NWA-TNA TV 11-22-96 Funk vs Douglas #1 contenders match!
Nov 21, 2013 22:54:03 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Nov 21, 2013 22:54:03 GMT
THE NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE PRESENTS
TOTAL NON-STOP ACTION WRESTLING!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1996
BROADCAST ACROSS THE UNITED STATES ON TNT
LIVE FROM THE GRAND OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM IN LOS ANGELES, CA
CHRIS CRUISE opens the show at ringside, and welcomes his co-host, LEE MARSHALL.
CRUISE and MARSHALL welcome us to the historic Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California for another edition of NWA Total Non-Stop Action!
This week . . . the X Division Championship tournament begins, as the Great Sasuke meets Disco Inferno . . . NWA TV Champion American Ace will be in action . . . Terry Funk has come close to taking the NWA World title from Jeff Jarrett in recent weeks, but the NWA Championship Committee has also decided that Shane Douglas, being a former NWA Champion himself, deserves a shot at the title, so this week, Funk and Douglas will meet one on one, and the winner will meet Jarrett for the title on next week’s show!
CRUISE and MARSHALL talk about what took place two weeks ago, where Harvey Whippleman and Big Van Vader confronted Madusa Miceli in the ring after Madusa defeated Whippleman by count-out. American Ace hit the ring and brawled with Vader.
“America the Beautiful” begins to play, bringing out NWA TV Champion American Ace for our first match.
Ace's opponent, CHRIS HARRIS, makes his way down the aisle . . . but he’s stopped by Harvey Whippleman and Big Van Vader! Whippleman says something to Harris, and then hands him an envelope. Harris opens it, and it’s stuffed with money! Harris shakes Whippleman’s hand . . . and heads to the back?!?!
Whippleman then leads Big Van Vader to the ring! Whippleman grabs the house mic from Gary Michael Cappetta, and informs us that Chris Harris has agreed to remove himself from this match, and let Vader take his place!
Ace doesn’t care, he motions to Vader to bring it on and we've got an impromptu match-up!
VS. 
MATCH #1
NON-TITLE MATCH:
AMERICAN ACE (w/ “Made in the USA” Madusa Miceli) VS. BIG VAN VADER (w/ Harvey Whippleman). Ace starts the match using a hit-and-run style of attack, trying to get the monster from the Rocky Mountains on the mat where he can wear him down. It works, but only temporarily. Vader turns the tables, surprising Ace with a flurry of jabs, and backs Ace into the corner. Once in the corner, it’s all Vader, as he brings down one clubbing blow after another, leaving Ace dazed.
Watching this resembles watching a man get mauled by a grizzly bear, as the massive Vader is all over American Ace, pounding away on him with clubbing forearms and punches to the head.
Vader whips Ace into the far corner, then charges at him with a splash, then backs up, and squashes Ace again! Ace slumps in the corner, and Vader repeatedly drives his knee into the head of the masked man. The referee moves in to try and check on Ace, but Vader just shoves him aside, and continues to pummel American Ace.
At this point, Ace can’t even defend himself, and the referee tries to get in between them again, to force Vader back out of the corner. Once again, Vader grabs the ref and shoves him aside. This time, the referee calls for the bell, disqualifying Vader! Vader doesn’t care, he drops the ref with a big right hand, and turns his attention back to American Ace.
Ace stands and throws some punches at Vader, but there’s nothing behind them at this point. Vader grabs Ace, and tosses him out of the corner. Madusa Miceli is in the ring, and she stands between Vader and the fallen Ace, but Harvey Whippleman grabs ahold of her, and locks on a Full Nelson, forcing Madusa to watch what’s about to happen.
Vader bounces off the ropes and splashes his fallen opponent, then picks Ace up . . . and hits the Powerbomb!
Vader pulls Ace up and sets him up for another Powerbomb, when finally security personnel, a group of referees, and several wrestlers hit the ring and are able to get Vader and Whippleman to leave.
Moments later, Ace is loaded onto a stretcher and taken from the ring.
CRUISE and MARSHALL are stunned by what we just witnessed, by the sheer brutality of it.
A video is shown, highlighting Shane Douglas showing up in the NWA, and some of his comments made towards Terry Funk.
