Ronnie’s Reviews: TNA Slammiversary 2005

TNA Sacrifice 2005

-Video package kicks things off, highlighting the last 3 years of TNA’s history, bringing us to the present. Tenay welcomes us, and the pyro goes off.

Tenay and West tell us about the chaotic happenings of the pre show. Jarrett and Raven had a massive brawl, and a fan (plant) kept harassing Jarrett. Jarrett grabbed the fan and brought him over the guardrail and began beating him. Jarrett was subsequently arrested, and now his replacement in the King of the Mountain match was in question. Zybysko, even though he had fired Raven, decided to throw him into the match as Jarrett’s replacement. See, I normally hate how TNA would use their pre shows to announce something important, like main event stipulations. If they announce them in advance, they would probably get more buys. But in this situation, it works, as this leaves everyone with little time to think about Jarrett’s replacement for the match, and it works better in Raven’s favor as a last minute wildcard edition.

Match 1 : Zack Gowan vs Delirious vs Jerrelle Clark vs Amazing Red vs Elix Skipper vs Shark Boy – Six Way X Division match

And this is Red’s return match, for the few of you that are interested.

The bell ring, and Delirious is going insane, running around the ring and in circles. He locks in a headlock on Skipper, and Skipper throws him off. Delirious kicks Skipper in the gut, and taunts him. That allows Skipper to hit him with a kick and then a double arm underhook suplex. Delirious then tags in Red. Red goes for a hip toss, Skipper reveres for one of his own, but Red flips over. Monkey flip by Red. He goes for a hurricanrana, but Skipper locks in a boston crab. Red counters out, and dropkicks Skipper in the corner. Clark in and hits Red with a huge running hurricanrana. Flipping standing moonsault misses, allowing Red to hit a head scissors. Huge spin kick by Red connects. Gowan gets the tag and goes for a leg drop off the middle rope, but misses. Shark Boy now in and hits Gowan with a dropkick. Hangman’s neck breaker connects, but Gowan kicks out of the pin at two. Shark Boy with the punches in the corner, but Gowan pushes him off. Gowan reverses a suplex into a falling inverted DDT. Skipper gets the tag, but Shark Boy clotheslines him over the top. Clark with an asai moonsault, taking out Shark Boy and Skipper. Gowan goes for a move, but Delirous dropkicks him. Delirious goes for something, but Red cuts him off. Red to the top, and hit’s the Infared, taking out everyone on the outside. Delirious to the top, but Clark and Red cut him off. Clark and Red look for the superplex, but Skipper and Shark Boy come in for the powerbomb, and we get the Tower of Doom. Gowan with a moonsault to Clark, but Shark Boy breaks up the pin. Shark Boy takes him out of the ring, but Skippper hits him with a huge tilt a whirl slam. Red breaks it up and hit’s the running shooting star press. Clark with the Jerrelle Driver ’05 to Red, but Delirious breaks it up and hits him with a cobra clutch backbreaker. Delirious hits Skipper with the Panic Attack in the corner. He goes to hit Shark Boy with one too, but he counters and hit’s the DSD for the win.

Winner : Shark Boy (**¾-Good match here, but again I have to question Shark Boy winning. Did TNA really see anything in him? It was probably to capatilize on his lawsuit against the movie Shark Boy and Lava Girl, but who really cares? Nonetheless, what we got here was exactly what you’d expect from the X-Division. Lots of flying around and cool maneuvers. That’s good enough for me)

-And to the back as we see Abyss getting ready for the King of the Mountain match later tonight.

-Shane Douglas with Shocker, saying he’s one of the greatest luchadores and has made a huge impact. Shocker says he knows TNA has the best competition and wants to prove that he can hang with them. Alex Shelley interrupts, saying he knows Shocker’s great, but he can do the lucha libre, Japanese strong style, and if the day is right, maybe a little MMA. He’s studied up on Shocker, and he has a counter for everything. Shelley walks away, and Shocker shouts out a lot of stuff in Spanish. Douglas tells him to translate, and Shocker says that Shelley doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into.

