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QUICK TNA IN BROOKLYN, NY RESULTS: FLAIR NOT FAIR TO BK, STYLES VS. RVD, ANGLE VS. ANDERSON, CRIMSON VS. JARRETT AND MORE

TNA returned to MCU Park in Brooklyn, NY for a Basebrawl event. It was a very good and entertaining show with the only downside being that Ric Flair, who was the focal point of advertising and was pushed as appearing, did not appear before the live crowd. Flair was there and did a signing for VIP ticketholders that purchased a special ticket but did not come out before the crowd, although both Don West and Jeremy Borash plugged that he would. The word making the rounds after the show was that Flair had turned down the request to come out before the crowd and left the venue before the show ended.

Results of the show, which was the usual good TNA house show designed to create a fun atmosphere and have the babyfaces go over to send everyone home with a smile:

*Orlando Jordan & Amazing Red & Eric Young defeated The British Invasion & Robbie E in a comedy match. Cookie was at ringside and looked to have lost a lot of weight. They did a lot of shenanigans early, including Eric Young being chased around the bases by the referee and Orlando Jordan dancing with Robbie E when E was doing the fistpump. E was horrified when he realized who was bumping and grinding with him. Although they turned babyface on last night's Impact Wrestling, the Invasion worked heel. All the heels ended up on the outside, where Red hit a twisting dive. Red caught E with a tornado DDT off the ropes for the pin.

*TNA Knockouts champion Mickie James pinned Angelina Love. Love was accompanied by Winter. Solid match. James was very over. They did the world's "most infamous referee" bit with Earl Hebner and the crowd was all over him. Hebner did the Bret Hart mannerisms in response. Hebner sold quite a few of his "Damn Right I Did" shirts, playing off the Montreal Screwjob at $10 a pop as I saw a ton of them in the crowd. Hebner and his son Brian both signed at the merchandise stand during intermission.

*Crimson pinned Jeff Jarrett with the Sky High. Jarrett easily got the most heat of anyone on the show, going as far as to jaw with a ringside fan to the point that it looked as if it was going to physical, leading Ronnie Lang's Atlas Security to race over. Thankfully, nothing happened. Jarrett did a deal where he claimed he would leave and never return to Brooklyn if the crowd wasn't quiet and showed him respect, getting the desired reaction of the crowd going nuts. Jarrett carried Crimson to one of the better matches I've seen out of Crimson so far in his run.

*They played Rob Van Dam's music and the place popped huge but Bully Ray came out and said he was tired of waiting. He challenged Devon to come out. They went back and forth, setting up a Falls Count Anywhere No DQ Street Fight. Early on, Ray was beating on Devon, saying he was a loser like everyone from Brooklyn while he was from Queens where real men live. They brawled onto the field and then atop one of the dugouts. A table was brought into the ring but wasn't used. Devon finally won an entertaining brawl with a Sidewalk Slam. Afterward, he took the mic and said that everyone now knew who the stronger side of Team 3D was and led a "Where's Brooklyn at?" chant. There were sporadic ECW chants during the brawling. As a funny aside, former ECW star Joel Gertner was at the show. Devon picked up his second Bound for Glory series win here.

*After a lengthy intermission to allow fans going "backstage" for signings, Rob Van Dam pinned AJ Styles in another entertaining match. This was like an old ECW house show RVD match with a lot of posturing early with chants back and forth for each man. RVD ended up getting a big ECW chant at one point too. Lots of athletic moves including a dive out of the ring by Van Dam. Some decent near falls. In the end, Styles went for a top rope rana but Van Dam held onto the ropes. Styles hit the mat and was stunned, allowing Van Dam to hit the Five Star Frog Splash for the win. They showed each other respect after the match. This was a Bound for Glory series match, so Van Dam picked up points.

*Kurt Angle pinned TNA champion Mr. Anderson with the Olympic Slam in a non-title bout. Anderson posed for the mic to be dropped down and stood there waiting, dejected, when it didn't (It was an outdoor stadium). Lots of "USA" chants for Angle, who was one of the most over babyfaces on the show.

Almost on cue with the Angle win, the planned Coney Island fireworks display kicked off, closing the show with a pretty damn spectacular pyrotechnics show. As the fireworks shot off, fans paid $20 to take a group photo in the ring with Angle and Styles. I would estimate at least half of the audience (I pegged the crowd at 4,500-5,500 fans) stayed in line to get the photo.

Notes: Jeff Jarrett signed for fans after the show ended...The crowd was down a bit from last year. One factor in that may have been that last year, the New York Mets organization pushed the show hard at Mets games on their billboards with a graphic of Hulk Hogan. This year, to the best of my knowledge (and my brother is at every local Mets game, period), there was no such promotion....Don West did his usual great job promoting the merchandise....They were selling some nice looking Basebrawl shirts....The stadium had multiple cameras shooting the show, broadcasting it on their video screens....Interestingly, they were selling Jeff Hardy t-shirts....They had TNA "lightsabers" (basically light up toys with the TNA logo) which sold out....TNA runs Asbury Park, NJ tomorrow with the same crew....TNA pushed that the Bound for Glory series matches would air on Impact Wrestling next week....D'Lo Brown worked as head agent at the show. Pat Kenney was at the event visiting but was not working the event.

Flair: There's absolutely no excuse for Ric Flair to have not made an appearance on the show before the live crowd. It is ludicrous when you realize that he turned down the chance to come out and do a quick, non-physical segment before one of the larger crowds TNA will draw this summer and possibly this year to a live event. As soon as the show ended, everyone sitting around me asked what happened to Flair. It made TNA look totally bush league, because to the average fan there, it appeared that Don West and Jeremy Borash pushed that someone was there when they really weren't. There is no excuse to ever put TNA or its talents in that position, especially when Flair is making well into six figures annually from his TNA salary. For Flair not to come out, cut a quick promo, drop a "Woo" and leave as the legend the fans view him as is just another sad chapter in a man chipping away at his own aura. To leave TNA, who's been paying him a handsome salary, holding the bag, is inexcusable but sadly not surprising.

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