Mt. Killamanjaro — TNA Slammiversary Review — @MikeKillam
TNA’s biggest PPV ever, ay? For a company that has recently done an excellent job with television, but come up short on their paid PPV content more often than not, that puts a lot of pressure on TNA to show up big time. Fortunately, for the first time in many months, I can say that I was extremely pleased with what they had to offer! It’s very rare that I give a match a perfect score; this PPV had two. It wasn’t all highs, and there were certainly some lows. But over all I think TNA provided some moments that actually merited buying one of their shows!
Here we go!
X-Division Championship
Austin Aries (c) def. Samoa Joe
I hear a lot of people say that often times pro wrestling has very little to do with actual wrestling; I don’t disagree. When I look back on some of my favorite memories, most of them are moments, not matches. WrestleMania 20’s main event was classic, but it’s the celebration between Benoit and Eddie Guerrero that most will remember forever. Hogan bodyslammed Andre, but what else happened in that match? But sometimes, with the right competitors and the right motivation, a certain magic is produced. Sometimes, the match IS the moment.
Austin Aries and Samoa Joe kicked off the 10th Anniversary of TNA Wrestling with a callback to what put them on the map in the first place: honest and hard-hitting matches. I was originally worried about a lack of chemistry or an imbalance between the two, but Joe as a veteran of the X-Division played incredibly well off the hardened Champion who has truly taken on all challengers. Fifteen minutes of pro wrestling at its absolute best; the better man won and the crowd ate it up. Most importantly, as a consumer watching at home, this match instantly validated my purchase and took away that early PPV buyer’s remorse. Instead of spending several hours hoping the TNA monthly game of Russian Roulette would finally pay off, I could ease back in my seat and enjoy the rest of my evening, guilt free.
Rating: 5/5