Match 2 : Alex Shelley vs Shocker

Tie up to start, but Shocker counters into a rear waist lock. Single leg takedown by Shocker, but Shelley counters into an armbar. Shocker kips up and works on the arm. Shelley flips over and takes him down. He now locks him a modified single leg boston crab. Shocker gets to the ropes, causing Shelley to break the hold. Shocker trips Shelley down, and they hit’s a series of reversals and arm drags. Shelley bails to the outside. Back in the ring now as Shocker chops Shelley. Shelley avoids Shocker and hit’s a series of counters into a roll up attempt, but Shocker counters into one of his own. Shelley now asks for a handshake, but instead kisses his foot. Shelley with a kick to the gut, and a forearm to the back of the head. Shocker counters a headlock, but Shelley hits him with a huge shoulder block. Shocker trips Shelley and dropkicks him in the head. Shocker floats to the outside. He looks for the flipping senton, but Shelley avoids, only to get hit with the head scissors. Shelley with a shoulder block to the gut, and flips into the ring. He sends Shocker to the outside. Shelley goes for the vaulting body press, but Shocker avoids. Dropkick off the apron by Shocker connects. Scoop slam by Shocker, and he goes for a moonsault off the top, but Shelley gets the knees up. Backsuplex by Shelley connects. Russian leg sweep by Shelley, and he turns it into arm trap can opener. Snap suplex by Shelley into the float over for the pin, but Shocker kicks out. Slam by Shelley and he now goes to the top. Shelley dives off the top, but Shocker hits him with a dropkick on the way down. Shelley now on the outside as Shocker hits him with a suicide dive. Shocker rolls back into the ring now as Shelley stands on the apron. Shelley reverses a suplex and hits him with a modified small package. Shocker floats over Shelley into a pin, but Shelley rolls through and hit’s a dropkick. Huge spinning neck breaker by Shelley connects. Shocker ducks a clothesline and hit’s a drop toe hold. Shocker goes for a oklahoma roll, but Shelley counters into a modified crucifix, but only gets two on the pin. Shocker with a huge palm strike to Shelley, and now goes for a suplex. Shelley counters and again hit’s another modified pin, but Shocker kicks out. Shelley hits him with a huge kick to the back to follow. Knees in the corner by Shelley. Shocker counters a tornado DDT and hit’s a modified small package for the win.

Winner : Shocker (*** – I may be overrating this, but I loved this match. These two put on some wrestling clinics in Shockers short time with TNA, and this is my favorite of them. They basically play the game of anything you can do, I can do better. They both went out there and put on a wrestling clinic)

TNA Moment #5 – AJ Styles winning the NWA World Championship for the first time in June 2003

-Shane Douglas is in the back with the 3LK. Konnan says he and Ron want to know where BG’s loyalty is at. BG says he’s done a lot of soul searching, and he says his heart is with the 3LK. He knows Konnan is down with that. Tonight, his actions will speak louder than any words. Tonight, his actions will prove where his loyalty lies. BG, Konnan and Killings all fist bump, as we segue to our next match.

Match 3 : Kip James vs Ron Killings

Tie up to start, with James pushing Truth in the corner. They break, and enter into another tie up. Headlock by Kip, but Killings pushes him off, only to get hit with a shoulder block. Kip reverse a back drop attempt with a kick, but gets hit with a head scissors. Kip with a huge right hand in the corner. Truth goes to the top and hits Kip with a missile dropkick. Truth botches a hip toss, so Kip hits him with a low blow. Killings avoids a splash in the corner now being able to take advantage. He goes to spin kick Kip on the apron, but Kip avoids it, crotching Killings on the top rope. On the outside now as Kip bashes Killings’ head on the steel steps. A fan holds up a chair, and Kip tries to throw Ron’s head into it. Killings counters, and throws Kip’s head into it instead. Kip back in control though as he hit’s a snapmare on the inside, and locks in a chin lock. Truth tries to fight out, but gets a knee to the gut. Slam by Kip as he goes to the middle rope. He goes for move, but Killings gets the legs up. Truth with the right hands. He floats over in the corner and hit’s a huge corkscrew elbow. He floats over Kip again in the corner and kicks him in the gut. He goes for the axe kick, but Kip avoids and hits him with the Fame Asser. He locks in the cobra clutch. He goes for the slam, but Truth counters into a roll up for the win. Kip’s shoulders clearly weren’t on the mat, but whatever.

