CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER'S PPV SIX PACK: Thoughts on TNA Slammiversary including Christian's appearance, main event finish, anniv. snubs

Jun 11, 2012 - 12:09:45 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


StaffKeller08_120_42.jpg
By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

-Christian’s appearance ended up being pretty anticlimactic. The crowd pop wasn’t great, and his speech by design was pretty tame. It’s almost as if the TNA fans knew he was just visiting and they were loyal enough to resent that he wasn’t staying and was going back to where he returned after his TNA run, WWE. That, or else Christian just isn’t over as a big star. Or a mix of both. In any case, cutting to the video he threw to, and then not going back to him, felt rather unceremonious. Did security escort him out of a public exit while the Sting video aired?

-TNA’s match finish booking is so outdated, and the main event finish really took a good show and ended it on a flat note. What they booked didn'’t "put heat on Roode" as much as it put heat on the promotion for ending PPVs flat. And then the idea that Sting can beat down Roode afterward and that’s supposed to make up for the lead legendary babyface losing on a cheap finish is 15-20 years past its freshness date. Sting walked through a main event at three-quarters speed (which at his age is fine, but he shouldn’t be headlining PPVs anymore, at least not World Title singles matches) and then fell backward off the stage and smashing Roode through a table doesn’t make up for it. I suppose it’s appropriate for TNA.

-Hulk Hogan’s platitudes were almost too much to take. He gave Booker T a run for his money, talking about “strap on your seatbelts” and “bolt down your seats” and “I’ve been around the block a few times, if you know what I’m talking about” and “this company is shooitng to the moon” and “things keep changing around here” and “I love pushing people’s buttons around here.” None of that means anything. They’re all just bloviating cliches.

-It’s a blessing in disguise for Crimson to have that streak ended. It’s so limiting that every match is about the winning streak and it limits the give and take that’s part of telling a good story in a feud. Having James Storm beat him in his return match is a great choice and Slammiversary is a good setting.

-It’s so agravating that Sting, just minutes before his World Title shot, tells the fans he wants to “entertain” them tonight and doesn’t mention one word about wanting to “win for them” tonight. As always, Sting’s strength is not his mic work. He's got a World Title match and he can't stay in character enough and play along with the idea that he wants to WIN, not just ENTERTAIN? It's a sign of the times as much as Sting's weakness on the mic, but this was not a glorious memorable moment, but rather a window into what has limited Sting from having the type of impact on TNA that this ceremony and all of the tributes paid to him try to build him up as having had.

-Pretty noteworthy that Jeff Jarrett wasn’t given much attention at all throughout the show and wasn’t present. Are they saving his return to be a huge deal and didn’t want to ruin the “surprise” by having him make a cursory appearance here at the tenth anniversary show? If that were the case, he’d be in more video packages and there’d be more mentions of him in passing by the wrestlers such as A.J. Styles talking about the history of the company. TNA the first eight years, give or take, was practically primarily designed around getting Jarrett over as a mega-star, so if you were followiing TNA all of these years and bought into that message, you’d be confused at how he wasn’t even a footnote other than Dixie quickly mentioning his name along with his father’s in her speech. Almost as glaring by his absence was Don West. He was the enthusiastic voice of the fan for so many years and just recently left. Whatever the circumstances, he should have been flown in for the show and made an appearance and spoken briefly. He deserved that, and so did the fans who felt a bond with him as he got as excited as they did at home watching TNA’s early action.

(Keller's full TV reports with much more added analysis like the items above along with key quotes from the show are part of his VIP-exclusive report posted on the ad-free PWTorch VIP website and published in the weekly PWTorch Digital Newsletter.)


We suggest these recent related articles...
KELLER: Austin says no to Lesnar match, and he's right; Sting & Taker are wrong
KELLER: What was the Vince McMahon tweet about “E is for Entertainment” above New Day dancing with The Authority all about?
LATEST WADE KELLER VIDEO BLOG: Three Hot Topics - Hogan, Angle, ROH
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY