Black Widow
06-21-2008, 05:50 PM
Jeremy Borash hosted and announced the show. He pumped up the crowd throughout the evening with the usual introduce the local DJ, pulling fans to go backstage, hyping that footage would be on Impact, etc.
1st Match: Curry Man vs. Johnny Devine
Nice, fast-paced match to get the crowd going. Curry Man gets the win with the Spice Rack. Afterwards, Curry carried a kid wearing a Curry Man t-shirt around ringside.
2nd Match: The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) vs. Traci Brooks and Roxxi Laveaux
Traci and Roxxi get the win after Roxxi hits the Voodoo Drop on Angelina. Afterwards, the Beautiful People lay out Traci and Roxxi and attempt to shave Traci's hair. ODB runs in for the save. In a funny moment, ODB offers her flask to both Roxxi and Traci who each spit it out (Traci accidentally on ODB's chest) before Roxxi downs the flask herself.
3rd Match: Kip James vs. "Showtime" Eric Young
In a case of epic stalling, I was taking a bathroom break after introductions and was able to return before they finally tied up. Kip was mostly in control until he knocked Eric out of the ring. Eric went underneath the ring and, surprise surprise, Super Eric appeared moments later. Super Eric wins with the Death Valley Driver.
4th Match: Robert Roode vs. The Phenomenal AJ Styles
A fairly decent back-and-forth match, on par with typical AJ matches. AJ wins after flipping out of a roll-up into the Styles Clash.
5th Match: Three way for the X-Division Title: X-Division Champion "Maple Leaf Muscle" Petey Williams vs. Kaz vs. Consequences Creed
The lively crowd was surprisingly quiet for this one. I guess Kaz isn't that over yet, Creed is too new (and is constantly losing), and Petey was the default fan-favorite because of his unique offense in the match. Petey was wrestling with a facemask. Petey wins with the Canadian Destroyer on Creed (good thing Petey is Canadian and not Russian considering Creed came out to James Brown's "Living in America.")
6th Match: "Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm (with "The Pride of Tennesee" Jacqueline) vs. Shark Boy
During his entrance, Storm knocked an Icee out of a kid's hand which Shark Boy would end up slipping later while chasing Jacqueline. He was also the first wrestler to speak to the crowd saying that he loved fast cars, hot women, and cold beer, and Bloomington had none of them. Also, he could beat anybody in the building in fighting, drinking, and "Gueetar Hero on the X-Box." Shark Boy said that he was a Playstation person, and that Jacqueline could be found working the corner of Market and Main in her outfit. Storm wins after spitting beer in Sharkie's face and hitting the Last Call superkick. Afterwards, Storm left and Jacqueline started berating and slapping Shark Boy, receiving a Chunner for her troubles. SB celebrated with a clam juice bash with the crowd. Storm came back to check on Jacqueline, but then left her laying.
7th Match: TNA World Title Match: TNA Champion Samoa Joe vs "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner (with Petey Williams)
Steiner said that he at first thought that he was going to wrestle in Bloomington, Indiana, but he had to wrestle in the cesspool of Bloomington, Illinois (strangely, "cesspool" got a pop. Gotta love wrestling fans). He knew that he was the best athlete in town since he came from a "real" university, the University of Michigan (Bloomington-Normal is the home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University).
The match saw plenty of interference from Petey including Steiner hitting Joe with Petey's chainmail hood while the ref was distracted. The ending saw Petey knock out the ref which led to a double team on Joe. Petey attempted a Canadian Destroyer while Steiner was sitting on the top rope, but Joe shoved him into Steiner leading into the Muscle Buster for the win.
We were promised a special surprise in exchange for Kurt Angle missing the show due to injury. The "surprise" was that fans would be able to sign autographs and take pictures with TNA wrestlers at ringside (hardly a surprise, but it still is a great gesture that they provide all their fans).
Notes
-Booker T, Sonjay Dutt, Black Reign, and The Rock N' Rave Infection were announced on the TNA website but did not appear.
-The U.S. Cellular Coliseum was half curtained off, and only the floor seats were sold out. There were roughly 1500-2000 people who were hungry for wrestling since there are few live shows that run in central Illinois. Jeremy Borash announced that TNA would be back in Bloomington at a later date.
All in all, a solidly entertaining show. This was my first show since I attended an XWF (remember them?) show in Hammond, IN in 2001 and it capped off a wrestling-themed day combined with seeing Get Smart (featuring Dwayne Johnson and The Great Khali).
