TNA House Show Report – June 15, 2013, Lexington, Kentucky

So
as you may have heard, Becca (girlfriend) and I took in the TNA house show tonight
in Lexington at the baseball stadium. More details to come, but the
conclusion: I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun at a wrestling show
and that includes going to a WWE pay per view.

First
of all, the stadium is less than 15 minutes from my house so driving
was no issue. The tickets were $15 each and include a voucher each
to any Lexington Legends baseball game this season. The seats were
along the third base line with a view of the ring at home plate. For
you non baseball fans, we had good seats and were looking down on the
ring. The ring is clearly smaller than a WWE ring but it doesn’t
look bad at all.

We
got there at about 7:00 for a 7:30 show. At about 7:25, JB announced
that you could purchase a VIP pass and meet James Storm, Gunner (tag
champions as of this writing), AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray
(world champion) and D-Von at intermission plus get a photo in the
ring with a TNA superstar to be named at the end of the show. All
this was $50 for two people so we were down there cash in hand and
got the first pass handed out. This was instantly more fun than the
WWE house show we took in a few months ago. Can you imagine WWE
offering a chance like that to its fans?

More
on that later. On with the matches.

The
first interesting thing was the way the wrestlers came to the ring.
They came out of the right field wall and rode golf carts to the
ring. There’s something amusing about that and it made me chuckle
every time. Also, you have to love TNA breaking its own rules as
this was a one on one X Title match instead of a triple threat. The
fans didn’t care about King but gave Sabin some polite applause. The
champion (Sabin) stomped his foot to get the fans to clap. King
tried the same thing and got silence in a funny bit.

The
match was fine and about what you would expect from these two. Sabin
worked on the arm to start but the most notable thing to start was
how loud the ring was. Every time they hit the mat it sounded like
cymbals crashing together. The ring mic was turned way down for the
rest of the night and it was an improvement. King snapped Sabin’s
neck across the top rope to take over and swung a bat like a home
run. Kenny missed something off the top, Sabin hit some kicks, and
Hail Sabin ended it in about 8:00. It was a good fast paced opener
and the crowd was into Sabin.

Before
the next match, Earl Hebner got his own entrance. He took off his
regular referee shirt to reveal his YES I DID (screw Bret) shirt. He
even pulled out some Bret glasses and did Hart’s poses in the ring.

Velvet
limped to the ring to sell the knee injury from Impact. Mickie is
fully heel, but you would have no idea that was the case tonight.
Surprisingly enough, if you have a gorgeous brunette in Daisy Duke
shorts and a sports bra with theme music talking about being a
southern girl in Kentucky, the fans are going to cheer her a lot.
This match didn’t do much for me although the view was very nice.

Mickie
worked on the knee and took the tape off of it and the fans booed
her. Yes, she attacked an injury and people booed without some
complicated backstory, long winded story, or any heavy handed
explanation. A heel did heelish things and the fans booed her.
Mickie won with the MickieDT in about 5:30. Not much to see here.

This
was long and all about AJ Styles. Bischoff got no reaction from the
crowd, but AJ got a standing ovation. There wasn’t much to see here
but Garrett didn’t completely embarrass himself, meaning he’s
improving. AJ worked on the arm and Garrett shouted OW in a funny
bit. Garrett took over with a spear and beat on AJ for a long bit
but AJ came back with a dive to the floor and the springboard
forearm. They rolled out of the corner and AJ got the Calf Killer
for the tap out at 11:45. It was a better match than expected but AJ
completely carried it.

As
you may have heard, Storm is wrestling hurt and it’s very clear if
you watch him for a few seconds. Storm was introduced as the Cowboy
instead of the Tennessee Cowboy to keep the Kentucky fans from booing
him. Just before the bell the challengers (Aries/Roode) went to the
pitcher’s mound with Aries pretending to pitch as Storm caught and
Gunner took a batter’s stance in the ring. Storm got bored and
picked up some cotton candy from a vendor to give to fans.

