*The following column was written prior to Victory Road.
Last month, TNA celebrated 8 years of their existence with “Slammiversary VIII”.
As we all know, many people have written off and criticised TNA since their inception in 2002, but throughout it all, the company has soldiered on and defied the odds. The question heading into “Slammiversary” was would TNA showcase what they are truly capable of on the night? Also, would this hold them in good stead for the future?
The event started off with a superb wrestling showcase from Kurt Angle and Kazarian. Angle was looking to “earn his spot again” in TNA after making himself the #10 ranked contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, while Kaz was eager to prove to his new mentor Ric Flair (as well as his peers) that he could “hang” with a top guy in a high-pressure, big match environment.
Kurt did everything to make Kazarian look like a star here, while the former “Suicide” more than earned his stripes by keeping up with "The Olympic Gold Medallist.”
There were near-falls aplenty, with Kaz kicking out of the “Angle Slam” and Kurt somehow raising his shoulders from the mat following Kazarian’s brutal reverse pile-driver finisher.
In the end, Kaz was forced to tap out to the “Ankle-Lock”, but generally speaking, he was no loser. This was a great showing from the youngster and here’s hoping TNA continue to capitalise on his momentum.
Another interesting bout was the “clash of styles” outing between X-Division star Brian Kendrick and “anti-X-Division” antagonist Douglas Williams.
While this wasn’t your typical X-Division match, Williams’ more grounded, technical approach worked well, with Kendrick getting in the odd bit of high-flying offence.
In the end, Doug surprised everyone by breaking out a swinging tornado DDT from the top-rope to put Kendrick away and retain his TNA X-Division Championship.
Speaking of surprises, poor Roxxi must have had the shock of her life when TNA management apparently informed her on her arrival to the building that she was being let go (again) following her TNA Knockout’s Championship Match against Madison Rayne. Indeed, Roxxi had become another victim of TNA’s cost-cutting drive, which they will continue to implement as long as they continue to lose money.
Prior to the match, Madison grabbed the microphone and goaded Roxxi into putting her career on the line (just like Tara did at Sacrifice). Roxxi accepted the challenge and then received a vicious microphone shot to the head (she was hit so hard that she actually got busted open).
Poor Roxxi was definitely “juicing a gusher” as they say, but she continued the match (the accidental blood loss actually added drama to the bout, although I can’t say it made for comfortable viewing).
Roxxi battled on and even hit Rayne with the dreaded “Voodoo Drop” (Madison, however, kicked out). Eventually, The “BP” member stunned “The Hardcore Knockout” with her rather awkward-looking leg-drop variant finisher to retain her TNA Knockouts Championship and send Roxxi into exile (again).
I thought it was such a shame when I found out later that Roxxi had left TNA for real. That last performance was truly gutsy and it’s a pity that TNA apparently didn’t have the class and good grace to tell her of her departure ahead of time (instead of on the night, how insensitive was that?).
Brother Ray VS Jesse Neal marked the first point in the PPV where things started to sag. I was actually looking forward to this “teacher VS student” match, but thanks to all the pre-match stalling (with Ray “apologising” and then tricking Brother Devon [again]); it resembled more of a drawn-out angle from “IMPACT!”
When the action finally got going, it was just Neal being the whipping boy to Ray, getting in little offence and generally getting manhandled around the ring.
The finish came suddenly when Tommy Dreamer appeared in the crowd and distracted Brother Ray. Neal then took advantage with a “Spear” for the upset win (so Dreamer was the “big surprise?” With all respect to Tommy, I doubt his name was bandied about the fan forums and rumour sites when people learned Dixie Carter had “something big” planned for “Slammiversary”).
The “IMPACT!”-style booking continued next with Matt Morgan VS Hernandez. Considering the back story (i.e. Morgan “broke Hernandez’s neck”), TNA could have allowed these two to have a super-heated and exciting grudge match, but instead they had Morgan come out in a neck-brace and waste more precious PPV time by reading out a “doctor’s note” and trying to get out of his advertised match with “Super Mex.”
The bout did go ahead, but not for long and was hampered by Morgan’s “feigning injury” actions. Amazingly, TNA had the cheek to then book a DQ finish when Hernadez shoved the referee (Brian Hebner). They then did ANOTHER “IMPACT!”-style angle when Hernandez accidentally booted the official in the face, knocking him into the guardrail.
