Report by: pwinsider.com
Slammiversary opened with a really cool video of Bully Ray taking over a historical package on TNA and making it all about destroying and disrupting TNA. Great stuff.
It looked like they had an awesome crowd live.
Ultimate X: TNA X-Division champion Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin vs. Suicide.
The announcers noted it was the 30th Ultimate X match. Sounds like it’s time for an Anthology DVD set.
King backed out of the ring, telling the others to fight amongst themselves. They instead chased him into the ring. He ended up caught between the two and worked over with a double hiptoss and a series of chops. Sabin was obviously the crowd favorite early.
Suicide hit a springboard into a takedown on his opponents. He tried to scramble up but King nailed Sabin and then took out Suicide. Sabin returned with a spinkick but was caught with a t-bone suplex. Sabin and King battled in the corner as Sucide tried to recover.
Suicide caught Sabin with a back suplex. He then did a rana like move that drove King’s head into the mat. Sabin grabbed Suicide for a suplex. Sabin nailed a tornado DDT out of the corner, kicking Suicide off in the process. He suplexed King atop of Suicide and started climbing to the top but was pulled down by Suicide.
Sabin was run into the buckles by Suicide but was pulled down. Suicide hit a nice series of moves where his opponents were tied up with each other physically. He went to the cables but was pulld down by King. King went to the top but was nailed with a headbutt.
Suicide went for a superplex but Sabin nailed him and instead drilled King with a fisherman’s buster. He looked like he almost lost him. Suicide slipped under Sabin and nailed an Electric Chair. King legdropped Suicide and went to the cables.
King tried to make it across but was pulled down. He and Suicide went back and forth but Sabin nailed an enziguiri. They went into a hot series of moves going back and forth, leaving all three spent and exhausted in the ring. The crowd chanted for TNA.
Suicide faked Sabin out and tried to do a dive. Sabin and King escaped but Suicide hit an awesome springboard dropkick on them both on the floor. They returned to the ring and teased a Tower of Doom but Sabin instead tied them up in the corner and tried to climb to the cables. Suicide grabbed him and nailed a superplex into the ring, wiping King out as well.
King and Suicide made it to the cables and made it to the belt. King knocked Suicide off by grabbing at the mask. Sabin made it over and pulled King off the ropes. He then grabbed and released the belt to win. Sabin, who was bleeding hardway from the head, is your winner.
Your winner and new X-Division champion, Chris Sabin!
Real fun opener with some crazy bumps and a really high energy pace in the ring.
After replays, they showed Sabin on the stage and he had a lot of blood on him from the hardway show. Hulk Hogan came out and raised his hand. He said that he wanted Sabin to hear what the Boston Hulkamaniacs sound like. The crowd popped. Hogan said he wanted to give Sabin his props because he’s been in Boston for years and he knows that Boston loves champions like Sabin. He said that every time Sabin comes out, the crowd is going to cheer him just as loud as the first time Hulk beat up Andre the Giant. Hogan said Sabin was the future and pointed out the X-Division champ would have a chance to challenge the TNA champion this summer. He said that he loved Sabin and said congratulations. Cool way to put Sabin over.
Hogan came into the ring alone and said now it’s time for some Hulk Hogan business. He said they needed to talk about what was going down tonight. Out came Aces & Eights, led by Ken Anderson. Anderson mocked Hogan and Boston. Hogan said Boston and he aren’t afraid of ghosts, terrorists or p***ies. Yes, he said the third one. He said that Joseph Park would take out Devon and start the ball rolling tonight. Bischoff started going off on Hogan and Hogan told him “you’re a b*tch and your old man is a b*tch.” Hogan then told them they were going to have a six man now.
So, Anderson is replacing Doc in the bout.
Magnus & Samoa Joe & Jeff Hardy vs. Aces & Eights
Anderson and Hardy started. Anderson cut him off early and whipped him into the corner and chopped him. Hardy came back with a big forearm off the ropes and a cruncher legdrop into a dropkick. Anderson backed into the corner and tagged out to Wes Brisco.
