TNA House Show Results From Columbus, OH (6/23) : Angle Vs. Anderson

Thanks to WrestlingINC.com reader Drake Davis for sending in these results from TNA's live show last night from Columbus, OH.

The event actually took place in the youth hockey facility adjacent to Nationwide Arena, where the NHL's Blue Jackets play and WWE runs their shows. It was not a sellout, but the place was 80 percent full and the crowd was pretty much enthused throughout the show. For a TV-14 product, there were a LOT of little kids in attendance. This show was pretty much PG, though. Borash did the usual spiel about backstage passes to the loudest fans before the opener and served as the ring announcer for the whole event.

-Alex Shelley beat Generation Me and Robbie E. (accompanied by Cookie) in a crowd pleasing opener. This was supposed to be a four corners tag with the four competitors as individuals, but the Bucks (Max and Jeremy) spent the entire match double teaming their opponents. Shelley tried to end the match early, going for submission moves like the Texas Cloverleaf, the Pendulum, and the Scorpion Deathlock (twice; once on GenMe at the same time). Another storyline is that it was essentially one heel (Robbie E.) outnumbered as GenMe played faces for the most part. Shelley again borrowed another superstar's finisher as he pulled off Sliced Bread #2 onto Max and Jeremy simultaneously for the win.

-Mickie James retained the Knockouts title with a win over hometown gal Madison Rayne. Before the bout, Earl Hebner did his standard routine of showing off his shirt on sale at the merch stand. Some of this match was comedy, with Rayne wanting Mickie then Hebner to kiss her hand (with her being a queen and all). When Hebner refused, she smacked him on the rear end. This was a competitive, solid, botch-free match that saw another year-long routine of Hebner planting a kiss on Rayne's lips and then channeling Ric Flair with a celebratory strut. Mickie got the pin after a jumping DDT. Madison had to be helped to the back and did not use the entranceway, signaling a legit head or neck ailment due to that DDT.

-Abyss retained the X-Division Championship with a clean win over Fortune's Kazarian. Kaz came out in his traditional short trunks for this one. The story here was Kazarian running circles around his bigger opponent trying to end the match without having to go toe-to-toe. He came close to winning the title with numerous near-falls, but no dice. Kazarian's speed caught up with him and Abyss scooped him up for a massive Black Hole Slam to end it.

-In what was billed as a Bound For Glory Series match, Beer Money earned seven points kept their tag titles beating The Pope D'Angelo Dinero and Devon. Before the bout, Dinero had fun with Hebner by having Earl try on his chains and glasses. This was unusual in that Pope played heel for the most part, while Devon was cheered. With that said, the "rasslin" crowd was more behind Beer Money than Devon. Roode favored his shoulder a couple of times throughout and Devon did not seem to appreciate Pope's underhanded tactics. The finish saw Pope eat the pin after a Superkick from Storm. After the match, a disgusted Devon left Pope to ponder the loss.

-During a 20-minute intermission, Don West appeared and peddled the "Brown Bag" special (four DVDs and a white Impact Wrestling tee shirt for $20). It appeared Madison Rayne was okay after all as she was the featured superstar signing autographs. Hebner signed some merchandise during this downtime, too. Also, during the intermission the backstage pass recipients went to reap their reward.

-After the intermission, A.J. Styles defeated Jeff Jarrett. Styles almost botched a springboard clothesline, but managed to keep his balance in the nick of time. This was a solid match with the veteran Jarrett trying everything he could think of to win, but ultimately he couldn't pull a fast one on Styles. Jarrett fell prey to a Styles Clash for the victory.

-In what was stated to be another Bound For Glory Series match, Crimson defeated Gunner to gain seven points. Gunner was billed as part of Immortal to let the fans know he was heel tonight. Crimson came out with a decent reaction as he was announced from Fremont, OH (instead of Red Hook in Brooklyn). This was the match the crowd was least enthused about, but both guys worked their butts off to avoid any boring chants. It was lumbering at times and ultimately Crimson caught Gunner with his Sky High-like maneuver to pick up the win. TNA/Impact does not have the best track record for elevating homegrown talent to the main event level, but once these two guys gain a little more experience near the top this promotion might be able to start righting those wrongs.

-In the non-title main event, Kurt Angle beat World Champion Mr. Anderson in the crispest match of the night. Before the match, Anderson tried his microphone routine, but the configuration of the building negated a mic being lowered down. Anderson, to ensure he was booed tonight, called the fans "douchebags" and paused while the crowd was trying to sing along with his name. Angle earned the win after delivering an Angle Slam.

After the match, Angle posed for photos with fans for $20 a pop and unlike last year's event, no other competitors came out to sign items. The exceptions to this were Hebner and Jarrett at the merchandise stand. If you ever have a chance to attend a house show, it is worth the money and time as these events live up to the new slogan.

Drake Davis contributed to this article.