[OFFICIAL] Show Review Thread

[Shadowmancer]

OK this is the official show review thread. Go to a TV taping, review it here. Go to a PPV taping, review it here. Go to a House Show, review it here. Go to an Indy event, view it here. This is not a Spam thread. So please bring opinions and follow a basic structure as laid out in this first post, it will look decent if you follow it. Seating, Matches, Promos, Other Events, Biggest Pops and Heat. And Any gripes you had with the show.

And to start it off here is a review of the Auckland House Show from the WWE, on the 11th of June 2008.

Seating: I was seated second row and right on the end right next to the stairs up to the ring so I was stoked with that. I was lucky in that just a few seats over from me were some of the Wrestlers from local promotion IPW (More on them to come) I think the Vector Arena was packed, I couldn't see the nosebleed seats.

The Show: OK to start with out comes Justin Roberts as the Ring Announcer. The crowd was into it at the start already so he started the show by finding Kelly Kelly in the Nosebleed sections of Vector Arena. She gave a kid a ticket for ringside so that was all good. And then the Fire Works started. Didn't realize that they were so bloody loud. And Now onto the proper part of the show.

To start the Show out comes Shane McMahon. There was an attempt at making a Shane O'Mac chant but not much came of it. Anyway he comes out to inform us that Undertaker was given a choice of be banished or have a farewell tour in the New Zealand and Australia tour. saying that the Undertaker would be in action tonight. That got a pop. Then he said to get on with the show.

First Match: Matt Hardy (c) Vs. Chuck Palumbo: This was a Title match. First out was Chuck Palumbo on his BikeThat got a big Pop from the crowd. Once he got off then is when the fun started from those IPW guys I mentioned. They were calling out Palumbo to take one of them on, that got the crowd against Palumbo. Soon after Matt Hardy came out to a big pop, from a large majority of the crowd. Then the opening bout began with Palumbo grabbing Hardys shirt who was deciding where to throw it throwing it onto the ground outside the ring. All good for Chucks heat there. The IPW guys were still heckling Chuck and really calling him out big time. Chuck left the ring and got in a verbal altercation with one of them. With the Ref getting in between the two. Match really gets underway with the match following the typical, Babyface dominance, heel Dominance, Face fightback but Heel holds onto Dominance, Babyface comeback for the Win. It was a good Opening Bout and raised my opinion of both Men, Matt as a Wrestler. Palumbo as a Heel. The IPW guys really helped in that sense as they got the crowd involved with them against Palumbo. Hardy won with a Side Effect then a Twist of Fate.

Second Match:Michelle McCool Vs. Victoria with Special Guest Referee Funaki. We get Funaki come out and he gets one of the pops of the night. Typical diva match The IPW guys didn't do much except applaud Victoria. Michelle got knocked outside, Natalya comes out but gets sent to the back by Funaki, again another Funaki chant. Michelle wins with an Ankle Lock I think. Michelle leaves as does Victoria, Funaki gets another chant as he is leaving. Slightly bizzare for Smackdown #1 Announcer to get cheered more than both of the active participants in the match.

Promo:Well not So much. But it is the V.I.P. Lounge or Room or something. MVP comes out and announces his first guest as Future Hall of Famer. (Probably not likely based just on the Run he and his tag team partner had in the WWF) Butch Miller of Bushwhacker/Sheepherder fame. (Did the Walk and everything). He then announces the second guest on tonights VIP lounge is another future Hall of Famer (This time I agree) in Tony Garea. Two New Zealand Wrestling Legends you cant help but bow. Well that is what people that know wrestling more than what is shown on TV did. Including a couple of the IPW guys. MVP starts off with commenting about Rugby, He then goes and bashes the All Blacks getting great heat despite it being cheap. Then proceeding to announce that he would never have New Zealanders on his show and Mic Checking Tony Garea first then Butch. Garea gets back in the ring and knocks MVP back and down. Butch gets up with MVP near the ropes grabs Garea, puts in a headlock and Battering Ram to MVP. That got a good pop. More People Bow as both Garea and Butch do the walk.

Third Match: Miz & Morrison (c) Vs. Finlay & Hornswoggle: This was for the titles. The IPW guys got out their Newspapers whenever Miz was Wrestling. Others started chants. Such as "Miz sucks Cock" "Clap Clap ClapClapClap Swallows" one I tried to start but it didn't work was "Miz takes it up the arse Doo-Da, Doo-Da etc." Finlay starts it off with the Miz. It was a fairly typical tag match involving Hornswoggle. Though Hornswoggle is is great comedy gold. With Morrison's imitation of Rick Rude, Hornswoggle does an exaggerated one. It was a fun match. because of Hornswoggle. Anyway Morrison picks up the win. Afterwards was a Finlay beatdown of Morrison while Hornswoggle sprayed Water at Miz's face. You can guess what I yelled out.

Kelly Kelly comes out to pick a guest bell ringer.