PWInsider.com
1st Match: Curry Man vs. Johnny Devine
Nice, fast-paced match to get the crowd going. Curry Man gets the win with the Spice Rack. Afterwards, Curry carried a kid wearing a Curry Man t-shirt around ringside.
2nd Match: The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) vs. Traci Brooks and Roxxi Laveaux
Traci and Roxxi get the win after Roxxi hits the Voodoo Drop on Angelina. Afterwards, the Beautiful People lay out Traci and Roxxi and attempt to shave Traci's hair. ODB runs in for the save. In a funny moment, ODB offers her flask to both Roxxi and Traci who each spit it out (Traci accidentally on ODB's chest) before Roxxi downs the flask herself.
3rd Match: Kip James vs. "Showtime" Eric Young
In a case of epic stalling, I was taking a bathroom break after introductions and was able to return before they finally tied up. Kip was mostly in control until he knocked Eric out of the ring. Eric went underneath the ring and, surprise surprise, Super Eric appeared moments later. Super Eric wins with the Death Valley Driver.
4th Match: Robert Roode vs. The Phenomenal AJ Styles
A fairly decent back-and-forth match, on par with typical AJ matches. AJ wins after flipping out of a roll-up into the Styles Clash.
5th Match: Three way for the X-Division Title: X-Division Champion "Maple Leaf Muscle" Petey Williams vs. Kaz vs. Consequences Creed
The lively crowd was surprisingly quiet for this one. I guess Kaz isn't that over yet, Creed is too new (and is constantly losing), and Petey was the default fan-favorite because of his unique offense in the match. Petey was wrestling with a facemask. Petey wins with the Canadian Destroyer on Creed (good thing Petey is Canadian and not Russian considering Creed came out to James Brown's "Living in America.")
6th Match: "Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm (with "The Pride of Tennesee" Jacqueline) vs. Shark Boy
During his entrance, Storm knocked an Icee out of a kid's hand which Shark Boy would end up slipping later while chasing Jacqueline. He was also the first wrestler to speak to the crowd saying that he loved fast cars, hot women, and cold beer, and Bloomington had none of them. Also, he could beat anybody in the building in fighting, drinking, and "Gueetar Hero on the X-Box." Shark Boy said that he was a Playstation person, and that Jacqueline could be found working the corner of Market and Main in her outfit. Storm wins after spitting beer in Sharkie's face and hitting the Last Call superkick. Afterwards, Storm left and Jacqueline started berating and slapping Shark Boy, receiving a Chunner for her troubles. SB celebrated with a clam juice bash with the crowd. Storm came back to check on Jacqueline, but then left her laying.
7th Match: TNA World Title Match: TNA Champion Samoa Joe vs "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner (with Petey Williams)
Steiner said that he at first thought that he was going to wrestle in Bloomington, Indiana, but he had to wrestle in the cesspool of Bloomington, Illinois (strangely, "cesspool" got a pop. Gotta love wrestling fans). He knew that he was the best athlete in town since he came from a "real" university, the University of Michigan (Bloomington-Normal is the home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University).
The match saw plenty of interference from Petey including Steiner hitting Joe with Petey's chainmail hood while the ref was distracted. The ending saw Petey knock out the ref which led to a double team on Joe. Petey attempted a Canadian Destroyer while Steiner was sitting on the top rope, but Joe shoved him into Steiner leading into the Muscle Buster for the win.
We were promised a special surprise in exchange for Kurt Angle missing the show due to injury. The "surprise" was that fans would be able to sign autographs and take pictures with TNA wrestlers at ringside (hardly a surprise, but it still is a great gesture that they provide all their fans).
Notes
-Booker T, Sonjay Dutt, Black Reign, and The Rock N' Rave Infection were announced on the TNA website but did not appear.
-The U.S. Cellular Coliseum was half curtained off, and only the floor seats were sold out. There were roughly 1500-2000 people who were hungry for wrestling since there are few live shows that run in central Illinois. Jeremy Borash announced that TNA would be back in Bloomington at a later date.
All in all, a solidly entertaining show. This was my first show since I attended an XWF (remember them?) show in Hammond, IN in 2001 and it capped off a wrestling-themed day combined with seeing Get Smart (featuring Dwayne Johnson and The Great Khali).
PWInsider.com