Live Report & Off Air Notes From TNA Slammiversary

Credit: @FriscoKTank

TNA is still selling AJ Styles, Sting, and Hulk Hogan gear for $25.

At a minute before they went live, my best guess is 2,500 or so people are here. There were 5,000 two years ago and there’s 5 sections on the camera side that are empty. So 2,500-3,000 would be my estimate.

Hot crowd, they are ready for the Von Erichs.

Only in TNA… The clowns on stilts for the Menagerie couldn’t come put because one of them took a MASSIVE spill on the stage. Thats why Tigre Uno had such a long entrance. They had to drag him off.

Crazy Steve and the Wolves were by far the most over…. Manik’s sunset flip powerbomb on Davey was one of the sickest bumps I’ve ever seen. Hell of an opener. Sanada retains.

MVP’S stable cuts a promo. Mic volume was way too low & they were getting good heat, couldn’t hear a word.

Lashley vs Joe was a good match for what it was. Lashley wins with a spear. Crowd really wanted Joe to win.

Magnus vs Willow… people really just want to cheer for Jeff Hardy. So reaction was subdued to me. Abyss really saved the match. His antics with Bram outside were more exciting than the match. Abyss cleared Bram with Janice but Magnus won cleanly behind him. 3 surprising results so far in my opinion.

Massive reaction for Kurt Angle, who announces Team 3D as the next induction to TNA Hall of Fame. Bully & Devon are both here. Gigantic “We Want Tables” chant, Bully Ray can’t even talk. I really hope this crowd comes across on tv. Basic goodwill promo from the both of them. They seemed genuinely honored.

Poor Austin Aries, Kenny King’s music hit & that was a cue for a bathroom break for a lot of people. The people that stayed got behind Aries but King has zero heat on him. Aries worked his butt off, no surprise & got the win after a gnarly Brainbuster off the 2nd rope. They really needed to give the crowd a result they wanted, so glad to see Aries win. Your main event is now set. Lashley/Aries/Young.

This is Von Erichs country!! What an ovation for them. The Jumbotron listed Von Erichs 3G. Bromans were the opponents. Ross and Marshall are definitely green, but they throw dropkicks like their daddy. DQ finish leads me to believe its a one time appearance but holy good grief I haven’t a pop like the one Kevin’s Iron Claw got. That was fantastic. They couldn’t have scripted it better.

I was busy looking at Velvet Sky so I don’t know how good the beginning of the Knockouts match was. Angelina had a couple nice reversals, but the reverse bulldog from the corner was ugly. Crowd was into it. Fun finish with Stiffler not pinning for Gail Kim. Angelina retains, rightfully so.

Good backstage promo with Bully Ray. He says he’ll baptize EC3 in Blood.

What a damn Texas Death Match. I had no problem with them adjusting the rules to make it Last Man Standing rules. Original TDM concept was a 3 count, 30 second rest period and then a 10 count. (Correct me if I’m wrong). I cant believe WWE missed out on EC3 when he was Derrick Bateman. He’s an outstanding prospect. The RKO onto broken glass was outrageous. Wow. The fans really wanted Dixie through a table but the right guy won with EC3. The crowd was not happy at all though.

The crowd wanted to cheer James Storm but he changed that real quick with the heat he got on the Dallas Cowboys that were ringside. Outstanding old school heel work by him. Fun match, wish it would’ve had more time but its clear time is running short. The reaction from the crowd when the Cowboys stormed the ring was greatness. I really hope TNA appreciates this crowd & comes back. Fun, fun finish.

Hats off to all 3 competitors in the main event. I’d be real hard pressed to believe MVP would’ve been any better than the match they had tonight with Aries and Lashley. Every fan were on their feet for the last 5-10 minutes. Too many crazy spots to list. TNA has never lacked on effort in the ring. I really hope people that actually watched this show enjoyed it. It was said on PWInsider that TNA needs to turn the corner on their PA & NY tapings…. well I honestly thought tonight was a great start.

One last note, there’s one thing TNA does better than WWE and its merchandise. They have 1 shirt of every wrestler and in every size. You wanna know who’s popular? Have options for everyone and let the crowd decide with their money. You cant do that with 5 Cena shirts & Orton and Triple H shirts.

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