House Shows/Live Events thread

[Damaramu]

I must admit I thought that was a pseudo-manly-woman at first.

My wife's mom thought he was a girl the first time she met him. My grandma thought he was a girl the first time she met him. Most others just think he's gay.

Or were you talking about me? *bats eyelashes at daileyxplanet* :-*

 

[King Kamala]

Aw man---nothing like going to a comically bad indy wrestling show when you're half in the tank. I was seated between a semi-amusing group of fellow smarks and a highly enthusiastic group of extremely drunk and loud white trash. Brilliant. I'll have a semi-detailed report up after they post the results on the website (that PA system was terrible). Not surprisingly, the Lethal Weapon was never mentioned. In fact, I was kind of surprised they were advertising him for the show in the first place. Didn't he retire five years ago or so due to a neck injury?

How bad was the show? The main event between Rick Fuller and The Giant Pharaoh (his gimmick is uh...that he's a tall pharaoh) Vs Apolo and Chicano ended with a DQ as a result of a low blow followed by the heels beating the shit out of the babyfaces and Rick Fuller walking off with Apolo's title. But the fans would be sent home happy because Apolo decided to KTFO the referee for no good reason! This resulted in the white trash group next to me storming ringside (oh--there was no barricade and one extremely lazy looking security guard) and pounding the mat in appreciation of their hero. Kudos to whoever was booking tonight. Way to make your top babyfaces look good. Have them get beat up 75% of the match, win by DQ, get the shit beat out of them after the match, and then beat up the referee.

 

[Damaramu]

Be like the bookers. Don't even sweat it. Some TNA stuff is really convoluted.

So yeah, I did have a lot of fun at the house show even if I didn't know any of the storylines or past storylines.
How long has TNA been around? 7 years? 8?
I kind of wouldn't mind watching some TNA or at least catching up on some stuff. Any recommendations of events and DVDs that would be good to pick up? Have they really had any awesome matches and PPVs that are worth picking up on DVD?

I remember buying the 1 cent PPV way back when. Some of the stuff in it was decently cool. Has their arena and entrance ramp gotten bigger though over time?

 

[Mattdotcom]

Get Global Impact (a show they put on with/in Japan) and check Best Buy's website for some cheap three disc sets. Someone else should be able to be more specific. There's one TNA PPV that's usually always good every year. I think it's Bound For Glory. Look for the show with AJ/Daniels/Joe.

 

[timmy8271]

So I'm going to FCW(Florida Championship Wrestling) tomorrow night at the Orlando Armory. I went a couple months ago and the show was about 3 hours long but man was it a great time. Looking forward to it, especially if Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith are there.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

The TNA house show is tomorrow and I've been really looking forward to it but Joe getting injured just killed like 40% of my interest.

 

[King Kamala]

So every year WWE runs a house show at The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, which is a 2000 seat venue about 75 minutes from my house and I've always wanted to see a show there. But I was hesitant to buy tickets since they always seem to alternate between A shows (a few years back, they had John Cena Vs Edge with Ricky Steamboat as special guest ref as the main event) and shows with a lineup that wouldn't constitute for a decent extended episode of ECW (last year's show was main evented by Mark Henry Vs Matt Hardy and The Great Khali Vs Finlay!). So I finally decide to buy tickets after hearing that CM Punk and Rey Mysterio Vs Edge and Chris Jericho is the advertised main event...and it's sold out! Bah! I swear when I finally do decide to jump the gun and buy tickets on the first day, the show I see will have Dolph Ziggler and Hornswoggle dukin' it out in the main event.

 

[Matt Young]

The TNA house show is tomorrow and I've been really looking forward to it but Joe getting injured just killed like 40% of my interest.

Joe's an asshole, anyway. Sure, he's fun to watch wrestle, but he stuck out as a total prick toward the fans after the show I went to last Halloween, whereas most other wrestlers were very friendly. Joe was even in his home... well, not hometown, but home area.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

Don't know what happened with you, but every time I met Joe, he was really cool. We once took over a q-n-a he was doing and just asked him inside jokes pertaining to his live journal

 

[daileyxplanet]

Is that what they call a Q&A in TNA, a QNA?

