*Match #4: Impact Wrestling X Division Championship- Matt Sydal © vs. Brian Cage

The Who: Matt Sydal is the former Evan Bourne in the WWE. He was also previously Matt Sydal in ROH as well and has been wrestling for a little over a decade now. Hard to believe. Brian Cage is a product of PWG out of California (at least that’s the first place I remember seeing him). He‘s another one of those super athletes who can do things no man his size should be able to do. On paper, this seems like a tremendous mismatch. But Sydal does have a victory over Cage previously on Impact TV.
The Why: The obvious answer to this is that it’s for the X Division title. The less obvious answer is that Sydal is the only person (to this point) that had beaten Brian Cage in a match in Impact Wrestling. Granted, that was by count-out due to an assist from Kongo Kong, but hey: win’s a win.
The Match: Good to see Sydal back in a wrestling ring. Felt bad for him and his run in the WWE. If he could have gotten his act together with his recreational habits, the company was really high (no pun intended) on his potential a upper mid-card to lower main event level talent…Sydal gets a pre-match promo. Cage does not. Hype video follows. They’ve gotten a lot better at these hype videos…Josh brings up a really interesting historical tidbit. Matt Sydal had a match at the very first TNA pay-per-view, Victory Road 2004. If I am not mistaken, he was in the X Division gauntlet match. Don’t believe he was in TNA for long, because I think he debuted for WWECW by the end of 2006…crowd is firmly in the pocket of Cage here. Little surprising…Callis causally works in that Matthews used to be a manager for Sydal. The less said about that, the better…Matthews then drops X Division facts. He points out the first X Division champion (AJ Styles) and the longest reigning X Division champion (Austin Aries)…Cage with a standing moonsault. Dude is over six feet and two eighty. That’s nuts…definitely not your typical ‘X Division’ match. I know it’s ‘not about weight limits, but no limits’. But this is pretty slow paced for the generally accepted style…Sydal poses on the apron after the ‘Candice Michelle choke’. More importantly, how does Candice Michelle get a move named after her?…Cage goes for a step-up ’rana, but Sydal counters into a powerbomb. That’s an ironic twist on the story and pretty cool psychology…Sydal just hit the Paige Turner. I think he may have known it better as Ghanarhea from Jimmy Rave. There’s a joke there, but I won’t make it…Cage catches the discus lariat, but only for two. He knocked him stiff with it though…awesome and super smooth counter from the attempt at the Drill Claw (Steiner Screwdriver) for Cage into the cradled ’rana by Sydal…Sydal has been super smooth in this contest, with another counter from the Drill Claw into a rollup for two…and right as I say that, Sydal clips the ropes on his Shooting Star Press, going splat face first into the canvas. They recover quickly (and Sydal appears to be okay), as Cage finally gets the Drill Claw for the win at 9:48…right as I mention how super smooth and crisp Sydal had looked in this match, wouldn’t you know that top rope would have plans of it’s own. Despite that, they covered very smoothly into the finish as the ref checked on Sydal before Cage powered him up into the Drill Claw. For a clash of styles, this actually worked well. I deduct slightly from the rating of the opener because of the glitch at the finish, but overall both guys can be proud of this performance. (GOOD)

*Austin Aries promo time. Notice the difference between how Aries and Moose handled their promos for the main event. Moose stumbles over himself quite a bit. Aries is smooth as butter. Direct line from Aries here tells you what you need to know. “They say act like you’ve been there before. Well, I’ve been here before.” That’s the confidence of a champion and of the man that was once again carrying the company after returning from a some would call disappointing run in the WWE.

*Match #5: Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship- Su Yung © vs. Madison Rayne

