Another "TNA Farewell At The Asylum" Report

Thanks to Michael Jackson for sending in this report for "TNA's Farewell to the Asylum" show:

Pre-Show
Before doors, Don West made his way outside to greet the fans and — in classic Don West form — shill the merchandise like no other man alive. West promoted a new TNA Wrestling barbed-wire-logo t-shirt ("Not available online for another three weeks!"), as well as the evening's Brown Bag Special (a TNA t-shirt & four DVDs for $20) and the official TNA Wrestling Program. West hung around to sign autographs ("This signature will not increase its value!"), until doors opened at 6:30pm for general admission.

Once inside, Mr. Anderson was signing autographs at the merchandise table (classic Asylum!). Jeff Jarrett was in a corner room signing custom-made guitars (likely for the higher-end ticket buyers). Dixie Carter was wandering around, interacting with the fans. Karen Jarrett arrived (with Jarrett's three daughters), and was mingling with Terry Taylor and different folks. West made his way into the ring to promote more merchandise and share memories of the days as the Asylum (basically a couple of stories about D'Lo Brown jumping off ladders). He also threw out free merchandise — DVDs, t-shirts (TNA Logo & Fortune), Jeff Hardy arm bands, D'Angelo Dinero sunglasses, etc. — which he would do throughout the night, before the show and during intermission.

Showtime
Jeremy Borash made his way to the ring at 7:30pm. Borash announced that the loudest fans would be chosen throughout the evening to be taken backstage. An official ran out to the ring, claiming that "he" told him this couldn't happen; should-be-Senior-Referee Andrew Thomas ran out and did the same. Shockingly enough, "he" turned out to be AJ Styles, who made his way out to the ring to cut a heel promo. We cheered him, regardless, and agreed that we were not worthy to go backstage. Raven came out and begged to differ, and we had a match on our hands.

TNA Wrestling Television Champion AJ Styles vs. Raven
You have read correctly... AJ Styles's monumental return to the Asylum was celebrated with a heel promo and the opening match on the card. No fanfare for the man who built TNA Wrestling. Regardless, a solid eight-minute match (one which might have been Raven's last with the company, given upcoming iMPACT! results). Raven's patented Russian leg sweep was delivered early in the match, driving Styles straight into the guardrail; Raven proceeded to drag Styles across ringside, letting fans get their hands on his opponent. Styles delivered the crowd-pleasing flying forearm, Pele kick, and attempted the Styles Clash, but it was the Raven Effect DDT that shut Styles down for the finish. Raven picks up the victory, the audience is allowed backstage, and TNA continues to misuse AJ Styles.

TNA Wrestling Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky
The opening minutes of this one were spent with Rayne & Sky attempting to one-up each other via performing their ring entrances... Multiple times. On each side of the ring. For all of the eight year olds in attendance. I attempted a "We want wrestling!" chant, but to no avail. Once the match started, all was good. Velvet Sky might not be the greatest women's wrestler in the world, but she seems to understand the sport more than most women, and her live performance impressed me. Rayne wound up picking up the win. Notable spots included referee Slick Johnson being a creep with Madison Rayne. And Velvet Sky forced Borash to lay down after the match so she could pin him... Not sure why.

Abyss vs. Eric Young
Surprise of the night. Abyss was scheduled to face D'Angelo Dinero (classic Asylum!)... But Dinero's music wasn't played. Enter ERIC YOUNG. A huge ovation, and a genuine shock, given that I had yet to read the news that he signed a new contract with the company. Abyss and Young for the return to the Asylum... I can dig it. A great match that everyone in attendance was into — lots of heel heat for Abyss (after the initial "Welcome back!" face reaction), and a ton of support for Young — with your basic spots, but everything worked well together and the two pulled out a very fun match. Abyss picked up the victory with the Black Hole Slam.

Special Guest Appearance
Jeremy Borash hyped up a huge return to the Asylum for a man who made his debut in this same building all the back in 1978. "Woooooooo!" was heard all throughout the building, and everyone in attendance — including myself — totally thought we were about to see Ric Flair. We got Jimmy Hart instead. (Leave it to TNA.) A classy few moments from "the Mouth of the South," nonetheless, paying homage to the Tennessee Fairgrounds and all of the legends who have made their way through the building.

TNA Wrestling Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money, Inc. vs. Ink, Inc.
One of these things is not like the other. Ink, Inc. made their way out first, followed by Beer Money, Inc. (absolutely huge ovation for these guys), and finally, the Motor City Machine Guns, whom I've been waiting to see live for years. As expected, the next fifteen minutes were simply awesome, thanks to the Machine Guns and Beer Money. I could care less for Ink, Inc. — both their gimmick and in-ring ability — and it's a pleasure to note that the majority of this match was between Shelley, Sabin, Storm, and Roode, whilst Moore and Neal stood idle in their own corner. Wishing they had a fraction of the talent the other four had. The match itself was arguably the match of the night (surprise!), with well-deserved chants of "This is wrestling!" scattered throughout. The Machine Guns put away Beer Money with Skull 'n' Bones for the victory. Storm played up the hometown crowd throughout the match, breaking kayfabe a couple of times to soak it all in. (Dude even came out singing his own entrance music. AWESOME.) Post-match, Storm totally broke kayfabe, looking back on his time in Nashville at the Asylum, thanking the fans for their support, and putting over TNA Wrestling's tag team division as the best in the world.

