Black Widow
06-16-2008, 11:03 PM
TNA UK House show - 15 June 2008
TNA Wrestling brought their first ever UK tour to an end with a show in front of sold-out, and extremely loud, crowd of around 2,000 fans at the Brentwood International Centre, Essex. The show featured a quality card from top to bottom, and was as well put together and fan-friendly as any show I've attended. Jeremy Borash was our MC and ring announcer for tonight, and frankly it would be hard to exaggerate how much of an asset he is to TNA's house shows. Although he does the usual schtick of sucking up to the crowd and promoting the company as the greatest thing since someone realised simulated fights are more fun than real ones, he does a phenomenal job of keeping the crowd hot throughout the show. Borash was also in charge of giving backstage passes to "the loudest fans in the building" to go and hang out with the stars of TNA, which is a great example of how TNA go out of their way to show appreciation for their international fanbase. Results for the show were as follows:
The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) defeated Sonjay Dutt and TNA X Division Champion Petey Williams via pinfall.
Great way to kick off the show in high gear. The Guns were over huge in Essex, whilst Sonjay got some great heel heat, and looked good in his new role. Petey got the usual combination of boos and cheers, with his Scott Steiner impression being just too funny to hate. Lots of fast-paced action, with Sabin and Shelley producing their usual excellent tandem offence. The finish came when Williams' Canadian Destroyer attempt on Shelley was caught by Sabin mid-rotation and reversed into some sort of tag-team Dominator (Ok, I can't remember exactly what it was but the crowd popped huge).
TNA World Knockouts Championship: Awesome Kong (c) defeated Gail Kim via pinfall to retain her title.
Great reaction for Gail's entrance, with Kong recieving loud boos with a smattering of cheers. The crowd seemed really excited at seeing the Knockouts go at it, another sign that Women's wrestling is enjoying a true Golden period at the moment. Good match, with Gail hitting fast, high-flying moves to get Kong off balance, only to be over-powered by the monster. Gail nailed a perfect cross body block from the top rope to the floor, earning a deafening "That was awesome" chant. Finish came when Kong caught Gail attempting a high-risk move and planted her with a double underhook faceplant, followed by the Awesome Bomb for the pin.
"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles defeated "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and "The Anarchist" Doug Williams via pinfall.
All three men recieved good ovations, with AJ being ridiculously over. Doug Williams, for years now touted as possibly Britain's finest in-ring performer, got a nice response from the crowd, as well as chants throughout the match. Great three way match, with all three men hitting their trademark spots and working a fast pace. Styles nailed a huge running senton to the floor, getting a massive pop. Williams showed off his great technical skills, punishing the Americans with some great double submission holds, which the crowd ate up. The finish came when Doug reversed a Lethal Combination and hit Jay with a sick looking Chaos Theory (Backwards roll up into a German Suplex), only for AJ to catch him with a Styles Clash for the pin. Post-match, all three men posed for the crowd, with AJ getting on the mic and presenting "your own, Doug Williams" to the crowd. Jeremy Borash then took the mic to announce that Doug would be "representing the UK" (presumably as part of Team International) in the World X Cup at Victory Road.
Jeremy Borash then spent time shilling the upcoming "TNA Impact" video game, which was followed by a presentation of the latest trailer on the big screens. TNA certainly can't be accused of not getting behind the game, and rightly so.
TNA World Tag Team Champions LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) defeated Robert Roode and "Cowboy" James Storm via pinfall.
Fun match. LAX were over huge, and Roode and Storm are simply brilliant old-school heels. Lots of fun brawling, with Homicide working hard and Hernandez showing his agility nailing a huge suicide dive to the floor. About half the crowd were chanting "187" for Homicide, with the other half apparently not being ROH fans. Sadly for the Cowboy, everyone in the building understood the significance of the ever-present "Brokeback Mountain" chants. Finish came with Homicide nailing his Gringo Cutter on Storm for the pin. Post match, Roode and Storm teased dissention, prompting loud chants of "fight, fight, fight", only to embrace and flip off the fans, leaving to deafening boos.
Jeremy Borash then introduced TNA President Dixie Carter, who came out to thank the fans for making TNA's first UK tour a big success. She claimed that she had "just received an email on my Blackberry" and announced the return UK tour for January that had already been announced the previous night and had been on TNAWrestling.com and this site for about 24 hours. Strange that the President of th company would be the last to find out... She also announced that the January tour would be a four stop tour including venues such as the Manchester Evening News Arena and Wembley Arena. As these venues hold upwards of 10-15,000 for wrestling, it goes without saying that this is the most ambitious tour in the company's history, including the US.
Booker T defeated Rhino by pinfall.
Yet another strong match. Rhino was hugely over, whilst Booker had a mixed reaction until his great heel work turned the crowd almost entirely against him. Lots of stalling to start with Rhino seemingly having fun pointing to sections of the crowd to cheer, only for Booker to get in his face. This prompted Rhino to get on the mic to say he was having fun, and would get to kicking Booker's ass when he was ready. Later Booker did the same thing, pointing to sections of the crowd to boo him. Good brawling throughout. Booker teased a spineroonie, only to flip off the crowd, promting Rhino to perform one of his own. Finish came when Booker T nailed the Ax Kick for the pinfall.
JB then introduced "arguably the greatest pro wrestler of all time" Kurt Angle. Angle came out to the pop of the night to give a speech thanking the fans and explaining his injury. He put over the UK fans and the importance of the tour, and promised he'd be back wrestling in the UK in January. Early in the speech, the inevitable "What?" chants began, prompting Kurt to laugh and say "Here we go, it never goes away. Sometimes I want to kill Stone Cold Steve Austin. Angle did his usual running down of Vince McMahon and WWE, putting over the talent and fans of TNA, prompting a "F**k you Vince" chant that Angle certainly didn't discourage!
Main Event: TNA World Heavyweight Champion "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe defeated "The Monster" Abyss via pinfall.
Solid main event, though certainly not the blowaway Joe match I would have hoped for had Angle not been injured. Joe was hugely over, second only to Angle, with the usual chants of "Joe's gonna kill you" alongside the old ROH "Ole" chants. Good back and forth brawling in and around the ring. The finish came when Earl Hebner was knocked out, Abyss went to hit Joe with the title belt, only for Joe to duck and nail his running single leg dropkick for the perhaps anti-climactic pin. I guess they didn't want Abyss submitting and Joe certainly wasn't going to hit the Muscle Buster, which is one of the reasons I would have preferred to see a smaller opponent for the champ.
Pot-show, JB announced that VIP ticket holders could stay behind for a free autograph signing with basically the whole roster at ringside, whilst the Motor City Machine Guns would be in the lobby to sign and take pictures for the rest of us. A great way to end a very good show, and a hugely successful tour for TNA Wrestling. The show clocked in at around 2 1/2 hours with a 20 minute intermission, which probably helped to keep the show tight and leave fans wanting more. Tickets for the January tour go on sale at the end of the month, meaning they have around seven months to achieve the mammoth task of filling such huge arenas, which would really be a huge step up for the company.
Steve Dunn
PWInsider.com
TNA Wrestling brought their first ever UK tour to an end with a show in front of sold-out, and extremely loud, crowd of around 2,000 fans at the Brentwood International Centre, Essex. The show featured a quality card from top to bottom, and was as well put together and fan-friendly as any show I've attended. Jeremy Borash was our MC and ring announcer for tonight, and frankly it would be hard to exaggerate how much of an asset he is to TNA's house shows. Although he does the usual schtick of sucking up to the crowd and promoting the company as the greatest thing since someone realised simulated fights are more fun than real ones, he does a phenomenal job of keeping the crowd hot throughout the show. Borash was also in charge of giving backstage passes to "the loudest fans in the building" to go and hang out with the stars of TNA, which is a great example of how TNA go out of their way to show appreciation for their international fanbase. Results for the show were as follows:
The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) defeated Sonjay Dutt and TNA X Division Champion Petey Williams via pinfall.
Great way to kick off the show in high gear. The Guns were over huge in Essex, whilst Sonjay got some great heel heat, and looked good in his new role. Petey got the usual combination of boos and cheers, with his Scott Steiner impression being just too funny to hate. Lots of fast-paced action, with Sabin and Shelley producing their usual excellent tandem offence. The finish came when Williams' Canadian Destroyer attempt on Shelley was caught by Sabin mid-rotation and reversed into some sort of tag-team Dominator (Ok, I can't remember exactly what it was but the crowd popped huge).
TNA World Knockouts Championship: Awesome Kong (c) defeated Gail Kim via pinfall to retain her title.
Great reaction for Gail's entrance, with Kong recieving loud boos with a smattering of cheers. The crowd seemed really excited at seeing the Knockouts go at it, another sign that Women's wrestling is enjoying a true Golden period at the moment. Good match, with Gail hitting fast, high-flying moves to get Kong off balance, only to be over-powered by the monster. Gail nailed a perfect cross body block from the top rope to the floor, earning a deafening "That was awesome" chant. Finish came when Kong caught Gail attempting a high-risk move and planted her with a double underhook faceplant, followed by the Awesome Bomb for the pin.
"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles defeated "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and "The Anarchist" Doug Williams via pinfall.
