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TNA: From The Inside (4/10)

Greetings from Nashville once again and welcome to FROM THE INSIDE with JB…


A solid effort from this last Wednesday night with a hot crowd at the asylum that seems to get louder every week.


The TNA PPV went off the air Wednesday night with a hot headed Jeff Jarrett taking exception to Dusty Rhodes challenging AJ Styles to a NWA World Title match this Wednesday night. Jarrett’s shot at the gold finally takes place on October 22nd, but the question is… will Jarrett be facing Rhodes or will he be taking on Styles? Find out this Wednesday night!


The addition of Dutch Mantel to the backstage lineup is going to be a tremendous asset for TNA. Anyone who has any knowledge of the incredible success of the IWA in Puerto Rico knows of Mantel’s great mind for this business and tremendous track record.


There were a number of various television executives backstage at the show Wednesday night. More TV deals in the making? Speaking of deals, TNA Xplosion is kicking off this weekend on Metro TV in the New York City area (Saturdays at 5pm ET) and Empire Sports Network (Sundays at 10pm ET). TNA’s special feature on Comcast ON DEMAND started this week and there will be a new one each month. Got friends and family that have never seen a TNA PPV before? Sit them down for an episode of Xplosion and help spread the gospel of TNA!


This Wednesday night Chris Vaughn of the Black Shirt Security will team with D-Lo Brown to take on the Red Shirt Security.


Had a chance to catch up with Jimmy Hart last weekend in Mississippi at a show. I hadn’t seen Jimmy since the last WCW show. Jimmy invited me to come do some ring announcing work in Memphis soon which should be fun. Even though I grew up with the AWA, Memphis has always been my favorite territory.


Jeff Jarrett and I had dinner with AAA’s Antonio Pena following the show Wednesday night, with Armando Quintero from TNA’s Spanish broadcast team serving as our interpreter for the evening. Pena was very impressed with our operation, and I would not be suprised to see a good working relationship develop soon. Footage of Pena’s appearance on TNA will be shown on AAA’s show this week.


Who’s hot? The Three Live Kru had a huge reaction this past Wednesday night.


Chris Sabin will put his Super X Cup trophy on the line against Michael Shane’s X-Division title in what should be a great matchup this Wednesday night.


Who’s got heat? Don Callis and the Red Shirt security came out to serious heat in the asylum. The truth of the matter is… the giant Ryan Wilson and Kevin Northcutt are real a-holes. It seems to have transferred well to television.


I finally gave Terry Taylor back his Hugo Boss t-shirt he lent me nearly three years ago at a Nitro show. Taylor won’t be wearing that shirt this Wednesday night, instead he will be wearing the striped referee shirt as he will be officiating this Wednesday night’s Kid Kash & Abyss vs. America’s Most Wanted rematch.


Speaking of Kash, his moonsault off Abyss who was sitting on the top rope was just another innovative move from the K-I-D, who has brought us some of the most amazing high flying moves in TNA history.


This Wednesday night we will see the American Dream Dusty Rhdoes try and make it four times to the NWA World Championship. Nolan Ryan struck out the masses well into his fourties… George Foreman won the world title in his fifties… can Dusty Rhodes do it too? Tune in this Wednesday night!


There are many legendary stories about the one and only Iron Sheik, who seems to get better with age. I was at a show in Iowa that Sheik was booked on. I didn’t think much of it, but an unshaven fat white dude wearing an Iron Maiden shirt came out to the ring with Sheik as the flagbearer. Now, I can’t say I’ve ever visited Iran, but the man proudly waiving the Iranian flag wouldn’t exactly match my idea of a stereotypical Iranian nationalist. Who knew that Iranians love Maiden too? Iranians rock. After the match and hearing so many stories about the Sheik, I had to do some investigation as to who this flagbearer was, and what he was doing out there… for no other reason but my own amusement. I’m glad I did.


It turns out the Iron Sheik was being flown into Chicago for this show, where he was going to meet up with some other wrestlers who were going to drive him to Iowa. Sheik’s flight was late and the contingent of wrestlers that were going to drive him had to leave in order to make the show. Minutes after finding this out, the coy and resiliant Iron Sheik was asked to sign an autograph by… coincidentally enough… a fat dude in an Iron Maiden shirt. Yes, as fate would have it a simple autograph request at led the Iron Sheik to ask this fan at the airport to drive him six hours to Iowa with absolutely no notice and be his flagbearer. Resiliant indeed, oh wise sheik-ee.


That is all for this week… I’m off Washington DC for the weekend. We will see you back here Wednesday night on Pay Per View for Dusty Rhodes / AJ Styles!


Jeremy Borash
TNABorash@aol.com