The Who: Su Yung is the current champion, having taken the belt from Allie in a casket match. Su’s gimmick of the ‘Undead Bride’ reminds me a bit of Rosemary when she was with Decay, but she has a crew of undead bridesmaids as well. Madison Rayne has just recently returned to the company and beaten Tessa Blanchard to become the number one contender. She gets the opportunity here to become a six time (I think) champion.
The Why: Madison got this opportunity by beating Tessa Blanchard (with an assist from Allie if memory serves). Su Yung has been running through pretty much everyone at this point. Let’s see if the multiple time former champion has anything to say about it…
The Match: The video package for this match comes off as something that would fit into the ‘Broken/Woken Universe’. Not sure that I am the target demo for that, but if it gets people talking, then I guess it can’t be a bad thing…going to state this for the record in advance. I don’t have any real feelings towards one way or the other on Su Yung. I thought she was a great plucky babyface in SHINE, but the ‘Undead Bride’ thing does nothing for me. I have never especially cared for Madison Rayne and I think there are probably other women on the Impact roster who would have been better served in this spot…Josh Matthews calling a Madison Rayne match seems a touch on the nose. He even picks her to win…I believe a little bit after this, it was announced that Madison (err, Ashley) would be a participant in the 2018 edition of the Mae Young Classic…alright, Su’s entrance inside the casket is pretty fantastic here. I can’t deny that…‘a bloodbath in Windsor’. Pretty sure that term is trademarked when it comes to wrestling, Josh…brawl before the bell see Rayne take an advantage…I believe I remember reading that the ‘Undead Bridesmaids’ are students of Santino Marella’s SMASH Wrestling school…Madison sweeps Su off the apron, back first into the edge. As someone with lower back issues, screw that noise…hanging neckbreaker in the corner by Yung. It looks good and fits the gimmick…‘Su Yung put Rosemary in a coffin and lit it on fire’. Wrestling, ladies and gentlemen…Josh mentions that Velvet Sky (Talia Madison) sent out her support to Madison. I think I’d prefer to see Velvet here to Madison. Not that Velvet is anything resembling a great worker, but the crowd would certainly care more about her then they do Rayne here…there are six ‘Bridesmaids’ out here with Su. Three of them have already gotten involved in the match, less then five minutes in…Rayne hits the Rayne Drop (knee assisted Overdrive) for two but it doesn’t get anything resembling a reaction from the crowd…Rayne hooks Su for a Dragon Sleeper, but Su catches her into the Mandible Claw (with glove assist). Madison tries to fight it, but can’t and we get a referee stoppage by pass out at 6:46…not bad, but terribly overbooked with all the interference from the ‘Undead Bridesmaids’. I get that Su is a heel champion and heels have to cheat (allegedly), but it actively takes away from her matches when it’s a constant thing. The crowd not really caring about Madison either didn’t help. I’d end up putting this right around the same level of the earlier women’s match on the show, but think I slightly prefer that one due to the character work of Tessa and Allie. (AVERAGE)

*Post match, Madison gets put in the casket and Su stands atop celebrating with her title. I don’t believe Madison has been seen at Impact Wrestling since. Su Yung would go on to lose the Knockouts title to Tessa Blanchard on Impact in a three way where Allie was pinned. Su and Allie square off at Bound for Glory.

*Promo time for Santana, Ortiz and Konnan. I am not a huge fan of Konnan. Never have been, probably never will be. That being said, Santana and Ortiz have grown on me as a tag team in their time with Impact. They’ve done the legacy of LAX proud and have turned into a very productive member of what is admittedly a slightly lackluster tag division in comparison to years past.

*Match #6: Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships, ‘5150 Street Fight’- LAX (Santana and Ortiz w/ Konnan) © vs. The OGz (Hernandez and Homicide w/ King)