Fourth Match: CM Punk Vs. Chavo Guerrero w/Bam Neely: Punk comes down in a Vodafone Warriors jersey as he is making his way to the stairs I hold up my sign of "Where Is Colt Cabana?" He reacted and I think he said he is at home or Backstage. He loved it. The IPW guys introduced me to a new sport Bam baiting. it is great try it sometime if he is there as Chavo's bodyguard. Anyway the IPW guys heckle Chavo for not being a Man and not getting in the Ring. The Same guy that Palumbo was at asked When did Chavo become a Man. Guess the response, yes it was, "When I did your Mom" Match starts out (I'll go into the Bam things later as they are great fun) The same IPW guy starts out with "Wheres your Daddy, Chavo" resulting in again "Your Moms house". The match itself was good again a typical face match for CM Punk to win despite minor interference from Bam. Much to the amusement of the front Two rows. CM Punk with the victory over Chavo.

Intermission.

Fifth Match:Kofi Kingston Vs. Shelton Benjamin: Both Kofi and Shelton should either invest in Long Tights or Baggier shorts. I don't want to know their religion. but this was a nice technical bout, so much so that the kids were yelling out Boring. But it did show that these two guys are good, and this match showed it to me. A good back and forth match with Kingston getting the win with Trouble in Paradise.

Sixth match:Undertaker & Kane Vs. The Great Khali & Mark Henry: This match was good for the entrances alone. Khali has risers and doesn't look as big close up as I would have thought. Im 6' 1" or round abouts that anyway. Undertaker's pop was epicly huge This match was as close to a dud as anything yet it was carried by Kane and The Undertaker. The Undertaker really got the audience into the match. when Kane was trapped in Khali's Head Vice thing. Well it was a typical Brothers of Destruction match anyway with both opponents getting Chokeslammed. Taker picking up the Pin over Mark Henry. Getting a huge pop yet again.

Seventh match: Vladimir Kozlov Vs. Shannon Moore. Who cares it was a squash match for Kozlov. And a Squash match is a squash match is a squash match.

Kelly Kelly comes out once more to thank us for attending. At this point from what I have heard people were leaving the Nosebleeds because they couldn't see.

Main Event: Edge (c) Vs. Batista. Title match. Predictable. Batista's bloody pyro is fricking loud. So is Edge's for that matter. Edge's entrance was awesome. He comes down the ramp, Batista has a sign that says "Edge Sucks, Foley 4 Gm, Fire Vickie" on it. Edge stands at the top of the stairs with his title belt holding it talking to it, kissing it. Overdoing it on the Kissing part. But he generates great heat by not stepping in the ring. He steps in the ring and doesn't put his other foot down so the match can't officially start. He winds the crowd up big time. When he throughs his vest to Justin Roberts to hold onto that same IPW Wrestler that heckled Chuck and Chavo grabs it and Edge talks about it and again this is great as it involves the crowd even more. Match starts fairly typical match up. Edge grabs the title gets in the Ring to smack Batista. Ref grabs it. Batista goes for the school boy. But the ref is distracted and Edge kicks out after 2. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb, Chavo and Bam come out and interfere. Ref gets distracted but that is more than enough time for Chavo to get Edge his title. Batista goes for another Batista bomb buts gets pelted by the belt. And Edge gets the 3 count.

Aftermath is a beatdown on Batista by the three members of La Familia. Undertaker arrives, Bam and Chavo bail. Edge goes to shake Batista's hand but ping pong with fists occurs with Edge stopping in front of the Undertaker. Edge gets Tombstoned. Everyone goes home happy.

Biggest Pops:

- Undertaker
- Kane
- Batista
- CM Punk
- Matt Hardy
- Hornswoggle
- Funaki

Biggest Heat:

- Edge
- Vladimir Kozlov
- Chavo Guerrero
- Miz and Morrison
- The Great Khali
- Chuck Palumbo

Gripes:

Only on gripe and that is with Fans. Undertaker, Kane, Butch and Tony Garea all deserve the Bowing. Not Batista. He is nowhere near the leagues of those names. Asfor the IPW guys I liked it. I will highlight Bam heckling in another thread.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

TNA House Shows
Liverpool, England
12th & 13th June 2008​

The first show was really rather good. So good in fact that I got tickets for the next nights show. I don't feel it was anything special. But part of the excitement of going to my first TNA show, and the fans around made the experience better. But when you go to live events in general you usually enjoy then, even if they don't deliver. It's usually once you watch them on TV that you become aware that they're noting special.

If TNA claim the shows are sell outs then they're wrong. I saw planty of empty seats. Well, they either didn't sell out, or lots of people couldn't make it. My first night seats were great, seconds nights were awful. But they were last minute so I wasn't expecting anything different.

I wasn't impressed with seeing Doug Williams. I'm a fan. But I want the authentic TNA experience, which Doug is not part of. I'd much prefer a regular undercard wrestler to have taken his place. Although he made a really good showing of himself. I'm hoping he makes an impression in the X-Cup. To think that the guy is nowhere near as good as he used to be. TNA need to promote a Daniels/Williams match, haven't seen that in about 8 years.

