6/10 TNA Slammiversary PPV results and review: Bobby Roode vs. Sting for the TNA Title, WWE star Christian, the first TNA Hall of Famer revealed, Daniels and Kazarian vs. Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles for the TNA Tag Titles TNA Slammiversary
Aired live on pay-per-view
Arlington, Texas at College Park Arena
The show opened with a video that included footage from the first TNA event, and notable moments in the company's history, including the arrivals of Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan. The narrator played up that there have been ten years of unforgettable memories...
Mike Tenay and Taz introduced the show as the camera panned the building. There's a good and vocal crowd in attendance. For some reason, they spun around to show the empty seats in the hard camera section...
Powell's POV: In honor of TNA celebrating ten years, we are giving away a 10-month membership to Dot Net tonight. I will pick one winner randomly later tonight. Cut and paste the following onto your Twitter page right now: Read @Prowrestlingnet's live coverage of TNA Slammiversary at prowrestling.net #TNA10 #slammiversary
Hulk Hogan made his entrance and received a good reaction from the loud live crowd. Hogan welcomed viewers to Slammiversary. "This is a celebrating," Hogan said. "This is ten years of TNA Impact Wrestling, jack." Hogan said the next ten years are going to be twice as awesome.
Hogan said he loves pushing buttons. He said he's been around the block a few times and he wants to go old school. Hogan said the first match will be Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe. He added that the X Division Title will be on the line...
Powell's POV: The building looks good and the crowd is really hot. The lighting is excellent. Hogan didn't say much, but the crowd loved him. My only real complaint is that Hogan didn't say that Austin Aries came to him and wanted to put the title on the line. That would have made him look like more of a fighting champion. It's a small detail and Aries won't be hurt by it, but it would have been a nice touch.
1. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe for the X Division Title. There were dueling chants for the two wrestlers right away. Aries cleared Joe to ringside and was setting up for a suicide dive, but Joe caught him with a kick and then got back in the ring and went on the offensive. Aries connected on the suicide dive a couple minutes later and got a big rise out of the hot crowd. The dueling chants started again.
Aries was going for a brainbuster when Joe avoided it and slammed him down with a great powerbomb. Joe rolled Aries over and applied a Boston crab and then applied a crossface. Aries got out of the hold, but Joe remained the aggressor. Later, Aries and Joe fought on the ropes. Aries pushed Joe down and followed up with a great 450 splash for an excellent near fall.
At 10:00, Joe applied the rear naked choke. Aries arched back and turned it into a pin for another excellent near fall. At 10:30, Joe caught Aries with a one-armed slam in the corner and then played to the crowd. Joe tried to go for the Muscle Buster, but Aries countered with a wild crucifix slam.
Aries blasted Joe with a kick, a forearm, and an awesome running dropkick in the corner. Aries hit the Brainbuster and scored the clean pin in the middle of the ring. After the match, Joe, who had a bloody nose, stood up and smiled while fist-bumping Aries. Austin left the ring and started to talk into the camera about being the best, but they cut away...
Austin Aries defeated Samoa Joe to retain the X Division Title in 11:45.
Powell's POV: That was truly awesome. Both wrestlers worked their asses off and the live crowd was hot for everything they did. Here's hoping we get more from those two. There's no reason that couldn't be a big television main event with the right buildup. For that matter, if TNA positioned the X Division Title properly and gave them more in-ring time, that would be more than suitable as a pay-per-view main event. Maybe we'll get it again at the Destination X pay-per-view since the plan at last check was to feature the X Division again.
?Footage aired from around the Arlington, Texas area... The announcers spoke at ringside and pointed out a radio deejay who won a contest to be the guest timekeeper. Taz mocked him for not dressing up...
2. Kid Kash vs. Hernandez. The crowd mellowed out as the match started due to the opening match. Kash worked over Hernandez's arm early on. Hernandez came back and hit his big dive over the top rope onto Kash on the floor. Back inside the ring, Hernandez went for the Border Toss, but Kash escaped.
Kash caught Hernandez on the ropes and fought him, but Hernandez got the better of it and pushed him down to the mat. Hernandez followed up with a top rope splash and got the clean pin...
Hernandez defeated Kid Kash in 5:50.
Powell's POV: Fine for what it was. The live crowd warmed up to it and were fairly vocal considering hot hot they were for the previous match and, more importantly, that neither guy has been on television lately. There was no sign of Sarita or Rosita, and Hernandez played to the live crowd as a babyface during the match.