Winner : Ron Killings (*½ – For some reason, TNA loves them some long term rivalries, and this was one of them, and my god did I hate it. It went on for way too long. This was again, another stepping stone in this rivalry. The match wasn’t even that great to boot, as when Kip was in control, it was boring. It was decent when Killings was in control, so I’ll give them that. But this was a waste of time)

Post match sees Kip hit Killings with a huge right hand. He then hits him with the cobra clutch slam. Kip then flips off the crowd as he grabs a chair. BG comes out and grabs the chair from Kip. Kip tells BG to hit him, but he can’t do it. Konnan comes out and attacks Kip. Kip then bails out as Konnan grabs the chair.

TNA Moment #4 – Raven debuts in TNA Wrestling of January 2003, attacking Jarrett and taking the NWA Championship

-Shane Douglas in the back with Team Canada. Roode asks Hoyt if he feels like a hero because he has fans. Tonight, he’s going one on one with the greatest athlete in profession wrestling. Petey says The Naturals’ losing streak begins tonight. Douglas says The Naturals are rumored to have a legendary manager in their corner and asks them if they‘re worried. D’Amore says he’s worried about what’s going to happen to The Naturals and Lance Hoyt tonight. When it comes to great professional wrestling managers, you think of D’Amore.

Match 4 : Team Canada (Petey Williams and Eric Young) (w/ Scott D’Amore and A1) vs The Naturals© – NWA World Tag Team Championship

Young and Stevens start things off. Headlock by Stevens, but Chase counters into a cradle. Young keeps the headlock in place, but Chase counters into an armbar. Young counters into one of his own and throws Chase to the mat. Chase kips up and takes EY down. Young slaps Chase, so Chase slaps him back. They go for the tie up, but again EY slaps him. They exchange right hands now. Douglas gets the tag and they both hit EY with a double chop. Petey gets the tag but gets hit with double arm drags. Head scissors countered into a front slam by Douglas. He then locks him in some modified Texas Cloverleaf, but EY breaks it up. Petey almost gets hit with the Natural Disaster, but he counters out, only to get hit with a clothesline. Chase floats over EY in the corner. Young jumps over Chase, and he collapses, saying his leg hurts. He was playing possum, but Chase saw it coming. Petey comes in, and Chase takes him down. EY then throws Chase over the top, allowing A1 to attack him. Back in the ring now as EY ties Stevens to the tree of woe. Petey gets the tag and “Oh Canada” follows. He then just starts hitting him with the rights before letting him down. Sunset flip by Petey, followed by a leg drop from Young. Double teaming by EY and Williams in the corner now. Petey hits Chase with a back suplex, and Young hits him with an elbow drop off the top. Young only gets two on the pin, so he locks in a sleeper hold. Chase tries to fight out but gets thrown to the mat. Petey back in now as he sets Chase on the middle rope. A1 and D’Amore get their shots in on Stevens. Williams hits him with a slingshot leg drop, then he catapults him into the ropes. Petey gets the tag now as he goes for a nonchalant cover, but Chase kicks out at two. Chase begins to fight back, but EY dumps him to the outside. A1 and D’Amore again work on Stevens on the outside. Back on the inside now as Chase again begins to fight back, but A1 grabs his leg. Douglas fights of A1, but Chase then can’t get the tag. Williams ducks an enzuigiri but Chase rolls through and gets the tag. Series of clotheslines and he hits Williams with a tilt a whirl back breaker. High knee to Williams followed by a full nelson backbreaker to Williams. EY hangs him up on the top, and Williams locks in the sharpshooter. EY goes to the top, but Chase knocks him off. Chase goes for a powerbomb on Williams, but he counters into a DDT. German suplex to Williams by Douglas connects, and Douglas then clotheslines EY over the top. Petey and Chase exchange rights. Petey on Chase’s shoulders as Douglas dives off the top and hit’s the neck breaker. Pin but somehow Petey kicked out at two. Natural Disaster connects on Young. Pin but Petey breaks up the pin. Head scissors into a russian leg sweep by Petey to Chase. He looks for the Canadian Destroyer on Douglas, but Douglas counters out. He gets hit with the hockey stick by A1. Chase has the mega phone, and he hits Petey with it as he goes for the Canadian Destroyer. Tenay says that Jimmy Hart gave him the megaphone, but the cameras missed it (good job TNA). Cover and that’s all folks.

