TNA House Show
June 9th, 2006
Philadelphia, PA
Report by Brian Streleckis, Torch VIP Member

TNA Wrestling, in conjunction with the UWF promotion, presented their first house show in the Northeast, entitled "Hardcore War," at the New Alhambra Arena (AKA The ECW Arena). First some pre-show notes. It was a huge crowd in this small building, and they were really hot for almost the entire show. I was lucky enough to find a seat in the bleachers by the entrance way. The Arena has this entrance set with a ramp and video screen that I've seen used for many indy shows held here in the past, and it was dressed up with a big TNA logo tonight. They also brought their own lighting rig in addition to the six-sided ring. Online store Highspots was selling merchandise tonight. I noticed female wrestler Amber O'Neill (who I know has been a regular at past TNA house shows) at the merchandise table, Cassidy Reilly walking around, and ROH referee Todd Sinclair in the balcony above where I was sitting. ECW fan Hat Guy was in attendance and got a big pop when he arrived.

Bell time was set for 7:30, but it started later than that. Before bell time, they played the TNAwrestling.com commercial for the show, featuring Jeff Jarrett running down Philadelphia and promos by Samoa Joe and others. Jarrett got an incredibly negative reaction and Joe got a huge ovation just from this video. They opened up with a music video highlighting TNA stars, then played the Impact opening. Jeremy Borash walked out to open the show (he would mention other stuff like Impact on Spike TV and Slammiversary throughout the show between matches). He then introduced Christy Hemme, who fired up the crowd even more. Brian Hebner was the ref for the first match.

NOTE: All of the former ECW stars on this show received chants of "ECW" and/or "Welcome Back."

(1) Shark Boy defeated Simon Diamond. As fans were chanting "ECW" in the beginning, Simon took the mic and called the fans idiots for chanting for a company that was shut down and taken away from them, getting the heel heat he desired. He would have said more, but the mic went out on him.  The match featured the regular Shark Boy biting spots. Shark Boy got the win with the Dead Sea Drop. Very basic opener.

(2) Jay Lethal defeated Sonjay Dutt. There were dueling chants for both guys, and some people near me were chanting "CZW" for Sonjay, who wrestles on the CZW roster. Lots of fast paced action, and fans began chanting that it was awesome. I wouldn't go that far, but it was good action all around. Sonjay hit a sunset flip powerbomb from the top, and later hit a moonsault. Lethal scored the win with his release dragon suplex. This was a good match.

(3) Abyss defeated Brother Runt (AKA Spike Dudley). I could hear Abyss' chain rattling before he came out. Fans were chanting, "Spike," "You're a Dudley," and "LSD" at Brother Runt (who'll I just refer to as Spike from here), and he was very appreciative of it. He even did the Spike Dudley wave for a pop. A few minutes into the match, Abyss brought a chair into the ring and attempted to splash Spike with the chair on top of him, but Spike reversed the chair to crotch Abyss. Abyss gorilla-pressed Spike and teased throwing him into the crowd, but Spike escaped. A little later, Abyss succeeded, and Spike surfed the crowd like he did when Bam Bam Bigelow did the same spot with him years ago. After this came some brawling in the crowd, including into the bleachers where I was sitting. Almost all of the action in the crowd I couldn't see, but Spike started bleeding from the forehead during this. At one point, Spike dived onto Abyss on the floor from the top rope after (I think) wrapping him in his chain and putting him on a table (I couldn't see anything, but I could hear the chain). After a long time in the crowd, they took it back into the ring. Abyss hit some power moves and attempted the pin, but Spike would get his foot on the ropes. Abyss then brought out the bag of thumbtacks. Based on his past use of the tacks, I naturally assumed they would backfire on him, but the didn't this time. Abyss slammed Spike face first into the tacks, and then got the pin with the Black Hole Slam on the tacks. The match, or what I saw of it, was better than I expected, and it was a huge crowd pleaser. Spike got a big ovation afterwards.

As the tacks were swept up, Borash said there would now be a special match that wasn't even advertised. I think a lot of people were expecting something along the lines of Alex Shelley (at least I was), but instead we got...

(4) TNA Knockouts Match: Traci Brooks defeated Gail Kim with Christy Hemme as the guest referee. Borash played up the TNA pun as he introduced the match. The woman played up sex appeal throughout the match, but fans were not as into it as the previous matches. They did pull off some fine wrestling moves, so the match was better than recent WWE Diva matches. Traci took off her top towards the end and scored a pin on Gail with a rollup. After the match, as some fans were mockingly chanting "Match of the Year," Gail attacked Traci. Christy pulled her off, and then the two faces ripped off Gail's top. Christy then took off her own. Meh.

Earl Hebner came out to ref the next match, receiving the tired, obligatory "You Screwed Bret" chants.

(5) Rhino defeated Jeff Jarrett. No limits on language tonight, as the majority of fans were chanting, "F--- You Jarrett." Jarrett took the mic and ran down the Philadelphia fans and the Arena. Rhino came out to a huge pop. Some more Hebner heckling led to some other mic work related to Hebner and Rhino getting fired by WWE. After a little bit of action in the ring, they brawled into the crowd, once again coming into the bleachers by the entrance way where I was. They got back into the ring quicker than Abyss and Spike did. A little later, as Rhino was on the top rope, Gail Kim ran down and caused Rhino to fall to the floor. A whole lot of basic action, and some fans near me were heckling Jarrett for not coming up with new moves. In the end, Gail had Hebner's attention, Jarrett attempted to use the guitar, but Rhino ducked and hit the Gore for the pin. Lame match overall.

After the match, fans were chanting, "Thank You Rhino." Rhino cut a promo, saying how he was fired by WWE, but now Vince McMahon wants to rehire him for the new ECW. He said he loved Paul Heyman like a father and Tommy Dreamer like a brother, and even though Vince McMahon is an a-hole, he did take care of him and his family when he was out for fourteen months with a broken neck, and is grateful for that. So he said he had a choice between the two, but that he would stick with TNA, the company that is fresh and has a chance to grow and help the wrestling business. Big pop to close the segment.

Intermission.

(6) Petey Williams defeated Jerry Lynn. Dueling chants for both guys, and Jerry received "New F'n Show" and "You Still Got It" chants. Lots of back and forth action. Petey teased the Canadian Anthem/Tree of Woe spot, but refused to do as fans stood to expect it. Jerry did it himself, singing, "O Say Can You See." Petey locked in the sharpshooter, but Jerry escaped and applied it himself. Jerry then attempted the cradle piledriver but couldn't hit it. Petey later on hit the Canadian Destroyer for the win. Good match. Jerry thanked the fans for sticking with him "when other promoters and promotions wouldn't."

Before the next match, Borash said that cameras would roll and parts of the match would appear (I believe) on the next episode of Impact. He really fired up the crowd as the cameras started rolling.

(7) Samoa Joe defeated A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels to retain the X-Division Title. All three guys received probably the biggest reactions of the night. Before Joe came out, Daniels told AJ that even though they have a shot at the Tag Team Titles, they're both on their own here in attempting to win the X-Division Title, may the best man win, etc. This match got the big Main Event intros by Borash. Joe was doing that smirk he usually does in ROH and elsewhere, out of character in TNA. The match overall, though not as good as their 2005 MOTY contender, was pretty damn good. Most spots had two guys going at it while one was off to the side, but there were also some three way spots, including Daniels slamming AJ onto Joe as he gave Joe an inverted DDT, and Joe back body dropping both AJ and Daniels from the top. Lots of good action here as expected. In the end, Daniels was on the outside, AJ attempted to pin Joe with an Okana Roll, but Joe turned it into a choke. AJ almost got a leverage pin while in the choke, but Joe rolled back around and made AJ give to retain the title. Lots of chants proclaiming that the match was awesome.

After Joe left the ring, America's Most Wanted ran out and beat down both AJ and Daniels. They ran down Philadelphia for heel heat, saying that all of the tough teams who were in this building before still suck now. The lights went out, and out came the James Gang. They too received boos and ran down the Arena and fans. Then a video aired of Team 3D from some other location.  Ray ran down the four guys in the ring, saying they didn't belong here. Lots of gay jokes too. After a few minutes of talking, with Ray saying they weren't here tonight, he told them to turn around. Team 3D came through the crowd to berate the four guys some more. Just a hell of a lot of talking, and they let the f-bombs fly. All of this led to...

(8) South Philly Street Fight - Falls Count Anywhere: Team 3D vs. America's Most Wanted vs. The James Gang went to a No-Contest. Almost all of it took place in the crowd, and almost all of it I couldn't see. I couldn't stand this action, but the crowd was really into it. Some of the guys brawled in front of the bleachers where I was, while other guys were off across the Arena by the concession stand. In the end, the wrestlers insighted a chair riot. After this, BG and Kip James were up on the entrance way, and BG told the fans that "You just f---ed yourselves out of a hell of a finish. F--- you!" So either the fans through in too many chairs, or the guys just didn't feel like wrestling with the chairs in the ring (I've seen guys in ROH wrestle on top of chairs, including on one of the most recent DVDs, so I'm still not sure what was up with this). Ray declared themselves the winners. Just a mess in my opinion.

Ray then acknowledged the history of the building and the ECW chants, and then said that the new ECW will suck "and you know it." A little later, he called out both AJ and Daniels to the ring. Ray told them that they (Team 3D) were the past, and that they are the future. Spike came back out after this. He was holding a piece of paper that he said was a contract to wrestle at One Night Stand. There were anti-Vince chants. Spike talked of how much he put into his time in ECW and WWE, and then said he could either make a deal with a devil, or stay with the future in wrestling. He chose the latter, telling Vince to kiss his ass and tearing up the contract (though he had some trouble with that) to a big pop and more anti-Vince chants. After this, Daniels cut a promo of how the TNA locker room is a family as ECW was a family, and he's proud of that.

The show ended with Daniels, AJ, and the three former Dudleys celebrating on the entrance ramp. A little after this, Joe appeared in the balcony above me, and he started greeting fans and signing autographs. Gail Kim also popped up. I wish I could have stayed to get an autograph, but it was really crowded and decided to leave.

Overall: It was a pretty fun show. I got three good X-Division matches out of the night, and the huge, hot crowd really added to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the rest of the matches just weren't as good (the Jarrett match and the last match being the worst), and there was an overabundance of talking (for a promotion called Total Nonstop Action) brawling through the crowd (a lot of which I couldn't see). Still, I had a pretty good live experience, and I could never pass up the chance to see the likes of Joe and AJ in person (with my seat being close to entrance ramp, I was much closer to the wrestlers than I usually am at, say, ROH shows where I get seats in the bleachers. I assume this show will be on DVD through Highspots, as with previous UWF/TNA shows.

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