The announcers aired moment No. 3 in TNA history - A.J. Styles defeating Jerry Lynn to become the first X Division Champion...
3. Devon and Garett Bischoff vs. Robbie E and Robbie T. There were some "You can't wrestle" chants early on when Garett and Robbie were in the ring. The fans followed up with a "We Want Devon" chant, leaving little doubt as to whom the chants were directed at. Madison Rayne walked onto the stage as the announcers questioned who she has a crush on. Is she 16?
Powell's POV: Let the record show that Earl Hebner was once again in the ring when Madison came out to watch her mystery man. Okay, so it's probably Garett, but a bizarre Earl and Madison relationship is more appealing in a strange way.
Devon took a hot tag from Garett at 4:30. The crowd fired up for his offensive flurry on Robbie E. Devon went for the cover at one point, but Robbie T broke it up. A short time later, Garett dove onto Robbie T with a painful looking cross body block off the ring apron, and then Devon hit a spinebuster on Robbie E for the win. Devon and Garett danced afterwards...
Devon and Garett Bischoff defeated Robbie E and Robbie T.
Powell's POV: The person or persons who thought it would be cool if Devon and Garett danced together after the match was dead wrong. Madison should immediately reconsider if she has the hots for either one of them.
Tenay turned it over to Jeremy Borash backstage and noted that he's been with the company since day one. Borash brought in Christopher Daniels and Kazarian and noted that they've been with the company for nine of the ten years. Daniels handed Borash a glass and and toasted himself and Kazarian...
Mr. Anderson's music played and he made his entrance sporting darker, shorter hair. Apparently, his biggest fan in the world is in the building because I couldn't help but notice the one guy jumping up and down like a lunatic when his music started. Anderson did his usual entrance routine and the live crowd joined in...
4. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam in a three-way match to earn a TNA Title shot. Hardy flipped a coin and followed as it rolled behind him and then back in front of him. He then attacked Van Dam to start the match. RVD went for an early monkey flip, but Anderson shoved him down to the mat.
A few minutes later, Van Dam performed the monkey flip on Anderson and propelled him onto Hardy. RVD went for a cover, but Anderson reached up and grabbed the bottom rope. Van Dam stopped to play to the crowd with his RVD thumb point routine. Anderson followed up with a backslide moments later. Hardy dropped split-legged onto Van Dam's legs for a simultaneous pin, only to have Van Dam kick out. Cool spot.
Just before 9:00, Hardy dove from the top rope onto both of his opponents on the floor, which drew a TNA chant. With Anderson on the floor, Hardy and Van Dam squared off in the ring. Hardy got the better of it with a Whisper in the Wind for a near fall. Taz said there was no wasted motion by Hardy.
Hardy got Van Dam down and removed his shirt. He kicked Anderson through the ropes and then hit the Swanton on Van Dam. Hardy went for the cover, but Anderson reached in and pulled on the referee to break up the count. Anderson threw Hardy aggressively through the ropes. Van Dam went for Rolling Thunder, but Anderson caught him with the Mic Check and scored the clean pin. After the match, Anderson looked into the camera and said, "Bobby, I'm coming for you"...
Mr. Anderson defeated Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy in a three-way in 11:35 to earn a TNA Title shot.
Powell's POV: A fun spot fest with all three men working hard and a live crowd that was receptive to the high spots. The fans weren't given any incentive to root for one man over the other, so most fans just seemed to pop for the hight spots and enjoyed the action. If Roode wins then I'm sure people will say Anderson spoiled the main event finish with his line at the end. He really should have said the names of Roode and Sting, but I can live with it since Roode is the current champion.
Backstage, Borash interviewed Crimson, who said it doesn't matter who accepts his open challenge because he will never be beaten...
Crimson made his entrance and cut a promo about how he could beat anyone, including Texas Rangers. After the promo, there was a long pause. A loud "Goldberg" chant broke out. James Storm's entrance song played and the crowd cheered...
5. Crimson vs. James Storm. Storm and Crimson brawled right away. Crimson made a comeback, but Storm caught him with the Codebreaker. Storm followed up with the superkick and scored the clean pin. Storm shook up beer bottles and sprayed some into the crowd during his post-match celebration. He also poured some onto Crimson at ringside...
James Storm pinned Crimson in 2:10.
