Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of Slammiversary from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto.
Nate Milton & I will have a review of the show late tonight. Wai Ting is attending the show live and will be joining us on the post-show as well.
You can leave feedback to the show throughout the event on the POST Wrestling Forum.
Josh Mathews and Don Callis are calling the show.
PETEY WILLIAMS VS JOHNNY IMPACT VS FENIX VS TAIJI ISHIMORI
Williams is taking the spot of Rich Swann, who suffered a concussion at the MLW event this past Thursday.
The audience chanted “Impact Wrestling” and “all these guys” at the beginning. This was a hot crowd at the start of the show.
They went through all the combinations with two in the ring at a time. Williams sprung to the floor with a huracanrana to Impact followed by a tope con giro from Fenix to both men. Ishimori was alone in the ring and hit a Golden Triangle moonsault to the three on the floor.
Ishimori blocked a Canadian Destroyer so Williams applied a sharpshooter but relinquished the hold when Impact entered. Fenix hit a rolling cutter to Impact and Ishimori broke the cover. Ishimori hit Fenix with the Bloody Cross and Fenix saved.
Impact superkicked Fenix and hit the Starship Pain to pin Fenix.
WINNER: JOHNNY IMPACT AT 12:29
It was a well-worked opener and it seemed logical to have Johnny Impact win in his first match back.
They aired footage of Johnny Impact throwing out the opening pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays game from earlier in the day.
The biggest complaint was the camera work on the broadcast as it was very shaky and difficult to concentrate at times during the match. The crowd was great, one of the hottest audiences they have had in years.
TESSA BLANCHARD VS ALLIE
Allie received a big reaction from the Toronto crowd.
Allie hit the “Allie Valley Driver” on the floor and both were down. She continued with a backstabber in the ring and got a two-count.
Allie hit a top rope Frankensteiner and it looked like Allie landed on her head and it was frightening. Allie kicked out and Blanchard missed with a top rope leg drop. Allie recovered with a code breaker and Blanchard rolled to the floor.
Allie landed a superkick for a near fall and the audience was cheering her on. She went for another Allie Valley Driver, Blanchard countered and hit the hammerlock DDT for the win.
WINNER: TESSA BLANCHARD AT 10:56
The Frankensteiner spot was very scary but Allie appeared to be okay and didn’t miss a beat of the match.
Blanchard is the one they are positioning for a top rope, although Allie was one of the more popular wrestlers on the show. The match was good, above the level of a regular television match for the women on Impact.
Alicia Atout interviewed Moose backstage, he said if you look good and feel good, you perform well. He had a great breakfast and was dressed in a blazer.
EDDIE EDWARDS VS TOMMY DREAMER IN A HOUSE OF HARDCORE MATCH
Edwards jumped Dreamer at the bell and they immediately went to the floor where Dreamer pulled weapons from under the ring. The first trash can attack led to an “ECW” chant.
Edwards grabbed a staple gun, Dreamer stopped him from using it and used it on Edwards when Edwards went for a sunset flip. Edward was bleeding from the forehead as Dreamer used an ECW replica title as a weapon.
Edwards smiled and rubbed his blood on his face. He grabbed a kendo stick and Dreamer stopped him with a cutter. He took the kendo stick and attacked Edwards with it. The audience was loudly chanting, “Dreamer”.
Two chairs were set up side-by-side, the two were on the turnbuckle as hit a low blow and Spicolli Driver through the chairs off the turnbuckle with Edwards kicking out.
Dreamer brought in a table with lighter fluid, Edwards hit a low blow and a DDT. Edwards finished the match with a shining wizard into a chair to Dreamer and pinned him.
WINNER: EDDIE EDWARDS AT 11:09
Edwards started crying and lifted Dreamer after the match. Dreamer offered his hand to Edwards. Alisha Edwards ran down telling Eddie, “it’s over, shake his hand.” Dreamer handed Edwards the kendo stick and made his exit with a passing of the torch symbolic gesture. Alisha left without Eddie.
This match worked around the idea of teasing a lot of violent spots but not actually doing anything exceedingly dangerous. The audience loved the match and Dreamer worked well as a babyface in this spot for the live crowd.
