TNA house show results
May 22, 2010
Houston, Tex.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

TNA returned to Houston on Saturday night for the first time since the Victory Road 2008 PPV, where TNA ran the medium-sized Reliant Arena. TNA came to the more intimate Verizon Wireless Theater on Saturday for their first house show in Houston and drew 1,600 fans. It was a good, lively crowd mainly hitting the males 15-34 demographic. There were some adults at the end of that range bringing their kids, but it wasn't a typical WWE crowd of parents and kids.

TNA house shows have developed a reputation for being one of the best live wrestling products in the industry. From the pre-show to the show to the after-show, it's obvious why TNA has earned that reputation. TNA has embraced the "Paul Heyman philosophy" of running smaller venues and trying to pack the venue to create a great atmosphere for live wrestling.

TNA has taken it a step further with a fan interaction aspect that runs like a well-oiled machine and has the residual effect of encouraging fans to snap up as merchandise from Don West. The big seller for TNA on Saturday night, though, was the post-show photo-op with Rob Van Dam. More than half of the arena stuck around after the show to snap a photo with RVD in the ring for $20, which probably generated around $10,000.

The wrestling aspect of the show was solid from top to bottom, with the Beer Money vs. Machineguns match stealing the show on the undercard. Virtually the entire roster was over thanks to TV exposure, which allowed the wrestlers to conserve their bodies working a smart style the audience bought into.

Combining the fan interaction, focus on wrestling, and featuring top stars, TNA has put together a very strong house show product. It's obvious why the house show business has boosted the company financially and why they'll continue to expand house show touring. One of TNA's main attraction for wrestlers is the lighter schedule compared to WWE, but wrestlers want to make money and the entire house show set-up is a money-maker for TNA.

Overall, it's amazing how the same company who produces a great live wrestling experience produces the TV product on Thursday nights. It's a different setting, but the stars actually look like stars in the house show setting telling their stories via pro wrestling in the ring without the interference of over-scripted, often-times non-sensical storylines. This roster is full of very talented wrestlers who tell great stories in the ring via the art form of pro wrestling.

Live Show Review

Walking into the Verizon Wireless Theater, the venue feels like a perfect setting for a TV taping. It has an ECW venue feel with tight floor seating and a balcony hanging over the floor seats with the audience right on top of the action. If TNA takes Impact on the road for a one-off TV taping, similar to the Las Vegas Impact in 2008, this would be a great venue to film a TV show. During the show, Jeremy Borash teased a return date to the venue. I wouldn't be surprised to see TNA tour this venue regularly. It's perfect for TNA's size and scope of house show touring.

The show started on time with JB doing the big hype engaging the audience with promises of surprises after the show. He was also trying to get fans back in the venue, as there was a line wrapped around the concourse trying to meet Kurt Angle.

After JB warmed up the crowd, Earl Hebner came out to a full intro. He was selling his t-shirt and playing the heel ref role. Seriously. He even refereed the opening match in a pajama-sized t-shirt, which was a bit of a distraction at times.

(1) X Division champion Doug Williams beat Kazarian to retain the X Division Title at 8:35. It's interesting how TNA booked the PPV match first, then took the match on the house shows. Going back to Lockdown in April, the volcano situation messed things up where Williams and Kazarian weren't able to fine-tune things on the house shows before taking it the Sacrifice PPV. They have terrific chemistry, though. Williams was over as the "foreign heel" telling that basic story the audience was buying into. A good spot mid-way through the match was Kazarian countering the Chaos Theory into a roll-up for a close nearfall the audience popped for. Kazarian then scored a few more close nearfalls. The finish was Kazarian attempting an electric chair out of the corner, but Williams countered into the Chaos Theory rolling German Suplex into a bridge pin for the win. Very good match to start the show. (**3/4)

- Borash came out again to hype the backstage passes to the loudest fans. The Beautiful People music hit and the crowd popped. It didn't matter who was coming out; the music and the act are over thanks to being consistently featured on TV and being all over a typical Impact episode. Knockouts champion Madison Rayne came out to face Hamada in the next match.

(2) Knockouts champion Madison Rayne beat Hamada at 6:28 to retain the Knockouts Title. Before locking up, Hamada and Rayne played to the crowd to see who could get the biggest cheers. Rayne became frustrated when Hamada was cheered the loudest, setting up Rayne as the heel in the match. The match was fine and the predominant male crowd was into the match, especially Rayne heeling it up when she was on offense. The crowd then bought into Hamada's nearfalls on her comeback with her power offense being over. Madison scored the win by the skin of her teeth to retain the title. (*1/4)

- Slick Johnson came out as the ref for the next match. He was announced as being from Houston. Apparently TNA is doing a babyface ref gimmick where he's announced from whichever city they're touring and the unsuspecting audience buys into it.

(3) Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) beat Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) at 9:49. This was the stand-out match of the show, as the teams have great chemistry working together. Both teams were over during pre-match intros, which carried over to the entire match. Storm and Roode look like money in the house show setting. TNA hasn't done enough with them on TV to feature them individually (as a tag team) and not background pieces in your typical eight-man, moving-parts type of a segment on Impact.

