The OAO Slammiversary Thread

[Matt Young 0]

Slammiversary, the pay per view event marking TNA Wrestling's 5 year anniversary, emanates live tonight from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The full card, according to tnawrestling.com, is as follows:

 

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN MATCH

FOR THE TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

KURT ANGLE vs. SAMOA JOE vs. AJ STYLES vs.

CHRISTIAN CAGE vs. AN OPPONENT TO BE DETERMINED BY JIM CORNETTE

 

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH

TEAM 3D © VS. THE STEINER BROTHERS

 

TNA X TITLE MATCH

CHRIS SABIN © VS. "BLACK MACHISMO" JAY LETHAL

 

STING V THE FALLEN ANGEL

 

RHINO & CHRIS HARRIS w/HECTOR GUERRERO vs. THE LAX

 

MR. BACKLUND VS. ALEX SHELLEY

 

ERIC YOUNG VS. ROBERT ROODE W/ MS. BROOKS

 

VKM VS. THE DAMAJA & BASHAM w/CHRISTY HEMME

 

FRANK WYCHECK & JERRY LYNN VS. "COWBOY" JAMES STORM & RON "THE TRUTH" KILLINGS

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

Of note: Jerry Lynn and Ron Killings (I thought he was injured) were added to the Wycheck/Storm match. Not mentioned on the site, but advertised on the TNA Road to Slammiversary special, is the fact that Senshi has replaced Chris Harris as Rhino's partner. Could this mean Chris Harris will take the place of Jerry Lynn (who was never announced on TV as being in the match) as Frank Wycheck's partner, which would make more sense?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

When did Killings turn heel?

[2GOLD 0]

When did Killings turn heel?

 

I'm guessing his movie parodies were supposed to show he was developing an ego he was better than everyone else. Honestly, I'm shocked they even remember The Truth is in the company.

[Jacques 0]

I'll go out on a limb and say that Harris will win the title. That's why they have been pushing the "Glass Ceiling" thing in the buildup. All the other guys are already main-eventers.

[slimm44 0]

Scott Steiner is off the card. After a week of speculation, TNAWrestling.com confirmed it. Jim Cornette will make an announcement during the show.

 

Looks like a good card, with a couple thrown in matches, but hey what do you expect when you tape 2-3 shows a week and only have an hour timeslot. The Wycheck/James Storm match was made into a tag match on TNA Today, last week. I'll be at the show, 2nd row ringside, hopefully camera view.

[cd213 0]

I have already ordered the PPV so I will be watching. I am looking forward to this PPV. I like the build up to the KotM. I like the whole, "there is no glass ceiling" thing. If done well TNA can really develop some good wrestlers this way.

[TNABaddboi 0]

According to TNAWrestling.com, Abyss vs Tomko No DQ was added to the card.

 

I like the idea of the mystery man being Harris, but if I were a betting man, I'd put the house on it being Jarrett. That said, I don't think he wins the title. For some reason, I'm thinking they pull the trigger on Joe tonight and build to Angle/Joe at BFG, with the even steven booking they've been doing. Angle's beaten Joe twice, but now Joe's making him earn the title shot. We'll see though. Either way, I'm ordering. I gotta admit though, it's more about the fact that its a road show than the line-up. Of the 3 so far, this is definitely the weakest line-up, but I really like seeing them in front of new crowds. Hopefully they'll surprise me tonight...

[Jacques 0]

Joe has some kind of injury so I'm guessing he won't win. Plus, I think we have seen enough Angle/Joe. Neither of them show any sign of being babyface and frankly are kinda annoying.

[Thoth 0]

Both Inside Pulse and the TNA website don't have any play by play yet, but the PPV has been on for 45 minutes. Any news?

[cd213 0]

The first tag team match was pretty good. The crowd was hot and the ending was pretty good. I like that it sets up a rematch. Maybe in the future TNA can pull the plug on Senshi joining LAX through this feud.

