Before the event we stopped at Toot's in Cookeville, which is the Bizzaro world version of Toot's in Murfreesboro. Instead of MTSU memorabilia, there was Tennessee Tech stuff all over. The food was the same though. I love me some fried dill pickles.
We headed up to the show through Crossville to avoid the traffic from Hippie Jam Band Festival Bonnaro in Manchester. On the way back we did get to experience actual Hippies at a truck stop called Love's. It was Christmas and New Years all rolled into one for police along the interstate last night as they seemed to just be pulling over any of the many many VW microbuses on the road.
I must mention the quite possibly insane parking guy that we paid at the Municipal Auditorium and the fact that he would not stop talking and mumbling to himself and seemed slightly ill equiped to deal with all the traffic!
Now, on to the show:
The first match of the night was Ms. Brooks vs. some DJ Guy. The DJ Guy got his jollies feeling Ms. Brooks up and almost broke his neck doing a second rope moonsault. He lost and got kicked for his trouble. This was a throwaway, but no real horribleness.
Next we were 'treated' to a mini-set by the band of the evening the Lo Cash Cowboys. Aparantly they didn't get the memo that if you have two lead singers you might not want them both to look and sing exactly the same. The drummer and the Bass player fought a very passive battle over who could look more bored. The singers tried to pop the crowd by mentioning that they were influenced by "ZZ TOP! GREAT WHITE!! LYNRYD SKYNRYD!!! AND ABBA!!!!" in a way that reminded me way to much of Goldylocks pandering that people said she reminded them of a female Kid Rock.
The band played a medly with the Georgia Sattleites "Don't Give Me No Lies" in it, and managed to make at least seven people in the crowd dance, including Chicken Hat.
Did I mention that Tommy spotted Chicken Hat in the front row? Those were $150 tickets, those were.
Also we got to experience the Drunken Frat Boy Experience, as there were at least four very drunken fellas right in front of us who really liked to stand up all the time!
On to the matches:
RHINO & SENSHI VS. THE LAX--Good little match that saw Hernandez throw LowShi around the ring like a rag doll and Konnan and Hector Guererro do almost nothing. The guys in the ring really busted ass on this one, especially LowShi and Homicide.
Rhino and LowShi win with the outside interferance into a Gore.
X TITLE MATCH: CHRIS SABIN vs. "BLACK MACHISMO" JAY LETHAL--Lethal has the macho schtick down and pulled out all the classics as well as his own moves in this one. Really good match.
Machismo wins the title with the Elbow Drop.
FRANK WYCHECK AND JERRY LYNN VS. JAMES STORM AND THE TRUTH--Wycheck didn't kill James Storm with the pile-driver that won this match. Jerry and Truth worked hard and so did Storm. I just hope this doesn't mean Wycheck is going full time for TNA.
Wycheck wins with a pile-driver.
MR. BACKLUND VS. ALEX SHELLEY--Better match than it had any right to be on paper, and Backlund did his part well. It is odd that I find Backlund way more entertaining now than at any other point in his career and he worked well with Shelley.
STIENER/ANIMAL VS. DUDLEYS--Better also than it had a right to be. Animal got a huge pop and worked as well as Scott would have. Dudley's win.
ABYSS VS. TOMKO--Before the show I commented to Roxanne and Tommy that someone would be jumping off the top of the entrance ramp, since there were two large ladders going up either side of the stage. During this match, both of the men went off the top. Good brawl with Abyss winning.
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN--CHRISTIAN VS. AJ VS. JOE VS. ANGLE VS. KITTEN--Great match with lots of high spots and convoluted rules. Kitten held his own ring wise, but still isn't quite up to the main event spot. Everybody worked really hard and didn't die. Angle wins.
See our pictures below that Roxanne took.