Powell's POV: I mentioned this possibility in my predictions article earlier today. It was a cool moment as the crowd was hot for Storm making his return and they seemed to forget about Bill Goldberg immediately. The bad news is that they blew off the Crimson unbeaten streak without getting much out of it.
Backstage, Borash interviewed Austin Aries, who said he wants to be the man who sets the bar that everyone else has to reach for. "Quite simply, I want to be in the main event and I will do whatever it takes to get there"...
The No. 2 moment in TNA history is Hulk Hogan joining the company...
Dixie Carter was introduced. She headed to the ring and hyped that this was the largest TNA live crowd in the United States. She thanked her parents, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, Spike TV, their partners in and out of the United States, and the fans. She said they love the word wrestling and are very proud of it.
Dixie thanked every wrestler who has ever stepped foot inside the ring and said they are a huge part of the success. She said they have the best wrestlers in the world and called for the wrestlers to come onto the stage. A.J. Styles was the first guy out and the announcers played that up.
Dixie introduced the first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame. A Sting video package aired.
Sting made his entrance and joined Carter in the ring. "Thank you, Sting," the fans chanted. Dixie said that's the same chant Sting gets everywhere. The fans started a loud "Yes!" chant briefly. Dixie said Sting joined the company and it was only supposed to be for one year, but she asked him to stay on. She said it keeps going that way. Dixie said they will have the formal induction at Bound For Glory. Dixie handed the mic to Sting and another loud "Thank you, Sting" chant broke out.
Sting said he's not prepared. He thought he was just going to wrestle. He said the fans keep saying thank you, but he wants to be the one to say thank you. He thanked Dixie, the wrestlers on the stage, and did his own "thank you" chant for the fans. Sting said he's tried to entertain the fans since he arrived in Nashville. "And hopefully tonight, no, you know something, tonight it will be showtime," Sting concluded...
Powell's POV: This was my original assumption. I figured Sting would get the nod until he told everyone he didn't think he should go in first and seemed like he didn't want the honor. I'm fine with the idea of a TNA Hall of Fame as long as it's something exclusive to the company. It feels like a pat on the back to someone who has meant a lot within the TNA bubble, not an attempt to play this up as being bigger than WWE or an attempt to show up WWE by inducting Randy Savage or Bruno Sammartino. It's an acknowledgement of someone who has helped the company and that's all it should be this early in the company's history. 32 percent of our poll voters felt it should be Jeff Jarrett (poll leader). It's hard to argue with it since he's the founder, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he goes in.
6. Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher for the TNA Knockouts Title. The crowd was flat early on as Gail went on the offensive. The woke up a little when she stopped and blew them a kiss. Tenay and Taz praised longtime employees Keith Mitchell and Bob Ryder for their work behind the scenes. They also acknowledged that this is a homecoming for Tessmacher.
Brooke started her comeback around 5:00. Gail pushed her out of the corner, but Brooke dropkicked her. There was a badly botched spot that followed. Gail played it off as a veteran should by laughing as if she did something to stop Tessmacker's move. Gail went for Tessmacher's finisher. Brooke slid through Gail's legs and rolled her up for the pin.
After the match, Christy Hemme interviewed Tessmacher on the floor and asked how it felt to win the title in her home state of Texas, which drew a big cheer from the fans. Brooke spoke about how she never thought she'd make it to this moment and concluded with, "God Bless Texas"...
Brooke Tessmacher defeated Gail Kim to win the TNA Knockouts Title in 7:00.
Powell's POV: I was worried they were going to do this just to have a title change on the show and/or because it's Tessmacher's home state. Tessmacher is the most charismatic young babyface in the division and they really should have built to to that rather than just having Brooke win a four-way to earn the title shot and take the title days later. The botched spot created a big lull and the finish didn't go off well. Unfortunately, this was the low point of the show thus far.
Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviewed Bully Ray, who said the contract that Joseph Park says he is not responsible if Park is injured. Ray said he may have been wrong when he thought he left Abyss for dead. "If Abyss shows up tonight, I swear to God that I won't be wrong twice"...
A video recapped the Bully Ray, Abyss, and Joseph Park storyline...
7. Bully Ray vs. Joseph Park. Park walked out wearing a jogging suit and looked nervous. There was a "Joseph Park" chant followed by a "Yankees Suck" chant directed at Ray. The fans then broke into a "Let's Go Rangers" chant with "Yankees suck" in between. The bell rang and Park kept his jacket zipped up, but removed his glasses.