The Who: LAX is the aforementioned Santana and Ortiz. I know they were known under a different name when they competed in the Indies, but I don’t recall it. They are the champions coming into this match, having won the belts from I think Z&E (DJ Z and Andrew Everett). The OGz are the former LAX (Latin American Xchange) and are former multi time TNA/Impact Tag team champions.
The Why: It’s for the tag team titles, but it’s much more personal then that. At the Redemption PPV back in April, Konnan was supposed to be at ringside for a LAX title defense against Eli Drake and Scott Steiner. It was revealed to LAX right before the match by King that Konnan had been taken out and they were on their own. It was later revealed that King himself was the one who had Konnan taken out as he was trying to take over LAX. Santana and Ortiz sided with Konnan, so King had to find himself some backup. And find backup he did in the former LAX of Hernandez and Homicide, now going by the name of the OGz (Original Gangstaz).
The Match: The hype video for the match is so different from any of the others that have been aired so far. Like I’ve said already, they have really stepped their production game up to the next level…all kinds of various weapons surround ringside. I like that they had a buffer match between the ‘House of Hardcore’ and this one. You do too many of these types of matches, the effect wears off. Unfortunately, there will be no such buffer between this and the Callihan-Pentagon match to follow which I think is ‘Mexican Death’…for those (like me) who aren’t as familiar with the current LAX and can’t tell them apart, Ortiz is the one with the afro in the pre-match graphic…and after a crowd entrance for Santana and Ortiz, we go straight to the scrapping. Good. No need for a collar and elbow in what is supposed to be a blood feud…Ortiz has lost the afro. Well, shit. I’m not saying I can’t tell them apart. I’m saying I may screw up telling them apart…Hernandez no sells a double whip with a double clothesline…Hernandez tries the Border Toss, but the LAX member escapes. Probably wise. That move doesn’t usually end well…aluminum or not, those trash can lids make a brutal sound. Lord…for a guy the size of Hernandez to do the no hands tope is quite impressive. He’s inconsistent in the ring, but when he does it well, it’s quite a sight…ha! Fuck that trash can!…King hands Homicide ‘Drano’. He’s having flashbacks to the Colt Cabana feud in ROH…overhead belly to belly by Santana, to wit Josh deadpans ‘first wrestling move of this match’. Fair enough…is Hernandez busted open? Bad lighting on the stage…yes, yes he is. It’s a trickle, but there’s definitely blood there. You know the old wrestling proverb, right? Red equals green?…Ortiz stops the Doomsday Cutter attempt…Hernandez works best with smaller opponents. I remember matches he had with Matt Morgan that were just the drizzling shit…Ortiz introduces a massive ladder to a big pop. Ladder matches are still over in 2018, almost 35 years after Michaels and Hall…Kingston lets loose a loud series of expletives at ringside. Good thing this is PPV…powerbomb and blockbuster combo by LAX. Believe that’s called the ‘Street Sweeper’. Hernandez makes the save and pitches Ortiz over the guardrail…Homicide with the tope con hilo through a table on Santana. ‘51-50’ indeed there, ’Cide…Border Toss into the table on Santana and it looked like he landed high on his neck…man, these guys are beating the shit out of each other…fans are definitely into this one. Loudest they’ve been since the opener…Homicide has Santana up for the Gringo Killa (Cop Killer, Vertebreaker, Kudo Driver…take your pick), but is distracted by Konnan on the apron. I’ve always hated that spot. What the hell is Konnan going to do besides collect his AARP…Konnan tosses Santana a bag, who dumps it out, revealing thumbtacks. Why? Just why…Santana throws a handful of thumbtacks into Homicide’s face. That seems like a really bad idea…body slam on the Santana and Santana up top to deliver a frog splash for the three count to retain the belts at 13:33…they definitely hooked the fans and I also enjoyed the match. The stuff with Konnan distracting Homicide is a minor flaw, because Homicide does spit at Konnan as his way of telling him where to go. Not that I’m a fan of bodily fluids being a weapon, but I digress. Several really cool looking spots, a lot of stiff action and all four men seemed energized by the crowd going crazy as well. Call it a success and a very good match. (VERY GOOD)

*Post match, Santana and Ortiz are joined by Konnan to celebrate, when King jumps them from behind with what looks like a sock, so I’m assuming sock full of quarters (popular prison weapon). King and Konnan square off, until Hernandez nails Konnan from behind. The OGz then spray paint the tag belts.

*Promo for GWN here. Which seems a bit unnecessary as I’m reviewing this through GWN. (I know it aired live on Fite TV. Still funny to me)

*Promo by Sami Callihan to hype the upcoming match with Pentagon Jr. Sami is one of those guys who I will never understand how they slipped through the cracks in the WWE. He’s such a natural promo, but was given this hacker gimmick as Solomon Crowe that just didn’t translate. Ever since he left NXT, he’s been killing it everywhere he’s gone and now has himself positioned as the semi main for this PPV.

*Match #7: ‘Mask vs. Hair Match’ Sami Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr.

