Mike Reviews TNA Slammiversary X – 10.06.2012

Happy Friday Everyone!

We’re back with some TNA today as we take a look at Slammiversary X, which the keen-eyed amongst you will notice as the celebration of TNA’s 10th year. TNA has gone through spells where the biggest show of the year has either been considered Lockdown, Bound For Glory or Slammiversary, and the true answer depends on your own personal feelings. I’ve always been set in the mind that Lockdown is the biggest show for the more casual fans, whilst Slammiversary tends to be the bigger one for the hardcores, but what do I know?

Slammiversary X has Bobby Roode putting the TNA World Title on the line against Sting, but the match that I’m personally most interested in seeing is the tag bout that sees AJ Styles and Kurt Angle team up against Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian. I’ve never seen Slammiversary X before, but the lure of that tag match, along with Austin Aries battling Samoa Joe, made me decide to give this one a go. The show is actually available on TNA’s YouTube channel, as well as being available for those who like generous servings of Fish and Chips…

You can view the full card for Slammiversary X by clicking below;

TNA Slammiversary X Card

Slammiversary X is emanating from the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on the 10th of June 2012

According to the website Cageside Seats, the estimated pay-per-view buy rate for TNA Slammiversary 2012 was between 14,000 and 15,000 buys, which was higher than usual for the time

Calling the action are Mike Tenay and Taz

We open up with a video package, complete with dramatic voice over bloke, looking back at the history of TNA. We see Samoa Joe battling Kurt Angle, AJ Styles winning the X Division Title, Abyss bleeding and getting set on fire, Skipper walking the roof of the cage, Sting winning the World Title, and even clips of Raven’s shocking 2003 debut that gave the promotion a real shot in the arm at the time. This was a really good video package that did a good job covering parts of the company’s history up to this point.

Hulk Hogan starts out the show, getting cheers as he’d turned Face back at the end of 2011 after a stint as the Heel authority figure. Hogan does the standard “welcome to the show, brothers” promo, like how he’d do a couple of years later at WrestleMania XXX, and the crowd enjoys it. Hogan talks about TNA lasting for another ten years after this, and TNA would indeed last that long, so The Hulkster was right about that at least. Hogan announces that our opener will now be an X Division Title match as opposed to non-Title and leaves. Hogan cut a good promo (yeah I know, big shock) here and it had a storyline reason for existing in order to let us know we had a Title Match coming up, so you’ll get no complaints from me.

Opening Match
TNA X-Division Title
Champion: Austin Aries
Vs
Challenger: Samoa Joe

Aries was getting a decent push at the time and would eventually leverage his successful X-Division reign to get a TNA World Title shot at the Destination X pay per view later in the year. Joe had spent the first half of 2012 tagging with Nick Aldis, but he’s moved back into the singles realm here for a shot at A-Double. Aries looks to be working as a Face here, and the crowd is reacting to him in that manner. I thought his turn came a little later than this actually.

They work this smartly, with Aries trying to use his speed and target Joe’s legs in order to keep the bigger wrestler on the backfoot, whilst Joe tries to close down distance and wallop Aries with his strikes, suplexes and submission based offence. It’s a good dynamic and both wrestlers know how to play their respective roles, so the match does a solid job of warming up the audience for the rest of the Slammiversary card.

Joe manages to catch Aries with a kick when Aries attempts a TOPE SUICIDA, which leads to Joe cutting Aries off and working him over for the heat segment. Aries sells well during that and Joe delivers his trademark snug offence. Aries eventually manages to dodge a Joe attack and deliver the TOPE SUICIDA on a second attempt, which gives Aries a way back into the match and fires up the crowd, who do some duelling chants for both of the competitors.

We head into the home stretch, with each wrestler having chances to pick up the victory. Joe continues to have his supporters in the audience, even though he’s the big mean Heel here, with an Island Driver getting Joe a two count at one stage. Aries survives some punishing submission holds following that, as the Champ continues to do a good job fighting from underneath against the violent challenger.

Aries manages to fight off a Superplex from Joe at one stage and follows up with a 450 Splash, but he doesn’t really get all of it, and Joe kicks out at two. I don’t think Joe was in the right place there, as Aries either couldn’t get far enough to reach him or had to land it short in order to avoid driving his knees into Joe’s body. The crowd didn’t seem to care that much at least. Aries eventually manages to deliver a series of stiff strikes to Joe, including a kick to the FACE, and then follows up with a Brain Buster for the three count.

