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TNA held their first show in Nottingham tonight. I attended the show first hand and here are the results and my impressions.
The Capital FM Arena was around just over 3/4 full, with about 1/3 of the arena tarped off. I'd estimate there were between 4,000 and 5,000 in attendance (the arena's capacity is 10,000, and the 2/3 they used seats around 6,500) which was a considerable amount more than I was expecting.
The show opened with our host Christy Hemme coming to the ring. There was no Don West or the usual "loudest fans come backstage".
Match 1: Gunner vs Doug Williams
Gunner came out to some decent heat, and also Doug Williams' theme. Williams got a large pop, and had Gunner's titantron. The crowd was chanting "England" several times throughout the match. Gunner used several generic heel tactics throughout the match, and gave the crowd the middle finger a couple of times. Doug got the win in just under 10 minutes with the chaos theory.
Match 2: Crimson vs Samoa Joe
Immediately after match 1 had ended, Crimson's music started playing. Christy funnily enough billed him as "the defeated Crimson". After Crimson's entrance, Christy introduced Earl Hebner, who did the usual "you screwed Bret" stuff. Earl came out to Samoa Joe's music initially, which was kind of a spoiler. After Earl's routine, Joe made his entrance to a large pop. Crimson started to garner a fair amount of heat after this, which soon turned into X-Pac heat. Joe dominated this match from early on, and you could tell he was putting a lot of effort into it. After spilling out onto the floor several times, Earl decided it was enough and called for a double DQ. Joe and Crimson brawled to the back after the match.
Match 3: Alex Shelly vs Mark Haskins vs Austin Aries for the X Division Championship
Alex Shelley entered first. Mark Haskins was being billed from Nottingham, although he's actually from Oxford. Aries got the largest pop out of the three. Aries managed to get Haskins and Shelley to fight each other at first, and sat on a steel chair at ringside waiting for a chance to capitalise. Shelley was sent to the floor and Aries fought Haskins in a good back-and-forth. Shelley was kicked off the apron several times when he tried to get in the ring. He managed to get in the ring when Aries was setting up for a superplex on Haskins, and picked Aries up to try and go for the Electric Chair, although he escaped from it. Haskins tried a hurricanrana on Shelley who reversed it into a powerbomb. Aries then threw Shelley out of the ring and hit Haskins with a brainbuster for the win. Haskins showed a tremendous amount of skill in this match, and was able to easily keep pace with Aries and Shelley.
Match 4: Tara vs Madison Rayne vs Mickie James vs Gail Kim in a 4-way match.
Tara and Mickie took pictures with and hugged fans as they were making their entrances. Mickie got the biggest pop out of the four. Earl Hebner held up the Knockouts Title before the bell, even though Hemme didn't announce this as a title match. Gail and Madison double-teamed Tara to start, and dominated the match. Mickie botched a baseball slide dropkick at one point around halfway through. Tara eventually hit the Widow's Peak on Madison, whom Earl tried to wake up, allowing Gail to hit her finisher on an unsuspecting Tara for the win.
After this match was the intermission, when the ring crew tightened and cleaned the sweat off the ring ropes while the crowd got drinks.
Match 5: Bully Ray vs AJ Styles
Bully Ray's music hit, and the spotlight focused on the entrance for about a minute before he finally came out, while we speculated if he was a no-show. He cut a promo on how much England sucks and challenged a man form the crowd to fight him. The man jumped the guardrail and stood at ringside daring Bully Ray to come down. Ray told security to throw him out, but they did nothing. AJ Styles' music hit as Bully Ray was mid-promo and he got a massive pop. The crowd livened up a lot for this match, which was a great back-and-forth that made both wrestlers look phenomenal. the crowd was chanting "Pussy Ray" almost the whole way through. Before the match, both wrestlers took turns to stand on the turnbuckles to try and get a crowd reaction. AJ managed to get Christy and Earl to do the same, and the crowd was chanting for the ring crew to as well.
After a few minutes, the match finally got underway. At one point, Ray did the Flair strut to continuous "WOO!" chants from the crowd. Ray later tried to leave, but AJ stopped him and dragged him back to the ring. AJ dominated for a while, but as he went for a springboard, Ray shook the ropes to make him fall off. AJ got a couple of near falls and went for the Styles Clash, which Ray reversed into a backdrop. He went for the bully bomb, which Styles reversed into a victory roll for the win. Ray attacked AJ after the match, and quickly left. AJ celebrated with the fans after he recovered.
Match 6: James Storm vs Bobby Roode for the World Heavyweight Championship
James Storm got a bigger pop than AJ did in the previous match, and Roode got some decent heat which steadily increased throughout the match. Before the match started, Roode made a promo about how Beer money is dead and he killed it. A short while through, Bobby tried to leave but Storm stopped him. At one point I think one of the two smashed a beer bottle on the other, but I'm not sure as my vantage point wasn't that good. Roode DQ'd himself after low blowing Storm. A great back-and-forth which made Storm look great.
After the match, Hemme said she regretted that the title did not change hands, at which point Sting's music hit and he came to the ring in wrestling gear, facepaint and the biggest pop of the night so far. Sting called to restart the match and cut a promo about how nobody's nuts were getting squashed tonight. At this point Kurt Angle's music hit to mixed reactions from the crowd. Angle said he was sick and tired of Sting and said he wanted a tag team match between him & Roode and Storm & Sting. Bully Ray came out and said he agreed with Angle, but he wanted to make it 3 on 2. Sting praised Nottingham and said the nearby city of Derby sucks, and then said he has a third tag team partner for him and Storm too, at which point the lights darkened and "Eye of the Tiger" started playing to steadily increasing cheers. At this point, Hulk Hogan came out and the crowd went mad. Hogan had the biggest pop of the night by far.
Match 7: James Storm, Sting and Hulk Hogan vs Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle and Bully Ray
Hogan started off doing pretty much the same thing he did at BFG, and didn't take any bumps. He choked Roode with his bandana and Angle and Ray double teamed him a few times. Hogan tagged to Sting, who no-sold Roode's offence before hitting him with the Stinger splash before putting him in the Scorpion Deathlock. Ray and Angle broke the hold a couple of times, but Sting put it back on. While Angle was in the ring, Roode and Ray double-teamed Storm on the outside. Hogan tagged in and tore his shirt off to another huge pop before pointing the finger of doom at Roode, who took a big boot and several clotheslines. Again, Angle and Ray interfered but met the same fate. Storm tagged in and tried to copy Hogan calling to the crowd before hitting an assisted leg drop on Roode for the win. The crowd popped again, and the winning team celebrated for around 10 minutes to end the show.
