I hadn’t been to a live wrestling show for over three years. The last show I attended was a WWE Raw brand event in the spring of 2003, when Batista was a low-card scrub having a cr*ppy match with some guy named Red Dog (who would later become Rodney Mack, who no one remembers except as Jazz’s husband). Little did I know that a company I had never seen at that point - one which had only been in existence for about six months, and wouldn’t get national television exposure for another two years plus - would be the site of my next live wrestling excursion. TNA, which is quickly becoming the new century’s little company that could, was not even a blip on my radar screen back in ‘03. Now I was driving an hour and a half from my northwest Ohio home to head up and see them put on their first house show ever in Plymouth, Michigan, a stone’s throw away from Detroit.
I met up with Steph and J in BG at about 5 p.m., figuring that a 5:30 or so departure would get us there at the ideal time (i.e., right after the doors had opened, no wait in line). The trip was astoundingly smooth for a long drive on major highways on St. Patty’s Day - I figured the cops would be out in full force, maybe a crash or two would slow us down, but no, we blew into the parking lot of the Compuware Sports Arena (home of the Plymouth Whalers, a minor league hockey team) a little before 7. No luck on the “not waiting” thing, though - the line already stretched from the door all the way back to almost the parking lot. No worry, though, we chatted with a few fellow wrestling fans, swapping memories and discontent with the state of WWE, until they opened the doors to let us inside.
The Compuware Arena is a startlingly nice facility - on the small side, but it’s a full fledged arena, well-kept and organized. Having seen wrestling primarily in sh!thole venues like the Seagate Centre and the Toledo Sports Arena, this was a nice change of pace. Being that we had floor seats, J, Steph and myself had to obtain wristbands from a side table to establish that we were allowed down there, making us feel all first-class and everything. After we’d found our seats, the three of us took off in separate directions on various missions - Steph and J for snacks and to locate the restrooms, myself to get in line for souvenirs (Matt had sent me on a mission for a Samoa Joe shirt). Sadly, their quest was much more successful than mine - the line at the merchandise stand was HUGE, and in my 15 minutes of standing there, I don’t think I moved more than one step. This lead to two observations: one, it’s good to see the merch is moving well, and two, they need to hire more attendants to deal with a crowd this size. But, you know, learn as you grow and all that. When it became apparent that they wouldn’t get anywhere NEAR me before the event began, I retreated from the line and headed back to my seat.
Without having picked up a program or anything, I knew the card well because I’d kept track online as it changed over the last few months. The final card listed on TNAWrestling.com was as follows:
*NWA champion Christian Cage vs. Jeff Jarrett
*Rhino vs. Sabu vs. Abyss
*TNA X-Division Champion Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles
*NWA Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted vs. The Naturals
*“The Alpha Male” Monty Brown vs. Chris Sabin
*Team Canada's Petey Williams vs. Alex Shelley*Jerry Lynn vs. "The Canadian Enforcer" Bobby Roode*Shark Boy vs. Simon DiamondPlus, Team Canada's Scott D'Amore, A1, and Eric Young and a special appearance by The Insane Clown Posse!Being a seasoned wrestling fan, I knew full well that “card changes may occur” is a pivotal line in any listed event schedule, as flights are missed, injuries happen and so forth. I just crossed my fingers and hoped that we’d still get to see Joe and AJ do their thing. That match was also keenly anticipated by Steph, who despite not really being a wrestling fan, was a huge fan of both those guys, on account of the fact that I’d shown her the AJ/Daniels/Joe three-way from Unbreakable. I swear, the power of that match is like nothing I’ve ever seen - even the most casual fans I’ve shown it to can’t help but fall in love with it. And with all three participants. Folks, if you haven’t seen that one (and as good as the rematches were, the original Unbreakable one is still the best), you must. J, who is also not a big fan, was keenly interested in the Sabu/Rhino/Abyss three-way, as well.