All three men recieved good ovations, with AJ being ridiculously over. Doug Williams, for years now touted as possibly Britain's finest in-ring performer, got a nice response from the crowd, as well as chants throughout the match. Great three way match, with all three men hitting their trademark spots and working a fast pace. Styles nailed a huge running senton to the floor, getting a massive pop. Williams showed off his great technical skills, punishing the Americans with some great double submission holds, which the crowd ate up. The finish came when Doug reversed a Lethal Combination and hit Jay with a sick looking Chaos Theory (Backwards roll up into a German Suplex), only for AJ to catch him with a Styles Clash for the pin. Post-match, all three men posed for the crowd, with AJ getting on the mic and presenting "your own, Doug Williams" to the crowd. Jeremy Borash then took the mic to announce that Doug would be "representing the UK" (presumably as part of Team International) in the World X Cup at Victory Road.
Jeremy Borash then spent time shilling the upcoming "TNA Impact" video game, which was followed by a presentation of the latest trailer on the big screens. TNA certainly can't be accused of not getting behind the game, and rightly so.
TNA World Tag Team Champions LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) defeated Robert Roode and "Cowboy" James Storm via pinfall.
Fun match. LAX were over huge, and Roode and Storm are simply brilliant old-school heels. Lots of fun brawling, with Homicide working hard and Hernandez showing his agility nailing a huge suicide dive to the floor. About half the crowd were chanting "187" for Homicide, with the other half apparently not being ROH fans. Sadly for the Cowboy, everyone in the building understood the significance of the ever-present "Brokeback Mountain" chants. Finish came with Homicide nailing his Gringo Cutter on Storm for the pin. Post match, Roode and Storm teased dissention, prompting loud chants of "fight, fight, fight", only to embrace and flip off the fans, leaving to deafening boos.
Jeremy Borash then introduced TNA President Dixie Carter, who came out to thank the fans for making TNA's first UK tour a big success. She claimed that she had "just received an email on my Blackberry" and announced the return UK tour for January that had already been announced the previous night and had been on TNAWrestling.com and this site for about 24 hours. Strange that the President of th company would be the last to find out... She also announced that the January tour would be a four stop tour including venues such as the Manchester Evening News Arena and Wembley Arena. As these venues hold upwards of 10-15,000 for wrestling, it goes without saying that this is the most ambitious tour in the company's history, including the US.
Booker T defeated Rhino by pinfall.
Yet another strong match. Rhino was hugely over, whilst Booker had a mixed reaction until his great heel work turned the crowd almost entirely against him. Lots of stalling to start with Rhino seemingly having fun pointing to sections of the crowd to cheer, only for Booker to get in his face. This prompted Rhino to get on the mic to say he was having fun, and would get to kicking Booker's ass when he was ready. Later Booker did the same thing, pointing to sections of the crowd to boo him. Good brawling throughout. Booker teased a spineroonie, only to flip off the crowd, promting Rhino to perform one of his own. Finish came when Booker T nailed the Ax Kick for the pinfall.
JB then introduced "arguably the greatest pro wrestler of all time" Kurt Angle. Angle came out to the pop of the night to give a speech thanking the fans and explaining his injury. He put over the UK fans and the importance of the tour, and promised he'd be back wrestling in the UK in January. Early in the speech, the inevitable "What?" chants began, prompting Kurt to laugh and say "Here we go, it never goes away. Sometimes I want to kill Stone Cold Steve Austin. Angle did his usual running down of Vince McMahon and WWE, putting over the talent and fans of TNA, prompting a "F**k you Vince" chant that Angle certainly didn't discourage!
Main Event: TNA World Heavyweight Champion "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe defeated "The Monster" Abyss via pinfall.
Solid main event, though certainly not the blowaway Joe match I would have hoped for had Angle not been injured. Joe was hugely over, second only to Angle, with the usual chants of "Joe's gonna kill you" alongside the old ROH "Ole" chants. Good back and forth brawling in and around the ring. The finish came when Earl Hebner was knocked out, Abyss went to hit Joe with the title belt, only for Joe to duck and nail his running single leg dropkick for the perhaps anti-climactic pin. I guess they didn't want Abyss submitting and Joe certainly wasn't going to hit the Muscle Buster, which is one of the reasons I would have preferred to see a smaller opponent for the champ.
Pot-show, JB announced that VIP ticket holders could stay behind for a free autograph signing with basically the whole roster at ringside, whilst the Motor City Machine Guns would be in the lobby to sign and take pictures for the rest of us. A great way to end a very good show, and a hugely successful tour for TNA Wrestling. The show clocked in at around 2 1/2 hours with a 20 minute intermission, which probably helped to keep the show tight and leave fans wanting more. Tickets for the January tour go on sale at the end of the month, meaning they have around seven months to achieve the mammoth task of filling such huge arenas, which would really be a huge step up for the company.
Steve Dunn
PWInsider.com