Everybody got heat. But that happens in England. Note to TNA, don't use English crowds to gauge who is the most popular.

This House Show was better than any WWE one I've ever been to. Even when I was young and my mother used to buy me foam fingers. I wouldn't say it was better than the ROH shows I saw there. But for ROH they were actual events that would make it onto TV & DVD. This was simply a house show, so I'm not expecting the wrestlers to cripple themselves.

Overall both were great. The first was considerably better, but I have no real complaints. But if TNA are in a certain part of England, they shouldn't really reference aspects from that particular town. England isn't nowhere near as big as America. You can't really get away with being specific to Liverpudlians as fans will have traveled the length of the country to see the show. Only a small percentage will have actually been from that area. It's also sad that TNA can put on shows like this, yet the TV is abysmal.

NOTE TO JAKE: NOAH SHOW 21ST JUNE

 

[he6rt6gr6m]

Had a fantastic night of watching the very best in wrestling action, with an electric atmosphere in the air.

Here is a recap of the night.

Firstly, as with the 12th, a 4x4 outside, with TVs displaying the trailer for the Video Game, and ladies handing out all kinds of merch. including Foam Hands, VIP Pass-look-a-likes (they werent VIP passes, just looked like them) with the cover of the game and a reminder of where to get a pre-order from, and Postcards and leaflets with adverts all over them.

After getting in, we were presented with a proper Merchandise stand, selling the UK TNA Shirt, and a Program, with a pretty impressive blonde behind the counter, displaying how a TNA UK Shirt SHOULD be worn.

I got a Program for a tenner, which was pretty expensive for a book full of Bio's and one Picture of every wrestler. (I later got this signed by Jay lethal, and would have had Gail Kim's also, but her pen ran out! Grrr!)

We sat down, me with my HHH bottle of water, and my Mrs. and me Mate with Cool Beers after the long drive down, and finding the place.

And, the show commenced, with Jeremy Borash telling us that the loudest TNA Fans will get a Backstage pass. Unfortunately, being in the Top Balcony, we knew we werent gonna get one, but it didnt stop us showing how impressed we were with the Action.

The Motorcity Machine Guns defeated Petey Williams & Sonjay Dutt.

Dutt got booed, but demonstrated a "Mortal Kombat" kind of Gimmick, instead of being the Guru. The guy is f'ing ripped. TV does him no justice whatsoever.

Petey got a massive cheer, for a heel. He was also still wearing his Face Protector. MCMG got a massive cheer.

An action packed match with many high spots, and a couple of accidents from the MCMG, with Dutt actually getting cheers from the crowd with some of the moves.

I dont recall who got pinned, but the match was simply amazing.

TNA Knockouts Championship Match
Awesome Kong defeated Gail Kim to keep the title.

Good match. Kong was all over Gail for most of the match, but Gail got a couple of high moves, and kept the crowd pumped.

Kong won with a sick looking Awesome Bomb.

Gail is definitely one of the best Women Wrestlers in the world, and her ability to sell moves is second to no-one.

TNA World Tag Team Championship Match
LAX defeated James Storm & Robert Roode to keep their titles.

Good match, with plenty of double teaming. Homicide did much of the work. Hernandez got in for a little while and did some high risk.

Pretty good match, and the reaction for LAX was awesome.

Good to see Storm and Roode back together again, also.

AJ Styles defeated Jay Lethal and Doug Williams (3 Way).

Surprising match, if anything. Doug Williams came out fist to a massive welcome. Jay Lethal to another massive welcome, and AJ got the biggest. Everyone was shocked that AJ was in this match, but they put on a very good match.

Doug looked a little rusty, but to say this is only his second night in a 6-Sided-Ring, he did very well. Doug did a friggin' awesome move out of the corner. You know when a wrestler holds another wrestler in a belly to belly, then rolls them backwards for a pin fall? Well, he kept rolling, rolled out of the pin, back into a belly to belly, and suplexed Jay Lethal high. Awesome move, that got a massive pop from the crowd. Styles pinned Lethal for the win.

AJ Later pumped the crowd some more, saying the UK was awesome, and welcomed Williams to the "Family" as he put it.

I have a feeling Williams might stick around after Victory Road... However he does have a lot of UK Indy dates planned. (Many were advertised at the Olympia last night.)

Jeremy Borash interviewed Dixie Carter in the ring. She thanked the crowd for "spending their hard earned money to come see some Wrestlin'." She also said its a huge market, and said it will always hold a special place in her heart, given the UK was the first country outside of the USA to receive TNA Programming. And since, the product has sky rocketed.

Also put over Bravo for the excellent work and professionalism.

Booker T defeated Rhino.

Quite possibly the most Electric Match of the night. Chanting for both wrestlers went on for ages. Booker came out as a face, but later turned heel half way through the match, as he looked to go for a Spinaroonie, but instead signaled for the fans to "Stick it." Usual Dirty Tactics to get the advantage on Rhino. Booker Kicks out of Rhino's Gore, and gets Rhino with the Scissor Kick and a Pin Fall.

