TNA in Columbia, S.C.: Ric Flair manages A.J. Styles in Flair Country in a match against Jeff Hardy, Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money for the TNA Tag Titles, D'Angelo Dinero vs. Jeff Jarrett

10/1 TNA house show
Columbia, S.C.
Report by Dot Net reader Chris Cushman

I purchased a front row ticket and was able to get in early for a meet and greet. Don West let us in and explained how it would work. West was awesome all night. He was shilling merchandise the entire evening. He was cool, though, and was signing autographs (including my program) all night. The people who came out for the meet and greet were: AJ Styles, Doug Williams, Brian Kendrick, Alex Shelly, Chris Sabin, Robert Roode, James Storm, Eric Young, Magnus, Rhino, and Slick Johnson. Samoa Joe was set up at a table at 6:30 pm. (I was first in line).

Jeremy Borash came out to start the show on time, and was pumping up the crowd for some backstage passes. A backstage crew member came out and said that The Pope doesn’t want any backstage passes handed out tonight. Of course the crowd booed this, which brought out The Pope. He cut a heel promo and called JB a woman and tried to pull his pants down to prove it. This brought out Jeff Jarrett, who challenged Pope to a match where if he wins, they hand out backstage passes.

1. Jeff Jarrett defeated The Pope. Pretty good opener, definitely got the crowd hot. Jarrett won with The Stroke. The referee was Slick Johnson.

2. Brian Kendrick defeated Doug Williams and Shannon Moore in a triple threat match. A fast paced match as you would expect. The crowd was pretty into Moore. Kendrick won with a flying kick to Williams face. The ref was Slick Johnson.

Earl Hebner was introduced and played to the crowd. He ripped off his shirt and was wearing the "Damn Right I Did" t-shirt with referee stripes.

3. Madison Rayne defeated Velvet Sky. This was a little bit of a sloppy match, but who cares because Velvet Sky was there! They did a spot where Sky pushed Rayne into Hebner, who laid a big smooch on her. Rayne won with a kind of botched roll up. It looked like Sky kicked out, but Hebner counted the three. Not sure if it was suppose to look like that or not.

4. The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money to retain the TNA Tag Titles. This was an awesome match, probably match of the night. The Guns won with their double team finisher. Earl Hebner was the ref.

Intermission: Madison Rayne signed autographs at the table.

5. Rhino and Samoa Joe defeated Magnus and Eric Young. Joe was way over. Young was hilarious as he kept acting as though he was teaming with the faces. He was all over the place, including locking up with both Magnus and referee Slick Johnson. The match ended with Rhino hitting Magnus with a Gore. Joe waved his towel like a matador. Young celebrated with the faces after the match. The referee was Slick Johnson.

6. Jeff Hardy defeated A.J. Styles (w/Ric Flair). Columbia is definitely Flair country and he knows it. Flair cut a promo before the match and gave a shout out to the Gamecocks, while saying Styles's only fault was that he was a Georgia fan. Flair also pointed out a sign to Hardy that read, "The House that Flair built." Of course, Hardy was over with crowd as well. Great match. Flair was ejected from ringside after interfering. Hardy won with the Swanton Bomb. The referee was Earl Hebner.

After the match, Hardy stayed in the ring for pictures ($20). I got one. A few wrestlers came out to sign around the ring as well. Jeff Jarrett and Velvet Sky were signing at the table. I got them to sign my program and then bought two pictures of them ($10 for both) and got back in line again (it is Velvet Sky). Overall, a great experience. This was my third TNA house show and it was the best one yet. If you haven’t attended a TNA house show, it is an experience you will never forget. It is extremely fan friendly.

Biggest Pops:
1. Ric Flair
2. Jeff Hardy
3. Samoa Joe/Velvet Sky

Biggest Heat:
1. Pope
2. Earl Hebner (after ejecting Flair)
3. Madison Rayne/Magnus