Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary card from Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas.
Nate Milton and I will have a Slammiversary POST Show late tonight on the site as well as iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher by subscribing to POST Wrestling.
QUICK RESULTS:
*Willie Mack over Trey Miguel, TJP, and Jake Crist in 9:35
*The North over LAX and Dez & Wentz in 7:18 to retain the tag titles
*Eddie Edwards over Killer Kross in a First Blood match in 11:25
*Moose over Rob Van Dam in 13:52
*Taya Valkyrie over Rosemary, Su Yung, and Jessicka Havok in a Monster’s Ball match to retain the Knockout’s title in 11:44
*Rich Swann over Johnny Impact in 15:09 to retain the X Division title
*Brian Cage over Michael Elgin in 14:10 to retain the Impact title
*Sami Callihan over Tessa Blanchard in 15:00
The opening video package featured all the top stars of TNA’s past, including AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, and Hulk Hogan. Then, they cut to the modern talent and positioned the current crop of the precipice of greatness.
Josh Mathews is calling the show alongside Don Callis and said the show was sold out.
TJP vs. Willie Mack vs. Trey Miguel vs. Jake Crist
The audience was very heated at the start. There were lots of multiple-man spots and submissions incorporating the four.
Jake Crist dove through the ropes and hit a DDT onto Mack. Miguel did a springboard off the middle rope into a tornillo onto the three on the floor.
TJP applied a surfboard onto Miguel, Jake Crist climbed on top of TJP for a cover as Mack broke it up with a foot stomp from the top, which got over big.
Crist hit Miguel with a cutter from the top but left himself prone for a splash off the top by Mack, who pinned Crist.
WINNER: Willie Mack at 9:35
It was a fast-paced opener that the audience was hot for and had several clever and big moments, which clicked with the crowd.
They aired the tag title switch from ‘Bash at the Brewery’ with The North defeating LAX to win the tag titles after Ethan Page hit Santana with a belt shot.
Melissa Santos interviewed The North. Page carried the promo and ran down anyone who was surprised they won the tag titles.
THE NORTH VS LAX VS DEZ & WENTZ FOR THE IMPACT TAG TITLES
Alexander hit Dez with the fallaway slam off the top that Bandido has popularized. Page followed with a Swanton onto Dez.
There was a spot where Santana was on the floor and Konnan called for a doctor to check on him. “Dr. Ariel” was checking on Santana, which is the on-screen character that did all the segments with Brian Cage.
The North double-teamed Dez and Ortiz and got the cover on Ortiz.
WINNERS: The North at 7:18 to retain the tag titles
There was more focus on the injury angle than the finish and it came out of nowhere when The North scored the win. To me, it never got going and had the time to reach the second gear.
Santana refused to go out on a stretcher.
Sami Callihan cut a promo about all the people tweeting about his match with Tessa Blanchard and made it the most talked-about match. He threatened to walk out on Impact, and he got what he wanted and is in the main event tonight.
KILLER KROSS VS EDDIE EDWARDS IN A FIRST BLOOD MATCH
Kross was wearing white and black makeup on his face with a big ‘X’ on the forehead. I thought it added a maniacal look and it worked.
Kross lifted Edwards from the floor and dropped his back onto the edge of the apron. Kross proceeded to ram a chair into Edwards as he attempted a dive and followed with a gut wrench slam off the apron onto a chair on the floor. Edwards whipped a chair back at Kross, who hid his face from the referee, but wasn’t bleeding.
Kross stomped the hand and tossed Edwards’ kendo stick to the floor. Edwards came back and hit the Boston Knee Party and brought ‘Kenny’ the kendo stick into the ring. He swung and missed, Kross attempted the Kross Jacket submission and Edwards fought the hold and sent both to the floor. Edwards hit a Tiger Driver on the floor.
Edwards had Kross down in the ring, he told Kenny that he loved him before snapping it and stabbing Kross’ face with it to force him to bleed and win.
WINNER: Eddie Edwards at 11:25
This worked well and the stipulation was executed well and this elevated Edwards in the process with the clear-cut victory.