The Who: Sami Callihan has become quite possibly the most talked about person in independent wrestling. The incident with Eddie Edwards and the baseball bat (Google it if you wish) got him a ton of mainstream attention from sites such as TMZ and he’s used it to his full advantage. Pentagon Jr. is who many have called the breakout star of Lucha Underground and has developed quite the cult following. He’s a former LU champion and has worked for pretty much every major independent promotion in the US, coming to Impact as part of the talent exchange agreement with Lucha Underground.
The Why: It all started when oVe tried to take the mask from El Hijo Del Fantasma (I believe that’s King Cuerno in Lucha Underground, not positive). Pentagon and Fenix (the Lucha Brothers) made the save. Since then, Pentagon and Sami have gone back and forth, with Sami trying to remove and in one particular case, actually removing Pentagon’s mask. Pentagon challenged Sami to a mask vs. hair match, and Sami immediately accepted. Sami attempted to get the Crist’s (Jake and Dave) to do his bidding, but Pentagon outsmarted them at every turn, including getting Dave and Jake to beat up Sami while he was dressed in a Pentagon mask. That led to Pentagon breaking the arms of Dave and Jake, setting this up as what should be a fair fight.
The Match: Good to see both of these guys getting such a high profile spot on this show. Not to mention, it is also a sign of the youth involved in the pro wrestling business these days. Pentagon Jr. is 33 (I am actually twelve days older than him), while Sami Callihan is only 31. Something Impact/TNA/GFW/call it what you will has always struggled to do is promote the younger generation of stars as their brand carriers. This is a sign that things are leaning in the opposite direction…appears to be no announced additional stipulation on this match. Guess I remembering wrong…I wonder if the reason people love Pentagon is because he looks like La Parka. And who didn’t love La Parka…Josh mentions that Pentagon is a former Impact champion. I had completely forgotten about that. He did win the three way at Redemption over Aries and Fenix. That show was supposed to be Aries vs. Del Patron (Del Rio), but let’s just say Alberto hasn’t exactly been reliable recently…Cero Miedo vs. The Draw. Let’s do it…bell rings twice. I’m going from the first one…and we start with a pump kick…man, we starting hot and heavy here and the crowd is super into it already. That’s a good sign. Pentagon chops Sami in the vest. Sami unzips the vest and tells him to try again. Pentagon does and lights Sami up. Chop psychology. I dig it. I don’t care for chops, but I dig it…think Sami just hit Pentagon with a beer cup…and both guys chop the ring post as Callis points out that it’s a good way to break a hand…I believe that’s what we call a bitch slap…Josh points out that the rules are relaxed, so I wasn’t totally mistaken…and thwack goes the chair shot. Relaxed, you say?…fan: ‘everyone in Ohio sucks’. Me: fuck you, buddy…Sami throws in chairs, nearly drilling a zebra in the process…Callis: ‘Growing up in the armpit of Ohio, Dayton’. Facts, Don…Callihan going to the Jimmy Jacobs school of spikes…Callihan tears the mask as the crowd greets Sami with a very family unfriendly chant…not sure I’m cool with spikes being a weapon in a wrestling match…Josh: ‘This is assault. This is a criminal act’. You aren’t wrong, Josh. I just don’t think Sami cares…Sami ties Pentagon in the ropes and grabs the belt. Pentagon escapes though before anything more vicious occurs…yeah, no. That’s not cool at all…AAAAAH! BAT TO THE FUCKING FACE!!!…Josh sounds like he’s about to blow chunks at ringside. I’m not far behind him at this point…I may not necessarily care for this style of wrestling, but the fans in attendance are going nuts…ode to the Necro Butcher with the bar-room brawl…and now they trade chair shots. It’s like a car crash. You want to look away but can’t…Pentagon goes for the arm break but takes too long and Sami kicks him in the face. The spot looks cool, but it does seem like Pentagon milks it forever. Good to see it countered…and the Crist’s try to get involved and eat chair shot…Sami with powder to the face. Pentagon drills the ref, thinking it’s Sami and this time the arm break lands. But the person on the receiving end is the referee. Wonder what Anthem’s medical coverage is like for the zebra community…they trade crowd counted near falls with no referee. I’ll chalk that up to going for the cover out of instinct. A thirteen count seems a touch ridiculous though…Sami makes himself a nice little chair fort, but the old adage rings true that he who sets it up goes through it, as Fear Factor (Package PD) through the chairs gets two! Strongly disagree but neither here nor there…Pentagon fires up a series of kicks, Sami fires back with spit and a bird. Pentagon then breaks the correct arm and a mid ring Fear Factor spells the end at 18:08…can’t say they didn’t get everyone invested in it, that’s for damn sure. These kind of matches are an acquired taste. I personally am not as fond of the violence as I used to be as we learn more about long term ramifications. That being said, I can not deny the effort by all three men (Sami, Pentagon and the referee) to turn in a fine piece of sports entertainment here. Everything in the ring was crisp. The story they told made sense. The fans and the announcers added to the atmosphere rather then subtracting from it. The interference doesn’t directly effect the match and enhances the story. Excellently done by all parties here. (EXCELLENT)

*Post match, Callihan drops to his knees and lets Dave and Jake Crist attack Pentagon. Sami tries to escape, but Pentagon single-handedly takes care of the Crist brothers. Fenix brings Callihan back out onto the ramp, where a pair of superkicks by the Lucha Brothers (one front, one back) put Sami down for the head shaving that the match promised.

*Hype video for Bound for Glory in Astoria, NY on 10/14/18…yeah, that’ll be on my to-do list. Don’t you guys worry…I may go back and hit the earlier Redemption as well.

*Match #8: Impact Wrestling Heavyweight Championship: Austin Aries © vs. Moose

The Who: Austin Aries is IMO, the most complete champion Impact has ever had. He’s a guy who can go in the ring, can bring you into the building with his promos and has that intangible you look for in a main event star. As I mentioned, he returned to Impact after what some would call a lackluster run in the WWE and has been the leader of the company since. Moose is a guy who while I feel could be a strong upper mid-card or occasional main event player, he doesn’t strike me as a guy who is a good choice for the main event of the second biggest PPV of the year for the company. Don’t get me wrong, Moose has improved greatly since he first got into the wrestling business. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that he’s not in Aries’ league as a promo or as a in-ring performer.
The Why: It’s for the Impact Wrestling Heavyweight championship. Aries won it on his first night back in the company, beating Eli Drake. He briefly lost it Pentagon Jr. as Josh reminded me earlier, but otherwise has had the belt since more or less early this year. Moose is trying to win it from him. That’s basically the story here…
The Match: Curtis Granderson is the “keeper of the belt”. Hopefully ‘A Double’ treats Curtis like he did D’Angelo a couple weeks ago…while I’m not the world’s biggest fan, I must admit that Moose’s entrance is quite the show. I know people will think I’ve done nothing but rag on the guy for this review (and truth be told, I more or less have), but the regular fans of Impact seem to be behind the guy…will say that Moose seems like the kind of guy that Vince would have his eye on with that legitimate mainstream professional football background…believe Aries is a four time Impact/TNA champion at this point…he hails from Moose Nation? Where’s that located? I’m guessing Wisconsin…speaking of Wisconsin, A Double is from Milwaukee…Aries’ tights appear to have press clipping about how great he is. That is a spectacularly douche thing to do…opening bell goes and we’re underway…Aries showing up Moose to start, taking advantage of his cardio advantage. Moose has clear weight and height…I’m corrected that Aries is a three time champion, not four…upon thinking about it, I think it actually is four for Aries…Moose clearing out the fans by the guardrail, before sending Aries ass over tea kettle into said rail…Aries ducks a cross body attempt and Moose eats those chairs at ringside…Aries with the tribute to Randy and the double sledge (rip’em) to the floor…and then the Eddie Guerrero hilo. Clearly a student of the game…Moose just absorbing shots here, but Aries goes to the Piper school with an eye poke…no one wins on a head butt, Moose. Corner trap dropkick follows by the big man. Impressive agility for a guy his size…snakes eyes by Moose leading to Go To Hell (Rydieen Bomb) for two…Aries using his smaller size to catch the crucifix bomb…Aries goes for the IED but just eats shit on a forearm. JESUS…Moose has Aries set for the spear, but Aries turns it to Last Chancery mid-move. That was so pretty…Moose rolls out to the apron, but Aries follows…they exchange shots before a Death Valley Driver on the apron by Aries! Moose gets up at five and Aries just smokes him with the heat seeking missile…Aries with a low blow kick and goes for the brainbuster, but Moose gets one of his own. That’s an excellent throwback to how Aries got the title back from Pentagon Jr. in May (?)…Moose launches Aries off the guardrail into the crowd and the fans at ringside. Cool idea in theory, but clearly plants at ringside…and Moose tried the same plancha that Hernandez hit earlier. Aries moves and Moose goes SPLAT on the ramp…brainbuster on the floor! That’s just mean…Moose barely makes it back in and Aries just soccer kicks him in the head…Aries gets distracted going for the belt and has it stolen back by Granderson. Moose sneaks over into a roll-up for two, but Aries rolls out into another soccer kick to the head. Another brainbuster, this one center ring, sees Aries retain the title at 15:45…I didn’t expect that at all. I spent most of this review ragging on Moose and how he didn’t deserve to be in the spot that he’s in here. He went out here and completely proved me wrong. Easily the best match I’ve ever seen from him. Austin was his typical Austin self as well and they made everything work together fluidly as they gave you enough drama to make you think that the belt would switch, but in the end, ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ is still the Impact Wrestling Heavyweight champion. (VERY GOOD)

*Post match, Aries celebrates the fact that he retained the belt by kicking Curtis Granderson out of his ring and then throwing it in people’s faces on the ramp, as we sign off from Toronto, as Slammiversary 2018 is in the books.

