TNA Slammiversary 2012 PPV - here is your spot for live results coverage and a review to go along with it. Who is going to win? TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode vs Sting, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian against AJ Styles and Kurt Angle, Bully Ray versus Joseph Park, Robbie E and Robbie T versus Devon and Garett Bischoff, Austin Aries vs Samoa Joe, Crimson open challenge, Gail Kim vs Brooke Tessmacher, Jeff Hardy vs RVD vs Mr. Anderson, Kid Kash vs Hernandez, and the first TNA Hall of Famer.
PREDICTIONS: Bobby Roode should retain by all means. The same should happen with Kazarian and Daniels. I can see Joseph Park beating Bully Ray as well as Robbie E and Robbie T collapsing and losing their match. Aries should defeat Joe. Crimson should win his open challenge. Gail Kim retains against Brooke. No clue about Kash and Hernandez. I can see Mr. Anderson winning the title shot.
Starting the pay-per-view off with a retrospective of the past ten years, as this is their anniversary. Good move. Good video package as well, I'm enjoying it.
Out comes Hulk Hogan. They've got a big crowd tonight - another good thing going for them. Hogan's taking up a little too much time though, doing nothing but posing. He says he likes pushing buttons and wants to go old school and announces the first match as Joe versus Aries. The change he's making is that it's for the X-Division title.
X-Division Championship: Austin Aries (c) vs. Samoa Joe
I still really like Joe's music. And this being Austin Aries means this could be the best match of the night. Wow, I'm being quite positive right now for this pay-per-view...odd. Dueling chants of "Austin Aries" and "let's go Joe". Fast pace, hot crowd, interesting moves. I'm liking this. They're really keeping a great pace going and this crowd is eating it up. Now this is what this company should be doing ALL THE TIME or at least, as much as they possibly can. Joe gives Aries a Power Bomb, follows it up with a Boston Crab, then turns that into an STF but Aries is able to get out of it. Aries hits a great 450 splash on Joe, but Joe kicks out. Joe puts Aries in the MB but Aries drops out of it and flips him around. Aries is able to pick Joe up and hit him with the Brainbuster, retaining the title.
WINNER: Austin Aries via pinfall.
Very good start to the pay-per-view. Let's hope they keep this up.
There's some fan that won a contest to be the guest bell-ringer. That'd be fun. I'd rather announce something (and no doubt do a horrible job at it) but I'm sure it'd be fun to just do anything.
Kid Kash vs. Hernandez
Expecting Hernandez to win here. Good position on the card, as it can be used as a bathroom break but also leaves room to be built up for the other matches that are more important. Hernandez has got to win here as Kash is kind of trying real hard to be the heel, but put Hernandez over in the process. Hernandez launches himself out of the ring over the ropes - very nice. Kash drops out of the Border Toss attempt. Hernandez wins with a splash from the top rope.
WINNER: Hernandez via pinfall.
Good match for something that I wasn't looking forward to at all. I think this crowd is really helping all of this more than anything else. A big, excited crowd pumps the wrestlers up and gets them to do an even better job.
Their #3 best TNA moment is AJ Styles winning the X-Division championship by beating Jerry Lynn.
Robbie E & Robbie T vs. Devon & Garett Bischoff
Did I miss it, or did they actually not show the graphic for Devon and Bischoff's names? Madison Rayne shows up on the stage looking GORGEOUS, wow. I'd like to see Robbie E get the pin on Garett here and they can move away from the Devon/Robbie stuff. It's time for some heels to win too. Devon hits a spinebuster on Robbie E and wins.
WINNERS: Devon and Garett Bischoff
Not as good as the first two matches. Best part was showing Madison Rayne I think.
Backstage, Borash runs over his history in the company. Kazarian and Daniels come out to do the same and boast.
#1 Contender's Match: Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy
First up is Anderson with the mic, naturally. Anderson seems to be having fun tonight the way he's walking - or maybe he's drunk, been spending too much time prepping with the next two people [haha c'mon, you were thinking I would go without joking like that? You'd be giving me too much credit] Did Jeff just give a hug to Sign Guy? Was that Sign Guy? Jeff Hardy flips a coin in the ring but when they're looking at it, he attacks RVD. Anderson hits a Superplex on Hardy and RVD tries to splash them both, but they both move out of the way. Some good near-fall situations popping up. Hardy hits the Swanton on RVD but Anderson drags the ref away, preventing Jeff from getting the win. Anderson throws Hardy out of the ring and works on RVD. RVD goes for a Rolling Thunder but Anderson catches him and hits him with the Mic Check, winning the match.
WINNER (and new #1 contender): Mr. Anderson via pinfall.
Good match.
Backstage, Crimson talks to Borash about how he's been "perfect for over 470 days". Perfect game for a pitcher is only 9 innings, etc.
Crimson's Open Challenge
Crimson gets the mic. He says everything is bigger in Texas and he's looking at the biggest group of losers he's ever seen in his life. He'll fight a Maverick, a Ranger, a Cowboy, whatever. Fans chant that they want Goldberg to show up and answer the challenge. Who comes out? James Storm. He's a cowboy after all.
Crimson vs. James Storm
I could see them having Storm beat Crimson here. Yup, Storm wins a relatively short match, not even enough to talk about here.
WINNER: James Storm via pinfall.
Hopefully they can utilize this in a good way.
Post-match, Storm celebrates by squirting beer all over the audience.
Backstage, Borash is talking to X-Division champion Austin Aries. He asks what's next for Aries, who replies with wanting to be the main event.
#2 moment in the company is the Hogan signing.
Out comes Dixie Carter. She thanks everyone and introduces the first inductee into the Hall of Fame: Sting. Maybe it's just me, but it kind of loses a lot of luster if your first inductee is just wearing a t-shirt and his ring gear while being spoken about for a Hall of Fame. Apparently the actual process will take place at Bound for Glory.
Knockouts Championship: Gail Kim (c) vs. Brooke Tessmacher
Brooke looks like she'd be the standardized Knockout babyface with the red/white/blue outfit and whatnot. She's very generic, but in a good way. Tessmacher is a Hooters girl on the side and she's done modeling, why doesn't TNA try to look into getting her to pose for Playboy and such? Seems like "uh...DUH" marketing to me. Gail hits her neckbreaker finisher but something might be up here, they're going pretty slowly. Either Brooke is hamming it up (good) or injured (bad). Brooke counters Gail, flips her over, and pins her.
WINNER (and new Knockouts champion): Miss Tessmacher via pinfall.
Not a big fan of the match, but I like Tessmacher, so that's good.
After the match, Christy Hemme asks her what it's like to win the championship in her home state. She says she's overcome a lot of obstacles in the best women's wrestling roster out there. She says it's epic and God bless Texas.
Backstage, Borash gets interrupted by the man - Bully Ray, who says he's from Hell's Kitchen, God's country, New York City.
Bully Ray vs. Aby...I mean, Joseph Park
I can't tell exactly what people are chanting but I think they're saying "let's go Rangers, Yankees suck". Bully Ray invites Park to take the first shot but ducks out of the way, making Park stumble. He then ridicules him, asking "are you serious?" Now he puts his hand behind his back. He then spits in his face and slaps his face. Ray misses running into the corner and Park slaps him. Ray then goes on the attack. "New York sucks" chant. Ray gets a chair but when he comes into the ring, Park hits the ropes to knock him down. Park gets the chair but Ray gets it away from him. Shot to the back, followed by another shot to the back. Water bottle to the head on the outside. Park feeds off the reaction of the crowd and starts punching Bully Ray repeatedly. Ray gives him a big boot to knock him down and pulls out a table as well as a kendo stick. Park hits Ray in the gut before he can hit him with the kendo stick. Park grabs the stick and hits Ray, but only gets a two-count. Park goes under the ring and comes out wearing his Abyss outfit. He chokeslams Bully Ray through the table and goes back under the ring to change into the Joseph Park outfit again. Park crawls into the ring and covers Bully Ray to win.
WINNER: Joseph Park via a change of attire.
Ridiculous, but I'm sure a kid would eat it up so that's good. It's not meant to please people like me all the time.
Backstage, Borash talks to Bobby Roode, the longest reigning TNA heavyweight champion in their history.
Out comes Hulk Hogan. He has one more surprise: Christian Cage. Christian comes out, not wearing the Intercontinental title [damn, haha]. "Please come back" chant. Christian laughs. I would too. Now the fans are chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" He makes fun of the missing sides of the ring. Christian presents the #1 moment in TNA history: Sting's return to wrestling with TNA. That...that was it? That was TNA's big deal that they signed with WWE, to have Christian cut a promo at Slammiversary? Ouch.
Tag Team Championship: Kazarian & Daniels (c) vs. AJ Styles & Kurt Angle
AJ's pounding on Daniels and Kazarian [and Dixie apparently...hiyoooo!!!!] I'd like to see them retain the titles here. Lots of babyfaces are winning, so I'd like a heel to win. Not too much to talk about here, nothing horrible and nothing fantastic.There we go, Angle gives BOTH Kazarian and Daniels a German suplex at the same time. Styles hits a reverse DDT at the same time as a regular DDT on Daniels and Kazarian. Lots of signature moves all over the place. AJ hits a beautiful SSP onto Daniels on the outside. Angle gets Kazarian in the ankle lock. Kazarian taps.
WINNERS (and new tag team champions): Kurt Angle and AJ Styles via submission.
Not a big fan of the title switch, but the match was good.
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Bobby Roode (c) vs. Sting
I'm liking Bobby Roode's robe. Borash forgets the D in his name again. Roode keeps stalling. Generic match. They've been outside for such a long time yet the ref isn't counting them out. Sting's got the Scorpion Deathlock on Roode on the commentary table, so it doesn't count when he's tapping out. Roode picks up the beer that was from James Storm's celebration. "Watch the beer!" a fan chants. While Hebner is busy, Roode hits Sting in the head with one of the bottles. Roode pins Sting for the win.
WINNER: Bobby Roode via pinfall.
Not a big fan of it.
Sting gets back up and hits both Roode and the ref. He suplexes Roode on the ramp. He continues to assault him on the stage and they crash through a table off the stage.
HIGH SPOTS
1. The crowd
2. Aries vs Samoa Joe
3. #1 contender's match
LOW BLOWS
1. Knockouts
2. Robbie E/T vs Devon/Garett tag match
3. Main event
CRITIQUE RATING SCALE: 2-COUNT NEAR-FALL (Meh)
Reasoning: There's no 2.5, but I would give it that if there was one.This was the most professional pay-per-view TNA has put on, and I commend them for it. Multiple matches were entertaining, but some fell flat. If you took only the good parts, it'd be a solid 3. If you take only the bad parts, it'd be a 1. There's some 2-count filler, some 1-count filler, and some 3-count filler. It all balances out to 2 but I'd give them an extra 0.5 for the upgrade in comparison to past events.
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