Roode
and Aries wanted quiet from the crowd but Brian Hebner couldn’t get
the fans to be quiet. It was a comedy match to start with the
champions sending Roode into Aries’ groin. The challengers went to
the floor with Roode shaking his head and Aries doing squats to
stretch things out. Everything spilled onto the floor with Storm
throwing a bunch of beers into Roode’s face while Gunner and Aries
spent a good 45 seconds trying to suplex each other next to the
pitcher’s mound (Gunner won with a front suplex).

They
finally got back inside and Storm played Ricky Morton. It was clear
that he was moving in slow motion and doing basic stuff while the
other guys did the heavy lifting. Gunner finally got the hot tag and
everything broke down. Roode got a beer but walked into Closing Time
to spit the beer everywhere. Aries took the Last Call (more beer
everywhere) followed by a torture rack from Gunner for the win at
about 20:00. This was the best and by far the most entertaining
match of the night. Aries was very impressive and Becca was very
entertained by him.

Next
was intermission and we got to go meet the previously mentioned
wrestlers. Before we got to the wrestlers, Austin Aries popped up in
street clothes and waved over some people he knew. I got a fist bump
and said hi to him and got a polite hello. Aries is shorter than he
looks on television but seemed to be a nice guy.

There
were two sets of tables set up with Bully Ray and D-Von on one side
and everyone else on the other. I told D-Von that I loved the TLC
matches and he gave a quiet but distinct thank you and gave me a fist
bump (no handshakes for him apparently). Ray signed his name with
WHC underneath it and basically punched my fist when I reached it out
to him for a fist bump. He’s either playing a great heel or a huge
jerk in real life but it fit very well.

Next
up was Jeff Hardy. A girl in front of me was one of the biggest Jeff
fans in the world and was crying her eyes out from getting to meet
him. Jeff took a quick picture with her despite the security guard
asking us to take pictures as Jeff signed. His match was first up
after the intermission so the rush is understandable. I told him I
went nuts when he won the world title and he gave a very curt thank
you and shook my hand. He was very quiet but not rude or anything.

James
Storm and Gunner were next and both were very nice. I told Storm I
had been a big fan of AMW and he smiled and thanked me. Gunner will
almost crush your hand when he shakes it so the intensity thing
really suits him. I said I enjoyed his match and he said he was
really enjoying teaming with James. He sounded professional for lack
of a better word, but it was an odd visual to see him still in his
trunks and a t-shirt. As I was talking to him, a kid in a New
Orleans Saints jersey was talking to Storm and Storm asked who the
Saints QB and coach were. The kid said something I couldn’t hear and
Gunner asked Storm what the kid said. Storm said he had no idea and
didn’t know the answers either and laughed.

Last
up was AJ Styles who was in a hat and looking down a bit. He signed
my paper and I told him I had been a fan since TNA started. He
looked up and gave a polite thank you and shook my hand. That
Georgia accent comes through on every word he says just like it does
on TV.

After
this we literally ran back to catch Earl and Brian Hebner signing
pictures and Hebner’s shirt for $20 total. Earl asked if we liked
the VIP signing and was happy we enjoyed it. Becca is a huge Earl
Hebner fan (I don’t get it either) and freaked out when he shook her
hand. He asked if we had a camera so I got a quick picture of them.
Earl was a nice guy and I got to ask him which referee was the evil
one when Andre and DiBiase cheated Hogan out of the title in 1988
(Earl said he was the evil one, like always).

Hardy
got a big pop once people realized it was his music playing. Jeff
went around the front row and high fived fans while Anderson did what
looked like a Nazi goose step and salute. I didn’t get a good view
of it but he was definitely doing the high step. There wasn’t much
to this at all but Anderson did Hardy’s dance in a funny moment.
Anderson controlled most of the match but Hardy came back with his
usual stuff. The Mic Check was countered into the Twist of Fate for
the pin at about 7:30. I had never seen Jeff wrestle live so this
was a bit of a treat. It looked like he had an ice pack on his elbow
after the match but it didn’t look serious.

