TNA Impact Wrestling - Lockdown 2015 Review

      For the first time ever, TNA decided to giveaway Lockdown on free television, rather than hold the event as a pay-per-view. An interesting choice, a clear attempt to build up the fledgling Destination America viewership, but would the event offer classic matches, of the ilk of AJ Styles vs. Abyss from 2005, Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle from 2008 or Angle vs. Mr. Anderson of 2010? Would the show actually end up as pay-per-view quality making fans feel like they've been given an extra special treat, or would it leave fans thanking their lucky stars that they didn't have to pay? Let's find out!

Lethal Lockdown Match

Beatdown Clan 

vs. 

Team Angle

  Taking up around a quarter of the television time was the continuing storyline between the Beatdown Clan and Team Angle, culminating in the Lethal Lockdown main event for the show. For some reason, it was decided that angle was needed earlier in the show, in which MVP (who was joined by Kenny King and Eric Young) offered Kurt Angle's team the opportunity to back out of the match, due to Team Angle being one member down at the time. For someone who is given so much mic time by TNA, MVP can't hold my attention for more than a minute. Of course, Angle didn't accept MVP's offer and it all ended up in a big brawl, with Low Ki and Samoa Joe ambushing Gunner. The pair trapped Gunner's arm in the cage door and delivered a chair shot, to give the match a bit of story later on. This segment should have taken place a week before the match, to help build up the feud, having it on the Special edition itself just made everything feel very rushed. 

The build up continued backstage with Gunner told by a Doctor not to compete, however Gunner decided he would any and would start the match, because he's a fucking moron apparently. Instead of telling their partner that this was a bloody stupid idea, Angle and Austin Aries simply sat by. Instead of reasoning with Gunner that it might be a good idea to go in last, Angle went to track down World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley, throwing him into a wall in an attempt to get him to join the team, that's exactly what I do when I want someone to write for Across The Pond, ask Billy and Sean.

So the two stories running throughout the bout were clearly set out earlier in the show. Gunner going in first with an injured arm, that was played up nicely earlier on in the match with Kenny King and Low Ki delivering a number of kicks to the arm and Gunner selling completently throughout the first five minutes or so. It was a shame not to see this picked up on later, although the crowded nature of Lethal Lockdown doesn't really lend itself to such subtleties. The other story, of course, was whether or not Bobby Lashley would turn up to help Team Angle. The moment Lashley came out was played nicely, although it was clear to everyone that he wasn't about to rejoin MVP's stable. Personally, I would've liked to have Lashley on the offence for a bit longer, as he cut of fairly quickly by the BDC, I think it would have really cemented the moment to see Lashley explode out of the blocks on his former friends. 

Angle's team managed to pick up the victory, with Angle, Aries and Gunner all managing to lock in their signature submission holds on members of the opposite team in a cool moment, allowing Lashley to hit a spear on MVP to pick up the victory. The interaction between MVP and Lashley lasted a little bit too long, with MVP standing around for a bit instead of saving any of his team. I'm not entirely sure if Angle's team going over was the correct decision, The Beatdown Clan needed a victory to make them feel like a viable threat at the top of the card, having only been in existence for a month. Where does everyone go next? Who will become Lashley's number one contender? Will Gunner continue to randomly drift in and out of storylines? 

Steel Cage Match for the World Tag Team Championship

The Hardys 

vs. 

James Storm & Abyss (C)

with Khoya, Manik & The Great Sanada

       It was refreshing to see a wrestling match open the show and seeing as this was supposed to be a "Pay-Per-View" style show it's exactly what should be happening on these special editions of Impact Wrestling. This match had recieved a lot of attention in the promos for this show, simply because of THAT bump by Jeff Hardy after the match, with the feud between the two teams being flimsly at best, with The Hardys winning a number one contender bout against The Wolves three weeks ago, before the teams faced off in singles matches over the last two weeks.

