TNA’s ninth anniversary is over and done. Rather than a celebration of TNA’s longevity in pro wrestling, it was a celebration of what TNA has been like for the past few years, sloppy. Sloppy booking, sloppy storytelling and the worst of them all, sloppy wrestling have all plagued TNA these past few years. It clearly showed at Slammiversary. Other than three really good matches and one okay match, the rest of the card was definitely hurt by overall sloppy performances by all members involved. Some of the sloppiest performances of the night belonged to Mickie James, Abyss, Kazarian, Brian Kendrick, Samoa Joe and Sting. Out of all these equally abysmal performances, only one took the cake. That was from the referees. The ending of the Styles and Bully Ray match saw Brian Hebner continue the count on Styles even though he got to his feet before Ray pushed him head first into the stage. It was worse in the TNA Title match as Jackson James barely called anything. He decided not to count out Sting and Anderson who brawled in the crowd for over five minutes and watched Anderson give Sting a low blow, which should have been an instant disqualification. Yes, it serves the storyline so to say, but it makes TNA look bush league. Good bookers could find a way to make the storyline work without changing the basic rules of a wrestling match.
With all of its shortcomings, Slammiversary IX was an average showing from TNA. Like many TNA PPVs, there were a few good matches mixed in with a lot of pretty bad to okay matches. The opener between the team of Shelley & Storm and the British Invasion was quite entertaining. It got everybody watching in the crowd and at home excited for the show that was ahead. Bully Ray and AJ Styles put on the best match of the night. It was brutal and very fulfilling. There were two things wrong with it though. The first being the poorly executed ending and the result of the match. This feud between Ray and Styles has reached its climax to extend longer will dilute the eventual payoff, Style’s revenge on Bully Ray. The final battle between Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett ended the PPV with a really good match. Not their best match they have had against one another, but a much better way to end the PPV than the atrocious TNA Title match that came before it. Even with these good matches, it is not enough to warrant anybody to go out of their way to watch Slammiversary IX unless you are an avid fan of the TNA product.
Alex Shelley & James Storm def. British Invasion to retain the TNA Tag Team Championship
Rating: 8/10
Matt Morgan def. Scott Steiner
Rating: 6.5/10
Abyss def. Kazarian and Brian Kendrick in a 3-Way Match to retain the X Division Championship
Rating: 6/10
Crimson def. Samoa Joe
Rating: 5.5/10
Mickie James def. Angelina Love to retain the Knockouts Championship
Rating: 4/10
Bully Ray def. AJ Styles in a Last Man Standing Match
Rating: 8/10
Mr. Anderson def. Sting to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Rating: 3/10
Kurt Angle def. Jeff Jarrett by submission to become the No. 1 Contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Rating: 8/10
Overall, TNA Slammiversary IX is yet another disappointing PPV from Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling. You would think they would pull all the stops for an event as big as their company’s anniversary. Guess not. Even with all the lower than average matches, there were still a few good matches that made this PPV at least watchable. Not watchable enough to spend any sort of money on this PPV. The overall rating for TNA Slammiversary IX is 6 out of 10.
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