TNA live event (Battle Creek, Michigan)
Report by Darren Persicke and ProWrestling.net
A small crowd as usual for around here. I brought my 81 year old Mom. She is who I got my love for wrestling from. Hometown boy Rob Van Dam signed autographs before the show. They took people in the back to meet Jeff Hardy as long as you had a Hardy truck.
Don West ran the pre-show as usual, telling people what line to be in for autographs and selling brown bag specials and other stuff. The crowd went nuts for the free stuff. Don’s the man. Velvet Sky will sign at intermission.
Jeremy Borash hosted the show. He passed out backstage passes to the loudest people as per every TNA house show.
James Storm came out to cut a promo about losing the title to Bobby Roode on Impact, and passed out backstage passes.
1. Austin Aries beat Jesse Sorensen to retain the X Division Title. Good back and forth match. AA won when Jesse hit a top rope cross body and Austin rolled through and got the pin.
2. Velvet Sky beat ODB to retain the TNA Knockouts Title. Earl Hebner had his “I Did It” shirt and sunglasses. Hey, Earl, time for a new gimmick. Same old Knockout match. A stunned ODB fell into Earl’s arms. He kissed her and then Velvet hit the face plant for the win.
3. James Storm beat Magnus. Short match. Magnus and Storm went back and forth on the mic about drinking beer and the USA. Magnus chugged Storm’s beer to prove he was a man, got super kicked, spat the beer, and got pinned by Storm. Good old one move match. I wanted to see what Magnus and Storm could do in the ring but no such luck.
4. Mr. Anderson beat Abyss by DQ. Abyss is still a heel at house shows. An okay match. Abyss dominated for most of the match after hitting Anderson from behind during his prematch asshole stick. Anderson won by DQ. He kicked out of a Abyss chock slam and Abyss got a chair and hit Anderson in the gut. Anderson made a comeback and hit the Mic Check. Anderson brought a little boy named Logan in the ring to announce the winner of the match. Anderson said “and the winner of the match is” and the kid said “Logan.” It was funny. Then he said “Mr. Anderson.”
Don West hosted intermission. Velvet and the Hebner’s signed autographs. A long line for Velvet.
Special guest Ric Flair was introduced. He thanked everyone for coming out and put over the guys in the back as well as TNA. Good promo by Flair. He was upbeat and having a good time. He did his wooo and strut and of course talked about having women meet him at the hotel. The crowd cheered one more match, and Flair said he’s not retiring.
5. A.J. Styles beat Gunner. Looks like AJ injured his ankle going over the top rope and to the floor. I think he was suppose to land on the apron. The ref checked on him on the floor. Gunner waited in the ring. AJ came back in the ring and hit the Pele Kick for the pin and limped to the back with an Atlas Security Guard. Gunner can’t hang with A.J. at this time in his career. He used too many rest holds during the match.
6. Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy beat Bully Ray and Scott Steiner. Ray and Steiner cut the usual heel promo to fire up the fans. Bubba’s the man on the mic. Nobody works the fans like he does. He’s been doing it since the old ECW days. Mom got fired up during the match. Earl Hebner plays the dumb ref to a T. He was more worried about keeping RVD in his corner then the double team on Hardy so he did his job.
Hardy got the hot tag to RVD and he cleaned house. Steiner and Ray tried a double team clothsline on Van Dam but he ducked and they took each other out. Jeff recovered in the corner and hit a Swanton Bomb on Steiner, and RVD hit the Five Star Frogsplash on Ray for the win. RVD and Jeff took pictures in the ring for $20. Abyss signed autographs for fans on their way out.
Notes: Very fan friendly show by TNA as usual. Only thing they didn’t do that they have at other shows I’ve been to is bring the locker room out to sign autographs after the show. If you get a chance to see TNA in your town do it. You’ll have fun and that’s what it’s all about.