This match did little for me and for a match this long, very little of note actually happened during the match. The Hardy's ran through their signature moves (Four Twist of Fates?), Storm and Abyss didn't do much at all beyond kicks and punches, and most of all there was no sense of drama or urgency to attempt to get the win. This was two teams going through the motions for most of the match, which all seemed like it was there simply to allow for the big spot to happen after the match. I think seeing Jeff and Abyss using all sorts of weapons on last week's Impact also didn't help this one.

Elements of the finish however were strong. I say elements because Matt getting pulled out of the camera hole in the cage by Khoya was just plain stupid and completely negated the reason the purposes of the cage match concept! But, The Great Sanada's interference using his Green Mist to prevent Jeff from hitting a Swantom Bomb was a clever use of Sanada's offence and allowed Storm to pick up the pinfall victory for his team following a Last Call Superkick. 

The aftermatch of the match was what everyone tuned in for though, wasn't it? Everyone wanted to see Jeff Hardy's stupid bump from the door of the cage onto the steel steps. And you needn't have worried if you missed it the first time round, because it was replayed numerous times throughout the remaining two hours. The Revolution looked dominant, and Storm in particularly is doing good character work in the role, it is important that the younger guys on the faction get some time to get themselves over, as TNA desperately needs to get some upward movement from it's roster.          

Steel Cage Match

Eric Young 

with MVP

vs. 

Bobby Roode

This is the match I was most looking forward to heading into the show, mainly because Bobby Roode has proven to be TNA's most consistent in-ring performer over the last few years. That being said, I was left a little disapointted by this match overall. The action throughout was technically sound, both men looked comfortable in the ring together, but this wasn't anywhere near as competitive a match as I was hoping it would be. Roode dominated for most of the match and never really looked like he was losing this one, even when MVP came out to hand Young a steel chair through the fucking camera hole! 

This match needed, at least, five minutes more than it was given to tell a satisfying story and to give both men the opportunity to show what they could do. The story heading into the match was that Roode wanted to draw blood from Young, but when that happened it felt almost like a footnote, rather than the cresendo to the match that it should have been. Roode picked up the win with a Roode Bomb onto a steel chair, so it would seem like Roode would slot straight back into the title picture. This was a decent match, but it killed any momentum that the feud, or Eric Young, may have had going forward, after only a month. Roode's backstage promo later in the show would seem to confirm that also.

Handicap Steel Cage Match

Mandrews & Rockstar Spud 

vs. 

Tyrus 

with Ethan Carter III

This was my favourite match of the night, not the best match on the show, but my favourite to watch. Simply put, the match set out to do exactly what it had to do and told a story that was easy to follow and well told. Everyone in the bout played their roles excellently, with Spud especially standing out throughout the match, with his believable selling and his heel-o off the top of the cage onto Tyrus. It was Tyrus however who picked up the victory after EC3 managed to get Mandrews to leave the cage, ending up in a nasty bump onto the steel steps for Mandrews, before Tyrus picked up the win following his Tongan Death Grip chokeslam. Spud however managed to keep hold of his hair again, as following the match Jeremy Borash managed to snip the power chord to EC3's clippers. This storyline has brightened TNA's television product up for a long time and it doesn't look like losing steam any time soon, both Spud and EC3 are benefitting, with Mandrews and Tyrus also getting involved on the action, TNA needs to look at what it's doing right here and implement it throughout the rest of the show.

Steel Cage Match

Havok 

vs. 

Awesome Kong

Billed as a "Dream" match, this match turned out to be all hype. Awesome Kong looked like she'd rather be anywhere else as she plodded through the bout, whilst Havok did weird things like remove the mats from around ringside to apply a bear hug on them. There were two notable spots, Kong throwing Havok into the cage door and steps on the outside and Havok missing a spear on Kong that sent Havok into the cage, I don't know about you but I expect a little more from my dreams. Kong picked up the win, following an awkward top powerbomb and a standing splash, so I'd imagine we're going to get more between these two. Hopefully, they'll get a bit longer and be able to up their game next time out.