12 Minutes

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: AUSTIN ARIES
RATING: ***3/4

Thoughts: This was a great match and did a great job both of firing up the crowd and also giving Aries a battling clean win so that TNA could believably move him up the card later in the year. Joe lost nothing in this one as he gave Aries all he could handle, kicked out of the 450 Splash, and only eventually fell after Aries had emptied his arsenal onto him. A tremendous open to the show!

Joe shows respect to Aries following the bout, giving Aries an extra rub on top of the victory.

The commentary team talk about Sting’s chances in the Main Event against Bobby Roode later on tonight, with both thinking that Sting can do it, but it’ll be tough. We see that there is a guest bell ringer for the upcoming bout, a gentleman called Davin Stain, who won a competition. Is that the best prize they could come up with? Beats getting thrown onto thumbtacks by Abyss I guess

Second Match
Kid Kash Vs Hernandez

I don’t believe there was any existing storyline reason for this bout to take place, and Kash hadn’t wrestled in a televised TNA bout since April 2012. Considering the size difference between the two, throwing Kash in there as a pay per view opponent for Hernandez seems a bit random, but Kash is normally a good in-ring performer, so they should be able to have a solid match at least. Hernandez looks to be in great shape here and he has some natural charisma going on, so you can see why TNA kept trying to push him over the years.

This match inverts the roles from the opening bout but keeps a similar theme, with the smaller wrestler trying to stick and move whilst the bigger wrestler tries to get hold of him. Hernandez flings Kash around to start, to the crowd’s approval, but Kash gives Hernandez a drop-toe-hold onto the middle rope to cut him off and then uses underhanded tactics like choking and eye gouges, mixed in with some stiff strikes, to try and keep Hernandez on the back foot. Hernandez sells that well and Kash performs well as a violent undersized Heel, so it’s an effective heat segment.

Things go a bit awry at one stage, where Hernandez goes for a clothesline and Kash is seemingly supposed to duck it, but Kash doesn’t duck, so he kind of just ignores that he’s been clotheslined and runs over to the other side of the ring for a sloppy rana from the top rope. Kash manages to right the ship quickly after with an impressive Swinging DDT though, and that gets the crowd back on board. Hernandez makes the comeback soon after that, and delivers an impressive running dive from inside the ring over the top rope to Kash on the floor, earning this match a “TNA” chant. Hernandez follows up with a Splash from the top rope back inside the ring and that’s the three count.

6 Minutes

WINNER: HERNANDEZ
RATING: **

Thoughts: This felt more like a match you would get on Impact rather than a pay per view, especially the thrown together nature of the bout itself. It was still decent action overall though, the brief miscommunication in the middle aside, and the crowd responded well to Hernandez, so the bout ultimately achieved its goal of building the big man up with a win

We see what the #3 Moment in TNA history is, which is AJ Styles defeating Jerry Lynn to become the inaugural X Division Champion back in June 2002. No complaints from me on that one. The X Division played a big role in TNA establishing its own unique identity back in the early days. AJ Styles used his time in the division to move himself up to Main Event level too, so his first big win in the promotion should have been noted. Including this as an all-time TNA moment made complete sense.

Third Match
Devon and Garett Bischoff Vs Robbie E & Robbie T

Devon will likely be better known by most readers as D-Von Dudley of the famed Dudley wrestling “family”. Garrett was Eric Bischoff’s son, with the idea being that Sleazy E didn’t like that his son was a wrestler and was actively trying to sabotage him. Robbie E would eventually go on to become Robert Stone in WWE, but here in TNA he’s an obnoxious Jerseyman inspired by the characters of Jersey Shore (which is set in New Jersey in the USA, not the island of Jersey on the Channel Islands. I think it would be a VERY different show if it were). Robbie T is the former Rob Terry, a massive Welshman who certainly consumed a lot of…chicken during his career. Yeah, we’ll go with chicken, for legal reasons.