With that, the lights dimmed, the crowd roared, and the night began. The arena wasn’t full, by any means, but it wasn’t vacant, either - the floor was pretty full, and the elevated seats closest to the ring were also jammed with people. Once you got to either end of the arena, it started to look pretty vacant, as the corners had virtually no one sitting there. Still, for a company that had only been on the national radar for about six months, and which (to the best of my knowledge) hadn’t really promoted this house show nationally (heck, until a few days ago, I had to dig to find info on TNA’s own website), the crowd wasn’t bad. 3,700, of which 3,410 paid, according to PWInsider.com. And this crowd made up for their smaller size with huge enthusiasm. I honestly had no idea how the crowd would react - I’d been to shows where the crowds could be pretty apathetic (WWE) and where they would blow the roof off the place (ECW). I gotta say, last night’s crowd was much closer to the latter than the former. All night, pretty much every match, the crowd was up and enthusiastic, busting out cheers for everybody and engaging in TNA’s trademark dueling chant spots. This was clearly a crowd that knew its product - actual by-gum TNA fans.
“The Voice of TNA,” Jeremy Borash, was introduced to the crowd, getting an oddly mixed reaction, followed by a “JB!” chant. He welcomed us to the show, noted the historical significance of the event, and then officially introed our opening contest:
Sharkboy vs. Simon Diamond
I’ve seen Simon wrestle several times before when ECW swung through Toledo, but never Sharkboy, whose gimmick is perfectly suited to opening matches. That’s not a dig at the guy or anything, it’s just that the gimmick is fun and gets the crowd going, setting up the rest of the card perfectly. And that’s just how this one went, as it was a unique combination of comedy and a straight-up wrestling match, with Sharkboy occasionally busting out a biting spot, just for variety. Simon’s lack of wrestling in the past few months overshadows how solid a talent he is, in addition to his good mike work, and it made for a good, crowd-pumping opener. Finish came with Sharkboy getting with win with the Dead Sea Drop. Again, it did exactly what an opening match should do.
Next came JB running down the things that make TNA different (the six-sided ring got a big pop) and extolling the virtues of Michigan, and how many great TNA competitors come from there, including our next two participants:
Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin
And our first card change of the night comes here. Sabin, as noted, was originally scheduled to face Monty Brown (who would not appear because of a knee injury, according to PWInsider.com, accounting for all the changes), but I was perfectly okay with that change, as I’d much rather see these two guys tear the house down than Sabin getting squashed. This one was an excellent X-Division style match that built well, with a good combination of mat work and aerial moves. No camera for Shelley tonight (that I could see, anyway), and Sabin looked pumped to be working in front of a hometown crowd. A cool move-countermove sequence ended in Sabin getting the pin with the Cradleshock. Again, a good match and fun to watch.
Then, JB introduced the Insane Clown Posse. Hey, their company was sponsoring the show, no problem with them showing up. Don’t expect me to like it or anything, though. The Posse did a promo running down their history in wrestling, from their first match in the mid-90s, on a card that featured the Sheik and Bobo Brazil (major props for history there…if anyone is unfamiliar with those names and has an afternoon, I’ll happily fill you in), to their runs in the WWF (boos), ECW (cheers and chants) and WCW (boos). From there, they announce that they’re gonna be coming back to TNA this summer to win tag team gold, which frankly NO ONE in the crowd seemed delighted by. This comment, however, successfully drew out Team Canada (Petey Williams and Eric Young, to be exact, with Coach Scott D’Amore) to protest. ICP, being “babyfaces,” thus challenged TC to a match. D’Amore scoffed, claimed they were out of their league, and told his boys to follow him out. Thus, of course, TC jumped ICP and we had a…uh…match…
The Insane Clown Posse vs. Team Canada
For Eric Young to be wrestling on this card a little over a week after his surgical mishap is pretty nuts, but I love him for it. The match was really nothing, as, well, ICP are really nothing in the ring. They did some punches and maybe a dropkick, that was about it. Finish came when ICP stole D’Amore’s glasses, rendering him “blind,” and then, in an amazing spot, D’Amore accidentally grabbed Petey Williams and did Williams’s finisher, the Canadian Destroyer, on him. Yes, Scott D’Amore did the flip piledriver on Petey. I would have laid a thousand bucks that it was physically impossible. ICP pins Williams, sigh. Ah well. Next.