Both teams worked in babyface spots during the match, although Beer Money was the default heel team in the match. The older range of the 15-34 demo was into Beer Money's act, while the younger end of the demo was into the Guns. Beer Money also slowed down the pace of the match to get in their spots without the restrictions of TV time. The Guns then quickened the pace to a big reaction when they made their comeback and landed signature tag-team moves that wowed the crowd. At the end, the teams had some great exchanges and nearfalls with the audience buying into the nearfalls. As a "This is Wrestling" chant was going up in the arena, the Guns scored the win with a combination splash on Storm for the win. Excellent match. They slowed down the pace to build up to a furious finish that drew the crowd into the action. (***1/4)

- Jeremy Borash hyped up a special announcement. He dragged this out to get the crowd excited before Jeff Jarrett came out sporting a sling to sell the beating by Sting at Sacrifice. Jarrett did a classic babyface promo thanking the audience for supporting TNA the last eight years. Jarrett talked up his early days working in Texas to get a babyface pop, then he plugged Spike TV. Jarrett started to talk about the big acquisitions in TNA history. He listed Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and Rob Van Dam. Interestingly, no mention of Hulk Hogan. Jarrett sold that he doesn't know when he's coming back from "injury."

- Before the next match of Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle, Anderson came out and did his bit where the mic doesn't lower from the ceiling, so he demands Borash hand him the mic. After playing red light/green light games with Borash, Anderson started a promo. He comically said "Kurtis P. Angle" busted his lip last night in Lake Charles and he gave him a "receipt" breaking Angle's ribs. After the extended mic work, Angle came out selling with the taped ribs gimmick. Anderson then attacked Angle before the bell to jumpstart the match.

(4) Kurt Angle beat Mr. Anderson via submission at 3:18. Anderson's mic work was longer than the match. Anderson beat down Angle throughout, with Angle selling, then Anderson missed a top rope dive. Angle immediately clamped on the Anklelock, grapevined the leg, and Anderson tapped out. Interestingly short match. (n/a)

- After a 20-minute intermission, Desmond Wolfe came out to get people back in their seats. Wolfe heeled it up before the match, then Samoa Joe came out to a huge pop. Joe was right there with Kurt Angle for #2 most popular babyface behind RVD later in the main event. Joe appealed to the entire range of 15-34 males and he seemed genuinely impressed with the reaction he received.

(5) Samoa Joe beat Desmond Wolfe at 10:16. This wasn't an ROH match and no one expected it to be, but they didn't need to punish their bodies to have a really good match. Both wrestlers are over from being on TV, so they just needed to tell a basic story to get a nice crowd reaction throughout. Wolfe heeled it up early on to build heat for Joe to take control doing his sort of comical, no-nonsense offense e.g. casually walking away from Wolfe attempting a top rope move and telegraphing to the audience his trademark backwards leaping enziguiri in of the corner. The crowd ate up everything, then Wolfe cut off Joe with a single-arm DDT. The crowd started chanting "Nigel" in the tone of Mets fans chanting "Larry" at Chipper Jones, and Wolfe heeled it up with his facial expressions to continue building heat. Joe then made his full comeback and hit the Muscle Buster for the win. Some fans were chanting, "This is Awesome," wanting to be part of an epic match, but this was a good, basic pro wrestling match telling a good story. When you're over, you don't need to kill your body to have a good match. (***)

- Borash put over the venue, including the General Manager in a nod to continuing a working relationship. Borash said this wouldn't be the last time they come to theater, but he didn't announce a return date.

- A.J. Styles came out first for the TNA World Title match main event. Styles was the top heel on the show. TNA did a good thing pausing after Styles's music stopped to let the audience start anticipating RVD. RVD's music hit to a loud pop, then Van Dam waited before emerging from the ECW-style entrance tunnel to stand on the stage and soak in the cheers. He was ridiculously over in Houston. RVD did the full entrance parading around the ring while Styles paced in the ring. JB then handled formal ring intros once both men were in the ring.

(6) TNA World Hvt. champion Rob Van Dam beat A.J. Styles at 9:03 to retain the TNA World Title. The match was short and underwhelming, with expectations a bit too high for both men at the tail end of a very long stretch of PPV, TV, and house shows this week. After the bell sounded, RVD and Styles played to the crowd. Styles heeled it up by complaining about the fans making noise while he was trying to have a wrestling match. Styles then took the mic and told the crowd to shut up. That, of course, led to more noise. The psychology of the first part of the match was Styles interrupting RVD as he tried to do his "Rob...Van...Dam" pose. Styles interrupted before "Dam" twice during the first-half of the match. They eventually built to Van Dam getting in his full name to a crowd pop. Styles then cut off RVD and his trademark offense to a heel reaction. At least the flashy offense is getting heat, not cheers, which would defeat the purpose of trying to build up RVD's comeback. The finish seemed to come out of nowhere without a strong build-up. Styles went for a springboard move, but RVD cut him off and Styles landed stomach-first across the top rope. Styles flipped over to the corner and RVD hopped up top to hit the Five Star Frogsplash for the win. (**1/4)

- After the match, Borash thanked the fans and did the bit where the wrestlers are coming out to the fans instead of the fans going backstage to meet the wrestlers. RVD stayed in the ring for the big-money $20 photo-op while other wrestlers walked around ringside signing autographs. Madison Rayne, Desmond Wolfe, the Machineguns, Hamada, Doug Williams, and Mr. Anderson signed ringside. Meanwhile, Jeff Jarrett was at the concourse greeting everyone leaving the building on the way out.

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