TNA had its annual celebration on Pay Per View, also known as Slammiversary. This is supposed to be their version of Wrestlemania, and is the biggest event of the year. Last year they brought it to California, but this year it stayed in the Impact Zone. Personally I think they should always have their big events, such as this one, and Lockdown, on the road, but I’m sure this was a cost saving measure. Either way, on to the show.
Kurt Angle vs Kaz. Winner….Angle.
This was Angles first step in making his way up the rankings, from contender # 10, up to contender #1. In all this was a pretty decent match. They didn’t have any real time to build up any storyline, but that didn’t much matter since Kurt will be moving on from one person to the next rather quickly. I like Kaz, and if used properly he could be a future main eventer, but this match, while good, was just a stepping stone for Angle.
Douglas Williams vs Brian Kendrick. Winner…Douglas Williams
The current situation with the X-Division Championship is starting to get a little boring. I get the whole thing of Williams trying to prove to the high flyers that his style is superior, but they really need to make it a bit more interesting. Brian Kendrick did a fine job of keeping up with Williams mat based style, while still using his own high flying skills. In all, it was a decent match, which saw Williams actually use a flying DDT to get the pin. Perhaps this is the start of Williams having to resort to fighting fire with fire to keep his Title.
Madison Rayne vs Roxxi….Winner…..Madison Rayne.
My previous post was about how TNA is dropping the ball with the Knockouts Division, and this match proved my point perfectly. At the start of the match, Madison grabbed a Mic and complained how she had nothing to gain by defending her Championship against Roxxi, who has been in and out of the company for the last couple of years. So, she convinces her to put her career on the line. The match starts with Madison hitting Roxxi in the head with the Mic, and busting her open. They go on to have one of the better Knockout matches I have seen in a while, with Madison eventually getting the win. So now we have lost Roxxi, who didn’t find out about this stipulation, and her being let go by the company until she showed up at the Impact Zone that day. Its getting to the point that Madison will stay the Champion forever, since there will be no other women to defend against..
Jesse Neal vs Brother Ray……Winner….Jesse Neal.
Brother Ray seems to work best when he is being a total jackass, and you just knew when this match started out that he was going to do a swerve. He began by taking the Mic and apologizing to everybody for his actions, gave Neal a big hug and they all left the ring together. Then of course Ray turns around and clocks Neal with a sucker punch, and throws him back into the ring for his beating. And Jesse did get quite a beating. Ray delivered some of the loudest chops I have ever heard, and he lit up just about every square inch of Neals body in the process. Neal did mount some offence, but not much, until somebody appeared in the crowd. Tommy Dreamer made a surprise appearance, and the distraction was enough for Jesse to hit a Spear and pick up the win.
Matt Morgan vs Hernandez…..Winner, Matt Morgan..via DQ.
The battle of the big men part 2. Morgan comes out with a neck brace and a doctors note, and says he can’t compete tonight. Naturally as he heads up the ring to leave he is attacked by Hernandez. I have to say that Super Mex looks better than ever after taking some time off. He is leaner, and moves even better than before. The match itself wasn’t too bad, but it ended in a DQ when Hernandez just couldn’t handle the ref getting in his way, and tossed him aside. I would love to see these two continue this feud, but put them in a cage.
Abyss vs Desmond Wolfe…..Winner….Abyss
The feud between these two does not seem like it will be settled with this match. As you would expect in a Monsters Ball match, there were weapons, broken glass, and blood. Both men seemed to take a lot of punishment. But in the end, it seems that Chelsea was the deciding factor in this one. She was supposed to have a pair of brass knuckles in her purse for Wolfe, but when he opened it, they weren’t there. She pulled them out of her top, and tossed them over Wolfes head to Abyss, who used them, and a black hole slam to pick up the victory.
Jay Lethal vs A.J. Styles…..Winner…..Jay Lethal.
As you would expect, this was the show stealer. Both of these men have a tremendous amount of talent, and it was in full display in this match. Normally I would have been surprised that Lethal won, except that they are really starting to push him right now, and this story line of A.J. disappointing Flair has to continue. But still, this was a great match.
Hardy and Anderson vs Beer Money. Winners….Hardy and Anderson.
I’m not quite sure if they plan on keeping Hardy and Anderson together or not, but it seems that is the case after last night. Part of me was expecting Anderson to turn on Hardy, and show that this entire “we’re buddies” thing was just a ruse. But no such luck. Beer Money is a great team, and they always put on good matches, and this one was no different. I just hope that they will eventually stop getting jobbed out and get the Tag Titles back. But for now, both teams did a fine job, and this match was one of the better ones of the night.
Rob Van Dam vs Sting…..Winner….Rob Van Dam
I was actually wondering if Sting was going to take the Title. After all this talk, and some really good interviews that he did regarding the “Deception” in TNA. But in the end, we didn’t get any of the answers that we were promised. No veil was lifted, no revelations were made, just Sting doing his best to keep up with Van Dam. This was a fairly short match as far as main events go, which is typically the case with Sting these days. Lets face it, he is a legend, but he’s not as young as he used to be, and was only in this main event due to name recognition. In the end though, we got RVD hitting the 5 Star frog splash for the victory.
My final thoughts are, that this was an average PPV. I expected more for this being the big Anniversary Show. And our big surprise being Tommy Dreamer showing up, was a bit of a let down. Better luck next month…this was about a C+ performance.
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The TNA X-Division Title. Once upon a time it was the very cornerstone of the company itself. This was what set TNA apart from the WWE. They even went as far as using a six sided ring to give their high flyer’s more ways to pull off new and exciting moves. But that was then, and this is now. 
