From WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
Aaron's UnReal Time TNA House Show Revi...Wait...WHAT???
By Aaron Wood
Jan 29, 2010 - 8:03 PM
Ironically enough, as had long been pointed
out, a lyric from the theme to the show I normally do tonight goes "Do you
really wanna cross the line?".
Now, as it goes, I went to the TNA House Show in Manchester last year,
and really enjoyed it. Almost to the
point where you would think I was a fan.
But hey, one look at the following week's TV show just helped me come to
my senses and I was back to "TNA sucks". But hey, as much as the TV did suck before Hogan and still,
frankly, sucks after Hogan, they don't "book" house shows in the same
way with any real kind of bulls**t.
That said, THEY TRIED TO TONIGHT, as you
will read.
Overall, this was, once again, a really fun
show with some really, really good matches.
But let's start at the beginning.
Are you ready children (and any of you who are adults)? Then we shall begin.
Unlike last year, I had a ticket to attend
the "Fan Interaction" session they held before the doors opened to
the proletariat. I have to admit, it
was bigger than I thought it would be in terms of numbers. I thought it might be a hundred people. Two hundred tops. But there had to be around double even that. We were taken around the bowels of the
building into the backstage area, where they had a small merchandise stall set
up and a line laid out around to some tables with various wrestlers. They were, in order, JB, Earl Hebner,
D'Angelo Dinero, Hernandez, The British Invasion and finally The Beautiful
People. I missed Sabin not being there,
if for nothing that I could have provided our wonderful Impact reviewer, Jana
Bulloch, with a nice little souvenir.
Now, when I go to these shows, I do my best
not to be a smarky prick and just play along and be respectful. That said, it is a little odd, after having
said "Mr. XXXXX" to everyone to have to say "Mr. Magnus" to
Brutus Magnus. at least I didn't call
him Oblivion, his UK Gladiator name.
JB was AWESOME as ever. I don't want to brag or anything because he
meets thousands of fans a year, but I don't know, there was a twinkle in his
eye that suggested he recognised me from last year when I met him. Not to say he knew what went on or
anything. Just that spark of something
you have kinda seen before. It's what I
want to think anyway. Now, from this
point on, I don't want to accuse anyone of anything, and hell, these people are
just doing the jobs they've been told to do, and I'm sure they were utterly
exhausted, so the last thing they needed was to sit as 400 or so people got
things signed and pictures taken. That
said, I'm not sure Earl was into it.
Dinero neither. But then again,
Dinero was wearing his facemask, so he could have been smiling underneath, but
if he said anything, it was so inaudible, it may have been a grunt. Hernandez was just as up for it as JB was
though, so that was cool. Doug &
Brutus were also pretty pleased to be there.
I bantered with them that they needed a Scotsman in the group, but I'm
not sure what Doug's answer of "Salvation Army project" meant. Rob Terry seemed happy to be there, but
tired. He certainly did the Invasion's
pose with me when I got my picture with him.
And then, the ladies. Madison
& Velvet. Oh, Velvet Sky... Sigh...
I got them to sign my tickets, to go along with JB and Dixie's autographs
on my ticket last year and a picture, thanking them with a quick peck on the
cheek in thanks. I'll keep this review
classy and say no more. Suffice to say
though, I'm not washing my lips for a while.
James Storm appeared while I was meeting the
wrestlers at the merchandise stall. I
kinda regret not going over to meet him now, as I write this. I mean, the top people I wanted to meet were
Velvet, The MCMG and Beer Money.
However, being a theatre worker myself, I felt for the MEN Arena staff in
controlling the people, and there was a bit of a rush on when he was
spotted. However, his "line"
did die down, and then Dixie herself appeared with one of the belts (I think it
was a tag belt) and there was an even bigger rush for her. I didn't bother here either, but as is
documented, I met her last year, as she was just as hot one year on.
So that was that for Fan Interaction. Upon leaving the backstage and going round
into the main arena, it was clear the production quality was well up on last
year. The screen especially. It was still an LED screen, rather than a
video screen, let alone a high-def one.
But compared to last year, it was a massive improvement. The lighting was also improved. The ring was, technically at least, better
lit, and the sound was good for an arena.
GREAT seats. As you may recall in November, when I could have had great seats
that would have put on TV for the whole of Smackdown, only to find they
numbered the rows the other way round, well, I know the MEN, and do I was on
the floor, 4 rows in, SLAP BANG with the centre of the ring. Good times.
The arena was more blacked off than last year, and even then I thought
it looked empty literally minutes before show time. Indeed, the three seats right beside me hadn't been filled. However, it must have been a last minute
rush, because the seats by me filled up and when I later looked, the place
looked fuller. That said, they'd be
lucky to have 5000. I'd estimate the
lower end of 4000.
Anyway, the show began with Borash doing
his usual schtick of "The loudest of you will get backstage passes",
and to be fair, while I don't recall them showing any or handing any out last
year, he certainly had some with them and sent people to give them out. Anyway, not too long after, we had our
opening contest.
The Amazing Red def. Suicide &
Chris Sabin in a X-Division Triple Threat match
An obvious choice for an opener, and boy,
what an opener! It was just a bunch of
spots, really, but they were mostly perfectly crisp and damned awesome. One great spot saw Suicide roll up Red and
while pinning Red, he gave Sabin a Northern Lights Suplex, pinning him on the
bridge as well. But that was only a 2
count. The finish saw Suicide take out
Sabin, but Red appeared and hit the Code Red on Suicide for the three
count. Wasn't the best Code Red ever,
but it did the job.
Rob Terry def. Eric Young to
retain the Global Title
Before the match, Eric Young cut a promo on
Terry, calling him English (he's Welsh) and that Young was the leader of the
World Elite (They still exist???), and Rob had his title, so he could hand it
over and be a pussy like other English people, or take a beating. Terry slugged him in the mouth. It was a pretty basic match, but I wouldn't
actually all it bad. The fun crowd (as
they were hot all night) may have helped.
But still, it was an OK match overall.
Rob won with, as I recall, a powerslam.
Borash announced that Kurt Angle had just
entered the building. It may just be
me, but I could swear he said the same thing at the same point in the show with
the same person last year, in that Angle had just shown up and wanted top
competition, this year getting it in a match with Desmond Wolfe.
D'Angelo Dinero def.
Rhino
The Pope was seriously beloved by the
crowd. Rhino was liked too until he cut
a promo to heel the crowd, but it didn't entirely work. This was another perfectly fine, if unspectacular,
match that Pope won with the DDE.
And then, at that point, they tried to
inject the bulls**t bait and switch.
You see, they had advertised, both on the Internet and on TV, that the
Manchester show would have a ladder match, much like the Wembley show tomorrow
has an Ultimate X match on the card.
They changed the published line-up a few times, but there was always a
ladder match. So, down came the book to
hang the belt and there was a technician with the ladder to put it in the
ring. And then, in another change to
the last advertised line up, Daniels, Hernandez and Samoa Joe came out, leaving
AJ Styles last. However, he came out
and said that he had spoken to Ric Flair earlier today and his lawyers, and he
didn't have to wrestle in a ladder match, and hell, he didn't want to wrestle tonight. We then heard the voice of Dixie
Carter. I'm not sure where she was in
the arena, but I think it was right down the front at ringside, but there were
too many people there to see. Anyway,
Dixie said AJ worked for her, and he would work tonight and it would be a title
match. She DIDN'T reinstate the ladder
part though. So it was a Fatal Four-Way
match. But that was not all...
AJ Styles def. Daniels, Hernandez
& Samoa Joe to retain the TNA Title
...because while this was officially a four
way match, it actually became something of a tag team match, and rather than
all four at the same time, there were two in the ring and two on the
apron. And then, after an opening
period of randomly tagging each other no matter what, it became more AJ &
Daniels vs. Hernandez & Joe, with AJ & Daniels working Herny over,
leaving Joe begging for the hot tag!
Not that it was bad tag match, just not the match I was promised until
30 seconds before it actually started.