Ray slapped Park, who sheepishly backed into the corner. Ray called him a coward. Ray charged at Park, who moved out of the way and then slapped Ray, who sold it before and after knocking Park to the mat. "Come on, lawyer boy," Ray said while stepping on Park. A "New York" chant broke out. "That's not very nice," Taz said.
Ray went to ringside and grabbed a chair, but Park stopped him from using it. Park looked to the crowd and picked up the chair. He looked for their approval to use it. Ray took advantage and knocked him down. Ray picked up the chair and slammed it over Park's back twice.
Later, Ray yelled "New York City" before jumping off the second rope. Park moved and the crowd roared. Park threw punches at Ray. The worst shoulder block in history (at least since one Konnan threw years ago that I referred to as the worst in history) was thrown as the wrestlers basically walked together and Ray took a bump. Oops.
Ray came back with a big boot to the head. He went to ringside and slid a table, a kendo stick, and handcuffs inside the ring. An ECW chant broke out. Ray set up the table and went to use the kendo stick, but Park stopped him. Park looked to the crowd again and once again was cut down because he made the mistake of looking at the crowd. Taz said it's because he's like a little kid who sees bright lights and gets distracted.
Park rolled under the ring after taking the elbow. Abyss emerged from the other side of the ring. "What the..." Ray said. Abyss, who kept his back to the camera, chokeslammed Ray through the table and then crawled back underneath the ring. Park emerged from the other side of the ring, returned to the ring, and pinned Bully Ray...
Joseph Park defeated Bully Ray in 10:25.
Powell's POV: "Abyss" kept his hood on and never turned his face toward the camera, so it looks like we had a stand-in. I was ready for the story to end here but no such luck. I think they're dragging it out and it's going to overstay its welcome. That said, this was booked nicely with Park making rookie mistakes at some points and Ray taking him lightly other times. Tenay and Taz did a really nice job with their call of the match and did a nice job explaining why certain things were happening.
Hulk Hogan made his second entrance of the night and said he had one more surprise for the fans. He asked the fans to give it up for Christian Cage. Christian walked onto the stage and shook hands with Hogan. Christian walked down the ramp and received a good reaction from the crowd. Taz asked if he was the only one who was shocked to see him. He asked if Tenay knew about this one. Tenay said he did.
Powell's POV: Taz lost me there. Put it over as a big deal, but don't act shocked by something the president of the freaking company teased on her Twitter page and was on the front page of the TNA website.
Christian entered the ring and there were a combination of "Welcome back" and "Please come back" chants. He said he'd been asked all week whether the rumors were true that he would appear at Slammiversary. Another "Yes!" chant broke out. He counted the four corners of the ring and said the last time he was there there were a few more corners.
He said that even though the ring may have changed, the venues might change, and some of the faces who walk down the stage may change, the fans are the one thing that doesn't change. He encouraged the fans in the building and the fans at home watching to stand up and give themselves a round of applause.
Christian said the fans voted for the top ten moments in TNA history, and he was there to reveal the No. 1 moment in company history. "Roll it," Christian said. The No. 1 moment was Sting's debut with the company...
Powell's POV: That was a cool moment and it's good to see TNA got something in return for allowing Ric Flair to attend the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. Here's hoping that there aren't too many bridges burned by the TNA lawsuit against WWE because it would be nice if the two sides could occasionally work together for Hall of Fame purposes. I also wonder whether one of the reasons TNA inducted Sting this year was because they wanted to beat WWE to the punch.
A video set up the TNA Tag Title match... As the tag champions were heading to the ring, Taz said he needs to pay more attention to Carter's tweets....
8. Christopher Daniels and Kazarian vs. A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle for the TNA Tag Titles. Styles showed good intensity in going after Daniels to start, which was the way it should be given their storyline. Styles also did a cool slide under the guardrail at ringside early in the match. However, the heels went on the offensive and worked over Styles for several minutes by using rapid fire tags.
Angle tagged in around 8:00 and worked over the heels. He suplexed Daniels into a pin, but Kazarian broke it up. Angle hit two German suplexes on Kazrian. He went for a third, but Kazarian held onto Daniels, who had ahold of the ropes. Styles kicked Kazarian off the ropes and then Angle suplexed them both in a crowd-pleasing spot.
