The Specialists
TNA Slammiversary 08 Preview by Wilkenfeld: A mixed bag of tricks, but it could be a trainwreck
Jun 6, 2008 - 9:18:59 AM |
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By: Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch Contributor
Slammiversary is a mixed bag of tricks. On paper, it doesn't look like anything special, but for the last six months or so the quality of TNA PPVs has been inversely proportional to how good the card looked. It's also incredibly light—there are only five announced matches going in and one open challenge. I actually enjoy having one or two unannounced exhibition matches at a PPV, e.g. random X Division spotfest, so I don't really mind that so much. They should do something not announced, as the following people are not currently scheduled to be on the card: The Motor City Machine Guns, Tomko, Scott Steiner, Curry Man, The Rock & Rave Infection, and James Storm (among others). Conversely, we do have a lot of non-match events that could prove disconcerting time-sucks: The SoCal Val/Jay Lethal wedding, the return of Abyss (which will hopefully be incorporated into a match) and Eric Young looking for Elvis (which will hopefully be incorporated into a new plotline for Eric Young). So, in all honesty, this could be a train-wreck.
Daniel's YTD = 47/70 = .671
Rachael's YTD = 33/51 = .647
Samoa Joe (c) vs. Robert Roode vs. Rhino vs. Christian Cage vs. Booker T
King of the Mountain match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Where We've Been:
There's not much back-story to the King of the Mountain, nor does there usually need to be. Cornette picked four wrestlers who had never received a title shot to try to qualify, of whom only Roode made it in. Joe picked the rest because they were the toughest competition, oddly overlooking the Olympic gold medalist (not they I mind having him out of the title picture for a bit). The only specific feud going into this match is Joe-Booker, but even that has been barely mentioned. Roode and Booker of course feuded for several months, but that was before Booker's heel turn at Sacrifice. Cage arguably has a feud with the King of the Mountain Match itself, having had one-and-a-half championship reigns end there.
Where We're Going:
On paper, this is by far the weakest KOTM match to date. One competitor, Robert Roode, has no business within spitting distance of a main event (yet?). Another, Rhino, is a passable utility main-eventer but unlikely to light things up in this context. Booker is long past his prime, and I'll be extremely surprised if he can make this match anything special. That essentially makes it a two-man endeavor, and even Joe is not especially renowned for his performance in gimmick matches. So as I see it this match as basically a test for Christian Cage—can he take three competent-to-good workers and one great-but-out-of-element worker and pull off an "instant classic"? The winner of this main event will have to defend their title on Thursday against Kaz, but that doesn't help all that much.
Daniel's Pick: Samoa Joe. They've made a big deal about the fact that no champion has ever retained in the KOTM match. Since Joe is their single biggest homegrown star, it would be appropriate to make him the first.
Rachael's Pick: Christian Cage. I didn't actually get her reason, but I assume that it's cause he's earned it.
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
Where We've Been:
This one has been a long time coming. To get help warding off Booker T and Sting back in November, Kurt had his wife Karen solicit the help of Styles & Tomko. When Kurt went up against Styles's then-boss Christian Cage a month later, he used his wife as a seductress to get AJ to jump ship. Since then, however, Karen and AJ have grown closer, whereas Karen and Kurt have separated. Kurt thinks she and AJ had an affair, which they both strenuously deny. Meanwhile, AJ's gotten sick of getting beat down and bossed around by everyone, and so finally has decided to be his own man. Also, AJ is having issues with Tomko over AJ's taking on a new tag team partner while Tomko was "injured".
Where We're Going:
Despite having some unwatchably bad build-up, this is really the anchor of the card. Forget the KOTM—these two going all out makes the card worth seeing, if anything does. As you might or might not have already read in my Bound for Glory fantasy-booking article, I think this feud has the potential to engulf the title and the main event, at least as soon as they get it away from Karen Angle. I don't expect this to be over anytime soon, though I do expect it to draw in more players and move up the card.
Both Picks: AJ Styles. A win for Kurt does nothing for him, and a loss for AJ derails his recent push as the no-nonsense AJ Styles.
LAX (c) vs. Team 3D
Tag Team Championship Match
Where We've Been:
Last month the finals in the Deuces Wild Tournament came down to these two teams. Johnny Devine attempted to interfere, but was taken out by a bizarrely spry Hector Guerrero. Team 3D proceeded to beat the hell out of Hector the following Impact, which just made LAX ticked. They asked for this match, and have been brawling with LAX since. Team 3D has aligned themselves with Booker T.
