John
10-25-2009, 09:25 PM
Wrestling News World reader Max sent in the following report:
I was at the TNA live show yesterday and thought I'd pass along a live report as well as results. The doors opened at 6:30. Show started at 7:30
This was TNA's first foray into Racine I believe. The venue was a lot cleaner/neater than most I've seen for an independent show (Ring of Honor or Dragon Gate for example). The ground/lower section was pretty much sold out, whereas the balcony had a scattered amount of people.
Before the show, Earl Hebner signed autographs. Throughout the show at various times, D'Lo Brown was watching his handiwork from the audience.To start the event Borash came out and warmed up the crowd and pulled his backstage pass shtick, which really got the crowd going. Borash could lead a cult.
After every match he would tease the crowd. Eventually saying he would be giving twice as many passes out after intermission. At one point he had us text ‘Backstage' to a number to get the passes. The only problem was that a lot of us (including me) did not have reception in there.
The first match of the evening was Alex Shelley vs. Kip James. Earl Hebner was introduced as basically the sleaziest ref in history, and came out to Tommy Dreamer's old theme. A much slower, plodding match between these two than what I would have preferred, but it kept the crowd hot.Shelley went over with Sliced Bread.
The second match of the evening was between Kiyoshi (with no face paint) and Shark Boy. Neither was very impressive. However, they did work a good 80's formula good guy vs. foreign baddie match. The crowd was very pro-Shark Boy. Kiyoshi won with his feet on the ropes. Shark Boy got the crowd to convince Earl that Kiyoshi cheated, but Hebner would have none of that. Some guys chanted “You Screwed Shark Boy!” Afterwards Shark Boy passed out a backstage pass.
The third match was between ODB and Alissa Flash (with no face paint either) Both were over until Flash teased taking off her over-shirt before refusing to show any cleavage. ODB obliged and unbuttoned her shirt even more. ODB is much prettier in person, and Flash isn't as much. They worked a good comedy vs. serious match with Hebner and ODB basically molesting each other the entire match. I got to thinking about it, and Earl must be being forced to grab ODB's breasts at least 3-4 times a week. ODB retained with a TKO. What disappointed me was that every little girl in the audience was loving ODB, when at any second it looked like ODB was going to have some sort of wardrobe malfunction, totally sending the wrong messages.
Rhino vs. Morgan was next, and the crowd started out pro-Rhino. Rhino got on the mic and acknowledged the crowd then called us all idiots anyway (for liking him?) He made fun of Wisconsin, not realizing most of the crowd drove from the Chicago suburbs (at least 300 Bears hats in the audience, plenty of Sox and Cubs stuff too). Rhino constantly went for cheap heat, even uncharacteristically pulling down his straps and screaming at the ring girls (representatives of Horny Goat Brewing, official sponsor of the event) that he knows they all want him. Rhino gored Morgan for the win. Rhino then got back on the microphone and said that because TNA management was behind Morgan, he would have to stop that and end his career. Rhino then grabbed a chair and ate it courtesy of the Carbon Footprint.
A 15-minute Intermission followed where Hebner signed more autographs.
The next match was match of the night and the only one to go past like 8 minutes was Lethal Consequences vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir and the returning for double duty Kiyoshi (still no face paint!) Creed was priceless acting all smiling babyface giving a thumbs up to some guy in the front row flipping him off. Standard formula tag match sprinkled X-Division goodness. Half of the match was Creed being beat down building for the hot tag. This match caught the eye of the Horny Goat Girls. A bunch of kids started a USA chant. LetCon won with the suplex/cross-body combo.
