When TNA announced a second UK tour (featuring their first ever date in Cardiff, Wales), I was initially against the idea of attending what could very well have been a “by-the-numbers” house show, with phoned-in performances from talent that had probably been told to go on “auto-pilot” all night to preserve their energy for the "real shows” back on U.S. soil (certainly, my last WWE house show in 2008 met this description). However, as the TNA “Maximum IMPACT!” tour drew nearer, I came to my senses and decided that I loved TNA (daft booking and decision-making aside) and that I should definitely give the Cardiff show a try (after all, if it turned out to be awful, I could always boycott future shows, as I have done with the WWE ones). This would be TNA’s first visit to Wales and with the added bonus of reduced ticket prices (generally cheaper than WWE house show charges) and the opportunity to see new wrestlers and a different style of wrestling to the quite frankly “samey” WWE, I quite frankly wouldn’t have been much of a wrestling fan if I didn’t check out some TNA action closer to home.
The TNA “Maximum IMPACT!” tour hit the Cardiff CIA on Wednesday January 27, 2010. The first thing that struck me as I waited in the queue outside the arena was the difference in the type of crowd here compared to what you would normally see at a WWE show (the TNA crowd was generally a lot older, with a few kids included as well. WWE crowds (at least in the UK) have become mainly little kids, with uninterested adults dragged along).
I must say that I wasn’t too impressed with the TNA merchandise stand. Firstly, there was only one (and it was absolutely rammed with people. It was so busy that I decided to check it out during the interval and after the show). It also looked like they weren’t selling any official tour T-shirts (they were selling T-shirts of the wrestlers, but most of them just featured names and logos with no pictures. I’m sorry, but I’ve never been a huge fan of these types of shirts). I’d say the “Beer Money” and “Motor City Machine Guns” shirts were the best sellers.
In the arena, I found my seat and I must say that I WAS impressed with that. Due to the fact that balcony seats weren’t on sale for this show, I had my concerns about how good the view would be elsewhere in the arena (even in the tiered seats), especially for a wrestling show where fans are liable to stand up at short notice. However, I’m pleased to say the view was perfect (I was directly opposite the ring and the stage, in tiered seating which meant I could still see even if the person in front of me stood up. As it turned out, most people stayed seated throughout the evening and seeing the action wasn’t a problem even when some of them stood).
I should also point out that TNA brought over the 6-sided ring. This was great to see (I made sure I got a photo as it could very well be the first and last time I get to see it used). They also had a screen set up above the stage and a “crawler”-style announcement board with the “TNA” logo running across it (later on, the board would feature the names of the wrestlers as they came to the ring, as well as “Bravo”, the channel that broadcasts TNA programming in the UK [well, for the moment, at least]). Already, TNA had shown more effort than WWE do at a typical house show; with the “TV-style” set.
The show started at 7:30PM. A warm-up guy (he might have been a TNA crew worker, but I didn’t catch his name) came out and gave “JB” Jeremy Borash a great introduction (“JB” even had his own entrance video!). The fans went wild for Borash, who last visited Cardiff in 2001 for the WWA (World Wrestling All-Stars) tour.
“JB” talked about how he and TNA had heard how great the fans in Wales were and announced that he had some “backstage passes” to give to the “loudest section” of the crowd. This theme continued throughout the evening, with Borash and TNA making good on their promise and bring a few sections of the crowd backstage to meet the TNA stars (and no, my section didn’t get tickets, but never mind!).
“JB” then announced the first match of the evening; a three-way X-Division match to determine the new number 1 contender to the TNA X-Division Championship!
1) Amazing Red Beat Chris Sabin And Suicide In A Three-Way X-Division Match To Determine The New No 1 Contender To The TNA X-Division Championship:
This was a great, all-action opener (albeit a little on the short site). Sabin was the most popular competitor, although there were healthy cheers for Red and Suicide also.
This match featured some incredible high-risk moves, such as Red hitting both his opponents with a somersault splash to the floor, Suicide hitting a dive of his own and Red bringing the crowd to their feet with a spinning hurricanrana followed by a swinging implant DDT on Sabin.
There were also some brilliant combination moves, such as Red holding Suicide up for a brain-buster while Sabin hit a flying cross-body on the masked man from the top rope.
Suicide also broke out the “Suicide Solution” on Red and drilled Sabin with a flying “Diamond Cutter” off the ropes.
The finish came when Red hit Suicide with a superb “Code Red” (sunset-flip power-bomb) from the top rope and then followed it up with a standing moon-sault.
It was a great win for Amazing Red, although it was strange to see him without the X-Division Title. I’m assuming that he lost the belt to someone prior to the show (or maybe he just lost the belt, period).