MATT SYDAL VS BRIAN CAGE FOR THE X DIVISION TITLE
Sydal applied a head scissors and released it while doing a headstand on the edge of the apron.
Cage was controlling the match with Sydal either surviving or avoiding his power spots while using his athleticism and speed to land his offense.
Cage got out of the way of a shooting star press. Cage landed a discus clothesline and Sydal kicked out.
The Drill Claw was countered in mid-way with a ‘rana from Sydal.
Sydal dove off the top and was caught upside down that Sydal countered to avoid a vertical suplex. That was incredible.
Sydal came off the top with another shooting star press and his feet clipped the top rope and he crashed to the mat with Cage following with the Drill Claw and won the match.
WINNER: BRIAN CAGE AT 9:47 TO WIN THE X DIVISION TITLE
Athletically, this blew away everything on the show and featured some incredible spots from Sydal and working around Cage’s big power moves.
Austin Aries was interviewed and cut a great promo on Moose and asked what his third career will be after he fails at this one, just like he did at football.
SU YUNG VS MADISON RAYNE FOR THE KNOCKOUT’S TITLE
Yung came out in a casket with the Undead Bridesmaids.
The audience started chanting for Su Yung while Rayne was upside down in the tree of woe.
One of the bridesmaids held Rayne on the apron, Yung sprayed red mist, Rayne ducked, and it hit the bridesmaid.
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Yung put the bloodstained glove on, Rayne avoided it and hit a cutter for a two-count. Callis cited Yung’s “otherworldly recuperative powers.”
Yung stopped an Inverted DDT by using the glove with a mandible claw applied. Rayne’s eyes rolled back, and she passed out.
WINNER: SU YUNG AT 6:47 TO RETAIN THE KNOCKOUT’S TITLE
This was the weakest match on the show, it was more of a presentation of the Yung character rather than the initial story of Rayne going for one more title reign.
Yung placed Rayne into the coffin after the match. On Thursday’s episode during the funeral segment, a photo was shown establishing that Rayne and Josh Mathews are married, yet for this post-match coffin angle Mathews just called it as he would any other performer in the same situation.
SANTANA & ORTIZ VS HERNANDEZ & HOMICIDE IN A STREET FIGHT FOR THE IMPACT TAG TITLES
Konnan and Eddie Kingston were in the respective corners.
Santana & Ortiz wore face paint for the match. They saved the tables and ladders for this match.
Santana avoided a Border Toss from Hernandez early and landed a tope con giro onto Hernandez.
They exchanged tons of trash can lid shots to the head. Hernandez delivered a tope to Santana & Ortiz on the floor.
Kingston threw a bottle of Drano into the ring for Homicide to pour. He was stopped before he could pour it. The four men fought up the ramp to the entrance.
Ortiz brought a ladder into the ring. Santana landed a quebrada onto Hernandez on top of the ladder.
Homicide took out Santana with a tope con giro through the ropes and into a table that exploded upon impact. Ortiz took Homicide and put him through a table in the corner. Hernandez returned and put Ortiz through a table with the Border Toss. Santana hit Hernandez with a superkick and leaping cannonball into the corner. The audience was loving the match and chanting, “Impact Wrestling”.
Homicide went for the Gringo Killer but was distracted by Konnan on the apron, he spat towards Konnan and then threw thumbtacks for Ortiz to use on Homicide. He followed with a top rope splash and pinned Homicide.
WINNERS: ORTIZ & SANTANA AT 13:33 TO RETAIN THE IMPACT TAG TITLES
This was a tremendous brawl. The audience was with it the whole match and they saved a lot of the weapon use for this match instead of this feeling repetitive had Eddie Edwards and Tommy Dreamer gone through all the weapons.
Kingston attacked the three from behind and they attacked Konnan 3-on-1 and knocked him out cold. Kingston spray painted the tag titles.
SAMI CALLIHAN VS PENTAGON JR. IN A HAIR VS MASK MATCH
The audience was very heated during the entrances and when the match began.
Pentagon chopped his protective vest and Callihan unzipped the vest and took a chop onto his chest and sold it big. They traded chops on the floor after each missed and struck the steel post.
