TNA Basebrawl Live Event
Washington, Pa.
Report by Dot Net reader William Wellek

The rain has been coming down in buckets for periods of time over the past few days, but TNA lucked out and the weather turned out perfect for a nice night. They had to be disappointed with the size of the crowd which looked to be in the 600-700 range. The field seats seemed pretty close to sold out and the only other area that appeared to be crowded were the sections behind home plate.

It was a typical meet and greet with the Brown Bag Special and the assorted odds and ends. If you go to more then one TNA show a year you pretty much see the same merchandise. TNA really needs to make some different dvds available for the BBS. This is the fourth time I received the Kurt Angle set...and for some odd reason they're putting Shark Boy figures in it instead of more current stars.

The crowd popped pretty loud when they notices Joseph Parks making his way through the field area. He's a big dude and just looks like a pleasant and jovial guy. My friends and I were on the fourth row on the field and Parks sat two rows in front of us. He had a beer and a box of popcorn with him which bummed a lot of people out because nobody else was allowed to bring food on the field.

1. Jeff Hardy and Bobby Roode were the co-winners of a battle royal to earn a title match against Austin Aries later in the show. The participants were Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, Bobby Roode, D'Angelo Dinero, Mr. Anderson, Devon, Magnus, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Garett Bischoff. AJ Styles was advertised, but was a no show. Ken Anderson had a very unintentional slip on some boards that led to the ring. He played it up good and was shouting how hurt is pride was. Great stuff. I hope it turns up on You Tube.

To everybody's surprise Kurt Angle was the first to be eliminated. I thought TNA might give us a hometown special with Angle vs Aries to close out the show, but that wasn't meant to be. Bobby Roode and Jeff Hardy were the last two in the ring and they pulled the both men landing on the floor at the same time finish. It was very obvious that Hardy landed first, but it was announced as a tie which gives us a three-way to end the show. Most everybody seemed pleased with that idea.

2. Brooke Tessmacher beat Madison Rayne to retain the TNA Knockouts Title. Both women worked hard and put on a nice match. Brooke won by pinfall to retain the title. Surprisingly, Earl Hebner didn't referee the match. Madison was holding her mouth and talking to Earl's son for quite a while after the match. She's either a good actress or took a good shot. This is just my opinion...but SOMEBODY make Maddie eat something!!! She's looking downright gaunt and I'm missing those nice real woman curves she used to have. Earl made his way to the ring to referee the next match and I didn't notice any reaction between he and his crush. He also did all the "you screwed Bret" schtick.

3. Devon (w/Garrett Bischoff) beat D'Angelo Dinero to retain the TV Title. The advertised card was changed up a bit. This was a typical house show match with Dinero playing the heel and blaming Devon for not watching his back in the battle royal. Devon won with the pin and got a handshake with Pope after it was over. Pope tried a sneak attack on Garrett, who chased him out of the ring.

Up next was Jeremy Borash calling Joseph Park into the ring for an interview. Joseph only managed to get out a few words then the music hit for Kaz and Daniels. They had some words with Park, which turned into his beatdown. RVD and Mr. Anderson ran out from left field to make the save. Next up...

4. Christopher Daniels and Kazarian beat Rob Van Dam and Mr. Anderson to retain the TNA Tag Titles. The match of the night by far. Anderson spent most of the match being double teamed. GREAT comedy work from Kaz and Daniels once involving Anderson's arm being between Kaz's legs and another where Kaz had his back turned and accidently grabbed Daniels arm and kept wrenching it. RVD and Anderson walked around to the other side of the ring and smiled at him which let Kaz know he had the wrong guy. Some pretty PG13 humor and language at times. Funny stuff!!! Kaz and Daniels win after some dirty deeds. I'm not 100 percent sure who got the pin, but I'm pretty sure it was Daniels pinning Anderson. RVD and Mr. A hit their finishers after the match and let the crowd go happily into intermission.

The two guys I was with paid $50 to get "backstage" for some pictures with some of the guys who weren't in the regular meet and greet. From what I recall they said they got to meet Jeff Hardy, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and Madison Rayne. Let me tell you this...this new TNA shuckster is no Don West. Somebody needs to give him charisma lessons. One of the guys I went with buys all of the TNA big buys to get into the backstage area.

Upon arrival it was announced that the advertised Jeff Hardy baseball bat would not be available and they decided to sell the replica belts again. The new guy said that if you brought a belt you previously bought, you could go backstage free forever. We didn't know that, he left his belt at home. He even showed the guy pictures of him with the belt and his Jeff Jarrett guitar...no go. The guy wouldn't let him backstage without paying. I'm usually complimentary about the TNA meet and greets, but this wasn't fair to my friend. Take care of it TNA! Make it more clear that packages count in the past will count in the future. Okay...back to the show.

5. Kurt Angle defeated Magnus in a Bound For Glory Series match. Kurt got a great hometown pop and picked up seven points with a pin. Not a very long match at all. Kind of a let down for the Yinzers. Kurt took the mic afterwards and explained how he got hurt and couldn't make the Olympics this year and urged us to support the athletes in the games. We love our Kurt!

Jeremy Borash said we'd be getting two BFG matches during his pre show introductions. Somebody must have pulled some backstage audibles, which brought us to our main event.

6. Austin Aries defeated Bobby Roode and Jeff Hardy in a three-way to retain the TNA Title. Bobby Roode was out first and played it up perfect. The man's something special for sure. Jeff Hardy was out next and probably got the biggest pop of the night and was followed by Austin Aries who also got a nice ovation. The match took it's time getting started and Roode was gold when he took a chair and sat near the pitchers mound. There's not a whole lot to go into about the match. They all had their moments to shine and went about 12-15 minutes. Aries retained by hitting his finisher on Roode. A solid finish to a pretty enjoyable show. Aries took pictures in the ring after the show for anybody who paid out the money for one.

Notes: This was my fifth TNA house show and it held up to the rest. The Basebrawl concept is a really nice idea. CEP is a nice little stadium for a show like this. If anybody from TNA is reading this, do yourself a favor and check out the park for the Altoona Curve. I think you'll like what you see. How about sending us Sting just one time?!?

Biggest Pops
1. Jeff Hardy
2. Kurt Angle
3. Austin Aries

Biggest heat...
1. The new Don West
2. Kaz and Daniels
3. Bobby Roode

Honorable mention goes to the person who decided not to let food on the field.

The show started at 8pm and was over around 10:30.

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