Black Widow
08-24-2008, 06:18 PM
I attended the TNA house show last night in Topeka, KS. I'm not good at guessing attendance totals, but there was at least a couple hundred there. I was impressed that many people knew of TNA, and they were hot all night long. On to the results:
The Rock-n-Rave Infection vs. Eric Young & Rhino:
Rock-n-Rave came out first and cut a basic heel promo, putting down the city and telling everyone they wanted to leave. Young came out, and was beaten down by R-n-R before Rhino came out to a big pop. The match eventually settled into a regular tag match, with Rhino scoring the pin with a gore on Lance Rock. Fun match with the crowd loving Eric Young.
Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt:
Dutt really seems to be evolving into a good heel. He played to the crowd the entire match, and had them all riled up. Like some of their other matches, they couldn't seem to make up their mind if they wanted to brawl or mat wrestle, so it was some weird in between hybrid. Dutt scored the victory with a roll up while grabbing the ropes, running to the back as soon as the bell rung. It was an ok match, but I was really hoping for a little more of their high flying stuff. Not bad though, by any means, especially with Dutt being real entertaining.
Kip James vs. Matt Morgan:
Well, I don't know why this happens, but it seems every time I go to a show, I end up with a Kip James match. I don't know who I angered, but it seems to happen every time. Getting past that, this was just an ok match. Nothing really major happened in the match, with Morgan scoring the pin with some variance of a faceplant. Just watching Morgan in this match makes you wonder why WWE dropped him. Just a huge man who made Kip look small (and Kip isn't that small).
Sheik Abdul Basir vs. AJ Styles:
Sheik came out to a ton of boos, and the expected USA chants. Isn't Sheik from the US? This was a good back and forth match, with Basir working on Styles arm & shoulder throughout the match, including wrapping it around the post a few times. After a number of near falls, AJ won the match with a Styles Clash. I really enjoyed this match, as they got a good amount of time and used a bunch of psychology which helped a lot. Styles got in most of his signature moves, and I've always thought Basir has been underrated. After the match, Sheik got into it with the ref (I think they said his name was Shane Sealy, or something like that), and after Sheik had pushed him for the second time, the ref went nuts on Basir, punching and chopping him before clotheslining him out of the ring. They played this up like he just snapped and had enough of Basir yelling at him, even acting shocked he had done that after knocking him out of the ring. It was fun all the way around, and up to this point the match of the night.
Intermission
Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong:
Kong truly is awesome. There seemed to be a hush that spread over the crowd when she came out, like they were just in awe of her size. It was a nice back and forth match, with Taylor trying to get some offense in before Kong would use a power move to gain control. Kong started dominating her eventually, as expected, and just when it seemed she was going to win it, Taylor rolled her up for the pin. Fun match with both women looking impressive, and Taylor pulling out the expected victory. I will say that I was a little in awe of my friend proposing marriage to Kong...I think he was joking. I think.
Beer Money, Inc. vs. LAX:
Storm started cutting a great promo before LAX came out, running down the city and its people. He said Topeka was the city of "fat chicks and retards" and that Topeka sounds like the name of a disease, like "I'm sorry to inform you that you have a bad case of Topeka." He then said that there is no way the people there should be breeding, adding "we don't even do that stuff in Tennessee." The crowd was completely playing into his hand, booing, yelling, and cussing at the Cowboy, and at this point I was absolutely enjoying the promo, when he took it to the next level. He saw a guy in the front row with a John Cena shirt and said "oh, look, a Cena fan; that must mean you swallow. You're at a TNA show boy, not that WWE crap." I immediately got flashbacks to the Dudleys in ECW, as the crowd began yelling and cussing even more, with a few wanting to jump the front row. It was a great promo, and i literally wanted to just shake his hand and tell him how great it was. Just wonderful.
On to the match...Great match with a ton of action, comedy and psychology. Roode and Storm work great together, pulled out about every heel move in the book. At one point Roode got thrown into the corner, followed by Jackie, then Storm. Hernandez did the big splash onto them, with Storm falling down on his back, Jackie face first into his crotch, and Roode falling down to where he was on his knees behind Jackie(lol). As the action picked up, they all ventured to the outside, before Hernandez hit the big dive onto the outside. In the end though, Beer Money hit a backwards neckbreaker and got the pin. After the match, Jackie got into Homicide's face and her slapping him, with Homicide hitting her with an Ace Cutter. BM pulled her out of the ring, as LAX celebrated in the ring with a couple of kids. I chuckled at the thought of here is someone named Homicide playing in the ring with a couple of kids. I bet he never thought that would happen when he was working indies in the Northeast. Easily match of the night, and all four guys deserve a standing ovation for a great showing.
Abyss vs. Samoa Joe:
Abyss' size is just scary. I really wanted to love this match, but Joe had a problem getting Abyss up for a few moves, and Abyss just seemed to be a tad off tonight, as the match just didn't flow real great. It was a fun match to watch though, and I was just glad I got to watch Joe live. Near the end of the match, the ref got knocked out, which brought out the ref from the Bashir incident earlier in the night. Abyss started pushing him around, and just when it looked the ref was going to get into it with the monster, Abyss picked him up for a black hole slam. This brought out a few officials, and Abyss blew them off and went and grabbed a chair. He climbed back into the ring and went to hit Joe with it when joe kicked it back into Abyss' face. Joe then hit him with an enziguri and pinned Abyss for the victory. After the match AJ Styles came out and celebrated with Joe. Good match but they just didn't seem to click like i thought they would.
Overall, this was a really fun show. I recommend anyone who just wants to go and watch a fun show, go to a TNA house show. They are really great at fan interaction, which seems t be lacking at the last couple of WWE house shows i've been to. They really go out of their way to get the fans involved, including giving away backstage passes and at the end of the show a number of wrestlers came out and signed autographs. I kind of wish Impact was a little more like this, as it was just fun to watch.
