Slammiversary 2009 Our Look Back Continues by @Greg_SLTD

Slammiversary 2009 took place on June 21, 2009 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the fifth Slammiversary in TNA history and celebrated the seventh anniversary of the promotion.

Slammiversary 2009 was very special as it was the first Slammiversary to feature two separate King of the Mountain matches. One was as always the main event of the evening for the TNA Heavyweight Championship, but also the opening match of the evening was a King of the Mountain match for the X Division Championship.

As well as two King of the Mountain matches, Slammiversary 2009 boasted four championship matches, and a mixed tag Monster’s Ball match, but before that, the prelim match was The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams, with Rob Terry) vs Eric Young and Rhino. After Young left Rhino to receive a two on one attack, Rhino’s then protégé Jesse Neal joined the match as Rhino’s partner, but was pinned by Magnus for a British Invasion victory.

Slammiversary 2009 opened with the X Division Championship being defended under King of the Mountain rules for the first time ever! We saw Champion Suicide, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley go at it. This match came about after Suicide was attacked by both tag teams of The Motor City Machine Guns (Sabin and Shelley) and Lethal Consequences (Lethal and Creed). After a truly great match, where all competitors showed why the X Division is so good, it was Suicide that got the victory to retain his X Division Championship.

Next up was somewhat newly re-hired Daniels vs Shane Douglas, who had recently returned to TNA but was not under contract. This is why this match came about; Douglas couldn’t understand why TNA would rehire Daniels and not him? Daniels was so confident of victory that he put up his TNA contract in this match, meaning that if Douglas could beat him he could have Daniels spot on the TNA roster. Daniels’ confidence didn’t let him down and he defeated Douglas to keep his spot in TNA.

Then was the second title match of the night, this time for the TNA Knockouts Championship. We see ‘The Beautiful People’ member Angelina Love (with Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne) defending against Tara. It was Velvet Sky that was the decider in this match after she blinded Tara with her trademark hairspray in the eyes, allowing Love to hit her finisher and pick up the victory, retaining her TNA Knockouts Championship.

Next we see more Knockouts in action, but this time in a far more dangerous environment, a mixed tag team Monster’s Ball match. Abyss and Taylor Wilde vs Raven and Daffney (with Dr. Stevie). After weeks of seeing Abyss getting therapy off ‘Dr. Stevie’ (Steven Richards), he later revealed that Dr. Stevie had been abusing him. After a match between Wilde and Daffney, Abyss attacked Dr. Stevie (an associate of Daffney’s) before Raven returned to join forces with Stevie and Daffney, setting up the inter-gender tag team Monster’s Ball match. After a hard fought match for all involved, including Daffney taking a huge bump onto a large pile of thumbtacks, it was Abyss who picked up the victory after pinning Raven.

Next up was Sting vs Matt Morgan. This match had the added stipulation that if Morgan could beat Sting, Sting would let him join his ‘Main Event Mafia’ faction. Morgan had been trying to show his dominance over the past few weeks by beating everyone that was put in front of him, thereby showing that he was ‘MEM’ material, and this match was what it came down too. Unfortunately for Morgan, even though he completely dominated the match, it was one slip up that led to the Scorpion Death Drop and Sting getting the win.

Following this was the third title match of the night seeing Team 3D defend their tag belts against Beer Money (Robert Roode and James Storm). After the two teams had already been involved in a heated rivalry earlier in the year, Beer Money Inc won the ‘Team 3D Invitational Tag Team tournament’ by defeating The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams) and earned themselves another Tag Team Title shot. After numerous interferences from The British Invasion, it was Beer Money who picked up the victory and the TNA Tag Team Championships.

Finally we see the main event of the evening, a King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Mick Foley defended his title against Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. Below is the King of the Mountain match in full. (Apologies for it being in three parts)

I really enjoyed this year’s King of the Mountain match; in fact I enjoyed the whole Slammiversary PPV. I think it started great with Angle wearing the Pittsburgh Penguins jersey and Joe beating him down in the Detroit Redwings jersey. It made sure that no-one would see the Joe heel turn later in the match. I think the Joe heel turn was done brilliantly. The build-up to the match and working with Styles throughout just made it all the more shocking when Joe handed the title to Angle at the top of the ladder, making sure the TNA Heavyweight Championship went back into the Main Event Mafia’s corner. I know when I first watched I didn’t see it coming. It was a great ending to a solid PPV.

Hope you enjoyed reading and watching! Leave me a comment, tell me your thoughts and check back tomorrow for more Slammiversary history.