Winner : The Naturals (**¾ – Good match between these two teams. They‘ve had better, but the overall point of this was to have Jimmy Hart debut, which overall would serve about no purpose for TNA, but I digress, as this was an enjoyable match)

TNA Moment #3 – TNA Lockdown (the entire event) as wrestling’s first ever all steel cage PPV

-Shane Douglas is in the back with Sean Waltman. He says Waltman secured the wildcard spot, and asks him how he came to get it. Waltman says he’s a backstage politician, and he deserves to be out there. He likes to have a good time, but there’s not going to be any unity out there tonight. He has no problem going out there and standing alone.

Match 5 : Sonjay Dutt vs Samoa Joe

For those of you who don’t know, this was Samoa Joe’s TNA debut. Tenay puts over how awesome Joe is.

Joe with the kicks to Sonjay’s leg. Joe shoves Dutt in the corner and hits him with a series of rights and lefts. Sonjay avoids one and dropkicks Joe in the corner. Dutt charges Joe but to no avail. Springboard leg lariat, but Joe hasn’t fallen off hit feet. He charges Joe in the corner but gets hit with that modified urinagi. Snapmare, chop to the back, kick to the chest, and he follows with the huge knee drop. Cover but Sonjay barely kicks out at two. Joe with a huge knee to Sonjay in the corner, and you know what follows. Face Wash connects by Joe. Sonjay starts to fight back, but gets hit with a leg sweep, followed by a sit down senton by Joe. Joe charges Sonjay, but Sonjay avoids. Springboard dropkick by Dutt, knocking Joe off the apron. He follows up with a flipping senton over the top, taking out Joe. Joe back in the ring now. Sonjay goes for a springboard crossbody, but Joe catches him. Dutt counters out and hit’s the kicks to Joe’s leg. He goes to the apron and hit’s a springboard dropkick. Pin but only two. Back elbow in the corner by Dutt, and he follows up with an enzuigiri. 450 off the top barely connects by Dutt, and again Joe kicks out at two. He goes to the top for the Hindu Press, but Joe rolls out of the way and hit’s a huge powerslam. Chops and punches in the corner by Joe. Sonjay avoids a discus punch, but Joe hits him with a huge kick. MUSCLE BUSTER!!! Coquina Clutch follows, and you know it’s over. And so the undefeated streak begins.

Winner : Samoa Joe (**¼ – Exactly what Joe needed for a debut match, pure and utter domination. Joe basically just hit all of his signature moves while Dutt hit a few of his to try to look like he was on Joe’s level. This was about as enjoyable of a squash match that you‘ll ever see)

-Tenay and West hype up Bound for Glory. They then talk about the KOTM match. They say Waltman was the original wildcard, but now it’s Raven.

-Raven says he’d rather hug a suicide bomber than be one of his opponents. He will ride his chariot of vengeance, grind his opponents bones to powder. If by chance an autopsy were to be performed after the match, it would say that his opponents expired due to hatred, anger and by sheer force of will. He is a human cancer, and the only way to stop his malignancy, is to kill the host. He doesn’t think his opponents are twisted enough to take the final step into inhumanity. Tonight, he becomes who he is supposed to be. At last, destiny will be fulfilled. Quote the Raven, NWA Heavyweight Champion, nevermore.