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The Rock-n-Rave Infection vs. Eric Young & Rhino:
Rock-n-Rave came out first and cut a basic heel promo, putting down the city and telling everyone they wanted to leave. Young came out, and was beaten down by R-n-R before Rhino came out to a big pop. The match eventually settled into a regular tag match, with Rhino scoring the pin with a gore on Lance Rock. Fun match with the crowd loving Eric Young.
Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt:
Dutt really seems to be evolving into a good heel. He played to the crowd the entire match, and had them all riled up. Like some of their other matches, they couldn't seem to make up their mind if they wanted to brawl or mat wrestle, so it was some weird in between hybrid. Dutt scored the victory with a roll up while grabbing the ropes, running to the back as soon as the bell rung. It was an ok match, but I was really hoping for a little more of their high flying stuff. Not bad though, by any means, especially with Dutt being real entertaining.
Kip James vs. Matt Morgan:
Well, I don't know why this happens, but it seems every time I go to a show, I end up with a Kip James match. I don't know who I angered, but it seems to happen every time. Getting past that, this was just an ok match. Nothing really major happened in the match, with Morgan scoring the pin with some variance of a faceplant. Just watching Morgan in this match makes you wonder why WWE dropped him. Just a huge man who made Kip look small (and Kip isn't that small).
Sheik Abdul Basir vs. AJ Styles:
Sheik came out to a ton of boos, and the expected USA chants. Isn't Sheik from the US? This was a good back and forth match, with Basir working on Styles arm & shoulder throughout the match, including wrapping it around the post a few times. After a number of near falls, AJ won the match with a Styles Clash. I really enjoyed this match, as they got a good amount of time and used a bunch of psychology which helped a lot. Styles got in most of his signature moves, and I've always thought Basir has been underrated. After the match, Sheik got into it with the ref (I think they said his name was Shane Sealy, or something like that), and after Sheik had pushed him for the second time, the ref went nuts on Basir, punching and chopping him before clotheslining him out of the ring. They played this up like he just snapped and had enough of Basir yelling at him, even acting shocked he had done that after knocking him out of the ring. It was fun all the way around, and up to this point the match of the night.
Intermission
Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong:
Kong truly is awesome. There seemed to be a hush that spread over the crowd when she came out, like they were just in awe of her size. It was a nice back and forth match, with Taylor trying to get some offense in before Kong would use a power move to gain control. Kong started dominating her eventually, as expected, and just when it seemed she was going to win it, Taylor rolled her up for the pin. Fun match with both women looking impressive, and Taylor pulling out the expected victory. I will say that I was a little in awe of my friend proposing marriage to Kong...I think he was joking. I think.
Beer Money, Inc. vs. LAX:
Storm started cutting a great promo before LAX came out, running down the city and its people. He said Topeka was the city of "fat chicks and retards" and that Topeka sounds like the name of a disease, like "I'm sorry to inform you that you have a bad case of Topeka." He then said that there is no way the people there should be breeding, adding "we don't even do that stuff in Tennessee." The crowd was completely playing into his hand, booing, yelling, and cussing at the Cowboy, and at this point I was absolutely enjoying the promo, when he took it to the next level. He saw a guy in the front row with a John Cena shirt and said "oh, look, a Cena fan; that must mean you swallow. You're at a TNA show boy, not that WWE crap." I immediately got flashbacks to the Dudleys in ECW, as the crowd began yelling and cussing even more, with a few wanting to jump the front row. It was a great promo, and i literally wanted to just shake his hand and tell him how great it was. Just wonderful.
On to the match...Great match with a ton of action, comedy and psychology. Roode and Storm work great together, pulled out about every heel move in the book. At one point Roode got thrown into the corner, followed by Jackie, then Storm. Hernandez did the big splash onto them, with Storm falling down on his back, Jackie face first into his crotch, and Roode falling down to where he was on his knees behind Jackie(lol). As the action picked up, they all ventured to the outside, before Hernandez hit the big dive onto the outside. In the end though, Beer Money hit a backwards neckbreaker and got the pin. After the match, Jackie got into Homicide's face and her slapping him, with Homicide hitting her with an Ace Cutter. BM pulled her out of the ring, as LAX celebrated in the ring with a couple of kids. I chuckled at the thought of here is someone named Homicide playing in the ring with a couple of kids. I bet he never thought that would happen when he was working indies in the Northeast. Easily match of the night, and all four guys deserve a standing ovation for a great showing.
Abyss vs. Samoa Joe:
Abyss' size is just scary. I really wanted to love this match, but Joe had a problem getting Abyss up for a few moves, and Abyss just seemed to be a tad off tonight, as the match just didn't flow real great. It was a fun match to watch though, and I was just glad I got to watch Joe live. Near the end of the match, the ref got knocked out, which brought out the ref from the Bashir incident earlier in the night. Abyss started pushing him around, and just when it looked the ref was going to get into it with the monster, Abyss picked him up for a black hole slam. This brought out a few officials, and Abyss blew them off and went and grabbed a chair. He climbed back into the ring and went to hit Joe with it when joe kicked it back into Abyss' face. Joe then hit him with an enziguri and pinned Abyss for the victory. After the match AJ Styles came out and celebrated with Joe. Good match but they just didn't seem to click like i thought they would.
Overall, this was a really fun show. I recommend anyone who just wants to go and watch a fun show, go to a TNA house show. They are really great at fan interaction, which seems t be lacking at the last couple of WWE house shows i've been to. They really go out of their way to get the fans involved, including giving away backstage passes and at the end of the show a number of wrestlers came out and signed autographs. I kind of wish Impact was a little more like this, as it was just fun to watch.
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