 

The X-Division match was a GREAT match. It was great to see Jay Lethal win the title. The crowd was totally behind Lethal. I like Nash in the X-Division. He hasn't hurt it like I thought he would.

 

The next match was a fun match, and Wychek (sp?) wasn't half bad. I would go so far as to say if he trained he might be pretty decent.

[2GOLD 0]

Quick results so far

 

Rhino and Senshi defeat LAX when Rhino gores Homicide

Black Machismo defeats Chris Sabin with a top rope elbow drop to win the X title

Wycheck and Lynn defeat James Storm and The Truth when Wycheck cradle piledrivers Storm

Backlund defeats Shelly

 

Looks like they might be setting up Lynn and Lethal with Backlund vs Shelley and Sabin with Nash at the next show.

[2GOLD 0]

Apparently the heel turn happened after they lost. You know, my cable is pissing me off and I wish I went the damn DISH route. So Basham and Damaja lost, THEN Hoyt turned. Where the hell is the impact there? I don't get it now, before I was indifferent and now I'm completely uninterested.

 

The plus side is Damaja is getting to be Damaja for the most part so far. He still deserves some mic time but he'll never get it.

 

Also, I have a REALLY bad feeling that Rick Steiner's mystery partner is going to be Animal. I don't know why, I just do.

[cd213 0]

Glad to see Damaja and Basham win their match, even if it did take the weak heel turn of Lance Hoyt to lead to it. Apparently Hoyt and Hemme are something with each other since they were all kissing.

 

The plus side is Damaja is getting to be Damaja for the most part so far. He still deserves some mic time but he'll never get it.

 

They lost the match, the turn happened after the match. And it was a good turn since no one expected it to happen.

[BUTT 0]

Also, I have a REALLY bad feeling that Rick Steiner's mystery partner is going to be Animal. I don't know why, I just do.

Strange, that's been my instinct ever since I heard Scott was out. But really, who would be a good replacement?

[2GOLD 0]

Also, I have a REALLY bad feeling that Rick Steiner's mystery partner is going to be Animal. I don't know why, I just do.

Strange, that's been my instinct ever since I heard Scott was out. But really, who would be a good replacement?

 

Probably no one, but his wrestling nowadays is painful. But that's as expected is who the partner was.

Also Eric Young won his freedom after intially losing the match via a chairshot. But Cornette restarted the match and Young got his freedom with a roll-up.

 

Also, Nashville does NOT like Team 3D

[TNABaddboi 0]

Looks like Devon is on the Bubba Ray diet plan...

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Looks like Devon is on the Bubba Ray diet plan...

Ah, you mean the "See Food" diet.

[trackc53 0]

what's up with all these short matches? Is the KOTM going to go for a full hour?

[Matt Young 0]

So does anyone know why Chris Harris was replaced with Senshi in the first place?

 

The booking of this show so far has been retarded.

[TNABaddboi 0]

Wow, they went with Harris. After that match on Impact, I'm ok with it. The last time they had a mystery KotM participant, it was Raven, and they went ahead with the surprise win. Any chance they do that with Harris? He just got a pretty good rub from Jarrett...

[2GOLD 0]

This KOTM match is pretty damn awesome. As long as they don't mess up the ending, this was one hell of a final match.

Angle wins the match and the belt.

 

That was an excellent KOTM match.

[TNABaddboi 0]

That was an excellent KOTM match.

 

Yeah, I'd say it was the best KOTM ever, and I've enjoyed them all (last year's shitty ending aside). I'll post full thoughts later, but this show was way better than it had any right to be. And mark your calendar's for Angle and Joe's summer tour. Hopefully they keep them separate til BFG....

[Nate 0]

boy this show sounded horrible, i've read elsewhere people think this was worse then December 2 Dismember, KOTM and Abyss/Tomko seemed to save the show from a complete and utter failure, still doesnt excuse the illogical booking, i think Russo got his hands back on the book

[slimm44 0]

Just got back from the show, and first of all...FUCK SECURITY! People, including me, sitting camera side were constantly being told to sit down throughout the show. Excuse us for pay $100+ for tickets, and having to treat this like a violin recital. People gave up dealing with them, once we realized they wouldn't throw us out.

