There were no bodyslams, clotheslines or chair shots — but there was still plenty of action and a whole lot of excited fans in Merrick Saturday night.
Wrestlers from TNA Wrestling hit the field at Calhoun High School for the first-ever TNA SLAMMing Softball Classic, a charity game that brought the stars out of the ring and onto the diamond.
[Scroll down for photos from the day.]
And while the crowd knows they can wrestle, the big question was: How good are they with a bat and a ball?
“Well, I used to play a bunch of sports 35 years ago, including baseball,” former TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth told Greater Long Island.
“I was very excited about coming here today,” added multiple-time tag team champion Brian Myers. “Then I remembered a lot of my colleagues are from other countries and don’t really play this game. I realized we had a long day ahead of us!”
Myers, a Long Island native, helped organize the event.
“I thought this was a match made in heaven,” he said. “I got a chance to combine my two loves to help raise money for the Merrick Bellmore Little League. And it’s a good chance for our fans to see us in a more humble environment.”
Nemeth — better known as WWE legend Dolph Ziggler — said playing a “heel” in the ring doesn’t stop him from loving events like this.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “They’ve only heckled me somewhat, which is great, but the rest of the time they have been really happy for everybody.”
One fan told Greater Long Island he sat in over two hours of traffic from New Jersey just to be there.
“It’s just been an awesome event,” said Scott Graziano. “TNA is fantastic and they continue to show that with events like this to give back to the fans.”
The game was held the night before TNA Slammiversary, the company’s biggest event of the year, at UBS Arena.
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