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View Full Version : 3/13 tna results from pittsburgh, pa



John
03-14-2010, 02:28 PM
TNA Pittsburgh house show was solid. Great, hot, crowd with tight matches. IF TNA can capture the feel of this show and execution of these matches on Monday nights - it can truly give WWE a run for its money. Onto the review....

This is the first time that TNA has come to Pittsburgh and the Ches-a-rena has a bit of a cave feel to it - kind of retro-cool. As we enter, Don West is at the merchandising booth on our left , while Kurt Angle is signing stuff over to our right. The venue is small, but it is sold out and packed. Hard to estimate the crowd - maybe at 1500 or 2000. There are no risers, only floor seats, but all the seats are good. We are sitting on the entrance side near the announcers table - five rows back of what will be the heel corner for tag matches - pretty much looking straight at the ring post..

Jeremy Borash steps into the center of the ring and sets up the show and the main event with the offer of back stage passes. Seems AJ Styles says "no passes, I want my privacy" while hometown hero Kurt Angle has said, "I want the fans to come visit me in the back. He plugs Pittsburgh's reputation as a "wrestling town" to a big pop.

First match is X-Division #1 Contenders match - Amazing Red vs Kazarian. Respectful handshake at beginning and Kaz dominates with power. MId-match - Red makes a nice comeback with superior speed and gets a near fall. Match goes back and forth with near falls both ways and the crowd was really into it. Give the split crowd edge to Red on a 60-40 basis. Kaz wins with a slightly botched suplex - splash off the top rope. Basically, Kaz suplexed Red, but rather than release it, he followed it on over with his own body with the intention of having Red land on the bottom with Kaz on top- ala a big splash. However, it looked like Red slipped out as he fell and instead of landing flat - he landed awkwardly on his side, taking all of Kaz's weight on top of him. Kaz took the pin but Red was down for a long time afterwards. He got up - Kaz showed respect with another handshake and posed in the ring while the ref helped Red to the back as Red held his ribs. This was an exciting first match and showed why the X-Division is a strength of TNA

Next up Dr. Stevie vs Rhino. Stevie came in to crowd's boos and fan fave Rhino rushed the ring following his entrance. Stevie bailed allowing Rhino to pose for the fans. The ref backed up Rhino to let Stevie back in the ring but Stevie jumped Rhino for an early heel advantage as the ref called for the bell. Stevie beat up Rhino with a few near falls until Rhino delivered a big clothesline mid-match to turn the tide. Rhino continued to show offense, but Stevie kept negating it and avoided a Rhino "gore". Rhino delivered some more power moves including a corner splash and big clothesline to set up the "gore" for the win. A lot of ECW chants during this match.

Earl Hebner came out to ref the TNA knockouts bout - but only got a smattering of disorganized "you screwed Bret" chants. Finally, enough of the chants became prevalent to where he pulled of his regular ref shirt to reveal a ref T-shirt with the words "Damn right I did" on it. You were left with the impression he would heel out the match - but he called it straight.

Sarita and Taylor Wilde out first to crowd pops. Both looked good. Beautiful People - Madison Rayne and Velvet Skye came out next and interacted with crowd - holding their noses, spraying perfume. These girls CAN wrestle and it was a back and forth match with standard heel double teams, hot tags by the faces, and ref distractions. In one series of events, Velvet Sky (I believe) ended falling into the arms of Earl Hebner - like when a male dancer dips his female partner. Earl paused - looked at the crowed - and kissed her. She woke up out of her stupor, spitting, and gagging! Madison Rayne also did a move on Taylor Wilde that was both incredibly sexy and painful at the same time. She somehow got Wilde's head between her legs and she did series of thrusts that shoved Wilde's head into the canvas. Eventually, after some near falls the knockout champs retained the titles. Did I mention we were sitting in the heel corner? That means we came to really appreciate the Beautiful People who lived up to their name.

Doug Williams X-Division champ defended against Abyss and the power of the Hogan ring. Williams jumps Abyss who no-sells. Finally, Williams gets in some offense and is effective. Williams uses speed to avoid the majority of Abyss power moves. Williams did a good job in this match and used his heel tactics to keep Abyss at bay. Eventually, Williams uses the title to hit Abyss and tries for a cover. Abyss kicks out and Hulks up. Abyss goes on the offensive with most of Williams efforts now being ineffective. Black Hole slam for the Abyss win and he does Hogan poses and crowd calls to the joy of all in attendance. Williams did a great job of not looking weak in this match and Abyss showed real charisma with his Hogan-esque performance.

We go to intermission.

After intermission Brutus Magnus comes out to sing God Save the Queen and is interrupted by fellow Brit - Rob Terry. Brutus does his best to attack Rob as he is entering the ring - but a clothesline from hell to set the tone and then a power move (which I forgot) and its lights out for Brutus. Rob Terry wins in a squash.

Beer Money vs. Pope Jarrett. BM comes out and works the microphone and the crowds offering more back stage passes. They play up to the crowd until eventually a Steelers chant starts going. At that point, Beer Money indicates they are Cleveland Browns fans - heeling out to the crowd - and tearing up the passes. Jeff Jarrett enters and gets a "thank you Jeff" which he acknowledges with sincerity. Pope comes in to "pimp" and the crowd loves it. Standard tag team match - but Beer Money is so smooth - nothing looks standard about it. Heel antics, double teams, hot tags, lots of near falls, Jarrett struts and strokes, Pope pimps, and best of all - Beer Money played a bit of a comedy routine. Storm got pantsed - maybe more than anyone bargained for - because his butt was hanging out for a full moon and then some. They also did some "accidental" gay stuff - falling into each other's crotches - which led them both to the water bottles to get the taste out of their mouths and Jarrett and Pope to bring them back into the ring the hard way. Jarrett did most of the heavy work for his team and did it well - in the end, Beer Money takes the loss.

It's time for the main event and AJ styles makes his way to the ring - for some sass on the microphone - telling Angle "that he might make the rules in regards to back stage passes, but AJ makes the rules regarding the title and this will be a NON-title match." Angle makes his appearance and they get down to business. Angle has control until a low blow by AJ and then he blasts Angle's leg - which sets up the rest of the match with AJ working on Angle's leg. Kurt tries for his signature moves but AJ manages to avoid them. Figure four by AJ, but Angle makes it to the ropes. Exploding clothesline by Angle and series of suplexes by Angle - near falls galore - Angle ankle lock but AJ escapes - eventually an Angle Slam and the pin. A disgusted AJ says he doesn't like Pittsburgh or Angle, but that he respects Angle.

Angle stays in ring to say thanks to fans. Invites his own kids to the ring - for a big pop. And then stays behind to take pictures with folks in the center of the ring. JB gets on microphone and says "thanks to Kurt Angle everyone gets to go backstage, because we're bringing back stage out to you!" The faces come out for autographs - Taylor Wilde, Sarita, Kaz, Abyss, Rhino, Pope, Jarrett, all hang out with fans along the rails signing autographs.

JB tells the fans that this was a great show, crowd was great, "thanks for the sell out", and TNA will come back to Pittsburgh with a PPV! Big pop from crowd and that's the show.

Don West is hawking Angle T-shirt and 4 DVD pack for $20 as we go. Earl Hebner is selling his T-shirts - autographed for $10. And Jeff Jarrett is signing autographs at the location where Kurt Angle was earlier in the night. Angle is still in the ring taking pictures with folks in the center of ring.

Smartmark
03-14-2010, 03:00 PM
Thanx for posting John!