TNA in Syracuse, N.Y.
Report by Dot Net reader Timothy Marsch

Sorry this is just quick results, tape recorder was not allowed in and I didnt have a pen so this is just a breif message:

1. Consequences Creed and Sheik Abdul Bashir traded wins. Creed won in 10 seconds with a roll up. Bashir claimed he wasn't ready and persuaded everyone to restart the match. Match1b :Consequences Creed Beat Bashir in six seconds with another school boy roll up. Bashir acted really pissed and goaded Creed into one more time with the promise to give him $5,000 if he lost. Match 1c: Bashir beat Creed by using the ropes for leverage with his feet.

2. Taylor Wilde beat Angelina Love with a roll up. Good action between the two, back and forth, not stupid rest hold or cat fight stuff like the WWE (except for a 30 second roll and pound on the ground across the ring and under the rope.

3. Homicide defeated Suicide to retain the X Division Title. Borash announced that Syracuse will be the place for a big secret which was during this weeks taping of Impact, Homicide defeated Suicide to become X-Division champion and that this was their first rematch. Homicide retained the belt around the 12 minute mark via pinfall.

4. Daniels and AJ Styles beat Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. Lots of action, clearly the best match of the night and should have been the main event (original main event was teased Angle vs. Styles for the title but they changed it for some reason). Everyone except Joe hit all their high spots which led many people to believe that Joe is still working injured. Many near falls and AJ won it for his team by hitting the Styles Clash and Daniels hit the BME.

Intermission: TNA sent about 25 people back stage for a meet and great but unlike WWE which just lets this be dead down time, Borash brought in a special guest, Mick Foley! Foley is a local hero having attended Cortland State University (many people were yelling "Go Dragons" all throughout this promo). Foley whipped the crowed into a frenzy with his stories of living and partying in the CNY area and attending the SU games regularly at the Carrier Dome.

5. Jay Lethal defeated Eric Young by pinfall after lethal combo. TNA really has to stop repeating finishes like this as often as they are becoming repetitive and boring (90% of Lethal matches are the same thing, he starts out hot, gets in peril, fights back, hits the combo and gets the win). The match itself was an okay regular for them spot-fest, but looked more like a choreographed rough square dance than a match. Get Lethal a new gimmick and if Young is going to be a heel, he has to step up and project himself better as a bad ass.

6. Beer Money inc. defeated Team 3D to retain the TNA Tag Titles. This was almost a move by move copy clone of their first pay-per-view match against each other including all the same homo-erotic spots. Just twice as long and ending a little different. (Note to TNA: Seeing James Storm's full ass is not the sight most wrestling fans who are male would like to see, if you are going to do it, Angelina Love is a better choice!).

End came when Team 3D brought the table in. Devon got smashed to the floor and when Brother Ray thought that Devon was behind him setting up the drop through the table spot, he was surprised by Roode who pinned him. After the match was over, Bashir came out and tried to celebrate with beer money who got annoyed at him and threw him into the ring into Team 3D who DDD him through the table.

After this was over, Team 3 D brought in a little girl named Emily, who was maybe 6 years old and posed with her and gave her a piece of the table that they have signed (they made sure it wasn't a sharp piece at least) and then proceeded to praise the CNY crowd for their support of 3D from the ECW days to now and told Borash why not have an autograph party.

Team 3D posed in the ring for pics for $20 (you could have as many people in the pic as you wanted so for a single person this may not have been a great deal but for larger families or group of friends its a bargain compared to other organizations). Autographs were signed by AJ Styles (man is he shorter, shorter than my wife who is around 5'8), Christopher Daniels, Creed, Lethal, Earl Hebner, Borash, Homicide (a great guy!), and Storm. I personally want to thank those who autographed for taking the time to sign my wife's sling as they made an extra effort to sign larger and more legible due to using a black sharpie on a dark sling (Homicide even sign fully Homicide LAX instead of "187 LAX" which he signed for every one else!

A much better product that WWE for their second time in Syracuse and hopefully they will come back, maybe even a pay per view. They could have had more people if they advertised more. They only mentioned it once on Impact months ago, the radio only played ads in the last week and this time of year around here (we do not get a lot of good weather), people like a good amount of time to make plans (I will write TNA later and give a few suggestions, including free local media that may help).

Biggest Pops:
Mick Foley (Big local connections!)
AJ Styles (the women love him!)
Homicide (for being new x-div champ, plus long time no see)

Biggest Heat:
Not much as Syracuse loves good wrestling but Bashir, especially at the end drew a bit and Joe got a few "you sold out" chants

Final comments: TNA increased prices ($35 ring side) but still cheaper than WWE, better quality matches and while the shows last a 1/2 hour to one hour less in length compared to WWE, people generally agreed that its better to have matches that tell the story in the ring quickly and concisely rather than longer, convoluted continued storylines that if you missed a week or two of TV you would either not get or not like.

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