Other referees then ran down to the area (along with Brian’s father, Senior Official Earl Hebner) to see to Hebner. Then they cut backstage to interviewer Christy Hemme (who was smiling, really you can’t make this stuff up!).
Things continued to go south with the not-too-eagerly-awaited “Monsters Ball” Match between Abyss and Desmond Wolfe (with the lovely Chelsea, who was the best part of this match). This bout featured the usual hardcore staples (well, apart from a staple-gun, ahem!), which meant it was left to Abyss to do his crazy self-harming lunatic routine in the name of entertainment.
Indeed, the masked monster received a top-rope sunset-flip power-bomb from Wolfe, which drove him back first into a barbed-wire board. Just for the record, folks, this was REAL barbed wire, as evident by the ghastly cuts and scratches on Abyss’ arms post-impact (that’s the move, not the show).
But Abyss wasn’t through yet. Soon after he took a nasty kendo-stick shot to the head and then deliberately fell FACE-FIRST into broken glass (we’ve seen some insanity in wrestling over the years, but this really took the cake).
Despite going through the proverbial wringer, Abyss managed to win the bout after Chelsea “inadvertently” tossed some brass knuckles to “The Monster” instead of Wolfe. (Well, at least Wolfe didn’t have to do a “human pin cushion” routine with thumbtacks).
I must say that Abyss’ willingness (or insistence) to put himself in some very dangerous situations and maim and mutilate his body in the name of wrestling is quite frankly, disturbing. I’m all for dedication and I think that Mick Foley was ground-breaking with what he did back in the day, but with Abyss there doesn’t appear to be much psychology to it; it’s brutality for the sake of it and in my opinion, if TNA wants to make any serious headway in the mainstream and getting anywhere close to where WWE is in “brand awareness” terms, then acts like Abyss need to go, or at least be toned down to a level that’s not off-putting to the majority of viewers (I’m not saying TNA should have a “no blood” policy like WWE. However, I think that thumbtacks, broken glass and barbed wire should be stamped out in TNA; it’s no longer shocking or entertaining (if it ever was truly fully entertaining in the first place); these gimmicks have had their day, now it’s time to move past the “Hardcore Wrestling” phase once and for all).
Thankfully, we then got back to wrestling with a fine match between AJ Styles and Jay Lethal. Lethal looked great here and seems to be poised for true stardom now that he’d dropped the always-limited Randy Savage tribute act. It was truly something to see him apply the “Figure-Four” on Styles with Ric Flair himself stood at ringside!
Lethal got the upset win after Styles fell from the top rope and got pinned with a northern lights suplex from the former “Black Machismo”.
Unfortunately, Lethal has since been booked to face Ric Flair at Victory Road. As much as Jay may love being in the ring with his boyhood idol, from a fan’s viewing perspective, the results could be hideous. Flair should not be competing in the ring at his age, he’s long past his prime.
The quality of this PPV had now picked up considerably and the good run continued with an enjoyable tag-team match pitting Jeff Hardy & Mr Anderson against Beer Money.
Hardy & Anderson proved to be a cohesive unit and had some great exchanges with Storm & Roode. Anderson had trouble getting into the match and was often read the riot act by referee Mark Johnson but in the end he and Hardy prevailed when Anderson hit the “Mic Check” on Robert Roode (somewhere in the sequence, Anderson got busted open hard-way).
Finally, Rob Van Dam defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting in a somewhat disappointing brawling-based main event that spent little time in the ring (perhaps Sting was still recovering from injury, hence the short-cuts).
Again, the arena-wide nature of the brawling made this main event seem like a (you guessed it) “IMPACT!” main event. There was also a ref bump (which often never helps) and some bat-wielding interference from Jeff Jarrett.
The action concluded when Sting missed a “Stinger Splash” in the corner and RVD hit the “Five Star Frog Splash” for the pin fall. Sting looked like he might have had the power to kick out, but to no avail.
As the show went off the air, Mike Tenay thanked the fans for their support over the past 8 years. Overall, “Slammiversary” had been another “mixed bag” from TNA; some of the wrestling was great, some of the booking was ridiculous.
On the plus side, TNA has the time and the talent to rectify the problems they currently have. We all know that this company has been about “change” in 2010, following the acquisitions of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff and for the foreseeable future, “change” will be the order of the day as Dixie Carter and co continue to find the right formula for true lasting success.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