Didnt seem to be a proper finish, and everyone expected Rhino to kick out, but he didnt...

Earl Hebner referee'd this match to a "You Screwed Bret" chant.

Kurt Angle put everything over, apart from the WWE. Couldnt speak for 5 Mins because the fans were giving him a standing ovation. He did shed a tear or ten, in the ring, as we chanted "Thank You Kurt."

TNA World Championship Match.
Samoa Joe defeated Abyss to keep his title.

Rudy Charles ref'd this match. Abyss got Booed (which I found amazing, given no-one knows if he is heel or face, yet.) and Joe got a typical Heavyweight Good-Guy Cheer. Safe to say Joe is pretty over in Liverpool.

Entertaining match, particularly from Joe, who was just loving the crowd. A chant echoed around the arena, and Joe showed us some of the worst dance moves I have ever seen. He also ran around the ring and slid on his knees as the chant continued, much like a Football Celebration in the World Cup, or something.

The ref got whacked by Abyss, and sold it very well. Typical finishing moves and no-one to count, because the ref was out.

Hebner comes out a little too late, but in the end counts to three, and Joe wins the match.

Joe soaks up the chants from the crowd again, and has a look on his face as if to say "You lot are f'ing crazy... but its good!"

He leaves, JB enters the ring for the final time, but as Hebner helps Rudy Charles up, he raises the hands of Rudy, who gets a big pop. Hebner raises his own hands, and gets booed. Hebner then cracks Charles in the face, and gives flips him the bird. Hebner leaves to massive boo's from the crowd, and JB tells us that some wrestlers will come and sign autographs. he also reminds us, for th 15th time, that the TNA iMPACT! Video game will be released on September 2nd in the UK.

MCMG, Gail Kim, Jay lethal and Samoa Joe all signed autographs, and we left the arena, very satisfied with our £20 Tickets.

This is the first Major Promotions show Ive been to (I saw the WWA Twice in the UK. Thats about it.) and it didnt fail to disappoint.

And say what you want about Scousers, they were friggin' mental with the chants.

Ive got photos, but they're on an old school camera, and need developing.

Biggest Chants of the night went to;
Kurt Angle
AJ Styles
Samoa Joe
Doug Williams
Lax

Biggest Heat;
Earl Hebner
Sonjay Dutt
Abyss
Booby Roode
James Storm

 

[AndySmithers]

Good stuff...

I will be going to the one in Essex tomorrow and cant wait. Got a few questions for you. What type of merchandise did they have and what were the prices? Also what was the lighting like compared to the impact zone?

 

[Uncle Sam]

I've actually got a sudden burst of excitement for the show I'm going to see - I'm going to Coventry tomorrow night. Two main reasons for that:

Firstly, there's the favourable reviews and the hype the shows have been receiving. I mean, it was so good that Jake, yes Jake, decided to buy tickets for the night after his first show. That's good endorsement for me.

Secondly, there's the card for my night. AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle is an absolute dream match for me and it's anything like the one they had at Slammiversary I'll love it. The more house show way they'll wrestle and the atmosphere are enough to make me want to go see that alone. Kim/Kong's on the card too, that'll undoubtedly at least be decent; looking forward to seeing the crowd's reaction. There's LAX/MCMG too, possibly my two favourite tag teams ever (fuck you, old school tag teams) as well as Storm/Rhino. Why am I excited about Storm/Rhino? Because James Storm is undoubtedly the greatest seller of a Gore ever! The way he flips just defies physics and it makes the move look, to borrow an American phrase, crazy powerful.

I'll have to be metaphorically holding my brother's hand throughout though. He hasn't watched TNA in over a year and so I'll have to tell him who's awesome and who's not. Could detract from my experience when I feel like a twat for going nuts over Alex Shelley when the guy next to me is sitting there blankly. My evening won't be completely ruined unless Kaz shows up, however.

 

[he6rt6gr6m]

Good stuff...

I will be going to the one in Essex tomorrow and cant wait. Got a few questions for you. What type of merchandise did they have and what were the prices? Also what was the lighting like compared to the impact zone?

Id recommend the totally sweet UK TNA Shirt. Its the TNA logo with a British Flag on it, and if it was £18, Id have had one. Other Merchandise included LAX, MCMG and some others I cant remember. They were all £18, which is kind of a rip off, really, but given its official "Fruit of the Loom" stuff, and is at the event itself, I was expecting a set of prices like that.

£10 was the program, which I mentioned before, and it only contains some photos of old TNA Classic Moments, and Bio's and Promo Photo's of the whole roster. Its pretty big, though, and decent enough to get your autographs in there.

There was nothing wrong with the lighting, but unfortunately, i wouldnt like to comment, because we get a dull copy of iMPACT! on Bravo.

The lighting itself, without comparing it to anything was good, but Im not too bothered about that. The guys missed their cue's for lighting some of the time, but I think that wont happen again.

