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411 PPV Roundtable Preview – TNA Slammiversary X
Welcome, 411 wrestling readers, to 411Mania’s TNA Pay-Per-View Roundtable! This month, TNA presents Sacrifice as World Champion Bobby Roode defends against “The Icon” Sting! Plus, AJ Styles & Kurt Angle form a super team to challenge for the tag titles and an old rivalry is renewed when Austin Aries battles Samoa Joe. It’s another packed show from TNA, so let’s get right down to it!
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Here is our crack staff of analysts here with your Slammiversary roundtable:
And your’s truly, Greg DeMarco!
THE CARD:
Kid Kash vs. Hernandez
Greg DeMarco: Surprisingly, this match is listed on TNA’s website. Apparently, Hernandez is leading a cattle drive to the arena or something like that. And he needed someone to job to, so Kash is being flown in. A least we can eliminate these two as potential opponents for Crimson! This match was never spoken of during Impact Wrestling, so I doubt anyone else even knew to preview it! This could end up on a free pre-show.
Winner: Hernandez
Bob Colling: This is a random match to have on the card. I can’t recall the last time either man was on Impact whether it be a segment or a match. But, I’m inclined to think that this will mark a push for Hernandez. I recall back when LAX broke up that they had big plans for Hernandez. Sure, that was four years ago, but maybe he will get a chance again. I could see this being a good big guy vs. small guy match.
Winner: Hernandez
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Hernandez (2-0)
Robbie E & Robbie T vs. Television Champion Devon & Garett Bischoff
Greg DeMarco: Two weeks ago, Devon issued a challenge to Garett Bischoff during Open Fight Night—and their match lasted less than two minutes. Not due to the finish, but a run-in by The Robs that set-up this match. Except for the fact that it was announced after Devon wrestled Jeff Hardy last week, in a longer match with the exact same finish. Now, it makes sense to have Garett make the save—but that didn’t happen. This match belongs on Impact, not here.
Winners: Devon & Garett
Larry Csonka: For the 10th anniversary event, this is not a match I would book for the show. There are more talented wrestlers on the roster, and I generally fine Garett, Robbie E & Robbie T to be a waste of time. In all honestly, I am not looking forward to the match, and figure Garett gets the win.
Winner: Devon & Garrett Bischoff
Steve Cook: Devon has been decent lately, though there are still many other people I’d be more interested in watching in TV title matches. Robbie T’s been working hard in OVW to improve his craft. Robbie E is a fun little character. But none of these people are worth sitting through a Garett Bischoff match.
Winner: Devon & Garett Bischoff
Michael Weyer: I get it, we’re trying to build Garrett up more but this doesn’t look promising as the Robbies just suck and Devon’s heat isn’t what it used to be. The result is pretty obvious as Devon and Garrett win and the Robbies continue thier burial and a waste to put this on such a high-profile PPV.
Winners: Devon and Garrett
James Wright: Jesus, this is just a mess. Not only is the title not on the line but all four men are pretty much of no interest to me. This is nothing but a filler match and TNA having it on their tenth anniversary just shows how terribly booked their roster is at this point to where this actually seems like a viable match to them.
Winner: No one
Gavin Napier:If I had told you ten years ago that D-Von Dudley would be the most interesting part of a pay per view tag team match that involved a singles champion for the number two promotion in America, you would have called me a liar. Yet, here we are. The worst part is, they’re going to put this match dead in the middle of the ppv and try to force people to watch it.
Winner: Robbie Squared
Bob Colling: The feud that just refuses to die. Devon and Garrett go over and I hope something new happens for Devon. This has ran its course months ago.
Winner: Devon & Garett
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Devon & Garett Bischoff (5-1-1)
Crimson’s Open Challenge
Greg DeMarco: Who will answer the challenge? Well, I can tell you it ain’t Goldberg! TNA would promote that. And I think they would promote James Storm as well. So I’ll go with this scenario… Joey Ryan (with ticket in hand) answers the open challenge, only to be stopped by Al Snow. This brings out Magnus to answer the challenge, and Ryan takes his seat at ringside, near the announce table. Ryan eventually gets into it with Taz, somehow distracting Crimson and leading to a Magnus win.