Hardy kept control over Brisco, who quickly tagged out to Bischoff. Bischoff was worked over and locked in an arm wringer. Samoa Joe tagged in and stomped and beat the hell out of Bischoff as the place went nuts. Bischoff cut him off and went for a dive off the ropes into a shoulderblock. Joe walked away and shook his head, leaving Bischoff to crash and burn. That was great.
Joe worked over Bischoff who tagged out to Anderson. Anderson was controlled and slammed. Joe nailed a back senton splash. Magnus tagged out and nailed a fall away slam for a two count. Anderson tried to cut him off and locked in a armbar.
Anderson continued to work over Anderson’s arm. Brisco tagged in and slammed him. Brisco cinched in an armbar. Aces & Eights started tagging in and out working over Magnus. Brisco nailed Hardy and Joe to try and prevent a tag but Hardy still made the hot tag.
Hardy drilled Brisco with a big forearm and scored a series of clotheslines. He nailed the Twist of Fate on Anderson but Brisco nailed him from behind. Hardy came back and nailed the Whsiper in the Wind. It turned into a six man brawl with everyone battling.
It settled down and Hardy nailed a vertical suple and a slam. Hardy went up for a swanton but had his legs taken out from under him. Hardy crashed hard atop the buckles. Bischoff played to the crowd but Joe attacked him with a running back splasj and enziguiri. Magnus took out Bischoff.
Joe attacked Anderson and locked him in a choke on the ramp. Magnus set up Hardy so he could nail a swanton on Brisco and score the pin.
Your winners, Samoa Joe & Magnus & Jeff Hardy!
Truly solid and enjoyable six man tag. The pace was good and they took a nice back and forth story. Bischoff and Brisco looked good. Anderson looked better here than he did the last few weeks of TV. Joe and Magnus were awesome and Hardy looked energized.
Jay Bradley vs. Sam Shaw: Gutcheck Tournament Final.
Bradley was taken down with a double leg takedown and kept off balance early. Shaw was real aggressive early. Bradley took over but was caught with a backbreaker for a two count.
Bradley caught him with the boomstick and scored the pin.
Your winner, Jay Bradley!
Christy Hemme interviewed Bradley. He said he was the first in the Bound for Glory series and would be the last man out – meaning he would win the TNA title.
Jeremy Borash interviewed Austin Aries and Bobby Roode. Roode said they were going to win because he was the longest reigning TNA champion ever. Aries noted he was the one who beat Roode for the title and that meant they would win championship gold. They were pushing the idea that the X-Divison title cash-in would happen this summer and last time, there was a change. Nice, subtle way to try and reinforce the title’s worth.
Short but solid Gutcheck bout. Bradley looks ready to go. Shaw is still finding himself.
TNA TV champ Devon vs. Joseph Park
No sign of Park because of the beating.
Devon took the mic and asked everyone where Park was. Devon said that it seemed like he fell and couldn’t get back up. He said it was no different than when the NY Knicks beat the hell out of the Boston Celtics. Devon said that the referee needs to count Abyss out.
The referee counted Park out and rang the bell.
Your winner and still TNA TV champ, Devon!
Taz joked it was a hard fought battle.
Devon took the mic and said that he knew Joseph Park didn’t have it in him, just like Abyss didn’t. He said that if Abyss was here, he’d ring the bell and whip his ass too, but since he isn’t, they are going to go to drink some beer and play with strippers.
Out came Abyss. He hit the ring and clotheslined them both and knocked Knux out of the ring. They rang the bell. Knux drilled Abyss in the back, allowing Devon to nail a shoulderblock.
Abyss was choked against the ropes and drilled with a right hand. Devon choked Abyss in the corner with his boot. He nailed a big running charge in the corner. Devon scored several two counts but Abyss made a comeback. He nailed Knux off the apron and chokeslammed Abyss.
Abyss went for the Black Hole Slam but was kicked off. Devon rebounded off the ropes but was caught with a Black Hole Slam for the pin.
Your winner and new TNA TV champion, Abyss!
Fun match. It was a nice bait and switch that gave the audience something more than they expected.