Match 6 : Bobby Roode vs Lance Hoyt

Tie up to start, but Hoyt shoves Roode across the ring. Another tie up, but Hoyt just charges Roode into the corner. Roode pushes him, and Hoyt shoves him again. Roode runs right into a slam. Hoyt goes for a boot, but Roode stops short. Hoyt clotheslines him over the top. Hoyt grabs him by the hair, but Roode grabs him by the leg, bringing him to the outside. Hoyt throws him back in the ring, but D’Amore distracts him. Roode knees Hoyt in the back, knocking him off the apron and into the guardrail. D’Amore throws him into the guardrail, then back into the ring. Roode now choking Hoyt in the ropes. Knee to the gut by Roode, and again. He follows up with a back suplex, and then poses to the crowd. Cover but only two. He locks in a rear waist lock, but Hoyt fights out with the elbows. He tries to run off, but Roode grabs him by the hair, slamming him into the mat. Snap suplex by Roode, and he goes to the top. Hoyt hits him with a right, and then throws him across the ring. Clotheslines by Hoyt, and he hit’s a huge flapjack. Punches in the corner by Hoyt, but Roode counters into a reverse atomic drop attempt. Hoyt counters and hit’s a chokeslam. Hoyt looks for a moonsault off the top, but D’Amore gabs his leg. Running powerbomb by Roode, but only gets two on the pin. He’s got the hockey stick now, but the ref grabs it from him. Rock Bottom by Hoyt. He wants to hit the big boot, but D’Amore grabs his leg again. Northern Lariat by Roode, and that’s all.

Winner : Bobby Roode (**¼ – Nothing bad here. They kept it short which worked to their advantage)

D’Amore’s got a mic, and says that Hoyt was going to learn a very painful lesson, and schools not out yet. Roode continues to beat down Hoyt. He asks Hoyt what he thinks about that, and Hoyt goozles him. Roode hits Hoyt in the back though, and the beat down continues. D’Amore takes his shirt off and goes to the top. He goes for a moonsault, but Hoyt avoids it. Big boot to Roode by Hoyt. Hoyt grabs D’Amore, exposing his ass. Chokeslam to D’Amore connects. He then follows up with a moonsault. And here comes Team Canada, ironically just seconds too late. Here comes the medics, and they put D’Amore on the stretcher.

TNA Moment #2 – Jeff Hardy debuts in TNA Wrestling in June 2004

-Shane Douglas is in the back with AJ, talking about how AJ has just become a father and is the new NWA Heavyweight Champion. AJ says it’s unbelievable. He’s going to go down to the ring, and when the bell rings, he becomes just like everyone else. A challenger. He’s going to have to work 4 times as hard to walk out with the belt. Some see it as an obstacle, an opportunity. This match is the biggest opportunity of AJ Styles’ career.

Match 7 : America’s Most Wanted vs 3 Live Kru (BG James and Konnan)

The story behind this one is that both tag team partners were feuding with each other. Harris and Storm couldn’t keep it together while you know the story behind BG/Konnan. We get the normal 3LK intro.

Konan and Harris start things off. Armbar by Konnan, but Harris counters into one of his own. Headlock by Konnan, and Storm didn’t realize Harris wanted the tag. Rolling lariat by Konnan. Storm runs in and gets hit with an reverse STO. Konnan then throws his shoe at Harris, and then Storm. Spin kick to the gut by Storm, and then he kicks him in the head. Back elbow by Storm connects, and he tags Harris back in. Snapmare by Harris, followed by a knee drop. Harris hit’s a double axe handle off the top and then tags Storm back in. Storm dives off the top, but Konnan gets his leg up. Face Jam by Konnan, and here comes BG. Big boot by BG to Storm, and he hits Harris with a back drop. Huge superkick by Storm to BG, stopping his momentum. Cover but only two. Storm with an elbow in the corner. He whips him into the other corner, allowing Harris to hit a bulldog. Huge lariat by Harris connects. Storm gets the tag, but BG fights back. He runs into a boot in the corner, and then gets hit with the 8 Second Ride out of the corner. Harris back in and he jumps at BG off the middle rope, but BG hits him with a right. BG ducks a right and hit’s the jabs. Harris ducks a clothesline but runs into Storm by accident, allowing BG to take Chris down with a right. Kip James out now and he and Konnan are exchanging rights. Hart Attack to BG by AMW, and that’s enough for the win.

Winners : AMW (** – Decent, but nothing great. They just sort of went through the motions, which is kind of surprising when you look at these two teams. The crowd didn’t care much either, which didn’t help)

Post match sees BG refuse to fist bump Konnan. Kip seems happy that he’s played the mind games. BG leaves the arena.