Devon was the TNA Television Champ at the time, and was doing the fighting champion gimmick where he’d defend the belt every week against all comers. Garrett had been one of the wrestlers that Devon defeated in a Title defence, leading to Devon becoming a mentor figure for the younger Bischoff. That’s solid traditional Pro Wrestling storytelling, with the experienced older wrestler taking the younger wrestler under their wing to help them along. Garrett Bischoff actually looks okay in there for the most part, but the crowd doesn’t seem to like him very much, despite Garrett supposedly being a hardworking babyface.

Garrett gets a quick shine on E, but E then cheats so that T can cut Bischoff off for the heat segment. Madison Rayne heads out to watch the bout as it goes on, with the idea being that she has a crush on an unnamed wrestler. The Robbie’s work reasonably well as a team, with E showing some good personality and T mostly sticking to the basics. The crowd gets behind Garrett whilst he gets worked over and clap for the hot tag, mostly because they want Devon in there it seems.

Devon eventually gets the hot tag and the crowd likes that a lot, with Devon running wild and bumping E around. Devon shows his veteran smarts by sticking to the middle of the ring and letting E come to him, with Robbie E taking some nice bumps for Devon’s offence. Things break down following that, with Robbie T coming into the ring illegally, leading to Garrett low bridging T to bring him out of the ring. This leaves E open to a Devon Spine Buster, and that’s enough for the three count.

6 Minutes

WINNERS: DEVON & BISCHOFF
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was another match that felt like it belonged on an episode of Impact rather than a major pay per view event, but the crowd liked Devon and he looked good once he got in there, so it ended up being a successful outing. Garrett did okay for the brief bits of offence he was required to do and he sold well whilst getting worked over. Robbie T’s involvement was kept to a minimum and Robbie E’s work was decent when he was in there, so there was nothing really offensive in there and the crowd had a good time, so I’ll be generous with the rating

Jeremy Borash, one of the longest serving TNA employees at the time, brings in Christopher Daniels and Kazarian for some promo time. Kazarian puts over all of the firsts he’s been involved in during his TNA run, whilst Daniels arrogantly brags about how great a team they are. Kazarian and Daniels were great as cocky bad guys here and this was a fun segment.

Fourth Match
TNA World Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Three Way Bout
Mr. Anderson Vs Rob Van Dam Vs Jeff Hardy

All three of these wrestlers had previously held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, so this was a chance for one of them to move back into title contention.. Anderson’s whole thing at the time was that he was an A$$hole, but he’d wear it proudly and actually get cheered for it. The winner of this bout gets their World Title shot on the next episode of Impact, against the winner of the Roode Vs Sting Main Event. Rob Van Dam’s TNA entrance theme continues to be one of the worst themes ever made, sounding akin to a cement mixer gurgling a box of spanners.

Jeff Hardy indulges his inner Agent 47 by flipping a coin to distract his opponents before taking it to them, which is suitably wacky and fits Jeff’s erratic character. This one is a bit sloppy in places, which is a criticism that is sometimes labelled at all three of these competitors, but there’s some decent energy to the bout and there are large parts of it where all three are in the ring going at it at the same time. It’s nice to see that, as these types of matches often fall into the formula of two wrestlers going at it in the ring whilst the third lies on the floor until it’s time to come back in and do something.

The crowd seems to enjoy the bout, chanting “this is wrestling” at one stage. I’m not quite as enthused as they are, but the action is entertaining for the most part, even when some of the execution could be tighter. We get some inventive spots, such as RVD giving Anderson a Monkey Flip onto Hardy at one stage, and Hardy finding a way to pin RVD whilst RVD already has Anderson pinned, leading to a frantic double kick out. Hardy eventually manages to deliver the Swanton to RVD, but Kennedy pulls Brian Hebner out of the ring to break the count, which is legal in this type of match. Anderson soup cans Hardy out of the ring and then delivers the Mic Check to RVD for the three count.

11 Minutes

WINNER: MR. ANDERSON……..ANDERSON
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This match needed a smooth operating ring general to be involved in order to hold it together better I think. The three competitors in the bout were all a bit too hectic in their ring styles to effectively play that role, so it led to moments where the work got a bit sloppy. That being said, the wild nature of the action did at times add to the excitement of the bout, but it probably would have been a better match overall if you had a Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe or Bobby Roode in there to play the air traffic controller. Not a bad match, but not an especially good one either in this humbles scribe’s opinion

Jeremy Borash interviews Crimson. Crimson has been undefeated for 470 days, so he’s laid out an Open Challenger for tonight and he doesn’t care who answers it. Crimson was a decent cocky Heel here.