Winner : Magnus (or Not Crimson)
Larry Csonka: Rumors were that they had singed someone to debut on the first live Impact and pulled back on that. With the main players occupied, I could see someone debuting (possibly Morrison) and picking up the win. Hard to tell though. Crimson’s undefeated streak has not been done well, and honestly doesn’t mean much, no reason to keep it going since they aren’t all that committed to it.
Winner: Mystery Opponent.
Gavin Napier: There aren’t a lot of options as far as true “mystery men” here. They could go the comedy route, and dust off Shark Boy. An interesting route would be bringing Joey Ryan in to do the job for Crimson. The worst case scenario is rushing Jesse Sorenson into the ring in front of his hometown crowd…and yes, I’m aware that he’s not physically able. Wrestling is a screwed up business. Matt Morgan is an option, so is John Morrison, or even The Pope. Whoever it is, they may as well put Crimson over and start building this undefeated streak to mean something.
Winner: Crimson
Steve Cook: Speaking of things that I can’t believe are still going on, we have Crimson’s undefeated streak. How in the world is he still undefeated? Maybe they’ll bring in John Morrison or some other ex-WWE guy to beat him.
Winner: Mystery Opponent.
Michael Weyer: Hard to say but these are usually a big letdown and see that continuing here as Crimson will get the win to push his streak.
Winner: Crimson
James Wright: I’m hoping for one of the many former-WWE mid-card guys that have been floating around for a little while; Morrison, MVP, Carlito, Chris Masters come to mind, but in the end it will probably be Alex Silva just because this is TNA and that’s the type of thing they do.
Winner: Not Crimson
Bob Colling: I’m sure there are some people out there that think that since Goldberg was mentioned on Impact this past week that he will be showing up. For people who want to be realistic, like myself, I think it’s far more likely that James Storm will comeback and square off against the undefeated Crimson. I’m going to pick that James Storm returns and beats Crimson.
Winner: James Storm
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Mystery Opponent/Not Crimson (5-2)
Bully Ray vs. Joseph Park
Greg DeMarco: On last week’s live Impact Wrestling, Bully Ray and Joseph Park had a great in-ring exchange that lead to Ray vs. Park being signed for Slammiversary. Who would have thought that Bully Ray vs. Abyss’s lawyer “brother”/alter-ego would be the second most anticipated match of the night? But it is. And I think it will deliver in an entertaining way. I also don’t think it’s a slam dunk for Ray. I expect Abyss to make his presence known, likely via theme music and pyro. And that will allow Joseph Park to pick up the win. Either that, or we get the big reveal on the PPV, with Abyss getting the win.
Winner: Joseph Park/Abyss
Larry Csonka: I really am not sure what they are doing here. The Joseph park thing was fine at first, but I find the match to be a waste of Bully Ray, who has been money. He really deserved better on the anniversary event.
Winner: Joseph Park
Steve Cook: Bully Ray is awesome and it’s a shame he’s stuck doing this. I assume there will be some shenanigans occuring that involve Abyss showing up and laying the smacketh down on Bully Ray. The only chance Bully Ray has is if TNA goes back to some 1994 WWF tapes, watches the Fake Undertaker angle and decide they’d like to have a Fake Abyss.
Winner: Joseph Park/Abyss/somebody not named Bully Ray
Michael Weyer: I like how Park plays his character with the mugging and all but not sure if a full-scale match will handle it. Expect the idea of Park suddenly busting out monster moves and interference of some sort to get him the win and no doubt more of the “missing Abyss” storyline continuing for a while.
Winner: Parks
James Wright: The only reason this match might squeak by since it has technically been building since Bound For Glory, but when I say building I mean in a really sporadic, lazy and sometimes downright confusing way. Basically this is Bully Ray vs. Abyss II, except this time Abyss is a wimpy version of his Monster self, so it’s basically like watching The Juggernaut vs. Bruce Banner. So either Bruce is going to ‘Hulk up’ at some point, which will be ridiculous and make the entire angle pointless or this is going to be a poor, poor excuse for a match.