Before the main event Samoa Joe was introduced. He was not medically cleared to compete against AJ. He found a suitable replacement. His confidant, trainer, mentor, fellow MEMber, best friend, and inspiration to live (WTF?!?): Scott Steiner. The MEM was over, so naturally they had to insult the fans again. Both kept insisting that there was still a Main Event Mafia. Joe was great at being the sleazy heel at ringside. Steiner kept starting fights with audience members, even hocking a huge loogie (SP.) on some jerk in the front row. Styles came out to pop of the night with his ‘Prince of Phenomenal' garb (I didn't realize he still used that outfit). Styles had the crowd call Steiner an asshole before settling on “Douche Bag”. Joe kept tripping AJ at ringside then hitting on the Goat Girls rather provocatively, before Hebner caught wind of this and ejected Joe. Joe didn't realize it at first, but his reaction following was priceless. AJ worked as good of a match as he could with Steiner in Scott's condition. Steiner really seemed to try, even taking a northern lights suplex and a plancha-ing Styles outside the ring. AJ won with the Pele after around 6 or 7 minutes. Entertaining for what it was.After the show was an autograph signing, pretty much rendering the backstage passes useless (unless you'd rather see Joe and Steiner in their underwear) Alex Shelley, Shark Boy, ODB, Lethal Consequences and Jeremy Borash signed autographs at ringside, they were all gracious and took pictures. Hebner was taking pictures in the lobby. For $20 you could get in the 6-sided ring and take a picture with AJ. He let some guys (including me) hold the belt for the photo. By the way stepping in the ring helped to kill the illusion for me. First of all, the ring ropes aren't as high as WWE's to adjust to the lower average height of a TNA wrestler. Also stepping into the ring, my foot sank into the mat. It felt like a crappy Temporpedic mattress knock-off. Some crew guy told me it was soft wood, under a mat. Somewhat suspicious was that he didn't mention the bedspread hidden under the mat.
After the pictures AJ signed autographs for free.
Overall, it was fun to see a few of TNA's wrestlers, but the overall match quality was lacking. The guys seemed to be coasting after Bound For Glory. I blame D'Lo.
Not as good as Bound For Glory IV (which I attended last year), Dragon Gate USA, WWE, or any Ring of Honor show I attended, but the up-close and personal, interacting with the wrestlers aspect was awesome. I was disappointed that Desmond Wolfe wasn't there as he didn't compete at the last ROH show in Chicago. Even though it was expected that none of the real big names were going to be there, a lot of kids were disappointed about that. Although seeing Joe, Steiner, Morgan, Rhino, and AJ was a treat.
Quick results:
Alex Shelly def. Kip James
Kiyoshi def. Shark Boy
ODB © def. Alissa Flash to retain
Rhino def. Matt Morgan
Lethal Consequences def. The World Elite (Asian chapter)
AJ Styles def. Scott Steiner
Biggest pop:
AJ Styles
Announcement of backstage passes
In-Ring Action of tag match
ODB's antics
Biggest Heat:
Steiner, Joe, and Rhino's cheap heat
World Elite
Hebner "screwing" Shark Boy
Best Match: Lethal Consequences vs. World Elite
Worst Match:Alex Shelley vs. Kip James
I was at the TNA live show yesterday and thought I'd pass along a live report as well as results. The doors opened at 6:30. Show started at 7:30
This was TNA's first foray into Racine I believe. The venue was a lot cleaner/neater than most I've seen for an independent show (Ring of Honor or Dragon Gate for example). The ground/lower section was pretty much sold out, whereas the balcony had a scattered amount of people.
Before the show, Earl Hebner signed autographs. Throughout the show at various times, D'Lo Brown was watching his handiwork from the audience.To start the event Borash came out and warmed up the crowd and pulled his backstage pass shtick, which really got the crowd going. Borash could lead a cult.
After every match he would tease the crowd. Eventually saying he would be giving twice as many passes out after intermission. At one point he had us text ‘Backstage' to a number to get the passes. The only problem was that a lot of us (including me) did not have reception in there.
The first match of the evening was Alex Shelley vs. Kip James. Earl Hebner was introduced as basically the sleaziest ref in history, and came out to Tommy Dreamer's old theme. A much slower, plodding match between these two than what I would have preferred, but it kept the crowd hot.Shelley went over with Sliced Bread.
The second match of the evening was between Kiyoshi (with no face paint) and Shark Boy. Neither was very impressive. However, they did work a good 80's formula good guy vs. foreign baddie match. The crowd was very pro-Shark Boy. Kiyoshi won with his feet on the ropes. Shark Boy got the crowd to convince Earl that Kiyoshi cheated, but Hebner would have none of that. Some guys chanted “You Screwed Shark Boy!” Afterwards Shark Boy passed out a backstage pass.
The third match was between ODB and Alissa Flash (with no face paint either) Both were over until Flash teased taking off her over-shirt before refusing to show any cleavage. ODB obliged and unbuttoned her shirt even more. ODB is much prettier in person, and Flash isn't as much. They worked a good comedy vs. serious match with Hebner and ODB basically molesting each other the entire match. I got to thinking about it, and Earl must be being forced to grab ODB's breasts at least 3-4 times a week. ODB retained with a TKO. What disappointed me was that every little girl in the audience was loving ODB, when at any second it looked like ODB was going to have some sort of wardrobe malfunction, totally sending the wrong messages.
