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Csonka’s TNA Slammiversary 2014 Review

May 22, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka
7.2
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s TNA Slammiversary 2014 Review  

Introduction
As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.

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TNA Slammiversary 2014 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
X-Division Title Ladder Match: Champion Sanada defeated Manik, Tigre Uno, Crazzy Steve, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards @ 10:00 [***¾]
Winner Moves Onto The TNA World Title Match: Lashley defeated Samoa Joe via pin @ 10:00 [***]
– Magnus defeated Willow via pin @ 10:00 [**]
Winner Moves Onto The TNA World Title Match: Austin Aries defeated Kenny King via pin @ 10:00 [***]
– The BroMans (Jessie and DJ Zema Ion) defeated Ross and Marshall Von Erich via DQ @ 6:00 [*]
Knockouts Title Match: Champion Angelina Love defeated Gail Kim via pin @ 7:00 [DUD]
Texas Death Match: Ethan Carter II defeated Bully Ray via pin @ 17:00 [***¼]
–Mr. Anderson defeated James Storm via pin @ 6:00 [*]
World Title Steel Cage Match: Champion Eric Young defeated Lashley and Austin Aries via pin @ 12:00 [ ***¾]


* NOTE: Since there is no new edition of TNA Impact tonight, and Destination America is showing Slammiversary 2014, I present to you a review of that show. I have also posted this review to run at 8PM, at the start of the replay so feel free to use the review as a place for live discussion. Enjoy and have a good night everyone.

Champion vs. Manik vs. Tigre Uno vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards: This was a really good opener, I liked it last year and liked it a little more on the rewatch. They had a hot crowd with everyone working hard and playing their roles well and good action overall, but I still feel that an anticlimactic finish hurt it a bit. Again, this was a bit better that I remembered; it had lots of fun an athletic spots, but it had some flow issues early that kept it from being great. I always like when I get to rewatch something and it does age well or even comes off better than the first time around. If anything I came away angry about the state of the division after watching this match, the company obviously has the talent, but they have completely devalued and poorly booked the division to the point that the barely get any TV time.

* MVP makes his way out with King and Lashley. MVP is supposed to be in the hospital, he is injured and is not happy about the crowd reaction. He mocks the Cowboys, and says that he knows they are upset because they spent their money to win the title tonight. He came here for the fans, he should be resting, but because Dixie went to the board of directors, he has been censored. Everything he has done is to make TNA better. He has to provide a fair main event, so he gives them a gift tonight, his brilliance. Young will defend the title in a steel cage, but the winners of Joe vs. Lashley and King vs. Aries will move onto the main event. He can’t be anymore fair than that, and they should thank him for that. He will not be involved in the matches tonight. King says that they are winners and champions, unlike Romo and the Cowboys. There is no way Young will leave as champion tonight. MVP then mocks Joe, and says Joe will become the prey tonight.

Samoa Joe vs. Lashley: Joe and Lashley have always worked well together, but unfortunately have never had a great match. The match is good, but the finish was way too telegraphed with Henber wandering around, waiting for the bump very awkwardly. But they worked well together and this was an enjoyable match. You could tell they were holding back because Lashley has to work again later. This happens when you run tournaments or formats like this, but for the time they had, this was good stuff.

* Borash is in the Carter Family party suite. Dixie says she is in her hometown where she is loved, she can’t ask for more. She expects EC3 to win tonight. Spud, who is dressed like the Joker, keeps repeating Dixie. Borash asks about her high level meetings, but she refuses to share the details until she is in the ring with the world listening. She adds that karma bit MVP in the ass, because he blew out his knee and lost his shot at the title. But he hasn’t seen the worst yet.

Willow w/Abyss vs. Magnus w/Bram: I remember having high hopes for this, as wacky as Willow was, Hardy generally worked hard on PPV and Magnus had his moments. It started off good, but then fell apart due to all of the shenanigans from Abyss and Bram. They really should have just made this a tag match due to the fact that they were so heavily involved, and we likely would have had a much better match. This was ok, but was an overall disappointment.

TNA HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCEMENT: Jeremy Borash is in the ring and brings out Kurt Angle to make the official announcement. Angle appears to be moving well considering he just had a major knee surgery. He thanks TNA for allowing him to make this announcement, and puts over getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. The crowd loves Angle. The 2014 TNA Hall of Fame inductee is, well, “THEY” may be the greatest tag team of all time… Team 3D. Bully Ray and Devon make their way out to the ring. Bully has the mic as the crowd chants for tables. They soak in the ovation for a while, and Bully says that was the best we want table chant they have heard in forever. They then get a “3D” chant, and Bully says this is great to be in the ring with Devon. They share a hug, and get the one more match chant. Bully says they accept the induction, and accept it for one reason only, because of every single one of the fans. For their entire career, the fans are responsible for taking and making them the most successful team in wrestling history. Devon has the mic and says last August when he left TNA, he vowed not to come back because he thought he was done. “You still got it” chants for Devon. He thanks the fans, and says he got this call for the Hall of Fame. He has been creating history with Bully winning title after title, and if they go out together in the Hall of Fame, lets go out in a blaze of glory. OH MY BROTHER… TESTIFY!