Winner: No one
Gavin Napier:Bully Ray remains the most fascinating member of the TNA roster for me. Why? Because he’s gotten himself in to the best shape of his career, is a fantastic heel, and puts people over regularly. This, obviously, is going to be Abyss’ big return, and they’ve handled it in a way that’s been far more interesting and entertaining than it had any right to be. They embraced the soap opera cheese of it all and have ran with it. Good for them.
Winner:Bully Ray, only to be destroyed by Abyss.
Bob Colling: Considering Park is actually Abyss without the mask, though I wanted to believe it was two different people, I can only expect this to actually end up being Abyss/Ray. It seems obvious that Abyss will go over on Ray here since it would be all about revenge. So, that’s what I’m going with. Abyss or Park wins.
Winner: Park/Abyss
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Joseph Park/Abyss (5-1-1)
#1 Contender Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson
Winner Gets a World Title Shot on Thursday’s Live Impact Wrestling
Greg DeMarco: Another correct prediction on The Greg DeMarco Show was these three competing in a #1 Contender’s Match. It made the most logical sense. I think this match can be entertaining, and should be given some good time. As for the winner? Barring a screwjob that puts Roode in a 4-way on Impact Wrestling, I’ll go with Hulk Hogan’s favorite pet, Jeff Hardy.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Larry Csonka: This was added in Impact, the same show where we saw this match a few weeks back. It’s like they realized that their big anniversary PPV was coming this weekend and that these guys weren’t booked for a match. At least that’s how it felt. All three guys have had chances, and have lost, so in all honesty this doesn’t do much for me, and take into account that they all tend to have their best matches with Kurt Angle, and tend to look slow and unmotivated when they work each other, and I just don’t have high hopes. Although I do hope that they prove me wrong.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Gavin Napier: Hey, here’s an idea. Let’s have a pay per view, throw two of our biggest stars that casual fans will likely recognize (and Mr. Anderson) into a three way match with no build whatsoever! It’s TNA, everybody! While I’m sure this will be a standard three star match, it’s hard for me to get excited about it, especially with the winner facing Robert Roode…again. I always get nervous that they won’t be able to resist putting the belt on Hardy again, and that would be a damn shame considering what Roode has done with the belt. Now’s the time to start letting Roode defend against the Ricky Mortons and Road Warrior Hawks of TNA, guys that aren’t typically threats but could use a little rub to move up the card just a hair. As for this match…
Winner: Mr. Anderson
Steve Cook: Part of the problem I have with TNA these days is they feature a lot of guys that left WWE that I don’t really miss seeing on TV. All of these guys fit in that category. Anderson’s been useless for years now. RVD is fun but when’s the last time he was taken seriously? Hardy sells merchandise, so you might as well push him to keep the people buying his stuff happy. Not that I have any interest in seeing it, but it’s good business. Or decent, anyway.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Michael Weyer: I honestly don’t care about seeing these guys together again. But TNA does so we get this. For the winner, they still seem intent on pushing Jeff’s big comeback so I see him winning here after a few goofy spots, let’s hope it’s watchable.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
James Wright: Ah hello current batch of relatively newly signed former WWE guys, how are you? In a way this match does sum up a little of TNA’s history as they have nearly always been focused on giving title opportunities to these guys that came in from the outside and didn’t help build the company. I’m not saying they don’t deserve a shot, but often they are given it just for kicks, there is no work that goes into the booking to justify their run at the title, and this match is no different. I expect kicks, a couple of high-flying spots and a sneaky Mic Check to end the match.