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Every wrestler/human being has their bad days. I don't know of any wrestler who hasn't had at least one story about them being a dick to fans.

And even if Joe really is a dick, I wouldn't care. I pay to see him wrestle not because he's a great humanitarian.

Anyway show starts in a couple hours.

 

[bps21]

I think you'll enjoy it. This week of touring has gotten really good reviews. Plus...the two best acts in the company (Beer Money and the Beutiful People) are on it... It simply can't be bad...

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

The one and only ROH show I attended (at the pier in NYC, December 2005), Joe walked through the lobby and was all, "Hey everybody!" and very nice. Of course, this was before he tripped over some bad booking.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Had a great time. Daniels Vs Suicide was fun and Daniels Vs Suicide Vs AJ was great. Best non-televised show I've ever been to probably. Borash did a great job as MC and they really went out of their way to get the crowd to interact and did stuff for the kids too. I;ve never been to a WWE show that made the crowd feel like a part of the show that way.

 

[Jebus]

From a TNA house show report:
'Lots of "You screwed Bret" chants in the arena tonight. A confused Angelina Love got on the mic and claimed she has never slept with Bret.'

LOL!

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Yeah that was the show I was at. It was pretty clear that at this point "You screwed Bret" is just done by rote with no real feeling behind it, it's just another chant.

 

[MillenniumMan831]

Went to a PWO taping last night in Brunswick. Noted for PWO tag champs Greg Valentine and Jim Neidhart wrestling 4 times . . . kinda.

They wrestled in a 3-match gauntlet in which the first match was against high school kids in which they obliterated in a minute. They obviously won the next two matches in short order. In fact, IIRC, there wasn't even a tag made in the entire gauntlet by any team. From there, they came back to defeat Pirate Justice to retain their titles in a more traditional style match.

They taped 3 shows. For the 1st show, the place was packed and the fans were ready for freddie. By the time the 2nd show started, about 1/5 of the fans called it quits and went home. By the time their go-home show started for their big event, there was about 100-200 people left in the gym as compared to the 400-500 people that showed up at the beginning of the night.

Still a fun night at the matches, but sheesh, it lasted about 3 1/2 hours. Better too much than too little though.

 

[bps21]

I've been to some shows that lasted too long. There was an ECW taping way back in the day (the night RVD won the TV title) that went 4 hours. The show was really good...but even with a fun/good taping going on I was burned out by the time it was over.

I've had that happen at RoH before too.

Even good shows can be hurt by overlong nights.

 

[MillenniumMan831]

Definitely agree w/ that. When you're used to watching 2-3 hrs of wrestling on a nice comfy couch or chair, watching it on a hard chair or bleachers can become a test of endurance.

The exhausted exhale of the ring announcer after he wished everyone good night told the story.

 

[RedJed]

Way back 15-20 years ago, when I was only about 10 or 11 or so, some of those mass WWF and AWA TV tapings I went to were hard as hell to sit through, even as a young kid. I remember them doing a SuperStars taping in La Crosse, WI which went 4-5 hours, since they taped 3 or 4 hour long shows, plus put in a few dark competitive matches in between EACH hour of the TV taping. So it made for a really long night, essentially a house show card on top of squash match after squash match and lots of interview stuff too, on their interview podium and/or through Brother Love segments, etc. I think I went to two or three of those Superstars or Wrestling Challenge tapings back in the day.

Then those AWA tv tapings for ESPN, again, (used to go to these regularly in Rochester, MN) those were about the same but they at least started those on a Saturday afternoon early typically so you were out of there by 5pm and still had the rest of the night free.

Anyway looks like the next show I'll be checking out live is probably next Saturday, with another TNA house show (this will be the second one for me since they were nearby here in March) in Council Bluffs, IA. I hope they are doing a comparable lineup to what the last few weeks have been, but who knows what is the plan. If anyone knows of where to get any sort of lineup for this show (its this coming weekend) I'd like to see it.

