21 Years Ago In TNA #09 - No Buys. No Money. (August 14th, 2002)

Last week's program saw the crowning of a new NWA World Champion, which should have been a big deal, but wasn't because this show sucks. Last week's program also saw the beginning of the ongoing "Dupp Cupp" nonsense that I refused to mention because I wanted to focus on the main takeaway of that program and not find more ways of saying this show sucks.

That's what this episode is for... and so the misery continues.

Fuck.

The ninth-ever NWA-TNA PPV opens with the new NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Ron Killings cutting a promo about acheiving his dreams despite being told that he would never make it because he was a black man in a white man's world. This guy is supposed to be the heel - you're supposed to boo this man because he's playing the race card - but fuck that noise because he's got a point. And you know what? Kudos to TNA for giving the new World Champion a chance to deliver a victory speech of sorts.

And then out comes Jeff Jarrett to bitch about not getting a title shot and one of the NWA guys tells him to fuck off before Brian Christopher (who does NOT want ot be known as Jerry's kid, but decides to use the old man's real name) starts attacking Jarrett. He tries to go for a chair, but fails to do so because the fans won't let him. Okay, I laughed.

Six man match opens up with Amazing Red and his two partnes whose names I don't recall beating the team of former ECW alumni Kid Kash, some young dude named Slim J, and the man, the myth, the legend known as SHARK BOY. Give us a Shell Yeah!

Or not because then we have one of the Rainbow Express guys fighting a rather obese woman... but then we have Don Harris and Malice in a Last Man Standing match and it's just two big fuckers beating the fuck out of each. Harris ends up winning and the two guys shake hands. What is this, Ring Of Honor? We don't shake hands in TNA. SMELL THE RATINGS, BRO!

Yeah, about that...

There's a Dupp Cupp match that I skip, a street fight between Monty Brown and Elix Skipper that's just there, a four-way X-Division title match that sees Low Ki retaining his title against the Flying Elvises by rolling up Sonny Siaki (don't worry, kid - you'll break away from the silly gimmick soon enough), another Disco Inferno Jive Talkin' Waste Of Time, and a tag-title match that ends in a no-contest because we have a double pin situation. If you honestly think I'm going to go back and check who pinned who, it's obviously your first time here.

Trash.

A day after the PPV aired, the financial backers of TNA Wrestling, Health South, pulls out of the deal and leaves TNA in dire straights. Needless to say, they need to find a new backer or else this venture is going out the window. Digging a little deeper, apparently Health South had their own issues at hand and their pulling out of the deal is more due to their own issues and less due to the shows being god-awful. I mean, sure, the latter makes for a better story and maybe it does play some factor, but it's entirely possible that this might've happened whether the shows sucked or not.

So yes, TNA was in trouble. They needed help financially if they were to stay in business. Sadly, they needed good shows to sell to people and convince them to spend ten bucks a week on their shows... and that ain't happening any time soon.