Winner: Mr. Anderson
Bob Colling: I find it kind of amusing that three of the biggest stars in TNA were booked into a match at the last minute. Mr. Anderson isn’t about to win this here and doesn’t have any right to be involved in the TNA World Championship picture. That leaves us with RVD and Jeff Hardy. The ultimate goal is for the belt to get back to Hardy, which Hogan has even come out and said in interviews (which is stupid to do). So, I’m going with Hardy to become the number one contender and meet the champion on Impact next week.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Jeff Hardy (5 votes – 2 Anderson votes – 0 RVD votes)
Knockouts Championship
Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim (champion)
Greg DeMarco: On The Greg DeMarco Show, I thought out loud about Gail’s challenger, and I had picked Velvet Sky. I also thought the company would feel the need to move a title on this show, and that title would be the Knockouts Championship. My esteemed cohost Patrick O’Dowd selected Brooke as the challenger, and also predicted her to win. While he was talking in jest, I’ll go with it! By the way, it’s apparently now officially “Miss” Tessmacher again, because here’s some other Brooke running around. Can’t have two Brooke’s. Why can’t she be Miss Hogan? By the way, we should have seen Tessmacher coming in this one—they’re in Texas. Wrestling logic…
Winner: Miss Brooke Tessmacher, NEW Knockouts Champion
Larry Csonka: Gail Kim is now the longest reigning Knockouts Champion in TNA history, which they mentioned on Impact. They seem to really like Tessmacher, but I just don’t feel that she should be the one to take the title from Kim. That doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, but it isn’t the way I would go. Their first match was better than expected, so this may end up being solid to good.
Winner: Gail Kim
Gavin Napier: Fun fact: TNA’s three main championships are in the midst of their longest reigns ever. The TNA World, X Division, and Knockouts title are all on epic runs. The problem is, Gail Kim’s reign has been a little flat without Awesome Kong there to prop it up. The company seems to be relatively high on Tessmacher, so they may as well pull the trigger now and see what they’ve got.
Winner: Brooke Tessmacher
Steve Cook: As much as I like Gail, we need something of a refresh here. She’s had a long reign, it hasn’t been particularly memorable, and Brooke is from Texas. Why not make the hometown crowd happy?
Winner: Brooke Tessmacher
Michael Weyer: They teased it last month and think TNA is ready to pull the trigger on Brooke. Will she really work as champ? Not sure but they seem to have high hopes for her so there we go and a new champ on top would be nice.
Winner and NEW Knockouts Champion: Brooke Tessmacher
James Wright: I’m hoping that Gail gets to keep her streak going as she is pretty much the best TNA has to offer at the moment in the Knockouts division and I doubt that Brooke could really hold onto the title for more than a couple of months at the most. It seems like in terms of televised women’s wrestling this is the best type of match we can expect since both TNA and WWE seem reluctant to ever square off their women with any actual talent and stick to the model vs. wrestler formula so as to justify their employment. Sorry for all the negativity but I’m actually a fan of TNA and since this is a show that should encapsulate the last ten years it just isn’t good enough.
Winner: Gail Kim
Bob Colling: Yet again there is a championship match without any real angle and was booked at the last minute, really. I don’t think Brooke is the one to take the championship away from Kim and since Mickie James is teasing a heel turn, I think Velvet Sky is more likely a selection to take the strap down the road. So, I’m predicting Kim to retain.
Winner: Gail Kim
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Miss Brooke Tessmacher (4-3)
Samoa Joe vs. X-Division Champion Austin Aries
Greg DeMarco: This is a rematch of their legendary Final Battle 2004 match-up in Ring of Honor…okay, and many other matches as well! But these two have some serious history, and even at different points in their careers they are capable of putting on one hell of a match. I see no reason to put Joe over here, unless he’s the planned main event opponent for Aries at Destination-X. And I don’t think he is.
Prediction: Austin Aries
Larry Csonka: While the setup is horrible (water, really?) this is one of two matches that could potentially steal the show. The men have history in ROH, and have matured as workers since them. Joe will likely be motivated for this match and Aries has been awesome, well, since returning to TNA. I expect a great match and Aries winning.
Winner: Austin Aries
Steve Cook: If it was six years ago in ROH I’d be pretty excited about this match. Aries is still good, and if Joe’s motivated this could be really good. The question is if Joe will be motivated or not.