 

[King Kamala]

I actually kind of liked those marathon TV tapings. I went to two- a Superstars taping in July '94 (my first show) and a WCW Saturday Night taping in May '98. I was bargain conscience even at that young age and those tapings gave you a lot of bang for your back. Even at the best house show--there'd be a few stars missing but everybody's who's anybody were on those marathon tapings. Well not the Saturday Night one since it was a B show at that point but you get the idea.

But boy howdy- Pops Kamala (who always took me to rasslin) didn't like those four hour tapings at all. After a while, he told me point blank that he'd just buy me PPVs (which was a rarity) instead of taking me to the matches.

 

[JHawk]

I wish I could have gone to one of those marathon tapings just to say I did it once.

I've also considered making the hour or so drive to one of those PWO TV tapings but not sure I'm willing to risk getting lost for indy wrestling I can watch two weeks later on TV anyway.

 

[MillenniumMan831]

Same here. I'd have had a blast at a SS/Challenge taping if I was a kid. I almost went to a WCW SN taping in Erie when I was 15 or so. But a 180-mile roundtrip on a schoolnight wasn't happening.

I drove about 45mins to the PWO show. I rarely watch it on STO but after seeing the Canadian mockumentary Kayfabe, I just had to go to an indy show.

I would have made small talk w/ Greg Valentine during one of the intermissions but I'd feel compelled to buy an autograph from him and I wasn't having that.

 

[RedJed]

Quite a weekend of wrestling shenanigans is lined up Summerslam weekend in Los Angeles, beyond just the actual Summerslam event at Staples Center (which myself and Matt Young will be checking out).

Saturday, August 22 - Just picked up tickets for the XPW 10th Anniversary show, which is being held that afternoon early on. Not sure what kind of lineup they have yet, but curious about this one. Didn't XPW do a reunion show last year also? I heard kind of good reviews on it.

Then later than evening, The Improv in Hollywood actually is going to have a stand up comedy show featuring Mick Foley and Colt Cabana (as well as special guest TBA). This will be different, no doubt about that.

Sunday, August 23 - WWE is having the Fan Axxess event this entire weekend right next to Staples Center at the Nokia Theater, so we'll be checking this out Sunday afternoon from noon to 4pm, before Summerslam starts right next door at 5pm. Have kind of high expectations for SS this year since they are actively trying to market it like a Wrestlemania, it seems like.

I would bet there is going to be a few more wrestling shows I try to catch while out in SoCal in August.......I've always wanted to go down to Tijuana to catch their monthly Lucha Libre show, so will be shooting for that. Also would imagine PWG will likely have a show lined up in August too.

I'm also planning on heading back out in October for Bound for Glory and the fan fest as well for it.

 

[King Kamala]

I'm going to try and see if I can wrangle my college wrestling buddy to go to RAW in Albany on September 28th. I do have a 8:30 A.M. on Tuesdays though. Have never been to a live TV taping though and I need to rectify that.

Might go to the NWA On Fire show next Saturday up the block from my house. Gran Apolo Vs former WCW jobber Rick Fuller is the scheduled main event and Bob Backlund and a Doink are scheduled to show up.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

I went to the RAW House Show in Aiken, SC tonight. It was my first show since the Wrestlemania go-home show in Columbia, SC last March (2008). I have to be honest, I had a really good time. The show was a sell-out, with lots of people being turned away at the ticket window, and people trying to buy tickets from others outside. Prior to the show, I stopped at a gas station to buy my girlfriend a snack (she's not a big fan of "arena food"), and saw Chavo Guerrero, Scott Armstrong (the referee, I think it's Scott) and Mark Henry picking up some things. I spoke to Chavo briefly, but didn't say anything to the other two. Mark Henry is a fucking beast, and pretty solid-looking. The USCA Convocation Center holds a little over 2000 I believe.

I'll try to remember some of the details. The opening match was Evan Bourne vs The Brian Kendrick. They REALLY need to do this on TV. The match was a tad slow to start, but they really picked up the pace after a couple minutes. There was a neat submission sequence with TBK putting Bourne in just about every variation of the Camel Clutch, back-to-back that you can think of. Sheik-style, Steiner Recliner-style, fucking DRAGON CLUTCH-style, and using Bourne's own arms to choke him with while wrenching-back. Bourne got the win with a Shelton Benjamin-esque leap to Hurricanrana TBK from the top rope, followed with the Air Bourne.

Next was Primo vs Jack Swagger. I gotta say, this was the best match I've seen from either man. Primo brought his A-game, as did Swagger. Swagger got the win with the Gutwrench Powerbomb.

Gail Kim and Mickie James vs Maryse and Alicia was next. Someone give me one good reason why Gail Kim is not the center piece of the women's division. Good God, this woman can go, and held the crowd's interest. Her offense is so diverse and unique. I've never been impressed with Alicia's in ring skills, but anytime she was in the ring with Kim, they just clicked. When Mickie or Maryse hit the ring, the pace slowed to a crawl. The heels picked up the win with Maryse hitting a sick DDT on Mickie.

Kofi Kingston vs Chavo for the US Title. Again, Chavo brought his A-Game here. With all the comedy throwaway matches he's had to do lately, you almost forget how capable he is in the ring. They had a great match, with Chavo getting in a surprising amount of the offense. Finish came with Hornswoggle running in, slapping Chavo on the ass, and Kofi hitting TiP.

Santino vs Carlito. Carlito has changed his look a bit, going to extra-shiny black pants and black Triple-H style wrist tape. This match SUCKED ASS. Santino was relying way too much on comedy. You could tell these guys just said fuck it, and went to an out-of-nowhere small package from Santino for the win. HORRIBLE match.

Big Show vs MVP. Big Show got the 3rd loudest pop of the night, being the hometown boy and all. Big Show played face, and MVP heeled it up. Big Show won with the Chokeslam.

Main event was Triple H, John Cena, and Mark Henry vs Legacy. Orton got a pretty good pop, as did Mark Henry. THEN came Cena's entrance, at which I went deaf from the children screaming for him. I just thought this was loud, though. When fucking Triple H came out, I believe my ears dripped blood. This man, is indeed the man in WWE, or at least here in Aiken. Henry has some good crowd-control ability. He could point to the audience and get a massive pop. Henry played face in peril, then Triple H. Orton tried to punt Triple H, who rolled out of the way, and got the hot tag to Cena. Finish was Henry running Orton away, and Triple H and Cena hitting stereo finishers on Orton and Rhodes, with Cena getting the pin.

Overall, a great show.

 

[MillenniumMan831]

It's always nice to go to what seems like will be a blah house show and have your expectations exceeded.

 

[JHawk]

Planning on an indy show at a local high school on Saturday. No lineup set that I've seen but it's allegedly a benefit for a local college student in need of a heart transplant.

Allegedly.

 

[6foot9]

I know this is over a month late, but on the topic of long shows I had to add this story.

2 weeks after the Benoit murders they held a supershow at the AAC in Dallas, where they were going to tape ECW and SD, and have a live Raw all in the same night. I went with a friend and I'm pretty sure it lasted somewhere around 5 hours. My back got so screwed up from sitting in those super uncomfortable chairs for so long that I could barely walk for 2 weeks. The only thing that made it worth it was watching the hype video for the Lashley/Cena main event tons of times until the actual ppv with my "CENA SUX" sign easily visible over Cena's shoulder.

 

[RedJed]

In some weird event of odd coincidence, for both SummerSlam this year and Bound for Glory (going to both shows in Los Angeles) there is a WWE and TNA house show, respectively, the weekend before each of those big shows nearby here in MN/WI, and I'm shooting on going to both of those as well. The WWE house show before Summerslam is August 15 not even a mile away from my place (Alltel Center in Mankato, MN), a Smackdown/ECW show with Punk against a winner of a 12 man battle royale to start the show. Also Dreamer/Regal. The TNA house show is in La Crosse, WI on October 9, just a week before the Bound for Glory show in LA.