At 10:00, Styles flipped off the ropes and caught Kazarian in reverse DDT position. He kicked Daniels and DDT'd him while also performing the reverse DDT on Kazarian. Angle continued to suplex both opponents repeatedly. Late in the match, Styles took out Daniels with a springboard flip dive onto Daniels on the floor. Back inside the ring, Angle put Kazarian in the ankle lock. Kaz reached for the ropes, but eventually tapped out...
Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles defeated Christopher Daniels and Kazarian to win the TNA Tag Titles in 14:25.
Powell's POV: Damn! That was a hell of a match and I lost a minute or two of it due to a storm killing my satellite reception. Where were these storms during the bad pay-per-view moments over the last ten years?!? As much as I enjoyed the opener, that was the match of the night. I questioned the decision to move the tag titles at this point because Daniels and Kazarian, who are going to be very sore in the morning from all those suplexes, need those belts so much more than Angle and Styles do. It made for a really good pay-per-view moment, but the long term is more important. That said, there might be a storyline reason for it, and Daniels and Kazarian are clicking as a duo so perhaps they'll be okay without the straps for a bit. I suspect they'll get the belts back sooner rather than later.
A video set up the main event... The announcers ran through the tale of the tape briefly and then Tenay ran through the bullet points...
Sting made his entrance. Bobby Roode made his entrance. Jeremy Borash handled the in-ring introductions for the main event...
9. Bobby Roode vs. Sting for the TNA Title. Roode backed out of the ring a couple times. The ref was finally able to call for the bell. Roode darted to ringside two more times. Sting followed the second time. They headed back inside the ring, where Roode got the better of Sting until Sting came back with a bick kick. Roode took a powder again. Sting chased him and rammed him into the guardrail.
Roode took offensive control and the pace was slow. Sting made a brief comeback but he ran into a Roode boot in the corner. Well, actually he stopped short of the boot and it didn't look good, but no major harm done. Roode locked in a sleeper. The crowd rallied behind Sting by chanting his name.
Sting caught Roode on the ropes and performed a superlex. Sting applied the Scoropion Death Lock at 7:40. Roode grimaced and teased tapping a couple times. He eventually reached the ropes. Tenay did a nice job of teasing that Roode was on the verge of tapping via his match call.
They headed to ringside with Roode running away. Sting caught him and rammed him into the guardrail. Tenay said the guardrail has been Sting's favorite weapon during the match. The fans chanted "You've still got it," to Sting as he rolled Roode back in the ring. Roode rolled out the other side of the ring and walked to the guardrail. Sting ran at him and performed the Stinger splash on the guardrail.
At 10:15, Sting applied the Scorpion Leg Lock on the announcers' table at ringside. Roode tapped out. Taz pointed out that it didn't count on the floor as the referee waved it off. A short time later, Roode grabbed some of James Storm's beer that was still by the announcers' table for reasons that only Vince Russo, er, TNA creative knows.
Roode brought the beer inside the ring. He tried to slam a bottle over Sting's head, but Sting blocked it. Sting grabbed one of the bottles and wound up to use it, but the referee stopped him. The ref carried the bottle to ringside. Roode picked up one of the other bottles and struck Sting with it. Sting bled. Roode made the cover and the referee made the three count...
Bobby Roode defeated Sting to retain the TNA Title in 11:25.
After the match, Sting recovered quickly and clotheslined Roode to the floor. Sting knocked the referee down and then went to work on Roode on the floor. They went to the stage, where Sting rammed Roode off a lighting structure. Sting followed up by performing the Scorpion Death Drop off the stage and through a table on the floor, which drew blood from the back of Sting's head and a "Holy sh*t" chant from the crowd. Sting paced to close the show...
Powell's POV: Why?!? On a night when TNA produced a good pay-per-view event and looked as big league and professional as ever, they apparently felt the need to pay tribute to all of the sh!tty finishes they've subjected their pay-per-view buyers to over the years. Brian Hebner looks like the dumbest TNA referee ever for carrying one bottle to ringside while there were others still in the ring. Then he made the count on broken glass. It's absolutely ridiculous and it's such a shame because this was a strong pay-per-view effort that was soiled by such a stupid main event finish.
Overall, if you can get the bad taste out of your mouth from the main event, you can be satisfied with your purchase of this show. The opening match and the tag title match were excellent. The live crowd was great and the look and feel of the show were excellent, especially by TNA standards. What's worse is that it looks like we'll get more Roode vs. Sting at some point. Sting has a place in TNA, but it's not in the TNA Title matches.
