Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian: Oh hell yes. Tremendous response for Angle. When was the last time he curtain jerked a PPV? Loved how Angle refused to take the DQ win; we got an incredible match out of this. Several near falls and false finishes. This is exactly why Angle has been the best over the last decade. He can take guys that aren't main eventers and make them look outstanding. I was a bit puzzled as to why the fans were so quiet when Kazarian was on the offensive. Tough crowd (other than when Angle was dishing out moves), and that hurt the rating slightly, to me. ****
Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick (X-Division Title): Another great match. Crowd really seemed to like this one as well. Williams' mat wrestling and Kendrick's aerial assault (plus mat skills) proved to gel very well. Very nice counters and impact moves. I thought it was clever for Williams to win with an X-Division wrestler move. ***1/4
Madison Rayne vs. Roxxi (Knockouts Title): So um, all of a sudden, Roxxi's career was on the line? Come on. I really like Roxxi. She's good-looking, can wrestle, and fans do like her. Bad move to let her go, TNA. At least the fans were quite vocal in telling Rayne to shut up. Roxxi got busted open hardway with that mic...that's a win in my book. Pretty decent match I'd say. *1/2
Jesse Neal vs. Brother Ray: Good storyline progression here. Brother Ray's chops are LOUD. Damn. And now what's up with Tommy Dreamer showing up? Guess that's another twist in the storyline. The match was otherwise very plain. Good crowd reaction here anyway. *1/4
Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez: Really a basic match. All I really could think about during the match was, "They let Hernandez choke Morgan with a T-shirt multiple times, yet Daniel Bryan is fired for choking a ring announcer with his own tie for a few seconds?" Yay for zero logic. Oh yeah, and there was a DQ. Figured that would happen. Just progressing storyline. Big win to Brian Hebner for taking the big foot from Hernandez. 1/2*
Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe (Monster's Ball): Nice use of weapons. I semi-marked for the teddy bear wrapped in barbed wire. That was a win. Hardcore teddy bear! Awesome weapon spotfest really. Nice amount of blood in this one, although Roxxi's blood loss was better, in my book (meaning higher on the Muta scale). Good storyline progression with Chelsea throwing the brass knuckles to Abyss. ***1/4
Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles: So I wonder if Hogan was one of the people behind Lethal dropping the "Black Machismo" gimmick.... Anyway, this was another great showing of pairing main eventers with midcard talent in an attempt to get the midcarder a bunch of credibility. Lethal has a very impressive moveset, and that gelled very well with AJ's style of wrestling -- no pun intended. I saw a bunch of moves out of Lethal that I had never seen before...a release dragon suplex? Wow. Using the figure four against Styles in front of Flair? Double win. AJ made Jay Lethal an even bigger star tonight. Excellent job. My only gripe was the finish. It looked quite awkward, but the reason is likely due to the figure four's effect on Styles' legs. ***3/4
Jeff Hardy & Mr. Anderson vs. James Storm & Robert Roode: I liked this as well. Very good double team moves from both teams. Hardy hit his usual moves to electrify the crowd. Crowd was into the match. Solid finish to the match. The Mr. Anderson face run continues in full force. ***
Rob Van Dam vs. Sting (World Title): Thanks to the storyline (and Sting's apparent inability to have a long match filled with only wrestling moves nowadays), the first half of the match resembled a street fight. Kudos to Earl Hebner for taking the springboard crossbody from RVD. Like father, like son, I guess. Heel Sting emerges with the baseball bat. Jeff Jarrett's interference made sense, and I'm glad they let RVD win with his finisher instead of having Jarrett's attack put Sting away. **1/2
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MVPs: Kurt Angle shows why he is the man. Jay Lethal becomes a star. Kudos all around.
Overall Rating: This was a very successful PPV. Angle gave the show a very strong start, and almost all the matches ranged from good to great. Five of the nine matches were three stars or more, which is excellent for any PPV. I like that the crowd was quite vocal all night; it makes for a better atmosphere. I'm still irked that TNA decided to release Roxxi, but the Knockouts division should still be fine. That is, if they actually use women other than The Beautiful People on the show. This Slammiversary was the first one to not have a King of the Mountain match, but I didn't miss it at all. Slammiversary is basically one of TNA's huge PPVs, and they delivered. ***3/4
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