Rafael Morffi, their investigative reporter, was shoved up against a wall when he attempted to interview Tessa Blanchard.
Santos interviewed Rob Van Dam and he rambled about why he respected Moose for challenging him and not asking the writers for a match. He thinks Moose is a bully and a place in his heart for bullies. This segment was a glowing endorsement for scripted promos.
ROB VAN DAM VS MOOSE
Van Dam hit Moose with a huracanrana on the floor and followed with a running senton off the apron.
Moose took over when they were back in the ring and grounded Van Dam. Moose ran at Van Dam and was sent over the top rope with a back body drop and landed on the ramp.
Moose caught with a top rope dropkick and hit Go to Hell for a near fall on Van Dam. Moose hit a DDT and climbed to the top and missed his own Five-Star frog splash. The referee was moved out of the way and allowed Moose to hit Van Dam with a low blow. Moose got a chair and the referee tried to stop him and it allowed Van Dam to hit a Van Daminator.
Van Dam missed the frog splash and landed on the chair, Moose hit the spear and pinned Van Dam.
WINNER: Moose at 13:52
They had a decent match and you could see Van Dam working his hardest at 42 and Moose getting the decisive win over the larger name. I liked the outcome and they immediately positioned Moose as being in contention for a future title shot.
Santos interviewed Taya Valkyrie and she ran down Su Yung and her ‘Gobbledy Gooker, Emo chicks’ and defending her title in a Monster’s Ball match is like ‘bringing a Lamborghini to a demolition derby’.
TAYA VALKYRIE VS ROSEMARY VS SU YUNG VS JESSICKA HAVOK IN A MONSTER’S BALL MATCH FOR THE KNOCKOUT’S TITLE
Taya took a photo of herself and stapled it onto Yung’s forehead, which was a spot that was done last weekend in Australia with a photo of Jim Cornette during a match between Joey Ryan and Joey Janela for World Series Wrestling.
Then, the weapons were introduced with trash cans, cookie sheets, and a dog collar was placed on Rosemary and attached to Yung’s neck. Yung brought out the bloody glove but before she could use, Taya knocked them down with a ladder. The audience chanted for tables.
Taya was in the tree of woe and sent Rosemary and Yung off the top with Rosemary delivering a superplex onto the ladder as Havok got out of the way.
Rosemary brought out thumbtacks and fought with Taya, ending with a curb stomp by Rosemary right next to the tacks.
Yung missed Havok with the mist and hit Father Jim Mitchell. Yung applied the mandible claw onto Havok, but she broke free. Meanwhile, on the apron, Taya took Rosemary off and they went through a table on the floor.
Havok hit a tombstone off the middle rope to Yung on top of the tacks. She had the won when Taya nailed Havok with a chair and stole the cover on Yung.
WINNER: Taya Valkyrie at 11:44 to retain the Knockout’s title
This was great, all four worked tremendously well together and this match got over big. I thought it was the best match, so far on the show.
Santos interviewed Rich Swann and he called it the biggest match in his career in Impact. He was interrupted by Johnny Impact and John E. Bravo. They started singing ‘All Night Long’ to Swann, which was amusing. Swann said his foot was going to knock Johnny’s face back to Slam Town.
RICH SWANN VS JOHNNY IMPACT FOR THE X DIVISION TITLE
There were thumbtacks left over from the last match and John E. Bravo passed them to Johnny and the referee was distracted by removing them.
Swann avoided a Spanish Fly off the turnbuckle and yanked Impact off by the leg. Swann followed with a cartwheel into a corkscrew on top of Impact, which looked great. Swann connected with a tornillo to the floor and a top rope elbow that Impact kicked out from.
Impact hit Johnny’s Edge, which is set up like a Bad Luck Fall and spun Swann into a side slam for a two-count. Impact came back and went for a springboard spear but was caught with an uppercut in mid-flight.
Swann kicked out from Starship Pain for a big near fall spot. Swann came with an eight-strike combination and two Lethal Injections. Swann went to the top and hit the Phoenix Splash to win the match. The final few minutes were very strong and Swann’s closing sequence was great.
