feels like Jeff Jarrett is trying to sidetrack him. D-Lo cut a deal with Sports Entertainment Extreme to get his title shot next week, and if he wins the title he will join S.E.X.

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Erik Watts just recently came into NWA. He’s surrounded himself with Brian Lawler and David Flair (the “Next Generation of Wrestling”) and immediately targeted Jeff Jarrett. Erik tells Jarrett that “You’ll pay for what you did to me,” but isn’t in a hurry for a match, seeming content to play mind games for the present time. If you’ve never seen or don’t remember Watts from WWF/WCW (my picture kind of sucks [EDIT]Hey... found a better picture!) he looks like the love child of Test and Brutus Beefcake. I have yet to seem him wrestle since coming to NWA, but I have to admit I’m liking his character right now.

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A.J. Styles is the breakout star of TNA. He supposedly turned down an offer from the WWE to run with NWA last year. He recently got a title shot against Jarrett, but lost it because he didn’t take advantage of help from S.E.X. A.J. is determined to find the same “black heart” that Jeff Jarrett has and win his next title shot, but has been delayed by losing the #1 contender match to Raven and S.E.X. It looks like he’ll be taking out his aggressions on S.E.X. for awhile and tries to maneuver himself into place for the next title shot.

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Ron “the Truth” Killings is the former NWA World Champion, formerly known as K-Kwik in the WWE. He disappeared for a few weeks, upset that many in the NWA accused him of joining S.E.X. He returned last week to take out his revenge on the NWA and Jeff Jarrett, and it appears he may have joined the ranks of Erik Watts.

The order may change, but in the next few days/weeks, I'll update this thread with the following up with these parts.
- Sports Entertainment eXtreme
- Tag Title Division
- T and A
- X Division
- Everyone who doesn't fit into the other categories.

They'll also likely be much shorter than this.:)

[EinBebop]

Sports Entertainment Xtreme

For several weeks, a masked man named “Mr. Wrestling III” had been going after NWA Champion Ron Killings as well as other of Jeff Jarrett’s enemies. Of course, many blamed Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett himself was so frustrated by these accusations (despite being a heel at the time, that he put out a bounty on Mr. Wrestling III. Jarrett finally got a title shot against Ron Killings. Mr. Wrestling came out and interfered in the match, giving Jarrett the win. Mr. Wrestling III unmasked and was revealed to be… Vince Russo.

Russo said in December the fans wanted violence, language, nudity and sex. And as such he was forming Sports Entertainment Xtreme (SEX). The Harris brothers and BG James were the first members that inaugural week. SEX distanced themselves from the NWA, even setting up a locker room on the opposite side of the arena so that they don’t enter down the ramp with the other NWA wrestlers.

Russo wanted Jarrett, but Jarrett declined membership, saying that he was a “traditional” wrestler, and Russo was against traditional wrestling. Russo’s #1 goal in NWA was to help Jarrett “see the light”. But Jarrett stood his ground, finally driving Russo out in shame by showing a tape of his sons telling how Russo had neglected them for wrestling just a few weeks ago.

So Sports Entertainment Extreme looked doomed to failure. But the most unlikely of leaders emerged.

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Yes, it’s Glen Gilbertti, the Disco Inferno. He was brought in by Mike Sanders in January and named “Director of Talent Development”. To put it more precisely, he was to come up with ridiculous gimmicks for the wrestlers. He first stole Jorge Estrada’s flying Elvis suit, and gave it to a new wrestler he called “Disgraceland”. He also introduced SEX’s new “T and A”, Holly Wood.

But when SEX found itself leaderless, Gilbertti stepped in and took control. And everyone was shocked at how smoothly Gilbertti stepped into the role. He immediately abandoned Discgraceland and took on a more serious demeanor. There’s a little conflict, however, and it remains to be seen if Gilbertti can hold SEX together.

The Active SEX Roster

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Raven is doubtlessly SEX’s top talent right now. But now that Russo's gone, Raven doesn’t seem to have much to do with SEX, though Gilbertti still makes a point to be involved with his matches. Does Raven fit in SEX without Russo? And if Raven leaves, who will fill the gap left by his departure?

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XXX (Low Ki, Elix Skipper, and Christopher Daniels) are your NWA World tag team champions. More about them when I do the tag division in two or three days.