CRUISE talks about Funk wrestling Shane Douglas tonight, with the winner meeting Jarrett next week. They’re joined by TERRY FUNK. Funk says that Douglas has come out here for the past couple of weeks, running his mouth, saying Funk is washed up. Tonight, he’s going to show Douglas that he may be getting up there, but that won’t stop him from beating the hell out of him later tonight!
We go to a pre-recorded NWA CONTROL CENTER segment with STAN LANE.
LANE says that the countdown to BATTLEBOWL has begun! We’re 5 weeks away from the NWA’s return to Pay-Per-View, with BattleBowl airing live on Saturday night, December 28.
LANE says that there will be five Lethal Lottery tag team matches, and the winning teams will take part in the 10-man, every man for himself BattleBowl Battle Royal!
Plus, we know that the finals of the X Division title tournament will take place at BattleBowl and the NWA World title will be on the line!
BattleBowl is shaping up to be the biggest event in the history of the National Wrestling Alliance!
VS. 
MATCH #2
X DIVISION TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL:
THE GREAT SASUKE (#1 seed) VS. DISCO INFERNO (#8 seed). Disco comes out and dances in the ring before the match, but once the bell sounds, he’s all business. Sasuke flies all over the ring, hitting several high-risk moves. Late in the match, a springboard back elbow from Sasuke sends Disco to the floor. Sasuke then leaps off the top turnbuckle, hitting a moonsault from the turnbuckle to the floor! Sasuke rolls Disco back into the ring, and a minute later, hits the Thunder Fire Powerbomb for the pinfall.
CHRIS CRUISE says that they’ve received an update on American Ace, who was taken to a local LA hospital after the impromptu match earlier with Vader. He says that Ace suffered a concussion, probably a result of the repeated knee strikes to the head in the corner, and says that Ace will need to be cleared by a doctor before the NWA will let him return to the ring.
VTR – Norman Smiley vs Belfast Bruiser; Last Week on NWA Total Non-Stop Action:
. . . As we near the 7-minute mark, Jeeves makes his presence felt, as he trips Finlay as he runs the ropes. The Bruiser is back up to his feet quickly, and turns his attention to Jeeves at ringside. The referee is focused on Finlay as he yells at Jeeves, and doesn’t see Smiley pull what looks to be brass knux out of his trunks, and smash Finlay in the back of the head with them!
Finlay hits the mat like a ton of bricks, and Smiley quickly capitalizes, covering the Irishman for the 1, 2, 3!
After the match, Smiley celebrates in the ring, then snatches the ring mic from Gary Michael Cappetta, and runs down the fans before turning his attention to Finlay. He says that the Irish, the drunken slobs that they are, have picked fights with the English for decades, and each time they do, the result is the same as the result here tonight . . . the English emerge victorious.
While Smiley is talking, he doesn’t notice Finlay get back to his feet. Finlay drops Jeeves with a clothesline, then tears into Smiley, throwing haymakers with reckless abandon. Smiley dives out of the ring, and hightails it to the locker room, leaving poor Jeeves in the ring.
Finlay turns his attention back to Smiley’s servant. He picks Jeeves up, and drops him with the Celtic Cross!
STAN LANE is backstage with NORMAN SMILEY, THE MAESTRO and JEEVES. Jeeves is wearing a neckbrace.
SMILEY is livid, he calls the Belfast Bruiser a drunken Irish slob, and says that he will pay dearly for putting his filthy paws on Jeeves. He says that poor Jeeves has had to perform his duties wearing a neckbrace now, because of the Bruiser. Lane wonders if maybe Smiley should give Jeeves some time off, to let his neck heal, but Smiley just looks at him as though the idea is absurd. Smiley continues to rant and rave, and Lane sends us to a commercial break.
Back from the break, STAN LANE is backstage with NWA World Tag Team Champions THE HEAVENLY BODIES. They talk about returning from a successful tour in Mexico, where they defended the NWA titles against the very best teams Mexico had to offer! Prichard wants to know when they will get some real competition here in the NWA? Del Ray says that all the teams in the NWA are afraid to face them, and that’s why they’ve had to go to other countries to find quality teams to wrestle.
LANE says that the best teams in wrestling are lining up to challenge for the belts, and he’s sure that the Bodies will get all the competition they can handle.
