TNA house show report
January 14, 2011
Reading, Pa.
Report by Jack Hale, PWTorch reader

I just arrived home from the TNA house show at the Sovereign Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pa. It was the second time that TNA ran a show here. I couldn't see the balcony, but about one-third of the lower seats were empty. I'll guess about 600 were downstairs plus the number of seats filled upstairs. From what I recall, it was a smaller crowd than last year's show.

There was a very good crowd in terms of energy and a lot of people were into the show. I missed the pre-show meet and greet, but Kurt Angle was signing in the lobby of the theater while Don West sold merchandise. Don was pushing different Sting merchandise and gave a subtle hint that the reason for it was because Sting had re-signed.

The show opened with Jeremy Borash hyping the crowd with backstage passes. The usual backstage pass buzzkill guy came out and JB overrode his objections and continued to give out passes. D-Lo Brown was seen walking around.

(1) X Division champion Kazarian beat Brian Kendrick and Robbie E. in a three-way match to retain the X Division Title. No Cookie and new music for Robbie. Kendrick came out and sat in the middle of the ring meditating. He did so throughout the beginning of the match, with Kaz and Robbie wrestling around him and jumping over him. Not until Kazarian attacked him did he finally wrestle. Good match with decent comedy and good wrestling later on. The finish had Kendrick hitting Robbie with his leg lariat finisher, then Kazarian jumped him and hit his reverse Tombstone to get the win.

(2) TNA Knockouts champion Madison Rayne beat Mickie James to retain the Knockouts Title. Earl Hebner was the ref and did the "You Screwed Bret" routine that he does on the live events. Mickie was very over and the crowd was into this match. Madison had a tiara and sash for her entrance, trying to be a beauty queen. The finish had Madison getting knocked into Hebner's arms and getting kissed. As Mickie was distracted by Earl's celebrating, Madison loaded up her glove and clocked Mickie for the win. Before she left the ring, Mickie kissed Earl.

(3) TNA TV champion Abyss beat Douglas Williams. Split crowd on this one with Abyss getting more of a face reaction than Williams. Late in the match, Abyss brought Janice out from under the ring. He missed his shot on Williams, who nearly scored the pin with a roll-up. Williams tried Chaos Theory, but Abyss blocked it and hit the Black Hole Slam for the win.

(4) Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) beat Generation Me (Max & Jeremy Buck). Guns were very over and this was the best match on the card. A very high-energy match with lots of flying moves and double-team spots you would expect from these teams. The end had the Guns breaking up GenMe's 450 combination and hitting Jeremy with Skull & Crossbones for the win.

Intermission with backstage pass time, along with Madison Rayne and Earl and Brian Hebner signing in the lobby.

(5) Samoa Joe beat "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero. Pope played the heel with him faking giving away his glasses to a kid. Joe took his glasses and gave them to the kid to cement his face status. Very good match that bodes well for the their feud. The finish had Joe sidestepping the D'Angelo Dinero Express, and reversing a roll-up into the rear naked choke for the tap-out win. Post-match had Pope offering the kid his gloves, only to steal the glasses back from the kid and flee to the back. A minute later, Brian Hebner ran out and gave the kid the glasses.

(6) TNA World Hvt. champion Mr. Anderson beat Jeff Jarrett with Kurt Angle as the Guest Referee to retain the TNA World Title. During the show, they announced that if Kurt screwed Jarrett, he would be banned from TNA. This was announced as Anderson's first title defense. All three guys were over with Jarrett getting some massive heat. Jarrett forced Angle to call it down the middle and follow rules, which allowed him to cheat and get the advantage. Anderson came back and hit Jarrett with a rolling Samoan drop. As Anderson tried pinning Jarrett, Abyss came out and dragged Angle out of the ring and fought with him. While this happened, Jarrett nailed a low blow and belt shot for a two count. Jarrett then argued with Angle and took a swing, which Angle blocked. Angle then punched him and Anderson hit the Mic Check for the win. Anderson celebrated in the ring with a kid from the crowd.

Afterward, they did the usual in-ring picture deal with Anderson and the Immortal Title belt. Madison and Robbie signed briefly at ringside. Jarrett, Mickie, and Earl signed in the lobby.

Overall, another very good TNA live event that I've attended. Some pretty good in-ring action and the best wrestler interaction in the business. Even without A.J. Styles, this show was worth the money.

[Torch art credit Neal Obermeyer (c) PWTorch.com]

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