In a nice touch, former announcer Michael St. John was the ring announcer for this match.
The Fairgrounds were packed due to a World Of Outlaws event that featured former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Parking was $10 and I haven't seen their lots that full in decades. The line around the Sports Arena went all the way around to the back of the building making it seem like a big crowd but that wasn't the case. In what was the worst admittance procedure in the history of the building. It took nearly an hour to get through the line to enter the building. The HOH tickets purchased online only had the section and row on them and no seat numbers. You had to have your ticket scanned at one pay window then go to the other to get a wristband still with only section and row. All this was excruciatingly slow resulting in to the show starting almost 40 minutes late due to them trying to get everyone in the building. The show was supposed to start at 7:00 pm. Back to the seat numbers. The seats were numbered but there weren't any assigned seats. You just went to your section and row and sit in whatever was available in the row.
Now to attendance. I'm usually low on my estimates but if I had to put a definitive number on it I would say 400. There were a lot of empty seats on the floor but one balcony was full so I would say maybe 500 at the most would be the upper limit. The ticket prices were too high for this event with front row ringside $100 and GA $30 with rows 2-4 in between. VIP tickets were also available for $200 which included a black steel chair autographed by all the talent in attendance. It also had a HOH logo on it with no mention of the Fairgrounds last event.
They finally start the show with Tommy Dreamer who welcomes everyone but he lays more bad news on us saying that John Morrison, Taya Valkyrie and Willie Mack wouldn't be there due to weather conditions delaying their flight from Dallas and that there would be other surprises and that anyone could get a refund if they wanted to which I doubt anyone did even if Morrison & Mack was the main or semi-main event. No deal breaker I know but still disappointing in my eyes. OK, on to the show.
1)Swoggle pinned "The Main Feature" Rich Maxwell with a 2nd rope Tadpole Splash in 5:17.
About what you would expect.
2)Adrian Thomas beat DJ Brown, Cody Windham & Brian or Ryan ??? in a Fatal Fourway in 8:14.
Some good athleticism but kind of sloppy. Green may be better term. Not sure the experience level of any of them.
Bill Dundee comes out in his wrestling gear to speak. He was interrupted by Greg Anthony with Mike "P-Dog" Posey and two other guys dressed alike that wasn't announced and I didn't recognize & they made fun of the Superstar. Dundee said that they were "white boys dressed like black boys" which left a very uncomfortable silence in the crowd. Anthony's possie beat down Dundee till the War Kings came out to make the save leading to a match.
3)War Kings(Crimson & Jax Dane)& "Superstar" Bill Dundee beat "Golden Boy" Greg Anthony, Mike Posey & ??? with ??? by pinfall in 8:30.
The War Kings looked like the Road warriors against the much smaller heel team. Very crisp. Dane is what he is but he's a powerful beast. Dundee worked sparingly.
4)Little Guido with Tracy Smothers beat L.T. Falk with Tony Falk in 9:22.
Guido & LT started well and had some nice sequences as both wrestled as babyface. Smothers didn't like Guido working face and took the mic and worked the crowd leading to a dance-off. This is where this match went to hell. I hope to never see Boy Tony never dance again. Lots of interference by Smothers the rest of the way before Guido takes the win.
5)Eddie Edwards beat Moose with The Double Dupree's in 16:14 after Moose hit himself with a chair that rebounded off the ropes.
Good match here. Edwards worked his butt off. Lot's of ringside brawling.
6)Bram beat Tommy Dreamer in 13:25 in a Nashville Street Fight.
Typical Dreamer plunder match with trash cans, cookie sheets and thumbtacks. They brawled all over and I mean all over including the balcony. Bram threw Dreamer off of one of the starways to a gimmick table. Moose interfered to help Bram win and they beat down Dreamer. Cowboy James Storm came in and made the save. Storm was unadvertised but worked the gimmick tables before the show so not really a surprise. He cut a promo talking about the Fairgrounds. Storm may have gotten the biggest pop of the night.
7)Main Event: The Rock 'n' Roll Express beat SoCal Uncensored(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) in 8:38.
The crowd was kind of split as SCU cut pretty much a babyface promo after their intro other then the "worst town they ever been in" stuff. They really put over Nashville and the Fairgrounds. The match was a fun sprint with all the greatest hits other than the double dropkick. Morton is still in really good shape for his age. He ended up getting the pin with an O'Conner roll. SCU really put over the R&R's who then thanked them and put over Nashville in what was a really nice ending to the old Sports Arena.
Wrestling ended the same time as the race. It took 35 minutes before I was even able to move an inch in the parking lot but moved quickly and was out in 50 minutes total.
If anyone can help with the names I didn't catch, please post. I would like to know who they were.
All in all the show wasn't a classic to be nice but it had its moments. I was glad to go one last time to the building that I've watched more live wrestling in than any other. I hope the Fairgrounds will still have a place for pro wrestling in the future because if you think of Nashville wrestling, you have to think about the Fairgrounds.