CRUISE and MARSHALL talk about the debut of TEAM CANADA on last week’s show, and Cruise says that the senior member of that foursome, Rick Martel, makes his in-ring debut in our next match, against Louie Spicolli, who grew up right here in Los Angeles.
An electric guitar version of “O Canada” plays, and Coach D’Amore leads Rick Martel, Pierre Oulette and the Canadian Glamour Boys to the ring.
D’Amore gets on the house mic and says that he can’t believe they had to leave Canada, where their cities are safe, to come to a place like Los Angeles, where D’Amore says there’s crime everywhere you look, and the city is decaying right in front of their eyes!
D’Amore then says that the next match will not start until they've had the opportunity to sing the Canadian national anthem! The music starts again, and Martel, Oulette and the Glamour Boys sing the national anthem in French as the fans boo. D’Amore tells the production people to cut the music, and tells the fans that they’re going to start over, and they will continue to do so until the fans show the proper respect!
Just as the music starts again, LOUIE SPICOLLI hits the ring and our next match is underway!
VS. 
MATCH #3:
RICK MARTEL (w/ Coach D’Amore) VS. LOUIE SPICOLLI. All of Team Canada are at ringside, but before the bell even sounds, referee Mark Curtis sends all of them, except Coach D’Amore, to the locker room! Spicolli dominates the early going, but Martel uses a rake of the eyes to turn the tables, and then goes to work, wearing Spicolli down. Martel, the veteran, is in great shape, and puts on a wrestling clinic! He wears Spicolli down, locking on the Quebec Crab for the submission!
After the match, the rest of Team Canada returns to the ring. Pierre Oulette hoists Spicolli up and drops him with a Brainbuster! With Spicolli down and out, Team Canada drapes a large Canadian flag over Spicolli before leaving the ring.
CRUISE and MARSHALL talk about what we just saw, then talk about tonight’s main event. Cruise says that the winner of our next match will challenge World Champion Jeff Jarrett for the title on next week’s show.
NWA World Champion JEFF JARRETT joins Cruise and Marshall on commentary for the match.
The Eagles’ “Desperado” brings Funk to the ring. Douglas then makes his way out, to Deep Purple’s “Perfect Strangers”.
VS. 
MATCH #4
#1 CONTENDERS MATCH:
TERRY FUNK VS. SHANE DOUGLAS (w/ Sensational Sherri). Douglas may have been fond of referring to Funk as a washed-up, broken down old man in recent weeks, but Funk shows here that he can still go, and pummels Douglas with a flurry of punches that send the Franchise to the floor. Douglas takes a moment to jaw with Jeff Jarrett at the commentary desk, saying he’s coming for Jarrett’s title. While that’s going on, Funk leaves the ring, comes up behind Douglas, and grabs him by the hair. With a handful of Douglas’ hair, the Funker slams Shane’s head into the ringpost before rolling him back into the ring.
A few minutes later, the brawl moves to the floor again, and this time they end up brawling all around the commentary desk. Funk gets the upper hand, and drops Douglas with a haymaker, then turns around and nails Jarrett, who was on his feet, with a haymaker as well, knocking Jarrett backwards over his chair!
When the match moves back to the ring, Jarrett tells Cruise and Marshall that Funk just messed with the wrong person, and he grabs his guitar and heads to the ring!
The referee is knocked down when Funk gets Douglas up in an airplane spin, but Douglas’ feet hit the referee as Funk spins him around.
Jarrett gets up on the apron, and yells to Douglas, holding his guitar up. Douglas goes to whip Funk into the ropes where Jarrett is standing . . . but Funk reverses it at the last second, and Douglas collides with Jarrett, hitting his head on Jarrett’s guitar and knocking the World Champ off the apron!
As the referee slowly shakes off the cobwebs, Funk rolls Douglas up for the 1, 2, 3!
Terry Funk will face Jeff Jarrett in the main event for the World’s Heavyweight title!
Douglas complains to the referee and anyone who will listen that he was screwed.
CRUISE and MARSHALL wrap things up, and hype next week’s show, which will feature the second match of the X Division title tournament, between the legendary Jushin “Thunder” Liger and the youngster Kid Kash, and since Terry Funk was victorious over Shane Douglas here tonight, next week we’ll see Jeff Jarrett defend the NWA World title in a rematch with Funk.
CREDITS ROLL