Rhino vs. Morgan was next, and the crowd started out pro-Rhino. Rhino got on the mic and acknowledged the crowd then called us all idiots anyway (for liking him?) He made fun of Wisconsin, not realizing most of the crowd drove from the Chicago suburbs (at least 300 Bears hats in the audience, plenty of Sox and Cubs stuff too). Rhino constantly went for cheap heat, even uncharacteristically pulling down his straps and screaming at the ring girls (representatives of Horny Goat Brewing, official sponsor of the event) that he knows they all want him. Rhino gored Morgan for the win. Rhino then got back on the microphone and said that because TNA management was behind Morgan, he would have to stop that and end his career. Rhino then grabbed a chair and ate it courtesy of the Carbon Footprint.
A 15-minute Intermission followed where Hebner signed more autographs.
The next match was match of the night and the only one to go past like 8 minutes was Lethal Consequences vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir and the returning for double duty Kiyoshi (still no face paint!) Creed was priceless acting all smiling babyface giving a thumbs up to some guy in the front row flipping him off. Standard formula tag match sprinkled X-Division goodness. Half of the match was Creed being beat down building for the hot tag. This match caught the eye of the Horny Goat Girls. A bunch of kids started a USA chant. LetCon won with the suplex/cross-body combo.
Before the main event Samoa Joe was introduced. He was not medically cleared to compete against AJ. He found a suitable replacement. His confidant, trainer, mentor, fellow MEMber, best friend, and inspiration to live (WTF?!?): Scott Steiner. The MEM was over, so naturally they had to insult the fans again. Both kept insisting that there was still a Main Event Mafia. Joe was great at being the sleazy heel at ringside. Steiner kept starting fights with audience members, even hocking a huge loogie (SP.) on some jerk in the front row. Styles came out to pop of the night with his ‘Prince of Phenomenal' garb (I didn't realize he still used that outfit). Styles had the crowd call Steiner an asshole before settling on “Douche Bag”. Joe kept tripping AJ at ringside then hitting on the Goat Girls rather provocatively, before Hebner caught wind of this and ejected Joe. Joe didn't realize it at first, but his reaction following was priceless. AJ worked as good of a match as he could with Steiner in Scott's condition. Steiner really seemed to try, even taking a northern lights suplex and a plancha-ing Styles outside the ring. AJ won with the Pele after around 6 or 7 minutes. Entertaining for what it was.After the show was an autograph signing, pretty much rendering the backstage passes useless (unless you'd rather see Joe and Steiner in their underwear) Alex Shelley, Shark Boy, ODB, Lethal Consequences and Jeremy Borash signed autographs at ringside, they were all gracious and took pictures. Hebner was taking pictures in the lobby. For $20 you could get in the 6-sided ring and take a picture with AJ. He let some guys (including me) hold the belt for the photo. By the way stepping in the ring helped to kill the illusion for me. First of all, the ring ropes aren't as high as WWE's to adjust to the lower average height of a TNA wrestler. Also stepping into the ring, my foot sank into the mat. It felt like a crappy Temporpedic mattress knock-off. Some crew guy told me it was soft wood, under a mat. Somewhat suspicious was that he didn't mention the bedspread hidden under the mat.
After the pictures AJ signed autographs for free.
Overall, it was fun to see a few of TNA's wrestlers, but the overall match quality was lacking. The guys seemed to be coasting after Bound For Glory. I blame D'Lo.
Not as good as Bound For Glory IV (which I attended last year), Dragon Gate USA, WWE, or any Ring of Honor show I attended, but the up-close and personal, interacting with the wrestlers aspect was awesome. I was disappointed that Desmond Wolfe wasn't there as he didn't compete at the last ROH show in Chicago. Even though it was expected that none of the real big names were going to be there, a lot of kids were disappointed about that. Although seeing Joe, Steiner, Morgan, Rhino, and AJ was a treat.
Quick results:
Alex Shelly def. Kip James
Kiyoshi def. Shark Boy
ODB © def. Alissa Flash to retain
Rhino def. Matt Morgan
Lethal Consequences def. The World Elite (Asian chapter)
AJ Styles def. Scott Steiner
Biggest pop:
AJ Styles
Announcement of backstage passes
In-Ring Action of tag match
ODB's antics
Biggest Heat:
Steiner, Joe, and Rhino's cheap heat
World Elite
Hebner "screwing" Shark Boy
Best Match: Lethal Consequences vs. World Elite
Worst Match:Alex Shelley vs. Kip James