TNA house show report
February 26, 2012
Charlottesville, Va.
Report by Chris Davidson, PWTorch reader

There was a lot going on before the show. Don West came out to announce a ton of crazy deals, including multiple chances to get backstage and meet Jeff Hardy, A.J. Styles, and Samoa Joe. They were trying to sell as much merch as possible so they wouldn't have to transport it back home. There was a meet and greet before the show with Crimson, ODB, Eric Young, Angelina Love, and many others. I don't always watch TNA, so it was a good chance to see the in ring talent they have to offer.

(1) X Division champion Austin Aries beat Alex Shelley to retain the X Division Title. Aries had a ton of heat, and Shelley seemed to draw his strength from a group of big fans at ringside. Aries won via submission with the Horns of Aries.

(2) Mickie James & Velvet Sky beat Gail Kim & Angelina Love. Mickie is from nearby Richmond, so she was way over with the Virginia crowd. Before the match, Earl Hebner came out to his own entrance and did a Bret Hart imitation to some fans who were booing him. He called the match in his "Damn Right I Did" t-shirt. During the match, he caught Angelina Love in his arms, and kissed her, then received kisses on the cheek from both James and Sky, which led to a Ric Flair imitation. The crowd ate that up. Love was pinned after Gail Kim left the match when Hebner tried to kiss her.

(3) TNA tag champions Samoa Joe & Magnus beat Crimson & Matt Morgan to retain the TNA Tag Titles. This was the same match from Impact, with Crimson accidentally spearing Morgan. The match didn't do much for the crowd, as many had purchased Samoa Joe action figures to be autographed at intermission so they didn't want to boo him. Magnus took most of the heat.

(4) Christopher Daniels (w/Kazarian) beat A.J. Styles. The crowd went crazy for Styles, and Daniels cut a promo to get some cheap heat. Kazarian kept holding Daniels's feet on the ropes to attempt to win, which kept drawing boos from the crowd. After Daniels rolled up Styles, Kazarian came in the ring, and was subjected to the Styles Clash.

[ Intermission. Don West announced Aries was signing autographs, as was Earl Hebner if you bought his t-shirt for $10. It was funny seeing a bunch of little girls wearing too big shirts with "Damn Right I Did" across the chest. Don West also noted Hebner had refereed over 100,000 matches in 42 years. This seems like a lot, but West said he used to do 12 a night for 320 days a year and has continuously ref'ed since then. Fans got to go back and meet Jeff Hardy, Joe, and A.J. Styles if they purchased certain items, and some even got to meet the heels, who Don West said "never sign due to their characters." ]

(5) ODB & Eric Young beat Robbie E. & Rob Terry. The crowd loved ODB, and both Robbies had a lot of heat. The match started with a dance-off, where the Robbies basically fist-pumped and jumped around. ODB asked them to play a certain song, which turned out to be Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" to the delight of the crowd. The match wasn't very special, but ODB won after she spit the contents of her flask into Robbie T.'s face, and gave both of them low blows. Eric Young then pinned Robbie T. for the win.

(6) Jeff Hardy beat TNA World Hvt. champion Bobby Roode via DQ; Roode retained the TNA World Title. Hardy came out first to a huge pop, and also tears from the teenage girls sitting around me. Roode got a lot of heat from the crowd, taking his time to stare down fans who were mocking him. Roode got into words with an older man in and NWO Wolfpac hat who had been walking around ringside telling everyone how he was a former tag team champion, and he could beat any of the champions with a bear claw maneuver. Roode and he argued for a few seconds before the crowd started a "We want Grandpa" chant. Jeremy Borash looked like he was about to let the old man in, but then thought better of it. Roode and Hardy wrestled for a few minutes before Bully Ray came in and beat down Hardy for the DQ. James Storm came out to clear the ring and challenged them to a tag match, which the ref said he was going to make, and if Bully and Roode didn't get in the ring, Bully would get suspended, and Roode would be stripped of his title.

(7) Jeff Hardy & James Storm beat TNA World Hvt. champion Bobby Roode & Bully Ray. Before the match, Ray claimed that Hardy would never hit the Twist of Fate, and Storm would never hit the Superkick on either of them. Storm got beat up for a good portion of the match. Roode and Bully did the basic heel tag team tactics to get a ton of heat from the pro-Hardy crowd. Eventually, Hardy got the hot tag and cleaned house. Eventually, Storm superkicked Bully, Roode speared Storm, and Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Roode to win the match.

Afterward, Storm sprayed part of the crowd with beer, and Hardy threw his arm things to the crowd before they announced they would be taking pictures in the ring for $20. All and all, it was a good show. The crowd was more into it than I thought they would be, and apparently there are a ton of TNA fans in Central Virginia.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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