TNA Moment #1 – Elix Skipper walks the cage at Turning Point 2004. Amazing how the number one moment of 2005 isn’t even recognized 5 years later. Hell, even the other events are somewhat recognized by TNA nowadays

Match 8 : Matt Bentley (w/ Traci) vs Chris Sabin (w/ Trinity) vs Christopher Daniels© – Three Way Elimination match – X-Division Championship

Backstory – Chris Sabin and Matt Bentley were at war, and Daniels was caught in the middle of it. Sabin was pissed at Bentley, Traci wanted Bentley to get the X-Division title, and Daniels was out to prove there was no one that could be him.

Sabin and Daniels both fight over who goes after Bentley first, so Daniels hits him with a right. Double hip toss to Daniels by Sabin and Bentley. They then exchange rights. Daniels interrupts . Sabin leaps out of a bulldog on Bentley and hits Daniels with a hurricanrana. Spin kick to the gut of Bentley and he drop kicks him in the side of the head. Daniels throws him off into the ropes and hit’s a huge running dropkick. Sabin counters out of a tilt a whirl but runs into a reverse STO, and Daniels locks in the Koji Clutch. Elbow drop off the top by Bentley, but only gets two on the pin. He covers Sabin, but he kicks out too. Bentley floats over Daniels in the corner and hits an arm drag. He follows up with a powerslam but Daniels kicks out at two. Jawbreaker by Daniels. Daniels gets thrown up into the air, and on the way down Sabin hits him with a sitout powerbomb. Springboard crossbody by Sabin, but Bentley ducks and Sabin takes out Daniels. Daniels drop toe holds Sabin into the ropes, and then pushes him to the outside so he’s hanging upside down on the ropes. Daniels backdrops Bentley over the top onto Sabin. Split legged moonsault to the outside, but Bentley gets out of the way so only Sabin gets hit. Bentley throws Sabin back in the ring as Daniels is still out on the outside. Huge dropkick by Bentley to Sabin, and now Daniels is back in. Dropkick by Daniels to Sabin now. Bentley turns on Daniels and throws him to the outside. Belly to belly throw by Bentley to Sabin, but only gets two on the pin. Bentley throws Sabin into the ropes, but Daniels hits him. Baseball slide by Bentley to Daniels, and then he hits Sabin with a slingshot leg drop. Irish whip countered by Sabin, and Daniels backdrops Bentley to the outside. Sabin goes for a vaulting body press on Daniels, but he counters into a gutbuster. Bentley goes for a superkick, but Daniels counters and looks for the Angel’s Wings. Bentley backdrops out as Sabin comes back in. Sabin goes for the head scissors on Daniels, but Daniels throws him off into Bentley. Sabin grabs Bentley for a DDT, but he goes tornado style by hitting Daniels with a kick and then planting Bentley down. Great sequence there. Sabin now taking it to both guys with clotheslines and dropkicks. Suplex to Bentley, and he follows up with a Cradle Shock attempt, but Bentley counters out and send Sabin off into the ropes. Sabin ducks a clothesline and flips over the top, taking out Daniels. Sabin hits Bentley with a springboard dropkick, but Bentley kicks out of the pin at two. Traci trips Sabin’s leg as he ran off into the ropes. Bentley runs off into the ropes, but Trinity trips him. Both Traci and Trinity exchange chops in the ring before Trinity spears her down. In the words of Joey Styles, “CAT FIGHT”!!!. Sabin goes for the Cradle Shock on Bentley, but Daniels has Trinity in the Angel’s Wings. Sabin plants Bentley and eliminates him, so Daniels hits her with the Angel’s Wings. We’re now down to Sabin and Daniels.