The
world title belt is very shiny as you could see the reflection from
across the field. Sting and Angle came out to Sting’s music and both
were introduced as Hall of Famers. The fans were WAY into both guys
so the star power was rolling here. Angle got beaten down to start
and the Dudleys hit a kind of botched reverse 3D (the one where Bully
does a belly to back suplex into a D-Von neckbreaker. For some
reason D-Von was doing Bully’s part and then they seemed to realize
they had it backwards).

Angle
clotheslined D-Von down and D-Von did a Spinarooni to get back up.
Sting got the hot tag and eveyrthing broke down with Angle and D-Von
going outside. Sting hit Stinger Splashes on everyone but the
referee was bumped just before Sting gave Ray the Death Drop. Ray
hit Sting with the chain for two and the Angle Slam set up the
Scorpion Deathlock for the tap out from Ray at about 7:00. The match
was nothing special but I had never seen Sting or Angle wrestle live
(Becca is a lifelong WWE fan and had never seen a Sting match period,
which blew my mind).

After
the main event JB talked about Angle being inducted in the Hall of
Fame and Kurt was cheered to the back. JB told us that for $30 (or
for free to those that bought the VIP pass) your entire group could
get a picture with Sting with no limit on the amount of people. For
a large group of people that’s a great deal. The line took a bit to
get through but it was an amazing feeling to walk through the ropes
and get inside a ring. The fact that Sting is one of my favorite
wrestlers ever made it even better.

The
mat is a lot softer than I expected and actually has some give to it.
I was surprised at how hard a turnbuckle felt too. I got my picture
taken with Sting and was surprised at how tall he was. I’m 6’0 tall
and I was looking up at him. As I was leaving I told Sting I had
been watching for 25 years and he was the first thing I remembered
(Black Scorpion). He said wow that’s awesome and said thanks for
being a fan.

We
were given a copy of our photo as we left and a card telling us how
we can get digital copies of them in a few days. That’s really
efficient for such a short amount of time.

As
we were leaving a guy from TNA asked us if we had a good time and
seemed very pleased that we enjoyed ourselves. He jokingly asked us
to tell people about it on the dirt sheets and smiled when I said I
ran a wrestling website.

Overall,
this was VERY fun and probably the most entertaining wrestling show
I’ve been to, which covers a lot of ground. The show felt like it
was very personal and focused on making sure the fans have a good
time. The $80 combined for all the autographs, meeting the wrestlers
and tickets was more than worth it as we were back home in just over
four hours.

We
were at a WWE Smackdown show a few months ago and it’s a very
different feeling. WWE feels like a big spectacle and was certainly
fun and affordable (tickets were the same price and about the same
distance from the ring) but the star power was nothing compared to
this show. The biggest stars I saw at the WWE show were Orton,
Sheamus and Del Rio. Tonight I saw Angle, Sting and Jeff Hardy which
pretty much crushes the WWE roster.

The
other main difference is how accessible things were tonight. At the
WWE show it felt like there was a huge divide between the fans and
the wrestlers. Tonight they made us feel welcome (not to say WWE
didn’t) and like we were in a much more intimate setting. The vibe
is completely different here too. With WWE it felt like you were
getting an entertainment show whereas tonight was about kicking back
and enjoying two and a half hours of wrestling. There were no
Twitter polls, promos to hype up matches, or pointless filler
matches. Tonight was entertaining, fast paced, and above all else:
FUN.

If
you ever have the chance to go to a TNA show, make sure you take the
opportunity and spring for the VIP package. The show feels so less
polished (in a good way) than a WWE show and doesn’t walk you through
everything. The WWE show had a better quality to the matches
(Barrett vs. Del Rio and Sheamus/Orton vs Shield) but tonight was so
basic (one heel wins in six matches) and focused on the fans that it
was a blast.

If
Impact was like this every week, WWE would be in trouble. It made
Becca want to watch Impact for the first time in years which is the
right idea for these shows. The difference between the live events
and Impact (read as no Hogan and WAY less stupid stuff) is remarkable
and the show was definitely worth the time and money. Check them out
if you get the chance and want a completely different wrestling
experience from a WWE show.