I also managed to get some of my photo's onto CD, and Ill try and upload some.

With all the action, though, the pic's came out with some blurring. Particularly with AJ Styles. Hehe.

 

[THE Madcap]

I've just returned from the Coventry show, and may I say...what a day!

Arrived late to the fans meet and greet, due to a hangover, which was frustrating. Equally frustrating was the massive queue to meet Kurt Angle.

Met Earl Hebner and Rudy Charles They were pretty cool and friendly and were happy to pose for photos, next was JB, who wasn't actually at a booth from what I reca, and he was supercool and friendly, and at this point, Hebner was announced as the guy who screwed Bret, to a massive applause, to which Hebner took the mic and announced "I screwed Bret".

Bumped into an old school friend who asked me if I had met Sonjay Dutt yet, I asked him where he was and apparently he was right behind me, in a booth in a dark corner, looking pissed off and the furthest thing from a TNA wrestler and there was no queue to see him at all.

Next up was James Storm, he was simply awesome, ridiculously friendly, which took me by suprise as I thought he'd be an ass, and the same goes to Petey Williams who was next, who had with him the X Division belt and was allowing people to have pictures taken with it.

Then got in a huge queue for AJ/Joe, who had switched over with Angle. While there I was chatting to a guy who wasn't a wrestling fan and had gone to the meet and greet for his son, who wasnt allowed in. Apparently, he as Sonjay Dutt who he was, and he flipped it at him and was told to leave.

Finally got to AJ/Joe, AJ, suprisingly was a moody jerk, but still posed for photos and signed your one allowed item. Joe was cool as fuck, a really nice guy and a LOT smaller than I thought he would be, for a 280lber. Im 235lbs and I was wider than he was...

Anyways, next up was Rhino...BIGGEST JERK OF THE DAY. Wouldnt let people take photos next to him, they had to stand a couple feet away, he looked uninterested and rushed everyone along.

Jay Lethal was very cool and friendly, as was Gail Kim, who is ridiculously hot in person.

Finished up with Doug Williams's signiture and a nice, long chat with Dixie Carter, who I can officially say, is the nicest woman I've ever met, I think I might even have a crush on her now.

Queued for ages to see LAX, but ran out of time.

Other things of note...

R.Roode wasn't a jerk like i thought
Awesome Kong is smaller than I thought, as with the majority of the roster actually apart from...
HERNANDEZ, who is HUGE.
LAX were goofing around quite a bit as were MCMG, Hernandez had one fan up in a fireman's carry for quite some bit

Won't be able to give a detailed report of the event itself as I had to leave midway through LAX v Petey Williams/Sonjay Dutt, so I most likely missed the main event too...

What I will say is that, Doug Williams got a good introduction and reception, until the crowd realised that he was againt...Jay Lethal...and AJ. AJ was ridiculously over and the other 2, kinda played tweeners. Doug Williams kept getting up at 1 counts too, which I dont know if that was meant to happen or not...

Abyss got a big pop, until it was revealed he was facing Rhino, from which Abyss then played the heel and drew tons off heat. The match itself was delayed because of how rowdy the crowd were in support of Rhino/Abyss.

But I'm really tired now so might edit this again tomorrow...

 

[Y 2 Jake]

No Sting? When the event was advertised they said he would be there

Thus the reason they always add CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE, on posters. Sting isn't intrested in wrestling. He does it because TNA pay him lots and lots of money. He only appears occasionally in Florida, so he's not going to venture to England. I couldn't care less about him not being there myself. I saw him years ago. He was poor then, he's not going to be any better 15 years later.

 

[he6rt6gr6m]

Well, the final show is tonight in the UK, and has kicked off already, as far as I am aware.

So whats the news on this big major announcement for UK Fans from TNA?

We know its not "Global iMPACT!" which I think is coming on DVD around Christmas... so could it be an iMPACT! Taping, or a PPV? Or maybe another run of House Shows in the future.

Only time will tell.

 

[Il_Duce]

ENGLAND FANS GET SOME GREAT NEWS - TNA ANNOUNCES RETURN TOUR OF THE UK IN JANUARY!

In recent days, TNA management promised some big news for our loyal fans in England, and TNA President Dixie Carter delivered it personally during Saturday's sold-out show in Coventry!

TNA Wrestling will return to the U.K. for four shows in January, 2009, Carter announced during the live event. The 2009 shows will headline the "Maximum iMPACT! Tour." The itinerary is:

Tuesday, January 20 - Manchester, England - Manchester Evening News Arena
Wednesday, January 21 - Birmingham, England - National Indoor Arena
Thursday, January 22 - Glasgow, Scotland - Braehead Arena
Saturday, January 24 - London, England - Wembley Arena
Tickets for all these events go on sale on Friday, June 27 at 9 A.M.
The tour will be promoted by John Cornwell of SJM Concerts.

"The reception TNA Wrestling received this week from the U.K. fans has been nothing short of incredible and we look forward to returning in January," Carter said.

