Second report of 11/4 TNA in Battle Creek, Michigan
Bobby Strouss sent this report in.
Before the show in Battle Creek, there was the Meet N Greet. We had Gunner, ODB, Austin Aries, Mr. Anderson, Jesse Sorensen and Rob Van Dam, whose line was for everyone in the building and not just the meet and greet ticket holders. Before we went into the arena for the meet n greet, we all stood and listened to a special Don West Brown Bag special with an unreleased IMPACT WRESTLING shirt and the 4 DVD’s. He also explained another deal. The Jeff Hardy NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Diecast and 8x10s of Jeff Hardy, RVD, Velvet Sky and Abyss, all for $80, included in that deal was a Backstage Pass, which was good for the person who bought the deal and a guest, unless they had kids then all kids were able to attend the backstage meet n greet, which began with a one on one with Jeff Hardy. For the intermission meet and greet, there were many names. “Cowboy” James Storm, AJ Styles, Bully Ray, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Jeremy Borash and D’Lo Brown. Anyway, on to the action.
Before the first match of the night, JB was giving everyone a rundown of what was to come, when James Storm interrupted him and talked about how he liked how the crowd looked like a bunch of beer drinkers, and not only the loud fans would get the backstage treatment, so should the drinkers!
TNA X Championship:
Austin Aries retains over Jesse Sorensen after a reversal of a cross body.
Prior to the next match, JB introduces the “Most Controversial Referee in Professional Wrestling History” Earl Hebner. Hebner comes out with his stripes on, but soon after getting into the ring, he takes off his stripes to reveal his Damn Right I Did shirt and pulls out the Bret Hart glasses and puts them on, emulating Bret’s signature hand taunt. This continues for a few minutes and he gices some fans the finger.
TNA Knockout Championship:
Velvet Sky retains over ODB after hitting the “In Yo Face” Pedigree maneuver.
Finish came when Velvet knees ODB in the head and ODB falls into the waiting arms of Earl Hebner who catches her as if he was dipping her at a dance. He wets his lips and kisses her, then Velvet proceeds to hit the “In Yo Face” for the win.
Magnus was out next and started running down the city of Battle Creek and the USA in general. He then calls out James Storm, who he said was complaining about losing the World title. Storm finally comes to the ring and tells Magnus that real men are ones who are beer drinkers. He proceeds to tell Magnus all about the beer drinking men in the crowd. Magnus then takes the beer and as he was trying to consume the rest of the bottle, he turns into a superkick and Storm covers him for the three count.
Mr. Anderson defeated Abyss by disqualification after Abyss used a steel chair illegally during the course of the match.
**INTERMISSION** Autograph signing with Velvet Sky. If you purchased the Velvet Sky Flag, normally $20 but was sold tonight for $10, you would be able to go around the side of the table and get a personal photo with Velvet.
JB introduces Ric Flair and Flair comes out to a huge ovation. Flair says he busts his ass on a weekly basis, every Thursday, to make us all hate him, but we still show him an enormous amount of respect. Fans on the opposite side of the arena start chanting for One More Match, and Flair questions the fans. He then states that he is not retiring at any time and that if he was able to grow his hair he could then continue wrestling for another ten years! He concludes the segment doing his usual Ladies Man gimmick, talking to all the women between 18 and 27, saying that if they want to know where he is staying later on after the show, they cannot bring their boyfriends, husbands or children. He does his strut walk and the WOOOOO and walks from the ring.
AJ Styles defeated Gunner.
During the course of this contest, AJ took a heavy bump around the ringside area. Gunner tosses AJ from the ring, where AJ would usually land on the apron, this time he falls completely over the ring and his ankle slams against the apron on the way to a crash landing on the floor. In the end, AJ recovers and gets the pinfall victory.
MAIN EVENT: Jeff Hardy & RVD defeated Bully Ray and Scott Steiner
After the main event match, the fans were all then told that Abyss was signing autographs at the merchandise table, as well as the $20 per photo in-ring with RVD and Jeff Hardy. However, the fans that had the Jeff Hardy “Party” Truck deal, got the photos for absolutely no cost. Those fans with wheelchairs were able to get their photo taken ringside with them as well after the line went through the ring.
That was the end of the night, and may I say, what a show TNA put on tonight! The greatest time I have ever had at a Professional Wrestling event. Cannot wait to go back to another TNA event when they return to Battle Creek!