So far, a solid show.
TNA President Dixie Carter came out to announce the second inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame. She said the company is celebrating 11 years tonight and they are celebrating the best fans in the world. She said they are celebrating every man and woman who ever stepped into the ring for making the company what it is. She said TNA has more passion than anything she has ever seen.
Carter asked everyone in the company to come on the stage for tonight’s announcement of the new Hall of Fame announcement. Everyone from Hulk Hogan to backstage officials like Al Snow and Pat Kenney came out. Carter announced that a very deserving Kurt Angle would be the second Hall of Famer.
Angle was very happy to hear this and came to the ring, hugging Dixie. They played an awesome video feature on Angle and his career. Angle looked like he was legitimately tearing up. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and chanted “USA.”
Carter said that Angle beat the odds and inspired the world when he won a gold medal in 1996. Ten years later, he crossed the line and gave TNA the ability to know they were going to make it. The crowd chanted “Thank you Angle.”
Angle took the mic and there was a huge “USA” chant. Angle said he wasn’t expecting this. He said he’s had some awesome moments in Boston, but this one was the best so far. He said being inducted is an honor and thanked the good Lord for doing what he does best and that’s wrestling. He wanted to thank his wife and his kids and said he’s glad to make his kids proud. He thanked Carter for bringing him to TNA and for making him loving pro wrestling again.
Angle said he’s very humbled and to be inducted. He said there are a lot of guys right here and a lot of guys who are originals who are deserving of the honor. He said he could go on forever and said the TNA roster is the best in the world and they make him look good. He thanked Carter and Jeff Jarrett. He said TNA changed his life and he thanks TNA and thanked the fans for being TNA fans.
A really classy, nice moment. Angle seemed really touched.
TNA Tag Team champions Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez vs. Bad Influence vs. James Storm & Gunner vs. Austin Aries & Bobby Roode
Chavo and Daniels started. Daniels shoulderblocked him down. Guerrero controlled him and Daniels got nailed by Hernandez for good measure. Hernandez then tagged in and nailed an awesome overhead belly to belly suplex.
Daniels tagged in Aries, who was caught and dumped by Hernandez. Chavo tagged in and hit a slingshot splash. Roode tagged in but was caught with a drop toehold. Guerrero tagged in Storm, who faced off with his former Beer Money partner.
Roode and Storm peppered each other with punches. Storm took control with a clothesline and tagged in Gunner. Roode saw him coming and tagged out to Hernandez to save himself. This allowed the two biggest bruisers in the bout to face off and shove each other around. They tried to rebound off the ropes to hit shoulderblocks but were nailed from the outside by the villains.
This led to a lot of battling from everyone as the match broke down. That allowed Bad Influence to take control on Gunner and Storm. They played to the crowd but Hernandez and Guerrero charged down the ramp and dove into the ring with stereo dives.
Hernandez controlled Daniels and slammed him for a two count. He held him up for the delayed vertical suplex. Kazarian nailed him from behind. Bad Influence took turns working him over. Kazarian nailed him with an elbow off the ropes for a two count. They worked over Hernandez until he reversed a suplex, taking both over at once.
Guerrero made the hot tag and was working at a really faster than usual pace, including a super-fast head scissors. He hit the Three Amigos on Kazarian. Storm tagged in and teased the Last Call but Daniels smashed him with the Tag title belt.
Aries and Hernandez faced off in the ring, He turned Aries inside out with a massive shoulderblock. Hernandez nailed the Border Toss on Kazarian. Guerrero covered him but Daniels drilled him with the Tag title.
Bad Influence was eliminated by DQ.
Aries grabbed Guerrero, who was out and rolled him up for the pin.
Hernandez and Guerrero were eliminated, so we will have new Tag Team champions.
Aries nailed a dive on Gunner and tried to score the pin on him. Gunner fought back and drilled Aries. Roode attacked Storm and pulled him off the apron to the floor, hurting his leg,.
Roode and Aries worked over Gunner, but he came back with a series of explosive clotheslines on each of them. Storm tagged in and tossed Aries over the top. He whipped Roode into the corner and backdropped him high.