 

Pretty good show live, a few of the matches were slow, and people absolutely hated Frank Wycheck, Jerry Lynn was trying to get people on their side, but nobody cheered for him. There were some slow spots for the crowd during KOTM, but the finish was superb.

 

Aside from security being dicks, and a few hecklers chanting 'Jarrett sucks' and 'Stop Crying Loser' during Jarrett's interview the crowd had a really good time.

[cabbageboy 0]

Nah it wasn't that bad of a PPV, just some really weird shit going down on it midway through. The middle portion of this show had Russo all over it, I think it was from the point of Backlund/Shelley until the Hoyt heel turn. It was just manic craziness that made zero sense, with people turning heel left and right and others doing turns that can't even be classified (like the Nash bit). I mean can anyone explain what the hell was going on with that Nash "heel" turn on Backlund, or why Lynn was involved, or why Lethal was miffed at Nash? Honestly, who cares if Nash beats up a former rival in Backlund? There's a decent angle in that mess somewhere with Nash still being pals with Shelley while also mentoring Lethal, but I have no idea what it could lead to.

 

After that bizarre chaos they went straight to Daniels cutting a weird promo in the crowd, then the brief VKM/Bashams match with the Hoyt heel turn. It was like Crash TV 07.

 

When they showed that Jarrett interview I started to have the sinking feeling that he was the 5th man and would get the "inspirational" title win. Hell my dad even thought someone would get hurt during the match and JJ would still wind up with the belt. TNA has so wrecked viewer expectations that scenarios like this aren't even farfetched.

 

Oh joy, Angle wins the belt. I'll agree that this was easily the best KOTM match, but man some guys got buried hard here. Styles being the main one, he literally tried to let Christian pin him, then got his ass kicked the entire match and never qualified to hang the belt. Styles might be that one TNA guy who needs a change of scenery since he's done it all in TNA and he's frankly a bit stale. WWE would of course job him out, but hell TNA is burying him too.

 

The storyline here was apparently Joe being pissed at the ref bump costing him the Angle tap out, thus he never got to qualify to hang the belt. To me that rings a bit hollow considering there are FOUR other guys besides Joe in the match. He couldn't just pin someone at all?

 

In conclusion, I have one thing to ask TNA: Who in the hell are we supposed to cheer for in any of this stuff? Jacques is right about Angle and Joe both being unappealing and neither guy is really worth rooting for. Joe is better suited to being either a dominant heel champ or a tweener type, with a face chasing him. Him chasing the belt is bizarre since he doesn't really inspire sympathy as a character. The other guys in the match were a heel Christian, a dorky lackey Styles, and a bland Harris.

 

I've mentioned it in the past, but Russo "shades of gray" booking is the wrong approach for TNA. A new company that is trying to establish itself and gain viewers needs clearly defined characters and concepts. The WWF could do shades of gray in their storylines because the WWF was a highly established company with recognizable names, so it gave us a different side to already well known wrestlers. A first time viewer to TNA wouldn't be able to figure out what Angle is all about, what Joe is all about, who are we supposed to want to win between them, who is the heel and who is the face.

 

Even though the WWF product was fascinating in 1997, note that it didn't start drawing big money until they positioned Shawn Michaels in a total dick heel role, had a fan favorite Austin chase him and beat him for the title, and then feud with the evil boss Vince and his various Corporation guys.

[Matt Young 0]

Despite starting the thread, I did not watch the show. I don't order PPVs, and I couldn't find a stream, so I must wait til tomorrow.

 

That being said, this show looks like it was absolute crap until the last couple matches. For 1 of TNA's 2 biggest shows, that's not good. I may change my mind after watching it, but having all but those last 2 matches go well under 10 minutes, including a 6 minute Daniels/Sting match, is unacceptable.