Beautiful People segment

For reasons known only to TNA, a segment involving Velvet Sky explaining to Angelina Love that she had been fired aired with the caption "Two weeks ago". AND REVEALED NOTHING! We'd already seen Angelina the week before coming out with The Bro-Mans and not giving a shit about Sky being fired. You could have saved us from Angelina and Velvet's acting TNA, but you chose not to! 

Robbie E and Brooke's "Amazing" Race

Thank the lord that this segment was kept to only highlights. Brooke and Robbie E had a race to get into the cage and then leave the cage. For the minute it was on screen it was mildly entertaining, although I can't help but for feel for the live crowd who had to watch it in full.

Finally...

This was not a pay-per-view quality show, neither was it a particularly strong episode of Impact Wrestling. Whilst there were elements of the show that were enjoyable, notably the Handicap bout, this felt like a show of missed opportunities. An extra five minutes for Roode vs. Young, a few tweaks to the Lethal Lockdown match and more urgency and drama to the tag team title bout and this conclussion could have been very different. 

Short Interview with TNA's Gunner & Samuel Shaw

We recently took part in one of TNA's monthly conference calls, this time to promote One Night Only - World Cup, with Gunner and Samuel Shaw. The full conference call can be downloaded here.

However, there were a few problems with the system, meaning there were long gaps with no questions and some quite frankly rather boring questions, which seemed designed more to get the interviewers point of view over, rather than to actually ask questions. So I decided to take just my questions out and transcribe them for you good folk, underneath. Enjoy.

ATPW - Hi guys. My first question is to do with the move from the Impact Zone in Orlando, to the Manhattan Center in New York. How do you think the move has affected the product? And have you noticed a difference in the makeup of the crowd?

Gunner - I think it's really improved the product a lot. We were in Orlando for I don't know how many years, but I know they were there since 2008/9

Samuel Shaw - 2005, I think.

Gunner - So, you have to think that the crowd had seen everything down there. Not taking away from the fans in the Impact Zone in Orlando, but they'd seen everything. So it was really hard sometimes to do something different, where they were like "Wow". When we took it to the Manhattan Center, you had these old ECW fans, you had diehard TNA fans, they were really itching to see it, so everything you did, they reacted to everything, so it made our jobs easier. We still worked just as hard. We're doing some shows in Bethlehem, PA, as well, and it's the same there. It's a different crowd, new crowd, new faces. I look forward to doing some new stuff at the Manhattan Center. 

Samuel Shaw - To add to that, I'd just like to say, Gunner and I had been working in the Impact Zone since late 2008, and like Gunner said, they'd seen it all. When you present a wrestling product, pretty much every week, I feel like the fans become accustomed to that. They feel like "Oh so and so's not wrestling this week, so I don't need to go", so they'll just go the next week. It just becomes a vicious cycle. I think when it's available every single week, it loses it's value, in a sense. I think getting out of there and getting to a place like New York, where the fans were just begging, for that, in that environment. I think we delivered, without a doubt. 

ATPW - Gunner, about four months ago you came off a lengthy feud with James Storm, before that you'd been teaming together, I think it was this partnership that made people sit up and take notice of you as a wrestler, what did you learn from working with James for so many months?

Gunner - I think you're right, that was really the opportunity that TNA gave me to step up and we got a long five month feud. The matches that people saw on TV, we were doing those on live events, we were beating ourselves to death. The things I learnt from James as far as being a tag team, he just knew what he was doing in the ring, he always knew where to be, what to do and how to win. You gotta think how many times he's been World Tag Team Champion, I believe twelve or thirteen. When we started wrestling singles, I knew who he was, I knew how he moved and how he worked, I think we both knew each other better than we knew ourselves. I won't take anything away from James, he's tough, he is tough, he's a tough a opponent, he's a good friend, he was a better enemy, but he really taught me to fight and never give up. "I Quit" match was a bloodbath, I think we gave each other our all, I got respect for him, even after he bashes my Dad with a beer bottle, and I'm pretty sure he's got respect for me. He taught me a lot on the road, we travelled together when we were a tag team, had a lot of talks together and he really loves the business. He taught me many things about being in a tag team and about being a singles wrestler too.