Look, I can understand them not wanting to
kill themselves in a ladder match for a house show, and it certainly got an
initially beloved AJ plenty of heel heat.
However, the clear plan was to have a special main event match in each show
of the tour. Everyone else has had theirs. I doubt Wembley won't get Ultimate X. Now, as it turned out, you could say we got
a special match ourselves for the main, but the point stands that this was pure
bait & switch that I don't personally think "card is subject to
change" fully excuses.
Anyway, the finish to this one saw Joe take
out AJ and then go for the Musclebuster on Daniels. However, while he had Daniels in position, AJ went low on Joe and
then gave Daniels the Styles Clash for the pin.
Intermission time.
We came back from that with JB introducing
Dixie, who had someone she spoke to on Twitter. They tweeting something about Crossing The Line and Dixie
mentioned something about a guy whose girlfriend didn't want to come to the
show or something like that. Must
admit, I kinda zoned out by that point.
Kurt Angle def. Desmond
Wolfe
After Wolfe's intro, he cut a promo saying
it was great to be back in England, but not Manchester. fun point during the match saw him get a
LOUD
chant of "Chelsea Rent Boy", Chelsea being an
area of London (indeed, where he's from) and a Rent Boy, if you don't know, is
a male sex worker. Pretty much like
Canadian Bulldog, you get me? Anyway,
this was another really good match from the pair of them as they worked various
holds, with Desmond working the arm and Angle the ankle. However, the finish saw Desmond's Tower Of
London countered with an angle slam for the pin.
Taylor Wilde & Sarita def. The
Beautiful People (with Hamada as guest referee)
To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the crowd
at this point, as it all became rather misogynist. That said, when one side are supposed to be the hottest of the
hotties and the others are about a pair of dungarees away from being lesbians,
some might say they were asking for it.
The match was OK, but to be honest, given that Velvet was on my side of
the ring, I must admit, my attention slipped a little. Anyway, the finish came when Velvet and
Hamada (who had some of the slowest counts in history) went nose to nose. Velvet slapped Hamada, so Hamada headbutted
her back and Taylor rolled Sky up for the pin.
Main event time was next.
Team 3D def. Beer Money & The
British Invasion in a tables match
I think as a make good for earlier, this
wasn't originally billed as a tables match until 3D, who entered last, brought
a table with them and declared it to be so.
While 3D were certainly over big, Beer Money were
BELOVED
. Thunderous chants of "BEER!" "MONEY!" from opposite sides of
the crowd (I was on the Money side of the crowd) for much of this. To get the heels some heat, before the
match, Beer Money teased handing out backstage passes for the loudest yellers
of their name, but made the mistake of enlisting Brutus Magnus's help, who tore
the passes up.
Anyway, this was a very fun match, worked
largely by Beer Money and the Brits, with 3D getting frustrated at not getting
in the ring. However, it all ended up
breaking down. There was a 4-person
"Tower Of Doom" spot in there.
the two babyface teams got all their big spots in. 3D eventually won with a 3D on Magnus
through the table. Oddly though, the
ref (who was Slick Johnson...IN JEANS!!!) then counted the pin anyway. In tables match.
After the match, 3D called Beer Money back
into the ring. Ray said Beer Money were
the future of tag wrestling. They then
gave away, as they did last year, a piece of the broken table to a little kid,
with Beer Money also signing it. They
then called out Dixie and put her over big time (and D-Von wanted to bang her)
before they all had beers and the show ended.
As I said, sour note of the bait and switch
aside, this was a really fun show. And
as I said last year, as much as the TV and PPV product can generally kiss my
grits, the house shows are really fun places to be, and I wouldn't hesitate to
go again.
Anyway, because of some minor downloading
snafu's, there'll certainly be no Smackdown tonight, and it may be tomorrow
afternoon before it gets done. And
early next week, once I've sorted the wheat from the chaff, I'll get some
pictures up from the show as well, between photos and some video clips, I used
up my whole memory stick before the end of the show. But anyway, until then, I'll see you soon!
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