 

[he6rt6gr6m]

Thats the news we've been waiting for! And hopefully that means a bigger roster, more stars and a possible taping of iMPACT! in the UK!

MEN Arena holds about 15,000 for the RAW Crowd, which rarely sells out.

Im pretty confident they could do it, you know. Maybe not sell them all out, but the main ones (MEN, Wembley Arena in particular.) Im sure they would.

And SJM Concerts are very good advertisers of concerts in the UK. Ive been to many of theirs, and also the Sponsorship with Virgin Media TV will give them some Ad time on Bravo, Living, Challenge and other Channels.

Hopefully the tickets will be reasonably priced too, much like this time around!

EDIT: Ouch. Actually, I hope they dont sell these tickets quick, because being on sale on the 27th doesnt leave people much time from this tour, spending money at their shows, then buying tickets for the next tour!

 

[STENA]

I watched it at coventry n my god it was awesome access to the stars who were very nice people dixie carter goin in middl eof the audience to talk to them and have autographs and pics whic h i had with her atmosphere was awesome it honestly shat on the wwe house show i went to a couple of years bak

 

[swindonforever]

i shall prob get tickets for the london date then, i think they have a decent chance of selling out due to how far in advance the tickets are going on sale, over that time tna is bound to get a whole load of new fans and if its promoted well then big names like angle and booker t are bound to shift a few tickets

 

[Uncle Sam]

Match by match review. In your face, Jake:

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Sonjay Dutt & Petey Williams

Great opener. Quite note: Jeremy Borash is fucking superb in his role, don't care what anyone says. Love that guy. Anyway, great match. Sonjay got massive boos and some "wedding crasher!" chants. Petey got cheered a fair bit. Shame we didn't see a successful Canadian Destroyer. The Machine Guns won, and they got what was maybe the second biggest reaction of the night. I loved every second of it.

Latin American Xchange vs. Robert Roode & James Storm

I was expecting a title change. Roode got boos, and his outfit is sparklier than it looked on TV. Storm got a decent cheer when "Sorry about your damn luck" hit but got booed after LAX's entrance, which was fucking awesome with the gun shots and all. Great match, probably best of the night. Hernandez couldn't stop grinning, everyone fucking loved him. LAX definitely got at last the drawn biggest reaction. Obviously, LAX won, and Storm got some hilarious "Brokeback Mountain!" chants. Storm and Roode shoved each other after the match but it just ended with them hugging... odd.

Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong

For the life of me I can't remember if this was before or after the LAX match. It was only a few hours ago, my memory is terrible. Good match, nothing special obviously. Kong getting wolf whistles made me crack up. Crowd was fairly hot for it, but I was rooting for Kong. And she won, obviously. Kim got cheered even though she lost. Touching.

AJ Styles vs. Doug Williams vs. Jay Lethal

Doug Williams was introduced and got a good reaction. Lethal got a great reaction and then Styles got what was at least the drawn best reaction of the night. Awesome, awesome match. Styles won, helped the other two up. Williams ended up getting a standing ovation once the other two left the ring. Really enjoyed this one, though the Doug chants never really caught on like the Styles and Machismo ones. Oooooh yeah!

Booker T vs. Rhino

Amazed by how popular Rhino was. I was on Booker's side to be honest. ECW chants ensued and Rhino showed off his awful mike skills: "I think you mean TNA!" Rhino played to the crowd for a good five minutes Hogan-style before Booker interrupted him. More poor, yet fun, mike skills: "I'm just havin' a little fun Booker. I'll get to kickin' your butt in a second." Who says butt? Decent enough match. Booker couldn't stop grinning even though he was the heel. Rhino did a spinarooni. Hilarious. Lost, got cheered anyway. Touching.

Kurt Angle's Speech

Motherfucker worked Slammiversary but not one night of the UK tour? Meh, I can forgive him. Someone tried to shine his head on the way to the ring. He just laughed. Got some "what!?" chants and said "not this shit again, I'm going to kill Steve Austin". Shocked that my olympic hero would swear. Bitched about WWE. We all knew he was full of shit but we gave him a massive reaction anyway. Good ol' Kurt.

Samoa Joe vs. Abyss

Good match, won me over to Joe. "Whoa-oh! Ab-yss!" never caught on and the crowd went nuts for Joe. I joined in: "Fuck him up, Joe, fuck him up!" The loudest chop I ever heard not on bare skin got hit on Abyss. Pretty good match. Some false finishes, but we all knew Abyss wasn't going home with the belt. Should've made it non-title. Hebner got taken out to the crowd's delight, and Rudy Charles got hit with the Shock Treatment. Joe ended up winning to a massive reaction, Abyss got a respectful but underwhelming cheer as he left.

