Slammiversary XV Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's GFW special event.

-- Pre-show:
Firstly, a big congratulations to GFW for making it 15 years. That's a really big milestone for them given all the struggles they've had throughout their tenure.

- Sutter/Shera/Allie vs. KM/Kongo/Laurel:
I was wondering if we'd see these names on this show. Ditto for Swoggle and Spud. We'll see about those two.

This is a pretty interesting combination of workers.

Good work so far.

I'm enjoying the story here.

I figure the big hosses have the advantage here.

Clever finisher for Allie. That was pretty fun.

-- Slammiversary XV:
- Penzer intros:
Wow. Cool to see him back here.

This is a pretty big moment for GFW. It will probably be overshadowed by NJPW's big weekend, but they're building things back up with these international deals.

- LAX vs. Drago/Fantasma vs. Laredo/Garza vs. Marufuji/Ishimori:
LAX has got to win this one, right?

I like the styles on display here. The NOAH names definitely feel different from their opponents.

Pretty fun lucha.

I do wonder if there's too much lucha for a showcase of talent from different promotions, but I'm not faulting GFW for bringing talent together across countries.

Good to see LAX cut off the lucha in favor of brawling.

I like the new LAX well enough. It's going to be tough to top Homicide/Hernandez, though.

Who's going to hit the biggest SPOT to win the match!?!?!? 5 7/9 stars.

Oh wow. That combined moonsault spot was cheesy.

Man, this was going well until they just turned it into MOVES.

See, none of this means anything, because as soon as someone hits a big MOVE, someone else comes along and hits another one. But that's what the iPhone generation wants, I suppose.

Impact team beating another regular Impact team so the big guests don't have to do the job. Fine enough. How much of this are we going to remember tomorrow?

- Konnan promo:
Ooooh. Interesting. I wonder what strings the Mexican promoters are pulling there.

- Park/Borash backstage:
No DQ makes sense. They can do fun stuff with weapons to cover up the fact only one person is a full-time wrestler there.

Oh, I hope we see some crazy cameos. I miss those in wrestling.

- Moose/D. Williams vs. Adonis/Drake:
Pretty big entrance for the babyfaces, as far as GFW/Impact entrances go. That's cool.

Moose can beat either man one-on-one, surely.

Ha. Good heel work from Eli toward DeAngelo.

Fine enough athleticism to show DeAngelo has put some training in for this. I applaud that.

Moose and DeAngelo can really move for former football players.

Oh, yeah, the heels are going to have to work together to win this one.

Damn. DeAngelo's really solid as far as energy and athleticism go. That's like 90% of wrestlign these days anyway apparently.

This is pretty solid!

This card has a little big of everything, which I really like. This will balance nicely with Full Metal Mayhem and the strap match.

Damn. Moose continues to really impress.

Hahahaahaha Adonis helping Drake after that slip earlier. GENIUS.

Be careful with that table!!

Uh-oh Adonis!!

Oh boy. That's going to make Botchamania. It actually probably hurt more that the table didn't break.

- Post-match:
Hey, Moose, that's not very sportsmanlike!!

Well there you go. There's your table spot for the night.

- EC3 interview:
James Storm has definitely given a lot to NWA:TNA/TNA/Impact Wrestling/GFW over the years.

EC3 is a money promo. He can definitely be a top player.

I'm excited for that strap match.

- EC3 vs. J. Storm:
Since I usually bury ROH, I have to acknowledge the Kazarian/Page strap match really being something great. Like, worth going out of your way to see.

This is a damn fight right out of the gate. There's only so much you can do to protect yourself from a strap.

OUCH. That slam on the apron. Both men are going to be scarred after this one.

This matches can be outright barbaric.

Storm's always been a dependable competitor.

Ohhhhh no. Handcuffs are going to make this even more uncomfortable (in all the right ways).

Uh-oh. EC3 trapped by the former America's Most Wanted mamber.

This is going to be brutal.

I mean, oh my God.

These lashes with the strap mean more than most of the flashy moves in the tag team title match.

This is getting a little hard to watch.

The referee giving EC3 an act of mercy there.

Storm winning with the One Percenter would have been poetic justice.

This has been some really serious action.

Oh, man. That's callous from EC3. The man couldn't even defend himself!

- Post-match:
Beautiful in its depravity. I'd love to see Storm end BFG with a big title win and the HOF to give the mountain to this valley.

- Karen/Dutch:
I hope this is leading to something meaningful instead of just authority figures bickering. We've gotten WAY too much of that in WWE.

- J. Storm update:
Wow, he's having a really rough night for a future Hall of Famer.

- Pope on commentary:
I swear if he turns heel here....

