"The Icon" Sting faces Bully Ray for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship while Jeff Hardy makes his return against Aces & Eights as he teams with Samoa Joe and Brutus Magus. Taryn Terrell faces Gail Kim in a Last Man Standing Match. Kenny King defends the X-Division Championship in an Ultimate X Match against Chris Sabin and Suicide.
Sounds like a good line-up, right? Let's see if the results match up to how awesome this sounds on paper.
Ultimate X Match - Chris Sabin def. Kenny King vs. Suicide to become NEW TNA X-Division Champion
This was a stellar way to start this year's Slammiversary event. For those who are not aware, it's not Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, nor Kiyoshi underneath the mask of Suicide. This time it's TJ Perkins, who is known for portraying Puma for the company in the past. He's a natural fit to the role and definitely didn't manage to skip a beat with Kenny King and Chris Sabin's in-ring chemistry.While I'm glad to see Chris Sabin as X-Division champ again, I must admit the finish of the match was a bit questionable. They rung the bell and named Sabin the winner before he even got down with the title. Call me old fashioned but I thought you had to land on the floor with the belt in your possession before being named the winner?
Whatever... It was still an amazing match from start to finish. I could do without Hulk Hogan stealing Sabin's thunder after winning the title though. No one wants to see his disfigured hand.
"The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe, Brutus Magnus, and "The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy (return) def. Aces & Eights (DOC Mr. Anderson, Garrett Bischoff, and Wes Brisco)
Before this match started, Hulk Hogan literally called the members of Aces & Eights pussies in leather... I guess Hogan wants to drive it home that TNA's product isn't PG like Papa Vince's...From the second that it was announced on Impact last Thursday that Jeff Hardy was coming back we knew this was going to be a no-brainer. In a bizarre turn of events, Jeff Hardy got the pin after hitting the Swanton Bomb even though he wasn't even the legal man in this tag team affair. (Shrugs shoulders) Who needs logic during a Jeff Hardy match?
On a side note, why aren't TNA pushing Samoa Joe and Magnus in the tag team division instead of a weak filler match like this? At this rate, Wes and Garrett need to be wearing those "THUG 1" and "THUG 2" shirts from the nameless henchmen on the old Adam West Batman TV series. As part of Aces & Eights, those clowns are as irrelevant as ever.
Gutcheck Tournament Final - Jay Bradley def. Sam Shaw to earn a spot in 2013 BFG Series
Bathroom break match... Moving on.
Seriously, this could have been the pre-show match on YouTube or on Impact last week. A complete waste of air time.
I hope Jay Bradley does well in the BFG series as TNA has done a lackluster job of pushing and promoting their Gutcheck winners. At this rate, there's really no point on continuing the concept if they all disappear mysteriously after winning a TNA contract, only to suffer in developmental hell.
Joseph Park "The Monster" Abyss def. Devon to become NEW TNA Television Champion
Devon and Mike Knox beat up and bloodied Joseph Park pretty bad during the backstage segment before the match even started, so we all knew that Clark Kent was going to hop into that phonebook and come out as Superman to clean house. Abyss came out and made short work of Devon and Knox, winning the title with ease.Dethroning Devon as TV champ was long past due. I can understand that TNA wants to keep both Bully Ray and Devon happy since they resigned to new contracts a while back, but Devon as champ isn't doing their ratings any favors for the midcard scene in TNA.
Kurt Angle inducted into the 2013 TNA Hall of Fame
Definitely the biggest shocker of the night. While the Olympic Gold Medalist's merits in TNA Wrestling are spectacular, I can't help but be skeptical of this decision. Kurt Angle has mentioned in several interviews that he hasn't ruled out a WWE comeback or retirement run in that company. Didn't Dixie Carter just pull this same stunt a few years back when Sting was considering to jump ship to play for Vince McMahon and fight The Undertaker at WrestleMania?Plus, you have to wonder why TNA Wrestling is constantly avoiding naming Jeff Jarrett as a Hall of Fame inductee.
