6/22 TNA in Cincinnati: Samoa Joe vs. A.J. Styles, Al Snow makes a surprise appearance, Kip James vs. Eric Young

TNA house show report
Cincinnati, Oh. at the Cincinnati Garden
Report by Dot Net reader Timothy Martin

I was surprised when TNA booked the Gardens because the Gardens have a fixed seat seating capacity of a little more than 10,000. In hindsight it was probably the best building in town for the price. TNA set up so they only used one third of the arena. I am guessing attendance of 1,000 – 1,200. On the first day tickets went on sale I logged onto Ticketmaster and I had a seat in the second row but didn’t want to pay $50 because I did not know what to expect (I should have paid).

I was surprised by the report you got that you just posted. It sounded like it came from TNA PR. That is fine. I have nothing to say bad about the company. I want them to succeed and thrive.

I had a nice seat where I could see the talent behind the curtain.

I haven’t been to a wrestling house show in 20 years so I don’t know how to judge the crowd. The last one was when Ric Flair fought the Orange Goblin in WWE. I was smart, but not a smart fan then. The crowd wasn’t “rabid,” but they were into the action.

(1) Consequences Creed defeated Johnny Devine. OK match. I haven’t really seen Consequences on TV, so everyone else may know this, but he was doing an “Apollo Creed” gimmick.

A woman came out. At first I thought it might be Dixie….but my guess is a local radio talent. It was hard to tell because where I was sitting the acoustics were terrible. God love JB but I had a hard time hearing him or the talent. I was especially upset I could not understand Steiner’s promo.

(2) Roxxi Laveaux & Traci Brooks beat “The Beautiful People” Velvet Sky & Angelina Love. Fun match. I especially enjoyed the way the women interacted and worked the fans. Roxxi scored the pin. After the pin The “Beautiful People” beat down Traci and Roxxi. They even went so far as to try to cut Traci’s hair.

ODB made the save to a big pop. ODB shared her flask with Traci and Roxxi. Neither woman really cared for what they had just tasted. In fact Traci had to clean off ODB’s breasts after spitting it out, she is a classy lady…seriously. Looks like Traci hurt her left hand. She kept shaking it after the match and in the curtained off backstage area.

(3) ”Showtime” Eric Young defeated Kip James with help from “Super Eric.” OK for what it was though too much staling for my taste. Kip disputed the three counts, but could not convince the referee. I personally think he got hosed. The ref is obviously a mark for ‘Superzeros." I preferred the personality that Kip displayed at this show than how I see him act on TV. Maybe that is because it was more of a laid back comedy act and he seemed more comfortable in that role. I guess he was trying to draw heat by disputing the call but the fans were not interested. I give him credit; he sold it for several minutes with the Refs. (Behind the curtains talking with fans he was gold.)

(4) Kaz & Abyss defeated Petey Williams and Scott Steiner. A good match. Nothing special. Abyss is huge, meaning that is one big boy. After the show he was at a merchandise table and he is huge. The best part was watching Steiner jaw with the fans. One gentleman who won the opportunity to go back stage/behind the curtain at intermission was really giving “Big Poppa” the business. I do not know whether I would have done that. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see the Canadian Destroyer. Like I said, I have been to a show in a long time. I think Petey took a hard bump from Abyss to start the match but was okay. Scott got his bell rung as well. He was holding the back of his head behind the curtain.

INTERMISSION – With my seats I had the opportunity to watch the talent interact with the fans that went back stage. Everyone looked to be enjoying themselves. Saw Kip, Steiner, and Curry Man being great with the fans.

(5) Shark Boy defeated Miss Jackie, someone in the audience (must be the radio guy), and James Storm. Storm came out on a stretcher with ETM’s and claimed he couldn’t wrestle because he had a knee injury that caused him to need a neck brace. Some mess ensued where Shark Boy stunned Jackie, some radio guy I guess, and then James Storm. This didn’t deserve to be as high on the card as it was. Maybe because Shark Boy started training in Cincinnati for the Heartland Wrestling Alliance.

(6) Curry Man defeated Robert Roode. I thought this was a great entertaining match. Not that I didn’t already know it, but Christopher Daniels is a hell of a wrestler. I never appreciated how athletic he was just from TV. Too much silliness between Curry Man and the Ref in the beginning of the match, but all was forgotten.

The end came as Roode was going to give Curry Man a chairshot. All of a sudden the lights went out. When they came back on Al Snow (Lima, Ohio's own) was in the ring. He took the chair away from Roode and “Hot & Spicy” won the match.

(7) Samoa Joe defeated AJ Styles. I don’t know how this match could not be considered pay per view quality. What is pay per view quality?...They brought the house down. Every signature move. Equal chants for both Joe and AJ. Seeing AJ try to put Joe in the Styles Clash was something else. One fan at ringside had a sign that said, “I paid to see AJ Styles.” Did that motivate Joe and AJ or do they do this all the time? AJ bump all over for Joe. If they wrestle every house show like that they will kill themselves. After the match AJ looked a little sore, but he walked it off. I can’t tell you all the great things I thought of this match.

After the match they set up for the photo opportunity and I would guess one-third to half of the audience was in line. I felt sorry for them if they had to catch a plane for Orlando for Monday tapings.

Notes: I really have to give TNA a major compliment. It was great seeing the talent come out for autographs. Autographs are not my thing, I would rather share a beer or talk (not that that is going to happen) but the fans loved it. Interestingly I did not see any of the older wrestlers (veterans Scotty or Kip) come out for autographs. That’s OK; it really is for the TNA homegrown talents to get the company over.

It is amazing how stacked a rooster TNA has that I did not feel bad I did not see any other talent, though I would have loved to see Motor City Machine Guns.

At the end Jeremy Borash teased at a possible PPV date in Cincinnati. I say yes. I learned my lesson and next time will have floor seats to really experience TNA.