TNA's new booking team hits a grand slam (well...ALMOST...)

TNA held their 3rd anniversary PPV, Slammiversary, last night. Who would have thought with the way they sometimes have behaved in the past that they would have been here three years after launch?

One thing that was extremely evident in this most excellent PPV was that the new booking team, consisiting of Scott D'Amore, Jeremy Borash, Mike Tenay, Dutch Mantell, and a couple of others, really hit the mark, except in one aspect i'll bring up a little later.

First off, let's go through the show, shall we?

The PreShow

The preshow angle was well done, and TNA should be praised for the "unpredicable" antics that went on. The only thing wrong with the entire "Jarrett beats on a fan" angle was the sheer size of this supposed Jeff Hardy fan. He was far too big to be a Hardy fan - most of them tend to be smaller, thin young people - , and for myself and my other half, we both knew he was a plant from the moment we laid eyes on him. Still, it was well done, and not completely expected, and that says that they did it RIGHT. Personally, I would have preferred that they added Jeff Hardy to the match, but Raven was an interesting touch...and plays in my biggest complaint about the show, which we'll get to at the end...

Six Way X Match

First off, let me say a great big THANK YOU to the young man who has been front and center at EVERY TNA show for the past three months with the "Bring Back Amazing Red" series of signs. Contrary to what PWInsider's intrepid Florida-based reporter Richard Trionfo said in his preview piece on Saturday, Red did NOT quit TNA; rather, he was unceremoniously DUMPED by Dusty Rhodes, who felt that Red "couldn't go the way he used to" after his knee surgery (and apparently, Dusty felt Kevin Nash could...). To Red's credit, he hit the Canadian circuit immediately for a series of what i've been told have been "you have to see them to believe them" matches with Chris Sabin, and showed Dusty he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. In any case, thanks, dude for your unwavering support of Red (who, along with AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn made up TNA's "X Division Holy Trinity" for the first 12 months of TNA) and the "Welcome Back" sign and the doo-rag salute was noticed and appreciated by this admitted Red mark.

Overall the match was exactly what it was supposed to be - a cluster spot fest. Zack Gowen's interesting reverse-Willie Wonka somersault as he came to the ring was a bit bizarre, but it definately made me sit up and take notice. It was nice for the TNA announcers to show they're clearly in Shark Boy's corner when it comes to his trademark infringement lawsuit against Disney for the recent "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" movie. Red looked PO'ed that he lost, so a Red/Sharky feud could be in the offing.

Red's biggest problem in many ways, and I think this had more to do with his release a few months back than his knee problems, is that he doesn't do promos. I need to retinerate this point again, as I first railed around it several months ago. Hey TNA - Red needs a mouthpiece. Sabu has been over for years without uttering a word, mostly thanks to his in-ring work, but still due in no small part to the work in ECW of one Bill"Fonzie" Alphanso. Red needs a "Fonzie" to do his talking, and ultimately, strengthen his skill as one who gets over on in-ring work alone.

Shocker Vs Alex Shelley

Nice 10 minute match. Shocker and Shelley work well together, and it was nice to see Shelley show off some of his true talents without having to cowtow to Goldilocks. Shocker I didn't care for all that well when he first joined TNA a few months back, but he's growing on me, and his work is excellent. Both men could use some background work. Shelley started his in the pre-match interview, where he mentioned he was an "international" wrestler. Nice touch.

Ron Killings Vs The Outlaw

On the show mostly as filler in my opinion, it was a well worked match. Outlaw has worked better matches in his day, but given the limited role he's had since coming into TNA, it was not too shabby. Killings also turned it up a notch and showed why he should be getting more attention. After all, he's a former TNA Heavyweight Champion.

The Naturals vs Team Canada - Eric Young and Petey Williams

Well, it's been teased about for weeks, and now we know who the Naturals have succeeded the late, great Chris Candido with. Although it was nice to see Jimmy Hart again, quite honestly the revelation was a let-down of sorts. Chase and Andy are more suited to the heelish roles they've played for the past two years, and to have them suddenly morph into faces just because their corner man passed away is a mistake. Still, all four competitors took it home in this match, and it looked good, and was easily Williams' best match since losing the X Division title several months back. It almost seemed as if once that run was done, to borrow a WWE phrase, "creative had nothing for him". But he lit up the ring in this match. His nose looked awful after the match was over, but I haven't read any reports that it was indeed broken - I hope not. And I for one, unlike many out there, thought it was very interesting to see the "faces" cheat to win, not something sees very often, especially in the old-school mentality TNA usually has.