Storm nailed a neckbreaker on Roode and nailed the hanging DDT on Aries. Gunner tagged in and they whipped Aries into the ring. Aries kicked off Aries but was clotheslined by Gunner. Gunner catapulted him into a Storm DDT. Roode broke up the pin at two.
Gunner and Roode began slugging it out. Roode went for the Torture Rack on Roode but Aries drilled him in the back. They nailed a series of double team maneuvers on Gunner. Aries went to the top and hit the 450 splash but Gunner kicked out, which shocked the crowd.
Storm returned to the fold and took out Roode. Storm nailed the Last Call superkick on Aries,who was then locked in the Torture Rack, which they called the Gun Rack. Aries submitted.
Your winners and new TNA Tag Team champions James Storm & Gunner!
Another good match. This could have easily have gone to hell given all the bodies involved but this was laid out really well and was a lot of fun. Everyone did a hell of a job.
Jeremy Borash interviewed Brooke Hogan. She said the last year has seen the growth of the Knockouts division like never before. Dutch Mantel, Awesome Kong and Scott D’Amore just rolled their eyes. Borash asked Brooke if she still loves Bully like he says he loves her. She ended the interview. That absolutely foreshadowed a heel turn.
With all the title changes tonight, no way is Bully Ray dropping the belt in my opinion.
Last Knockout Standing: Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim
ODB is the ref. Kim’s ring outfit it awesome.
They began scrapping right away. Kim smashed Terrell into the buckles and nailed a leaping clothesline. Terrell came back with a series of clotheslines and a suplex. Kim cut her off with an Octopus-like submission.
ODB got to five counting down Terrell but Kim attacked Terrell and broke up the pin. Kim smashed her leg against the apron, then came off the top with a missile dropkick. ODB started counting Terrell down as Kim went to the floor for a steel chair.
Terrell kicked the chair out of Kim’s hand and started flinging her across the ring by her hair. Terrell went to the top for a bodypress but Kim pulled the chair up. The crowd chanted, “Holy sh**” at that. Kim began slamming Terrell’s legs onto the chair and wedged it between the turnbuckles.
Kim tried to run Terrell into the buckles but Terrell saved herself. Kim nailed her and locked on the ringpost figure four leglock. Nice shout out to Bret Hart. ODB began counting out Terrell, who pulled herself out. Kim went for her running sideways splash in the corner but Terrell moved out of the way. Kim hit the chair at full speed and landed hard on the floor. That was nutty.
Kim barely made it up at nine but Terrell put the figure four leglock on the ringpost. Kim began screaming and being very vocal at being hurt, much more than she usually does in the ring. Kim was outside in front of the ramp. Terrell went for a spear but Kim move and Terrell dove through the ring and crashed hard on the ramp. That was INSANE.
Terrell barely made it up. She nailed Kim and teased another spear, this time off the ramp to the floor but Kim took her legs out from under her and she took a hard back bump on the ramp. She was up at 9. Kim went for a piledriver on the ramp but Terrell slipped out and bulldogged her off the ramp to the Arena floor. This match is beyond insane.
Terrell just made it to her feet right before the 10 count.
Your winner, Taryn Terrell!
This was just great and far better than anyone would have guessed going into the match. They took some really insane bumps and worked so hard, it was ridiculous. Huge thumbs up out of me. Shocker of the night and I mean that as a compliment.
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
AJ has this slow new theme music. He’s bringing an entirely more intense look and body language to his presentation. He worked over Angle early and whipped him into the corner. Styles nailed a big flying forearm smash.
Styles drilled Angle but was caught with a tilotwhirl backbreaker. Angle began booting the hell out of him in the corner. Styles focused on Angle’s leg, trying to set him up for the Calfkiller submission hold. He finally went for the move but Angle immediately grabbed the ropes.
Angle still grabbed at his leg, which was taped up. Angle reversed a leglock into an anklelock but Styles immediately grabbed the leg. Angle drilled him with a clothesline, turning him inside out. Angle went down grabbing his leg.