Where We're Going:
Last time these two teams feuded it lasted for about five months. I expect a little less here, but probably not much.
Daniel's Pick: LAX. I don't actually think they're going to win, but I'm willing to eat the loss rather than pick against them.
Petey Williams (c) vs. Kaz
X Division Championship Match
Where We've Been:
Kaz won a title shot at the TerrorDome match. That's about it. Petey seemed aggrieved on Thursday that Steiner was stealing his limelight.
Where We're Going:
Kaz has a World Heavyweight Championship shot on Thursday, so the question is whether we expect the theme to be champion vs. champion or "Kaz keeps blowing opportunities". In the broader picture, you have to expect Lethal to get back in the title hunt sooner or later, probably bringing Sonjay along for the ride. That speaks to keeping the belt on the heel. That being said, given Kaz's recent main event berths it would probably be good for the title to be associated with him, as it was great for the title to be won by AJ after he was World Heavyweight Champion.
Both Picks: Kaz. They have plenty of time to put it back on a heel before Lethal's back in the picture.
Awesome Kong vs. ???
$25,000 open challenge
Where We've Been:
Last month, Roxxi Leveaux was poised to become the most bankable face on the roster, so TNA did the only thing it could—had Kong start beating up fans in exchange for a shot at winning $25,000. If that logic makes sense to you, you either know something I don't or work for the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Where We're Going:
This past Thursday things took a step towards the more logical, as women wrestlers started cropping up in the crowd for the sole purpose of taking this shot. I assume (hope?) this means that they're planning to debut someone relatively big with an upset win or near-upset loss from out of the crowd. One would expect that to be at a PPV. TNA's not known for moving quickly on such things, but after low ratings for the Kong-kills-random-chick segments, hopefully they'll be motivated to pull the trigger now rather than drag this out another month. Thankfully, I believe Trish Stratus is recovering from surgery at home, so that should save us the crushed hope of expecting the best and settling for, like, Ivory.
Both Picks: ??? If they didn't capitalize on Roxxi's momentum, it must be because they have some other plan. Right?
Gail Kim, ODB & Roxxi Leveuax vs. The Beautiful People
Where We've Been:
This is easily the best-motivated match-up after Styles vs. Angle. Last month, The Beautiful People cost Roxxi the makeover Battle Royal in order to save Angelina Love from having her head shaven bald. Roxxi had to face the shears instead, and Gail Kim won a title shot. Kim seemed upset at the interference, which she took out on Love. Love, in retaliation, cost Kim her title shot and injured her knee (I don't know if that one's real or not). ODB got involved because she doesn't seem to like beautiful people generally, and this past Thursday The Beautiful People debuted their new muscle who they got to compensate.
Where We're Going:
It's hard to tell whether this has legs without knowing what's going on in the title picture, but I expect whatever Kong's doing to take at least a month. That means this keeps going, which, given the consistent performance of The Beautiful People on the mic and the faces in the ring, I'm fine with. I still think at some point Kim should switch sides, though I guess maybe some of the Beautiful People's badness is supposed to come from their being preppy and white?
Both Picks: The Beautiful People. It will be good to show what their new muscle can do, and that probably means a dominating performance.
Jay Lethal & SoCal Val vs. wrestling weddings
Where We've Been:
Lethal, after a long and sometimes sweet courtship, is scheduled to wed SoCal Val on Sunday. Sonjay Dutt often ran interference on the courtship, and was enraged when they got engaged. Lethal, seemingly oblivious, has asked Sonjay to be his best man. Scheduled to be in attendance are George "The Animal" Steele, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Koko B. Ware, and, ugh, Kamala the Ugandan Giant.
Where We're Going:
They've been teasing the Sonjay heel turn for at least a year now, and have stated that he has an announcement to make on Sunday. At this point they're teasing it so heavily that the biggest swerve would be to have him stay face for at least another month. At some point though things have to explode, presumably by October.
Both Picks: They do in fact get married.
That's it. If you are looking desperately for my recap this weekend, then you are A) probably a member of my immediate family, and B) going to be disappointed, as it is the Feast of Weeks Sunday night. See you all next month!
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