Samoa Joe vs Sonjay Dutt

I'm going to get fried for saying this, but I was less than impressed with the big man from Ring Of Honor. Having never seen ROH, but privvy to all the hype and coverage, I expected a lot more from him. He did some truly sick moves on Sonjay, and those looked great. But overall, he's gonna have to do a lot more to impress me. Sonjay was pretty good, but he blew a couple of major spots, and needs to keep his concentration on the match. Granted, he took a couple of nasty blows to the head and neck area courtesy of Joe, and that may have played into it. But for the most part, I think TNA blew Joe's debut. I know i'm ALONE in this thought, but it is what I think nonetheless...

Bobby Roode vs Lance Hoyt

How Hoyt has gotten so over so quickly is beyond me. He's a good looking big man with a lot of potential, but isn't quite there yet, so his support from the TNA live crowd somewhat astonishes me. Roode is a potential goldmine for the future, but they need to get him the hell out of Team Canada for him to have any reach chance to flourish. The match was extremely well done, very entertaining, and should continue to further the Hoyt/Team Canada feud. But please...for the love of God....NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER let D'Amore moon the audience again, even accidentally....and I have a feeling i'm not alone in that sentiment. In Scott D'Amore's favor, he's never afraid to take what's coming to him, unlike many managers (and WWE General Managers like Eric Bischoff) and I have a great deal of respect for the fact that he is willing to get clobbered to further the enjoyment of the angle.

America's Most Wanted vs 3 Live Kru - Konnan and BG James

Another "filler" match. AMW have dropped their game a couple notches to let Team Canada and The Naturals step into the shoes of the leading tag teams. They're capable of far better matches than this one. Konnan carries 3LK as usual, and BG phoned in his standard performance. I was not impressed with this match.

3 Way Dance for the X Division Title - Christopher Daniels vs Michael Shane vs Chris Sabin

In the words of Joey Styles, "OHMIGOD!" By far the best match of the night - no other match even came close- and destined to be a Match of the Year candidate, these three turned on their top games and never let up for the entire 17 1/2 minutes they were on. Once Shane was eliminated, Daniels and Sabin kicked it up even further. I liked the touch where Sabin was ready to let Trinity get the Angels Wings as long as he could get the title. I freely admit that I am one huge mark where Sabin's work is concerned, and even though I was disappointed he didn't win, the match was excellent. Kudos go to Shane for his hard work during the first half of the match, and to Daniels, who finally made me feel he EARNED that X title having virtually stolen the belt by cheating to win it from Styles a few months ago. I could watch this match over and over again...and probably will...

MAIN EVENT - King Of The Mountain match - AJ Styles vs Monty Brown vs Abyss vs Waltman vs Raven

Well, the match was what it was...a way to spotlight everyone involved without any real meaning whatsoever. Normally, I hate gimmick matches for a major title, and this one is no exception. But the intrigue surrounding the match by Jarrett's elimination and Raven's addtion made it watchable. The work of all five men was terrific. Brown, who in my opinion usually makes Steve "Mongo" McMichael liik like a genius and a true talent, did his usual spots, not caring to make the effort to go one better. I'm sorry, but I just don't know what everyone sees in this no-talent goof. Waltman did as well as can be expected, given there was no real chance he was going to be given the belt. Abyss hasn't had a run yet, and could have had a shot. Ditto Raven, who should have been given the belt about a year ago. And then defending champion AJ Styles. Overall, it was an entertaining clustermatch. But the end...the end of the match made the entire affair seem totally anti-climactic. Not because Raven won the belt - it's going to be interesting to see where they go with this - but because there was absolutely NO followup from the controntations during the pre-show that Raven and Larry Z had. Why wasn't Larry in the ring, trying to take the belt from Raven? Why wasn't he standing there screaming , "NOOOOOOOOOO!" (HECTORRRR!! KHAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!) when his attempt at messing with Raven backfired? What were the "personal reasons" that Larry Z mentioned? And why, after a month of Raven being "suspended" or "quit", depending on which way you chose to look at it, did Raven not only get to have his way after all, but get the title to boot? The finish of this match just left me with an unsatisfied feeling...the kind you get when you're hungry and know you could eat more but you skip dessert anyway....

OK, now that's out of the way...and TNA should be very pleased. For all my critiquing, I give this PPV a 9.0 out of 10.

Things i'd like to seem them improve on a bit:

> More personality work on everyone, but especially those that need them - Alex Shelley, Lance Hoyt

>Give Amazing Red a "Fonzie" and he will conquer the world...