2) Taylor Wilde & Sarita Defeated The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne W/ Special Guest Referee Hamada):
The Beautiful People (not accompanied by Lacey Von Erich) were super-over with the fans in Cardiff (they got a much bigger reaction than Taylor and Sarita, despite being the heels). The crowd was particularly into Velvet Sky, who was treated like the “real star” of this match.
Hamada was announced as the Special Guest Referee after Senior Official Earl Hebner apparently refused to appear until (according to Jeremy Borash), he received “the respect he deserved” (Hebner appeared in the next match).
Taylor started strong for her team, hitting Madison with her classic “arm-drag from the ropes” routine. However, when Sarita got tagged in, The Beautiful People used their double-team tactics to keep her grounded and prevent her from tagging Taylor back in.
Velvet Sky got a huge pop when she got tagged in and was greeted with constant chants of her name throughout the match. She applied the pressure to Sarita with an abdominal stretch, with aspects of the “octopus” submission thrown for good measure.
Sarita eventually got the “hot tag” to Taylor and so the double-team combinations from the faces began. Highlights of their efforts
Included a pair of senton splashes and stereo clotheslines (there was a great spot where it looked like Wilde and Sarita might collide after being thrown from the ropes by The Beautiful People, but they managed to reverse the momentum and knock the “mean girls” down!).
Throughout the match, Madison Rayne had argued with Hamada about her pin fall counts and eventually, she made the mistake of slapping the Japanese star across the face!
Hamada responded with a head-butt, before Sarita seized the opportunity and rolled up Madison for the victory!
Although Sky and Rayne were the most popular duo in the match, the Cardiff crowd seemed to enjoy the finish and gave Taylor Wilde and Sarita plenty of applause and positive reaction for their win.
However, as the dejected “BP” left to cheers, it was clear who the real winners were in the eyes of the fans.
3) Rob Terry Beat Eric Young To Become The New TNA Global Champion:
“Big Rob” was announced as hailing from “Cardiff, Wales” (for the record he IS a real Welshman) and worked the match as a very popular face (this match had a great “patriotic” atmosphere. Terry came out with a Welsh flag and there were regular chants of “Wales” from the crowd).
Earl Hebner refereed the match, after coming to the ring dressed as Bret Hart (this got him a tremendous amount of heat from the fans). To his credit, Hebner really played it up, talking back to the fans and walking with a swagger whilst being bombarded with chants of “You Screwed Bret!”
Before the match, Eric Young talked about how Rob Terry “worked for him” in World Elite (World Elite’s continued existence was news to me; I thought the faction died when the “new era” began on January 4) and said that it wasn’t too late to back out of the match like a “Welsh coward”. Of course, “Big Rob” went through with the match, much to the delight of his countrymen.
The match quality was ok, but for me, it was more about the story behind it (Rob coming back home and getting a hero’s welcome as he tried winning TNA gold). It was mainly a power display from Terry (who looked quite decent in the role, it must be said), with Eric begging off and baiting the crowd.
Rob easily overpowered Young in the early going (throwing him out the ring, tossing him into the turnbuckle corners etc), but the leader of “World Elite” used some dastardly tactics to seize the advantage and got a bit of respect from a few people in the crowd for hitting an impressive flying drop-kick on Terry from the top rope.
However, “Big Rob” fought back and used the cheers of the crowd and the patriotic setting to fire back with a great-looking fall-away slam, before hitting “EY” with a running power-slam (made famous by another British grappler, the late British Bulldog) for the win. This meant that Rob Terry was the new TNA Global Champion and had given TNA their first title change outside the U.S.
Of course, the “Global Championship” isn’t much of a title and it’s possible that TNA won’t play up “Big Rob’s” win on IMPACT! in the coming weeks. However, it was still a great moment, all things considered. Rob Terry’s Welsh routes and association with TNA made the BBC Wales news on Wednesday night and there was a very interesting story on his win and the show in general on Sports Wales this past Friday. It’s also turned into a big story on the Internet and has proved to be another smart, publicity-garnering move from Dixie Carter and company. Plus, it was a real “feel-good” moment for Welsh wrestling fans (I’m sure anyone who was there live would agree).
4) Team 3D & Kurt Angle Defeated Hernandez, “The Pope” & Rhino In A 6-Man Tag-Team Tables Match:
Team 3D announced Kurt Angle as their tag partner after Hernandez, “The Pope” and Rhino had all made their entrances. Angle got a huge reaction and 3D gave the fans what they wanted when they suggested that this should be a “Tables Match”.
This was enjoyable enough, although like the X-Division match earlier on, it was a little short (plus considering it was a tables match, there wasn’t much hint of anyone going through the wood prior to the actual finish).
