TNA Slammiversary preview

Read on for how I'd book TNA Slammiversary, a show featuring a number of pretty intriguing matches.

A couple of caveats here, as always:
1. These are not predictions. This is not what I think will happen. This is what I would suggest to be done if I was on the writing team.

2. This is not just about who I like more or who I think is more talented. This is about where I think the stories should go from here forward, based on what's happened so far and what could happen in the future.

3. Booking someone to lose does not mean that I am "burying" them or don't think that they have talent.

4. This is not necessarily the order I would do the matches in. 

All that out of the way:
Jay Bradley beats Sam Shaw clean with the Boomstick. Bradley beat York on Impact and got a promo. Shaw didn't even get to have a match. Shaw could very well be more talented than Bradley, but given how few matches either man has had on TV, I can only judge on what I've seen and the story so far. Bradley goes on to the BFG Series and Shaw goes back to OVW for the time being. I don't know enough about him to know what they should do with him.

Gail Kim cuts a promo before her match with Taryn on how she's going to finally get revenge on Taryn, and then she's going to go on to win the Knockouts' Title. She takes Taryn a bit lightly in the match, and gets frustrated when she can't put her away. Gail's been wrestling for over a decade and this ex-referee is giving her trouble? Yeah, that's a recipe for her to get upset. I'd have her try to expose a turnbuckle, leading to Taryn getting the "upset". Taryn escapes up the ramp and Gail takes out the referee (presumably ODB) with the ringpost Figure 4. This sets up/continues a 4-way feud for the Knockouts' Title. Velvet's the former champion due a rematch, Gail injured Velvet (which helped Mickie win), and Taryn's gotten the better of Gail a number of times. All of them look like credible contenders if you're doing your job right.

The X-Division Title match is fairly straightforward: King and Sabin are focused on each other due to their personal feud. Sabin has King beat with whatever big move, and Suicide steals the pin. This sets up both Sabin and King to chase for the Title. To me, the end of the story is Sabin finally regaining the Title after all this time off and hard work. When he gets it back, it should be a big moment that he's worked hard for. Point being, I think you can get a little more out of Sabin chasing before having him get the big win. I don't think you can get all the way to BFG without him winning, but I do think there's more to the story with Suicide scraping out wins before Sabin finally gets him.

The 6-man tag is also pretty straightforward: The babyfaces win. The ending I have in mind is Jeff Hardy hitting the Swanton to Brisco and Bischoff on the outside of the ring, leaving DOC to take Joe and Magnus' double team finisher. The end goal to me in this match is showcasing Joe and Magnus, as I think both men can have good futures in TNA (or maybe even WWE). At the same time, it protects Brisco and Bischoff to not be pinned and the fans who came to see a big Hardy spot can be happy without the focus being on him. Hardy getting the win doesn't really elevate him, while Joe and Magnus getting the pinfall hopefully puts a spotlight on them.

I'm under the impression that Storm's injury means it wouldn't be a good idea to make him Tag Team Champion right now. So, I'd have Aries and Roode take him out right before the match. Gunner has to go it alone. He puts up a valiant effort, but ultimately the odds are against him. Aries and Roode double team Gunner on the outside of the ring. As this is going on, Chavo and Hernandez get the pin on Daniels, who can more easily rebound from a loss than Kazarian. I'd have Hernandez hit his over-the-shoulder backbreaker leading to Chavo hitting a Frog Splash as the ending. Eventually on Impact, Brisco and Bischoff win the Tag Titles from Chavo and Hernandez in nefarious fashion. The marks AND "smarks" hate them, so they can get nice heat. I'd have them say something about how everyone said that they were just there because of who their fathers are, but look at them now, etc.. Presumably their cohorts in Aces and Eights help them win the titles and they take all the credit for winning "all by themselves". Maybe they even say that they are one of the all-time greatest tag teams. Anyway, this leads to a face team (either Joe and Magnus or Storm and Gunner) winning the Titles at BFG.

Before Park vs. Devon, Bully Ray addresses the troops backstage. I'd definitely have him play up the New York/Boston thing as he has in interviews. Anyway, he states that the plan is for D'Lo to earn his stripes by helping Devon retain the TV Title. He and Anderson go to nail Park with a hammer while the ref is distracted, but D'Lo turns on Anderson after their recent interactions. This leads to Park beating Devon and winning the Title. Later, Anderson wins the title from Park (in 2 months or so), setting up a face taking the TV Title at BFG. BFG should be a show where we get some nice face wins and presumably end the Aces and Eights saga.

Angle vs. Styles is our designated "really good wrestling match". Bully Ray dictates earlier that they shouldn't interfere, because maybe Styles will come to his senses and join Aces and Eights. As I said, this is a showcase for what Angle and Styles can do. The goal should be to show that Styles can "hang" with Angle so that it wouldn't be a stretch for him to win the TNA Title at BFG. Styles gets the win clean, then Aces and Eights come down (sans D'Lo and Anderson after what happened in the TV Title match). They look to give him a chair to crack Angle with, but Styles uses it on them instead. Styles, Angle, and Sting keep Aces and Eights at bay. Styles and Angle shake hands, cementing Styles as a face. We eventually get "the old AJ" back, in full-on babyface mode. He wins the BFG Series to go to the main event. As for what's next on the PPV, the ending to this match sets up Sting vs. Bully Ray to not have interferences...

Sting and Bully Ray beat the holy high hell out of each other, since things are so personal. Hogan looks to interfere, but this backfires and Sting gets inadvertently taken out. Bully Ray then gets the win to keep things going there. This pisses off Sting and we get more interaction between him and Hogan. Hogan eventually turns to Matt Morgan to "take care of" Sting at BFG. Did you really think I was going to do Sting vs. Hogan again after it went so terribly last time?

Here's a loose outline for BFG if I'm booking:
Bully Ray (c) vs. AJ Styles for the TNA Championship
Mr. Anderson (c) vs. (Joseph Park? Abyss? Samoa Joe? Magnus?) for the TV Championship - I'm leaning towards Abyss after Aces and Eights really does a number on Park to write him off. It's up in the air, though.
Sting vs. Matt Morgan
Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
Kurt Angle vs. Austin Aries
Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff (c) vs. (Storm and Gunner? Joe and Magnus?) for the TNA Tag Team Championship - It would depend on how the four faces perform in the months to come

Obviously there's room for some other matches (Title matches and otherwise) there, too.

Ideally, after BFG, Styles, Morgan, Roode, and Aries are positioned pretty well as stars to help carry the company into 2014 and beyond. I think the end goal should be making new stars for when the older names aren't around.

I'll be back tomorrow for how the show actually goes down.