TNA Wrestling: Slammiversary X Preview

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It’s that time of month where I preview TNA’s latest PPV offering, which just happens to be its 10^th Slammiversary event.

TNA's last PPV was an excellent show, so it's got a lot to live up to Sunday night. But judging by the quality of its latest TV shows, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Impact has been consistently better than Raw or SmackDown for the last several weeks.

In case you haven’t heard, current WWE Intercontinental Champion and former TNA superstar Christian will be appearing live at the PPV Sunday night from Texas.

His appearance is part of the deal between TNA and WWE which allowed Ric Flair to attend WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year.

That should create some more interest in the PPV and might help with buyrates.

As it stands right now, eight matches have been announced for the show, so it should be a good, solid card all round.

I don’t know the order of the matches on the show, so without further ado, let’s get to the preview.

Feel free to leave your own predictions in the comments section!

Robbie E and Robbie T vs. Devon and Garrett Bischoff

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The storyline that connects all four men has been really interesting.

Devon has held the TV Title for the last few months now, and it’s no surprise that the other three men involved are relatively green when it comes to in-ring competition.

Working with Devon will only benefit these younger guys, so I’m fine with this for what it is.

I don’t expect the match to be a classic, but it should be a good seven- or eight-minute match that serves a purpose.

As far as my prediction goes, Garrett will get worked over the entire match by the Robbies, only for Devon to get the hot tag, clean house and claim the victory for his team.

Winners: Devon and Garrett Bischoff

TNA Knockouts Championship: Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim (c)

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For me, Gail Kim personifies what the Knockouts division is. She's a beautiful woman who can kick ass from bell to bell.

Her feud with Awesome Kong a few years ago proved that the girls can do just as well in the ring as the men.

After a second uneventful stint in WWE, Gail went back to TNA last summer, and she’s pretty much dominated ever since.

She’s a tremendous worker and deserves all the success she’s had in wrestling.

Miss Tessmacher, on the other hand—well, what can you say except asstastic?

Is she the best wrestler in the world? No, she isn’t, but just look at how far she’s come since she became an in-ring competitor. It’s like night and day.

Working with Gail can only help her in the long run, but as for my prediction, I just don’t think it’s Tessmacher’s time yet.

Winner (and STILL TNA Knockouts Champion): Gail Kim

Crimson’s Open Challenge

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This past week on Impact, Crimson reminded us that he’s been undefeated since his debut 468 days ago.

His streak and character do absolutely nothing for me, I’m sorry. Nothing against the guy, but I don’t know who his character is. As far as I can tell, he’s just another big man who’s running through his opponents.

As far as potential opponents for him, I’d very much doubt that it’s anyone we’ve seen regularly on TV. So for me, there’s a list of only three candidates.

The first one is "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero. Pope hasn’t been on TV since January, so bringing him back to TV would give TNA a fresh option.

The second option could be Joey Ryan. After Ryan’s Gutcheck promo a couple of weeks ago, answering Crimson’s Open Challenge and beating him could be the thing that shuts up Taz and Bruce Prichard.

The third option is more unlikely, but it could be Christian. Think about it—a one-night-only appearance where he ends Crimson’s undefeated streak then takes off again.

Regardless of who answers Crimson’s Open Challenge, his streak will most likely end on Sunday.

Winner: Crimson’s opponent

Bully Ray vs. Joseph Park, Esq.

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This match is probably the most intriguing of the night.

Bully Ray is on fire right now, and in my opinion, he should be involved in the title picture.

He’s become the best heel in professional wrestling and deserves a shot at the TNA World Title, but I don’t think he’ll get there until TNA has a baby-face champion.

I’ll stick to kayfabe with this match, so I don’t spoil it for anyone who still thinks wrestling characters are real.

Joseph Park has been looking for his little brother, you know, Chris (Abyss), for several weeks now, and he seems to think Bully Ray’s got something to do with it.

Two things we know about Joseph are that he’s a lawyer and he sweats like crazy.

Logically, there’s no way Joseph can win this match, but logic won’t play a part in it.

Just watch and see what happens.

I’ve got a feeling that we’ll see a special appearance by a man who’s been M.I.A. for a few weeks.

Winner: Joseph Park, Esq.

Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries (non-Title Match)

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I honestly couldn’t care less who wins this one because I’m such a huge fan of both of them.

They’re amazing wrestlers who quite possibly could put on the match of the night.

The match isn’t for the title because of the weight limit that was put on the X Division several months ago.

When it comes down to who wins the match, I’m not really sure.

If TNA has no plans to keep going with the Joe/Magnus team, then I see Joe picking up the win.

If the Joe/Magnus team stays together, I see Aries picking up the win.

My prediction for the match is that TNA’s fastest rising star, The Greatest Man That Ever Lived, A-Double, Austin Aries, will somehow overcome the Samoan Submission Machine.

Winner: Austin Aries

No. 1 Contender’s Match: RVD vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson

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The problem with this match is that two of these men have already had title shots over the last couple of months.

RVD lost to Bobby Roode last time out at Sacrifice, and Jeff Hardy lost to the champ at Genesis.

I understand that they have to give these guys something to do towards the top of the card, but having them fight the champ month after month just doesn’t excite me anymore.

Give us a championship feud we haven’t seen. Involve men like Bully Ray, Austin Aries and Samoa Joe.

I’ll make it clear right now that the man I want to see win the match is Mr, Anderson, not because I’m a huge fan of his in-ring work, but because it gives us a fresh title match.

In the end, I see Jeff Hardy picking up the win.

Winner: Jeff Hardy

Tag Team Title Match: Kurt Angle and AJ Styles vs. Chris Daniels and Kazarian (c)

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These four guys are up there on my list of favourite all-time TNA performers.

Each of them has their own particular style, and they’ve worked together so often that I think this’ll be a great match.

In my opinion, this will be up there with Joe/Aries for match of the night.

In terms of the storyline heading in, it’s centred around AJ/Daniels/Kazarian/Dixie.

I’m not sure where it’s going, but it’s kept me intrigued.

All of a sudden, you’re second guessing the wholesome, baby-faced AJ Styles and wondering what, if anything, he’s done, or if Daniels/Kazarian have manipulated the situation to their advantage to screw with AJ and Dixie.

Getting back to the match, I think something will happen to distract AJ and he’ll take the pinfall for his team, meaning that the tag champs go over.

Winners (and STILL TNA Tag Team Champions): Christopher Daniels and Kazarian

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting vs. Bobby Roode (c)

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Since last year’s Bound for Glory, TNA has put a lot of stock into the Bobby Roode character.

They’ve pushed him to the moon as this sneaky, devious, resourceful heel champion.

I always thought Roode had a main-event championship run in him, and he’s done a great job.

Sting, on the other hand, is in the twilight of his career.

He’s in his 50s, and he doesn’t need the full-time schedule that being a champion brings.

In the last two weeks, Sting has made the champ tap out on TV.

I’m gonna go with the tried and tested John Canton (editor of TJRWrestling.com) method to predict the winner here: get buried on TV, go over at the PPV.

Translated, what that basically means is that there’s no other way TNA can go with this match than to have the champion retain his title.

Winner (and STILL TNA World Heavyweight Champion): Bobby Roode