Intermission
Don West made his way back to the ring to throw out and shill merchandise. Madison Rayne signed autographs over at the merchandise table.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Samoa Joe
Jeff Jarrett came out to a mixed reaction, but eventually turned the crowd against him with a heel promo. (Seriously, it's the Asylum... Why can't Styles & Jarrett, of all people, keep it real and break kayfabe for a moment?) Samoa Joe came out to a monstrous ovation, perhaps the loudest of the night. Another misused talent who's incredibly over with the live audiences. A ton of "Joe! Joe! Joe!" chants, and I'm proud to say, I initiated the first "Joe's gonna kill you!" chant of the evening. Before the match, Jarrett threatened to never return to Nashville if he wasn't shown the respect he deserves. Joe shrugged. Joe then proceeded to dominate once the bell rang, but in classic TNA/Jarrett fashion, the match ended with a low blow and the Stroke. A good match, but the same finish we've seen for years — with Samoa Joe, of all people, having to do the job — killed a bit of it. Nonetheless... Like I mentioned, Joe was over like crazy.

Dixie Carter Appearance
Jeremy Borash introduced TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter. Nothing that wouldn't be expected... She thanked the longtime fans of the Asylum, all of that good stuff. Held Borash's hand for emotional support. A "Thank you Dixie!" chant broke out, and she almost cried or something. Nice woman. Just shouldn't be running the company anymore.

Mr. Anderson Appearance
Mr. Anderson makes his way to the ring (classic Asylum!). Rather big ovation for him, as well. Anderson signaled for the microphone to drop from the ceiling, but we're poor here at the Asylum, so we can't afford that sort of thing. Anderson had Borash enter the ring, stand up on a steel chair, and lower a microphone himself. Admittedly a funny moment. Anderson announced that, due to not yet being cleared by the doctors, he wouldn't be able to compete tonight. (I'm sure the Heel Section were heartbroken.) He then put over TNA Wrestling for caring about the health of their employees (claiming it was unprecedented in professional wrestling), and went on his own little personal trip down memory lane, sharing stories of having Bert Prentice booking him to come through and wrestle, losing to "a bunch of TNA Originals" (which received a thunderous ovation from... me). Afterwards, Anderson hyped up the main event, stating that even though he couldn't wrestle tonight, he was asked to hand-select Jeff Hardy's opponent for the main event. Anderson then claimed he searched long and hard for the right opponent for a night as huge as this; this was obviously Christopher Daniels, as I proceeded to yell "CHRISTOPHER DANIELS!" as the crowd was completely silent. I assume Anderson heard me, as immediately after, Anderson claimed that the man he chose... Well, he took everything he said "as Gospel." A few of us jumped to our feet, but then he uttered the word "Congregation," and we quickly sat back down as D'Angelo Dinero's music hit.

TNA Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy vs. "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero
Ladies and gentlemen, after a storied history of professional wrestling as the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena... The last professional wrestling match to ever take place in that building, Jeff Hardy versus D'Angelo Dinero. (Classic Asylum!) The fact that Styles/Raven, or at least Jarrett/Joe didn't headline, given the history of the building, especially TNA's history at that building... Absolutely dumbfounding. The match was nothing special, and Hardy won after a Twist of Hate.

Post-Show
Breaking kayfabe (unlike last week in Orlando), Jeff Hardy stuck around inside the ring to pose for pictures with fans... For the low, low price of $20! I made my way down to ringside to meet Chris Sabin, who does stuff like that for free. Because he's better. But I digress! The post-show celebration "brought backstage out to ringside," as various talent walked around for autographs, pictures, and the like. Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Robert Roode, James Storm, Abyss, Andrew Thomas, and Jesse Neal all walked around; Shelley and Roode got out fairly quickly, which was a disappointment, but I did get to meet Chris Sabin, who said I was the first person he's ever seen wearing a High Crusade shirt (the High Crusade = Sabin, Shelley, and Petey Williams's band... www.thehighcrusade.com, check 'em out!). Extremely nice dude. Storm hung around for a while with the hometown crowd. D'Lo Brown was roaming around, as well. Velvet Sky and Jeff Jarrett were signing autographs for $5 back at the merchandise tables. I shook Andrew Thomas's hand and praised his beard. AJ Styles was nowhere to be found, surprisingly enough... Neither was Samoa Joe. Styles surprised me, though, given he's arguably the face of the Asylum.

Overall
Can't deny that I was a bit underwhelmed by the farewell to the Asylum... Particularly the fact that the X Division was completely ignored. With talent like Frankie Kazarian, the Amazing Red, Jay Lethal, Douglas Williams, Jeremy Buck, Max Buck, and Brian Kendrick on the roster, they couldn't honor the history of the Asylum with one X Division match? And perhaps it was a longshot, but the fact that they didn't bring any outside TNA Originals back for one night (especially after hinting at it multiple times throughout the night) was a disappointment. And the fact that the main event was Jeff Hardy versus D'Angelo Dinero... Unbelievable.

But obvious distaste for TNA Wrestling booking and treatment of talent aside... There's a reason why their house shows are widely proclaimed as their best outlet, and now I see why. The night's focus is on professional wrestling (as it should be on television), and for the most part, extremely good professional wrestling at that. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, the Motor City Machine Guns, Beer Money, Inc., Abyss, Eric Young, Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, Raven, and Jeff Jarrett all delivered in the ring, and combine that with a responsive crowd... It made for a heck of a fun night. By far the best experience I've ever had at a professional wrestling show.

Shout out to Jeremy Samples, who drove all the way from West Virginia and helped make the night what it was.

Michael Jackson contributed to this article.