WINNER: Rich Swann at 15:09 to retain the X Division title
Josh Mathews called it a five-star classic and should be on everyone’s ballot for match-of-the-year. Don Callis said, ‘it might be seven stars.’ It was very good, but let’s chill.
Michael Elgin cut a promo on his own stating Brian Cage calls himself ‘the machine’ but he keeps breaking down. Cage is no machine but Elgin is unbreakable.
BRIAN CAGE VS MICHAEL ELGIN FOR THE IMPACT TITLE
Cage landed a somersault over the top and nailed Elgin on the floor and landed on his feet, it was impressive. Back in the ring, Elgin hit a Dragon suplex and a superplex with Cage selling his back. Elgin continued his attack on the back.
Cage returned with a tornado DDT off the middle rope and a 619 and a release pump handle for a two-count. The commentary by Don Callis on Cage’s back injury was solid.
Elgin hit a deadlift powerbomb and led to a chant of ‘Big Mike’. Elgin did the Cage claps before hitting a lariat and set up for a Bad Luck Fall into a sit-out powerbomb for a two-count. Elgin hit a buckle bomb and Cage responded with a discus lariat and both were down.
Elgin hit a Canadian Destroyer, Cage kicked out and everyone went nuts. Elgin lifted him for a Burning Hammer and Cage blocked it. Cage hit a V-Trigger and an F5 for a near fall.
Cage attempted the Drill Claw and his back gave out. Elgin hit a pair of discus strikes, a buckle bomb and went for the Elgin Bomb, which was countered with a roll-up with Cage hooking the legs and caught him.
WINNER: Brian Cage at 14:10 to retain the Impact title
Elgin grabbed the title and attacked Cage with it and put it over his shoulder. He walked over to Don Callis and called it ‘bullshit’ and telling Callis to look at Cage. He sent Callis into the ring and Elgin was gored by a masked man whose face was never shown, and they cut to color bars as the man presumed to be Rhino ran out through the crowd. Mathews never said his name.
Mathews announced Bound for Glory on Sunday, October 20th and they announced it would take place from Chicago.
Mathews announced Bound for Glory on Sunday, October 20th and they announced it would take place from Chicago.
SAMI CALLIHAN VS TESSA BLANCHARD
The whole arena was chanting for Tessa when the bell rang. The promotion of this match was strong on television and was accepted as the main event match.
Blanchard started the match with a tilt-a-whirl head scissors and proceeded to hit three consecutive dives to Callihan on the floor. On the last one, Callihan caught and swung her into the guardrail followed by a Death Valley Driver to the floor.
The audience would get behind Blanchard and then, Callihan would cut her off. He told the fans to move as he set up Blanchard on the ramp for a powerbomb, which Blanchard stopped and hit a cutter to the ramp.
Blanchard attacked with strikes after Callihan gave her the middle finger. Callihan attacked Blanchard’s shoulder she had surgery on years back for a broken collarbone. He applied an STS and Blanchard fought to the rope and her selling was tremendous.
The referee was knocked down and Callihan attacked Blanchard with a baseball bat. A second referee ran in, Blanchard kicked out and Callihan attacked that referee. He told Blanchard to quit, she spit at him and hit him with a low blow. Blanchard hit Callihan with her own bat. Blanchard hit Magnum off the top and he kicked out. Blanchard immediately went to a crossface as they chanted ‘tap’, he stood up and hit a package tombstone for a two-count.
Blanchard gave Callihan the ‘thumbs down’ and he immediately hit the Cactus Special piledriver and pinned her.
WINNER: Sami Callihan at 15:00
The finish stunned the audience, who seemed on board through the ride and was ready for a huge win by Blanchard. I thought Blanchard should have won the match, but we’ll see where they go with the story. Blanchard felt like a superstar and I felt this experiment of putting these two in the main event worked and the audience was into everything. Callihan is a fantastic heel and Blanchard was tremendous as a babyface.
Callihan held both bats, handed one to Blanchard and left her alone in the ring. Mathews pushed it as a historical moment. The idea was Blanchard earned Callihan’s respect in defeat.
This was a strong show.
