In fact, TNA took the term “scaled-down” to a new level. The show was held at the Maryland Theatre, which is exactly what it sounds like – a theatre, not an arena. I’m talking balconies, a stage, carpeted floors, elderly female ushers with little red vests and flashlights, etc. I’d estimate there were about 1,500 to 2,000 people there – and there were very few empty seats.

After being at countless wrestling events at big arenas and jam-packed stadiums (for WrestleManias), it was quite a unique experience to see a wrestling show in this type of setting. And it wasn’t like this was an indy show, as stars such as Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson and Jeff Jarrett were on the bill.

To use a music analogy, it was like seeing a national recording artist in a club. Seeing arena acts that have pyro and gigantic video screens is exciting, but there’s definitely something to be said for an intimate setting.

As I noted when writing about the WWE house show, the absence of TV cameras allows the talent to interact more with the crowd, and TNA takes that aspect to another level, as well. It’s definitely a smart move for a company of TNA’s size that is trying to compete with an entertainment juggernaut to be as fan friendly as possible.

The guy largely responsible for getting the crowd involved in the show Sunday was Jeremy Borash, who was more a master of ceremonies than simply a ring announcer. Former TNA color commentator Don West was also very active at the show, including pushing his merchandise deals in the lobby literally as soon as the doors opened.

Fans also had opportunities to get up close to the talent. In addition to the meet and greet packages than fans could purchase, Mickie James signed autographs before the show, and Madison Rayne did so at intermission. After the show, Jeff Jarrett, Generation Me and Robbie E signed. Also after the show, fans could get their picture taken with Angle and Anderson inside the ring for $20 (it was announced that the price was the same whether it was one fan in the photo or a group of fans together, which is a pretty good deal for families).

Also, a couple fans were chosen to ring the bell throughout the evening; a young lady won a radio contest to be the ring girl for the night; and after Mr. Anderson’s match, he brought a little boy in the ring to help him do his “Mr. Anderson … Anderson” microphone shtick.

As for the in-ring action, it was pretty darn good. Not surprisingly, the tag team match between The Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me stole the show, but there wasn’t a single sub-par match on the card. My only complaint is that there were just six matches, and stars such as Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, Matt Morgan and Beer Money were not booked.

Here is a match-by-match look at the show (times are approximate):

TNA X Division Kazarian defeated Brian Kendrick and Robbie E. in a three-way match (6:00): Kendrick, who came out in his white robe and had the hood up over his head, sat down in the middle of the ring and did his meditation gimmick, rocking back and forth. After the bell rang, Kazarian and Robbie E. began hitting the ropes and criss-crossing, taking turns leap-frogging over Kendrick. That was pretty funny. Finally, Kazarian stopped and yelled, “Wait! What are we doing?” at Robbie E. They each grabbed one of Kendrick’s arms and tried to yank him up, but they just ended up pulling off his robe. Kendrick eventually sprang to his feet and a fast-paced contest ensued. The finish saw Kazarian hit a reverse Tombstone piledriver on Kendrick.

TNA Knockouts champion Madison Rayne defeated Mickie James (10:00): Referee Earl Hebner was the star of this match. Introduced by Borash as “the most infamous referee of all time,” Hebner was greeted with a “You screwed Bret” chant. Hebner got all angry and took off his referee’s shirt to reveal a white t-shirt with black stripes that said, “Damn right I did!” (By the way, the shirts were on sale for $10, and that included Hebner putting his autograph on them).Then he put on a pair of sunglasses and began doing Bret Hart mannerisms. Toward the latter stages of the match, Rayne was knocked backward into Hebner’s arms, and he took advantage of the situation by planting a kiss on her. He then did the Ric Flair strut. While that was going on, Rayne loaded her black glove and KO’d James for the win. This was a lot better than most of Rayne’s TV matches, and she definitely has the heel mannerisms down. After the match, James also kissed Hebner, and he fell down in the corner and needed to be revived. How come that didn’t happen when I refereed James’ match in Maryland Championship Wrestling last summer?

TNA TV champion Abyss defeated Douglas Williams (8:00): Abyss got a lot of heat at one point during the match when he did the Hulk Hogan deal in which he cups his hand to his hear and encourages the crowd to cheer. After a failed roll-up attempt by Williams, Abyss hit the Black Hole Slam for the victory.

The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Generation Me (13:00): I didn’t see how it happened, but Alex Shelly was injured in this match. He was favoring his right shoulder for most of the contest, and he later posted on Facebook that he suffered a broken collarbone. This was exactly the type of match you would expect from these two teams – fast-paced, high-flying and plenty of innovative offense and high spots. In one unique spot, Max and Jeremy Buck were both down on the mat, and the Guns tied their legs together. Then Chris Sabin locked one of the Bucks in what appeared to be a variation of an abdominal stretch, while Shelley slapped a crossface on the other one. One other thing I noticed during the match was that Jeremy Buck’s facial expressions when he was selling were really good. It’s also worth noting that there were a few miscommunications between Sabin and Shelley, which is consistent with their television story line. Shelley took a beating for a large portion of the match, and at one point when he went to make the tag, Sabin – who had been knocked off the apron unbeknownst to Shelley – wasn’t there. The Guns eventually got it together and won the match with Skull and Bones.

Samoa Joe defeated “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero (9:00): Dinero came out first and got a mixed reaction, but he played heel well enough to turn the crowd against him. Joe got a big babyface pop. Before the match, Dinero acted like he was going to give his sunglasses to a kid in the front row, but he was just teasing him. Later, Joe grabbed the sunglasses and gave them to the kid. After some back-and-forth action, Joe hooked on the Kokina Clutch and Dinero tapped out. As Dinero began making his way to the back, he turned and faced the crowd and started clapping and bowing to them in a show of appreciation. The crowd’s jeers then changed to polite applause. After Dinero stepped through the curtain, however, he immediately came back out and flipped off the fans. That was a nice touch.

TNA world champion Mr. Anderson defeated Jeff Jarrett; Kurt Angle was the special referee (11:00): Anderson came out to do his pre-match mic work and called for the microphone to drop from the ceiling, but – obviously – the mic wasn’t there. So Anderson then had Jeremy Borash stand on a chair in the ring and put his microphone in Anderson’s hand. Angle got the biggest pop of the night when he was introduced. Angle had a smile on his face when he came out but he looked tired and he wasn’t very animated during the match. Jarrett and Anderson both did a nice job of playing to the crowd. Anderson held up a sign from a fan that said “Jarrett is a Parrot,” which started a “Jarrett is a Parrott” chant. Jarrett then instructed Borash to make an announcement saying that he wasn’t a parrot. Later in the match, Angle warned Jarrett about thumbing Anderson on the eye, and Jarrett yelled back at Angle, “He called me a parrot!” Now that was funny. At about the 10-minute mark, Anderson hit a fireman’s carry slam and went for the pin, but Abyss came down to ringside and attacked Angle before he could make the three count. While Angle and Abyss brawled, Jarrett grabbed the TNA world title belt and hit Anderson in the head with it. Jarrett made the cover, but Angle took his time in getting back in the ring and then did a very slow count. Anderson kicked out at two. An incensed Jarrett took a swing at Angle, but Angle blocked it and nailed Jarrett, who turned around and fell right into Anderson, who hit the Mic Check for the win.

Note: I videotaped interviews before the show with Mr. Anderson and “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero. I hope to get them posted by the end of the week.

Photo of Mr. Anderson versus Jeff Jarrett (with Kurt Angle) by Chris Dolan