* Borash is with EC3. He golf claps for Team 3D, and reminds everyone that he beat Sting and Angle, TNA Hall of Famers. This is fate, because when he wins tonight, he will become the Hardcore American Icon. This is Carter country, so he fights for grandma, grandpa, EC2 and most importantly Aunt D.

Austin Aries vs. Kenny King: These guys are friends and work well together, and put together a good match. The first half was an uphill battle, as the crowd was recovering from the HOF announcement, it took them some time but they got them back so much credit to them for that. Like Joe vs. Lashley, I felt they held a bit back, due to having to wrestle one more time tonight. But this was a good match with Aries looking strong heading into the main event. I know that people like King, but Aries was obviously the right choice to work the main event due to his talent and experience.

* Borash is in the ring, and announces Kevin, Ross and Marshall Von Erich. Kevin is happy to be here to introduce his sons on Father’s Day. The BroMans (Jessie and DJ Zema Ion) now make their way out and say that they know what’s tight. Jessie then says that the Mavericks, Cowboys and Von Erichs are not tight. Ion runs down Texas, and then they jump the Von Erichs.

Ross and Marshall Von Erich vs. The BroMans (Jessie and DJ Zema Ion): The match was not good. The BroMans tried hard, but there is a reason that Von Erich kids hadn’t been signed (and stayed with a major promotion) before then, they simply were not ready. They could have a future, they have potential from what I have seen, but they need a lot of work and need to have he dedication to get there. The post match antics with Kevin dishing out claws was easily the best part.

Knockouts Title Match: Champion Angelina Love w/Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim: I hated this match in 2014 and still hate it nearly one year later. This was an exercise in taking a perfectly acceptable wrestling match (which they were having) and ruining it with too much bullshit. This was a case of diminishing returns, one or two things cam be fine but the constant shenanigans just became completely frustrating. I mean there was way too much going on here that it simply ruined the effort they put into the wrestling portion. Also, this was simply to set up another heel ref gimmick for the Knockouts division, which never worked out and got played out very quickly.

Texas Death Match: Ethan Carter II vs. Bully Ray: The crowd was hot for this; they loved Bully, hated Carter and reacted to the weapons; basically everything went according to plan. The match was good, but didn’t hit that next level I would have hoped for. They were in the middle of setting up Dixie getting her comeuppance (the table spot), and this worked well to add to that story. This was the second straight match with a shenanigan filled ending. That’s poor layout of the show on one hand, and also if you’re going to do that kind of finish, only do one. That’s on the agents that put the match together. Nearly one year later I feel the same about EC3 as I did back then; I like EC3, he’s a good character, but I am still waiting for that breakout singles performance. He has the talking and character down, and he’s been fine in the ring, but I am waiting to be wow’d from him in the ring. This came off a little better than I had remembered.

James Storm vs. Mr. Anderson: This was all about trying to get a SportsCenter moment with the Dallas Cowboys, which unfortunately they did not get. It wasn’t very good as far as the wrestling goes, because it was all about setting up Storm pissing off the Cowboys players, them helping and Anderson winning. I didn’t like it then, and it honestly did not age that well. I get why they did it, but we could have done without it.

TNA World Title Steel Cage Match: Champion Eric Young vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Aries : Due to the way that TNA tapes TV and the fact that MVP was injured prior to this PPV, I felt that the company did a good job of saving the main event. The guys involved worked really hard and while it started a bit rough, but they locked it in and provided a good main event match. They delivered some great spots and near falls, and again considering the whole situation, it worked out well for them. Also, I am happy to say there were no shenanigans in a cage match, which is always appreciated. Young wasn’t the perfect guy as champion for TNA, but the good news is that much of his run featured good matches with clean finishes, which I greatly appreciated.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

7.2
The final score: review Good
The 411
At the time, I felt Slammiversayr 2014 was a good show, and I still feel that way. For the most part my feelings on the show are the same, but there were two matches I liked a little better nearly a year later. The opener and main event matches are the ones to check out, but the two qualifying matches and Texas Death Match are also worth a watch.
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