I arrived late on the 8th after I finished grip work on The Wizard of Oz play. With my receipt in hand, I showed the Universal staff as a line was outside. I got right in (of course) and they took me to the Impact Zone. I would later receive my lanyard, Socko, and autographed 8x10 photo but the really cool thing about it all was security and Universal staff's memory of me not having my lanyard but the receipt so I was able to benefit the rest of the night. I later learned my opportunity to meet and greet the Hardcore Originals had passed the night before but given this "EV2" ordeal isn't done, there's more VIP opps later down the road.
I arrived in the Impact Zone. As I once predicted on Facebook, the "arena" was very small (it's held inside a movie studio, Soundstage 21. I was actually very hyped about this event and wore my Steve'N'Berry's ECW shirt. I sat in the upper-left section behind the ring, before the stands slanted, and you probably saw me on TV, especially since I did a lot of standing the whole time and you'll know more about why I'd be on TV in a few.
Dixie Carter came into the VIP section before the show. I got to shake her hand and get a photo with me and her. She seemed very nice and very laxed but her perfume broke me out (allergy). The announcer guy came on, introducing major characters like the Security guard and explaining how they wanted this event to be like the "legacy we're celebrating" (referring to ECW). He then introduced the Spanish announcers (one was a Guerreo and it sounded like they were chanting Eddie but I believe he's dead). Then Mike Tenay. We all chanted Joey Styles but we got Taz. This big upset would soon turn into a valuable night for my money.
The announcer guy (short hair) gave props to the VIP section and said we needed to be the loudest in the crowd (we're right in the camera's view, which sucks and doesn't, and I'll explain later on this). He counted down to us going live and thus WrestleZone can take over the rest from here - I'm just going to fill in the blanks and my thoughts. Just know this and I admit it wholeheartedly - I was involved in EVERY chant, especially the profanity ones, and I'm not afraid to admit that one bit.
First Match - FBI wins. 2/10
This match had one extreme moment - some wrestlers used the ref to do a flip on someone else. The dancing I thought was a little funny but demonstrated the laid-back attitude of ECW. Truthfully, I didn't know many of these guys and it was more of a taste of what was to come.
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Behind-the-scenes Note:
While they were showing all the extreme tribute videos, this was the time they cleaned up the ring. Fans have an established "Woo" as the guy cleans the ropes (he runs a cloth on them as he runs from one side to another; the next night the cleaner looked confused and the announcer said he can tell we'll having too much fun). Mike Tenay and Taz are blacked out during the match and they never appeared excited - in fact, they appear to be reading something and clamly watching the action, so I'm assuming they're excited tones are heavily exaggerated and their volume is increased.
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Second match - 2 Cold Scorpio wins. 1/10
Again, I wasn't aware of the hype surrounding either of these wrestlers. In fact, if it wasn't for the crowd, this match would have been boring.
Third Match - Stevie wins. 4/10
Seeing the bWo in action was pretty funny. Man, is Blue Meanie fat! Anyway, other than the kendo stick, there wasn't a lot of extreme moments, though I remember telling my brother this match was the beginning of the extreme. The extremeness didn't come untuil Sandman entered and kicked Credible's ass with his kendo stick. It was nice to see how Francine looked without the makeup and ****ty clothes but unfortunately, she needed them as she's not too attractive without them.
Fourth match - Rhino wins. 2/10
Before this match styrofoam heads were thrown to the crowd. Al Snow gave a lot of head but it ultimately didn't work on his part. Spike Dudley was thrown near the crowd but not in it, though still reminscent of old-ECW. Practically entertaining given Spike being much smaller than the other two.
Fifth Match - Dudleys win. 6/10
This is the match where you'll likely to see me on TV. It was also one of the more extreme of the matches. When the Dudley comes into the steps behind the ring, he actually walks right beside me and I couldn't stop tapping him every chance I got. He got carried away with using every drink every fan gave him and I couldn't help but to keep the sprite bottle he busted over his opponent's head (he actually just bent it using the plastic bottle's design). This was awesome in of itself and he was very sweaty. People outside of Florida don't understand how you can be soaked in sweat all the time and he definitely didn't feel like his soakness was actually water like the WWE guys did and actually showed years ago. He's also not very big - he's probably about my size but solid because his is mainly mucle with fat and mine is just fat. He also used a shoe on his opponent and kissed a young latino girl right beind me (two rows anyway) - it didn't look like he was using tongue but doing it for show. He literally grabbed her, pretty hard, and left her laughing with a confused look on her face. As WrestleZone points out the match used a lot of weapons and seeing a flaming table was sweeet! And being soaked in beer was also awesome - I think it was someone's can he splattered against his opponent's head.
Sixth Match - Raven wins. 8/10
This was a very awesome match despite Dreamer's juice job looking really gross. Foley putting the barb wire in the guy's mouth made for a grosser effect as he spurted blood like no other. This was a very gruesome match and reminded me of ECW but still lacked more of its extremeness. I missed the handcuffing of Dreamer - I was watching Foley. And besides, you can't see all the good action from facing the camera. The show ends with the after-party. The time the show ended on a screen was 10:46p.m.
