8/13 TNA in Baton Rouge, La.: Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss in a Monster's Ball match with Mick Foley as special referee, A.J. Styles vs. Jay Lethal, Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde, Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett

TNA house show
Baton Rouge, La.
Report by Dot Net reader Thaddaus Perkins

Got there around seven and took a picture of Team 3D signing autographs. You'll never see WWE doing this before a house show. We grabbed some food (which was a bad choice because it hurt me later on last night) and waited for the show to start.

Jeremy Borash came out and did his usual hype man routine to pump the crowd and give out this VIP Passes. I noticed there where a few different types. Most were sticker patches or slips of paper but some where like actually ID Passes. We get word from the back the AJ Styles says no fans are allowed in the back. JB cuts his own promo about how the fans make TNA blah blah (same speech from last year). This brings out AJ with overly shiny belt. We're sitting about eight rows from the ring in the floor. Really good seats for $37. He acts like a big shot and rips the fans. Typical heel stuff and out come Lethal to play the hero which sets up the opening match:

1. Jay Lethal defeated A.J. Styles. If Lethal wins, the fans would be allowed in the back. If Styles wins, then fans are not allowed in the back. That tattoo AJ's looks really girly in person. Anyway, it was about a 12 minute match. Really technical. I don't know if this happens often but when ever somebody gets chopped or kicked from the chest up, a huge loogie just flies out. And it like like Spiderman is shooting his web out. Lethal gets a pin after the Lethal Combination and his TKO finisher an plays to the crowd. These guys really set the bar for the night.

Slick Johnson comes out and he's announced from here in the area. Wow, we got a hometown guy in TNA.

2. Madison Rayne defeated Taylor Wilde. Taylor's hair is falling out all throughout the match. I hope she gets it checked out. At one point Wilde had her up for an electric chair, but Rayne shifted her weight and makes her fall forward. She then used her thighs to make Taylor's face hump the mat. I mean all the guys started cheering. Yes, myself included. After about seven more minutes with back and forth action, Madison won after rolling through a roll up and holding Taylor's tights. Pretty okay match. Taylor tried to plead her case to Slick but it was a no go. She played to the crowd before heading back

Apparently JB announces every referee for each match.

3. Jeff Jarrett defeated Kevin Nash. Lots of stalling from Nash until he got a lockup with Jeff and worked over his midsection. They fought around the ring a lot and you could tell the ref had to slow his count so they could make it back in time. Nash removed the turnbuckle and tried to drop Jarrett on it. Jarrett reversed it and  won with The Stroke in about 10 minutes. I think seniors racing in motor scooters would go faster than this match did. Lots of love for both men until Nash ripped us and New Orleans.

4. Team 3D defeated Ink Inc. As Shannon Moore came out, he gave slick a tap on the ass. Very well worked tag match with both teams getting an even amount of offense. 3D wins after hitting 3D on Neal. Both teams shared a hug after the match. I think 3D has been doing a lot of hugging lately. Bubba got the mic and talked about how he's happy to be working where tag teams still exist. He got a cheap pop while playing to the crowd. It was about a 20 minute match.

Don West pimped items during intermission like they're going out of style. He almost had me buy a Sting mask.

5. D'Angelo Dinero defeated Matt Morgan. Morgan is huge up close. Pope is out and he's billed as 232 lbs. Damn he's heavy then because he doesn't look it. And he needs a weed whacker for his chest. Morgan controlled most if the match with Pope using a lot of boxing to put Matt down. There was a lot of action outside the ring too.  Pope won with double knee press to Morgan after he missed the Carbon Footprint to win after 10 minutes.

6. Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss in a Monster's Ball match with Mick Foley as special referee. Before Hardy came out, Abyss played to the crowd. I thought he was a heel. Way to break character. And he was single tonight. No Janice in sight. After some back and forth Abyss gets weapons out. I'd like to point out that the pans they use are like those foil pans that pies come in. When they were thrown they floated to the other side of the ring. Yes I said floated.

Abyss worked over Hardy and got his bag of thumbtacks. He set Jeff up on the turn buckle for a suplex, but he poured those tacks really close to the corner. When Jeff reversed it and did a sunset powerbomb onto the tacks, he almost landed on them himself. I saw him tell Abyss that too. Abyss worked over Hardy more.

After a two count, Abyss nailed Foley. He went for the Shock Treatment, which was reversed into Mr. Socko. Abyss was out and Jeff hit a Swanton for the win in about 16 minutes. Afterward, he brought in a kid who was there with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Oddly enough, he was decked out in John Cena gear.

Notes: I want to thank my friends for sitting and waiting while I opted to stand in line for a picture with Jeff Hardy. I mean I was surrounded by kids crying because they thought the line was too long but I did manage to get a hug from Madison Rayne too. I drove anyway, so they couldn't leave without me.

TNA does a good job of connecting with the fans before and after the show. It makes the whole thing worthwhile. As we left, Foley was doing autographs and a puppet act with Socko and all the merchandise was just about sold out  Another great show. Last year, JB said they'd be coming back and I didn't really believe him. Well, I was wrong. He said they'd be back again next year so I'll set my money aside now. Overall a 8.5/10