Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 1:49 AM EST

Adam sent this report in:

I wanted to give a little more in-depth update on what happened in Troy, Ohio last night.

The show started more or less on time. Jeremy Borash came out first. He informed us of the changes to the card and said that the "loudest" TNA fans would be allowed to go backstage during the event.

The first match, Elix Skipper and Petey Williams versus the Motor City Machineguns, started on the mat. The action got a lot faster with a lot of tandem moves from Sabin and Shelley and a lot of acrobatic moves from Skipper. The finish saw the Machineguns hit Skipper with a perfectly-timed kick combo. This was easily the match of the night.

The second match was Shark Boy taking on James Storm. Early in the match, James Storm acted like he was going to walk out on the match. In the ring, Shark Boy and the ref locked up. The ref backed Shark Boy up into a corner, then gave a clean break. When they got Storm back into the ring, he was double hip tossed by the ref and Shark Boy. The ref locked up with Storm, then put him in a headlock. Once Storm got out of the headlock, the match got serious. There was a lot of great back-and-forth action. The finish saw Shark Boy go through Steve Austin's moveset, including the Thesz Press, the mudhole stomping, and finally, the Stunner. Shark Boy got the pin after that. After the match, Shark Boy said, "That's the fishin' line, 'cause Shark Boy said so!"

The third match was Jackie Moore (introduced as Jacqueline) taking on Awesome Kong. The match was quick with the usual spots. Jackie Moore hit a duo of missile dropkicks on Kong, but that was the last of Jackie's offense. The finish saw Kong hit the Awesome Bomb (I think that's what it's called).

The next match saw AJ Styles and Tomko defeat LAX. Tomko was over huge, even getting a "We want Tomko" chant. Before the match, AJ Styles said there are a lot of ugly people in Ohio. He even pointed out a fan that "looks like a foot". The match saw the usual combination of power from Hernandez and Tomko and agility from Styles and Homicide. A big spot came when Hernandez hit the Big Man Dive on Tomko. The finish saw AJ grab the tights in a school boy pin for the win. Afterward, Tomko got on the mic and said he and Styles would be signing autographs by the merchandise stand. They did this while TNA took a twenty-minute intermission.

When the intermission was over, Jay Lethal took on Johnny Devine. This was a solid match with a lot of playing to the crowd. The finish saw Lethal go for a sunset flip. Devine sat down, then grabbed the rope while the ref counted.

The next match was Robert Roode versus Booker T. The beginning saw Roode try to apologize for breaking the jaw of Booker's wife. Booker punched him in mid-sentence, though. The crowd initially popped huge for Booker T but popped even bigger for the spinerooni. The finish saw the ref get bumped. Roode went out to get a chair, but Tracy Brooks came out of nowhere and grabbed it from him. Booker took advantage of the distraction and hit the scissor kick for the win.

The last match of the evening saw Kurt Angle defend the title against Samoa Joe. Borash put some emphasis on the sixty-minute time limit. The action was back-and-forth for a while, but toward the end, Samoa Joe started to build momentum. As he went for the Muscle Buster, AJ Styles appeared and distracted him. This led to Angle cracked Joe upside the head with the title belt. Angle got the pin, which was surprising since the match couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes long. After the match, Joe hit the Muscle Buster on Angle and walked to the back.

After selling for a while, Angle got up and said that he would stay in the ring and take pictures with people for $20 a pop. A huge line formed for this. Meanwhile, James Storm, Jay Lethal, Shark Boy, Elix Skipper, Hernandez, Jeremy Borash, Tracy Brooks, and Johnny Devine walked around ringside and in the aisle. They were signing autographs, taking pictures with fans, and talking to the kids. I personally got autographs from Jay Lethal, Earl Hebner, Jeremy Borash, and Johnny Devine and pictures with Tracy Brooks, Jay Lethal, and Shark Boy. Everyone was really nice. I talked for a minute with James Storm, Jeremy Borash, and Shark Boy. Borash told me that TNA is looking into Ohio as a possible PPV location in the near future. He mentioned Dayton and Columbus specifically.

Overall, it was a good show. The sudden endings to the Lethal vs. Divine, Styles and Tomko vs. LAX, and Joe vs. Angle matches took the crowd by surprise, but I didn't hear anyone complaining. Again, the wrestlers and other talent that was around the ring were all very cool and seemed eager to please the fans.

- Adam