General notes:

Brentwood is fucking dull, and it took me ages to get there and back. Worth it though. Just. The "big announcement" was underwhelming, but it was nice for Dixie to do her bit by making it and coming down to get photos taken with the crowd at the interview. I didn't bother - queue was too long. Jake must think I'm insane. JB was awesome in getting the crowd heated up. Loudest fans got backstage passes but - as always - I was pretty reserved, only joining in with the particularly hilarious chants and cheering the biggest names. My camera didn't work for shit - got some half decent shots of LAx and that's about it, just wouldn't work properly afterwards. Got an OK shot of Williams, Styles and Lethal together. The Guns were signing stuff in the lobby afterwards. I couldn't be bothered to hang around, much as I love them. I'll just another twat to them, but not as much as some of the characters I saw. I had a few cockney-types next to me and behind me, thinking they were too good to go along with everyone else and making fucking annoying comments every three seconds. Would've hit one of them were it not for my puny frame.

At least Kaz didn't show up.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Pro-Wrestling NOAH
Coventry, England
21st June 2008​

Meant to do this ages ago. But I'm wasting my time anyway. Nobody cares about wrestling outside America on this forum. I possibly might get Shadowmancer reading, but that's it. Overally iy=t was a decent show. I don't want to talk about all the pointless English talent they had there, or the part timers. None added anything for me. I just want an authentic card. But it wasn't a real negative, as they impressed. Apart from Martin Stone. Why does he still get employed? Nothing to really say. If you like Japanese wrestling, you'd like this. If you don't you'd be bored to tears. I loved it, the child hated it. Misawa needs to retire now, Kobashi still has it though. The main event was ok because of Kobashi and Marufuji. I'd be more impressed if I hadn't seen the promotion before.

 

[klunderbunker]

Raw House Show- 7/11/08

The show started at 730pm, with the Fink in the ring welcoming us to the show. He talked about how there would be a text vote to see what stipulation there would be for the main event, either Falls Count anywhere, 2 out of 3 falls, or No DQ, which got by far and away the loudest pop from the crowd. Kelly Kelly was in the crowd and asked some fans where Wrestlemania 24 was located. THey knew and were sent down to the front row. Finkel then introduced the opening contest.

First match- Jamie Noble vs. Charlie Haas. For some reason, Haas was billed just from Texas. This was a decent match and a good opener, with Haas doing a good job at working up the crowd. He worked on Noble's arm to start the match, with Noble using the counter that Owen Hart used to get out of it so many times which got a good reaction from the crowd. Both men worked on the other's arm the whole match. Both had some decent offense, but nothing that special. Noble won when Haas went for a superplex but got shoved off, and Noble used a move that was like a fameasser but with his knee. 10:00, good opener.

Out next was Santino, who got a lot of boos. He talked about how he always wanted to learn a little bit about the town he was in, and he felt sorry for us being in a town named after Lex Luthor. He went on to say about how we're a great sports town, with the Cardinals (University of Louisville- Big rival to University of Kentucky) and the Kentucky Derby (also in Louisville) and that he couldn't find Bluegrass anywhere. His opponent was D'lo Brown who came out to a great ovation and to his old music. He was in great shape for not having been around in a long time. Same basic style as the first match, with Santino working over his back the whole match, using a camel clutch three times. D'lo made a comeback and then whipped Santino in and hit him with a Sky High, followed by a picture perfect Frog Splash for the win. 8:00, great reaction for D'lo. He looks great.

Next up was Paul London, who is looking very muscular, w/a previously chosen kid as his guest manager vs. Chuck Palumbo. Palumbo came out in a black top hat which was just weird looking. Before the match he stalled outside, during which London stole the hat and laid on the top rope like Shawn Michaels used to do, getting a good laugh from the crowd. London started by using a lot of speed moves and quick attacks, but Palumbo caught him and whipped him into the corner, where he slid and hit his ribs on the pole. For the rest of the match London would use a few quick attacks and then get knocked back down. Eventually he fought back and hit a bad looking spin kick to knock Palumbo down, followed by an amazing looking Shooting Star Press for the win. 11:00, with London hitting some great high spots including a great corkscrew over the top to the floor.

Next up was Paul Burchill w/Katie who looked gorgeous vs. Kofi Kingston for the IC title. Kofi gets a huge pop to the point where you couldn't hear his music. Kofi dominates early on, until Katie gets on the apron and distracts him. He throws a kick at her and gets caught by Burchill. Burchill controls most of the match from then on. Kofi eventually makes a comeback, does the Boom Boom legdrop, and hits the spin kick for the win. The ending came out of nowhere and seemed rushed. Cool match, Kofi is way over. 12:00.

Next up was the Women's title match with Mickie defending against Beth. FOr some reason, Mickie came out first. She got a lot of cheers, and almost no reaction to Beth. This was a good match, definitely the best of the night to that point. Beth dominated for the most part, with Mickie making comeback after comeback. Eventually Mickie was put up in a tree of woe, got out of it, climbed up top, and used a Lou Thesz Press from the top to get the win. 10:00, both women looked great and had a great match.

Intermission

After the 15-20 minute break, Lance Cade came out and everyone got excited when he started talking about Shawn Michaels. He cuts a promo talking about how Shawn trained him and he was his protoge. He goes on to say that it always has to be about HBK, which he repeated, leading to a chant of HBK. He finished by saying that Michaels had gotten a free pass for too long, and tonight the student was going to revoke the teacher's pass. As soon as he finished saying that, Shawn's music hit and the place erupted. Loudest pop all night long. He did his usual clapping for the fans on the ropes and they had a mini staredown. Shawn started out fast, working on Cade's leg and used his modified figure four. Shawn gets in the corner and starts tuning up the band but Cade moves out of the way. Then they went a bit faster, with Shawn clotheslining him to the floor and doing a leap over the ropes, but end over end rather than his usual plancha. They get back in and Shawn chops him in the corner, with Cade going after the eye. Cade takes over using some basic stuff. He hits his finisher twice but Shawn kicks out. He grabs Shawn by the hair and stands him up yelling at him. Shawn kind of shurgs and kicks Cade's head off with Sweet Chin Music for the one two three. HBK poses as the ref helps Cade to the back. Best moment of the night so far. Shortest match of the night at about 7-8 minutes.

Next up was Punk vs. Batista for the world title. Batista got a huge pop, not as big as HBK's but close. His entrance took forever, with him jumping around in a circle in the entrance way. His entrance must've taken 4-5 minutes. Without any break at all, they switched on Punk's music, and he got a VERY mixed reaction, even more than Cena is used to. I was cheering as he's my favorite wrestler, but I was one of the few in my section that was. They did the official introduction with both guys in the corner and announced that with 2/3 of the vote, it would be a No DQ match. They did a stare down which looked good, then Punk started kicking Batista's thighs which he did several times. They kept doing this weird sort of slapping thing where they were trying to get position, but it just didn't look good. They go outside with Punk doing a baseball slide, knocking Batista down. They brawl on fhe floor for a good while, with Punk going into the stairs twice. Punk is getting boo'ed to no end at this point. The Animal takes over, and picks up a chair causing the crowd to go nuts. They get back in and Punk is down, with Batista using power moves. They go back outside and Batista picks him ups and rams his back into the apron a few times. They get back in and brawl a bit, then go outside one last tiem, with Batista bringing the chair into the ring. As he is doing this, Punk hits a running knee lift into the chair, knocking him out for a bit. Animal with a spinebuster after a bried kick/punch brawl. He then sets up for a spear which Punk dodges, causing Batista to spear the chair for the pin. Punk poses on the ropes with the belt, but he turns around into a massive Batista bomb for a huge cheer from the crowd. He holds up the belt and drops it on Punk's chest. Punk gets up to a ton of booing and walks out. Longest match of the night at almost half an hour.

Fink announces the main event is a 6 man, and out comes Cryme Tyme to a loud pop. Cena's music hits, and the crowd goes nuts. I'm not a fan of him, but when he comes out there is just energy in the room. They do a pose in the ring before the awful music of Ted Dibiase comes on. He and Rhodes show up, and then comes their odd partner, Kane, who got a loud ovation in his own right. JTG and Rhodes start. This was a pretty basic match until Cena came in. Diabiase was in by that point and he almost hulked up to Cena, then ran to the corner and tagged Kane. They slugged it out, with Kane hitting a boot to put him down. Eventually a brawl starts, leading to Kane clotheslining JTG. He stayed down for a bit, with the referee throwing up a fake X to the tag champions so they wouldn't attack him. As soon as he hit him, Kane walked to the back. Some refs come down and take JTG to the back, and Fink announces the match will continue. Shad gets beaten down, as both champions work him over. Dibiase looked good here. He has a lot of his father in him, which is definitely good. They work over his leg, and keep him from tagging in Cena. Eventually he does after a suplex, and the crowd goes nuts. Cena cleans house, doing a double 5 Knuckle Shuffle at the same time, two of his spinning slams, and then FUing both of them, pinning Dibiase. He and Shad celebrate. About 13 minutes.

Shad heads to the back, but Cena comes back in and gets a mic. He says that he knows that there are a lot of heroes and villians, he has his own as well. He says he's not blind, he sees the signs and hears the boos, but love him or hate him, he loves being in this ring every night for us to hate or love. Then he says this isn't planned, but he wants the Fink to come into the ring. Cena says that Howard was the first WWF (which is what Cena said) employee and has been doing this 31 years and that it's an honor to hear his voice every night. They hug, Cena poses and leaves. Fink thanks us for coming and says they'll be back, ending the show.

Great show overall, nothing really boring or dull all night The upper deck was tarped off, but when I was getting tickets 2 months in advance, they weren't on sale so I'm assuming they never were available. Other than that the palce was packed. This is good as the last house show I went to 3 years ago in the same venue, the place had maybe 40% of the seats full.

Top Pops
1. HBK
2. Cena 3x (his music hitting, taking his shirt off, getting the hot tag at the end)
3. Batista
4. Kofi
5. Kane

Top Heat
1. Santino after referencing Louisville
2. Rhodes/Dibiase
3. Cade
4. Palumbo
5. Kane when he hurt JTG and left.