ATPW - Samuel Shaw, you seem make a real focus of getting your character over on Twitter, is that an effort that you've gone to, to develop the character more? Do yu think more wrestlers could benefit from this approach?

Samuel Shaw - Good question. I just feel like that with the advances in technology and with social media being such a huge part of our business now, it's almost, I like the idea that fans have access to us, in a more personal way, but I also feel like that fans don't need to know every last detail of my private life. I really want to present who Samuel Shaw is, they way TNA presents it. I can add little things, here and there, to sort of give you more of what Samuel Shaw is all about. 

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We'd like to thank Gunner and Samuel Shaw for their participation in this, and for being very cooperative with the questions, as well as Simon Rothstein for allowing us to take part.

You can follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for all our coverage of TNA and more. 

TNA Fan Interaction 2014 Report from Glasgow, Scotland - Craig Hermit

Craig Hermit sent in this report of TNA's Fan Interaction in Glasgow, Scotland from January 30th, if you attend a live event, wherever that may be, we'd love to hear from you also! Let us know what you think, we've seen quite a few articles from Craig recently, should he join the team?

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For the TNA critics out there who have been commenting on TNA's lack of fan support recently, they might have had a point within the USA, but the news of lack of interest never reached Glasgow.

Last night, I attended the TNA Fan Interaction session, which was completely sold. There was certainly enough passionate fans there and made there opinions as vocal and as loud for all to hear.

The set up for the Fan Interaction could have been organised a lot better with queuing outside the building and the layout of the interaction could have been better also. But I wouldn't blame TNA for this, probably the Glasgow Hydro organiser's themselves. Clearly unaware of the sheer volume of fans ready to meet the wrestlers, next time they should be more prepared when WWE arrives later this year.

The stars who attended the fan interaction session were Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian), Velvet Sky, James Storm, Gunner, TNA Knockout's Champion Madison Rayne, Mr Anderson and Chris Sabin.

The highlights for this writer were Bad Influence, the duo were fantastic, they brought their own brand of brilliance and humour to every fan. Madison Rayne was thanking the fans for coming along,  Velvet Sky and Gunner separately were brilliant and accommodating too, James Storm wanted beer and Mr Anderson, Mr Anderson was brilliant, all the fans that spoke to him left with either a smile or were buckled in laughter, this writer included. Only Chris Sabin didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as the others, and other fans mentioned this too.

Then onwards to the merchandise, every item of clothing was there from TNAStore and an exclusive range of Knockout pictures as well. If you were after TNA merchandise you would'nt have been disappointed. Even Jeff Hardy t-shirts and Sting masks were for sale as well.

However for TNA, that would be my only criticism, as Hardy nor Sting was on the tour and the latter no longer with the company, this didn't quite seem right to me.

But this was minor and everyone I spoke to during the fan access and after it were in high spirits. They did say it was worth the money.

The only main disappointment were the absences of  Kurt Angle, Magnus, Bully Ray, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode,  except it looked like there were reasons for this as many if the stars mentioned missing preformed twice in the night, and if they preformed once in the event were leaving to be in the news TNA Fan Session the next day. Perhaps TNA should think of that for next year as it comes back to Glasgow as we will want more.

Overall, the stars who attended were fantastic, gave the fans what they wanted and were entertaining. It was a great start to a fantastic event.