Fifth Match
James Storm Vs “The Undefeated” Crimson

Storm had been betrayed by Bobby Roode and robbed of his TNA World Title in the autumn of 2011. Storm had subsequently failed to wrest the belt from Roode back at Lockdown 2012, causing him to go home for a bit until returning here. Crimson had one of the worst received winning streaks in wrestling history, with it being poorly booked. This had the effect of making Crimson even less over than if he’d just had a standard won/loss record, which goes exactly against the whole point of a winning streak to begin with.

Crimson antagonises the crowd on the mic to start, including going for the cheap heat of calling the audience a big bunch of losers. Ooo, what a meanie! This was a total cliché “I hate this place” Heel promo, but it was done competently at least and the crowd boos Crimson and cheers Storm when he answers the challenge, so it achieved what it was aiming for. Crimson reacts with surprise and fear when Storm heads out, which helps get Storm over as a wrestler that should be feared.

Storm doesn’t even take his ring jacket off, going straight for Crimson and beating him up. Crimson eventually uses the jacket to choke Storm to get a bit of token offence. However, the focus of this match is to get Storm over, so Storm quickly fights back and gets a Code Breaker before following up with a Super Kick for the clean three count and a big pop from the crowd. And just like that, Storm is back on track after a brief absence!

2 Minutes

WINNER: JAMES STORM
RATING: SQUASH

Thoughts: This was an effective squash that brought an end to Crimson’s unpopular streak and gave Storm a big win for his return. A good bit of business overall

Jeremy Borash is interviewing Austin Aries. Borash wants to know what is next for Aries? Aries says that he keeps passing every test thrown in his way by TNA and that he wants to be “the man” in TNA next. This was a good promo from Aries and teased his eventual run as the World Champ.

The #2 all-time TNA moment is Hulk Hogan showing up in 2009. Considering the Hogan and Bischoff run in TNA was a bit of a disaster, I’m not sure I agree with including it here as an all-time TNA moment

Dixie Carter joins us to thank the fans and bring out the roster onto the stage so she can induct the first member of the TNA Hall of Fame. Sting is of course the recipient, which makes total sense seeing as he was one of the first big wrestling legends to join TNA and had been showing up there for about nine years up to this point. The video package even includes the iconic “Trailblazing” by Steve Jablonsky, just because it apparently wasn’t already epic enough I guess. One of the nice things about the package they play is that it’s full of wrestlers putting Sting over and some of the biggest praise comes from Hulk Hogan. I guess Hogan felt guilty for Starrcade 1997 and wanted to make up for it by giving Sting one of the best hype jobs ever in his Hall of Fame induction. Sting seems to be genuinely moved by his induction and does a very nice acceptance speech, as you would expect from the smashing bloke that he is. This was a nice moment and helped make Slammiversary feel special.

Sixth Match
TNA Women’s Title
Champion: Gail Kim
Vs
Challenger: Brooke Tessmacher

Kim is arguably the top women’s star in TNA’s history, with her winning the belt numerous times over multiple stints. Tessmacher had originally started in TNA as a lackey for Eric Bischoff, after previously being a dancer in WWE’s version of ECW. Tessmacher had eventually started being treated as a wrestler in her own right and had scored some upset pins over Kim, setting up this bout for the belt here at Slammiversary. Tessmacher is a native Texan, so she will have the support of the local crowd behind her here as she tries to pull off the upset.

The story here is that Kim is very confident and is taking Tessmacher lightly, even though Tessmacher has been able to defeat her a few times in Non-Title settings. This means that Tessmacher keeps getting avenues and windows to fight back, even though Kim is demonstrably the better wrestler of the two when she’s fully focused. Kim is a very good insufferable cocky villain here whilst Tessmacher plays the role of gutsy underdog well, with her selling being to a decent standard.

Kim is eventually able to drop Tessmacher throat first on the rope from a wheelbarrow position and that gives us our heat segment. Tessmacher sells well during that, whilst Kim keeps playing the arrogant champion role to the hilt. This keeps the crowd behind Tessmacher and against Kim, meaning that they start coming to life when Tessmacher makes her comeback. Tessmacher’s execution isn’t completely perfect, but she has good athleticism and that covers for it somewhat.

