TNA house show at Westbury on Long Island, N.Y.
Report by Dot Net reader Steve Hagendorn

Hey Jason, just got back from the TNA show at Westbury on Long Island, here's a brief report on the show and a few notes:

(Borash started the show welcoming everyone and between matches would pick the loudest fans to go backstage.)

1. Jay Lethal beat Sonjay Dutt via pinfall (Machismo Elbow Drop). This was the opener. Sonjay stalled a lot to get heat and get the crowd antsy. Lethal was well received and by the end of the match they hit their big spots, including The Lethal Combo followed by the top rope elbow for the pin.

2. X Division Champion Petey Williams beat Consequenses Creed via pinfall (Canadian Destoyer) to retain his title. This was the first of the three championship matches tonight. Very good back and forth match, similair to their recent Impact matches. Crowd was very behind Petey, and was very happy (as was I) to see him nail the Canadian Destroyer live for the win. Cool note, since theres no music trademark laws at houseshows, Creed came out to James Brown's "Living In America," much like Apollo Creed did in the Rocky films.

3. Awesome Kong beat Roxxi via pinfall (The Implant Buster). Crowd liked Roxxi, but after a few hope spots from her, Kong came back and dominated and hit the Implant Buster to win. Traci was the special guest ref, and tried to stop Kong from further harming Roxxi after the match. However, she was hit with the Awesome Bomb for her troubles.

4. Tag Team Champions Beer Money Inc. beat Eric Young and Johnny Devine via pinfall (Last Call Superkick) to retain the titles. Johnny Devine came out first and cut a promo about how TNA randomly booked him in a tag team title match (which was odd since we knew he is a heel), but let him choose his partner. He chose Young, saying they both hated Roode back in Team Canada.

I found it odd they tossed Devine in there, I thought it was because they ran out of people, but Devine ended up turning on Young trying to get the pin himself, and then was nailed with a superkick to take the loss. Young went under the ring and returned as Super Eric and disposed of Devine to make the crowds happy.

Note: Before the match Beer Money, notably Storm, got very good heat running down the NY Sports teams, which I could care less about since I'm there to support wrestling, not baseball. He did say the room was full of ugly women and retards, so that was the least family friendly TNA got all night if I had to pick a non-family peak.

5. Christian Cage defeated Booker T via pinfall (The Unprettier). The crowd came alive for the two first "big" stars of the night. I was very happy to see Cage myself. They had a pretty good back and forth match, trading big signatures until Christian dodged the axe kick and nailed the Unprettier on King Bookah! The lights were low on the ceiling tonight so anytime someone went on top, like Christian for the Frogsplash, they had to duck their heads, which was funny. After the match Booker saluted the crowd and called for the Spinarooni and got everyone into a frenzy for it, then stood up and blew everyone off. Great stuff.

There was an intermission at this point with Borash promoting TNA and the TNA video game and such.

6. Team 3D defeated Rhino and Abyss in a "Long Island Tables Match" via 3D through the table on Abyss. This was the most unglued the crowd came all night, and was a very cool atmosphere with everyone on their feet. Everyone was pumped for the table as well as hometown heroes 3D, who are from NYC. I'm guessing those two factors did it, because this was the most excited the crowd was all night. They went up the aisles and interacted with the crowd, throwing popcorn and hitting each other with fan's drinks. The poor fan's seven dollar drinks.

The match ended when Rhino gored Abyss by accident, then Team 3D sent Abyss through the wood with the 3D. After the match Team 3D addressed the very receptive crowd, thanking them for all the years they supported them, whether they loved or hated them. This was very heartfelt and the whole crowd was into it.

Team 3D then made their announcement that the moment they sent Abyss through the table their TNA contracts were up, and they didn't know what was next for them. They said at the Manhattan show they would make an announcement about the future of Team 3D or....The Dudley Boys. I doubt they would be able to promote WWE like this if they were really leaving so I assume it is a storyline, since they also seem to have a match coming up against Abyss and Morgan on PPV. It was still heartfelt though, and they made it clear they wanted to make this announcement on Long Island.

