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Arena Reports
2/21 TNA in New York: Angle vs. Christian, Team 3D vs. LAX, Machismo vs. Dutt, Joe vs. Styles Feb 22, 2008 - 3:31:40 AM
TNA house show report
February 21, 3008
New York, N.Y. at Webster Hall
Report by Alfonso Castillo, PWTorch correspondent
I just came back from TNA's first New York City house show where I had a surprisingly fun time. I get as frustrated as the next fan with TNA's weekly offerings on Impact, but with little in the way of storylines tonight, and plenty of great wrestling action, this turned out to be a blast, and left fans wanting more.
It was my first time in Webster Hall, and it turned out to be a great venue for wrestling. I'd estimate the crowd at around 600-800, and about 95 percent males between the age of 17 and 25. There were no seats on the floor - just fans gathering around the ring, and most anybody was able to get pretty close. A balcony tier was filled with VIPs, including officials from Spike TV and a very proud Dixie Carter (who is quite stunning in person.) With a bar on the dance floor, a lot of fans were drinking while watching the show.
The ring was set up on a stage on one side of the club, high above most people's line of sight, so everybody got a good view. It's stunning how tiny the six-sided ring looks in real life. It looked like there was barely enough space for two wrestlers and a ref. But all in all, it was a very cool atmosphere for a wrestling show - a lot closer to an ROH crowd than a WWE one.
Jeremy Borash hosted the show and got the crowd pumped up for the first match.
(1) The Motor City Machine Guns defeated the Rock 'n' Rave Infection. No Christie Hemme. A great opener that really got the crowd going. The Guns looked especially good. I believe Shelley pinned Hoyt for the win.
(2) X Division champion "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal defeated Sonjay Dutt. Another fun match. Despite the unique positioning of the ring, which faced the crowd only on one side, both men did plenty of aerial spots to the outside of the ring, including a Lethal dive into the crowd. Lethal got the pin with the top rope elbow.
(3) Team 3D defeated LAX in a New York City street-fight. The crowd went nuts for Team 3D, which was billed as hailing from New York City. The crowd chanted ?Welcome Home!? and Brother Ray ate it up. He cut a promo talking about how great it was to be home, and how New York City was the true home of hardcore. He also pointed out that Little Guido and Tommy Dreamer were in the audience. We couldn't see Guido, but Dreamer played to the crowd from the VIP seats. Brother Ray asked how many people wanted to see Dreamer in TNA, and Dreamer himself raised his hand. Brother Ray noted that this was not an originally scheduled match but said that it was fitting that the two best teams in TNA, and two teams from NY, compete tonight in a NYC street-fight. It was a fun brawl that went all over the arena and was played mostly for comedy. Brother Ray seemed to be bleed hardway from the nose. A lot of shots with a garbage can. In the end, Brother Ray power-bombed Hernandez through a table in the ring for the pin. After the match, Brother Ray told the fans - a lot of whom were chanting ECW - that they should instead be chanting TNA, and they did. A fun, crazy brawl.
(4) Samoa Joe defeated A.J. Styles. This was the best match of the night. Just great work from both men, reminiscent of their ROH days. The crowd ate it up and chanted ?This is Awesome!? In the end, Joe won with the Muscle Buster. The crowd chanted for A.J. after the match, and he picked up his mic and said they should call him Prince A.J.
The show took a 20 minute intermission, during which Team 3D signed autographs at the merchandise table for $5. Throughout the night, TNA officials were tapping fans on the shoulder and bringing them backstage to meet the wrestlers. The Spike TV cameras were also shooting the fans for a segment on Impact.
(5) "Cowboy" James Storm defeated Showtime Eric Young. Storm did some heel promo work ripping on the NY crowd before the match. This was mostly comedy fare, with the most memorable sequence coming when Young took off Earl Hebner's referee shirt, put it on himself, and demanded that Hebner and Storm wrestle each other. Hebner and Storm locked up and Hebner slapped on a headlock and joined Young in a double hip-toss on Storm. A lot more comedy throughout the match, which ended when Young dove off the top rope, and Storm rolled over and grabbed Young's tights for the win. Just okay. Probably too much comedy for this point in the show.
(6) Awesome Kong defeated Gail Kim and Jackie Moore. Usual good action among these three. Kong power-bombed Jackie for the win, then also power-bombed the ref for good measure.
(7) Champion Kurt Angle defeated Christian Cage to retain the TNA World Hvt. Title. Another terrific match between these two. They exchanged loads of innovative moves, and reversals, before Angle slapped on the ankle lock for the tap out win. A satisfying main event.
After the match, Borash invited most of the roster to come back out to take pictures and sign autographs for the fans. Fans paid $20 each to get a picture in the ring with Kurt Angle and his title, but otherwise the photos an autographs were free. Wrestlers roamed through the crowd and met with fans. I met Joe, who walked over to the bar, sat down, and signed autographs and took pictures with everyone.
Notes: Overall, a great show. Borash promised TNA would be returning, and suggested that the company would host a pay per view there. If they chose to do, they'd have to step up the production, which was fine for a house show, but I don't think would translate well on television.
I was impressed with how fan friendly the whole operation was. Everybody involved seemed really proud with the show, and Dixie Carter especially seemed to be glowing like a proud mom as she watched all the matches from the balcony.
I'll be at the TNA show tonight on Long Island, which Borash claimed tonight had sold out. If that's true, that would be pretty impressive because that venue holds a legit 2,800 fans.
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