 

And while I like Kurt Angle, I am now convinced that Joe will never become TNA Champion.

[DangerousDamon 0]

So in theory, all of the stuff with Angle getting stripped of the title was pointless?

[Guest mpcuniverse]

This was the first KOTM that I've watched so I didn't think it was a horrible match and yet it lacked something. The fact that Joe and AJ didn't even qualify for the title pissed me off. The LAX vs Rhino and Senshi wasn't a bad match and I rather enjoyed "He's so strong" Hernandez wrestling Senshi.

 

Animal being Rick's partner wasn't horrible but there was one other guy that would have been perfect, Brother Runt. He would have had heat with his older brothers from his last run in TNA. It could have been better but Bubba marking out with the crowd for Animal was entertaining.

 

Why are VKM the faces? Can anyone answer that for me please?

 

Bob Backlund is the man and just made Flair look like a joke. Why? Because he is an old man that put on one hell of a match against Shelley.

 

The best part of the X division title match was seeing a sign that said "Gimmicks won't help Jay Lethal".

 

Ah, Vinnie how you make me laugh by letting Eric Young beat Robert Roode. Considering who he was considering to be his CEO TNA should have done something about Sherri.

 

Finally Abyss vs. Tomko wasn't bad until they went up the ramp. Two questions, One, if you were having a match wouldn't you want bumps to be actual bumps instead of falling into cardboard boxes and Two, Couldn't TNA find a sheet that could cover the carboard boxes after the bump? It made me want the boxes to hold them captive until they apologized for using them.

 

Oh yeah and Jeff? Didn't you learn your lesson from Vinnie Mac to not exploit someone's death?

[TNABaddboi 0]

Nah it wasn't that bad of a PPV, just some really weird shit going down on it midway through. The middle portion of this show had Russo all over it, I think it was from the point of Backlund/Shelley until the Hoyt heel turn. It was just manic craziness that made zero sense, with people turning heel left and right and others doing turns that can't even be classified (like the Nash bit). I mean can anyone explain what the hell was going on with that Nash "heel" turn on Backlund, or why Lynn was involved, or why Lethal was miffed at Nash? Honestly, who cares if Nash beats up a former rival in Backlund? There's a decent angle in that mess somewhere with Nash still being pals with Shelley while also mentoring Lethal, but I have no idea what it could lead to.

 

Ok, I agree that there were quite a few questionable booking decisions and TM Russo ~SWERVE turns, but it could be just me, but the Nash thing kinda makes sense. His first TNA protege was Shelley, and they never really had a break-up. He just kinda moved on to Sonjay and Lethal. Nash, who's been a face and a heel, sees different things in Lethal and Shelley and they fight for his affection. I can't say I would have booked it, but it's ~SHADES OF GREY to a T. Next month, we'll probably get Dutt/Lethal vs Sabin/Shelley, which should be great if they gave it any kind of time at all. And eventually, once Lethal and Dutt win Nash's soul, Dutt's gonna turn on Lethal. This was the least questionable of the questionable booking decisions everyone's talking about to me. At least I can see where it might go. Hoyt turning on VKM though? Yawn...

 

The fact that Joe and AJ didn't even qualify for the title pissed me off

 

I have to admit that I got so into the match that I didn't notice this. AJ's always in these matches (and Lethal LockDown's) to be the stunt man though, so I can't say that surprises me. And with the way they gave Joe the visual of making Angle tap (instead of anyone else) and the post-match stuff, they are obviously setting them up for a title feud. Hopefully they don't do 6 matches though.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

dailymotion has a few of the matches up. I watched The Lethal match which was pretty good. I think the crowd being behind Lethal so strongly really saved it. It makes me sad to see LAX job out like that but they still got Hernandez over quite nicely since Senshi is always in a big bumping mood. So far so good. I'm dreading the Backlund match.