TNA house show results
May 14, 2010
Hammond, Ind.
Report by Tyler Burns & Ken Kettler & Lucas Howe, PWTorch readers

Editor's Note: We received three separate reports from Torch readers attending the show, so the results and observations below are a blend of all three reports. All three were positive on the TNA house show experience, Jeff Hardy was universally the most popular star, and Mr. Anderson was universally the best heel on the show.

From Lucas: If you get a ticket in the first three rows of a TNA live event, you're able to arrive an hour early and do a meet and greet with the wrestlers. I'd say the nicest guys were Jesse Neal, Earl Hebner, and, by far, Mr. Anderson (go figure). Just an awesome guy. He stuck around ringside the entire time taking pictures with anyone who wanted one, etc., while others signed and left in no more than 15 minutes.

From Ken: First, I want to note that, as always, TNA is a very classy promotion from the standpoint of interacting with its fans. Jeremy Borash was shilling the backstage passes all night long, including using A.J. Styles as the heel who didn't want any of the fans to be allowed backstage. Mr. Anderson, Rob Van Dam, The Beautiful People, and Jeff Jarrett each signed autographs at the merchandise table or at ringside at various points throughout the show, Don West took good care of everyone at merchandise and offered his insane deals, and Jeff Hardy took pictures with fans in the ring for $20 after the show. Although we left before it happened, there was also apparently a meet-and-greet autograph session with the other wrestlers afterward. This was my fifth TNA show, and at each one, they've taken the time to treat their fans extremely well.

The Civic Center is a small arena, and while the floor seats were sold out, attendance in the upper deck was fairly sparse. Still, the crowd was loud all night long and seemed to be primarily a real TNA audience (despite there being many children in attendance who were there primarily to cheer for Jeff Hardy). Before the opening bell, JB brought out Earl Hebner, who got a more mixed reaction than he's likely used to. Earl removed his ref shirt to reveal his new "Damn Right I did!" t-shirt (in reference to the "You Screwed Bret" chants). Yes, Earl Hebner has his own t-shirt available for purchase.

(1) X Division champion Kazarian beat Brian Kendrick to retain the X Division Title. Kazarian had a local radio personality with him. Nice opener with Kaz getting a superstar pop with every move he performed. Kendrick didn't have much offense, but heeled up what little he did well. The finish came with Kaz pulling Kendrick off the top rope into his reverse piledriver for the win. Kendrick got some good heat here, but the crowd was mediocre at best for this match.

(2) Abyss beat Desmond Wolfe. Chelsea was absent. This was a very solid competition. The crowd was split in this match on who they wanted to win. Abyss had several nearfalls and hit three Black Hole Slams and three chokeslams in this match. Wolfe got in more offense than he has in 90 percent of his matches on Impact. Wolfe showed off his technical skills and also tried to rip the HOF ring off the Monster's finger several times, previewing their Sacrifice matchup well. Abyss avoided the Lariat, Hulked up, and hit the Black Hole Slam for win. Afterward, Abyss picked a child out of the crowd and did the Hogan posing with him in the ring for a feel-good ending.

(3) TNA Knockouts tag champions The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne w/Lacey Von Erich) beat Sarita & Taylor Wilde to retain the Knockouts tag titles. The crowd was comparatively quiet for most of the action in this match despite both teams getting huge reactions for their entrances and playing to the crowd mid-match. Lots of comedy bits throughout, mostly playing off Lacey's cluelessness. Sarita was worked over for the majority of the match before Taylor got the hot tag and dominated the BPs, only to be sprayed in the face by the hairspray and pinned by Velvet after Madison distracted Earl Hebner.

Next up was Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Anderson. Anderson ripped on the Chicago Bears fans in the audience pre-match. Mr. Anderson had some intense heat and was nailed by a fan's beer. The fan was promptly escorted out of the building by security, giving Anderson even more heel heat.

(4) Jeff Jarrett beat Mr. Anderson. For his countless years in the business, Double J still gives his all every night, and he seems to enjoy every moment he has in the ring. Anderson, perhaps the best obnoxious heel in wrestling today, was a great foil for the TNA Founder, and I wouldn't mind seeing these two feud down the line. During the match, Anderson used a chair, which was great that they saved for a house show. Jarrett won with the Stroke.

[Intermission. The Beautiful People and Earl Hebner were signing and taking pictures at the merchandise table. The line wrapped nearly around the entire interior of the building to meet The Beautiful People. As my friend and I recalled from the Bound For Glory '08 Fanfest, the BPs always have autograph lines rivaling any star in the company. They're all exceptionally nice (when out of character, of course!) and stayed at the table for almost the entire remainder of the show so everyone could get an autograph. JB also saluted "The Hardest Working Man in TNA," Don West, who is from nearby Chicago, and pointed out Don's parents in the crowd.]

- To get people back in their seats, Beer Money came out to do some heel work. James Storm's promo before the match was amazing. Beer Money tried to play face when they first entered, offering JB's backstage passes to fans, only to pull the rug out from under the audience and note that several fans were either too fat, ugly, or unmentionable to come backstage, garnering them a shower of boos. Awesome.

(5) Ink, Inc. (Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal) beat Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode & James Storm). Shannon Moore seemed to have the "Jeff Hardy" rub and was very popular as a result. The match itself was standard tag fare with Jesse Neal playing the face in peril for a good portion of it. When Moore finally came in, the crowd really lit up. He kicked out of Beer Money's wheelbarrow codebreaker maneuver, which looks sick in person. Shannon eventually nailed the Mooregasm on Roode for the pin after Storm accidentally spit beer in his partner's eyes. It was interesting they had some unexpected-for-a-house-show brawling in the stands. Really good match and the crowd was into it.

(6) TNA World Hvt. champion Rob Van Dam beat A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy in a three-way match to retain the TNA World Title. This was a very competitive match and better than their match on Impact by far. Jeff Hardy was way over with this crowd. Van Dam was right there with him, as it's impossible to avoid chanting along with his theme music. Of note, Styles entered with his classic blue hooded vest, rather than the Flair robe. A.J. tried to leave the match several times and did some mic work degrading the fans and telling RVD and Hardy to just wrestle each other. They obliged him by purposely slowly mock-wrestling a few basic holds and counters, getting a laugh from the crowd (a guy near our section shouted out that it was "still better than a WWE match!").

Styles finally entered the fray to stop the nonsense, leading to a very strong main event. RVD was out of the match often, as he took several loud bumps into the guardrails and appeared to be murdered by every move he was hit with. No one sells like Rob Van Dam. All three men put on a good show of their signature moves until, eventually, Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb on Styles, but rolled out of the ring clutching his chest before he could make a pin. Van Dam took advantage and hit a perfect Five-Star Frogsplash on A.J. to retain the title.

- After the match, JB announced that the wrestlers would be coming out from the back to sign. He then announced you could get in the ring with Jeff Hardy and get a picture with him for $20. Also, Jeff Jarrett was signing autographs at the merchandise table after the show.

Overall, it was a very fun show with a hot crowd. I cannot recommend TNA's live events enough. Even with only a small portion of the roster, they manage to put on solid shows that showcase the "Action" of Total Nonstop Action and seem to genuinely care about their fans having a good time.

Biggest Pops
-- Jeff Hardy
-- RVD
-- Ink, Inc.
-- Kazarian
-- The Beautiful People
-- Jeff Jarrett

Biggest Heat
-- Mr. Anderson
-- A.J. Styles
-- Beer Money
-- Desmond Wolfe
-- Brian Kendrick

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