END OF THE SHOW:
What's important to know is the event ended with us singing along to "Enter the Sandman" by Metallica and one of the Dudley Boys yelling "Fuck it, let's hear it one more time, E-C-W." The cameras were actually off by then so it's not in the show. I guess the televised show ended when they brought Dixie into the ring.
Being a VIP member I got to sit in on the 30-minute or so Q&A at the end. This was awesome in that fans got to ask Dreamer and Foley questions (me being one) and this session was recorded and will be on the DVD. My question to Dreamer and Foley was (after announcer guy told me to say it another way) "Who's your favorite wrestler to watch" (originally: Who's your favorite wrestler of all time). I did pat that announcer guy on the shoulder and asked if I could thank them for the PPV and he said sure. He seemed nice but with an impersonal attitude - you know he's seen so many fans he's lost his touch in social life outside the world of entertainment and recorded life (so he's kind of stuck up but isn't). Anyway, Dreamer said his favorite was Dusty Rhodes then he said Hogan and a couple of WCW wrestlers. Foley explained how Undertaker's music gave him goosebumps but he loved Mysterio and Undertaker and a few others from WWE I couldn't remember. There's no guarantee, I'm sure, my question will make it on the DVD but we can only hope. During this time Alfonso came out shirtless drinking water (Zepherillys by the looks of it - TNA definitely isn't very rich) and someone kept taking photos of him and he waved them a couple times to stop. The highlight of my night, what put icing on the cake, was getting the opportunity to shake hands with Tommy Dreamer and thank him (he was still bloody and it stained the lines of his skin) as they were kicking us out about midnight due to legal issues with the use of the building. That to me is just as good as a photo with him. Dreamer also said of his regrets was having four women in a hotel room while being married. But to tell you the truth, as many people say that wrestlers are big, Tommy has muscles but he isn't bigger than a highschool football player. When you see him beside Hogan on Impact you'll see what I mean.
CONCLUSIONS:
This was NOT ECW by any stretch of the imagination - nor was it TNA. It felt more like a staged version of WCW gone extreme yet an ECW sampler at the same time. Being on TV was great but we miss all the good poses and taunts they do just so you can see it at home. We also see more the wrestling techniques and how punches are nothing more than slight contact with a noise (one guy opened his close fist to a slap). You can barely seem them talking to each other but you definitely can tell these guys have been trained more for show than technique and how to love the camera. Needless to say this PPV was well worth it alone, though I'd wished I got to meet Dreamer in that party setting where I could have got a photo with him.
I forget what match but there was a lightsaber duel that the crowd thought was hilarious. It definitely symbolized how laid back the crowd and ECW guys were.
More on the crowd: The crowd consisted of Rednecks and Rebels, basically conservative-style rednecks with liberal rednecks that wore some black (I fit into the liberal redneck crowd despite not being a redneck because of my black shirt and black glasses). Believe it or not I am including the "punk" with icicle dreadlocks at ringside as a liberal redneck - few people here didn't fit into the redneck personae as far as dress goes. There were also a lot of drunks and I definitely understand Mark Madden's declaration of the TNA fans being a bunch of freeloaders. Some of them also need to visit a shower before coming to the show.
TNA Impact (to be aired 8/12/2010):
I wasn't hyped for this. I don't even know 99% of the TNA guys - I just wanted to see Hogan and hopefully Sting. As we waited fduring lineup some fans complained they lost their spot so a TNA bodyguard made all of us remember who was infront and behind us so we could stay in line. We found it pathetic since we all got to go in before anyone else but nevertheless it happened. As we entered the Impact zone the standby crowd chanted "Wasted Money" to us. We got to go in before them and choose the best seats so I don't know how wasted it was. To note, there is a free VIP option if you email
[email protected] but you still have to wait behind the paying VIP members.
The format of the show went the same, except not being life nothing filled in the space between cleaning up the ring except for giving away free DVDs and offering backstage passes to the loudest people. At the end he said we were the best crowd they had in a while.
The only awesome match was Abyss vs RVD. It was also the only extreme match.
The ending was better than the rest of the show though I got more closeup seating (I'm behind the right turnbuckle, third-row from the fence, mostly standing the whole time with camera in hand). A stuffed bulldog was near me - Iw ould have been to the right of that behind two big guys. It also didn't help when two drunks got pissed some of us VIPers were standing and "in his way" as he sat. The whole ending where the TNA crew (I guess they call themselves Fortune) battled against all of ECW (eventually all of TNA and Sandman and Raven came out) was total chaos and pandemonium. In fact I was already bored I missed Raven coming out but Sandman came out from a blackout (a lot of us was wanting Sting). The cleanup and removal of the wrestlers and beaten security after the carnage took a very long time (probably 20 minutes or so) and I left before the Xplosion tapings along with about 60% of the crowd as they were changing the canvas. The guy knocked down in front of the ring, to the right if watching on TV, took a long time to get up and I watched Abyss beating someone up in the crowd right below Tenay and Tazz's table. Everyone here didn't know what was going on and i basically was the only time the crowd had any true-heart feelings of emotion oas the ECW crew was being decimated in front of our very eyes the night after a cool PPV. My camera died right as Hogan walked out (and as Dreamer walked out the night before) so I had to play with my batteries or use my phone to get photos.
Final Remarks:
If there is another VIP coming up a couple months from now (not Bound for Glory as you have to pay to get in) that offers party-like meet and greet, I might take it up. But honestly watching TNA in person, sober, ruins it. If it wasn't for the ECW-like PPV, I wouldn't have done this, especially since they made it sound like it would be the last stand (which I had a feeling from my history of watching wrestling it wasn't but I needed something to celebrate my year anniversary in Florida). I'm better off watching wrestling on TV unless meet and greets are available (for $25 I could have met and gret Motor City Madness for $25 but again, I don't know them so why waste the money). Merchandise was available for sale - mainly t-shirts in a box labeled by size and Hogan bandanas and DVDs. And in a yard-sale fashion - on tables.
Look for my photo album labeled "My Hardcore Weekend" which will also feature EXCLUSIVE photos from the tapings where I can be seen (if available).
I always chanted ECW not EC-dub, BTW.
And check out the links below. They provide more information and some of the same info I was going to provide but felt WZ did it better.
More information:
PPv Results from WrestleZone -
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/tna-hardcore-justice-ppv-results-august-8-2010-108781
TNA Impact "Whole F'N Show" (8/12/2020) from WrestleZone -
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/spoilers-complete-tna-whole-fn-show-spoiler-results-108929
Xplosion Results (after Impact and after I left) -
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/spoilers-results-of-tna-xplosion-taped-after-impact-108959
Q&A Session
Being a VIP member I got to sit in on the 30-minute or so Q&A at the end. This was awesome in that fans got to ask Dreamer and Foley questions (me being one) and this session was recorded and will be on the DVD. My question to Dreamer and Foley was (after announcer guy told me to say it another way) "Who's your favorite wrestler to watch" (originally: Who's your favorite wrestler of all time). I did pat that announcer guy on the shoulder and asked if I could thank them for the PPV and he said sure. He seemed nice but with an impersonal attitude - you know he's seen so many fans he's lost his touch in social life outside the world of entertainment and recorded life (so he's kind of stuck up but isn't). Anyway, Dreamer said his favorite was Dusty Rhodes then he said Hogan and a couple of WCW wrestlers. Foley explained how Undertaker's music gave him goosebumps but he loved Mysterio and Undertaker and a few others from WWE I couldn't remember. There's no guarantee, I'm sure, my question will make it on the DVD but we can only hope. During this time Alfonso came out shirtless drinking water (Zepherillys by the looks of it - TNA definitely isn't very rich) and someone kept taking photos of him and he waved them a couple times to stop. The highlight of my night, what put icing on the cake, was getting the opportunity to shake hands with Tommy Dreamer and thank him (he was still bloody and it stained the lines of his skin) as they were kicking us out about midnight due to legal issues with the use of the building. That to me is just as good as a photo with him. Dreamer also said of his regrets was having four women in a hotel room while being married. But to tell you the truth, as many people say that wrestlers are big, Tommy has muscles but he isn't bigger than a highschool football player. When you see him beside Hogan on Impact you'll see what I mean.
Other questions and responses:
- One thing I remember Dreamer saying is that John Cena asked him if he could use his finisher and the running joke was "Yes since Dreamer never beats anyone with it anyway." Dreamer also said he likes Cena and feels he's a good spokesperson for "the company."
- During the beginning of the Q&A Dreamer accidently begins to say "ECW" then catches himself and mentions that would have to be edited.
- It was also implied, through a fan asking a question, Dreamer would be working for TNA.
- I got to ask the question, "Who do you guys like to watch wrestle" as well as shake Tommy's hand at the end when Universal was kicking everyone out due to building usage issues.
- Someone asked what their favorite match was and I don't know they answered.
- A father of kids and 2 jobs asked them if they had any words of advice for people in his situation. Foley commended him on taking 2 jobs and to continue at it - that's all I remember.
- The guy who always holds the mic with short hair asked a couple of questions as well, including about their books. Foley made mention of these things about his book:
- His book had hundreds of legal issues, one of which was about 2 Cold Scorpio. He stood up, asked Tommy for the bloody towel, and said in the locker room there are two kinds of guys, the ones wrapping the towel completely around their body (where Foley fits) and the ones who put it over their shoulders. He said 2 Cold Scorpio does this and he wanted to publish it in his book but the mentioning of Scorpio's "cartoonish genetalia" wasn't allowed.
- Dreamer said he can't get past the first four chapters of his book because it would either contain things that are illegal or would cause a divorce.
The session was very informal and lively. A gray canvas covered the ring and Dreamer and Foley sat on stools. Dreamer was to the left (if watching it) and Foley the right.
This is all I can recall. There wasn't too many more questions from this session and they were basically general questions anyway, except for the one's the TNA mic holder asked.