"Cowboy" James Storm & Gunner def. Bad Influence (Daniels & Kazarian), Chavo & Hernandez, and Roode & Aries to become NEW TNA Tag Team Champions
Bad Influence (Daniels and Kazarian) get eliminated by DQ first after Daniels uses the tag team belts as a weapon while the Tag Team Champs (Chavo & Hernandez) are eliminated shortly afterwards via pinfall. Roode and A Double put on a decent fight but after Gunner and James Storm picked up the momentum, it didn't leave their hands at all. This was a decent tag team match, but not as good as I was expecting going in.I have to wonder what TNA is going to do with strapping Storm with the belts after he was set to take 6 to 8 weeks off to heal an injury. I know TNA employees are no strangers in working hurt and banged up, but it just seems pretty random to strap him and Gunner with the tag team belts so soon.
Last Man Knockout Standing Match - Taryn Terrell def. Gail Kim
In terms of the brutality that's come to be expected from a Last Man Standing Match, this one was pretty tame. Taryn's still pretty green but she's definitely growing into her own after this one. I was expecting Gail Kim to carry her throughout this contest from start to finish but Taryn managed to hold her own. It was interesting to see steel chairs being used in a mainstream women's wrestling match. I found it to be hilarious that Gail Kim had Taryn's vicious spears scouted at every turn and had a counter for every attempt.The biggest highlight for this match for me was Gail Kim attempting a Piledriver on the ramp before it was countered into a Botchamania-worthy bulldog or RKO off the ramp and down to the floor to end the match. You never see women go for a Piledriver in mainstream wrestling nowadays. It's been well over a decade since we've seen women in either WWE or TNA even consider using that move in their offense. It played well to the narrative that this match told as it showed what lengths Gail Kim was willing to go to showcase her hatred of Taryn.
Kurt Angle def. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles. 'Nuff said. You knew this was going to be good going in. Before Kurt's TNA Hall of Fame induction, I figured Styles would be a shoe in to win this to continue to push his heel turn, but no dice. There was no way TNA was going to allow the newest Hall of Fame inductee lose on induction night.I guess emo Peter Parker has to work harder to win that big one when it counts most.
For the love of all things holy, can TNA stop relying on school boys and roll-ups for the finishes to 95% of their matches? Sheesh, that shit is getting REALLY old.
No Holds Barred - "The President of Aces & Eights" Bully Ray def. "The Icon" Sting to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship -- If The Icon Loses He Cannot Challenge for the Heavyweight title EVER again
At this rate, I'm fed up of Sting in the main event scene. Bully Ray threatened to use the infamous Piledriver to defeat The Icon tonight. Boy, did Bully Ray deliver. He hit the Piledriver TWICE on the Stinger, but it's getting harder and harder to fathom that a 50+ year old man still has it in him to kick out of this much abuse. I think everyone watching at home got a kick out of the ECW chants as Bully Ray was tearing the ring apart to expose the ring and remove the padding. I have to give TNA props on that spot as you don't see mainstream wrestling getting innovative like that to hardcore spots anymore. I know the average wrestling fans from the Monday Night Wars (Attitude Years, ECW in its prime, etc.) are pretty much desensitized when it comes to violence on wrestling but it's pretty cool to see something that rare being executed in the main event. Much like with the Last Man Standing match earlier on the card, it helped weave a more powerful narrative. Bully Ray didn't want to just beat the Stinger, but cripple him for that he would never stand in his way ever again.
My biggest issue with the end result is that the entire TNA locker room stand idly by and let Sting take on Aces & Eights solo without any assistance to say how much Hulk Hogan preaches about how they all need to band together and take back their company. Wake-up call, TNA, one man can't do it solo. I don't know about anyone else but I wasn't buying into Sting's Cena-esque moment of powering up against the odds to dispose of all of them alone. It was portrayed as if everyone banked on Sting doing it solo without the need of any help while everyone on the roster literally forgot that Bully Ray commands Aces & Eights at his beckoning and call.
I would've had the locker room empty out to fight off Aces & Eights since this is a No Holds Barred Match (no DQ after all and Sting vaguely used the stipulation to his advantage...) and then have everyone else forget about Devon and Anderson for the last two spots for the finish. Other than that, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
Overall, from start to finish I will grade this with a strong A-. The Tag Team and Heavyweight title matches were a bit too questionable for my taste to rate this any higher. Other than that, this was a pretty good PPV by TNA standards from top to bottom.
Post a Comment