TNA live event
Bemidji, Minn. at Sanford Center
Report by Dot Net Member Chris Ketchmark

Lively, loud crowd of 1,000-1,200. Don West was running the merchandise stand and promoting items prior to and during the show. This included anyone buying an Earl Hebner shirt, Mr. Anderson shirt or Jeff Jarrett guitar could have the items personally signed. West gave away a few hundred dollars in merchandise to the crowd before the show.
 
Jeremy Borash was introduced as host of the show and introduced the opening match...
 
1. Ink Inc over Gunner and Murphy by pinfall. Usual TNA intro match with Gunner and Murphy saying there would be no backstage passes given out per Immortal. Shannon Moore then said if his team won, there would be passes given out all night long. Decent, basic tag match that got the crowd going.
 
Earl Hebner was introduced as the most notorious ref in wrestling history. He came out wearing his "Yes I Did" t-shirt. His antics included putting on pink shades and mocking Brett Hart.
 
2. Madison Ryne defeated Angelina Love to keep the Knockouts title by pinfall holding the tights. This followed their usual house show pattern with Hebner catching, dipping, and kissing Rayne. Not a very good match.
 
3. Samoa Joe over "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero via rear naked choke. Ppe played the face at first and then turned the crowd by refusing to give his shades to a little girl. Joe ended up with the shades and gave them to the kid. Joe got good reactions. This match had stiff moves and ringside brawling with drinks and water bottles used as weapons. After the match, the crowd chanted "You tapped out" at Pope and he promptly flipped everyone the bird.
 
4. Mr. Anderson over Bully Ray after a Mic Check. Prior to the match, Anderson tried to get the mic to drop from the rafters. When that failed he had Borash get up on a chair and drop a mic to him (funny). He did the "Asshole" schtick with the crowd and mocked Ray's Bully nickname. Ray played the classic heel by jawing with the fans, pushing the ref around and taking cheap shots. He choked Anderson with his own shirt and tried to use a chain as a weapon. Very safe and simple match with decent heat.
 
Intermission: Ink Inc., Hernandez, Pope, Madison Rayne, Pope, Kurt Angle, Gunner and Murphy, Anderson signed autographs and posed for pictures backstage. Angelina Love was available for autographs at the merch stand.
 
5. Devon over Hernandez after a chokeslam. Hernandez played the heel and attacked Devon before the bell. Another brawl using drinks as weapons. Devon at one point went to get a table but was thrown back in the ring. Another short, sake, basic match.
 
6. Kurt Angle over Jeff Jarrett after an Olympic Slam. Ten minute main event with quite a bit of stalling. Jarrett kept pushing Brian Hebner around and at one point was slapping him. Hebner took off his shirt, threw it to Angle and proceeded to Irish whip Jarrett, leap frog him, drop down to avoid Jarrett, and then hit him with a clothesline and hip toss. Hebner then did a little dance and a crotch chop.

Then it was back to Angle-Jarrett. The action was decent when they turned it up a bit. Angle hit an overhead suplex, the ankle lock, and blocked a Stroke into the Olympic Slam for the win. Another short, safe match. Angle got the biggest reaction of the night.
 
Following the match. Borash announced the usual autograph party at ringside. Angle was taking pictures in the ring for $20 and had a very long line. Jarrett was at the merchandise stand signing autographs as well. Overall, TNA kept its fan friendly reputation here. Fans were able to get a lot of autographs and pictures. Merchandise seemed to be selling well. The show ran just a hair over two hours with decent but not great matches. For the fan friendly aspect of the shows, I highly recommend hitting a TNA show when they come to your area.

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