Winner: Austin Aries
Michael Weyer: Thank God, a great match. These two should be tearing it up quite nicely and while tempting to say Joe regains the belt, Aries has just been so damn awesome as the heel champ, I don’t see it ending yet, not to a guy already so over. Joe will pull out the stops but Aries will use his wiles to sneak a victory out and put him over more as the awesome heel we love to hate.
Winner: Austin Aries
James Wright: Well hi there match that was booked from almost no reason but looked to be promising and then got pulled again seemingly for no reason. Can someone please tell me why exactly you can’t just have a match where Joe & Magnus face another team to qualify for another tag title shot, it is so simple, you can even have them lose if you have a problem with Joe! If this match somehow actually takes place then it will be a great throwback but has so little build that if it is replaced it won’t really mean anything.
Winner: No one
Gavin Napier:I was amused by the people that thought Joe was really on the outs with the company after tweeting that he was being ushered out of the building. For those that paid attention to the live Impact, the whole water thing with Aries was a tip off to what was coming. Then the match was announced and pulled, and they followed up on the “disrespect” angle again. This should be the best match on the show, and I’m curious how much chemistry is left from their Ring of Honor days. I’m betting a lot.
Winner:Austin Aries
Bob Colling: They’ve had a couple of good matches before, most notably in ROH about seven years ago, but I can’t see why these two can’t still put together a fine contest. Part of me wants to believe that this could be a start of Joe’s dominance, but since he can’t challenge for the championship I don’t see that happening. Instead, I’m thinking Aries will continue to beat guys who are bigger than him to elevate him up the card. Aries wins.
Winner: Austin Aries
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Austin Aries (6-0-1)
World Tag Team Championship
Kurt Angle & AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels & Kazarian (champions)
Greg DeMarco: “The Suicide Squad” has been tag team champions for one month now, beating…wait, I think I have it here, oh yeah! Samoa Joe & Magnus. Joe & Magnus set the world on fire earlier this year, and their title loss was quite the surprise. Even more surprising is the fact that they haven’t tagged since, and don’t seem to care about not getting their rematch. I won’t count that out just yet, as TNA seems to love the Angle & Styles pairing. Daniels & Kazarian have been at war with AJ for a while now, more recently harping on AJ’s “relationship” with Dixie Carter—you know, he angle likely to be exposed as AJ planning a surprise for Dixie’s husband? AJ and Kurt have did exactly what Chris and Frankie did to earn a title shot—nothing. In a company where you have to state your case for everything, they did nothing.
What we can’t lose sight of is the fact that this match is likely to steal the show. Three out of the four are commonly thought of as some of the best in the world today, and Kazarian is a severely underrated talent. I know TNA is incapable of doing my next thought, but I’d love to see this go on last. I wouldn’t be shocked to see AJ & Angle win the belts here, but I think the Dixie Carter storyline will play a role, and the champs will retain.
Winners: Daniels & Kazarian retain the tag team championships
Larry Csonka: This is the other match that has the chance to steal the show. Hopefully they don’t use too much of the AJ-Dixie angle here, and just allow the performers to do hat they do best, deliver a great PPV match. All four men have been involved in some of TNA’s best matches through out their 10-years, and if they are given the time and again, left alone to do their thing, this could be magic. Unfortunately I think the AJ angle will play too big a part and it won’t be as good as I hope.
Winner: Christopher Daniels & Kazarian
Steve Cook: If we could take these guys back to 2003 I would be ridiculously pumped about this match. Instead we’re in 2012. Styles is in a bad angle I don’t care about. Angle’s had the same match for the past six years. Daniels & Kazarian can be really good but they can also fall into the trap of being spot monkeys. They should have some interesting ideas, and I’ll buck conventional wisdom and go with them having tag team champions that might not like each other. Because that’s never happened in TNA before.