They battled back and forth. Angle nailed his overhead belly to belly suplex for a two count. Angle started unloaded with his series of German suplexes. Styles snapped Angle’s throat on the ropes and used the ropes to vault himself over them into the ring with an full on body smash for a two count.
Styles went to the top for a move but Angle jumped up for a superplex. Styles landed on his feet, which was absolutely amazing. Styles charged Angle but was caught and suplexed hard into the buckles. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”
Styles caught Angle with a spinning backhand. Styles went for the springboard forearm but Angle kicked him in the air and nailed the Angleslam for a two count.
Angle went for the anklelock but Styles rolled through. Angle was limping. Styles grabbed the Calfkiller and Angle teased tapping out. Angle reversed it into an anklelock. Styles tried to reach the ropes but Angle pulled him to the center and scissored him. AJ almost tapped but sucked it up and used a series of stiff kicks to finally break it.
Angle charged Styles but was sidestepped. Angle hit the ringpost. Styles turned him upside down and came running with a big dropkick to the mid-section. Styles went for a springboard 450 splash into the ring but Angle rolled out of the way. No water in the pool. They went into a series of reversals and finally Angle scored the pin.
Your winner, Kurt Angle!
Another really good match. Styles and Angle have had more spectacular spot-oriented matches but this was a really good wrestling bout with some awesome sequences, submission reversals and intensity. Angle was the right guy to win. It’s hard to book him to lose when he’s announced as your Hall of Famer and the loss adds to Styles’ anguish and Lone Wolf persona. Styles’ new direction really adds a nice, fresh feel to him.
TNA champ Bully Ray cut a promo backstage. He said that Sting didn’t think about this before he made the match a No Holds Barred match. He said Sting warned him he was going to do all this things and warned Bully to try and do it to him. Ray said he wasn’t going to do those things. He said there was one move that wrestlers try not to do to each other because of what it can do to people – the piledriver. He said that he’s going to use it to break Sting’s neck.
TNA champ Bully Ray vs. Sting
Sting immediately attacked Ray and worked him over, brawling. They battled back and forth. They brawled to the floor where Sting missed a Stinger Splash into the guard rail. Ray beat him with the belt. He ripped Sting’s shirt open and chopped him hard against the chest.
Ray worked him over. Taz talked about how he broke his neck on a piledriver (in 1995 in ECW) and was never the same to put over how dangerous the move is. Ray grabbed a chair and missed a shot at Sting, hitting the ringpost. Sting got the chair and drilled Ray across the back.
They battled up the ramp. Sting kept beating him with a chair. Brooke Hogan came out. She seemed concerned. Sting implored her that she had to go back. He went to grab Bully but was lowblowed. Ray worked him over with a series of chairs to back and brought him back to the ring.
Ray nailed a piledriver but Sting kicked out. Ray pulled a table out from under the ring. Ray powerbombed Sting through a table. Ray pulled out a knife and cut the canvas from the apron. He ripped apart the apron and the mat, revealing the boards underneath. The crowd chanted “ECW.”
Ray nailed a piledriver on the exposed boards. Sting pulled his shoulder up at the last second. Ray went for a second one but Sting backdropped him. Ray took him down but missed a back senton off the ropes. Ray nailed the Scorpion Death Drop on the exposed boards. Sting covered him but Aces & Eights hit the ring. The crowd hated this.
They all worked over Sting. He fought back with a series of low blows and punches. He tossed Garrett Bischoff over the top to the ramp and Garrett took a sick bump. Sting and Ray were left in the ring. Devon tossed Ray a chain but Sting caught it and nailed him. The referee counted two but Devon pulled him out of the ring. Sting went to the floor and nailed Devon.
Sting went to the ropes and dove off but Ray nailed him with the hammer as he came down and scored the pin.
Your winner and still TNA champion Bully Ray!
Sting can never have another title shot, according to the stip. The show ended with Sting out cold as Aces & Eights celebrated.
Another fun match. It was more of a chaotic brawl but with the exposed boards, etc. they threw in a few different wrinkles. Enjoyable main.