It’s certainly nice to know someone saw my Comic-Con coverage, and noted that it was in fact written by me (certain sites that grabbed their news from Deadline Hollywood were not so quick, shall we say, to credit some of my reporting…as in, they still never have). As faithful readers may recall, the “Wrath of Con” party featured a wrestling match featuring the stars of TNA (Total Nonstop Action), among them the skull-masked Suicide, a favorite of my brother Adam. Suicide’s partner that night was “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels, whose publicist Marc just happen to read what I wrote.
Lo and behold, some weeks later, a box of TNA T-shirts shows up at my door, along with an offer to introduce Adam to Suicide…an offer that sadly is not likely to be taken up, given that most TNA shows happen in Florida, and Adam lives in France. But I stayed in touch with Marc, and with TNA preparing its first west-coast pay-per-view show, Bound For Glory, he reminded be that Daniels would be glad to do interviews. Unfortunately I found no takers willing to pay for such…but I ended up meeting Marc at the show anyway. Herewith, an account of what transpired.
(I assume that if you are a serious fan, you’ve already looked up the “results” online somewhere. This piece is not so much oriented to that end, but more about the experience itself.)
I went wearing an official Bound For Glory shirt, but not the one that was being sold at the concession stand – this was the one worn by the crew, simply reading “BFG” on the front (a little too close to the snarky comeback line “BFD!”, I would think, but then I haven’t actually heard anyone say “BFD!” in years, so maybe not. It stands for Big Fuckin’ Deal, in case you wondered). The shirts also list the location of the event as Los Angeles, when in fact it is Irvine…another amusing reminder that for all the possessive attitude Orange Countians hold about their independence, the nation and world at large sees them as a suburb of L.A. OC generally retaliates by trying to claim Long Beach as its own. 
Anyway, the venue was the Bren Center at UC Irvine. Parking was a mere $8, which seems like a major bargain compared with the twenty or so bones usually shelled out by vehicle-drivers attempting to park around Staples Center. Inside, things were a lot simpler than at your typical WWE mega-event – yet there was actually a lot more merchandise available, as TNA tends to make T-shirts for ALL their stars, including several of the female wrestlers, known in this company as “Knockouts.” In a sign that all fans like to be able to identify with someone, I saw one or two hefty black women wearing shirts featuring Awesome Kong, the massive African-American female mauler. Tara, the Knockout formerly known as Victoria in WWE, has a shirt for sale with the slogan “Tara Rising,” but more common in this audience were custom shirts that her entire local family had made with which to attend the show.
Only one food/beer stand, though. Or so I thought – later I found out there was another one further in, on the other side of the smoking patio, and I mentally kicked myself for not doing the usual recon prior to buying. There was a also a booth selling autographed pictures of all the stars, and mannequins wearing some of Sting’s actual ring outfits, including the one worn during the “Shockmaster” incident, which is described as “a cult Youtube sensation.” (Rather than describe it, I will simply say look it up on Youtube and be sure to watch the whole thing – there’s a lot of build-up before the main incident happens. Suffice it to say that the whole thing is widely considered one of the worst misfires in wrestling history.)
Inside the arena itself: TNA has the same kind of elaborate stage set-up that WWE has, but on a slightly smaller scale. Scaffolds, a big screen, neon-lit entrance tunnel, and a ramp down to the six-sided ring. The arena remained about 1/3 empty during the show, but they made sure to pack the floor and camera side for a fuller appearance. As Marc suggested, they probably should have had some ticket giveaways around campus. What the crowd lacked in vastness was made up for in enthusiasm, though, as they were loud and frequently chanting. I worry that the revenues the company makes might not be enough for such elaborate sets – there’s something of the vibe of the old ECW in effect, and I can tell you, the ECW PPV in L.A. that I attended did not have anything like the production value of TNA…and it went bankrupt shortly thereafter.
One thing I didn’t quite get is why the big-screen TV didn’t show the TV feed at all times. It gave us video highlights to set up the importance of each match, backstage segments, entrance videos…but only twice, as I recall, did it actually give close-ups of the in-ring action, and that was when the battles went to the floor or stage. The rest of the time, it would just display an animated Bound For Glory logo with what looked like exhaled cigarette smoke behind it. The use of the TV feed in brief proves they have the capability to do it all the time…so why not? Don’t wanna distract from the in-ring action? Well, an animated logo is distracting too. And not all of us had perfect visibility.
Let me state on-record for those of you who don’t know, that I discontinued my cable TV in order to save money, and thus I don’t keep up on the ever-evolving wrestling storylines like I used to. Thankfully, most of the matches at shows like this are preceded by a highlights package giving the basic rundown of the rivalry that has unfolded thus far. But if I seem a tad clueless about newer characters, it’s because they are brand new to me.
Besides, unlike WWE, TNA tends to book matches that are worth watching in their own right even if you know nothing about the story. It’s interesting to note how the differences have evolved – when TNA started, they were all about being good clean family wrestling (despite the suggestive sound of their chosen abbreviation). These days, it’s WWE that’s pushing the “PG” nature of their product, while TNA has at least two major performers whose gimmicks involve alcohol; they are also clearly unafraid of showing blood (more on that later). The key difference, though, is that TNA generally favors a more athletic, high-risk style, and they can get away with it more, because they’re on the road less than WWE, so banged-up bodies have more of a chance to heal. They also don’t share Vince McMahon’s fetish for super-jacked muscle men…at least, unless they can actually move around the ring as well.
The “pre-show” seemed to start at around 4:20 or so (dude, man, 4:20! HA!), as announcer Jeremy Borash started yelling stuff I couldn’t hear because I was in line to get t-shirts. Two were purchased – one for the tag team “Beer Money,” because I like the concept of beer money in general, and another for Taz, because Taz and I share a fondness for the phrase “FTW.” I like that it has two meanings that are both compatible – in online speak it means “for the win,” but as Taz uses it, it means “fuck the world.” A friend in Virginia had it tattooed in his youth, knowing only the Taz version…later, as a father, it embarrassed him, so it’s good that there’s also a clean meaning and he can have plausible deniability.
A brief word on wrestling T-shirts – the best kind are dual-use, and feature slogans that work even if the person reading them knows nothing about wrestling, e.g. “Mr. Perfect,” “Layeth the Smacketh Down,” “Punishment Unleashed,” “Big Sexy,” etc (I’m all for insular slogans, but cannot tell you how goddamn annoying it is to be asked to explain “Austin 3:16” every time I wear that shirt). WWE has tended to go with the snappy slogan on the front, and the wrestler’s name or logo on the back…TNA has had this ass-backwards for years, but they’re starting to figure it out. One piece of advice I’d still give them is to be less in love with the pointless tribal designs – when WWE comes up with a weird shape or design or whatnot, it MEANS something in relation to the character…usually. TNA still utilizes random pointy things that look like goth clip-art. On the plus side, their shirts are 100 percent cotton, and only $20.
Also on sale at the stand: plush white tigers dressed as Sting, a $400 TNA world title replica, and an autographed Jeff Jarrett guitar (no price listed, but if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford).
Shirts attained, I got to my seat by Marc’s. Now *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone is coming out to the floor for some reason. He gets booed, but on the mic, he turns it around, saying something like, “you might not wanna see me, but are you ready for some TNA action?” They do.
And the show begins…
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