TNA Slammiversary 2013 Review

Slammiversary was strong pay-per-view outing for TNA, with a number of solid, entertaining contests, including a surprisingly brutal contest between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell, which was unfortunately let down by the shambolic ending to the main event contest.

World Heavyweight Championship No Holds Barred Match:  Bully Ray © vs. Sting

     I wasn’t expecting this match to be a technical master class and neither was I expecting it to go for particularly long, however what was presented was such a mess of a match it was difficult to find many positives, apart from the result. From the opening of the contest Sting looked obviously tired and seemed to struggle his way to the end of the match, at one point even having difficulty to get into the ring. However, the No Disqualification match type could have been used to lead these two to a decent match, if it weren’t for a number of booking errors throughout the contest.

With the opening seeing a combination of offence from both men, with Bully Ray doing most of the running for The Icon. Sting’s use of the World Championship belt and the announce table gave the bout the early edge that it needed and with Bully Ray’s thunderous clothesline as Sting prepared for a Stinger Splash on the guard rail, it seemed like this bout was heading in the right direction. However, once the pair headed towards the entrance ramp the match went progressively downhill. For some reason Bully Ray had to head backstage to collect a steel chair, which Sting quickly gained control of, before Brooke Hogan had to come out to protect Bully Ray. This made Bully look incredibly weak, which became a theme for the remainder of the match.

With Brooke Hogan sent packing by Sting, the Aces and Eights president hit a low blow which unleashed an avalanche of offence from Bully Ray. We now saw Sting, who for the majority of the contest looked like a tired, frail old man, transform into Superman. As after a number of chairs shots, including a massive big boot through the chair, Ray hit a pile driver (which had been built up in an earlier interview with JB) only for Sting to kick out. This trend continued with Sting being power bombed threw a table, only to kick out once more then. Then we entered the ridiculous, with Bully Ray dismantled the ring with a small knife, removing the mat to reveal the wood board beneath and deliver a second pile driver, only for Sting to kick out. This move was incredibly dangerous and should have been the end of the match, by this point any air of believability had been completely removed and it was difficult to get behind Sting.

Just as I thought it couldn’t get much worse, Aces and Eight invaded the ring, only for Sting to dispatch Garett Bischoff, Wes Brisco, DOC & Knox with his trusty baseball bat. It’s frustrating how weak Aces and Eight are made to look at every turn, as it removes their threat in any situation if we believe the face can easily get rid of them, as Sting did here. There was further interference from Devon, who pulled out the referee to stop the count for Sting, who went out to combat Aces and Eights again. With The Icon distracted Mr. Anderson slid Bully Ray, the hammer we’ve seen all too often, and with Sting diving from the top rope, the Bully smashed him on the head to finally get his victory. For me, this ending has removed a lot of momentum TNA had going forward with the World Heavyweight Championship,  as it took the entire of Aces and Eights to defeat a 54 year old man. Maybe if some of TNA’s competitors had made an appearance to combat the threat from Aces and Eight’s with Anderson eventually slipping in the hammer this might have been a more satisfying ending.

AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle

Before this match, Kurt Angle was announced by Dixie Carter as the second inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame. Personally, I think this is a good decision by TNA, as Kurt has done a lot for the company since jumping ship in 2006, and has put in a numerous great performance for the company both in the ring and out. Many were disappointed about the exclusion of Jeff Jarrett, however with Jarrett still in hot water with Dixie Carter and TNA around his affair with Angle’s ex-wife, it would appear Jarrett will have to wait at least until next year.

Angle and Styles have had numerous contests over the last six or seven years, with a lot of history between the two, and I can’t remember every being disappointed by one of their contests. Of course, nothing changed with this outing, as the two put on another great match, with a mixture of high flying, technical and submission wrestling.

