TNA live event
Glasgow, Scotland at Braehead Arena
Report by Dot Net reader Wayne Dudley

I sit writing this in the early hours of Thursday morning having just returned from the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland where I had the pleasure of watching the TNA superstars do their thing at what was overall a highly enjoyable evening. Since I attend the event with two of my good friends, Hot Sexual Tomlin and Wee John, I have decided to include their brief comments on the matches as well.

The arena was probably just over half full and although the show was advertised to start at 6pm it did not kick off until 7.30pm (In the future TNA advertise doors open at 6pm not show starts at 6pm). The show opened with a grey bearded middle-aged man in the ring (I guess Jeremy Borash was given the night off) welcoming us to the show and telling us how good it was to be back in Glasgow (the usual crowd fodder).

1. Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez defeated Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) to retain the TNA Tag Titles. Bad Influence made their entrance with their faces painted blue and white, 'hey Jimmy’ hats on their heads (google it) and both wearing kilts. They came across like faces upon entering however once in the ring Daniels cut a scathing promo on the crowd, giving them great heat going into their match against the champions. The highlight of the promo was Daniels referring to Kazarian and himself as "the Physical Fascination Frankie Kazarian and the Sexual Delicious Christopher Daniels" made me chuckle anyway.

Just as the match began the heels got into the face of some fans at ringside so Chavo jumped the railing and sat down beside them and took a drink from one of their beers, he then returned to the apron but jumped back down, grabbed the beer and offered Hernandez a drink. That was just the first of the many wee interactions with the crowd that TNA and its superstars do so well, making them stand leaps and bounds above WWE house shows. Chavo got the win with the frog splash at around the 10-minute mark and overall it was a highly enjoyable opener with some nice wee spots and great heelwork as always from Bad Influence (who in my eyes are the best tag team in the industry at the moment).

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Decent opener, standard tag affair.

Wee John’s View: Very good and engaging opening contest.

Earl Hebner was introduced and proceeded to do the same routine he has done for years in that he gets into the ring giving abuse to fans shouting "You Screwed Bret" and pulls off his referee shirt to reveal a shirt saying "Damn Right I Did" and puts on a pair of Bret Hart sunglasses and does Bret’s pose. I am sorry but to both the fans chanting it and to Earl himself, get over it.

2. Party Marty beat Rockstar Spud. Rockstar Spud made his entrance and the man just ooozes charisma, he may be small but his character is larger than life. Spud proceeded to cut a solid heel promo insulting the fans and the country. Party Marty is still a bit generic for my liking with his character but he more than makes up for it in the ring. Party Marty got the pin in around 7 minutes. I had high hopes for this match after seeing the excellent match these two had on British Boot Camp and although it had many of the same moves and spots as that match it didn’t quite live up to the first. With that being said it was still a highly enjoyable match and I look forward to seeing what they do with Spud on Impact in the coming weeks (and Party Marty for that matter as it looks like he will be rewarded with a contract as well).

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Very enjoyable, both men will do well in the company of given the time

Wee John’s View: Spud very engaging, Marty generic but won me over in the ring

Velvet Sky then made her entrance as the special guest referee for the next contest. Is it just me or is there something a bit perverse about Velvet Sky’s entrance? Don’t get me wrong her backside is stunning but it just feels a bit wrong live, especially with so many children around.

3. The Blossom Twins beat Gail Kim and Tara. Not a lot to talk about really bar Tara being #HotTawty with the Blossom’s picking up the roll up victory after a bit of twin magic around the seven minute mark.

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Pee Break

Wee John’s View: Boring

4. Rob Van Dam beat Zema Ion to retain the X Division Title. RVD made his entrance to the biggest pop of the night. The match opened with a comedy spot where RVD stole Ion’s hairspray and proceeded to spray Earl Hebner, himself, and a few fans at ringside with it, much to the disdain of Zema. RVD picked up the win with the 5 Star Frog splash around the 11 minute mark but overall I couldn’t get into this match. I feel RVD just goes through the motions in his matches these days, be that on house shows, TV or PPV.

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Enjoyable but RVD is looking his age

Wee John’s View: Decent match up, good crowd interaction

5. Austin Aries beat Bobby Roode and James Storm in a three-way. Aries and Roode made their entrances and made it clear from the start that they would form an alliance. Storm superkicked Roode straightaway, which kept him out of the match for a few minutes. There was a nice wee spot where Storm asked a fan to put his boot up on to the guardrail so he could smash Roode’s face into it. For the first half of the match the heels were arguing with each other as to who would get the pin however their attitude soon changed to either of them winning as long as Storm was the one taking the pin. Aries eventually got the pin at the 10-minute mark in what was by far the best match of the evening. It was also the first and only match to be won by a heel which is one more than you usually get at a TNA house show.

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Cracking match, match of the night

Wee John’s View: Very good, nice comedy moments, heel win nice

6. Bully Ray beat Magnus in a No DQ match. Magnus made his entrance to a great reception, which he quickly shot down with a scathing promo on Scotland calling us the bottom feeders of the nation (I seriously hope TNA have big plans for Magnus as he is gold both on the mic and in the ring). He would also insult an old woman who had been in the news after fighting back against burglars and saying her inspiration was Hulk Hogan, which would play a part later on where Bully hit Magnus with the old lady’s walking stick and gave her a cuddle. With a table set up in the ring and Magnus on the offense Bully "Hulked Up" and put Magnus through the table around the eight-minute mark for the win. Overall, as is often the case with Bully on house shows, it was an entertaining crowd-pleasing match, which also contained a Daniel Bryan Yes Chant of all things.

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Cracking match, Magnus will be in WWE one day

Wee John’s View: Solid crowd-pleasing match

It was then announced that it would take 17 minutes to setup the cage for the evening’s main event, which is a very long time to ask fans to wait, especially on a school night with such a young audience. Not only was it a long time, it also resulted in the momentum that had been built previously being lost and since the match itself was very poor it put a sour note on the evening. In my opinion they should have built the cage during the interval, had the match, quickly pulled down the cage and finished with Aries vs. Roode vs. Storm as the main event.

7. Sting and Kurt Angle defeated Devon and DOC in a steel cage match. As Kurt was making his entrance, he was attacked from behind by Mike Knox resulting in the match starting as a 2 on 1 affair. Angle eventually entered the cage at the six-minute mark to do a couple of signature moves, including a sloppy Angle Slam, only for a masked member of Aces & Eights (D-Lo Brown) to enter with the hammer and attack Kurt. Sting would make a comeback and hit all the members of Aces & Eights with the hammer to get the pin at the eight-minute mark. The faces ran to the back whilst Aces and Eights argued in the ring and threatened to reveal the masked man’s identity only to swerve the crowd and hug. Overall, a terrible main event that was not worth the wait and a poor show from Kurt Angle - either wrestle or don’t, don’t half-arse it.

Hot Sexual Tomlin’s View: Sloppy

Wee John’s View: Poor way to finish a highly enjoyable show

Notes: Overall it was a highly entertaining night with a lot of crowd interaction and a cracking match in Aries vs. Roode vs Storm, just a shame the main event was such a let down and lets face it waiting around for near 20 minutes for a eight minute match is never going to end well.

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