Winners: Kurt Angle & AJ Styles
Michael Weyer: Are we sure Russo is gone? It’s just that the whole “whacky tag partners who hate each other” angle has just been done to death so much over the years (several times with Angle himself). It should be a good match even if the four guys aren’t as awesome as they once were but they should be pulling out the stops to give fans a good show. I’ll go with Styles and Angle winning as TNA just knows how we fans all love that bit over and over (eye roll here).
Winners and NEW TNA World Tag Team Champions: AJ & Angle
James Wright: Okay so waste of the tag team titles aside this does have the possibility to be a great match. All four men have really meant something to TNA and they can all put on five-star performances. Maybe TNA should give the two other confirmed matches before this five minutes each and try to set the record for longest match of the year. Having said that I honestly don’t care who wins as once again the whole set up was so confused so I will just pick the faces.
Winner: AJ & Angle
Gavin Napier: I don’t see how this match can be bad, unless they overbook it. You’ve got four world class athletes in the ring, all capable of putting in 20-30 minutes easily, and all are TNA mainstays. Unfortunately, this is going to tie in to the Dixie Carter/AJ Styles thing instead of just letting them wrestle. Hopefully that stuff is kept to a minimum. I’m not optimistic.
Winner:AJ Styles and Kurt Angle
Bob Colling: Personally, I’ve enjoyed the AJ Styles/Dixie Carter angle. I don’t know why, but I’m interested to see where that goes. I’m figuring that the distraction involving Dixie/AJ will cost them, though. Daniels and Kazarian have done a good job with the angle and I’ve enjoyed their title reign thus far. Plus, I don’t want to see Angle and Styles wasted in the midcard scene for too long. Champs retain.
Winner: Christopher Daniels & Kazarian
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: AJ Styles & Kurt Angle (4-3)
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Bobby Roode (champion) vs. Sting
Greg DeMarco; TNA succeeded at getting people talking with this match, but I don’t think it was in a good way. You could see this coming a mile away when Hogan made the Roode-Sting announcement for last week’s live Impact Wrestling. What you couldn’t see was the now dominant Roode tapping to a weak ass Scorpion Deathlock. Seriously? They had finally righted the ship, but apparently Sting is still too good for the champ. Hopefully this leads to a clean win for Roode on PPV. While I expect it to be a win, I don’t see it being clean…
Winner: Bobby Roode retains via nefarious means/screwjob
Larry Csonka: Roode and Sting had a good PPV match the last time out, and I figure that they will do the same here. Unfortunately this match highlights a major problem of TNA, which is always going back to Sting. It’s the 10th anniversary, and while Roode as champion is great, this match does nothing for me in terms of wanting to order the PPV. And that’s a shame, because with the show being the 10th anniversary, I should be more excited than I am.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Steve Cook: I’d be more worried about Sting winning the title here if it was Bound For Glory. That’s typically where they make the short-term Sting title change. I think they’re set on pushing Roode until they bring Storm back, and will keep the title on him until then.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Michael Weyer: I hate this, ok? I hate that Roode has shown himself as a great heel champ, a TNA original and yet TNA is obsessed with putting a man approaching Social Security in the title scene over and over again. I’m really afraid TNA might think that Sting winning the belt is the celebration of the company fans want. My dream is for Storm to somehow enter the match to regain the belt but as it is, I’ll go with Storm cheating yet again to victory, just a shame to see a major anniversary like this looking so far to the past and not the future.
Winner and STILL TNA World Champion: Roode
James Wright: No. Not Sting. Why Sting? I get that this is perhaps the ‘passing of the torch’ match, and I’m cool with that, but I’m also very weary of Sting, who like Jeff Jarrett doesn’t seem to see why he shouldn’t be made champion anymore. This match just seems to hinge so much on the ending since Roode still hasn’t had that defining win and it kind of has to be now to validate his title run. If Sting wins then TNA is just idiotic and has undermined everything they have tried to do since after Bound for Glory. Bottom line is that things can be redeemed if Sting sells the crap out of this match and gets beaten to a bloody pulp in the process, but that is what I said last time the two faced off and that’s not exactly what happened, so I am pretty skeptical.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Gavin Napier:Sting pinned Roode on the first live Impact of the summer, then made him tap on the go-home show. Both of those point to Roode retaining the title. Sting looks like he’s in pretty decent shape compared to what we’ve seen from him over the last 12 months, and he understands the big match atmosphere. A decisive win for Roode will further legitimize him and should send him rolling towards another showdown with James Storm. Then people can quit bitching about Lockdown.