Bobby Roode vs. Jerry Lynn
That’s more like it. Roode gets good heel heat, Lynn gets ECW chants, which he clearly loves hearing. For a guy who hasn’t worked regularly in at least a year, Lynn looks damn good, and is still in great shape. No crazy spots or anything, just a rock-solid match between two good workers. Finish comes when Roode sits down on Jerry as he attempts a sunset flip, then grabs the ropes for leverage to get the three count. BTW, for the record, a neato touch of the evening was that, mirroring the Impact Zone’s setup, the arena had separate entrances for faces and heels on opposite sides. Unfortunately, since these entrances were not clearly labeled, often after the match the face would go into the heel entrance. That happened here with Lynn, leading me to joke, “Oh no! Jerry’s gonna get beat up by all the heels now!” Seemed funny at the time.
Sabu vs. Abyss
From a three way with Rhino to this no-holds-barred match, fair trade. No James Mitchell for Abyss tonight, too bad as I’m a big fan. Huge reaction for Abyss, then chants and cheers for Sabu. Despite the PWInsider poll results, Sabu was THE comeback of the year in ‘05, and his streak continued here, with a great outing with Abyss. These two clearly have great chemistry with one another, as Abyss can give a great @ss-whipping, and Sabu can take one. The trademark Sabu spots all hit to the nines, including a beautiful triple-jump moonsault and the Arabian Face Buster (delivered to the back of Abyss’s head, which in honor of Gorilla Monsoon I guess we should call the Arabian External Occipital Protuberance Buster) through a table that was the finish. Again, good match, keeping up the theme of the night that only the ICP had broken up.
From there, it was intermission time, and a quick bolt from my seat to the souveneir stand meant I was much closer to the front of the line now, which made for a much shorter wait. No Samoa Joe shirts, but I did snag mat a Christian “Got Charisma?” shirt, as well as a TNA cap for myself and a copy of the “Best of the Bloodiest Brawls” DVD. Coulda gotten it less at Best Buy, sure, but now it’s forever The DVD I Got At The House Show, isn’t that worth it? About 15-20 minutes later, after a spot where Tracy was brought out to deliver a free TNA shirt to some lucky fan, it was time for…
Rhino vs. A-1
D’Amore comes out with A-1, huge reaction for hometown boy Rhino. It still takes some effort to NOT spell his name with a “Y” - damn WWE and their marketing strategies. Anyway, straightforward back and forth action, nothing to really write home about, but the crowd was white-hot for Rhino. Finish came as D’Amore got involved, leading to Rhino goring both him (with a great sell by D’Amore) and A-1 before the pinfall. Again, solid.
Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles
HERE we go. It’s announced that they’re taping this match for Spike TV, though nothing played on the show tonight (maybe next week, as editing something into the show 24 hours later might have been a stretch). Huge pop and chants for both guys, though I gotta admit the Joe chants were a little louder. (Steph was especially fun to watch: “I like both guys! What should I do?”) This was pretty easily the best match I’ve ever seen live. No small praise, as I’ve got a few pay-per-views under my belt, including several ECW, but these two just are flat-out amazing in the ring together. I think we’re looking at one of those rivalries, like Flair/Steamboat or RVD/Lynn, where the two workers’ styles (no pun intended) just plain mesh so well that it’s a privilege to see them work every time out. Fast paced from the opening bell, as they clearly were not holding anything back. I’d rank this right up there with their PPV matches against each other, as everything they tried hit and got a huge reaction from the crowd. Some memorable spots include Joe whipping AJ toward the guardrail on the floor, AJ sliding underneath it and into the crowd, then trying to springboard off the rail at Joe, who calmly catches him and tosses him into the guardrail anyway; Joe going for his suicide dive through the ropes at AJ, who rolls back into the ring to avoid it, then runs the ropes and does a perfect somersault plancha over the top onto Joe, all in one motion; a nifty spot with Joe holding AJ in sunset flip position, then doing the Japanese rolling spot where they roll all around the ring in that position, with the crowd hugely cheering them on. The finish was the same one they did back at Turning Point: AJ goes for a roll-up and gets two before Joe pulls back on him and catches AJ in the rear naked choke, leading to AJ blacking out. Amazing to see live, and both guys get standing ovations from everybody after the match. Stephanie said it all when she remarked, “I’m gonna be talking about that for months!”