Pentagon attempted a suicide dive and was blasted with a chair shot from the floor. Callihan began tossing chairs into the ring. He also grabbed a pair of spikes and tried to rip the mask of Pentagon, so he could stab him with the spike and proceeded to do so in the corner and Pentagon began to bleed.
Callihan tied Pentagon’s mask to the top rope and grabbed a baseball bat, Pentagon kicked Callihan away and broke free from the top rope. Pentagon grabbed the spikes and drove them into the forehead of Callihan and nailed it towards his forehead with the other spike and then the bat. Both men were bleeding.
They each had a spike and stabbed each other repeatedly in the forehead and both went down.
They traded chair shots, and both went down from those shots.
The Crist Brothers appeared and were dropped with chair shots off the apron. Callihan threw powder into Pentagon’s eyes. Pentagon was blinded and struck referee Johnny Bravo, grabbed him by the arm and snapped it. Pentagon grabbed Callihan and hit the Pentagon Driver, but the referee cannot count.
Callihan hit a piledriver on top of a chair, another referee ran in and Pentagon kicked out.
Callihan set up four chairs in the ring, stood on top of them with Pentagon, was stopped and Pentagon and hit the package piledriver, which Callihan kicked out as he foamed at the mouth. Callihan spat at Pentagon, was superkicked and Pentagon snapped his arm.
Pentagon hit another package piledriver and won the match.
WINNER: PENTAGON JR. AT 18:09
This was the most violent match on the show and they saved every hardcore spot for this one. The audience ate it up and treated the two as superstars and felt like the two top stars of the company. It was a brutal and violent match and the audience was with it the entire way with the payoff being delivered at the end. This was the best match of the show so far and felt like the main event.
The Crist brothers attacked Pentagon as he attempted to shave Callihan’s head. Callihan tried to crawl up the ramp and ran backstage. Callihan was brought back out by Fenix. They held him in place and Pentagon began cutting his hair off. Pentagon and Fenix stood tall over top the bald Callihan.
Callis called it one of the best and most brutal matches he has ever seen.
They announced that Bound for Glory will take place Sunday, October 14th at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York. This is the same venue that MLW just ran this past week for their Battle Riot event.
AUSTIN ARIES VS MOOSE FOR THE IMPACT WRESTLING TITLE
Curtis Granderson of the Toronto Blue Jays was introduced as the title presenter for the winner of this match.
Moose took a seated dropkick and immediately did a kip up. This was a great contrast at the start from all the hardcore matches.
Aries was throwing strikes and Moose just ate them and did the “Moose” signal. Aries poked him in the eyes and headbutted Moose.
Moose caught him and hit snake eyes and his “Go to Hell” sit out powerbomb for a two-count. Aries went for the tope and was nailed with a forearm hard.
Later in the match, Moose went for a spear and it was countered with a Last Chancery. They went to the edge of the apron and Aries landed a Death Valley Driver, Aries followed with a suicide dive at incredible speed.
Aries used the referee to distract and kicked him low, but Moose hit him with a brainbuster anyway. Moose hit a spear and Aries grabbed the bottom rope to stop the count.
On the ramp, Moose military pressed Aries into the crowd onto a group of plants.
Aries recovered and hit a running dropkick off the ramp and crashed down to the floor after landing it. He followed with a brainbuster onto the floor and returned to the ring. Moose beat the count and was kicked in the head. Aries grabbed the title and Granderson yanked it back. This set up a school boy roll up by Moose for a two-count.
Aries hit another brainbuster and pinned Moose. Very surprising outcome after all the build up for Moose.
WINNER: AUSTIN ARIES AT 15:47 TO RETAIN THE IMPACT TITLE
Granderson begrudgingly handed the title to Aries and leaves.
They worked a very hard, main event style match and Moose had one of the best matches of his career. Aries is tremendous as the top heel. They raced through a lot and it felt at times like a match that was laid out for a longer time than they received. It was completely different from the violent matches on the undercard and I thought they followed the Mask vs. Hair match effectively. I was very surprised Aries won the match and reminded me of Bobby Roode and James Storm being built up for big title matches and then failing in at the big showdown.
This was a great show from Impact, it felt like a hot product and they needed a big showing like this.
