WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
    • Year in Review Awards
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

TNA Slammiversary Review - July 20, 2025

7/20/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The Elegance Brand (Ash and Heather by Elegance) def. The IInspiration

You had to know this wasn't going to be a barn burner based on who was involved, but that's why it worked as a pre-show match. It was perfectly passable. I figured The IInspiration would win since they immediately won the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship in their TNA debut back at Bound for Glory 2021, but I'm fine with TNA holding off on them getting the belts back to continue the chase since there isn't much of a women's tag team division at this point, anyway.

Pre-Show: The Home Town Man def. Eric Young

I'm surprised this wasn't advertised for the pre-show ahead of time, but I Guess it made more sense for Young to come out, cut a promo complaining about Home Town Man being Cody Deaner and then having an impromptu match with Home Town Man that he lost. This was short and sweet, exactly what it needed to be. Home Town Man winning was a nice crowd-pleasing moment.

Pre-Show: 4th Rope Flyweight Championship Real1, 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion Zilla Fatu and Josh Bishop def. Jake Something, Mance Warner and TNA International Champion Steve Maclin

The whole situation surrounding this match was weird. It looked like Maclin was going to defend his TNA International Championship in an open challenge on this show, and we've also gotten vignettes featuring Real1 on iMPACT! in recent weeks. I guess this turned into a six-man tag team match to get all of these guys on the card? It ended up being a complete waste with the bout being inconsequential. Real1 definitely went long with his pre-match promo, but I doubt I would've cared much about this regardless of how long it lasted.

Mustafa Ali def. Cedric Alexander

It's amazing to me that these two never had a rematch after their awesome outing for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the WrestleMania 34 pre-show seven years ago. They proved here that their chemistry is still as strong as ever in what was an excellent opener (a wise call to put this on first, by the way). I liked that Ali avenged his loss to Alexander (with multiple assists from Order 4) so we can get a rubber matchup at some point.

The System (Eddie Edwards, JDC and Brian Myers) and Matt Cardona def. DarkState (Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, Cutler James, and Saquon Shugars)

It's pretty cool this fell on the exact 17-year anniversary of when Cardona and Myers won the WWE Tag Team Championship together, also in Long Island. That's a crazy coincidence. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this eight-man tag team match and it honestly could have easily happened your typical edition of iMPACT!, but it was well worked. DarkState losing their first match was unexpected, but hey, at least TNA won something. Why not give the win to Cardona or Myers in their hometown?

Indi Hartwell def. Tessa Blanchard

This was largely an average outing that the crowd sat on their hands for. They tried to make a big deal out of Hartwell kicking out of Blanchard's finisher (the first to do so since she returned to TNA) and Blanchard was protected in defeat by taking Hartwell's finisher three times, but this never reached that next level for me. In fact, I thought the post-match angle with Blanchard attacking Hartwell as well as Gia Miller was the best part, and it clearly keeps the feud alive.

NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jane def. Masha Slamovich in a Title vs. Title Match to Win the TNA Knockouts World Championship

I hate to sound like a broken record, but there truly is nothing interesting or remarkable about Jane or her matches. Slamovich is supremely talented, but even she couldn't make this anything more than a solid match where the crowd didn't wake up until all of the shenanigans and interference down the stretch. I had a bad feeling Jane was going to win, so I can't say I'm shocked, but it was a stupid move, nonetheless (not to mention that Trick Williams retained the TNA World Championship later on, too!). Building both divisions around Jacy Jane is certainly a choice.

Leon Slater def. Moose to Win the TNA X-Division Championship; AJ Styles Returned

This had the best story of anything on the entire show with both men trying to make history. Slater became the youngest champion in TNA history with his win, and Moose would have inched closer to becoming the longest-reigning TNA X-Division Champion ever had he retained. This was my favorite match of the night. Slater winning was a memorable moment, and AJ Styles returning (complete with his iconic "Get Ready to Fly" entrance theme!!!) afterward to endorse him was really well done, too.

The Hardys def. The Nemeths, First Class and The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Myron Reed) in a Four-Way Tag Team Ladder Match to Win the TNA World Tag Team Championship

Despite being hurt, Trey Miguel said on social media that he was still planning on taking part in this match as of a few days ago, but I guess he wasn't cleared to compete at the last minute, hence why he was replaced by Reed. All the best to him, especially with everything he's had to endure as of late in real life. The match itself was the entertaining car crash you'd expect. First Class took a wild bump to the outside early on and never returned to the ring, but I assume they're okay. Everyone put forth a commendable effort. Needless to say, it wasn't the greatest Ladder match The Hardys have ever had, but they didn't destroy their bodies and the way in which they won was innovative. Post-match, Bully Ray emerged to challenge them to one last match (with Devon, who wasn't there for some reason) at Bound for Glory. I understand the appeal with it being 25 years since their historic tag team wars, but I'm skeptical of the quality at this stage of their respective careers.

TNA World Champion Trick Williams def. Joe Hendry and Mike Santana in a Three-Way Match

Before we even address the finish, the actual match wasn't as exciting as I hoped it'd be. The entrances gave the bout a big fight feel, but other than the New York fans rallying behind Santana throughout, it was your standard Triple Threat. Maybe I'm just jaded after all the multi-man matches I've seen across every company this year. The finish was flat and terribly executed. Williams retaining was bad enough, but the way they went about it made for an extremely underwhelming ending. I understand they're presumably saving Santana's big title win for Bound for Glory, but why not pull the trigger here in his home state when he had white-hot momentum? Typical TNA for dropping the ball.

Overall Show

A casual viewer of TNA may have enjoyed this event more than I did, and while I did think it was ultimately a good pay-per-view, they've had far better installments of Slammiversary, even in the last few years. They set the record for their North America attendance and that's an incredible stat, but then that's how they decide to end the show and capitalize on the buzz (or fail to)? Jane becoming also a double champ was also questionable and leaves fans wondering what TNA is actually getting out of this working relationship with WWE that I've mostly been high on up to this point. I was disappointed by this event on the whole, but I have hope that TNA can rebound and do more big business heading into Bound for Glory this October in Lowell (where I'd love to be in attendance).
SEE MORE: TNA Reviews
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    December 2025
    November 2025
    October 2025
    September 2025
    August 2025
    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
    • Year in Review Awards
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact