First match was a tryout match for German wrestlers.
Absolute Andy (who got a nice hometown pop) defeated Murat Bospurus in
about five minutes with a Gory Bomb variation. Okay little match for
the independent scene but honestly I don't see any of the guys going
anywhere in the big leagues (although Andy has at least a decent
physique) (*)
Jeremy Borash came out and did his usual "loudest fans get backstage
passes" shtick which continued through the entire show.
Second match.
Black Machismo Jay Lethal defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir in about ten
minutes with the flying doubleaxehandle blow.
Disappointing match that saw Lethal sloppy and not very motivated.
Bashir tried his best to get heat but Jay really seemed not into it
(bit of a shame for the first official TNA match in a new country).
Crowd popped for Jays nice dive through the ropes, but these two never
really connected. What happened to Jay Lethal? From the guy that beat
Kurt Angle clean to an unmotivated curtain jerker... (*1/2)
Third match.
Awesome Kong defeated Taylor Wilde in about five minutes with the
Implant Buster.
Taylor got a decent pop, Kong got some "oohs" and "aahs" from people
who never saw here before. Basically an extended squash with a few
hope spots (Taylor slipping out of a Awesome Bomb attempt and bringing
Kong down with a dropkick), but okay for what it was (*1/2)
Fourth Match.
Hernandez defeated Rhino in about eight minutes with a diving splash.
Rhino got a suprisingly big pop and "ECW" chants. Rhino seemed
genuinely touched. Hernandez got no reaction at all. I don't know if
they changed face/heel dynamics on the fly 'cause Hernandez worked the
match as a heel, slowing down the pace with bearhugs. Very basic power
match, but the crowd was way into Rhino. Finish saw Rhino missing a
Gore and Hernandez getting the pin from a splash. Not sure what to
make of Hernandez' performance. (*1/2)
Fifth Match.
Beer Money Inc. defeated The British Invasion in about fifteen minutes
with the DWI.
British Invasion (the Williams/Magnus combination) got great heat by
announcing to teach the Germans British culture and singing their
national anthem. Beer Money were really really over (their shirts sold
like hell. Got one, too). Very good tag match - all four guys were
crisp, crowd popped big for Storms and Roodes big moves, the Invasion
looked fine, too, during the face-in-peril parts, they even worked in
some comedy spots with Earl Hebner and some signs from fans, many
dueling "Beer"-"Money" chants. Best match of the night by far. (***)
During intermission time they had a burlesque dancer entertaining the crowd.
JB announced that TNA would do some filming for Impact in the second
half and of course he did his "we'll definitely come back and I'll
tell the guys in the back that we've got to do a PPV here" routine
(that got an enormous pop).
Sixth Match.
Samoa Joe retained the X-Division Championship by defeating Suicide in
about eight minutes with the Musclebuster.
Slight disappointment knowing what the two guys are capable of.
Suicide got a decent reaction at best, Joe got a few cheers and very
little boos. Match was nothing special - crowd was into Suicides
aerial moves and popped big for Joes dive to the outside. Joe
controlled the majority of the match with power and submission moves.
Expected a bit more out of it (**).
Seventh Match - wasn't a match at all.
Velvet Sky came out for another Knockouts match (to a good face pop).
Before an opponent could be announced, Mick Foley's music played and
the Hardcore Legend came out to a great pop. Foley cut a promo in
German, accusing Velvet Sky and referee Slick Johnson of having an
affair. Foley threatened to put Mr. Socko on Slick, Slick got the sock
but JB distracted him, Foley pulled out another sock and applied Mr.
Socko. Slick got his pants pulled down (by JB, I guess, didn't see it
exactly) and while Velvet complained to JB, Mick pulled her pants down
to the delight of every heterosexual male in the audience. Foley (who
received "You're a legend" chants) then thanked the fans and basically
said that he's very happy to be back in Germany. Overall very funny
segment and probably the best way to use Foley.
Eight Match.
Abyss and Team 3D defeated the Main Event Mafia (Kurt Angle, Scott
Steiner, Booker T) in about fifteen minutes with the 3D through a
table (on Scott Steiner).
All MEM members received quite good face pops. Abyss got a nice, but
not overwhelming reaction, Team 3D were greeted with "ECW" and "Get
the tables" chants. Match was a rather basic affair with Steiner
taking the majority of the bumps (Angles only bump was a nice Shock
Treatment by Abyss). Occasionally played for comedy (such as Angle
refusing to tag in because of Abyss), MEM controlled most of the
match. Devon played face-in-peril, Abyss finally got the hot tag and
cleaned house. The 3D on Steiner looked quite good. Crowd was split
between 3D and the MEM (Angle and Steiner got quite a few cheers), but
everyone was hot for the finish. Not the greatest match in terms of
actual wrestling, but fun all the way (**1/2)
Afterwards Team 3D gave a part of the table to a kid and led a big TNA chant.
Sadly, no autographs after the show. Was a bit disappointed by the
distinct lack of AJ Styles (who was one of the four guys named on the
poster) and TNA could learn a thing or two about merchandising (using
the souvenir programme from the last UK tour is a bit cheap; they had
not too many different T-shirts to buy - Beer Money was the top seller
by far; and no DVDs).
In summary it might not have been the greatest wrestling show on Earth
but it was a fun evening - most of the guys and girls worked fine,
crowd was mostly into the matches (with the Lethal/Bashir match the
exception) and everyone I saw seemed quite happy. I enjoyed the show
and hope that the low attendance doesn't hurt TNA's plan to return
(they might be served better by booking smaller venues).
Greetings from Nürnberg,
Markus Risser
www.badmovies.de
Results:
Try-Out Match
Absolute Andy b Murat Bosporus
"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal b Sheik Abdul Bashir
Awesome Kong b Taylor Wilde
Hernandez b Rhino
Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm & Robert Roode) b The British Invasion (Doug Williams &
Brutus Magnus)
TNA X-Division Championship Match:
Samoa Joe b Suicide
Abyss & Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) b Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner & Booker T
Cheers,
Timo Knopf
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