Monday, March 18, 2024
EditorialTNA Slammiversary Review

TNA Slammiversary Review

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It has been dark days for TNA Wrestling lately. With financial problems, talent issues, production issues, huge creative issues and no real direction or forward planning, forgive me for thinking this PPV was anything but much watch. With most of the matches announced in the last week and no real build up towards the PPV, this show can be seen as a throw away show by any decent wrestling fan. The card on paper isn’t too bad but as I sat down to watch Slammiversary I really wasn’t expecting much considering what has been happening in the last few months.

The last week in fact has been a wash with TNA news, mostly bad. Kurt Angle, the current Champion, revealed he was working with a serious health issue. Many talents have been rumoured to be parting ways from TNA, from the hard working Austin Aries to James Storm who has been with the company since its birth. Rumours of unhappy production team, who reportedly haven’t been paid, also clogged up the twitter feed in the last few days. Could the PPV give TNA fans any hope of a recovery?

DJ Z vs Manik vs Tigre Uno.


The show opened with an awesome video package, showing big and memorable moments from TNAs history. With no build up, the X division title was up for grabs first as newly crowned champ Tigre Uno took on DJ Z and Manik. It was a smart way to start off the PPV, with a high flying, high octane match to get the crowd and the fans at home into it. The former Zema Ion was on top form and Manik was dependable as ever, But it was the champ who always seemed off the pace. I liken Tigre Uno to the little engine that could: as he tries his heart out but always seems to miss time moves and is just not as polished as his opponents here. Hopefully he can improve as he gets older but he’s not ready to be the divisions champion yet in my eyes. Was a decent match in which Uno retained.

3 stars

Jessie Godderz vs Robbie E


The next bout was former saw the former Bros going at it. The match was preceded by a promo by Jessie who is now doing a Chris Masters gimmick. I’m not a fan of Jesse in this role and I fear it will bomb. Robbie E is not face I want to get behind, he is a decent heel but that’s it. I feel these two shouldn’t have broken up but I guess they are pushing Godderz in the heel role hoping he can be the new EC3 for the upper mid card. That being said, the match was good, as both had plenty of hunger and passion to put on a good match. I didn’t like the ending though, it came to suddenly and it came off a bit flat. Decent match overall

2 stars

Bram versus Matt Morgan


I’m not a Bram fan at all. I don’t see the big deal about this guy. He looks scruffy and in need of a good wash. On the other side we have the returning Matt Morgan. Matt Morgan coming back and Tenay calling him a young prospect was laughable. I was never going to be into this match and funnily enough I wasn’t. Morgan fell through his pre match promo calling it to be a street fight and the match was as good as Morgan’s promo skills. The match had no flow and the crowd didn’t seem into it. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Bram took about 10 minutes to find a weapon under the apron. I was happy to see the back of this one.

1 star

Austin Aries vs Davey Richards

I always expected this to steal the show and it did. Austin Aries and Davey clicked and as usual put on a very enjoyable match. Its a damn shame for TNA that Austin Aries is gone soon and he will be sorely missed. The guy can work and can have a good match with anyone. He and Richards put on a nice display with some decent spots. Aries got the win with a roll up after a distraction by Roode and sets up a 30 minute iron man match with The Wolves on Wednesday. Its a pity that I know Aries is gone as it will weaken the match enjoyment a tad but I still look forward to it.

3 ¾ stars

Brooke and Kong vs The Dollhouse

I was dreading this match but in reality it wasn’t too bad. I was expecting worse but thankfully it was a passable match. It was basically a tag match as Taryn didn’t enter the match once. I’m not a fan of The Dollhouse gimmick and the less I see the better. Brooke got the win.

1/1/4 stars

James Storm v Magnus

I hated the build up to this match; the whole Mickie/Magnus/Storm triangle was a mess and a joke of an angle, highlighted best when Mickie was pushed onto the train tracks by Storm. The match itself was fine as brawls go but I disliked the finish which smelled of Apollo v Rocky. Overall it was a fun brawl, with decent spots throughout and much better than the Bram Morgan match earlier. Both men gave it a lot of effort and I just hope this feud is done now with both men reportedly leaving.

3 stars

EC3 and Tyrus vs Lashley and Mr Anderson.

Another match with no real build up and I was already looking past this to Angle v EC3 at Bell2Bell. The commentary went before the match started and it didn’t help the matches cause what so ever. It had a throw away/filler match feel to it and the crowd didn’t care either. Shocking to see how Lashley was booked last year in contrast to this year. EC3 and Tyrus picked up the win with Lashley counting the lights.

KOTM Match : matt Hardy v EY v Bobby Roode v Jeff Jarrett v Drew Galloway.

The match was always a confusing concept and the commentary team did nothing to help this fact, as they constantly got confused of this gimmick match’s rules. The match itself had no build up until Wednesday, with no wrestlers announced to compete until Jeff Jarrett returned, entered the match and gave this match some intrigue. The 4 TNA guys tried to stop Jarrett at all costs during the match which was a fun little tale told. Some nice spots through out too, with Drew being involved in first a sick DDT to Hardy on the ladder then a brave dive off the penalty box. EY then nailed Jarrett head first off the apron with a vicious piledriver, certain to give Jeff a head injury of some sort. To Jarrett’s credit, he can still go for a man almost hitting 50. Jarrett eventually and predictably came through to win the match and claiming the new KOTM title. I’m guessing he’s taking that title to Global Force.

2 ¾ stars

To summarise it was what it was what it was. The matches went how I expected on paper, nothing mind blowing, some awful matches and some good and passable matches. There’s much worse TNA PPVs out there in yesterday land but that being said there’s nothing on this show to suggest TNA are on the road to recovery, actually far from it with the departing talent and pay issues. I still fear the worst in relation to TNAs future but this was a watchable show. It could have been so much better though with some pre planning and a better build and at the same time it could have been so much worse considering the state of the company.

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