Winner:Robert Roode
Bob Colling: Sting has had all the momentum going in this feud as of late and that gives me reason to believe Roode will wiggle his way out of the match as the champion. Roode retains the championship but I don’t see him walking out as the champion after the next Impact. I can see what happened to AJ Styles in 2010 happening to Bobby Roode in 2012.
Winner: Bobby Roode
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Bobby Roode (7-0)
Greg DeMarco: TNA has seemingly guaranteed that Dixie Carter is going to be involved in the tag team match—and that’s the best match on the show. There is some intrigue with the Crimson Open Challenge, Aries-Joe will deliver, and you can’t help but wonder if TNA would really put the belt on Sting. While I wish we had more nod to history (maybe bring in Jerry Lynn & Low Ki—which also teases Destination-X, or the King of The Mountain Match), but the card is set. Is it enough? It could be better, but I still see a buy here.
Buy or No Buy: Buy
Larry Csonka: Honestly I am buying because I am writing a review of the show, but judging from the card, if I was a regular fan, I would go no buy. It simply feels as if TNA are spinning their wheels at this point, and for what should be their biggest show ever (10th anniversary) the card is thrown together with next to no care.
Buy or No Buy: Buy (only because I am writing a review of the show)
Steve Cook: I was told this was one of TNA’s biggest shows of the year. It sure doesn’t look like it on paper. Maybe some of the matches will deliver and it’ll end up being a worthwhile venture, but at this point in time I can’t advise people to spend their disposable income on a TNA PPV that will be forgotten by TNA & everybody that watched it about 30 minutes after it happens.
Buy or No Buy: No Buy
Michael Weyer: I’d like to say Buy as this is one of the bigger shows of the year for TNA but it just doesn’t look promising. Sure, Aries/Joe will be great and the tag title match good but is anyone really that eager to see Sting try to regain the belt again over a much younger compeitor? The mystery of additional matches might pull some in but overall, TNA just hasn’t done enough to make this the major event it should be, which is a shame.
Buy or No Buy: No Buy
James: Wow, just wow. I could perhaps understand this as a filler PPV on a slow month, but this is just shocking as a Tenth anniversary of a major PPV. I can’t believe that any TNA fan could realistically look at this card and be excited or even optimistic, and if they pretend to be then that is just sad because they shouldn’t be watching professional wrestling. Now of course there will be more matches added and they might save things, but again this is a big PPV and adding several last minute matches with no real build up just seems like the stupidest move on TNA’s part. Honestly I really hope that I am being short-sighted and that I am proved totally wrong so that somehow the lack of quality is to lull us in before they pull some major swerve that rocks the very foundations of the wrestling world. But even if that was the case I have no idea why the strategy would be to stage such a monumental event on a card seemingly designed to drive fans away from the product bar one match and two that are questionable.
Buy or No Buy: No Buy
Gavin Napier:For a tenth anniversary show, this sucks. As a TNA ppv, it’s pretty strong. I’d like to see Jarrett, maybe a little more nostalgia, and more references to the history of TNA, but this is what we’re getting, for better or worse. There are three matches with the potential to go above four stars, and a couple more matches that should be good. There’s only one match that really looks like a stinker. It’ll be a last minute decision, but right now, I’m leaning towards a buy for this one.
Buy or No Buy:Buy
411Mania Roundtable Consensus: Tied! (3-3) Somebody call Bob Colling!
There you have it folks…the 411Mania staff is completely torn on this show!
And, of course, don’t forget to join 411 on Sunday night for LIVE coverage starting at 7:30 pm eastern!
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