TNA Delivers in Brooklyn

The energy was high.

Don West was peddling his wares every chance he had.

The matches were solid.

Overall, TNA’s BaseBrawl event at MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York, this past Friday was a fun event, spotlighted by six solid matches.

Although the soap box crew complained about the length of the matches, the quality overall was better than most of the action on Impact, it wasn’t quite up to the standards of their pay per views.

Nevertheless, for anyone who has never seen the product, it was a great introduction to it. Understandably, it would have been nicer to see a few matches go longer. In the end though, the action was what you’d expect for a house show.

Matches:

6-Man Tag Team Match Amazing Red, Eric Young and Orlando Jordan vs. The British Invasion and Robbie E w/ Cookie: The epitome of what every opening match should be, with tons of high-impact moves and comedy. Not only did Robbie E dance [with Orlando Jordan, unknowingly, at one point], but Young actually ran the bases in MCU Park, before sliding back into the ring. What ensued afterward was even more entertaining as nearly every wrestler performed their finishing moves, before Red sealed the deal with a jumping twisting complete shot off the top rope for the win.

After this match, the crowd was totally involved and ready for the rest of the night.

Knockouts Championship Match- Mickie James vs. Angelina Love w/ Winter: Not nearly as entertaining as the first match and easily the least enjoyable of the night. However, James’ modified super kick she used as a finisher was worth watching.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Crimson: A routine match overall, that was highlighted by Jarrett telling a fan in the front row to “Go back to Puerto Rico.” Jarrett got this fan so riled up it appeared at one point that the guy had smoke coming out of his ears. Using ring psychology, Jarrett made the match memorable, but it was Crimson, with several high impact moves including the falcon’s arrow and his sky high finisher that got the win.

Bound for Glory Series Match: Street Fight- Bully Ray vs. Devon: A fun hardcore match that didn’t get out as control as the fans would have liked. No one went through tables and there was a small variety of weapons used, although the fans desperately wanted Devon to take a chair from a member of the audience. Ultimately, after taking their scrum to the top of the visiting team’s dugout, Devon delivered a Ron Simmons-esque stand up sidewalk slam for the win.

Bound for Glory Series Match- “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles vs. Rob Van Dam: This match could have gone a lot longer than it did. While it was solid, Styles didn’t put on the show many fans expected. In the end, it felt like a match on Impact that went a few minutes longer. It was apparent the crowd was split on this one, but no one seemed terribly upset when RVD hit the five-star frog splash for the win.

World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson vs. Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle: The same thing can be said for this match, which in spite of being solid, was far from epic and more technically sound and routine. It lacked the energy of the opener and the emotion of the Styles/RVD encounter until the end, when the crowd erupted when Angle hit his finisher for the win.