The Lone Wolf’s new submission hold “The Calf Killer” bringing a new element to match, as AJ focused on Kurt Angle’s injured knee for the majority of the match up. With AJ finding a number of interesting ways to get the hold in, Angle sold like his life depended on it and truly made the hold look like a devastating manoeuvre. The two also traded a number of holds throughout with a number of great suplexes from Angle, with Style’s struggle to reach the ropes really selling the trifecta of German Suplexes that Angle unleashed afterwards. The highlight of the match however, saw the well-known top rope exploder German suplex from Angle, countered by Styles into a beautiful flip only for Angle to hit a Release Belly to Belly suplex, which was a true “This is awesome” moment.

With a match built around submissions, it was surprising to see this one end with a Pinfall victory for Angle. With Style’s reversing the Angle Slam into a Sunset flip, Angle quickly reversed into a nice double leg takedown for the victory. Whilst, this match felt like it could have gone a lot longer and with another fifteen minutes truly could have become a great contest, it was nice to left asking for more and hopefully we’ll see these two lock up at least one more time in the future. It’s clear that the AJ Styles storyline of the past year or so is far from over and it will be interesting to see where TNA decide to go with it from here as I really can’t work out what is coming next.

Tag Team Championship Four Way Elimination Match: Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez © Vs. Bad Influence Vs. The Dirty Heels vs. James Storm & Gunner

This was a fairly well worked contest, albeit with a few floors in logic which dented it’s enjoyability. A nice start with the two big men in the match, Gunner and Hernandez squaring off, only to get kicked in the back when bouncing of the ropes by members of Bad Influence and The Dirty Heels. It was here the classic multi man break down occurred as the match plunge into a long period of chaos, with each team getting at least one offensive move on another.

The match calmed down for a while, allowing Chavo Guerrero to remind us why TNA signed him, because he is supreme in-ring talent, yes WWE enjoyed putting him in matches with Hornswoggle, but he is an asset to the company and probably one of the best ex-WWE signing they have made. After this we got another break down, did we really need two? Yes they can be exciting, but two is a bit of an overkill.

With Hernandez fighting of Kazarian’s attack and following up with an impressive Border Toss, Chavo jumped to the top rope for a Frog Splash. This is wear things got confusing. With Chavo seemingly having pinned Kaz, Bobby Roode (from another team) stopped the ref’s count, only to point out Christopher Daniels hitting Chavo with the Tag Title belt. Roode would go on to pin Chavo with Hernandez somehow missing it all. This section of the match didn’t quite come off as clever as I’m sure it was supposed as both the Boston crowd and the audience at home tried to figure out why Bobby Roode didn’t just let Chavo pin Kazarian and hit a surprise attack straight after.

With just The Dirty Heels and the newly formed Storm and Gunner left, the match settled down into a much more comfortable pace. Gunner more than held his own amongst much more experienced competitors. Having to take a lot of offence from Roode & Aries, including a 450 splash from Aries which seemed to end the contest, only for a last minute kick out. After this we headed to a satisfying ending with an Aries taking a Last Call Super kick from Storm and falling into Gunner’s torture rack, newly christened the Gun Wreck for the submission victory. The new team work well throughout and really looked the part, with hopefully Gunner being able to benefit from the association with Storm not only through crowd reaction but also in terms of in ring psychology and technique which the big man could still do with building upon.

Best of the Rest

There was also a fantastic Last Knockout Standing Match, between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell. Yes, I did say I wasn’t looking forward to this match for a number of reasons, and even criticised Terrell’s in ring ability on a number of occasions and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to both competitor’s especially Terrell.

It was a vicious looking contest, with both taking a number of bumps on what looks like an unforgiving entrance ramp, including a head first dive from Terrell which looked extremely painful. Not only was the bout brutal, there was also some nice psychology paying off here, based around the figure four leg lock, which both competitors used wrapped around the ring post, especially satisfying for Terrell who was injured by the move only a few weeks ago. The finish saw a spot that the majority of most male wrestlers probably wouldn’t try, with Terrell hitting a variety of a cutter on Kim off of the ramp and onto the floor below. With Terrell just making the ten count for the victory. Although, I still feel ODB deserves better than Knockout’s Referee, this match saw Terrell earn my respect and she know fully deserves her place on the Knockout’s roster and the expected singles feud with Mickie James.