Eliminated : Matt Bentley

Sabin with the chops to Daniels, so Daniels rakes the eyes. Sabin floats over Daniels in the corner and hit’s a powerslam, but only gets two on the pin. Sabin hits him with the Over Easy. Pin but only two. Sabin runs off into the ropes, but Daniels catches him with a Death Valley Driver. Pin but only two. He covers again but only gets two. Daniels now locks in a modified half nelson chin lock. Sabin fights out, and hit’s a head scissors into a roll up, but only gets two on the pin. Sabin goes for a discus chop, but Daniels ducks. Sabin flips out of a backsuplex and hit’s a huge bulldog on the champ. Sabin with a backbreaker into a bridging straight jacket german suplex, but only gets two on the pin. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Daniels, and now he’s hitting him with repeated head butts. STO by Daniels drills Sabin, but again only gets two on the pin. BEST. MOONSAULT. EVAR!!! It connects, but he again only gets two on the pin. Sabin starts to fight back with rights and lefts. Dragon whip by Sabin misses. Daniels runs off into the ropes but gets drilled with an enzuigiri. SPRINGBOARD TORNADO DDT!! I love that move. Pin but only two. Cradle Shock coming up, but Daniels counters out and throws Sabin on the apron. Sabin goes for a springboard but Daniels kicks the ropes, crotching Sabin on the top. ANGEL’S WINGS!!! And it’s over.

Winner : Christopher Daniels (***¾ – Awesome match up here. Daniels was on fire at this point, as he didn’t have a single match under awesome throughout all of 2005. These guys just meshed really well with each other and played around with the elimination stipulation greatly. The interference was kept to a minimum too, so that was all good. Overall, this was a great match)

-Shane Douglas in the back with Monty Brown. Brown says he’ll destroy and dismantle everything put in his path. Brown says what happened to Jarrett has nothing to do with him. It’s all about survival, and no one knows that better than Brown. The four omega males. AJ, Raven, Abyss and Waltman won’t survive. Tonight, everyone will find out why he’s the Alpha Male, because tonight, the four omega males will feel the POUNCEAAHH!! Period!

Match 9 : Monty Brown vs Abyss vs Sean Waltman vs Raven vs AJ Styles© – King of the Mountain match – NWA Heavyweight Championship

Backstory – Jeff Jarrett was desperate to reclaim his title while Raven was out to fulfill his destiny by winning the belt. Raven got into Jarrett’s head, and Jarrett’s actions caused his goal of reclaiming the title to be put on hold. Sean Waltman was the wildcard going into KOTM, Monty Brown wanted the respect of being a world champion, and Abyss, well, Abyss was there to fuck shit up. AJ Styles was looking to make a name for himself and to become the World Champion that the fans were desperately pleading for. I loved the build to this match. Everyone seemed like an important factor into it.

If you don’t know the rules to the KOTM match, well go look them up, because I’m too lazy to explain them. Waltman comes down and climbs to the top of the penalty box. Raven takes his good damn time before he comes out. And here comes the champ, and he comes down with a ladder. He sets the ladder up at ringside and climbs to the top of it. We then get the super special in ring introductions.

And the second the bell rings, Waltman dives off the top of the box, taking out Raven. Abyss goes after Styles, but Styles hit’s a hurricanrana off the ladder. Brown sets up Raven and hit’s the POUNCE!! Raven’s in the box, and Brown’s qualified.

Qualified : Monty Brown over Raven

Brown’s got a ladder, but Waltman hits him with a baseball slide. Abyss goes after Waltman, and Styles hit’s the flip dive over the top, taking out Abyss. Waltman throws Brown back in the ring. Styles goes for a springboard, but Abyss trips him, causing him to come down face first on the top. Abyss misses a splash in the corner, taking out Brown instead. Waltman ducks a clothesline and hit’s a spinkick, taking down Abyss. Waltman wants the bronco buster, but Brown cuts him off, tossing him halfway across the ring. Raven comes in early and gets hit with a t-bone suplex. Backdrop to Abyss. Waltman goes for a crossbody off the top, but Brown catches him and hits him with the Alpha Bomb. He pin him for the three. Waltman now has to go to the penalty box. For some reason TNA thought it would be a better idea to focus on Waltman going to the penalty box than the action in the ring. AJ Styles hit’s a huge move off the top of the cage, but we’ll never know what it was because apparently Waltman is more important. Splash to Abyss in the corner, and then one to Brown. AJ gets tossed into the turnbuckle by Abyss and then gets hit with the POUNCE!!! Raven covers him and now he’s qualified.