- Park/Borash vs. Steiner/Mathews:
Ha. Josh has an uphill battle here.

Ohhh yeah JB doesn't want to mess with the Big Bad Booty Daddy.

I think Park bit off more than he can chew. Typical FAAAAATTTAAASSSSSSS.

Mathews has been pretty game here.

This backstage stuff is silly, but I expected nothing less. This was never going to be Okada/Omega.

Oh wow. Oh wow. That was some real continuity with the Broken segments.

This is something else! Fun, though.

SHARK BOY!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!

WHOA THIS IS EVEN BETTER!!!!!!! I've missed both these guys from the older days of TNA.

They're just pulling out all the crazy guests, aren't they!? Where's Judas Mesias???

Haha Josh's Steiner Recliner.

Shark Boy put in a valiant effort.

I'm loving the nostalgia with Abyss' character.

I was wondering when we'd see some tacks!

Yeah, no one wants to be chokeslammed on tacks.

That was a lot of fun for all its silliness.

I hope that's the end of this madness.

Jesus. Borash got mangled. That's scary.

- Alberto interview:
I expect King Mo and Dos Caras to get involved. Fine by me. Should be fun.

I'd pop for Alberto shooting on Trump, but I don't think it's happening.

- Davey/Love vs. Mr. & Mrs. Edwards:
I don't blame the Edwardses for being pissed!

Oh this is already wild!

Davey Richards is very convincing as a psychopath.

The heels doing some real damage here.

Pure carnage. I like it.

Holy shit. Powerbombing your own wife to do damage to your opponent? That's insane.

I like that the women are just as sadistic as the men here.

That thumbtacks spot was BRUTAL. There's a point where I worry about a wrestler's safety more than I enjoy the match. Dear God.

This is pretty wild.

Not bad at all! I love that kind of thing every once in a while.

- Dutt vs. Low Ki:
-- Fall One:
It makes sense to start kind of slow here after the crazy match we just had.

I like the feeling out here. We already had the flips match earlier in the night.

Low Ki is all business here, as always.

I'm enjoying this so far.

Seriously, DON'T TRY TO SUNSET FLIP LOW KI.

-- Fall Two:
Oh man. Sonjay got knocked the fuck out.

Ha. Clever strategy from Dutt.

Low Ki makes a pretty sinister heel.

Jesus, that Ki Krusher on the apron would have been really scary.

Sonjay finally countered the sunset flip counter. That was a smart move.

Ha. Low Ki out-Sonjayed Sonjay with the playing dead thing. See, that's how you tell a story.

Low Ki is one hell of a flyer.

Smart to work on the leg so Low Ki can't kill him with Warrior's Way.

This is pretty clever.

Wow, Low Ki can just hit that move from anywhere, huh?

Surprising fall from Sonjay. Low Ki almost swept him.

-- Fall Three:
Haha you know it's serious when Low Ki takes the jacket off.

This is pretty good work.

I'm enjoying this clash a LOT more than the opening clustermess since it has a story beyond "wow look at those moves!"

Sonjay is THIS close to losing the title.

That was a really good ending. Great work from both of them.

- Gail appears:
Glad she could be part of the show! 

- Rosemary vs. Sienna:
Oh I like this one already. Fight! Fight! Fight!

I hope Braxton and Allie come out to counter these two!

I like Rosemary. She stands out.

Hahaha so much for Laurel being a help to Sienna.

This is pretty solid.

I like the brawling here.

That was a really impressive Woeplex or whatever we're going to call it.

This is fun.

Well, OK, maybe Laurel will help after all!

Ahhh this is fun with all the shenanigans involved.

That wasn't a bad ending to give Sienna the title without hurting Rosemary too much.

- Jarrett appearance:
I was wondering when we'd see him again. I mean, I'm not faulting him or anything.

Man, talk about a legacy in the business for generations.

That was cool. I just hope he doesn't El Kabong someone and insert himself in the main event picture.

- Lashley vs. Alberto: 
This is going to be special.

Ha. That's why you don't get flippy that early in a grudge match!

I was wondering how long it would take the cornermen to get involved.

Good work so far.

I like Lashley's tenacity here.

El Patron works hard. This is nice.

NICE powerbomb spot.

This is going well. Both men are going pretty hard.

Oh Jesus Christ that missed dive was scary.

Alberto has endurance and stamina.

Nice counter to the armbreaker.

This is really good. Pretty much the whole show has been. I'm impressed!

I like the ringside shenanigans.

I like this spilling outside.

Wow. Lashley not treating the lucha legend well.

That was good all around!!

- Post-match:
Big moment for Alberto and big moment for he new GFW. I like what this means for the company. They needed a strong showing here and they really delivered.

More wrestling coming up.