The Television Title match saw an obvious yet satisfying twist. With Aces and Eights attacking Joseph Park backstage, it was only a matter of time before his brother Abyss made an appearance. With Devon getting the referee the Countout out Park it seemed as if Devon had retained the title for another night. Oddly, this was when Abyss’ music hit and he headed down to the ring, once the fight started, for some reason the bell rang and it became an official match.

It was a short match and hopefully Abyss will get a better setting to display his talents in the near future. Although not a terrible match, it didn’t have much going for it with little excitement brought to it up until the end, with Devon flipping the double bird on Abyss only for The Monster to hit a huge Black Hole Slam for the three count. Somehow this also meant Abyss had won the Television Championship, despite Park already losing his contest via Countout. It wouldn’t have taken much to make this a title contest, but TNA continues to miss the little details on numerous occasions.

Another title change occurred in the X-Division, with Chris Sabin picking up the victory over champion Kenny King and Suicide in an Ultimate X Match. As far as Ultimate X goes this wasn’t a particularly great contest in what is usually a spot heavy gimmick match. There was a non-sensicle double submission at one point, despite the match being unable to be won in that fashion. As well as an awkward “Tower of Doom” spot which took a number of attempt and in the end wasn’t that impressive. A lot of the time the competitors didn’t quite look like they knew what was happening, this contest would have benefitted from being a regular three way. With the ending not quite living up to past outings, with King and Suicide falling from the structure leaving Sabin to pull down the belt. Although by now means a bad match and at times featuring some great athletic competition, it just couldn’t live up to previous Ultimate X matches.

For some reason Hulk Hogan decided to come out after Sabin’s victory, and say something about Destination X, despite the pay-per-view being pulled from the schedule. Hulk did nothing for Sabin in this segment and simply managed to get the crowd chanting his own name. If Hogan’s going to stick around he needs to leave the younger guys alone to create their own moments and have their own spotlight. Hogan went on to announce the opponents for Aces and Eights… despite them already being confirmed on last weeks Impact. There’s been a lot of talk about TNA’s long term booking as of late, but it appears like no one’s letting Hogan in on what’s happening on his Television show.

The six man tag match itself pitting Mr. Anderson, Garrett Bischoff & Wes Brisco against Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe & Magnus captured this pay-per-view in one individual contest, it was at time messy with the rookies in ring positioning coming into questions on a number of occasions, at time exhilarating with Samoa Joe’s burst of energy being on par with what we’ve seen from Daniel Bryan in WWE as of late and the ending really brought the match to life with the pace building towards a fascinated conclusion, with Hardy hitting a Swanton Bomb on Brisco as he attempted to pin Magnus, with Anderson locked in the Rear Naked Choke on the ramp. Was it up there with The Shield’s six man tag matches on Raw? No.

 The other match on the card saw Gutcheck Rookies Sam Shaw and Jay Bradley face of for a place in the Bound for Glory Series. It was a basic and uninspiring contest, with neither man getting much offense in for very long. The ending looked awkward as Bradley seemed to forget what was meant to come up next, which was simply his Boomstick finishing move. Both men need to work hard to develop a story within their matches as this was non-existent here. I can’t see Jay Bradley being much more than a whipping boy within the Bound for Glory Series.

Finally…

What have we learnt from this year Slammiversary?

1. If Aces and Eight are never made to look particularly strong then there eventually downfall will not feel as exciting as their over a year reign should allow.

2.  Kurt Angle can still go with the best of them, Sting can’t.

3.       Tazz continues to point out the plot holes within TNA, to hilarious consequence on commentary.

TNA Slammiversary 2013 Predictions

Well, we're less than an hour away from TNA's Slammiversary, so I better get going with these predictions!