Qualified : Raven over Abyss

Abyss goes for a Shock Treatment, but Raven throws a trashcan at him. He then hits Brown with it, and then Abyss again. Discus clothesline to Abyss. Clothesline to Brown follows. Boot to Raven by Abyss. In the penalty box we see Waltman and AJ shaking hands, apparently forming an alliance. Fallaway slam by Brown to Raven, and Waltman’s back in. He’s got a trashcan, and he takes both Brown and Abyss out with it. Abyss then boots the can into his face. And AJ Styles is back in as Abyss hits Brown with the Black Hole Slam, now qualifying.

Qualified : Abyss over Monty Brown

AJ kicks Abyss to the outside, but Raven hits AJ with a snapmare, followed with a kick to the back. Bulldog by Raven to Styles and he goes for the cover, but only gets two. Raven Effect DDT countered by Styles into the Styles Clash. Cover but Abyss breaks up the pin so AJ can’t qualify. AJ with a huge enzuigiri to Abyss, sending him to the outside. Waltman hits Abyss with a chair, setting him on top of the table. AJ goes to the top and… SPIRAL TAP TO THE OUTSIDE ON A FREAKIN’ TABLE!!!!!!!! That was f’n awesome. AJ pins him and now he’s qualified.

Qualified : AJ Styles over Abyss

Brown is now back in and he goes straight for a weapon under the ring. Raven and Brown fight inside the ring, and Brown sets up a table in the corner. Raven throws Brown into a guardrail. AJ’s on the inside now, and he’s got the title. He drops it as he climbs the ladder, and Waltman grabs it and hands it to him. Waltman hits AJ and hits him with an X-Factor off the ladder. Pin and now Waltman’s qualified.

Qualified : Sean Waltman over AJ Styles

Raven now in and he takes out Waltman. Raven’s got a staple gun now. He staples Waltman in the head. And he does it again. And here comes The Monster. Waltman hits Raven with a low blow, and then staples him in the nuts. Low blow to Abyss by Waltman and he staples Abyss in the groin too. He goes to cover Abyss, but Abyss kicks out. Waltman sets up a ladder, nowhere close to the center of the ring. He climbs it, but AJ’s back in, and goes up the ladder too. They both fight at the top, and Abyss pushes them to the outside of the ring. Waltman lands on the outside as AJ crashes through a table. Abyss now climbs the ladder, but Brown hits him with POUNCE!! Through a freaking table. RAVEN EFFECT DDT TO BROWN!!! Raven climbs up with the belt. Abyss tries to get up, but to no avail as Raven kicks him off. RAVEN HOOKS THE BELT! We’ve got a new champ!

Winner : Raven (**** – Awesome main event here, and with Raven winning the belt, it makes the match that more important. This is the match that gave Slammiversary it’s reputation as where anything can happen, and most likely something historical will)

Post match sees Raven celebrating. Waltman looks pissed. AJ’s yelling where’s Waltman as Waltman walks to the back. Raven celebrates with the fans as we fade out.

___________________________________________________________________________

Bad:
-Kip vs Killings (The rivalry sucked, and the match did it no justification)

Average:
-6 Way X-Division match (Decent opener, but it could have been better. This is in the average due to the standards set by the X-Division. There have been much better, but this still wasn’t bad)
-Roode vs Hoyt (This match was sort of just there, as no one really cared, but they tried, and the crowd enjoyed the Van Daminator to D‘Amore)
-AMW vs 3LK (This match could have been better, but it wasn’t bad)

Good:
-Shelley vs Shocker (Good, smartly wrestled match between these two)
-Team Canada vs Natural’s (These two teams just did their thing and put on a good match in the process)
-Dutt vs Joe (As enjoyable of a squash as you’re going to get. This was a fun match)
-Bentley vs Sabin vs Daniels (Great match between these three. The X-Division title was in a league of it’s own, and this match helped cement that fact)
-KOTM match (Awesome main event, a definite must see)

The 411: Opinions of the show will probably vary, but overall, this was a good PPV. The first two matches were good, we got the debut of Samoa Joe, and all three title matches ranged from good to great. There was some bad, but what was bad was kept really short and didn't drag things down at all. Overall, I easily recommend this show as it has a little bit of everything. Whether fast paced wrestling, wrestling clinics, hardcore outings, or a historical moment, this show was very good.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]