Mick Foley Appeared! Jeremy Borash told the fans that since they were in Long Island it would only be right to bring out LI's own Mick Foley. The crowd went bananas, and Foley came out. People had been chanting for him all night, and while I figured he was more than likely backstage, I wasn't sure he'd come out. He did though, and said hello to the crowd and shook hands, and got the crowd to chant his kids names, which he then thanked us for.

Foley said he was happy to be here, and he believed in TNA and he was going to make an impact. He never actually entered the ring, just hung around ringside, but as a giant Foley fan and fellow Long Islander it was a very cool moment for me to see his first TNA appearance live and in my home island. The music he used was "Born to be Wild" which was awesome, and also a throwback to his ECW days.

8. Main Event: TNA World Champion Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle via submission (The Kokina Clutch) to retain his title. This was a really good match, and the second biggest crowd engager of the night. It wasn't like their PPV matches as it was a houseshow obviously, but they did all their signatures and Angle hit some really impressive German's and Belly to Belly's on Joe. Joe turned up the intensity and after surviving the ankle lock twice, he countered Angle's back roll bridge pin into the Clutch (Much like Joe and Style's have done in their matches) and after holding it on a while, Angle actually tapped (he didn't pass out, he tapped, which was cool to see.)

Notes

- After the match Borash told us Joe would stay in the ring with the title and we could take pictures with Joe for 20 bucks per group. Joe got on the mic and said we we're having an autograph party as well, and some of the wrestlers came out ringside to talk to the fans, sign autos, and take pictures.

- Me and my friend waited and took the picture with Joe, he was really laid back and cool, and patient with everyone. We thanked him and got our picture and he shook our hands. Simon Diamond was actually there as an agent helping people into the ring, and I said hello and told him we miss him in the ring, to which he replied "Well thank you, I sure don't," and he laughed.

- We ran into Consequences Creed making his way back to the backstage area and we told him to keep up the good work. He was very humble and thanked us, and seemed like a really nice guy.

- Eric Young also passed our line for Joe and opened the exit door joking that he was looking for his Mom to drive him home. I shook his hand and he joked that his mother wasn't here and "she had a drinking problem." I told him my mother has the same problem and he laughed and said, "Well we have to get home somehow." He was a cool guy and had a great sense of humor.

- Roxxi and Traci both passed on while we we're waiting on line and they were both really sweet and very pretty in person. Traci made it an extra point to bounce up and down purposely a lot during the show, which should immediately qualify her as either Knockout's Champion or President of the United States.

- After we got our photo from the very cool photo tech, we passed Jeremy Borash and I told him he's doing such a great job with TNA and he holds things together like glue. He was very appreciative and thanked me and said it was nice to meet us and thanked us for coming out. He really is a hard worker, and it was cool to actually get to meet him face to face like a normal person.

Everyone was so approachable, for once I had an amazing time at a wrestling event because they made us all feel like we were special and part of the show. They made us feel like their equals and that we were the sole reason they were putting on the event. Everyone in the area was approachable and receptive, and nobody blew you off. All the kids and families we're having a great time, and I actually felt welcome. It was like one big party and hangout, and that's what wrestling does at it's best. Seeing the little kids light up at things made me miss how I used to feel, and it's nice that magic can still happen. I felt like a kid stepping into the six-sided ring and posing with Joe.

It was very intimate as opposed to large WWE shows. I highly recommend seeing TNA live. Everyone had a great time, and we need to enjoy TNA while they are a smaller company and not force them to compete with WWE's machine, because the longer TNA stays the underdog, the homegrown opposition, the longer we can enjoy this atmosphere and service from them. It's a very hard line to walk between success and keeping close to the people, but TNA is doing it right now and I will enjoy it while it lasts.

Biggest Pops In No Order: Foley, Team 3D, Tables, Joe

Biggest Heat: Sonjay stalling, Awesome Kong, Booker's Spinarooni Fakeout, Team 3D announcing their contracts were up

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