I was surprised to see “The Pope” there, considering he fell sick at the start of the tour. I was also surprised to see Rhino and Team 3D playing fan favourites (no reference was made to their recent exploits on TV), but then again, this was a house show and the overall theme of the night seemed to be that this was a special “one-off” event not related to what we see on TNA programming (it should be noted that the names “Hulk Hogan” and “Eric Bischoff” were not mentioned once during the show).
There was a scary moment in this match when “The Pope” took a nasty-looking face-first flap-jack from Bubba, and landed on his head (but he got up soon afterwards and didn’t appear too out of it later on). “Pope” also took the old “WASSUPPP?” head-butt from 3D, as well as a powerful release German suplex from Angle.
Kurt Angle got a big cheer when he cleaned house on everyone and the finish came after Rhino missed a “Gore” (hitting the turnbuckle corner instead of Angle) and got driven through the wood with an “Angle Slam” (after Bubba and D-Von did a bit of “furniture arranging”).
Post-match, Team 3D called two young fans into the ring and along with Angle, they signed a piece of the table to them and posed for pictures. This was a nice touch and 3D and Angle were great with the kids.
5) Samoa Joe Beat Daniels In An “I Quit” Match:
This match came after the interval and was a great bout with some good psychology. Daniels (who received a mixed reaction but was not as popular as Joe) worked on Joe’s arm and at one point, used a chair to trap the limb while he sat down and “trash-talked” Joe on the microphone.
However, the “Samoan Submission Machine” fought back and hit “The Fallen Angel” with his trademark “Olay” kick at ringside, as well as his classic running boot to the chest and eventually got Daniels to yell “I Quit!” into the microphone with a reverse choke-hold.
6) Beer Money Defeated The British Invasion
The Brits got a mixed reaction but they lost quite a few supporters when they officially broke ties with Rob Terry and said that they had been “babysitting” him, just like England had been “babysitting” Wales for years!
From this point on, Beer Money was the most popular duo and at one point, had the crowd going back and forth with chants of “BEER!” and “MONEY!”; from one side of the arena to the other!
This was a fun match, but again a bit short (although in fairness, they still had to make room for the main event). It also wasn’t fought under “Flag Match” rules as advertised, although no one in attendance seemed to mind.
Although things didn’t start too well for the Brits (Beer Money trapped them in the corner and did the now standard “British Invasion humiliation spot” where Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams landed in a very suggestive position, much to the amusement of the now-pro "Beer Money” crowd), Magnus and Williams soon used some illegal double-team moves to keep Robert Roode down, but when James Storm received the hot-tag, the momentum shifted to Beer Money. They soon got the win with the “DWI” on Magnus.
7) AJ Styles Retained The TNA World Heavyweight Championship Against Desmond Wolfe:
AJ was the favourite here (he showed no “heel tendencies”, either), although Wolfe wasn’t too far behind him for cheers. This was a commendable effort from both men, and their styles (no pun intended) complimented each other well.
At one point, Styles broke out his leaping “cannon-ball” dive to the floor and also took flight from the tope rope with a flying forearm smash.
Wolfe tried to better AJ with some technical wrestling and “strong-style” submission moves and even managed to hit the “Tower Of London” on the champ.
However, in the end, AJ hit the “Pele” kick and finished off Desmond with the “Styles Clash” to send the crowd home happy.
After the show, Styles said a few words on the microphone and Jeremy Borash thanked us all for coming. “JB” promised that TNA would be back in Cardiff soon.
Dixie Carter also appeared following the interval and thanked the TNA fans in Wales for their support (I thought it was great of her to make the effort and fly over here with the talent. When was the last time you saw Vince or any of the McMahon’s (excluding HHH) at a WWE house show?). She was accompanied by a TNA fan whom she’d been in touch with on Twitter and had invited him to join her as her “guest” as she spoke to the crowd. Dixie said how nice the people in Wales had been and urged us to “spread the word” about TNA.
Overall, I thought that TNA provided a unique and highly entertaining night of entertainment with their first visit to Wales. While I’ll admit that a few big names were missing (I knew Hogan was a virtual impossibility, but I would loved to have seen Mick Foley, Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett) and some of the matches were a little rushed (mainly due to time constraints), the general vibe of the show was great; there was a superb atmosphere and all the talent involved made a real effort to make it a night to remember.
I really hope that TNA sort out the mess and confusion surrounding the current UK TV situation, as the reaction from the fans and the attendance at this show (I’d say it was close to a sell-out) proved that this company has a strong and loyal following over here. There were chants of “TNA” and “This Is Wrestling!” throughout the night and I generally feel that these very fans are the ones who can help TNA succeed. However, losing a major UK TV deal (and signing a lesser one such as BT vision) could prove to be costly in the long run, so TNA should bear the success of this tour in mind when they make a decision on the future of their TV output in the UK.
Source: http://attitudesmash.blogspot.com/