It's been a decent build up towards this one, with Sting being a logical person to go into battle for Hulk Hogan against the Immortal One's Son-in-Law. However, I don't hold out much hope for this as a physical contest, whilst Bully has been having some of the best singles matches of his career lately, Sting looked barely capable of a Tag Team contest on Impact recently, so this could be a slow short match up, not befitting the story line or a Pay-Per-View Main event. I'd expect run-ins from numerous Aces and Eight members, both Hulk and Brooke Hogan, and probably a number of TNA Roster members, possibly even the big name signing Dixie Carter has touted on Twitter recently.

Winner: Bully Ray

Now, we've seen this match a number of times throughout the years, in various different combination, but no point has it ever become a chore to watch Kurt Angle and AJ Styles create magic within the squared circle. Once again, I'd expect AJ and Kurt to pull out an absolute classic, with a brand new psychology to play with and AJ settling into a new edgier character, this will be a more than entertaining contest. Hopefully this match is given a good half an hour and there is no interference from Aces and Eights or anyone else involved in this story.

Winner: AJ Styles

Featuring seven proven talented in ring competitors and one fairly unknown entity, this should be an explosive contest. The psychology has been built well over the last few months of Impact with each team having a number of different ties to another, TNA has to make sure this psychology pays off in this contest to make it feel like a satisfying contest, a mere collection of moves will not be enough. There's a number of ways for TNA to head with this but with a number of these guys surely heading for the Bound For Glory Series after Slammiversary there seems only one logical choice.

Winners: Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez

It's been a long time since we've seen Devon defend the Television Championship, despite Hogan's decree less than a year ago that the TV title should be defended every week. So it won't feel like a massive moment if Park wins the title, which it might have if the title had been handled properly as of late. The Parks character has been handled well and is always entertaining, but it really is time for Abyss to return as it feels like the Joseph Park character can go no further in the world of wrestling. I'd expect an appearance from Abyss in this match, probably appearing from under the ring, after Parks has gone underneath.

Winner: Joseph Park

Although I believe a Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin singles contest would have been a more satisfying one in terms of storyline, this will no doubt be an entertaining spot laden match. Hopefully Sabin doesn't put himself in too much danger, as another injury would surely end his promising career. I'd prefer to see Kenny King's reign go a bit longer as he's an entertaining character and a long running rivalry with Sabin leading into Bound For Glory could light up Impact throughout the summer.

Winner: Kenny King

Would much rather have seen a rematch of Mickie James and Velvet Sky take this spot on the card, as Taryn Terrel has shown little to show she deserves tp have been promoted from Knockouts Referee, especially with ODB taking her place. It will be interesting to see how extreme this match goes, as I'm expecting little more than a cat fight. Although I'm not a huge fan of Terrel, I expect TNA to build her into a singles feud with the newly heel Mickie James in the near future.

Winner: Taryn Terrel

Wouldn't say I know too much about either of these guys, but that's mainly due to TNA not using them that much since their Gut Check challenges. Bradley would seem the more charismatic of the two, with Shaw being more of a body guy, but that's about all we know about these two rookies.

Winner: Sam Shaw

There's four extremely talent competitors in this match and then there's Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff. Now I'm not completely down on these two Aces and Eights member, we just haven't seen enough of them in the ring to prove they have much talent. Yes, Brisco has had some decent matches with Kurt Angle, but Angle rarely has had bad match, no matter who he is facing! I was also pretty TNA announced this match to feature DOC instead of Anderson, obviously plans changed by the end of the show. With all three members of on team heading for the Bound For Glory Series, it seems their can be only one choice.

Winners: Magnus, Samoa Joe & Jeff Hardy

It's looks like it's going to be a mixed bag tonight for Slammiversary, some extremely entertaining contests on the line up, but some that might be difficult to stay awake through! Enjoy the show people!