[2004-04-14-NWA TNA] Raven vs Chris Harris

Raven vs Chris Harris (04/14/04 TNA)

For the right to get Jarrett in a cage for the NWA title. Talk about a selling clinic, this is one. Harris milks his left shoulder injury for all its worth and Raven always goes back to it. To even things up, at one point where they fight near the ropes, Harris tangles Raven's right leg in the ropes and goes after the knee, so it's knee vs shoulder. Raven's selling is wonderful, just not hobbling around but selling the pain and annoyance with excellent facials and body language. Some different kind of moves too, with Raven going for a japanese armbar as a counter with the announcers pointing out Harris is not familiar with this hold, and later on a chicken-wing which he "learned from Bob Backlund" which was a neat detail (although didn't make much sense considering his history) . A little bit of screwiness aside (James Storm and Sabu making run-ins, Russo having to put himself over as the authority too) which hurt the flow of the match, and the fact they sold their injury a little less in the finishing stretch, going for more efficiency on the action side, this was an excellent match with more than solid work. They did a really good job building up Harris as a N°1 contender and solo babyface, he does look like a breakout star. The run for Jarrett's title, with Raven putting the loss over strong, makes the title seem really important, like it should. This is the best TNA has looked on top since the Raven chase the previous year, but since Russo isn't booking anymore (although still an annoyance as an on-air character, just as bad as ever as a babyface) it's overall much better.