Tonight's Slammiversary lineup
*Bobby Roode vs. Sting for the TNA title - They could go either way on this only because of the feeling nobody really expects Sting to win. But if he does win, it's a short-term because the money is still in James Storm chasing and winning the title later this year, probably at Bound for Glory. Roode was been strong of late so this should be a good match, but probably not a super match.
*Christopher Daniels & Kazarian vs. A.J. Styles & Kurt Angle for the tag title - Could be the strongest match on the show. I don't see it as time to change the tag titles, but given that the Styles storyline with Daniels and Kazarian probably has a long way to go, you can make any finish work since it's probably not the last time we see this match.
*Jeff Hardy vs. RVD vs. Mr. Anderson with the winner meeting the Roode vs. Sting winner on Thursday's Impact - RVD just had a shot and lost. Hardy is the biggest star of the three. Nobody wants to see Roode vs. Anderson, nothing against it, but it's nothing anyone wants to see.
*Joseph Park vs. Bully Ray - The main thing here isn't the match but how they handle Abyss and Joseph Park
*Gail Kim vs. Miss Tessmacher for the Knockouts title - The last time they met on PPV, they had a very nice match, well above most women's matches on PPV from either company. Tessmacher is a good athlete who is green, but Kim is experienced and the two have worked well together a number of times. Given Tessmacher lost, I could sense it time for a title change, but it still feels to me like Velvet Sky is the most over and is the one who eventually gets it.
*Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe - These two have the chance to tear the house down because Aries has good matches with everyone, and they've had great matches in the past. Just a question of time and Joe's motivation. Storyline is cold, but the match will probably go on early.
*Devon & Garett Bischoff vs. Robbie E & Robbie T - Hopefully doesn't go too long. Devon has done well in short explosive matches. E is fine in his role. Bischoff and T need to be protected.
*Crimson vs. ? - No comment. It's not Christian as the mystery guy.
*Kid Kash vs. Hernandez - A cold match with no build. Neither have even been on TV in a long time. Hernandez should win, and hopefully there is a storyline reason that will come out why it's on the show.
There seems to be more interest in this show. Not sure if that's a big picture thing or just from our readership. On paper, it's really not a lot better than other TNA shows for match quality with the tag title match looking strong. The Park angle has been very good but this match is all how the angle goes and not really about the match, and it ends up back with Abyss vs. Ray.
--There were about 5,000 tickets out for tonight's Slammiversary show, which is well above any TNA show outside of the U.K. in quite some time. As best we can tell, if there has been papering, it's not heavy. Most parts of the building only have scattered seats available and there are upper sections where you can get a strip of eats together, but the floor and lower tier are sold. The place is set up for about 6,000.
-James Storm tweeted that he has made his decision. Must be the decision is that he's going to come back to TNA. Anyone willing to bet otherwise.
--Lots of talk on the TNA Hall of Fame induction. Really, the person it should be is Bob Carter because without him, this would have been dead 9 1/2 years ago. And they are in Arlington, and Carter is based in the Dallas area. Hulk Hogan would be a good pick because having Hogan the first pick in a Hall of Fame at least is the way to start it out. A guy like Lou Thesz, or Frank Gotch, should be maybe the first pick if you are starting a legit (as not in real sport, but real based on being early pioneers and legends) wrestling Hall of Fame, but as a TV show version, he's from another era and his name means nothing. Sting would be good since he's actually not in any major Hall of Fame and has been with the company a long time. Jeff Jarrett would be good as the founder of the company. I can almost buy A.J. Styles based on the current storyline, but then it becomes a "what's good for this week's storyline Hall of Fame" and will be treated like that.
--For whatever this is worth, Karen Jarrett on Twitter said Jeff is not in Texas and that neither of them will be at the PPV. Keep in mind that anyone in and around TNA on Twitter talking about the product or people you have to assume is working storyline.
--Last night in Salisbury, MD, with Alberto Del Rio out due to a concussion, they had Kane beat Great Khali to earn the shot at Sheamus in the cage match main event. Of course Sheamus retained. They'll likely do the same thing in Binghamton today. If Del Rio can't be cleared by next weekend, they will do something on Raw Monday to create a new opponent for Sheamus.
--You know what blows my mind. Since the thing we mentioned in yesterday's update about the West Coast getting the live feed of the UFC show on FX Friday night, and that if you tuned in when it was listed in the TV guide, or you DVR'd the show, you would get the movie "Armageddon" and have missed the show, we did get a number of people confirming that it happened to them. But really not many. I saw a thread on a leading MMA board and it was mentioned but like one or two people complained. We did get an expected level response to the show (not big, but bigger than last week's show). So does that mean so many who watch on the West Coast have a dish, or that nobody cared all that much, I'm not sure. I wouldn't be happy if I was UFC, because at the very least you'd want to know this info and be able to promote it's going live on the West Coast.
--I skipped the Pacquiao fight last night so have no comments on it. I did follow a friends comments for a few early rounds and actually went out with the family, figured it was a route for Pacquiao, and didn't even watch any TV until I woke up and was flooded with e-mails. Suffice to say everyone I've heard from, but one person who did score it for Bradley, thought it was pretty one-sided. I don't buy the fixed judging and Pacquiao leaving Arum so Arum screwed him stories. I've seen from too close a perspective on the UFC side how this works, and been involved in the process. It's bad judging. I can't even blame the system for this fight or any fights this weekend, because there were bad judging cards on Friday at the UFC show that were simply inexplicable. But these things are horrible for the sport, even if it does necessitate an immediate rematch.
--Vince McMahon was trending on Twitter after the fight, I guess some people brought up the judging decision made it fixed like pro wrestling and that's where his name came in. A lot of wrestlers and MMA fighters watched last night and buried the judging. C.M. Punk made fun of Pacquiao always thanking God and getting screwed. There was talk today in WWE about bringing up Vince trending on Twitter after the fight on Raw. Um, that's not exactly something to brag about considering his name came up as someone who fixes fights (which I guess he does in the strictest of senses) and screws fans (which for the most part I wouldn't say he does).
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