Tessmacher ends up getting knocked off the apron into the metal railings at ringside, and looks to have no chance of getting back in and breaking the referee’s count, thus guaranteeing Kim the win. However, Kim has to be a cocky bad guy again and decides to drag Tessmacher into the ring so that she can pin the challenger. Kim even tries to defeat Tessmacher with her own Tess-Shot finisher, as Tessmacher supposedly pinned Kim with her own Eat Defeat move previously. However, Kim has taken too long by this point and that allows Tessmacher to catch her in a roll-up for the three count and the belt.

7 Minutes

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: BROOKE TESSMACHER
RATING: **3/4

Thoughts: This had strong crowd reactions and it told a good story as well, with Kim being the cocky villain whose arrogance eventually cost her the win. Tessmacher played the role of underdog babyface well. Some of Tessmacher’s execution was a little off, but her selling was really on point and the finish was a good bit of crowd pleasing booking

Tessmacher gives a good post-match promo in the aisle with Christy Hemme following the bout, whilst Kim fumes in the ring.

Bully Ray bullies Jeremy Borash, and antagonises the Texan crowd by talking about how he comes from New York. Bully Ray promises there will be no wrestling going on tonight, as he will be focusing only on assaulting Joseph Park. This was a good Heel promo from Bully that made you want to see him get beaten up.

Seventh Match
Hardcore Rules
Bully Ray Vs Joseph Park

Bully Ray might be better known to some as Bubba Ray Dudley. After he and Devon had broken up their tag team, Bully started playing the gimmick of an insufferable bully who pushed other wrestlers around and backed down whenever someone stood up to him. By all accounts, it was a character that wasn’t too far away from Bully’s real personality. Park was playing the role of the mild-mannered, suit-wearing brother of the hardcore, masked monster Abyss. Both characters were played by Chris Parks, although they were polar opposites. Joseph arrived in TNA to try and find his brother, Chris Abyss. Abyss had previously been attacked by Bully, so that led Joseph to investigate him. Being a bit of a wuss, Joseph became an easy target for Bully, leading to a feud between the two. Joseph finally stood up to Bully on Impact, leading to Bully demanding that this match be booked so that he could beat Jo up without rules or consequences.

Bully’s pro-New York promo and Yankee hat has succeeded in making the crowd hate him, causing the crowd to cheer for Joseph here. Chris Parks does a great job playing Joseph as a lawyer out of his depth who has never wrestled before, with clumsy mannerisms and some great facial expressions. Bully, err, bullies Joseph to start, leading to Jo slapping Bully in the face. Bully sells that well, looking immediately worried that the wussy lawyer who he thought would be an easy fight is actually capable of hurting him, leading to Bully giving Joseph a cheap shot for the cut off. Bully goes and grabs a chair at one stage, but Jo kicks the ropes when Bully tries to get into the ring and grabs the chair himself, leading to Bully begging off like a total coward. Bully being such a scaredy-cat whenever things aren’t going totally his own way is a very fun wrinkle in the character I must say.

Sadly Joseph doesn’t use the chair in time and that allows Bully to cut Jo off again and work him over. Bully misses a move off the ropes though, which leads to Joseph throwing some weedy clubbing punches, as Chris Parks continues to have a tremendous handle on this character. Bully brings a table into play, but Joseph gets a desperation attack and bails to the floor, where he hides under the ring. This leads to Abyss climbing out from under the ring and giving Bully a Choke Slam through the table, before heading back under the ring. Jo then scampers out from under the ring and gets the three count for the big upset win.

10 Minutes

WINNER: JOSEPH PARK
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was two wrestlers who understood their characters matching up and creating an entertaining dose of classic Pro Wrestling Soap Opera. Joseph was not a wrestler in storyline, so Chris Parks played him as a clumsy guy who did everything awkwardly in a way that just looked “wrong” in the context of a wrestling match. It really was fantastic character work from Parks, as he was essentially having a “bad” match in there but in a way that totally made sense, thus making the work go all the way around to actually being good. Bully was great as the overbearing jerk who actually wasn’t as tough as he liked to let on, which is why Joseph just being brave enough to throw a few clumsy punches was enough to put Bully on the back foot. Bully technically got cheated in the ending here, but he’s such a jerk that the fans didn’t really care and just enjoyed seeing the villain upended

Jeremy Borash interviews TNA World Champ Bobby Roode, who is apparently the longest reigning TNA World Champ in history up to this point. Roode is his usual arrogant self, saying that he and his reign is what people should be celebrating in TNA and not anything else. Roode says he will end Sting’s career later on tonight. This was a solid Heel promo from Roode.

