TNA Slammiversary IX

TNA Slammiversary IX

Orlando, FL - 06/12/2011

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion was Sting, the X-Division Champion was Abyss, Beer Money Inc. were the World Tag Team Champions, the Knockouts Champion was Mickie James, the Knockout Tag Champs were Rosita and Sarita, and Eric Young was the Television Champion (but did not appear on the show despite being on the poster).

After a video package highlighting the stories behind several of the night's big matches, the show began with the TNA World Tag Team Championship match - The British Invasion (Doug Williams and Magnus) challenging the make-shift team of James Storm and Alex Shelley (replacing Bobby Roode, who was out with an injury and on commentary for this match instead). This was a solid opener that didn't overstay its welcome, featuring some great double-team maneuvers and sequences, and kept the energy up from beginning to end. Nothing super special, but a perfectly fine opener. (2.5/5)

Matt Morgan faced Scott Steiner in the next match. Steiner cut one of his classic promos before the match began. This was a battle between two relative "monsters" (as Taz noted on commentary). This wasn't too good, but it wasn't offensive. Its a bit crazy to think that the better in-ring worker was 50-year old Steiner but Morgan did not show any of the spirit, energy, or improving character work that had people thinking he could be a TNA main eventer just a year or two before. (2/5)

Abyss took on both Frankie Kazarian and Brian Kendrick in the next match, defending his X-Division Championship (which he had re-christened the Extreme Championship). Thanks to the efforts of Kazarian and Kendrick, who brought some much-needed speed and high-flying to the proceedings, this might have been one of the most tolerable Abyss matches I've seen over the past few years. A month after he seemed to be doing a weird Zen-inspired lunatic gimmick, Brian Kendrick was basically just wrestling as any other guy in the X-Division here. Kazarian was colorless as usual, an incredible athlete but completely devoid of any definable personality trait to set him apart (no wonder his most successful runs were under a mask). (2.5/5)

Crimson, who came into this undefeated (having defeated Abyss at the previous show), took on Samoa Joe in the next match. Unmotivated Samoa Joe is never fun to watch and he did not look very happy or excited to "do the honors" in this match. The match started off pretty hot, but then just devolved into a slow, labored mess that had most of the Impact Zone sitting on their hands with their mouths closed. Joe may not have been getting the best performance of his career and his booking had been pretty atrocious for awhile around this time, but he was still more over than Crimson as there were audible "Joe Is Gonna Kill You" chants that were almost sad to hear. Once upon a time, Samoa Joe was a killer, a monster, a guy with real aura...but that Samoa Joe was no longer the one on our screens and it was noticeable. When Crimson hits his underwhelming sit-out powerbomb, Joe looks like he's embarrassed to have to sell it and treats the 3-count like he "lost focus" more than he was actually defeated, jawing with the referee afterwards. This is the kind of Joe performance that actually hurts my view of him more than TNA's booking or even Crimson as it really seems like he's "checked out" and doing the bare minimum. (1.5/5)

Mickie James defended her TNA Knockouts Championship against Angelina Love in the next match. Love was accompanied by Windsor (aka Katie Lea Burchill). Not as terrible a match as the folks over at Cagematch think, but certainly not James' best as there was some noticeable telegraphing going on. That being said, this was still somehow better than most of the Diva Era action that was happening in the WWE at the time as they were given a good amount of time (8 minutes is practically an Iron Man match compared to the 4 that the women were getting in the 'E) and there was an interesting storyline going into this (Love and Windsor's "bizarre" relationship) that played into the match and kept things somewhat interesting. (2/5)

The next match was a Last Man Standing bout between Bully Ray and AJ Styles. This was highly praised in 2011 and still has its fans, but I was maybe a touch underwhelmed (though it may be because I'm not a fan of Bully Ray as a "wrestling pundit" as his takes are almost uniformly awful). A top ten TNA match ever? I don't see it. They kept things simple and didn't go overboard with the weapons and tables and whatnot, a noble and respectable decision to make this match different than the TLC-type match most fans probably expected. It works for what it is, but it didn't make the bulk of it particularly memorable. We still got Bully Ray opened up by a chain and an absolutely unreal AJ Styles elbow drop from very, very high up off a lighting rig through a table, though. The back-and-forth was heated throughout, but I also thought it started a bit slow and, a decade-plus later, the match doesn't really stand up as well as, say, some of the more hate-filled brawls from the 80s that I've seen. Not a bad match at all and certainly above-average, but this seems like a match that was "good for 2011" but wouldn't necessarily turn heads, aside from Styles' ridiculous bump late in the match, 14 years later. (3.5/5)

Mr. Anderson challenged Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in the next match. Given nearly as much time as Styles and Bully, Anderson and Sting duked it out in a somewhat slow, punch-and-kick heavy match, which isn't surprising considering where Sting was in his career (no longer really a powerhouse guy like he sorta was in the early 90s and certainly not as agile and explosive as then either) and what Anderson brought to the table. The finish was too smart for its own good as Eric Bischoff, who was feuding with the Stinger at the time, came out and distracted the referee as he was making a count, thus forcing the ref to re-start his count and slap the mat for a third time (which was actually the 1st count of a "fresh" pin). The confusion led to Sting believing he had won the match and then getting low-blowed and hit with a Mic Check. The low-blow was an "asshole" move, which is in line with Anderson's gimmick, but it still felt like a very heelish way to win the title for a guy who, if I'm not mistaken, was playing things more as a "tweener" type at this point and wasn't associated with Bischoff or Hogan. Not my cup of tea. (2/5)

Having wrestled in every sort of stipulation match possible - including a mixed tag with Karen Jarrett and Chyna - Jeff Jarrett took on Kurt Angle in a straight-up wrestling match promoted as their final confrontation. Angle's Gold Medal was on the line as was the Number One Contendership for the TNA World Championship. They worked like this any other match, which seemed a bit contrary to how personal the feud and storyline was. I would've liked to see Angle bring more emotion into this match and for Jarrett to maybe play a bit more mind games. Instead, they have a good contest but not necessarily a special or interesting one. We eventually get a ref bump, but it doesn't lead to anything but Angle kicking out of a guitar shot. I'm no fan of TNA's constant overbooking in their main events, but this is where having some sort of "swerve" or at least teasing some sort of swerve maybe would've added some excitement to a match that felt like it could've happened on any other PPV at any other time in the previous 3-4 years. This was just...fine, which is not exactly what one would hope for in a PPV main event and especially considering how personal and heated the storyline was building up to this "final confrontation." (3/5)

Earning a Kwang Score of 2.38-out-of-5, there are obviously far worse TNA PPVs than Slammiversary IX but I still wouldn't recommend anything on this show aside from maybe the AJ Styles/Bully Ray match (especially if you have more appreciation for Bully Ray than I do). The main event is underwhelming despite Jarrett and Angle having had good matches in the past, the World Championship match is not good, and it's always a little sad to see unmotivated Joe. 

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver