DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - TNA Slammiversary Review + General Thoughts on TNA
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 at 5:27 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #183

Welcome one and all to the 183rd edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Thanks for all the feedback to my column from last week. One of the topics I put up for discussion was potential opponents for D-Generation X at WrestleMania 23. The most popular tandem I received was a heel Rock & Sock Connection. That could definitely work, but I'm unsure the WWE would have The Rock for long enough to appropriately build up such a bout. Another potential partner for The Rock that was put forward was Hulk Hogan.

The other idea emailed to me which I felt interesting enough to mention was a reunion of Kane & The Undertaker. It might be easier said than done to turn the Brothers Of Destruction heel, but I could almost see this idea working, while also leading to a lot of comedic hijinx! No matter which way you look at it, booking HBK & HHH for such a big show is going to be no easy task for the WWE.

Today, I've decided to make this column an all-TNA column. I've hardly talked about the promotion for a couple of years, so I guess they deserve one of my columns all to themselves!

On with the show.....


APPETIZERS - Pre-Show

Before I get into anything concerning Slammiversary, I should tell you all that I managed to avoid spoilers and/or results of the show. Well, all but Jim Cornette being named the new on-screen head of TNA anyway. I’m quite proud of myself actually. And thanks to everyone for not emailing me any spoilers as well.

With regards to this pre-show portion of the pay-per-view, I like the idea of it. I’ve never been sure that they get extra buys for an event, but it is a good way to hype the show & get fans into anticipating the event as a whole and/or certain matches. The fact that they will usually contain at least 1 match & 1 promo is also a bonus.

Jeremy Borasch & Christy Hemme greet us to begin with & I must say that Christy is looking better than she did when she was with WWE. I did find it a little unprofessional that both of them had to read off the matches on the card though. I mean how hard can it be to remember who is wrestling?

‘The Alpha Male’ Monty Brown then comes out & delivers us a promo. The is why the pre-show is good, as it gives some opportunity to the younger members of a roster to get some quality mic time. Of course, Monty didn’t exactly get off to a good start by saying “King of the Ring” instead of “King of the Mountain”!!! It’s clear that Monty is still attempting to find his character/persona. This was an awkward mix of intensity & trying to find the right silly catchphrases.

A1 & ERIC YOUNG defeated THE NATURALS (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas): Short (2 minute) & fast-paced tag-team match that was more of a set-up for the aftermath that saw ‘The Franchise’ Shane Douglas announce that he is going to put The Naturals through a training regime to get them back to the peak of the division. I was never a fan of Douglas inside the squared circle (oops, I can’t use that term with TNA), but he is definitely excellent on the mic.

As for the match itself, it was so short that I almost had forgot about it by the time Douglas had finished talking! Pretty much dominated by The Naturals until the decisive pinfall, it concentrated mainly on 2 spots to the outside (one of which was missed due to an errant camera cutaway). Difficult to rate as a match, but Douglas’ mic work almost passes it alone I suppose. It's just a shame that I didn't get a better look at 4 wrestlers that I have never seen before. I seriously cannot comment on any of them. Match Rating...5

Exceptionally well-edited promo for the Samoa Joe vs Scott Steiner match. It successfully conveyed how the 2 of them were coming from different backgrounds & experiences, while really hyping the current match.

Team 3D then come out for a little bit of a prelude to the ppv opener. They grab the mic & rubbish the reformed ECW brand with comments about The Zombie. I’ve always said that they were the opening match specialists!


MAIN - Slammiversary Review

For those that cannot recall my previous PPV review columns, this is the key that explains what the final PPV Rating means:

<50: Ask for a refund for not only your money, but also your time. [F] (Armageddon '04)
50-54: Mediocre & disappointing. [D] (EG: Royal Rumble '06)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: New Years Revolution '06)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: Vengeance '06)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: One Night Stand '06)
70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: No Way Out '06)
75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: One Night Stand '05)
80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

TEAM 3D defeated THE JAMES GANG in a Bingo-Hall Brawl: For those unaware, The James Gang are the former New Age Outlawz (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg). I presume that a Bingo-Hall Brawl is simply a Tornado No DQ Match. An awkward & clearly rehearsed battle of swinging chairs opens the bout, until D-Von cleans house with a kendo stick. A trip through the crowd leads to some LAX involvement, before the former Dudley Boyz get on top in a battle of weapons. One embarrassing moment occurs when Bubba has to wait & adjust himself in order to allow Kip (Billy) to hit him with a garbage can lid. Back in the ring, Kip falls victim to a cheese-grater & BG falls victim to a golf club! Kip then kicks out of a Doomsday Device before Team 3D “get the tables” & hit the 3D for the pinfall at the 10 minute mark.

The live crowd seemed to really like it, but I’m unsure what they were looking at. It was fun enough & definitely nothing too bad overall, but this was predominantly an awkward junk match that really didn’t do anything for me. Decent effort from all 4 men involved, but they weren’t top performers in the first place & are clearly past their best now. Match Rating...5.5

RHYNO defeated SCOTT D'AMORE & BOBBY ROODE in a Handicap Match: D’Amore gives us some decent mic work before the bout begins, pretty much setting up the story of the match. Longtime readers of my column will know that I have never been a huge fan of Rhyno & this is probably his correct spot on the card as far as I’m concerned. Fortunately, D’Amore is a better wrestler than your usual manager, while Roode shows some decent potential for a relatively young & big man. The 2 Canadians spend most of the match in charge, but Rhyno is just one of those awkward opponents that is difficult to do anything with. The turning point comes when D’Amore misses a rather impressive looking moonsault & Rhyno unleashes his usual flurry (if you can call it that) of offense leading to the Gore on D’Amore at the 11 minute mark. Went on for too long & was pretty much more of the ho-hum stuff that has plagued Rhyno’s career. Nothing too bad though. Match Rating...5.5

SENSHI defeated SONJAY DUTT, PETEY WILLIAMS, JAY LETHAL, ALEX SHELLEY & SHARK BOY in a 6 Man Rankings Match: Elimination tag match that really does suit the X-Division. It was good to see all 6 men get some action before an elimination. There was some decent action in the opening 10 minutes during this period, but I was a little surprised at the lack of pace considering there were 6 men to share the load. An interesting 6 man suplex results in Dutt hitting a running Shooting Star Press to predictably eliminate Shark Boy first at the 11 minute mark. Alex Shelley is then impressive (with his interesting mixture of offense) in taking care of Dutt & Lethal, before falling victim to a Lethal suplex a couple of minutes later. This results in the pace & action picking up with a few good spots to the outside. Back in the ring, Williams hits the amazing Canadian Destroyer finisher to eliminate Lethal, before falling victim to Senshi’s top-rope double stomp.

This leaves Dutt & Senshi (previously Low-Ki) to battle it out & it’s pretty much 2 minutes of good back & forth action. I have always preferred though that when such a bout gets to this stage, the performers almost start again & change psychology. That definitely did NOT happen here as Senshi wins the match with a strange double-stomp to the face while Dutt was tied to the tree of woe. This type of match is always going to be fairly entertaining & this bout was no exception to some extent. But it wasn’t entirely successful & only worked in patches. Most were impressive, but it was hard to pick a future standout from this lot. Match Rating...7.5

KEVIN NASH defeated CHRIS SABIN: Predictably begins with Nash using his greater strength to ground Sabin, but the smaller wrestler fights back well with a series of dropkicks that rattles the big man enough to call Alex Shelley out from the back. The bout basically turns into a handicap match from here, but it’s very well booked in that it keeps the action moving at a sufficient pace & seemingly always has something happening. While not performing anything too special or innovative, Sabin does do what he has to for the betterment of the match. Nash also plays his role well enough & only gets the victory (via jack-knife powerbomb) following heaps of interference by Shelley. 8 minutes was about right for this. Nothing to write home about, but solid & worth a watch. Match Rating...6.5

AJ STYLES & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS defeated AMERICA'S MOST WANTED to Win the Tag-Team Titles: Storm & Styles begin & we get to see the definition of a picture-perfect dropkick by AJ! Of all things, comedy ensues as Daniels shows some cockiness to embarrass the champs in a 69 position, before fooling them into using head-scissors on themselves to send each other to the outside. This leads to a gorgeous plancha by Styles, which is followed by some great double-team maneuvers in the ring. Some heel tactics from AMW then leads to the bout breaking down on the outside as the momentum swings to the champs. Back in the ring, Harris & Storm show classic old-school heel tag-team form with a good combination of everything for minutes on end on AJ. Styles eventually gets the hot tag to Daniels who cleans house, until Gail Kim tries to get a little too involved. This brings out the faces neutralizer, which is a rather large female who (wo)man handles Gail & carries her to the back.

What follows next is 5 or so minutes of great back & forth action which sees 2 count after 2 count & a number of terrific sequences & spots. The faces eventually win the titles after a frog splash & moonsault (the camera missed it again) combo at the 17 minute mark. Excellent match which is a genuine match of the year contender so far. It had a great mix of everything & was very involving & entertaining. AMW are a true definition of a tag-team, while Styles & Daniels definitely bring enough to the table to make their tandem work. Top notch stuff & it's great to see some excellent tag-team action once more. Match Rating...9

JIM CORNETTE SEGMENT: As I have already stated, I knew of this decision to bring in Jim Cornette before-hand & I think it’s a good one, as he has seen enough of different promotions at different times to know what to do & when. Just as importantly, he knows how to work the mic well enough & proved it here in this 8 minute segment (Tenay talked for some time of that). Not perfect, but laid enough foundation of fact, direction & confidence. Cornette should suit TNA & I predict more success in the role than the likes of Zbyszko & Russo. Segment Rating...6

SAMOA JOE defeated SCOTT STEINER: Steiner reminds us that he was once a good mat/amateur wrestler to begin the bout. In fact, he pretty much dominates the first couple of minutes while remaining as cocky as ever. Joe spits in Steiner’s face to intentionally light the fuse & does finally get in some offense, but Steiner hits back with a huge belly to belly suplex. Joe soon replies with a suicide dive to the outside, but Steiner constantly thwarts any momentum that Joe gets. A big powerbomb by the veteran is countered by an arm-breaker submission hold by Joe. But Steiner gets the match outside the ring where he hits a couple of big chair-shots, until Joe forces it back in the ring where he steps up his rather unorthodox offense.

Joe’s Kokona Clutch submission finisher doesn’t get the job done & Steiner counters with a huge release German Suplex in the lead-up to the Steiner Recliner. Joe escapes though & earns the victory with a powerslam at the 13 minute mark. It was an anti-climactic & slightly botched (Steiner missed being dropped on the ropes just before the powerslam) finish to an interesting, if not totally successful, match. While Joe definitely shows heaps of potential & his different offense is always going to attract & interest fans, it was actually Steiner that looked quite good here! Sure, there were the usual rough/botched moves that have haunted his last decade, but he did work especially hard to make this bout a good mix of everything. Hard to rate, this back & forth slugfest owed a lot to the actual feud, more than the bout itself. Match Rating...7

JEFF JARRETT defeated CHRISTIAN CAGE, STING, RON KILLINGS & ABYSS in a King Of The Mountain Match to Win the NWA World HeavyWeight Title: I'll try & make this as brief as possible, but it's going to be tough! Good God, will someone tell Killings to stop dancing in his entrance to the ring! And I had to have a giggle at Christian being announced as from Tampa-Florida! Sting & Abyss pair up outside the ring to begin with, while the other 3 go at it on the inside. Killings & Christian teaming up doesn't last long, but Killings & Sting's teaming up does result in an early pinfall for Ron, as Sting watches on. Christian rolls up Abyss for a pinfall soon after, meaning 2 pinfalls in the first 6 minutes! The match breaks down from here & it's a bit all over the place! There is some decent action, but it all seems too disorganized to me.

Jarrett then qualifies by hitting Killings with a Stroke to the guardrail & then the 4 remaining men pair up separately into the crowd for some more disorganized chaos. No big spot in the crowd disappoints & it's all a set-up for Killings to escape the penalty box, grab the title & climb the ladder. Abyss makes the save though & then teams with Jarrett to use the ladder as a weapon. But that doesn't last long predictably & a Black Hole Slam qualifies Abyss, before he is sent through a quartet of tables by Sting.

An interesting sequence of events involving Sting, Christian & Jarrett, results in Sting pinning Jarrett (to become the final man to qualify) while Christian has an easy path to the title. That is, until Larry Zbyszko appears & stops his progress! We then end up with Sting & Christian climbing either side of the ladder. But in a booking decision that makes me believe that Vince Russo does still book for TNA, referee Earl Hebner (of "You Screwed Bret" fame) pushes the ladder down, taking both faces out & allowing Jarrett to climb the ladder, hang the title & win the match (amongst much rubbish being turfed his way by the crowd). Of course, Cornette comes out afterwards & takes the title from him for fan conjecture purposes.

Talk about an overbooked finish! This is the definition of it. And where the hell did Killings go for the final 5 minutes or so? Seriously, I completely forgot about him! Gimmick matches such as this are always entertaining to some extent, but they can also be a disorganized mish-mash. This was very much both, as Killings & Abyss' styles were just totally wasted, while Christian had to use his more conservative offense which was only partially successful. The ending (excluding the result) almost put the bout into soap-opera territory & didn't do it any favors. Not a total failure, but just too disorganized & overbooked to make it successful. If anything, my first viewing of this gimmick match results in me over-rating it! Match Rating...6.5

PPV RATING (53.5/80) = 67

Looking at the key, I have basically given 'Slammiversary' a 'B' grade & said that it was a ‘good event that was worth the money‘. That actually surprises me a little, as I thought it may have suited the C+ range a little more. It just goes to show what one great match can do for an event. I suppose the other thing this card didn't have was a bout that failed. That always helps too & you will probably recall that most WWE ppv events will have such a throwaway match. So yes, the consistency was there at Slammiversary. But all in all, I couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed with only one match rating an 8 out of 10 or above. And I wouldn't be surprised if TNA fans felt that I over-rated the main-event and/or the X-Division 6 man match simply because I am not used to seeing such bouts. Oh well, I was overall entertained watching the event. But read on for even more thoughts of both the positive & negative nature concerning TNA in general & this event specifically.


DESSERT - TNA THOUGHTS

These are just some general thoughts I had concerning TNA while watching the Slammiversay ppv. I literally jotted down quick headings & notes as the event was happening, so I could remember to write about them in a little more detail later on. Here are the results & my opinions:

THE 6 SIDED RING: I must be honest & state that this factor didn’t have as much of an effect (either positive or negative) on me as I thought it would. It did catch my eye during the 2 minute pre-show match, but that was about it. From what I could tell, it had no real effect on the action at all. So I suppose it’s a decent gimmick to maybe get new fans to watch initially. If anything, I’m curious as to the actual area of the hexagonal ring & how it compares to the square version that WCW & ECW have employed in the past.

THE CROWD: I’m uncertain that having most, if not all, of your shows at the one location is a good thing when it comes to crowd reactions. It could give TNA management a false sense of who is over & who is not. I suppose it was a good combination of a small & rabid ECW-like fanbase mixed with the larger more casual WWE audiences. I noticed them during Slammiversary. Sometimes I felt positively & at other times I felt negatively on what they were doing. Like the shape of the ring, I think the effect is negligible on this matter.

PRODUCTION: This is an area where TNA has come under fire in the past. I partially agreed with it a few years back, but definitely disagree now. The production quality is just fine now. It obviously doesn’t compare with the WWE, but neither does TNA’s budget. I had no problems at all with their graphics, entrance themes, edited promos & edited highlight packages. A job well done as far as I am concerned & this event felt like a pay-per-view because of it.

COMMENTARY: This is another area which has come under fire in the past, and that includes from me. I hated Don West the first few times I heard him. I likened him to the equally annoying Joel Gertner from ECW. It pretty much shocks me that West is still employed. But I have to give him some credit, he has definitely improved. Don’t get me wrong, he still had his moments that made me cringe during this event, but he seems a lot more subdued now & even adds something of value every now & then. Meanwhile, Tenay does his job well without getting much notice. So in conclusion, I would still prefer someone other than West, but the commentary was sufficient.

DIRECTION & CAMERA-SHOTS: Very very disappointing!!! The amount of times we missed wrestling moves because a camera cut away to something else was ridiculous. And I’m not just talking about a headlock, as 3 big moves were missed because of this. That’s just not good enough. I mean, how the hell do you miss the finishing move to a match? That’s what happened with Christopher Daniels’ Best Moonsault Ever!!! And the replay from the 2nd camera was not from a great angle unfortunately. Direction has to play some part in this as well, as a couple of times we had the shot cut away to an alternative camera angle/shot at the wrong time. Yes, this does happen in the WWE as well, but very rarely. TNA needs work in this area & another camera looks to be required.

MATCH ORDER & IMPORTANCE: I know that I probably overrate this factor when it comes to a ppv event, but I really do feel that it has an intangible effect on the quality of a specific card. And unlike WWE’s Vengeance, TNA hit a home run at Slammiversary as far as I’m concerned. From Team 3D opening the event (even though I didn’t like the match) all the way through to the main event, the order of matches was almost perfect. Furthermore, I like the way that they introduced some of the specific bouts & made them seem just that little more important.

PROFESSIONALISM: This is a bit of a vague category & certainly takes into account some of the factors I have already mentioned. But overall, it’s sufficient & definitely has improved since the last time I viewed TNA. The camera-work & direction was the obvious sore point, but also little things like Borasch & Hemme having to read the list of matches out instead of memorizing them adds up & are the type of things that can be improved on. But overall, I can’t be too picky.

TALENT ROSTER: This is hard for me to totally judge on this 1 viewing, but if I had to say yay or nay, it would be in the positive. There are definitely more people on the TNA roster that annoy me than on the entire WWE payroll, but as long as they are not pushed too hard, then I have no problems with these wrestlers being used for entertainment purposes to some extent. A lot does depend on the X-Division wrestlers, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to the entertainment side of things. Considering that the likes of Abyss & Killings were wasted at Slammiversary, while Raven didn’t even appear, I think TNA have enough main-event talent to get by.

More individually, my opinion of AJ Styles hasn’t changed from 2 years ago; I’d go as far as saying that he is the best offensive wrestler in the world right now. Combine that with decent selling, psychology & intensity, and it’s arguable that he is the best going around full stop. AMW is clearly the best long-term tag-team going around & I found their old-school teaming very refreshing. It’s hard for me to tell if Samoa Joe is World Champion material, but I’d have to say that he could be with a little more build-up. He is definitely something very different (in a good way). It’s a shame that none of the X-Division guys stood out to me, but I do feel that they could all play their role very well & someone like Shelley may be able to break out & mix it with the big boys in the future.

JEFF JARRETT: As I presumed, Jarrett didn’t annoy me as much as the average fan because I haven’t seen him in quite some time. He just seemed like your average cocky main-event heel to me. But I’m not his hugest fan & know that he could grate on me as much as the next person very soon. From what I have been reading about the main-event scene, Jarrett winning the title makes sense to me, as he will likely put over Samoa Joe within the next 3 months & Christian Cage was apparently not doing the greatest job as champion. But as could be seen by the flinging of rubbish towards the end, it didn’t seem that the live crowd were too impressed by another Jarrett title reign. And did Jarrett call himself the “Michael Jordan of professional wrestling” during one promo? Hehe, I’d comment on that if I could stop laughing!

THE FUTURE & ‘VICTORY ROAD’: After viewing Slammiversary, I have not changed my decision to make individual choices on ordering TNA ppv events as they come along. I think I will just judge each card of matches as they are announced & decide whether or not to order from there. The quality of the event was definitely enough to bring me back again, but not so unmissable that I have to order each & every month (especially when I don’t have the opportunity to view the events live).

As for this months ‘Victory Road’, I’ve pretty much already decided to give it a miss. Many of the bouts are variations on the same theme, and while Spike & Abyss will probably help, Gail & The Neutralizer probably won’t. Watching Zbyszko wrestle turns me off big time, while I can see another screwjob coming in the main event. In fact, it probably should, as I think giving Samoa Joe the World HeavyWeight Title on his first shot at it is not the correct way to go.


Ok, that's all I have for edition #183 of 'The Wrestling Menu. Apologies for it's length. I think it's fair to say that this one was a little different! I hope you enjoyed the variety of an all-TNA column today. If you would like to comment on my thoughts concerning the promotion, whether it be specific to Slammiversary or more general, please do not hesitate to do so. You know that I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Or alternately, if you are an LOPForums member, you may also leave feedback or predictions there, by clicking on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=4889

Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I just don't think I will have sufficient time to write 3 column topics. So yes, I am heading back to the DVD Review well once more. I actually have 2 pre-written at the moment. One is longer than the other, so if I do have time to write about a specific topic, I will post the shorter one & include that extra bonus for you all. Either way, look out for it same Wednesday time & same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.


DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu. 2002-2006

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