Hulk Hogan joins us again and brings out Christian Cage, who is making a guest appearance from WWE as part of a legal settlement between WWE and TNA over Ric Flair leaving TNA to go back to WWE. Christian was actually the WWE Intercontinental Champion at the time, although he hasn’t brought the belt with him. Christian is here tonight to introduce the #1 moment in TNA history, but he puts the fans over first before doing so, which is nice of him. Christian then reveals the #1 moment as being Sting making his return as a full-time roster member back in January 2006. Sting had previously been in TNA prior to this, but that had only really been as a guest star, whereas this led Sting to signing up with company for a long stretch. I think this was a fair choice back in 2012, and it links up with Sting going into the Hall of Fame as well.

Eighth Match
TNA World Tag Team Titles
Champions: Christopher Daniels & Kazarian
Vs
Challengers: AJ Styles & Kurt Angle

Daniels and Styles had been friends and partners in storyline, but Daniels turned Heel and aligned with Kazarian, leading to a feud between the duo that would eventually be named Bad Influence and Styles. Daniels and Kazarian cost Styles a match against Angle when Angle didn’t ask them for their help, setting up this match for the tag belts here at Slammiversary. Daniels and Kazarian were also suggesting that Styles and Dixie Carter were having an affair, leading to Carter’s husband lamping Styles on an edition of Impact. This was all building to Daniels and Kazarian bringing in the infamous Claire Lynch to escalate the feud even further.

Styles is really fired up for this one due to what Daniels and Kazarian have been doing to him, charging down to the ring and attacking the champions before they eventually double up on him until Styles starts fighting back with snug strikes. Daniels and Kazarian both take big bumps for Styles and Angle in the early going, with the fans enjoying it and the action getting across the idea that both Styles and Angle are sick of the Heels’ shenanigans and are looking to lay a whupping on them here at Slammiversary.

Angle was noticeably starting to slow down a bit at this stage in his career due to years of absorbing punishment in the ring, but his timing and psychology was still good enough that he could carry his end in a good match. We were definitely past Angle’s peak years though at this stage, which is kind of highlighted by Styles working the majority of the bout for his team and also being the one to take the heat when the champions use the numbers game to cut the Phenomenal One off. Daniels and Kazarian work really well as a Heel duo, so their work in the heat looks good and Styles sells it all well.

Eventually Styles is able to catch Kazarian with a Neck Breaker and tags in Angle, who runs wild on the champs with clotheslines and suplexes. Angle smartly just sticks to the middle of the ring and allows the Heels to feed into him, making the hot tag sequence nice and snappy without the physically diminished Angle having to chase the villains around the ring to bump them. Angle manages to suplex both Heels at the same time at one stage, and the crowd of course erupts at the impressive display of strength from the Olympic Hero.

Things break down following that, with all four wrestlers heading into the ring and duking it out. The crowd continues to be into the action, and are fully behind the challengers in their quest to wrest the belts from Daniels and Kazarian. Each team has a chance to win it, with some nicely executed near falls that the crowd gets invested in. Daniels and Styles are just outright slugging it out in the middle of the ring at one stage, really adding to the idea that this has become a heated rivalry between the two.

Angle completely turns Daniels inside out with a release German Suplex (“no bridge, all impact” as Joey Styles would say) and then gets a rarely seen top rope splash onto Kazarian, which nets a two count when Daniels drags out the referee. Styles takes out Daniels with an impressive Shooting Star Press to the floor, which leaves Kazarian and Angle in the ring. Angle ends up catching Kazarian in the ankle lock and Kaz taps out to give Angle and Styles the tag belts to a big pop.

14 Minutes

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPIONS: STYLES & ANGLE
RATING: ****1/4

Thoughts: “Holy crap, what a match!” exclaims Taz, and I’d have to agree with him! This was an excellent tag team bout, which got the balance right between exciting offence and getting across the idea that this was a heated issue between the four wrestlers involved. Angle turned back the clock somewhat to look really great here, with it helping that Daniels and Kazarian were bumping around for him like he was some kind of mythical deity in there. Definitely seek this one out if you’ve never seen it before. Mike Tenay and Taz having so much fun watching it definitely added to the enjoyment for me as well, as you could tell that they were loving it and their enthusiasm was infectious. It also helped that the crowd were so into the babyfaces as well, making the title change feel like a genuine payoff rather than just another match result

We get a video package for the Main Event, with it being a good serious build for the match that makes it look like a big deal.

Main Event
TNA World Heavyweight Title
Champion: “The It Factor” Bobby Roode
Vs
Challenger: “The Icon” Sting

Roode had failed to defeat Kurt Angle back at Bound For Glory 2011, only to see his friend James Storm then defeat Angle for the belt. This led to Roode and Storm having a sporting bout for the belt, only for Roode to turn Heel enroute to claiming the belt for himself. With Storm seemingly in his rear-view mirror following Lockdown 2012, Roode had begun feuding with Sting, setting up this match for the big belt here at Slammiversary. Roode is the longest running TNA Champ at this point and is looking to keep that run going against The Icon. Roode is always someone who has reminded me of Triple H in the way he wrestles and carries himself, and this reign was kind of his version of Triple H’s run in 2000.

Roode is doing the thing I don’t like of wearing the belt over his robe here, with me preferring a champion to wear the belt under their robe and then reveal it with a flourish. That’s just me being particular though. Sting is rocking a butcher’s singlet here and he looks to be in decent shape. Sting is moving well too, and still has traces of the “Joker” look he had during his 2011 feud with Hulk Hogan, although it’s toned down a bit here and Sting is behaving a bit more normally instead of trying to channel Heath Ledger.

Roode stalls a lot to start, taking a page out of the book of a certain former celebrated AWA World Champion. Sting chases Roode down though and brings the champ back into the ring, where he clobbers Roode with punches whilst the crowd chants in approval. Roode eventually cheats to cut Sting off by sending the challenger throat first into the ring post. Roode works Sting over with basic Heel offence, and he draws boos from the crowd for doing so (although there is a small selection of fans who are cheering for Roode it seems).

Sting sells well whilst getting worked over, and Roode’s work is smoothly executed, so it’s a solid Heat segment that does the job it needs to of getting the crowd behind The Stinger. Sting eventually makes the comeback and delivers a Superplex before locking in the Scorpion Deathlock. Roode sells that well and manages to make the ropes to break the hold in a good submission tease. Roode tries to flee following that, but Sting gives chase and drags Roode back down to ringside, passing a “United Maffew Order” sign along the way.

Sting ends up applying the Scorpion Deathlock again, this time on the commentary table. Roode taps out at this point, but it’s outside the ring so it doesn’t count, although Sting acts like it should for some reason. Come on, Stinger—you’d been in the business for nearly thirty years by this point. You know that tapping out on the commentary table doesn’t count! Roode scrambles from the table and finds a pack of James Storm’s beers. Despite a helpful fan at ringside screaming at Sting to watch out, Sting of course doesn’t heed the warning and ends up getting a bottle broken over his head when Brian Hebner is distracted in order to give Roode the three count.

11 Minutes

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: BOBBY ROODE
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: A decent match. By this stage of his career Sting was becoming more limited as an in-ring worker, so the match relied on stalling, brawling and crowd interaction to fill out its running time. However, the bout was worked smartly and the crowd was into it, so it worked in the end. AEW would go on to have Sting work more in spectacle and “party” matches, which was a more effective way of booking him than trying to have him do straight matches like this one

Sting beats Roode up after the match to get his heat back and send the crowd home happy

In Conclusion

Slammiversary X was a fun watch overall. There was nothing I’d say was especially bad on the show, and the event had two great matches in the form of the X-Division and Tag Title contests. TNA’s product from this timeframe was generally booked logically and often featured some good wrestling, so it’s usually a good era to visit. Sadly the Aces and Eights storyline would come along an eventually become a bit of a confusing mess, ending this “golden” era in the process, but Slammiversary X firmly falls into what I would consider “good TNA” and is well worth a watch.

Recommended Show!

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