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The Harris Brothers (Ron and Don). See XXX above.

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Sonny Siaki – Before leaving, Vince Russo called Siaki his “Ace in the Hole”. Siaki seemed to have taken that to heart, trying to take control of SEX after Russo left, but the rest of the group wasn't having him (“Are you sure Russo didn’t say A**-hole?”). After some dispute, he seems to have fallen in behind Gilbertti, but still refers to himself as the "Ace in the Hole". He has incurred the wrath of David Young because of Siaki’s treatment of Athena. Siaki is also a former X-Division champion.

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Desire and Holly Wood are the ladies of SEX. I’ll save them for the T&A recap. I love Desire, btw.

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Mike Sanders WAS the Director of Talent Acquisition under Russo, and was responsible for bring Gilbertti into TNA. Since taking over, Gilbertti is taking issue with Sander’s lack of results, in and out of the ring. Sanders has recently suffered embarrassing losses to Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Gilbertti is on the brink of removing Sanders permanently if things don’t turn around.

Nikita Koloff, Tony Shiavone, and BG James have not been seen in several weeks, but nothing has not have not been confirmed in the way of permanent departure for these three that I know of.

David Flair seems to have left SEX to be a part of Erik Watt’s “Next Generation of Wrestling”. Disgraceland was abandoned by Gilbertti when he assumed leadership of SEX.

Soooooo... anyone at least enjoying these, even if they're not persuaded to buy? :p

[The Penguin]

Well Ein I for one am really enjoying things so far. I've gotten to see a little TNA when my friend had a tape and I look around the site, but I don't know much about the early months (i.e. Mr. Wrestling III).

You always do a great job with this stuff and I look forward to your next update. From what I've seen TNA has impressed me so far.

[EinBebop]

Do you miss the good ‘ol days of tag team wrestling in the WWF? Look no further.

A very, very, very brief history of the NWA Tag Team Titles. Remember what I said about the World Heavyweight title traveling to different promotions? Well, that wasn’t so much the case with the World Tag titles…as a matter of fact, at any given time during the sixties and early seventies there were as many as eight different World tag team champions at any given point in time. The tag champs still traveled a bit, just to small regions covering a few different territories. They all kind of dissolved away in the seventies, and by the end of 1980, there were only three left. The Los Angeles territory closed in ’82, and Texas dropped the title claim (they were “unified” with fifty other belts anyway), and all that remained was Mid-Atlantic’s tag title, in the control of… you guessed it! Georgia Championship Wrestling.

So take most everything I wrote about the World title and GCW/WCW in the eighties, apply it to the tag titles, and you’re set. On a final note there, I’d like to mention that the Hollywood Blondes (Steve Austin and Brian Pillman) were the last great team to hold the NWA tag titles in the WCW days.

Where’d they go in the nineties? Floated here and there… were actually forgotten a couple of times, and they had to keep holding new tournaments to pick new champions! Then they were awarded to the Rock and Roll Express in the “WWF-NWA Invasion” I spoke of above. They had the distinction of being held by Bob Holly and Bart Gunn, the Headbangers, Public Enemy, and David Flair in those intervening years before TNA vacated the titles.

A tag tournament was held by TNA to crown new champions for the promotion. Who would rise to the top? The team of Jerry Lynn and A.J. Styles! Sound too good to be true? It was… the two split up when their titles were held up following a controversial decision and did not seek to regain them, since they had turned on each other by that point anyway. (See X-Division… coming soon! ;))

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XXX are your NWA World tag team champions. Vince Russo brought all three guys together when he formed SEX, who were supposedly previously unsatisfied or unable to come to contract terms with NWA.

Low Ki (bottom) had been with NWA-TNA from day one. He was an exciting component of the X-division, but had been seen in NWA less and less frequently. Supposedly, NWA wanted Low Ki to sign a long-term contract with them and stop wrestling in Japan and other promotions. Russo promised him he could take time off whenever he wanted.

Elix Skipper (left) was my favorite wrestler in the dying days of WCW. I loved him as Cruiserweight champion. I loved him as the cruiserweight tag champ with Kid Romeo. And I’ll never for the life of me understand why WWE released him from Ohio. He had appeared sporadically in NWA. Russo supposedly offered Skipper the kind of money NWA was denying him, as well as promising to get him laid.

“Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels (upper right) rounds out the team. I I haven’t seen enough of him to decide if I like him, but he’s probably the most famous wrestler never to have been in “the big three” in the nineties. Given the company he’s in, I’m sure he won’t disappoint. But apparently NWA wasn’t willing to pop for his plane tickets to Tennessee. Russo, of course, obliged.

What makes XXX unique is that they have it written into their contracts that any two members of the team may defend the titles at any time. XXX won the tag titles from America’s Most Wanted in January, but they were held up after a controversial match against the New Church a couple of weeks later. Concluding a long tournament, XXX defeated AMW again to regain their titles.

Their future remains shaky, since Gilbertti has already questioned the commitment of XXX out of frustration with the flexible schedules guaranteed to them by Russo. I should also mention that there was another Triple XXX who held the NWA tag titles in 2000; none of the current XXX was a part of that team.

Top Contenders

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When “Wildcat” Chris Harris and “Cowboy” James Storm began teaming together in the beginning days of NWA-TNA, noone knew they’d eventually become the best pure tag team in wrestling today, known as America’s Most Wanted. When I say “best pure tag team”, I mean that they’re everything a great tag team should be: a cohesive unit with the largest arsenal of tag team moves I’ve seen in years. Harris and Storm are two-time form NWA tag team champions.

Harris and Storm captured their first tag titles in September. They feuded into the winter with the New Church, until XXX came into the mix. When XXX defeated them in January, the began a long journey to regain the titles, but came up short at the end of that journey earlier this month. They don’t seem to have a direction right now, and a lot of questions were asked about Harris’s request for a single’s match last week.

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You may remember them as part of the Disciples of Apocalypse in the WWE. Or the Bruise Brothers in ECW. Or Creative Control in WCW. They are Ron and Don, the Harris Brothers. And I will give them credit, or at least one of them. One of those two Harris brothers is actually a pretty good wrestler, though I can never remember which one it is. The other sucks. But they now where different length beards so that you can tell them apart. Don is the short beard, and Ron is the long. Or is it the other way around? You figure it out.

Don actually came into the NWA a few weeks before Ron did, and it looks like both were pursuing singles careers. But when Vince Russo came in to form SEX, it was only natural for them to fall in under their old boss. Ron and Don haven’t had the most successful NWA run, but they have served as the muscle for Vince Russo, and were the first to throw their full support behind Gilbertti.

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These are the Disciples of the New Church, led by Father James Mitchell, formerly the Sinister Minister in WCW, and before that he was James Vandenburg, manager of Chris “Mortis” Kanyon and Brian “Wrath” Clark.

Brian Lee been around the independents and ECW for years, and had brief runs in the WWF as the fake Undertaker and with the Disciples of Apocalypse. Guess being a disciple is just his thing.

Slash has a very long tag team history as part of PG-13. Wolfie-D, as he was called then, and his partner, Stevie Ice, were a part of WWF’s Nation of Domination in its early days.

Malice is formerly The Wall, or Sargeant AWOl, from WCW. He’s been a force to be reckoned with, but hasn’t done much of note in NWA so far. He returned from a very long hiatus just two weeks ago.

Saturn appeared out of nowhere as part of the Church’s team against XXX this last week . He may not actually be a member of the Church, but that seems to be what’s intended here.

The first two, Brian Lee and Slash, have been the active tag team unit up until this point and are former NWA tag champs. They had a long-running fued with America’s Most Wanted, winning the tag titles for a time, and had a short fued with the Legion of Doom in December. The Disciples were hated villains until their recent fued with XXX, and now the fans love chanting “evil” during their matches. XXX has had a lot of success switching out members at will. With the return of Malice and the addition of Saturn, does James Mitchell intend to beat XXX at their own game?

Others:There haven’t been too many other tag teams in recent weeks. Another great team called Hot Shots recently returned, hired by Russo, but they were expelled immediately after Russo left, and have not been seen since. The Rock and Roll Express were also in for about two weeks or so, but haven’t been seen since January. They were also affiliated with SEX. I forgot about both of these teams in my SEX recap.

It looked like Gilbertti and Sanders were on their way to becoming active in the tag division, but Gilbertti’s leadership in SEX has created a lot of friction between the two. There seems to be a lot of tag team potential in the indies, and a new team could show up at any time and make a strong impact.

[The Penguin]

:eek: I didn't know The Wall was in TNA! I didn't know Wolfie D was either though. I wonder what happened to JC Ice?

I could never understand why WWE released Elix Skipper either. With the little TNA I've seen XXX is probably my favorite team. I just figured out now that their name is XXX because they are all members of the X Division. :o

I don't suppose you have picture of Hot Stuff somewhere? I can't remember if I've seen them or not.


Come on people I can't be the only one interested in this thread! Let Ein know you appreciate his efforts.

[EinBebop]

First of all, I goofed- They're called the Hot Shots. :eek: And this was the best picture of them I could glean of the TNA site:

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I remember seeing it mentioned somewhere that one of the Hot Shots was the jobber who had his fingers "broken" by Raven on Heat, but haven't confirmed it anywhere.

JC Ice and Wolfie D apparently broke up shortly after the Nation firing and a brief ECW run. A quick google group search shows me that JC is still wrestling in the indies, and I saw someone mentioning that he is a writer and occasional "guest" for Jerry Springer.

[Andy Mancini]

Come on people I can't be the only one interested in this thread! Let Ein know you appreciate his efforts.
I'm enjoying this thread as well. I can't actually watch it at the present moment because of the fact that I don't own a satellite dish/digital cable, and the cable-access station that shows Xplosion routinely pre-empts in for either Thunderbox, the XPW (boy this is boring, although Shark Boy has his moments), or old indie tapes from the late 80's/early 90's called Slams and Jams Wrestling, so it's fun to see what I'm missing. I really hope the rumors of Ted Turner buying back TNT and putting TNA on the air is true.

[EinBebop]

And now, for a short diversion… these are the ladies of TNA. It’s worth noting that there was a Miss TNA at the beginning, but that title seems to have left with it’s most recent holder, Bruce (formerly Kwee Wee of WCW).

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I’m starting with Desire, just because she’s my favorite and I wanted to put a larger picture of her up. Desire appeared at the side of Sonny Siaki in December, helping him win the X-division. Desire joined SEX with Sonny in December, and the two had a pretty volatile fued with Kid Kash and Trinity. She took an instant dislike to Holly Wood, but is focused on helping Siaki in his escalating fued with David Young and Athena. Desire is reported to have been a student of Dusty Rhodes at one point, and does a pretty mean looking Rock Bottom.

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Goldilocks is TNA’s interview girl, and also a very skilled singer. She seems very bush league at first, but seems to have a tendency to grow on people. I'll take her over Terri Runnels any day. Some of the wrestlers give her a lot of crap, but she brushes it aside and doesn’t back down.

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Trinity is the muscle behind Kid Kash. Some wrestlers have been mumbling the Kid Kash wouldn’t be the X-division champion if it wasn’t for the assistance of Trinity. And Trinity herself seems to be getting a little frustrated with the lack of respect and appreciation being shown by Kid Kash.

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These are the TNA dancers. They stand in cages by the ramp and dance. The blonde one, called Lollipop, was recently stripped topless after accepting a catfight with Hollywood. If the other has been given a name, I’ve forgotten it.

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Holly Wood is the newest member of SEX, brought in by Gilbertti to bring more “T and A” to the show. Her missive by Gilbertti seems to be to either rip off the other girls top or expose her own. And as mentioned before, Desire really seems to hate her.

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Alexis Laree made her first TNA appearance just last week, teaming with Amazing Red against Kid Kash and Trinity. She seems to have a very angry personality, and dominated the interview time with Red.

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Athena is TNA’s ring girl. She’s had a rough time of it as of late. The Harris Brothers gave her an H-Bomb in December. Holly challenged her to a catfight. Sonny Siaki insulted her breasts and gave her the Siakalypse now, for which she is sporting a neck brace. And this last week, she was double-teamed by Siaki and Desire. I think Athena’s about ready to start fighting back.

[The Penguin]

My favorite would also have to be Desire. She is definately the best one and I like her with Siaki.



First of all, I goofed- They're called the Hot Shots. :eek: You must have been thinking of the late, great "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. ;)

[Jin Kazama]

So that's Athena. I've heard alot about her, but've never seen her.

Thanks for doing this, Ein. I can't afford to get the PPV's weekly, and my source online for them stopped, so I'm in the blue. This helps alot.

I can't wait untill you get to the X Division. Mainly because I'm sure you'll mention one of, personally, my favorite wrestlers, The Amazing Red.

[EinBebop]

A Brief History of the X Title: Uh, well, there is no pre-TNA history. It’s a TNA creation! And the X is, of course, for extreme. This division is to give all those guys who love to get out there and do all that crazy stuff to go out and do there thing. You may be wondering how they decide who is and is not eligible to compete for the X-division. I mean, what if Hacksaw Jim Duggan decides to challenge the X-division?

“I suggest you don't worry about those things and just enjoy yourself.” – Basil, Austin Powers

The X-division kicked off in June in a spectacular manner: a four-man double elimination gauntlet. And when the smoke cleared… Psicosis fell, Low Ki was beaten, and Jerry Lynn was hit with a Styles Clash, and A.J. Styles was crowned the first X-division champion. TNA was far from perfect in its first months, but this match set the standard for the spectacular X-division matches that kept a devoted few coming back, preventing TNA from dying an early death.

Lynn and Styles were obviously the top draws in the X-division. But rather than fueding, they decided to team up and go after the tag titles. And they were very successful tag team champions. But Styles was a glory hound, and Lynn was a hothead. And that dissension enabled Low Ki to steal the title in a short-lived title reign. The Lynn/Styles rivalry continued for several months; Lynn beat Low Ki for the title. Sonny Siaki joined the mix in the fall, injuring Lynn and causing him to forfeit his title. TNA threw every X-division wrestler out into the ring for a ladder match to crown a new vacant champion. The match was taken by Syxx Pac.

This Syxx-Pac tragedy was short-lived; Styles defeated Syxx-pac for the title a couple of weeks later, and when it came time for Styles and Lynn to settle their score, Lynn was the victor, and Styles moved on to World title aspirations. But when Lynn and Siaki finally met, Siaki had help from a mystery woman now known as Desire, and robbed Lynn of the title.

The Siaki reign was considered a low point in the X-division’s short history, because Siaki became caught up in the NWA/SEX fued, which took the focus away from the X-division. Kid Kash’s victory over Siaki was very vocally announced as a step forward for the X-division.

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Kid Kash is your X-division champion. Kash was trained by Ricky Morton and teamed with Morton frequently in the mid-nineties, and had a run in ECW until it’s closing. Kash was unsuccessful in the X-division until he acquired the services of Trinity as his valet. Trinity was the difference-maker in his fued with Siaki and Desire. But now, Kash’s opponents are starting to question whether Kash could continue to be the champion without Trinity. And if Kash doesn’t starting showing Trinity a little more respect, he may have to find out.

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Jerry Lynn has been wrestling a lot more years than people realize. Now in his late thirties, Lynn’s greatness was not recognized until his long, spectacular feud with Rob Van Dam in ECW around 1999/2000. Lynn was briefly in the WWF where he was given the Light Heavyweight title, but then was defeated and gone again, in the space of what seemed like about three months. Lynn is considered the unofficial leader of the X-division, and won a title shot immediately after Kash won his title. But Lynn chose to delay his title shot indefinitely while he dealt with Konnan’s lucha invasion. Lynn defeated Konnan last week in what was presumably the blow-off to their long fued, but then Lynn was attacked by a mysterious man in a yellow mask. Konnan denied any knowledge of who the mystery man is. Hey… I just checked the TNA website, and Lynn gets a title shot at Kash tomorrow night!

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This is a mysterious man in a yellow mask. He attacked Lynn after Lynn beat Konnan last week. You now know as much as I do.

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Amazing Red has held several singles titles in the independents, and teams frequently with his cousins, the SAT. Red has his sites set firmly on the X-division title right now; he is certain that he could beat Kid Kash if Trinity was not a factor in their matches. Red has earned the title “Amazing”; he puts on some of the best matches in the company. I just wish he’d do away with the 718. He doesn’t do it nearly as good as Rey. But this guy is near the top of the list of people WWE is most likely to steal, IMO.

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Konnan showed up out of nowhere, without a contract, and began randomly beating up X-division members. When we were finally able to get an explanation out of Konnan, he explained that he was angry that the X-division had stolen and altered lucha libre. Jerry Lynn was especially enraged by Konnan’s comments, so Konnan began importing various Mexican wrestlers (including Super Crazy and Juventud Guerrera) to come in and compete with Lynn. After Lynn continued to defeat all comers, Konnan finally took on Jerry Lynn himself, but was not up to the task. It is unknown where Konnan will go from here.

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David Young is one of the founding members of the X-division, and is known for being an especially powerful man for his size. He probably won’t be very active in the divison in the next few weeks, as he’s gotten into a dispute with Sonny Siaki over his treatment of Athena.

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Paul London is a new TNA star, and has only competed about three times. But he’s a fine wrestler, and will very likely be a top contender for the title down the road.

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I totally overlooked these guys when I did tag teams, but they fit in here as well. The SAT (Spanish Announce Team) have been very active in TNA, both in the tag team and X-divisions. But being relatively small, they haven’t been pushed in the tag division, and being a team, they don’t see any shots at the X-title. If XXX holds onto the titles, perhaps they’ll become stronger contenders against smaller-than-average champions.

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Shark Boy deserves some mention. He hasn’t been seen in TNA much lately, and hasn’t been a very active force in TNA. But he is one of the most famous guys in the indies, and would probably be a top contender if he ever agreed to stick with TNA for a few weeks. He probably won’t be back before May, if he does come back. He’s signed on for about six or eight shows on WWE cards in April. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and see him on Velocity! If you go to Shark Boy’s website, there’s a great shot of Mick Foley, D-Lo, and Al Snow holding him up after winning some kind of cruiserweight tournament at a Pillman Memorial.

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Jorge Estrada is the original Flying Elvis. He was a part of a team of Flying Elvises, but they others have dropped off the radar, and Jorge had his Elvis costume stolen by Glen Gilbertti for Gilbertti’s new project, Disgraceland. But when Gilbertti moved onto other things, Disgraceland vanished and Estrada was lost in the shuffle. Having been a frequent X-competitor in the past, there’s a good chance he’ll return to his roots soon.

There’s a lot of other guys who deserve some mention here. Jimmy Yang, Tony Mamaluke, and Jason Cross among others have been frequent competitors in the past but have been relatively inactive as of late. I’d love to think some of the luchadores will be back, but they may have been all one (or two)-shots. A British guy named Jonny Storm debuted three weeks ago, that I bet WWE will be paying attention to sometime soon just because he’d be gold on their European tours. But the guys mentioned above are the ones making an impact now, or I believe are likely to make an impact in the future.

Just a little clean-up left to do with the remaining mid-carders. Hopefully I can finish that up before the show starts tomorrow. Jarrett defends the title against D-Lo; Kash defends against Lynn. Cool!

[The Penguin]

Interesting, unless I'm reading this wrong I didn't know the X-Division wasn't necessarily all cruiserweights. The bits I've seen made it seem like they just wanted all cool name for the smaller guys.

And Basil said that in The Spy Who Shagged Me ;) "That goes for you all too."

[EinBebop]

Interesting, unless I'm reading this wrong I didn't know the X-Division wasn't necessarily all cruiserweights. The bits I've seen made it seem like they just wanted all cool name for the smaller guys.By wrestling style they are; I think the intent was to avoid labelling them as smaller guys. I would imagine if they could find a larger guy to wrestle that style they would, but large guys who wrestle that style have very short careers.

Konnan's the largest guy to ever compete in the X-division that I can think of, and I don't think he's even a fit for the division; just an excuse to bring in a bunch of luchadores.

Wait, Raven also had an X-division match. Raven and Styles were fighting over who deserved a title shot; Raven told Styles he'd never last in a hardcore match against Sandman, and Styles told Raven he couldn't hang in an X-match. Not that Raven wrestled a different style in that match or anything.

So the point is that an X-match is undefined except in the sense that they're going to try to throw out at least a couple of moves to make the crowd chant, "Holy ****!"

Speaking of which, Kid Kash just started doing a really great move where he lays a guy on the ground against the center of the ropes on one side of the ring, launches himself "Air Pillman" style from the other side, doing a senton-like flip to kick the guy in the face as he lands.