RESULTS

Match #1: Johnny Impact wins 4 way, pinning Fenix @ 12:28 in a match that also included Petey Williams and Taiji Ishimori (VERY GOOD)
Match #2: Tessa Blanchard pins Allie (Cherry Bomb) with a hammerlock DDT @ 10:58 (AVERAGE)
Match #3: Eddie Edwards pins Tommy Dreamer with a chair assisted ‘Boston Knee Party’ @ 11:09 (ABOVE AVERAGE)
Match #4: Impact Wrestling X Division Championship- Brian Cage pins Matt Sydal © with the ‘Drill Claw’ to win the title @ 9:48 (GOOD)
Match #5: Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship- Su Yung © defeats Madison Rayne by KO with a ‘Mandible Claw’ @ 6:46 to retain (AVERAGE)
Match #6: Impact Wrestling Tag Titles- ‘LAX’ (Santana/Ortiz) def. The OGz (Hernandez/Homicide) to retain when Santana pins Homicide with a frog splash @ 13:33 (VERY GOOD)
Match #7: Pentagon Jr. pins Sami Callihan with a second ‘Fear Factor’ @ 18:08 in a ‘Mask vs. Hair’ match. (EXCELLENT)
Match #8: Impact Wrestling Heavyweight Championship- Austin Aries © pins Moose with a brainbuster @ 15:45 to retain the title (VERY GOOD)

FINAL SHOW THOUGHTS
NEGATIVES
The Knockout’s Division, what some have praised TNA for in the past, was the clear underwhelmer on this show. Both of the matches were average at best and not even close to anything else on the rest of the card. I don’t necessarily blame the ladies involved in the respective matches, though. They just weren’t put in a position to succeed.

There were no dummies. Eli Drake has been one of the focal points of the company for the better part of the last two year and may be the most entertaining man in the company. Leaving him off what is probably the second biggest show of the year was a colossal disappointment to me.

POSITIVES
Man, where to begin…Impact is a company where the reputation (and perhaps stigma) proceeds them. ‘Oh, it’s just WWE Fired’, ‘They just can’t pull their heads out their asses’, ‘LOLTNA’, etc. Here’s the thing, there was no sign of that here. Callis and D’Amore have Impact on a proper path now. You could put this up against any major company PPV here in the US this year and not only do I think it would hold it’s own, it’s quite a bit better then most.

Callis and Matthews are a highlight for me as well. Josh was not overbearing here. Josh was not obnoxious here. Josh was the Josh Matthews that knew he was an announcer and not trying to get himself over as an on-air talent. Cyrus, in my opinion, is the best color commentator in pro wrestling right now. He adds a dimension of credibility to the table that TNA/Impact hasn’t had since Tazz stopped caring.

OVERALL
When I first watched Redemption, I thought to myself: “if they screw this up, I’m done giving this company chances”. After all, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Then Redemption went and was a pretty damn good show. So, that had me casually optimistic as we went into Slammiversary. In the interest of full disclosure, this is the second time I have watched this show. I watched it a few days after it originally happened and now I’m watching it again here for the review. I think it may have actually been better on the second viewing. For all the grief we’ve given Impact/TNA/GFW/whatever, they seem to have their act together. At least when it comes to a PPV setting anyway.

THE FINAL REACTION
Best Match/Moment: Match here and I have to give it to Sami Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr. Those two went out there and put on ‘sports entertainment’ at its’ finest. Well done, man.
Worst match/moment: I’m going to go with the women’s title match here between Rayne and Yung. Even though I gave that and the earlier match between Tessa and Allie the same score, I feel the Tessa-Allie match came off better due to the crowd being more invested in the characters.
MVP: I’m going to give co-MVPs here. Since no-one especially stood out in the ring, I’m giving the MVPs for this show to the creative team for Impact and the names I’ll specifically mention are Don Callis and Scott D’Amore.
FINAL SCORE: 8.0/10.0

My usual gig here at Chairshot will be as the guy who covers PROGRESS Wrestling. There will be a full detailed reason as to how we came to this conclusion in the first PROGRESS review. With that being said, I do also plan on covering Bound for Glory, so we can see how Impact Wrestling has moved forward from this show. In addition, don’t be surprised to see me stick my nose into a bunch of other promotions as well.

Until next time: That was Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary 2018 and that’s “What I Watched”. See you all for the debut of my regular version of this article: PROGRESS Chapter 1- “In The Beginning” or the follow-up to this show as Impact Wrestling presents Bound for Glory 2018.

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