America’s Most Wanted vs. The Naturals
I figured this match was dead in the water following AJ/Joe, which was a good strategy, as better this one faces that problem than our main event. But they eventually work the crowd back into it with some cheap heat (playing off the “Brokeback Mountain” chants, which are really the only thing about TNA that kinda irks me right now, but hey, at least that’s more the crowd’s doing than the company’s) and then some neat-o keen psychology that actually played into the finish. The Naturals are coming more into their own as of late than they did as tag team champs, oddly, and I firmly believe that AMW are the best tag team in the world right now. After an early heat segment featuring a sweet shooting star press off the top to the floor, the psychology comes in as AMW targets the knee of one of the Naturals (I can’t remember which one - hey, I’m lucky to remember their names, much less who’s who) and work it over for a while. Finally, the hot tag is made, leading to a Tower of Doom spot in the corner with all four guys which got a huge reaction, as well as Harris being blinded by his own powder and giving Storm the Catatonic by accident. But then a well-timed referee distraction lead to a chairshot to the injured knee of What’s-His-Name, and the pinfall for AMW to retain. Again, cool psychology leading to the finish.
JB thanks us all for coming and helping TNA make history, and assures us that TNA will be back in Detroit soon. And now, it’s time for our main event:
Christian Cage vs. Jeff Jarrett
The rumors were swirling in the crowd about how Sting and/or Steiner were rumored to be here as a surprise, which woulda been cool, but in the long run really not necessary. Jarrett gets a big heel reaction coming out, then cuts a promo about how he’s the reason we’re all here and so forth. Then comes Christian, to a big face pop, about the biggest of the night (at least right up there with AJ and Joe’s entrances). After JB does the traditional TNA intro of the main event, Christian grabs the mike and gives a shout out to all his Michigan Peeps, “or, as I call them, my Meeps!” I was laughing at that one for the rest of the night. Then to the match, which didn’t quite have the reaction that the past few matches had, but a.) it was the end of the night, b.) some of the teeny-bopper crowd who apparently just wanted to see the people from TV and had no apparent interest in actually watching matches got up and left once it started, and c.), it’s Jeff Jarrett. But anyway, a pretty solid match, but it couldn’t touch AJ/Joe. Christian was clearly working hard, too, taking some ridiculous bumps to the floor. The finish was the same as their world title match from Against All Odds - a nifty finisher reversal sequence leading to the Unprettier from Christian for the three count. Good pop for the finish. A lot of the crowd starts filing out as the finish was tolled, but we weren’t done: out comes Abyss outta nowhere to attack Christian, out comes Sabu to counter, out comes Joe, then AJ, then AMW, then Rhino, and it’s a big full-ring schmozz to end the night. The faces drive the heels out and stand triumphant, then Christian grabs the mike and thanks everyone one more time for coming out on behalf of all the babyfaces, and says good night, leading to one last big “TNA” chant from the crowd.
Post match, as Steph, J and I are about to head out, we notice that even though all the other faces had already taken the trip around the ring and headed to the back, Christian is still there, slapping hands with everyone around ringside. We head on up and I get a high five, saying “Thank you, man,” to him as I do. Being the sort of person who sadly tends to get mumble-mouthed around people I respect, I’m glad I said something that correctly and wholly summed up my feelings at that moment. For I said that not only as an audience member to a performer who had worked hard to put on a good show, but as a wrestling fan to a representative of a company which had worked hard and put on a great show. A simply awesome first effort from TNA in the house show market, there was not a dull spot of the night, and I will guarantee you that every wrestling fan in that building will make an effort to be back next time the company rolls through town. Heck, even the two non-wrestling fans that came with me, J and Steph, both said the show was awesome and that they’d love to come with me to see them again. Could a show receive a higher compliment than that?
Just an amazing evening, and I highly recommend that when TNA starts their house show tours in earnest this summer, everyone does their best to get out and support them. I can say with reasonable certainty you’ll have a great time. We sure as hell did.
(BTW, want a taste of how the show was?
Click here!)
