In the back, Goldylocks is talking to Storm and Harris about their opportunity in Gauntlet for the Gold. Storm is still doing the hick cowboy thing but, for once, Harris is too excited to give Storm crap about it.

Hall and Pac come out to a huge pop and they look thrilled to death to be back together. The two cut a promo on how excited they are to be working together again, which Hall saying that he’d work for free if he was working with Pac. Both men also own up to all the negative things that have been said about them over the years. While they’re talking, they’re jumped by Harris and Lee, who come to regret their cheapshot when they’re taken out by Pac and Hall.

Goldylocks is busier than a one-armed paper hanger. She’s with Brian Lawler, who is acting even crazier than normal. Apparently, Lawler has misplaced his girlfriend/manipulator, April and is terrified that something’s going to happen to her, saying it’s life and death.

At ringside, Hermie Sadler is back, with a more modern look and a goatee, apparently, TNA is sponsoring his car, so he’s going to sit in on commentary.

Bruce vs Blonde Chick: This again. Bruce got the jump on the woman as she came in and go the pin with a powerbomb.

Winner: Bruce. Bruce tries to continue his attack on the woman but is stopped by Sadler, playing the gentleman.

Comment: Who the hell is demanding this every week?

Goldylocks is backstage with Jerry Lynn, who has a HUGE opportunity tonight against Ron Killings. Lynn says he didn’t get a lot of opportunities in other companies and while winning the X-Division title was A goal, his next goal is being World Heavyweight Champion and, right now, that’s Ron Killings. At this point Killings stepped in and vowed that it’ll take killing him to win the title. Lynn isn’t particularly bothered by Killings or his ranting, probably because he’s heard the same or worse before.

Tag Team Gauntlet for the Gold: We get the rules for this thing: Two men will start out and at timed intervals, another man will join. A team is not fully eliminated until BOTH members have been thrown over the top rope and onto the floor. The last two team members standing will then have their partners come in and we’ll go into a straight fall match to determine the new NWA Tag Team Champions.

We start off with Lawler, who doesn’t have a partner as far as I know. His opponent is James Storm, who is all smiles.

This was a really great match as far as battle royales go. I like the rule about having to eliminate BOTH team members instead of just one. One big surprise: Apparently, Disco Inferno and Brian Lawler were partners and that’s why Disco was looking for him.  Another fun part was Scott Hall and Road Dogg facing off. When they are eliminated, it’s down to Chris Harris and Brian Lee, which brings their partners to the ring and it’s time for the final match.

Winner: Chris Harris and Brian Lee.

Comment: That was a lot of fun.

NWA World Tag Team Championship Match: James Storm and Chris Harris vs Ron Harris and Brian Lee: This match was pretty chaotic. Ron Harris met Storm on the ramp and beat him up, while Road Dogg, who was apparently still at ringside, was attacked by Jeff Jarrett, who drew some blood on his former friend.

Lee and Ron dominated Chris Harris for most of the match. Storm would make it in but would be taken out by Lee and Ron. AMW would get the win on a fluke roll up by Chris Harris that was awfully close to the ropes.

Winner: Chris Harris and James Storm.

Comment: That was really good. The crazy finish protects Lee and Harris and gives room for the feud to continue.

Backstage, Road Dogg is bleeding like he gigged too deep and is being tended to by Dad, Bob, and brother, Scott.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ron Killings vs Jerry Lynn: Both men get a great pop. I’m not really sure how good this match is going to go, but it should be interesting. We discover that part of the reason Killings hasn’t defended the belt since his match with Monte Brown is because he got a concussion in that match, which may also explain why Brown hasn’t been seen since that match either.

This match was one of those ‘It sounds great on paper’ situations. This match should’ve been really good and, instead, it was ‘eh’.

At one point, the entire X-Division came out to support Lynn, much to the crowd’s delight. But with ‘supporters’ like AJ Styles and Sonny Siaki, who needs enemies. Both men helped screw Lynn out of the title, Styles by putting Truth’s foot on the rope when Lynn had him pinned and Siaki made him ride the top rope the hard way.

Winner: Ron Killings by pinfall.

Comment: I normally hate these kinds of run-ins but the support of the X-Division was really great, even if it cost Lynn the NWA Title. Lynn gets a standing ovation for his performance.

While West is doing his ‘PLEASE come back and watch us’ sell, Road Dogg comes out, yelling about Jeff Jarrett and is attacked by Killings and Jarrett, which brings out Pac and Scott Hall. The NWO/DX alum stand tall, much to the joy of the crowd.

Overall Comments: So, how was the first TNA of the Panda Energy days? This was actually really good, especially compared to where things were at in episodes 10 and 11. All of the matches were good and told pretty good stories. We saw some future stars in the beginning of their careers and saw some old friends.

The Lawler/Jarrett story adds more confusion to the Jarrett situation because Jarrett is clearly a face here. His life-long friend is being manipulated into believing that Jarrett did something unspeakable to Lawler’s girlfriend. At the same time, you feel for Lawler who is too smitten to see that she’s using him.

My issue with how women are treated got some validation this week. Scott Hall and X-Pac’s treatment of Goldylocks: Being polite, understanding that Goldy’s there to do a job, not taking what she says personally, made the rest of the bunch look even worse. Hall and Pac looked like the pros that they are and made guys like the Hot Shots and Disco Inferno look terrible. They showed that really cool guys treat women with respect and I appreciated that.

Stinkers: For once, this is easy because there was only one that stunk to high heaven, and that was Bruce vs Blonde Woman. I hope this storyline gets abandoned soon. I’m going to give Diamond/Tiny a little bit of a pass because it was so quick, I actually forgot about it until I was editing.

Snoozers: Killings vs Lynn. The match was good, but there was no chemistry between them.

Match of the Night: Styles vs Kash, though Gauntlet for the Gold was pretty good too.

Final Thoughts: After the absolute messes that were the last several episode of TNA, this show as a breath of fresh air. I hope this continues.

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