TNA Wrestling
Slammiversary XIII
June 28, 2015
Orlando, Florida – Universal Studios
TNA X-Division Championship – Tigre Uno vs. Manik vs. Zema Ion – Elimination Match
As tacked on PPV matches go, this is the kind of one I can get behind. Tigre eliminated both men with a Split Legged Corkscrew Senton. This was pretty much exactly what you’d want out of a PPV opener. Fluid, high energy action with two really great wrestlers and Tigre Uno, even with a contractually obligated Tower of Doom. Zema in particular was excellent here (and one of the most underrated and underused wrestlers on the roster) and Manik is ever consistent. Tigre Uno though. Tigre is always on the verge of being spectacular. He can nearly do everything he tries to do but most of the time his stuff never lands. He was clearly the third wheel here and he’s not consistent enough to carry the division as champion. This was a really fun opener though. ***1/4
Robbie E vs. Jessie Godderz
Finish aside I quite enjoyed this match. Bar his meandering , going nowhere pre-match promo he showed good poise when controlling the match (even when a spot or two didn’t land) and I think with some time and if he puts the work in he’ll be a really solid upper mid card heel. Robbie in particular was great here though. He showed tons of fire and intensity, and really looked invigorated in the new role. I’ve always been a big fan of Robbie so hopefully he gets a chance to develop. The finish was terrible. Robbie won with an Inverted DDT out of nowhere. There was no build up to it or anything, he just hit the move and won. Otherwise this was a really fun little match. **1/2
Bram vs. Matt Morgan
I said in my preview that only A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle have ever gotten great matches out of Matt Morgan and this match proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Bram is no Angle or Styles. This was the worst match on the show, a passionless hardcore match that fell off the rails toward the end with Bram being unable to find something under the ring for a good two minutes. Morgan looked fine, no different than he ever was really, but him taking the fall here (pinned after a Low Blow and the Brighter Side of Suffering onto a chair) seems to suggest this was a one and done for him. I still see absolutely nothing at all in Bram. His ascension has been mediocre at best. *1/2
Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards
We went from the worst match on the show to the best as Richards and Aries predictably had a great match. Shocker I know, Austin Aries had the best match on a PPV. Aries has been far and away the highlight of TNA over the last four years and he will be deeply, deeply missed. Just imagine Impact over the last few months without the contributions of Aries. These two had a really great back and forth, athletic match that would’ve been pushed over the top with a few more minutes and a better finish. Nice little story early too with Aries shutting down some of Richards’ flashier stuff. Aries went out with a bang and the 30 Minute Iron Man match on Wednesday should be loads of fun. Match of the night. ****
Brooke and Awesome Kong vs. The Dollhouse
The best thing that can be said of this match was that it was inoffensive. Honestly it was probably the best case scenario when looking at it on paper. Taryn stayed out of the whole match so it was essentially just a tag match. Brooke beat Jade after a top rope facebuster. It was fine. **
Non-Sanctioned Match – James Storm vs. Magnus
I worried going into this match that it would veer too much toward plunder brawl and away from a bigger, intense showdown and sadly it did. Not that it wasn’t still a good match (I really enjoyed it and you certainly can’t fault the effort) but the tone was wrong and that stopped them from rising above very good match to great (in the way the Harris/Storm Last Man Standing match did) This was a very good match though, even if it did have a goofy little segment where they actually knocked the lights out in the Impact Zone. Magnus kicked out of three Superkicks, missed a huge flying elbow through a table and got pinned after both men simultaneously hit each other with beer bottles but Storm fell on Magnus. Unlike Bram/Morgan this was a really fun plunder brawl even if it could have been a lot more. ***1/2
Ethan Carter III and Tyrus vs. Bobby Lashley and Mr Anderson
Somehow the technical difficulties before the match made this feel like even more of a filler match. The work was bland, and the finish was infuriating when you consider how these same people were booking Lashley 12 months ago. Having Lashley take the fall here instead of Anderson is insanely stupid. This was nothing more than a filler match between the Storm/Magnus match and the main event. It didn’t even try to be anything else. **
King of the Mountain – Jeff Jarrett vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young
I really enjoyed the story of this match with all four regular TNA wrestlers repeatedly stopping Jarrett from scoring a fall (and thus becoming eligible to win the match) over and over again. It wasn’t a great main event but it was a kind of really enjoyable train wreck highlighted by a huge dive by Drew off the Penalty Box as well as an insane Piledriver on a ladder by Young on Jarrett. All five guys worked really hard, they told a really strong story with Jarrett overcoming the odds and getting his big final TNA moment, they set up TV with the questions surrounding what happens with a non-contracted wrestler winning a championship, and they had a really fun match. ***1/4
Final Thoughts: This wasn’t a really great wrestling show by any means (with only one match truly worth recommending) but it was a really easy show to watch with nothing too terrible (aside from Bram/Morgan but at least that wasn’t too long) and a bunch of good solid matches. There have been many PPV’s in TNA’s past that were considerably worse than this one.
